Written by: Christine Gore

James 4 v 11-12
 Brothers and sisters, do not tell evil lies about each other. If you speak against your fellow believers or judge them, you are judging and speaking against the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are no longer a follower of the law. You have become a judge. God is the only Lawmaker and Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge your neighbor.

Notes
Have you watched any Soaps this week? If you have, can you think of any incidents where one character was bad-mouthing another? Can you think of any conversations you were involved in where you heard someone ‘slagging off’ someone else, or gossiping about them? It can be very easy to bad-mouth people, especially if we don’t like them or agree with them. But what does God think about this use of our tongues? James makes it clear in today’s passage that, especially when those ‘people’ are members of our Christian ‘family’, God is not impressed! He does not like it when we tell malicious lies, insult, gossip about or ‘slag off’ others. Why? 

First of all, because believers are called to obey the royal law (James 2:8), which says we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, and not to judge our neighbour. Judging and loving are mutually exclusive acts. Loving puts the other first, whereas judging puts self first. When we judge others we are effectively saying that we are better than they are. But how can this be when all believers are essentially forgiven sinners? We all stand on level ground before God, so there is no moral high ground from which to look down on another believer.

Secondly, we have no right to judge others for that is God’s role. After all, only He has all the facts and so only He can judge fairly. If we set ourselves up as judge then we, to all intents and purposes, usurp God from His rightful place, and so once again the scene from Genesis 3 is played out in human history.

When have you been tempted to pass judgement on another believer? Bring this incident to God in prayer and ask His and maybe their forgiveness too! 

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James 4 v 13-17
 Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” But now you are proud and you brag. All of this bragging is wrong. Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, is sinning.

Notes
A favourite theme running though this letter is that of humility. Today’s passage picks up and develops this theme by concentrating on those who are not humble but arrogant. The arrogant are those who think that they can control their future, who think that time is at their disposal. So they make great plans and schemes, which they strive to attain, then boast and glory in when they do.

James condemns such actions, not because he thinks planning is wrong, but because of the underlying attitudes such arrogant planning displays, i.e. that of self-sufficiency and self-importance which declares that we believe ourselves to be masters of our own destiny and answerable to no-one else. ‘Get real’ says James, ‘you never know what’s around the next corner and you certainly can’t control it - no matter how much you plan!’ 

On the other hand the humble recognise that it is God alone who is in control of the future and that we are utterly dependent on Him. The Psalmist expresses it this way ‘But I trust in you, O Lord… My times are in your hands’ (Psalm 31:14&15). God sustains us and gives us time as one of His gifts. He calls us to humbly rely on him for every moment.

So, how much of your future have you already mapped out? Have you plans about further studies, a career, marriage or children? Where does God fit into all your plans? Are you prepared for Him to change your plans?

Spend a few minutes looking back over the last week and thank God for all He has given you. How well have you used His gift of time? The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is God’s gift to you, so make the most of it.

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James 5 v 1-6
 You rich people, listen! Cry and be very sad because of the troubles that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. Your gold and silver have rusted, and that rust will be a proof that you were wrong. It will eat your bodies like fire. You saved your treasure for the last days. The pay you did not give the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the workers have been heard by the Lord All-Powerful. Your life on earth was full of rich living and pleasing yourselves with everything you wanted. You made yourselves fat, like an animal ready to be killed. You have judged guilty and then murdered innocent people, who were not against you.

Notes
James is outraged by the arrogant rich, by their attitudes and the injustice that he sees them perpetrating and he doesn’t mince his words in condemning them. Like a scene from a horror movie James describes how their wealth and bodies will rot and corrode. They will loose everything they have devoted their time and energy to; everything they have relied on for their future comfort will disappear and all they will have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse! 

They have abused their position of wealth to exercise evil and oppressive power over the poor and needy. They have greedily cheated their workers out of a fair day’s wage and condemned and murdered innocent people who got in their way, so James calls them to account. God, The Lord All-Powerful, knows of their actions and He will judge them accordingly. For God is not only the God of time, as we saw yesterday, but also the God of material wealth and He requires our obedience to His will in our use of it. ‘You cannot serve both God and money’ (Matthew 6:24).

So what challenge do these verses contain for us? We may not consider ourselves to be wealthy, but are we greedy and do we knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate injustices? Spend some time thinking about where you are greedy, self-indulgent or materialistic. Remember ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matthew 6:19-21). Look out for articles or news items about areas of injustice on a local, national, and international levels. Pray for the victims of these injustices. Could you speak out against them? What other action could you and your church take (e.g. could you write to your MP, boycott certain products/companies who use sweatshop labour, or buy fair trade goods?)? 

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James 5 v 7-11
 Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. A farmer patiently waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth and for it to receive the autumn and spring rains. You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope, because the Lord is coming soon. Brothers and sisters, do not complain against each other or you will be judged guilty. And the Judge is ready to come! Brothers and sisters, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They suffered many hard things, but they were patient. We say they are happy because they did not give up. You have heard about Job’s patience, and you know the Lord’s purpose for him in the end. You know the Lord is full of mercy and is kind.

Notes
A friend e-mailed me this ‘Prayer for the Stressed’ the other day :-

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I cannot accept,
And the wisdom to hide the bodies of those
I had to kill today because they got on my nerves.

Well, it made me laugh, but I’m afraid James might think it rather contradicts what he is trying to say here! The Christians he was writing to were facing trials and suffering, and James encourages them to persevere, to stand firm, to be patient. Patience is a virtue that many of us would like to possess, but in a world where you can get everything yesterday (probably via the Internet!), patience is not a virtue that is encouraged. So what is patience? Is it just sitting passively waiting for the bad times to pass? 

From these verses it seems that patience far from being passive is an active virtue, for it involves us hoping, not complaining or moaning, and remembering. 

When the going gets tough ask the God of grace to give you patience, confidence, forbearance and assurance, so that you don’t give up.

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James 5 v 12
 My brothers and sisters, above all, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Don’t use the name of heaven, earth, or anything else to prove what you say. When you mean yes, say only yes, and when you mean no, say only no so you will not be judged guilty.

Notes
In this verse James seems to be reminding his readers of the teaching in Matthew 5:33-37, where Jesus condemns the oath making practices of the Pharisees who used to swear by different things depending on how binding they wanted their oath to be! Christians are not to do this, they are to simply say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and let their own integrity and honesty be enough of a guarantee that what they say is binding. James appears, therefore, to be building on another of his themes i.e. the how the use of our tongue should reflect true Christian character.

But is that all James wants to say? If so, why does he introduce the verse with “above all” and conclude it with condemnation for those who do not do as he commands? Is it only about honesty and integrity in speech? The context of this verse is patience and perseverance in trials (5:7-11) and it is at such times that we are tempted to make rash promises to God. “If you get me out of this situation God, I promise that I’ll ….”. James seems to be warning his readers not to try and manipulate God in this way. 

Have you ever found yourself trying to strike such a bargain with God? Was it when you were feeling under pressure or when you wanted something very badly? This verse challenges us to deal honestly and directly with God, we are not to try and bargain with Him promising good works or anything else. We cannot manipulate God to our own ends and it is wrong to try to do so. Write a letter to God to say how sorry you are for such times. Tell Him how you feel about these situations now. Entrust them to Him in faith. 

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James 5 v 13-18
 Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises. Anyone who is sick should call the church’s elders. They should pray for and pour oil on the person in the name of the Lord. And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will heal that person. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain came down from the sky, and the land produced crops again.

Notes
In times of trouble the alternative response to rash promises to God is believing prayer. Rash promises arise from un-faith, belief in a God who has to be cajoled into acting on our behalf. Believing prayer is rooted in true-faith, belief in a God of grace, who loves us and can be completely trusted. 

Today’s verses have much to teach us on the important topic of prayer :-

1. When to pray
2. How to pray
3. Why pray?

1. We are to pray whatever our circumstances :–

So often at these times we neglect prayer, because we are too stressed, too high or too low. James reminds us that it is precisely at such times that we should pray!

2. When we pray we should :-

This is humble prayer, prayer that acknowledges our weaknesses and our need of others.

3. We should pray because prayer works!

We can have confidence that prayer works, because we have confidence in the One who hears our prayers. Faith in a great God and not great faith in God is the key.

Have you ever considered finding a prayer partner? Why don’t you?! If you already pray with someone else review what you pray for – how does it fit with what you have learnt today?

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James 5 v 19-20
 My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders away from the truth, and someone helps that person come back, remember this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and will cause many sins to be forgiven.

Notes
Have you ever been lost? A friend of mine got very lost (and scared) whilst out alone walking in the Alps. She wandered off the path hidden by the snow and ended up following an animal track up a treacherous cliff. She got herself so lost that the only possible way home was by flagging down a train! 

Jesus said “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). Believers can so easily lose sight of the true path when trials and temptations obscure it. We wander off course and end up following another path that looks easier, but in fact takes us into a life-threatening place. When we see this happening to someone James says we must not write them off, (for there but for the grace of God goes each one of us). Instead we are to go after them and seek to bring them back.

But how do we ‘bring someone back’? We can start by going to where they are, meeting them in love and understanding (and not in judgement), and then helping them to see where the true path really lies. This will undoubtedly involve our prayer and encouragement and their confession and repentance.

How might we help one another not to stray in the first place? I think if my friend had had someone else walking with her she wouldn’t have got so lost. Believers should be accountable to one another, should walk the true path together, supporting each other as they go, being honest with one another as to how they are getting on. So, who helps you along the way? Who do you help? Could you “buddy up” with a few people and agree to be honest and accountable with each other as you journey together?


 word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes

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