Walking the Walk - “When Things Are Hard”

Intro banter…We are going to start today a look at the book of James. And if you haven’t read James before, now is a great time to remedy that! This is a short book, but it is packed with some of the best practical theology in all of scripture.

Now this letter is best described as a “diatribe.” That means about what you think it means, for those of you who have heard that word before. Basically, a diatribe was a style of writing, or rhetoric that had a point to make. It wasn’t talking around something, it was directly addressing some situation, and usually forcefully arguing against it.

As you read this letter you can see those same tendencies. I think it best, though, to describe James as a sort of wisdom literature for the New Testament. It is sort of like proverbs, or Ecclesiastes. It isn’t as choppy in style, but it serves a similar purpose. It makes you see how you should change your life by showing the better way. Like an old relative telling you about how things were when they were young or how things are supposed to be.

It was likely written, by the way, by the half brother of Christ, who died by stoning around 62 AD. So it had to be written before that point. Some scholars put it around 40-45, and others in the mid 50’s. Either way you go, this is one of the earliest writings in the entire New Testament. And not only is it one of the earliest, but it was written by a man who spent far more than 3 years with Jesus! Think about it, James, likely the eldest of Jesus’ younger half brothers, spent perhaps 30 years with Jesus! He saw Christ grow and had countless conversations with Him! That is what makes this book so important church.

Outside of the Gospels, there is likely no other book written that gives us a better insight into the thoughts of Jesus than this little letter. So if we are going to be all in with Christ, we need to start right here. Listen, whether you know that you belong to Christ or think you might belong to Christ - if we are going to claim the mantle of Christians, and talk the talk, we have to walk the walk.

And that starts today with the opening of this letter.

intro - set up series. Walk the Walk Rick Flair stuff?? used it before…make the intro challenging a little though. “If we are going to talk big, if we think or even know that God is working within us, if we are going to claim the mantle of Christians, and talk the talk, we have to walk the walk.”

James 1:1–4 ESV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

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Read Message: Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

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Pray

pic here - diaspora? Teachers? coaches?

One of the first things we have to mention when we are looking at this intro is those to whom this letter is addressed. As I said in the opening, this is a circular letter…[explain a little]. That said, when James writes to the 12 tribes in the Dispersion, our ears should perk up.

One of the first things we have to mention when we are looking at this intro is those to whom this letter is addressed. As I said in the opening, this is a circular letter…[explain a little]. That said, when James writes to the 12 tribes in the Dispersion, our ears should perk up.

They should perk up, because the Dispersion, or the Diaspora that most scholars look at for the Jewish people happened 600 years prior to this text. And the next Dispersion that could even be considered happens probably 20 years after this is written.

So if it isn’t a major historical event, what is the intent of this language? Well I think that James is using the imagery of the Diaspora to speak more broadly about the state of our souls. You see, the Jewish people, while in the Diaspora, felt this distance from God. Now this wasn’t a little distance, this distance was unlike anything we can really imagine. This was a distance that had no possible bridge to cross it. This was a distance created by sin, for which there was no solution yet! There was no Messiah who had overcome the grave! There was only silence.

That is what James is trying to hearken to here. You see, our souls, when found without Christ, are scattered and far removed from God’s presence. And that, church, is all of us at some point! So when James addresses this letter, he is sure to make sure we all know that it is written to us! We are all a part of those in the Dispersion. A scattered church - people of faith who without Christ endure separation from God.

So this letter isn’t just written for some Jewish believers, or the people at that time. This letter is for all of us. James level’s the playing field here in the opening so that we might all hear the message God has for us.

After leveling that playing field, James wastes no time here getting us all on the same page as to what we should be shooting for in our faith. It reminds me of all the best teachers or coaches I have ever had in my life. You know those people. The ones who didn’t beat around the bush and soft pedal your situation or performance. The ones who identified your weakness right away and then immediately started you on the path to building you up to what you really needed to be.

Looking back, I can see so many of those figures in my own life. Men and women who saw the very best in me, while at the same time, seeing my greatest weaknesses and strengthening them through our moments together.

I am sure that we all have figures like that in our lives. People whose advice we lean on when things get hard. And listen, that is just what James is pointing out to us! This opening text reminds us that life won’t always be sunshine and roses! Sometimes we feel separated from God, scattered and dispersed! Rudderless! Not knowing what to do, or even how to move forward, and when we feel that way, church, what does James tell us to do?

James 1:2 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Be joyful! Count it all joy!

The implication is that there is a bigger picture, a greater purpose, right? But that isn’t always easy to see when things get hard.

Let me tell you, that is just as hard as it seems.

This past week, while reading and preparing for this very sermon, Kate and I went out on a date. We had a much needed and planned date night. Well on the way out to restaurant we are having a great conversation when all of a sudden my truck starts making noises and we get broken down on the side of the road.

And as I sat there, angry over the loss of our date night, irate over what it will cost to fix it, I lost the chance to make the best of it, to be joyful that I had some quiet moments with my wife, and that I had great friends to help out.

I completely missed it, because I didn’t count that trial as joy, but as a burden.

I think we are all like that. We all can’t always see the good in the difficult, or the beautiful in the ugly moments of life. But that is just what James is driving at here.

When things happen to you, bad things, hard things, ugly things - things you never dreamed and never wanted to happen - don’t get angry, don’t get caught up in negative emotions; count it as joy!

Find the good whenever you can, even the difficult moments of life. But especially, church, when the trial is a trial of faith.

pic here (faith?)

Our faith probably gets tried more than any other facet of our lives. Anyone here, or anywhere, who has ever tried to get to know God knows that. Even the most faithful among us will have doubts, and difficulties, moments when their faith is stretched and their thoughts and feelings questioned.

Now it doesn’t always happen right away. Like all things in life, when we take up faith, or a new task, or hobby, our strengths come to the forefront for a bit. We ride those things we are good at, or that come naturally for a bit, so there is no real burden when we are challenged or when little trials come, because quite frankly, we don’t know any better. But eventually we do know better. We learn more. And then, something will happen that challenges even our greatest strengths, and when it does, our weaknesses are exposed and we get tested.

And those are the moments that frustrate us. Those are the moments of anger and doubt. And when they come, just like me in the truck, we often shut down, we get scared maybe, or angry. No matter the emotion, we start to close off everyone around us, and even God, because we feel weak or helpless.

But if you have ever played a sport, or lifted weights, or done anything like that, then you know what that feels like.

That can be a vulnerable feeling. But what James, and God, need us to know, is that place - that moment of weakness or fear, that is just where we need to be in order to get better or to grow! We need to get tested, to be stretched so that we can become stronger. We need to find the weakest part of our lives, or our faith, and give God the opportunity to make that weakness a strength.

We need to manage our weakness.

I call it managing weakness. In whatever task I do, or you do, there will always be a weakness. And you need to identify it right away if you really want to get better!

I remember when I was a French Horn player, I would record every single practice session in the hopes of hearing something bad! I wanted to see what I was the worst at so that I could take that weakness and make it a strength. You see if I could just find the joy in figuring out the worst parts of me, maybe just maybe I would then be able to address it and make it better!

And I still do that. In whatever task I do, or you do, there will always be a weakness. And you need to identify it right away if you really want to get better! That is really what this text is driving at! When you are being tested in life, and by the way, the word for testing there is Dokimion, which implies a positiveness to the test - probably best defined as a “way of making tried and true,” or “way of making the way it is supposed to be.” When you are being tried in that way you should be joyful, even when it is hard, because if you can just make it through those moments you will be made stronger, and better, and as James says, “more complete.”

pic here(no pain, no gain)

That is the joy, church. Being made complete, while difficult, should bring us more joy than the trial brings us pain.

If you ask any weightlifter, or body builders, they tend to echo that mantra, “no pain, no gain.” And there is a bit of truth there. As Philip Stanhope, a really old fella young people; as he said, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing well.”

Its so true. Church, if you made a list of all the greatest people at whatever they did in this life - sports, government, medicine, teaching, philosophy, religion, construction, arts, whatever - if you made a list of all those great people and looked for the common thread, you would find trials. You would see that they maybe were a bit more naturally talented, maybe they had some opportunities others didn’t have, but at the end of the day, every single one of them, while great at their own thing, is actually the greatest at persevering!

They know how to sacrifice joyfully those things that stand in the way of their goal.

When things get hard, they press on. They persevere. They count the difficulties as joy! They understand that sometimes we have to put ourselves through trials to come out better, and not only that, sometimes the only way we can ever really experience life to the fullest, or enjoy our existence is to push and push, to persevere through the trials and the struggles so that we can be in the very presence of God!

[Hoyt pic here]

Rick Hoyt was born with Cerebral Palsy, and was a quadriplegic. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t really move. His parents knew there was something going on inside his head, they just couldn’t get it out because we couldn’t talk.

He eventually had a computer built that allowed him to spell words and go to school. Two years later, Rick heard of a lacrosse player who had been in an accident and was paralyzed. In response, Rick asked his father if they could run in a race to help out and show support.

So they ran the race, the father, Dick Hoyt, pushing the wheelchair, and Rick riding along waving. After the race, Rick typed out for his dad this sentence.

“Dad when I’m running it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

Dick Hoyt knew, from that moment on that he was now a runner.

I tell you that for this reason. What parent wouldn’t do that? Who among us wouldn’t push our body through the suffering, through the pain, through the strenuous training just to have our child feel that same feeling?

Every mile would be difficult! Waking up would be a struggle! Finding time, finding energy, all would consume every ounce of our patience and would likely push us to the brink of frustration and quitting!

But church, Rick’s father never quit! And we can’t quit, church! We can’t quit because we have a Father in Heaven who never quits! He constantly presses towards us! He suffers with us! He pushes us up those hills in life! He gives us the ability to feel like we aren’t handicapped by sin, because church, He went under the trial of the cross! He felt the sting of death and still rose in victory for all of us!

He persevered through it all. Through our sin. Through our pushing Him away. And we must do the same.

If you want to experience God, and make others do the same, then you must persevere. Embrace the difficult times. Count the struggles as joy!

Listen IF WE WANT TO BE GREAT AT ANYTHING - GREAT AT BEING A DAD, OR A MOM, HUSBAND OR WIFE, GIRLFRIEND BOYFRIEND, NEIGHBOR, FRIEND, SON, DAUGHTER, HUMAN IN THIS WORLD OF OURS - WE MUST JOYFULLY APPROACH THESE MOMENTS, THE DIFFICULT MOMENTS WHEN LIFE CHALLENGES US AND THINGS GET HARD SO THAT WE CAN BE STRETCHED AND MADE INTO THE PERSON THAT GOD CALLS US TO BE!

Talk about the perseverance needed to do something great. Have nothing great is worth doing unless you have to persevere. Maybe talk about other great people who done great things and had hard times. Ultimately are any people who we consider great there aren't any people who've done great things haven't to deal with struggles and persevere to Greatness.}

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well quote?

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well quote?

Work at everything as if working for the Lord needs to be in there.

TAKE AWAY - IF WE WANT TO BE GREAT AT ANYTHING - GREAT AT BEING A DAD, OR A MOM, HUSBAND OR WIFE, GIRLFRIEND BOYFRIEND, NEIGHBOR, FRIEND, SON, DAUGHTER, HUMAN IN THIS WORLD OF OURS - WE MUST JOYFULLY APPROACH THESE MOMENTS, THE DIFFICULT MOMENTS WHEN LIFE CHALLENGES US AND THINGS GET HARD SO THAT WE CAN BE STRETCHED AND MADE INTO THE PERSON THAT GOD CALLS US TO BE!

If you want to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. You have to make the changes - not to the world or to the task at hand, but to yourself! You have to gladly let that weakness be strengthened so that the next time you come into those same situations where faith is tested, you won’t fail, you won’t fall short! No, you will pass that test and inch closer to the ideal of Christ like living that we are all called to!

If you want to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. You have to make the changes - not to the world or to the task at hand, but to yourself! You have to gladly let that weakness be strengthened so that the next time you come into those same situations where faith is tested, you won’t fail, you won’t fall short! No, you will pass that test and inch closer to the ideal of Christ like living that we are all called to!

When the going gets tough the tough get going

You’ve heard that phrase, right? Well I would add to it this: When things are hard, that means you are growing.

When things are hard, that means you are growing.

If Dick Hoyt never tried to run to help his son, he would have never known the joy and peace that would fuel them to more than 1000 races, not to mention the countless hours training. And he would have never known and loved his son as much as he does. Likewise church, if we never get stretched and never have to persevere through difficult situations, we will NEVER know the true miraculous power of being a follower of Christ! We won’t see the miracles that He brings daily! We will think that by some human effort we were able to do the things that we do every day, when the truth of the matter is that no matter what we do, God alone is the one who is working His magic so that we might be able to experience even a single moment of this life! So that we might feel unburdened by sin and surrounded by Grace!

If you never get stretched and never have to persevere through difficult situations, you will NEVER know the true miraculous power of being a follower of Christ! You won’t see the miracles that He brings daily! You will think that by some human effort you were able to do the things that you do every day, when the truth of the matter is that no matter what we do, God is the one who is working His magic so that we might be able to experience even a single moment of this life!

We can do all things through Christ, church, not through our own strength. Only His. And that strength, is only made perfect through our weakness. Through those moments of trials and difficulties.

That is when we are made complete, James says. When our faith holds firm after being tested. When we make it through whatever storm might happen to be bearing down on us. When that trial is over, and we are made stronger, we inch toward completion. But more importantly, as our text tells us, we will lack nothing.

We will lack nothing, because in those moments, all we have is Christ, and He is all that we need.

Invitation