PRACTICAL ADVICE

James 1:19 – 2:13

Verse 19 all by itself is a Bible lesson, teaching outline, or sermon outline for that matter. Consider:

Shut up and listen! As a pastor and counselor, I’m considered a good listener. After 59 years as a husband, not so much. I’m slow to shift focus from the book or screen, I interrupt before she’s finished, I mis-hear what she said. A counseling grad student once brought me a tape of one of his sessions to evaluate. I told him shut up and listen. The best counselors and psychiatrists will spend 90% of most sessions just listening.

Slow to speak – that’s part of listening. BTW, apply that to prayer. I’m convinced one reason we think God doesn’t answer prayer is we’re always telling Him how we want the world to run. We need periods of quiet when we just listen to Him. And listen to your spouse. And your kids. And those you work with…

Slow to anger. In counseling books from very different schools of counseling, the same idea keeps popping up: Don’t let your client get away with saying, “He made me mad.” Why? Because anger is a choice. Not everyone gets mad in that situation. Some will even laugh – or cry. Or say something like, “When I hear you say that, I begin to feel angry. Is that what you want?”

James goes on to explain that human anger doesn’t produce righteous behavior. Rather, it can lead swiftly to sin, especially if we retaliate! Notice he also is setting up a link to the next thought by implying that God seeks us to be righteous.

V 21 – Eliminate moral filth. A great way to avoid catching winter diseases is to wash your hands frequently. I saw a sign once in a nursing home rest room that told how to wash your hands. Well, duh? Yeah, duh. The big take-away for me was to use the paper towel to turn off the water and open the door before discarding it in the trash! Do you remember to do that? A great discussion might be on what is the moral equivalent of handwashing? How do you brainwash – in a healthy sense, not by indoctrination into zombies.

Instead, replace that filth with the word (logos) that was implanted in you! The Word is logos, which John uses for Christ or at least the Gospel. So James is saying that when you followed Christ, He came to live within you (the HS). Like a seed it grows, bringing you to maturity in Him. Sometimes it requires effort on your part. Other times, the new life just unfolds itself as in Jesus’s parable about the seed growing quietly. One day you look up and think, “Did I do/say/think that?

Oh – late thought and short flashback! Listening is fine, as James just said, and we should do more of it. But in one case, listening is not enough. We not only listen to the Word of Life, we are to put it into action. In one sense, the atheistic countries and Islamic lands are correct in banning Bibles, especially New Testaments. They know this is a radical book. If they allow it to be read unhindered, the message will gradually undermine their propaganda.

Teachers! – We are called to teach the Bible to people to help them grow as followers of Jesus. Well done, that’s incendiary. Sometimes, we grow by leaps and bounds and at other times it’s a slow, steady progress. But we should look back 5 – 10 years and see growth and change.

Teachers! – Teach to change lives! Teach to make a difference!

25 – What is this perfect law of freedom? We find out later it’s the law of love! Was it Luther who said, “Love God and do what you will?” Jesus gave the two great commandments, to love God and neighbor, and said they fulfilled all of the laws of the OT! Paul said in Galatians 5, “You were called to freedom, brethren…” Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. I am the…truth!”

Tying it together: Hear the Word. Practice it from love and discover what freedom really is!

Verse 26 – You could make a good case that James wrote the book to tell people to control their mouths! He bluntly says he doesn’t think much of anyone’s religion who can’t control his tongue.

My lessons are generally non-political in nature, but you’d be blind and deaf if you read James without applying it to the entire political spectrum. All kinds of politicians out there are proclaiming themselves Christian while saying the vilest things about those in the other party – or even their own! Like James, I have a whole lot of trouble hearing someone proclaim to be a Christian while showing no sign of respect for others. I admire John McCain’s stand once when he was running for president and some of his supporters started attacking his opponent. He interrupted them and treated his opponent with total respect. I forget which opponent and whether a primary or general election, but McCain labeled him a true citizen and patriot whose views on government were different than his. Everyone on both sides of an issue is the result of God’s good creation and also a person for whom Christ died.

Verse 27 in the spirit of the OT prophets, James lifts a frequent example of true Christian service. He challenges us to take care of the helpless as represented by widows and orphans. In that day, a woman without a father or husband to care for her was immediately in dire straits. Their needs came to the fore especially with the persecution that hit Christians from time to time. Again in the realm of politics, I find myself troubled at Christians who take the attitude that all poor people are worthless and leeches on society. No one is worthless. Some indeed are dependent and manipulative. But what I feel coming from those hostile to the poor is not Christian concern about how to reach and change them. Rather the attitude is shape up or ship out, ignoring the affect poverty is having on children. I am basically conservative in politics, but I don’t see enough compassionate conservatism. 

FAVORITISM – Don’t!

Chapter Two begins with a vivid illustration of two men coming into a worship service. One is well dressed, displaying every characteristic of a wealthy and influential person. The other looks like a homeless bum. James envisions several leaping to their feet and offering the rich man a place to sit comfortably near them. On the other hand, others quietly guide the hobo to a corner where he will be less seen or heard.

James and Paul would definitely agree here. Remember that powerful verse in Galatians where Paul states there is no longer slave and free, Jew and Gentile, male or female. Rather all become one in Jesus Christ.

I remember one church I pastored that welcomed people quite well. The only problem was that after a year or so, the former newcomers were still on the outside, with few in rolls of teaching or leadership. Fellowship is a vital NT Doctrine. Christians should aim at allowing the Spirit to shape His church as He sees fit, deeply joining the congregation to one another and to Him, expressing their gifts through ministries.

In 2:8 James spells out the royal law is love of your neighbor. The Golden Rule is an excellent expression of that law. Treat others as you want to be treated.

WHOOPS! 2:10. Break the law at one point, you break it entirely! Well yeah. Notice here that James is referring to moral laws, not ritual as Paul did. He speaks of murder and adultery. Galatians was concerned with circumcision and kosher diets. Don’t confuse the two, as some were in the early days of the church.

I don’t completely buy the idea that all sins are equal. I will admit that every sin is against God. Still, I would grade sins on how much damage they do. I would rather you cuss me out than hit me. If I were female, I would prefer you lust after me rather than rape me. All are sins, but not equal. Surely, a “white” lie as when I tell a lady I like her hideous hairdo is not on the same level with making up vile gossip. Yep, all those minor sins may be enough to send you to hell, but I have the feeling Jesus went to the cross to defeat evil far worse. Another rabbit to chase: Why have we as Christian churches attacked the worst evils in the world. We have recently, led by the WMU, btw, begun to confront trafficking in women, but few and far between are the denouncing of governmental corruption, which is rife. Dr Bill Hull some years ago made the front page of the Shreveport Times when he addressed local corruption from the pulpit of the FBC. That’s very rare.

Look back one more time at verse 8, which is radically important. Love is the royal law! He quotes Jesus who was quoting Leviticus. Love your neighbor as yourself. Remember too the lawyer who asked Jesus who did his neighbor include. To his question, Jesus responded by telling the parable of the good Samaritan. I also think the “Golden Rule,” of treating others as you want to be treated is  a great beginning definition of Christian love. That love is more a behavior than a warm fuzzy feeling.

James ends this section by reminding Christians both to speak and to act as those who are to be judged by the law that gives freedom. Break that down:

Speak and act – If you’re going to talk the talk, walk the walk. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another. For example, your children are more likely to imitate your behavior than to behave as you preach. If you are honest, they are more likely to be honest. If you don’t fly into a rage, they are more likely to become calm adults. As Christian leaders, we are called to set the example. Paul at one point challenged others to “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” That’s scary, and I’m not likely to use it. Nevertheless, I’ve found that people notice my behavior at least as much as my words.

As those who are going to be judged – The Lord WILL hold us accountable. Let me never say I can be any kind of pastor or teacher I want to be, because I’m doing the Lord’s work. On the contrary, James will say in a bit, don’t be in such a hurry to become a teacher. Teaching is not a place of prestige, but a place of great responsibility!

Judge by the law that gives freedom – that is judged by love, by the love you showed. Do you live, teach, work, and play as motivated by Christian love. That love includes mercy, kindness. And James reminds us that our entire judgment in the eyes of the Almighty is how loving we have been. I think of Jesus comment after the Lord’s Prayer, “For if you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.”  Hey! I desperately need His forgiveness and mercy, so you better believe I’m going to forgive and have mercy on you!

Before shifting the subject, James ends the passage beautifully: Mercy trumps judgment. Because God will have mercy on us, we should overbalance our judgment of others with mercy on them. Just remember, love and mercy have more to do with you than the other. It’s not who deserves my love. It’s how wide can I let my love reach!

Next week: Faith without works is dead!

JAMES: INTRO AND CHAP ONE!
James 1:1-14

Of course, you realize right off the bat, James was slap dab crazy – out of his mind!? The man says when trouble comes, throw a party. As we would say in Louisiana, “laissez le bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll.) A hurricane hits your place and you’re supposed to throw a party? Isn’t that’s insane. Back in the last century a Baptist pastor, Jess Moody, who himself bounced off a lot of walls had a sermon called, “Have a Happy Hurricane!” He said that was a common saying this time of year in Ft. Lauderdale where he was pastor. Many families threw hurricane parties. I have to assume those ‘canes were less violent than the recent one on the Gulf coast!

James was using colorful language here. The word translated various has its root in an expression like many-colored. And the word that means both trials and temptations is the root from which we get our word pirate. So I envision one’s ship being overrun by a mob of colorful pirates

Of course, James wrote in more pious sounding language: Count it all joy when you are beset by various trials and/or temptations. You gotta understand that checking out how strong your faith is leads to developing endurance. Then over the years as you mature, you’ll look back and see how that endurance brought you to maturity, able to accomplish His purpose in your life.

Now that we’ve dived right in, let’s pause and take a look at this little letter as a whole. We just studied Galatians, a letter that Paul wrote to the congregation of a specific church, primarily dealing with a specific problem. On the other hand, we don’t know for sure who was intended by James, except he calls them “the 12 tribes of the dispersion.” If you remember Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost, you may also remember the crowd had come from all over that world, speaking various languages. That tells us that Jewish people (originally 12 tribes) were already dispersed to many countries outside of Palestine. If James was written after 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and turned it into a Roman town, there was a huge dispersion of Jews at that time, and it may have been those scattered Christians James was writing to. We call this kind of letter a “general” epistle, since it seems to be intended for the church at large.

As to the date of the book, various people think it’s anywhere from 65 AD to 125! If most scholars are correct that a central reason for the book is to correct a distortion of Paul’s teaching that we are saved by faith alone and not by works, then this letter must come after Romans and Galatians had been widely circulated. If you still have a copy of the Intro I sent you to Galatians, you might look over that one again. If so, then the earliest the book could have been written was after Paul’s influence had spread widely enough for people here and there to be misinterpreting what he meant. This was the very early days of the Gospel and the Church, so it was vital that they get the doctrine right. We’ve already seen the abusers described in Paul’s letter, that we call Judaizers. An opposite group had arisen, however, claiming that Paul taught you could believe in Jesus and after that it didn’t matter what you did. James wanted to make sure that genuine faith results in good works.

Traditionally, James who wrote this epistle is considered the half-brother of Jesus, who led the congregation at Jerusalem. Others point out a couple of other James, such as the disciple and the other one nicknamed “the Less.” The book does show the kind of emphasis the Jerusalem church took an interest in as described in Acts.


Now, let’s go back to verse 5. Here is a very specific promise that a particular prayer will be answered. The Christian does not have to live life without guidance. If you need wisdom, ask for it, and you will receive it. Seek and you shall find. I believe this can apply both to wisdom for today’s choices and the development of lifetime wisdom.

The Epistle of James is an unusual letter. Many scholars look at it as the only example of wisdom literature in the New Testament. Wisdom is a tradition in Middle Eastern Literature, and we find five books in the OT we call wisdom literature. Chief among these are Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, both of which are filled with pithy sayings on how to live effectively. James shares this, but in his hands it becomes distinctively Christian wisdom. We’ll see as we go on how often a saying of Jesus lies behind a verse.

Verses 6-7 emphasizes faith in praying as opposed to doubt. We use doubt two different ways in our churches today. First, we use it as intellectual doubt. That’s when our mind is thinking through our beliefs. The proper way to handle intellectual doubt is not to fear it, but to think it through. Today there is an immense amount of discussion in books and online about every aspect of our faith. I strongly encourage Christians to read at least two or three books a year about the Christian life, so you will be led by the Spirit as your understanding develops.

I believe it is the second kind of doubt at issue here. That kind is simple trust that God will do what He says, and that you can depend on Him as you follow Jesus. Why would you pray if you don’t trust God to answer you? There’s a story about a little boy who lived near a mountain range. One night after reading his Bible, he looked out the window and said, “God, throw that mountain into the sea! Amen.” When he looked up, the mountain was still there. “I thought it would be,” he said. That’s the kind of doubt that interferes with prayer.  With confident faith, one prays for wisdom and moves forward assuming God is leading.

V 7 – that person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Well, of course not! He has just said it takes faith, but this kind of doubt is the opposite of faith. Double-minded and unstable…the opposite of the man of faith. Both the leadership of the Holy Sprit and your faith in that leadership will, throughout your life, push you beyond your comfort zone into risk territory. If that scares you, remember what the Twelve who followed Jesus must have experienced. He took them from fishing, tax collecting, and who knows what else to turn them into almost instant rabbis and evangelists! And the Lord still does it!

Verse 8 – Oddly, it is the one who takes leaps of faith who James says is stable! The one who hesitates is lost! It’s okay if your emotions bounce all over the place. The unstable one is the one who begins to believe and draws back, who begins in faith but draws back. Movies and TV police procedurals and military shows have popularized the concept of a partner “having one’s back.” That idea is equally important in Christian discipleship. Together our congregations must support one another, with everyone playing his part.

>One day as a pastor, it struck me that usually it was the “old heads” in the church that were the most fearful of going forward. Part of it, I’m sure, is that living on a fixed income and living through recessions made them cautious. On the other hand, by the time you reach senior adulthood, most Christians have walked for years with Christ. They have a dozen or three dozen testimonies of the Lord carrying them and their churches through trying times. It seems to me that older Christians should be the most adventurous, challenging the younger ones to move forward as the Spirit leads!

Vv 9-11 – The early church often tilted toward the lower social classes as witnessed by several of these epistles. Paul addresses the subject, and James agrees with him here. The present passage challenges each group, the poor and the wealthy, to celebrate their status. The poor should stand tall because the Lord has made him an ambassador for Christ and a servant of God. The rich, paradoxically, should embrace the fact that their privileged status will not last into eternity.

    I remember a poem from somewhere whose repeated chorus echoes its self-explanatory title: Six Feet of Earth Makes Us All of One Size!
    Political Correctness constantly hammers against built-in privilege. We here mostly charges against old white males, but with the #MeToo movement, it has reached out to men of several races. We white male Christians need to remember that we are not called to privilege, but to service. Check out Philippians 2:5ff – Let this mind be in you…
    Likewise, remember that dynamically powerful verse from Galatians: The is no Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, but in Christ ALL ARE ONE!

V 12 – James returns to his persistent theme of perseverance. We have no evidence of active persecution in the background of this epistle. On the other hand, Christians of that day could expect the occasional spurt of one government or another or even harassment from Jewish leaders. In addition, Satan harasses us daily with temptations. Remember, wherever you see the word trial, you could also translate that word temptation, so that could like in the background here. Keep on keeping on. Yield not to temptation.  And the like.

V 13 – Don’t blame temptation on God. And, I would add, be careful about blaming trials on God. As we’ll see, we bring a lot of trials – and temptations! – on ourselves! Fundamental to the nature of God is the notion that He is good. James spells it out: He is never even tempted to do evil, and even further, He will never tempt anyone else. So watch out that you don’t blame God.

    Once I started looking for them, I was surprised how many was I – and you – subtly blame God. “Anger is just my besetting sin. I’ve always had a tempter.” Implies you can’t do anything about it, even with God’s help.
    The advertising constantly bombards us with temptation. What can we do?
    Saw an article last week suggested Google was edging away from its founders’ motto: First, do no evil. How well do you keep that motto?

V 14 – Add to that, the most frequently heard excuse, “The Devil made me do it.” Well, no. He can tempt you, but he can’t override your will. If he could, our sin would be his fault, not ours. But consider the process here, and note it IS a process:
    1 – sin begins in desire, your own desire. Desire is rooted in pride. “I deserve it.” Do you? Be sure you don’t sound as if you’re pouting. How did you get along without it? How do others do without it? Eve saw the fruit and thought how it would feel to sink her teeth into it.
    2 – Action expresses the desire, and that action becomes sin. Eve ate!
    3 – Sin carries one in the direction of death. When sin is full grown the end of the path is death. I think of life as a road. At one end is God. At the other is Hell. Which direction are you headed?
    4 – James thinks in terms of life: conception, birth, death. There’s a special irony in sin giving birth to death!
    As a pastor, when I found myself in a difficult situation, I quoted the first part of John 15:16 to the Lord, You did not choose me, but I chose you…”  Then I would say, “Lord, you got me into this, now help me out here.” Sometimes I got the help easily. But there were a few times, I was pretty sure I heard Him say, “Oh no, I didn’t. Don’t blame this one on me. You got yourself into it, now get yourself out.” Of course most of the time, He did lead me out, but still…
    You actually gain an advantage when you accept responsibility. If the devil really did make you do, you are in no shape to defeat him. If you take the blame, you can reverse your behavior and work your way out!

V 16-17 – In contrast to blaming temptation on God, recognize and praise Him as the source of all good! Good and perfect gifts…Perfect has the idea of maturity, which in turn has the idea of fulfilling its purpose. A mature Christian is one who fulfils God’s purpose for him. A perfect gift is one which fulfils its purpose. Perfection in the Bible does not put flawlessness first, but completion of purpose.

V 18 – James here connects his thoughts with those of John and Paul! John spoke of the new birth, and Paul of the new creation. “Word of truth” includes two of John’s favorite words. Word is the Greek word logos, which usually means Christ or at least the Gospel of Christ. James give evidence he believes we are saved exactly as the rest of the NT says we are.

NOTE TO TEACHERS: This strikes me as a huge lesson. You won’t have enough time to cover all of it. Give some thought as to which parts will be most helpful to your class members. If you can’t cover all you think is important, make a note and consider going on from there to begin next week. I’ve also saved extra material against a week of material I think is either less important or already absorbed by the class.














This month and has two

CHRISTIAN HEALTH

Galatians 6

Note to teachers: You can have a great class by asking members to relate their experiences with each of the first several verses. To get them started talking, ask them how he can say one thing in verse 2, then appear to contradict himself in verse 5? Can you look up “paradox”?

Wayne Oates, my seminary prof in Pastoral Care who got me started in adding pastoral counseling to my skill set, once told us that Galatians 6 is the mental health chapter of the Bible. A great characteristic of mental health is the ability to inter-relate to people in a positive manner. So right off the top, Paul says “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Leon Kilbreath, a specialist in Sunday School work, strongly emphasized the calling of each member of the class each week by the teacher. Not to nag them about coming, but to see how they’re doing, fill them in on others, and ask whether there’s anything you can join them in praying about. He said we always put on our holy expressions with our Sunday clothes, smile, and greet everyone with “Hi! How are you? I’m fine, thank you.” One women’s teacher called on Friday night, and the member responded that they would be out to go to Houston. Their daughter was in the hospital with the aftereffects of a drug overdose. The teacher responded that she knew exactly what she was dealing with. Their son had gone that route for several years and just now seemed to have begun real recovery. A genuine bond was formed where they could lean on one another as Paul advised. And yet on Sundays they had greeted each other with a smile and “I’m fine, how are you?”  Be assured your class members are struggling with life from time to time. Let’s work on building a fellowship  of sharing burdens.

Back up to verse 1: “If someone comes up short…” That is the lexicon meaning, not the usual Greek word for sin, although that word also means to come short. “You spiritual ones…” There is always a danger in judging others that we jump on those sins we don’t commit while ignoring our own. Paul says we should bring them back toward maturity, while self-disciplining ourselves not to be tempted – perhaps to superiority feelings or looking down on the “sinners” because we deem ourselves “spiritual.” The idea is that the Spirit leads us to know how to help the wandering soul and set him back on the right path to join the fellowship.

Verse 2 – the Law of Christ – Love your neighbor as yourself, and the Golden Rule.

Verse 3 – a warning against pride. When the Church developed the idea of 7 Deadly Sins, pride is listed first. Many feel pride is the root of all sin. After all, sin is saying “I know better than God.” In modern life it’s more like, “It’s my life. I’ll do what I want.”

Verse 4 – Test yourself. Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living!” One church I’ve heard of requires a spiritual autobiography as one of the conditions of full membership! “Without comparing themselves to someone else.” Ouch! Remember Jesus telling Peter, “Don’t worry about John, you follow me!” Yet we so easily envy and become jealous. I found early as a pastor it’s difficult to thank or appreciate someone from the pulpit. There’s always someone out there whimpering because the pastor ignored him. Rather, discipline yourself to measure yourself today against where you were a year ago. A good many who run track for high school and college say they like it because you’re only measuring yourself against what you have done before.

Verse 5 – Don’t live a dependent life. Take responsibility for yourself. Don’t blame others. This is hard, but consider, “He made me mad!” Well, no, he didn’t. You chose to respond with anger. Someone else might have laughed in his face or even confronted him: “You sound angry.” Getting mad is not your only choice.

 Verse 6 – This verse is often used as a text to say pay the preacher. I frankly don’t think Paul had that in mind. The best thing to share with a real teacher is first, your appreciation, and second, by applying the teachings to your life. If the teacher makes a difference, tell them so!

Verse 7-8 – A basic principle of life. Don’t plant beans and expect corn to come up. Because of God’s grace, we don’t always get punishment for every sin, but our lives come out according to our input. Look at the famous entertainers who die young from overdoses. Louisiana lately has been named among the most obese of states. Yet we know that overweight kills early. Sowing to the flesh – living for pleasure results in a wall between you and the Spirit. Paul says sow to the Spirit – perhaps he has in mind those fruits of the Spirit in the last chapter. The blessing is eternal life, which includes joy in our present lives. I bet you know someone who can say when they changed their lives to follow Christ, they were happier than they ever imagined they could be.

Verse 9 – Remember this comes from Paul, who had more right to become discouraged than most any other missionary. As part of his account of his troubles in 2 Corinthians 11, he adds the daily worry of all the churches. Galatians, in fact, is one troubling him as he writes. In fact, it’s why he writes. Rather than getting tired of dealing with Judaizers in many places, he sends them a letter. We are to keep on keeping on. I remember a former church member in another town whom I had met as a deacon. He had fallen out of church but was highly successful in his career as an executive. Several years after occasionally visiting him, I saw him walk into the church. Surveys tell us it takes 30 visits on average to enroll one person in Sunday School if you enroll them the first time they come!

 Verse 10 – Paul summarizes by challenging Christians to seize every opportunity to do good to whomever and wherever we can. So, let’s go for it.