Written by: Claire Dalpra
James 1 v 1-4
From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To all of God’s people who are scattered everywhere in the world:
Greetings.
My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need.
Notes
Scholars are almost all agreed that this letter was written by James, the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55) who went on to lead the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15). They reckon it was written around AD 50 but no one can say for sure. The style and content of the letter is very Jewish. For example, he uses the Jewish name for God later on in the letter. As he was writing to all Christians using Jewish phrases, scholars believe it was written in the early days of the early church when it was predominantly Jewish, before Peter received the instruction that salvation was offered to the Gentiles also. James writes to challenge Christians regarding their behaviour in the face of difficulties.
James calls his fellow Christians “brothers and sisters” here in today’s verses and 15 times throughout the letter. In this day and age, it probably seems a little cheesy to us. I immediately think of cringey Christian sign-offs that make me want to vomit more than be encouraged e.g. “your fellow brother in His vineyard” or “fellow sister drinking from the well of life”. However, the affection James wants to convey reminds me of the advice given to parents to back up one word of rebuke with nine words of love when raising kids. James mixes his challenges with love.
Today, I want you to think about how you express your appreciation and affection to your fellow Christians. Think of a non-cheesy way of doing it. Would a non-Christian be able to tell that there was something special that you had in common by the way that you related to one another?
James 1 v 5-8
But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to all people, so he will give you wisdom. But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind. Such doubters are thinking two different things at the same time, and they cannot decide about anything they do. They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.
Notes
There are two points I want to address from this passage. The first is general doubt and the second is guidance.
Firstly, doubting is allowed. The choice to believe with one’s free will must have an element of doubt. If we all believed automatically, we would be robots. Doubting is healthy because having worked through doubts, your faith is much stronger for it. When I started University, I had quite a significant period of doubting provoked by a class I took on biblical studies that was taught by a non-Christian. I realised that much of what I believed was just because my parents believed it. Then, I felt guilty as well as doubting. In the end, I went to talk to my vicar’s wife about it and she helped me work it out. If you are in a phase of doubt, go to someone older and wiser and thrash it out.
Secondly, I have met many people who have trouble hearing God for guidance. They find themselves tossed about like waves of the sea because they aren’t sure what God is saying to them. Is it all about feelings? There are eight helpful guidance “flags” that you can refer to when praying through issues of guidance. They are:
1. Duty
2. The Bible
3. Praying friends
4. Common sense
5. Church leaders
6. Circumstances
7. Inner witness
8. Supernatural words and signs
When praying, check that all eight flags are flying in the same direction. Generally speaking, one might be enough to say no. For example, if you wanted to go abroad to work alone as a missionary but were married, your duty to your spouse would come first. The “duty” flag would therefore be no.
Think about these flags next time you feel confused about God’s guidance.
James 1 v 9-11
Believers who are poor should be proud, because God has made them spiritually rich. Those who are rich should be proud, because God has shown them that they are spiritually poor. The rich will die like a wild flower in the grass. The sun rises with burning heat and dries up the plants. The flower falls off, and its beauty is gone. In the same way the rich will die while they are still taking care of business.
Notes
These verses have been placed right in the middle of James’ discussion about having “troubles” meaning “trials” or “temptations” in Greek. It would seem that James considers wealth an important “trial” or “temptation”.
It is clear that spiritual and material wealth have nothing to do with each other. Further still, they seem to be complete opposites. Why? Being rich is clearly a hindrance to being spiritually rich. How? If you are rich, the focus is on the things of this world, not the world to come, on the seen and not the unseen. You have less cause to trust God for his provision and there is a greater temptation to be pleased with yourself rather than grateful to God.
So, what are we, as 21st Century Christians, with money enough to have computers, meant to make of this? Jesus always talked about money as if it was here to stay and despite Star Trek, it is probably safe to assume money will always be with us. Jesus said don’t be anxious about money in Matthew 6. However, the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 lets us know God is serious about what we do with our money.
If you don’t know what to give God, the amount most often mentioned in the Bible is 10% of your income. In Malachi 3, God says “see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it”. Consistent with our passage from James, these blessings are firstly spiritual not material.
Whatever you do about money, use the things of this world as if not engrossed in them, for this world is passing away. Give your 10% at minimum and be humble about what you have.
James 1 v 12-15
When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever. God promised this to all those who love him. When people are tempted, they should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them. This desire leads to sin, and then the sin grows and brings death.
Notes
I want to make one thing quite clear about temptation. Scripture tells us to “resist the devil” (James 4) and “flee temptation” (1 Corinthians 6 & 10, 1 Timothy 6, 2 Timothy 2). The latter is done in order to do the former. Do not get confused with the two. When we are tempted, we are to flee from the temptation, not resist it.
What is the difference? Let me illustrate. Very often we think we can deal with temptation by resisting it. Imagine being with your boyfriend or girlfriend alone in your bedroom, with no one else in the house. You are lying next to each other on the bed, kissing and cuddling. You are telling yourself that you will “resist” the temptation to do more then you should. That is not fleeing temptation. That is flying in the face of it. This is lying down beside each other, on a bed, alone in your house. Anyone with sense will know not to get into this situation in the first place.
Equally, have you ever sat down to the Internet alone in your room, thinking you can “resist” going on dodgy sites but found yourself automatically drawn to them? To flee from this, would it be a good idea to make sure someone is in the room before you dial up?
What makes the “resisting” option worse is the feeling of guilt you get from knowing you weren’t strong enough to resist when you thought you were. Fleeing from temptation means coming to terms with the fact that you are weak. It means getting serious with God in order to do something about it.
Today, confess your sin and ask God to help you remember to flee situations of temptation rather than try to resist when you can’t.
James 1 v 16-18
My dear brothers and sisters, do not be fooled about this. Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows. God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made.
Notes
It struck me that the sun, moon and starts are vital things to our lives on this planet. If we didn’t have the sun, there would be no heat. If we didn’t have the moon to give us tides, we would have no eco-system. If we didn’t have stars, there’d be no excellent films like Star Wars! If the first two things were not constantly present, we would die. When James compares God to such things and finds him even more constant, how much more must he be present in our lives, never leaving us, never turning his attention away from us. How cool is that!
James writes that we are the most important thing God has made because of the word of truth. What does this mean? The phrase “give us life” in verse 18 is not a reference to creation but regeneration. Could the word of truth be the gospel of Jesus Christ, both his teaching and his sacrifice that communicates how much God loves us? Are we most important because, through Jesus, he can offer us a two-sided relationship of love?
If God is the source of everything good, where do bad things fit? We know from yesterday’s passage that God cannot be tempted by evil and God does not tempt anyone. In Romans 8, it says that “in all things God works for the good of those that love him”. So, although he is not the source, he tries his hardest to bring good out of bad things. Someone once said that everything is redeemable with God, meaning that from every bad situation, good can arise. Remember that in Cantonese, the word for “crisis” and “opportunity” is one in the same.
James 1 v 19-21
My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong. Then in gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you.
Notes
These verses are to do with resolution of conflict. James challenges all Christians to be like God and be “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103). Let us take care over individual, emotional and mental agendas. Each of us is the only thing we can take responsibility for. Don’t get into the trap of believing your behaviour is all someone else’s fault; although people affect our lives, you are responsible for your how you choose to respond.
How do you cope with conflict? Do you withdraw into yourself? Do you win at all costs? Do you yield easily? Do you easily compromise? Think about which you are most likely to do. Then think about the positives and negatives to your actions. For example, if you withdraw, the positive side is that you delay tackling the issue while you are still angry. The negative, however, is that you may bottle up your feelings. If you yield, that is good because it shows a willingness to not win at all costs but the temptation, then, is to bottle feelings or feel proud at your sacrifice. If you easily compromise, the positive thing is that you and the other person/s are showing a willingness to work together but then no one is satisfied and neither party shows the humility to consider backing down. Even the most sensible way of handling conflict - taking time to resolve it - has the negative effect of requiring time, energy and emotional strain.
It is good to know people will react differently when they come into conflict with something or someone. It is good to be aware of the consequences of our coping strategies. Aim to properly resolve issues and be prepared for it to take up our time, patience and compassion.
James 1 v 22-25
Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy.
Notes
Every species on this earth, other than humanity, directs all its resources to raising the next generation. As humans, we have shown a definite tendency to live for ourselves, especially in the twentieth century with the strong economy and media-orientated consumerism that has grown since the 2nd World War. This pre-occupation with the present generation can also be found in the church. Some leaders get stuck in a loop of agreeing to provide for teenagers if they come to church but the teenagers don’t come because nothing is provided for them. Lets break out of this loop and direct resources to young people, even though we might end up with churches that look a bit different.
If you are a teenager or young adult, are you teachable? How many adults in your life do you trust implicitly? If it is very few, think about whether this is more to do with you than with them. We need to be challenged. As James says, if we only listen and do nothing, we are fooling ourselves. If you are stuck down a hole and you can’t get out, sympathy from onlookers is nice but not helpful. You need someone to tell you what to do.
James had to be teachable. In John 7, James, as his brother, did not believe that Jesus was who he said he was. 20 or 30 years later, we find James pressing upon us the need to act on what we hear. Do you wonder if James, looking in his metaphorical mirror, continually remembered, with deep regret, the time when he didn’t believe what he heard in Jesus?
Today, look at yourself in a mirror. Remember the hurt and guilt of the past along with the love and forgiveness that Jesus has shown you and be thankful.
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Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word
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