James 2
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Story of Lego Fire
Definition of a fire.
For something to be real, to be authentic, it needs to have certain qualities.
Fires need this.
This is funny, but what if you were freezing to death. Staving to death. What if the fire was important?
This is what James is talking about this week.
Intro: Continuing conversation about James
Intro: Continuing conversation about James
Heart of the Letter to Christians. Everything flows out of this. James is extremely practical. But he is touching on what is the fuel for what he is talking about.
Lets Begin
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
The Question that James is asking is “Can you have faith and not action? Works? Deed?” Another way of saying it is “Can you believe and not do anything different?”
Its a question that we still ask today. Do I need to change the way I live if I have faith?
There are generally two responses that I get from people about this subject.
01 I believe in Jesus, and he is my savior. That is all I need.
02 Why do Christians not live what they believe.
James answers both of those responses.
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Gallup has an annual survey on honesty and ethics. And this is what a recent study found. And I quote
Only 24% of 18-34 year olds said Pastors and Clergy have High Honest.”
Particpants pointed to the PreachersNsneakers, to litany of high profile sex abuse scandals and toxic leadership exposes. Whether its the recent Hillsong documentary or Mars Hill Podcast, Young people are disgusted with the way we preach one thing and then see this corruption.
There is the promise that the way is gentle and light, that he offers rest… but many in the church are exausted from the pace and hurry that the church invites them into.
Pastors are burning out in record numbers,. 38 % of pastors considering leaving ministry.
And then the biggest one. Amy Peterson writes in her book Where goodness still grows
People of my generation aren’t leaving the church because their devious atheist professors got to them, but because they saw a church more interested in defending political power than loving their neighbors.
And so James asks the question “If you see someone in need. And do not meet it…He says that faith that is not lived out in action… is dead.
Notice, he doesnt say that it is bad faith. That it is immature. Faith that is not lived is dead.
And if you disagree, or want to argue… James anticipates that. He responds to the arguent that you can have faith without works.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
There is an invitation here. If you have just been believing and not letting your faith leak out into how you live life… compare the two faiths.
Try it. Try doing the things Jesus invites us to do, and you will see a huge difference.
James is saying that you do not have faith if you are not living it. But if you did…
If you lived out your faith, you will begin to experience the very things that are promised by faith. See faith in the bible has always required action or obedience.
The Very Nature of Faith is that it changes how we live. James already said that earlier in his letter
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
When we dont have faith, we are unstable. We are unable to follow God.
The fact is throughout the bible God has invited into relationship through faith and then expects us to live in a certain way. And this is not only in the Old Testament. Isaiah is a book that is continually about how Israel has said they have faith, but do not live it. And this is just one of the ways God talks to them.
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
Again, see the requirement of doing. Especially to those who cannot help themselves. In fact, James is probably quoting this passage in his letter.
Now…what does the bible call people that are obedient to God’s invitation. That believe in him and follow the way of Jesus? Often it is “Faithful”.
Now a couple of things about the word faithful. Not only does it mean “Someone full of faith...” but just as often it refers to the object of the faith. A house that is sturdy would be a faithful house.
Deuteronomy contains one of the most imporant passages in scripture. Within it God describes his character, and when you know it…you can see it pop up all through the bible… But this is what God says
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. But
those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
How does God describe himself?? As Faithful.
Now why is this important for us to know. God is not calling you to blind faith. God is inviting you to be faithful because he is faithful first. Being faithful is out of a relationship to God.
So why do we take care of the poor and hungry? Because we have a relationship to a faithful God who has taken care of us…and will continue to take care of us even as we care for others.
What drives us to not? It is because we do not have faith that he will care for us. That he is good and will do what he says.
Works are not about earning. Works are an overflow.
Its like this.
You are going to the movies. And there is a cost IN ORDER to see the movie.
Jesus, he payed that cost IN ORDER for you to see the film.
NOW the movie is awesome. You love the movie. It is the best film you have ever seen. What are you going to do? BECAUSE of the goodness of the movie you are going to share it. You want other people to experience that movie.
You dont tell people about the movie IN ORDER to see the film. You tell people about the movie BECAUSE the movie is so good.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
First…this is not a great translation.
It is not about there being one God.
James is actually quoting the most important prayer in the entirity of the old testament. Everybody would know it. In fact, when you hear it, you will recognize it as what Jesus says is the most important commandment.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Tim Mackie is a biblical PHD, and in his discussion about the SHEMA prayer he says this specifically about this phrase”
The Shema prayer isn’t trying to make a philosophical statement about God’s essence or being (that God is one). Rather, the Shema is a pledge of allegiance to the Lord God of Israel that excludes allegiance to any other gods.”
James is saying…oh, you say you have faith! You say you have allegiance to God…Demons believe to.
Notice! He does not say that demons have faith. Demons believe. Just saying or thinking the right things is not faith. It has to be lived.
Demons do not have a relationship with God, they are in willfull rebellion against him.
Now where does this Dead faith come from?
01 Not knowing God is good.
02 Disordered Desires towards creation.
03 Willfull Rebellion against the creator.
When God is describing his people that do not have faith he says this
“My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”
God is saying it is a lack of understanding of who he is. They do not know him and so they are skilled in doing evil and not good.
James tells us earlier what doing good looks like
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
The word “Right” is the Greek word Kalos… And another translation of the word would “Well.” Which is a medical term. Its the idea of healthy and alive. So if you are keeping the royal law “Love your neighbor as yourself… they your faith is alive.
Now there is a distinction we need to make. We dont do works and then have faith. Dallas Willard talks about the core relationship between the two “
“Works are siply a natural part of faith. James’s statement is about the nature of faith, about what makes it up. It concerns what believing something really amounts to. It is not an exhortation to prove that one has faith or to work to keeps one faith alive.”
Just like the fire in the beginning…a fire needs to burn, have heat and have light in order to be a fire.
Works are a natural part of faith.
Now how do you and I grow in faith? If I am sitting here, and the holy spirit is calling out an area of your life that you do not have works…or that you are realizing you do not have faith in… What can you do?
The best thing to do, when we do not have faith, is to understand the one in whom we have faith.
See you and I live out of what we know and believe.
And if we do not know that God is good, we need to learn he is good. There are so many practices in the way of Jesus that can lead to stronger faith. But lets focus on one.
The best way for us to learn that God is good, that he loves us and wants to care for us. The best way to get to know God is to spend time in his scriptures.
The Scriptures are one of the most important way God chooses to speak to us.
The goal though is to be able to learn about God and to hear from God through the joint effort of the Holy Spirit and Scriptures.
The first step we should take then in our discipleship, is to enable ourselves to be able to read the Bible. The Bible was written over hundreds of years in three ancient languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. That means what we read is not the original words, we are reading the translation of the original language. Different translations have different methods for how they arrived at where they are at. There are MANY different translations available to us. The age of Apps and websites has made it easier than ever to access them for almost no cost.
There are three basic kinds of translations.
1. Word for Word translations: The translator took one word and translated that word to the best they could match within our language. For example: “John threw the ball to George” into “John threw the orb to George”. Translations: NASB // CSB
2. Thought for Thought translations: The Translator took the idea of the original, and translates that idea into our language. “John threw the ball to George” into “John and George played together with the ball.” Translations: NLT // NRSV
3. In Between translations: These are translations that are in between the two other translation types and often include both. Example: “Ohn threw the ball to George” to “ John and George played with the orb together.” Translations: NIV // HCSB
Now, there is a fourth type of bible out there that is useful in our bible reading. These are paraphrases. They often are a skilled translator giving their interpretation of the passage for a specific purpose. The best example of this would be Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”. Eugene Peterson was a pastor who wanted to help his congregation to be able to understand scripture better. So he paraphrased the Bible in a way they would be able to understand. An example that aligns with the ones earlier could be “Two boys practiced throwing the football to one another.”
Paraphrases can be a wonderful tool for beginner or biblical meditation. What I find in my reading is that paraphrases often do two things. First, instead of speaking to my head, they speak to my heart. Second, they help shake my bible reading when the text grows too familiar.
A final word on paraphrases. Paraphrases are just what they are called. They are paraphrases. It is wise to not use them in the study of scripture. They are not written for study. Use a paraphrase as it is meant to be. If you are studying a passage, use a translation. Just know the difference and read wisely. Again, Paraphrases are great for beginners and meditation.
We will learn more about the two practices of reading scripture later.
There are very few bad translations (or paraphrases) of scripture out there. Learn the differences. Learn their strengths and weaknesses, they all have them. If you are unsure, ask a friend, mentor, or Pastor.
Lectio if time
