30 Days in the Bible, Day 19: James 1:22-25

The way we see ourselves in our mind is seldom the same way we see ourselves in the mirror. I like to think that I look very much like I did about 15 years ago, but when I look in the mirror I see my father staring back at me. The truth is I don’t have a very good idea of my appearance in my memory, and that’s probably true for most people.

The same thing happens when we look at ourselves spiritually. It’s easy to focus on what we have done that is good, while minimizing our sin. We may tend to think of ourselves as better than we really are. On the other hand, some people are so conscious of particular sins that they begin to see themselves as worthless and not deserving of forgiveness. Both of these are distorted images of who we are.

That is why James encourages Christians to constantly look into God’s Word for an accurate reflection of who we are. In the Bible, we see that we are sinners, unworthy of heaven, but that through the grace of Jesus Christ we have been made right with God. We see that we are forgiven, not because we are worthy, but because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us on the cross and gave us forgiveness through faith in Him. We are neither perfect saints nor are we hopeless sinners. Through Christ we are sinners saved by grace, united with Him and always seeking to become more like Him.

This passage can tie in with what we saw yesterday about memorizing Scripture. With God’s Word hidden in our heart, we always have a mirror available to show us who we are. It’s a little like the way many women carry around a small compact mirror to check on their hair and makeup. We can check up on our spiritual condition by holding up passages from the Bible that speak to whatever we may encounter in our lives.

By reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, while committing more and more of it to memory, we will have an accurate picture of who we are in Christ, how we relate to our heavenly Father, and how we can live in a way that please and honors Jesus. As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the Word, we will grow more like Christ, and as we grow more like Him we will be able to show Jesus to those we encounter every day.

Who heals?

My church is going to have a service of prayer for healing in a couple of weeks. This isn't a "healing service" as popularly imagined, where we expect to see immediate, miraculous cures during the service (although I wouldn't rule it out, since the Holy Spirit works as He wills). Rather, we are attempting to put into practice the passage in James 5:13-16 on prayers for the sick.

We have many people in our church who are going through difficult physical challenges right now, and they ask us to pray for them. We certainly believe that every Christian can and ought to pray for those who are sick, and that you don't need an elder praying over you to get better. Still, there is a reason this passage was written by James and became part of our Bible.

 If you were part of the Wednesday night James study, we went over this is a little more detail, and I posted the notes in the Library on the Pastor Steve's Study web site. Here I just want to go over what we plan to do and how it fits together with what we studied in James.

In the service, we will have the pastoral staff (who are the elders in our particular church setting) praying, with the deacons assisting. While this isn't a direct application of James' injunction to "call for the elders," it does reflect the underlying idea that the elders of the church ought to be pastorally concerned for the needs of the church members. It does also require the one seeking prayer to let the elders know he or she needs prayer.

We will be using oil to anoint the sick. While some scholars argue that this was more for medicinal purposes, as oil was often used as a curative, I think in James it also has a symbolic significance. With the anointing done "in the name of the Lord," I think the oil, as often in the NT, symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Notice that this anointing mentioned in James isn't done as the person is dying; it is done with the expectation that the sick person will be made well.

James does not say that the anointing, the oil, or the elders are what makes the person well. It is the "prayer of faith," the prayer offered in  a full understanding of who God is and what He can do, that is answered by God and brings healing. This prayer is not a magic formula that forces God to do something He doesn't want to do. Rather, it is a prayer offered in full submission to God, and one which recognizes that physical healing isn't always the answer God wants to give us. Healing is accomplished by the work of the Spirit whom the oil represents, not by the oil, the words, or the people involved.

There is also a connection with sin and forgiveness in James. Not all sickness is the result of sin, but some is. Sometimes it is because of the consequences of sinful actions, but it may also be God's way of getting our attention. We should never focus so much on the health of the body that we forget the health of the soul. Healing involves getting the whole person right, and you can be perfectly healthy in body but terribly sick in your soul. You can also be struggling with a number of illnesses, yet be in good spiritual health if you continue to rely on the Lord in your struggles.

When you read all of James, it becomes apparent that he doesn't believe that Christians are delivered from all suffering. In fact, James tells us trials should be welcomed because of what God accomplishes through them. We don't have to like suffering, but we do need to recognize that it is often through our trials that grow more like Jesus.

So we will pray for the sick and suffering, but depend on the Lord to bring about the healing. We will pray for the body and the soul, we will use oil to symbolize the source of healing rather than as a healing agent itself, and we will pray in the knowledge that "the intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful."

A humble heart

James is at his fiery best in chapter 4 of his epistle. I can hear him in my imagination thundering from the "pulpit" about the dangers of sinful desires and trying to be friends with the world. In this chapter, I think there is a common thread that ties together the sections, and that is pride. It is pride that causes us to put ourselves and our desires ahead of serving the Lord, that makes us want to be respected by the world, that leads us to criticizing others, and that sets us up to boast about our futures as if we controlled history. Pride was the first sin, and it is often a root of many other sins.

What is James' solution to this problem? Naturally, it is humility. He quotes Proverbs 3:34, which states that God "gives grace to the humble." It seems like that means we hve to earn God's grace through our attitude, but I think there is a deeper truth here. The proud person will not receive God's grace, not because it is not offered, but because he sees no need of it. If I am in control, and everything is going my way, why would I want to ask God for grace? "I don't need God or His grace; I'm doing just fine, thank you." 

The humble person receives God's grace because he or she recognizes a desperate need for that grace. If I understand who I am before God, and just what sin means, I will not approach the Lord with pride asking for what I think I deserve, because I know exactly what I do deserve, and it's a fearsome judgment. If I am truly humble, I will ask for grace since it is the only thin that keeps me from hell. 

Submission to God is required, and talking about submission is not popular in our contemporary Western culture. If we look at James' call to submit to God in its context, wee see that in the very next verse he talks about drawing near to God. Submission to God is not an abject groveling at the feet of a cruel and exacting master; it is drawing near, with proper reverence, to a loving Father who is the almighty Creator of the universe. There's enough there that I won't approach God in a flippant manner, but I can be encouraged that He wants me to draw near.

Humility also helps us "resist the devil." We know we need help, we need grace, and we need a power beyond what we have to resist Satan's temptations. Satan himself fell because of pride, and he will use ours to goad us to serving ourselves rather than the Lord. As long as we are aware of our own penchant for sin, and constantly come to od for forgiveness when we do sin, we can maintain the kind of humble attitude that stills the call to pride.

Humility is really just recognizing who we are in God's sight: sinners, saved by grace, and beloved now as children of God. We won't think too highly of ourselves and our own goodness, nor will we wallow in depression over our sorry state. We will think of ourselves as God does, and each day gain an increased understanding of how He sees us and how we can serve Him. With that kind of humility, we can avoid a great deal of temptation to go our own way, and stay on the path God has made for us.

The fiery tongue

The images used by James in chapter 3 of his epistle to describe the tongue are striking: the horse and bit, ship and rudder. taming of wild animals. None is more striking, however, than the comparison of the tongue to a fire. While fire can be used for good, James doesn't have any of that in mind here. This fire is destructive, begun by a small spark but creating a wide swath of destruction.

I believe, despite not having any hard empirical data, that most church divisions and fights are caused by words. Most of these fights don't even involve fundamental theological or historical issues; they are caused when one person or group starts talking about another. Passions become inflamed, and things quickly spiral out of control, leaving behind the destruction of any kind of witness for Jesus and breaking apart ties of Christian family.

What we need to notice in James' use of this analogy is the source of the fire. He says in verse 6 that the tongue is "set on fire by hell." This certainly includes the work of Satan and the demons in tempting Christians to misuse their words, but I think it goes further. Hell, as the place of eternal judgment, is the place where each creature has itself as the object of care, concern, and worship. There is no need to bow to God or concede to His laws and commandments. That kind of hell, placing ourselves as the ultimate concern of ourselves, is reflected in destructive, selfish talk.

Reading James 3, you can sense the passion with which he might have preached this message. He urges his readers not to give in to self, not to allow their speech free reign, but to learn to control it. While the small tongue may change the entire course of our lives (as many translations render the unusual phrase in verse 6), it can be controlled by heavenly wisdom. That's the connection between the discussion of the tongue and the discussion of the two wisdoms later in the chapter.

How can we control what we say? We have to be changed from the inside out. We need the kind of wisdom described in verse 17, where is is called the "wisdom from above." This may be a reference to 1:17, where "every perfect gift" is said to come from "above." It is a wisdom that is heavenly, coming from a heavenly source. We cannot that is "first pure, the peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy" unless we have the Holy Spirit filling us with His fruit. But when we yield to the Spirit, we can gain control of our lives and our tongues through the strength He gives us.

Will we be perfect? Not in this life. I wish I had better control of my words and my speech (and so do the people who have to listen to me ramble on!). As we grow more like Jesus, and as we allow the Spirit to do His work in our lives, we will get better at it. Maybe only a little here and little there at times, but we will see our speech start to look like Jesus' words. When we do, we will be able to prevent those "fires" that our tongues may cause.

Demonic faith

Many people have "demonic faith" in God. No, I don't mean theithy worship demons. I mean they have the same kind of faith in God that the demons do. They believe in the existence of God, and maybe they even believe that there's only one God, but that's as far as their faith goes. It doesn't make any difference in their lives.

In James 2:19, we're told that the demons believe in one God. I think that Satan and the demons are entirely orthodox in their beliefs about God. In fact, it's more than faith to them-they know the reality of who God is and what He's like. I;m sure they are consistent Trinitarians, knowing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you gave them a theology test on the existence and being of God, they'd ace it.

Despite their "orthodoxy," however, Satan and the demons are condemned to eternal judgment. Their correct belief in God didn't stop them from pursuing their own way, with Satan wanting to be like God and the demons following him in rebellion. As a result, they fell, and their knowledge of God only gives them reason to tremble at the thought of what's coming.

Having the facts about God straight is important, but those facts alone aren't enough. We have to take what we know about God and act on it. The first thing we must do is acknowledge who God is, and who we are in relation to Him. We need to accept Jesus as our Lord by faith. We need to have a faith that really makes a difference in our lives as well. Our knowledge should be matched by our commitment.

James is the NT book that stresses having a living faith. James is often criticized for putting an emphasis on works; in fact, some people accuse him of teaching salvation by works. That's not what his message is when you look at it closely. James sees works as evidence of a real faith, and the absence of any good works as evidence of a dead faith. He follows the advice of his older brother, who said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:20) If our faith is alive, it should be visible in the way we live our lives.

We do need to know the truth about God accurately. We need to have a strong grasp of the teaching of the Bible. But we also need to take what we know and put it into practice. If our faith is no better than that of a demon, we've missed the whole point about Jesus. So let's hold on to the truth, but let's also let that truth work itself out so the world can see the difference that faith in Christ makes in our lives.

Doing the Word

Awkward title, isn't it? Yet that's what we should be doing according to James 1:22:  "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (HCSB) The Greek words are nouns, so it's an accurate rendition of what James wrote. So what does it mean to "do the Word"? That's pretty much what James spends most of his epistle describing.

It must have been tough to be James. Maybe if you're a younger sibling you understand the issues he might have faced. Can't you see Mary saying, "James, why can't you be more like your older brother? Jesus always listens. He never gets into. You should be more like him." Maybe that's one of the reasons his brothers weren't immediate followers of Jesus; perhaps there was a little sibling-rivalry resentment to overcome. (That, of course, is just my speculation, not Scripture, so take it for wht it's worth.)

Yet James did ultimately believe in Jesus, and became not only a follower of His but a leader in the early church. He was called "James the Just' for his outstanding character. According to early accounts, he was respected not only by Christians but by many Jews. His advice at the Council of Jerusalem shows a man who seeks to be both just and fair in his dealings. James really did become a "doer of the Word," so his encouragement to his readers and to us is significant.

I believe one of the reasons so many churches have little impact on their communities and on the world at large is that they become so focused on being right in their beliefs that they forget to live out those truths before the world. I would be the last one to argue that having correct theology and a strong understanding of Scripture is unimportant. However, even if our theology is perfect and our grasp of the Bible deep, that knowledge and understanding is useless if not put into practice. If the truth of God doesn't make a difference in the way we live, then we are living by another truth and only going through the motions of being a Christian.

James certainly believed in the importance of reading and meditating on the Word. Just two verses later, after his illustration of looking into a mirror, he writes, "But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does." (1:25, HCSB) Our time and meditation on the Word is what gives us the motivation to do what is good. We cannot do what the Lord wants us to do if we don't know what that is, and we can't know what that is if we don't read, study, and understand what He tells us in His Word.

I'm a bit of an academic, and perhaps if you are reading this you are, too. I have to be careful that I don't get so caught up in an academic pursuit of Christianity that I forget to have a living, breathing, and active faith.

So by all means study the Bible, understand your theology, and listen to the Word preached and taught. Just don't leave it in the classroom. Make sure you take what you know and live it, and show your world what faith in Jesus looks like in action. Do the Word!

Sunday sermon: "Jesus Meets Persistent Pleaders"

Putting the two pericopes (a fancy scholarly term for "paragraph" or "short literary section") from Matthew 20:20-34 in context highlights the contrast between two similar events. In each section, two men are asking Jesus for something. (James and John try to sneak their request through their mother, who some scholars think may have been Jesus' aunt, but Jesus sees through that.)  In each Jesus asks "What do you want?" And, despite what some people have written, both were answered.

The major difference between the two requests was not in their content, but in their motivation. James and John (and possibly their mother) were motivated by pride. They wanted the chief positions of honor in the kingdom. Perhaps they legitimately thought they had earned those positions, as two of Jesus' closest confidants (as well as possibly His cousins). They may also have just been trying to preempt the other disciples by getting their request in first. In either case, their was a lot of self at the center of their request.

That really isn't much different than what we see in a lot of what passes for "Christian" teaching today. A whole group of "health and wealth" preachers teach that you should ask for what you want, and expect God to give it to you. Some even say that if you ask the right way, God must give you what you ask for. This places the emphasis in prayer on the petitioner, who puts him- or herself at the center of the universe. Prayers like this are made by people who essentially think of themselves as God. the one in control.

Jesus first challenges James and John with the price they would have to pay: the same kind of suffering He was facing Himself. Their glib "Yes, we can!" response was met with the assurance that they would indeed pay a great price. Still, Jesus told them "no." He would not give them the position they sought, because it was not His to give, but was already prepared by the Father for those whose it was.

The rest of the disciples, scarcely less ambitious, were angry with the two, and Jesus rebuked them as well. The key to greatness in His kingdom is not position, but service. The greatest is the one who serves the most; first place goes to the lowliest. How would this attitude taking root in our churches today change the dynamics of our congregations? What would it mean if we chose leaders on the basis of who served the most rather than who jockeyed for power best?

The two men in the other pericope stand in contrast to the disciples. They certainly want their request heard, and they call out persistently for Jesus. Their cry shows their heart: "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" They acknowledge who Jesus is, as Lord and as Messiah, and they ask for mercy, not for something they think they deserve. They believed Jesus could help them, so they cried out for Him.

Jesus answers them with a "yes." In their case, He heals their blind eyes, and in response they follow Him. This apparently means they took to the road to Jerusalem with Jesus' band of pilgrims. Perhaps they were there for the eventful week that led to the death and resurrection of Jesus. In any case, their response to Jesus' mercy was to give Him themselves.

What is our attitude in prayer? Do we pray like we expect God to recognize our worthiness to receive anything we want? Or do we humbly ask our Lord to show us His mercy? Do we respond to the mercy and generosity of God by asking for even more, or by giving Him all we are? We can't buy God's grace; we can't match the price He paid. All we can do is give Him what we have, in humble service and gratitude for all we have received by His grace.