James Sermon 1

James 1:

As we begin a new year of Wednesday night services so to will we begin a new series looking into a new book. Tonight we will start looking at the book of James to see what wisdom we can learn to help us with our Christian walk as the school year begins. Before we do so let’s get a bit of an overview of the book to understand the context we are reading into here. As always we should remember that while the Bible was written for us it was not written to us and so we must understand the people and circumstances around the book to better understand it’s meaning.

First who is the author of this book? Luckily for us today the author identifies himself clearly in verse one.

James 1:1 “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Now as you may know in scripture there are often multiple people with the same name however due to clues within the book as well as historical evidence we can be assured with near 100% accuracy that the James that is writing to us here is James the half brother of Jesus through Mary. Why is this important? There are several reasons really, first, we need to know the authority of the writing. When the New Testament was being put together by some of the great men of God they did not have a list of books handed to them by God. No they had to investigate the books to see their legitimacy and authority. Knowing that this book was written by James the half brother of Jesus then tells us that this book carries great authority as it was written not only by someone who personally knew Christ on a deep level but history also tells us that in the early days of the Church it was actually this very James who led the church in Jerusalem and was sort of the head pastor you could say. He was the guy that all others looked to for wisdom and guidance in the Christian faith and it was James that we see in scripture that leads discussions on what is morally obligated of the Christian in life. This being said then the words that James chooses to write in his letter we can be assured are of great value to believers today and carry the authority of God through James’ apostleship.

This being said, look back to James one and see how he introduces himself. He calls himself a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The NKJV translates this as bondservant as it is a more flowery way of saying it, but the word here is δοῦλος which most simply translated is actually slave. James does not introduce himself as the half brother of Christ or even as the head of the church, but humbly presents himself as a slave of Christ. No matter what you think your accolades are, whether it is who your family is or what your role is, you are nothing more than a slave. Either you are a slave to sin or Christ has bought you with His redeeming blood and you are now a slave of Christ. This is to say that as a believer our ultimate goal is not our own prosperity or glory but is instead to be used by God to fulfill His plan and purpose on Earth and show others His glory. While the imagery of slavery may make it seem as though we are somehow limited or held back then by God it is quite the opposite, because we are His slaves we have the ultimate freedom. We as believers now through our servitude have the freedom to fail just as we did before and the rest of the world still has, but more importantly we have the freedom to do good for the glory of God which the world does not have. Through our enslavement to Christ we actually find true freedom and so it is in our bondage to the Lord that we should find our identity not in any Earthly relationship or role, but in Christ alone as He is the only constant and gives us the greatest role we could possibly serve in.

This is what we can learn just off of the character of James through is introduction of himself within the letter. Lets continue in verse one to gleam more of the context.

James 1:1 “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.”

The second half of verse one tells us quickly two more important notes to think of. First, the audience is the twelve tribes who are scattered. This means that James is writing this letter not to a specific church but its intent is to be passed around to all of the Jews who have been dispersed from Jerusalem. This is important to know because through the letter James often relates things to Old Testament stories and teachings which means he is expecting the reader to be well versed in scripture already. Second, we get a clue as to the time frame this letter was written by it being written to the scattered Jews. Most likely this letter would have been written after the stoning of Stephen when all of the believing Jews fled the city but prior to the first council in Jerusalem when they began to regroup. That makes this a very early work within the New Testament, potentially the first letter to be written meaning that all others would have likely been familiar with this work when they began writing their own letters to churches and people making this letter a very influential letter within the early Christian church.

Now that we have a better understanding of the context surrounding the letter let’s dive into the message.

James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,”

A side point worth noting here is the way James addresses the readers as his brethren. This shows us the familial bond of the believers that in Christ we are all family and should treat each other as such loving and respecting one another and supporting each other in times of need.

Then James tells us to take joy in trials. Think back to the context, many of the readers of this letter may have been witnesses to the stoning of Stephen and potentially the murder of others for their faith. These people had to flee from their homes to seek safety due to their belief in Christ and James is now telling them to take joy in these hardships. What then of us? Have we faced such strong adversity as these believers? James is instructing us now also to take joy in the hardships that we face. Let’s notice a couple of words here though that tell us a little more.

Our first word to analyze is fall. Mathew Henry points this word out in his commentary on the verse in that it helps us to understand that what we are talking about right now are the events of life that we do not bring onto ourselves. We are not talking about the times where our sin catches up to us and we are dealing with the consequences of our actions. That would be purely disciplinary measures from God. What we are talking about right now are situations that we do not cause and are out of our control. Think loss of a loved one, issues with other students at school potentially, or any other sudden accident that befalls us. We are talking about the unavoidable hardships of life particularly the hardships of a Christian in a fallen world.

Second is James does not say if you face trials. James says when you face trials. As a believer James is promising you that at some point in your life you are going to face adversity and struggle with something. Some kind of great trial is going to come your way in life and you need to be prepared to face it. If your life has been smooth sailing up till now then know that there is a storm coming and it is best to know how to deal with it. If you are in the middle of a storm now then know you are not alone. Believers since Adam and Eve have faced trials and many more will face them after you. This is not to discredit your hardships but to assure you of God’s great faithfulness to see you through it.

The book in the entire Bible that was believed to be either the oldest of second oldest is the book of Job. I encourage you to go and read the book at some point in time but a quick cliff notes of the story is that there was a faithful man of God named Job. Satan asked God for permission to take everything from Job to show God that Job would turn away from God if he had nothing. God allowed the test to take place and Jobs family, land, livestock, and health were all stripped from him. In the midst of these trials here is what Job has to say.

Job 5:17 ““Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.”

Job, though he is loosing everything, chooses not to fall into despair but to know that God is using the circumstances around him to better him. So often we refer to God as our Father as that is how the first person of the trinity is designated in scripture, but sometimes we forget why He is called the Father. It is about His relationship to us. If a parent were to always give a child everything they ever wanted and do everything for the child and never let the kid struggle then the kid would be spoiled, ungrateful, and incapable of doing anything. Our heavenly Father is far wiser than that and chooses instead to allow us to fall into trials from time to time in order to help us learn and grow as His children.

Now what is God trying to teach us through these trials?

James 1:3 “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

The trials that God sends our way are meant to teach us patience to wait on God’s timing and have a stronger faith and dependence on God. This is a valuable quality for the believer to obtain as life never really slows down or gets easier. I hate to sound like a downer for you guys but life is a perpetual series of if I can just get through this week things will be easier and then next week brings its own challenges and the cycle continues. I am not saying that life is all bad, but what I am saying is that especially for the life of a believer there are constant challenges to face in life and God wants us to be prepared for the big ones when they come. This is why God allows us to fall into these trials in order that we will learn patience and dependence on Him so that no matter what comes our way our faith will not be shaken. We can even practice on our own with things such as fasting which helps us to not focus on the needs of the flesh only but to depend on on the Lord. This patience in turn then is used to strengthen the faith and endurance of those around us.

Let me give you an example, growing up the pastor of my church was Brother Rayford Higgs who was married to Mrs. Dorthy Higgs who is a member here at this church now (mention Bartlets if they are there). Mrs. Dorthy has lost children, grandchildren, and a husband as well now and not once have I seen her and she didn’t smile and seem more concerned for my well being than her own. On the day of Brother Rayfords funeral she stood and sang a hymn that he wrote about how God lifts us up. Her faith through the storms and trials of this life have been a constant reminder for me and many others that God is all we need. This is why we go through trials to be able to be that bastion of faith for others so that we can hopefully help others to face trials with a smile on their face knowing that God is at work and that He will always care for me.