James Chapter 1 - The Hits Keep Coming

All In

Cadence: Calm → Resolute Posture: Center stage, relaxed shoulders

Prompt:

Start measured and confident

Slight pause after key phrases

Last year we looked at the Bible through the lens of the Gospel in Real Life. We said that

The Gospel is about Jesus Christ, Him as Messiah, Him as King, and His Kingdom!

If this is the case then it of course touches and hits everything in our life because Jesus is Lord over everything. There is nothing that does not fit inside His kingdom.

This year our theme as a church is “All In.” We have seen what it means for the Gospel to play out in real life. We have seen how we take the Gospel and the Lordship of Jesus and apply it to everything. This year we are going ALL IN.

Our verse for the year is

Leviticus 20:26 CSB

You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.

We want to be all that God calls us to be. Not to earn anything, not to deserve anything, but because we are a set apart people, we want to go ALL IN. No more playing around. We are going to be completely and totally sold out for Jesus. Because of this we start with James because James throws pretence out the window. James is practical and focuses on an Active Faith.

The Hits Keep Coming

Cadence: Quickens slightly Tone: Honest, slightly playful

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face” - Mike Tyson

We can have a reading plan when we come to the book of James. We can have an idea that we want to sit and casually read the book. We can have a plan that we want to just take a few verses at a time. We can think maybe I will find a verse that I can post on my Insta story to show everyone I am doing my daily reading. We can have a plan and then bang.

James does not really allow such things. The whole Bible can do this. We can find this happening in John, Ephesians, or Judges. But James is designed to hit you. Why is this?

James is New Testament wisdom shaped by the teachings of Jesus

The teachings of Jesus are meant to be countercultural.

Wisdom is meant to be applied. Faith is meant to be applied. If not it has no value. It has to be applied or directed at something. It is like getting ready for a race and never running when the bell sounds. It is like getting into the ring to fight and never moving towards your opponent. You are there to fight not stand there like a stick in the mud.

James can be a tough book because it punches in combos. James hits with on hand to setup another strike. It delivers a jab to setup a hook but each blow stings and any one of the hits could knock us down.

Chapter 1 for example does this well. From the first bell there are setups and strikes. All of it attacks with this idea of an Active Faith.

This morning I want to give us 4 of the this then that combos from chapter 1.

Combo #1: Trials → Endurance → Maturity

Cadence: Slow → Build → Resolve Tone: Encouraging but firm

Right out of the gate James attacks us with the reality that in this life we have trials. We will have trials. If you are breathing you are fighting. James tells us not to run from them but to count it as joy.

James 1:2–4 CSB

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

James says it should be a great joy that we have various trials. In the Greek this is Pas Karah, or all joy. Trials come and we should understand this is a good thing. Not because we are masochist. It is not that enjoy it like oh this feels good, but we understand that the trial is good because it produces endurance and endurance makes us mature.

When you are working out if you want to get stronger you have to use what is called progressive overload. This means you take what you can do today and then you add to it next time. For example if you can lift 100lbs this week, then next week you try to do 110lbs

Or maybe you can do 10 reps this week, next week you shoot for 15 reps. However you want to slice it you need to do more of something next time to progressively overload your system. Trials are like this.

The goal is maturity. The goal is growth. God does not want a church full of baby Christians. We are supposed to be growing and maturing.

When we come up against a trial and shrink back or refuse to face it we stay stuck and immature.

Have you ever met a Christian who seems to stop growing at birth? They have been “walking with Jesus” for 10, 20, 30 years yet they are just newborns. They use classic newborn phrases. I want to give you a few that sounds mature but really are not. Think about it if you applied this to other commited relationships.

Cadence: Faster, sharper Tone: Prophetic but not mocking

I’m just not being fed.

Yes this can mean there is a problem with a church and it sounds pretty wise but mature Christians know how to feed themselves too.

Hebrews 5:11–12 NLT

There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

God knows my heart.

This is true God knows your heart but your actions demonstrate your faith. This would be like saying no I don’t tell me wife I love her. She knows my heart. Sure she knows it but she should also see it and hear it.

I’m just being real.

Some people think they are “just being real” all the time. My 2-year-old is about as real as they come. But I would not consider her wise or mature. Real ones know when to speak and when to listen and when to keep their opinions to themselves.

James 1:19 CSB

My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

Only God can judge me

Yes this is true in one sense but you mess round and you might find out. We come to community in part to let others see us and press us on to maturity and growth.

When we hide from trials we allow ourselves to stay immature. We keep ourselves on a milk diet and we were not meant for that. We were meant to feast.

Combo #2: Asking in Faith → Wisdom (Doubting → Instability)

Cadence: Slows way down Tone: Pastoral, inviting

This is a two for one special.

James 1:5–8 CSB

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. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

Maturity and moving to maturity means we will at times realize we don’t know what to do. So we will pray and ask God for wisdom. What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?

Knowledge is knowing what to do because you’ve seen it done before. Wisdom is knowing what to do when you haven’t.

Because we will experience various trials we have to be prepared to not know what to do. When this happens we ask God to give us wisdom. There are going to be times when you just don’t know what to do. Times when you have exhausted your wealth of knowledge. When you have tried everything you can think of when this happens we can turn to do and ask Him for wisdom.

Now hear me there is nothing wrong with Googling it asking for thoughts from others, or looking something up, but how often do we take it to the Lord in prayer?

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer! Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!

There is something to be said about sometimes just sitting with a question or a problem and asking God to speak into it. Again, I am all for getting council. Proverbs 15:22

Proverbs 15:22 CSB

Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

But there is something about just sitting before the Lord with something. This builds intimacy with Him. This builds faith. Just take it to Jesus and sit with Him on it. You have to trust Him, that is what faith is, it is trusting Him. So just sit with Jesus and wait.

If you want to grow in your faith learning to just sit with Jesus is paramount.

If you need to then bring it to a trusted friend and ask them to pray with you. Don’t ask them for an answer, just ask them to pray. Again get counsel but also sit with Jesus and pray. Once you feel like you have an answer then go and present it before someone you trust, someone who might have already walked that road and get counsel. Tell them the problem and what you feel Jesus saying and see what they think.

But do not ignore just sitting with Jesus.

Combo #3: Desire → Sin → Death

Cadence: Firm, sober Tone: Direct, no theatrics

James 1:15 CSB

Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

This starts off with the idea that we cannot blame God for our sin actions. There is a difference between trials and temptations. God does not tempt us to sin. He does not do this. He does test us to grow us into maturity. He does allow things into our lives to spur us on towards good things, but He does not tempt us to sin. We do that.

Every sin has a genesis or a beginning. When we pay attention to our own lives we can start to see patterns. When I am feeling this way I am tempted to XX. Whatever it might be. We can start to see these patterns. James is telling us that desire leads to sin and sin leads to death. So we stop it at the source. When we notice the desire we nip that in the bud and stop the whole thing from growing.

I like sweets, I have such a sweet tooth. If I give into a little I want a lot. It is just the way it is. So I try to avoid sweets all together. If I don’t I go crazy and just crave sweets all the time.

Let’s get real about something for a minute. When you sin, when you fall, when you slip up and do something that you don’t want to do the enemy and your own flesh want to make you shrink back and hide. But here is what I think we should do, face it.

When you sin, don’t hide, face it, and examine it.

Let’s say you struggle with a certain sin, whatever it is, if you fall do not go and hide. Do not crawl into a cave and sit in self loathing or despair. Instead face it head on, own it. Yes I did it. I lost it on the kids again, I went to that website, I drank too much, I smoke that thing, whatever it is. Own it.

Admit the thing, and then in that moment retrace your steps and think through what happened. James tells us, desire gave birth to sin, so what desire was there? What thing happened to make you want that thing in the first place, what happened to make you lose it in the first place. The enemy and your flesh want that thing hidden so search it out. Then you know for next time or the time after that when that desire shows its ugly face and you can stop it at the source.

Combo #4: Hearing Only → Self-Deception (Doing → Growth)

Cadence: Accelerates again Tone: Urgent

Now all this means nothing if you hear is and do not act.

James 1:22 CSB

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

You can hear a message like this all day, you can read the Bible from front to back but if you do not apply it, if you do not Activate your Faith then you deceive yourself. This is also our Faith in Action this week.

Cadence: Strong, rallying, confident Tone: Courageous, hopeful

Faith in Action: Don’t just hear the Word, do what it says. Have an Active Faith!

We have to apply it if we want to grow. If we are tired of being immature Christians then we need to go ALL IN. We need to press into the hard things, we need to pray, we need to take sin grab it by the face and throw it down. We cannot play around. There is no room for mamby pamby faith. We need to hear the Word and then do what it says.

It is time to stand up and fight and press forward.

What is one thing from James 1 you will obey this week?