James: Joy in Trials

Welcome and Introduction

Good morning and welcome, brothers, welcome to chapel on this holy day the Lord has made! And He’s made every day, so really, they’re all holy, but we often cheapen the holiness of things, don’t we? They’re normal. It’s really hard sometimes to see the miracles, the extraordinary, the extra-ordinary, when it’s become so ordinary. This is what it’s like to be a chosen and blessed people. Some of you make in your shops; I’m not sure what all shops we have present in here, but there are certainly signs and shirts, for that matter, in the Sales Store that say “blessed.” And it’s true, you are, but are you proclaiming it only when you feel blessed? Or can you say truly, when troubles like sea billows roll, it is well with my soul? Do you recognize the state of blessing you still reside in then?

Imperatives 1, 2

Well, that’s what we’re taking a look at today in James. Last week, we were introduced to this new series; this week, we look particularly at chapter 1, verses 2-12. Which begins with his urging, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials.” The tone James takes is one that assumes that this is a fairly typical context within the Christian life, that this testing is to be expected, comes in a variety of forms, and is not something that is particularly sought; the situation that is, instead, one finds themselves in it. All of this fits in line with Christian beliefs about testing. This dates back to Abraham (Genesis 22), the prime example of one who passed the test, and to the Israelites in the wilderness.

Other faith traditions say that to live is to struggle or suffer; I think we can all agree with that, perhaps with many, that’s about all we share. But what James is saying is that this is a blessing. Take and receive it. Don’t say that God blesses us on days you simply perceive as good, and say that our storms must merely be part of life. Storms bring life! The rain makes the grass to grow. I don’t care what your drill sergeants told you! The wind makes the trees sway, cracking hardened bark and allowing them to expand!

“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” He says in verse 3, “And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

Illustration

Rabbi Abraham Twerski comments on how lobsters grow; he says, “…a lobster is a soft mushy animal that lives inside of a rigid shell. That rigid shell does not expand. As the lobster grows, that shell becomes very confining, and the lobster feels itself under pressure and uncomfortable. So, it goes under a rock formation to protect itself from predatory fish, casts off the shell, and produces a new one. Well, eventually, that shell becomes very uncomfortable as it grows back under the rocks, and the lobster repeats this numerous times.”

The Rabbi’s point is that it is its feeling of discomfort, the realization that it is facing adversity, that indicates to the lobster that this is an opportunity for growth. So, it retreats and does so. The stress becomes the stimulus for growth for us, too. “And yet, in modern life, we’re taught the exact opposite,” he says. “That we should avoid stress and discomfort wherever possible!” He goes on to say, “If lobsters had doctors, they would never grow at all. They would be prescribed drugs to calm the stress—removing the stimulus—and would never cast off their shell, they would never grow.”

We have to accept times of trial as also opportunities for growth. That’s what James is saying in verse 3 when he says, “that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

Application

You don’t go to the gym and expect push-ups to get easier! You’re the same, relatively, in terms of mass. The Earth is spinning at the same relative speed, so gravity is still what it is (9.8 Newtons per kilogram of mass if you’re a science guru)! You get better at doing hard things.

Maturing in faith is similar. Don’t think it’s going to get easier! Kara Lawson, Olympic goal medalist and coach of Duke’s women’s basketball team went viral in a video telling her team to handle hard better—that things don’t get easier—that you get better at doing hard things.

Lots of people pit James and Paul against one another, saying one is more legalistic and one is license. I think it’s perhaps how we perceive them, because I think they agree in many respects. For one, Paul repeats this same sentiment in Romans 5, verses 3-5:

“Boast in your afflictions,” says the CSB, NRSV, and so on, “glory in our sufferings,” in the KJV and NIV, “rejoice in our sufferings,” as it’s translated in the ESV, NLT, HCSB, and the majority of others, “ because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

James and Paul, for that matter, both say that this is the way to cultivate perseverance: hope, the things that prove our faith, the intangible thing that is observable. Jesus said as much about trees and fruit.

Imperatives 3, 4, 5

James isn’t just a list of New Testament proverbs. It’s more like his brother’s ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ this is exhortation; he’s offering encouragement, and it’s practical advice. He redirects at verse 5, and it’s easy to get thrown off, but it’s not a change of subject. His focus is still on trials and temptations. Why do we go through trials and face temptations? How do we go through trials and face temptations? And now he provides advice for those in the midst of trials.

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

I think what James means when he says without doubting is similar to what David and Solomon do when they lament in the Old Testament. Lamentation is good. Perhaps some of us need to do it. Rather than pretending everything’s ok, maybe it could be more beneficial to admit you’re actually suffering! That’s like the first step of the 12 steps: accept it, proclaim it, and then you have power over it, rather than something having control over you! Once you pronounce it, you can live into that adversity. Figure out what it’s communicating. What need isn’t being met?

Application

You can see a really good lament in the 22nd Psalm. It’s only 31 verses. Read it, but the spark notes anatomy of a lament is this: First, there’s an appeal to a characteristic of God. It’s typically what you’re not feeling; it’s acknowledging that God IS faithful. He knows He is, but WE need the reminder. Healer, Comforter, Refuge, Savior, God of Peace.

Then you lay out your complaint, be brutal, He’s big, He can take it. Psalm 22 says, “Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer by night, yet I have no rest.”

Allusion

It’s important to note that God didn’t punish Job either after his indiscretion in Job 9:22. When God responds in chapter 38, He points out that Job doesn’t have sufficient knowledge about the complexities of the universe to make such claims. In many more words and striking fear into Job’s very soul, yes, but the point is, Job did so from a place of faith. He accused God of being unfair, something that someone who doesn’t believe wouldn’t say. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

It’s ok to question God. Scripture affirms that questions and doubts are a natural part of faith. They can even be helpful and allow us to grow into a deeper relationship with the Lord. Faith is not the opposite of questioning God; faith is the act of persevering through doubts. When you push through the uncertainty, seeing it instead as an opportunity to grow and strengthen your faith, you are not double-minded.

Job’s story concludes with a beautiful restoration of all that he had lost and more. Now, our promises are not for this life, so don’t hear me preaching a prosperity gospel. If you are found to have unwavering faith, the Lord promises to bless you more abundantly in heaven than you could ever imagine or want on Earth.

I use Job as a means to an end, not as a good example of a lament. Job’s story is not that, but God can take your questions. After laying out your complaint in proper lament form, it’s followed with an acknowledgment of our unworthiness for any good answer because of our sin. Then, a plea for help andpraise for His faithfulness, in anticipation of receiving; this is the “ask[ing] in faith without doubting.” By following that format you keep yourself also from falling for Job’s friends’ terrible advice and the significant emotional event experienced by Job.

Imperative 6

Again, James doesn’t have ADHD. This is a practical exhortation. And what’s more of an adversity than poverty and food insecurity? He shifts again in verse 9, introducing the topic of the rich and the poor. Now, James devotes an entire chapter-plus later in his epistle to this topic. Still, here he’s talking about the perception of adversity. We’re being encouraged to boast or glory in faith of our coming exaltation. This is ultimate endurance, the fruit of which, in fact, is having completed the journey of faith. It’s reinforcing that eschatological hope (that word that means final things). He’s saying your reward isn’t here, and trust me, you don’t want it to be!

10 …let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. 11 For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.

Application

Our Scripture’s focus on enduring trials and temptations with faith and patience connects to the broader biblical theme of God refining and strengthening His people through difficulties. This theme is evident throughout Scripture, from the trials of the Israelites in the wilderness to the sufferings of Jesus and the early church.

Big Picture

And things aren’t any easier today. Sure, we have flushing toilets and all, but all the more opportunity to avoid adversity. Avoidance behaviors have spawned industries! But what can any of us cite that has made us truly better that wasn’t a hard-earned, laborious process of difficulty and perseverance? Is it worth being proud of it—if it came so easily?

We do this, though, when we lack patience in faith for our younger brothers and sisters. When we try to be the convictor or revealer of truth rather than being patient for the Spirit to do His job, a job he wants to do, by the way. But when we do it and don’t get the same results, which is actually condescension and judgment upon our brothers rather than meeting them where they are, having patience and love for them, by the way. And I bet you’d be mad at them if they received it easily anyway. Look at Jonah. He was an ethnic Jew and felt entitled. He kept the commandments—which is no easy feat; it’s not just 10, more like 613, both things that must be done and things that must not be done. Of which there’s no roasting meat, only boiling it; roasting produces smoke, and that’s reserved for burnt offerings—that pleasing scent rising to God!

Anyway, after his little rebellion, he begrudgingly goes to Nineveh, and when they repent, and God relents, he pouts! I bet you’d do the same. All this is to say, have mercy when dealing with our brothers and sisters. You were there once, too. It’s a long, harrowing, adversarious journey for which James offers encouragement.

Summary

When you face trials in life, you’re going to take an “L;” but it’s up to you though, whether that “L” is going to stand for “Lesson” or “Loss.”

Whether it’s social injustice, monetary, health, or a loss of some sort, coming to terms with the situation you find yourself in is a process. You don’t have to like it. But you are being presented with a choice.

Close

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews heaves an indictment at its recipients in chapter 5, verse 12, saying, “By this time you ought to be teachers, yet you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.” He’s saying that there was an imperative to grow up. To have faced suffering that produces perseverance; and that perseverance, character which gives birth to hope. Hope has to be cultivated, but you have none without suffering. Facing adversity, not avoidance by your preoccupations, addictions, and other childish things.

This is encouragement, I promise; James is some tough love. He asks us to pray for God’s wisdom, especially during trials. And faith is active and transformative. He’s advocating for a change of perception. He views adversity as a divine gift. It’s an opportunity to develop under the pressures of trials and tragedies. You hear it said that you see people’s true colors when something hits the fan; I think it’s also a way God holds up a mirror to us. We find out where our real loyalties lie, where our pursuits and priorities are. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate humility. An opportunity to exercise dependence and trust in Jesus alone for what we lack organically (I stole that one from CH Cheney).

Allusion

Hutz Hertzberg, a commentator on the book of Ecclesiastes, calls the book “the most staggering messianic prophecy to appear in the Old Testament.” It’s a really bleak book. Its author makes no concession for the afterlife or the heavenly realms—both, to us, are vastly more important than this one. But from this limited perspective, he makes observations like “there’s nothing new” or “there’s nothing to be gained” and that “it’s all meaningless.” That’s also the prophecy! Without God, this is what we’re left with.

Only vibrant faith communities can experience hope. Because, if all there is to existence is trial and temptation, what do you hope in? More of the same?

Heaven is our future hope, but we also have a present hope. Only vibrant faith communities can experience fulfillment. Their hallmark is their invitational nature for others into God’s joy and peace. By supporting one another, you are invited to participate in God’s Kingdom on Earth; that’s what we’re called to establish. It’s a joyous thing. Persevering and thriving through collective challenges, relying on one another, and contributing to communal wisdom by teaching and growing is creating the next generation of disciples, communal strength that can endure and support one another to endure any contemporary challenge.