Joy Under Trials

So last week, we took a journey into the 3 Present Realities of the Dispersed. We talked about the people that James wrote too and expanded a little bit on their reality.

So last week, we took a journey into the 3 Present Realities of the Dispersed. We talked about the people that James wrote too and expanded a little bit on their reality.

Well what I want to do tonight, is to take a trip, and join our brothers and sisters in the past and maybe get a feel or insight into what it was like, getting this letter, reading the first few sentences, and then applying it.

So we're loading up and we're going out to Judea and Samaria! Now these two places represent regions. Samaria is about 50 miles away and Judea was about 20 miles. That's a LONG walk from Jerusalem to both places. Samaria represents Northern Israel and Judea represents lower.

Some things about Samaria that are becoming VERY familiar to us as we settle in.

Remember the big deal the disciples made about Jesus when said he "must" go through Samaria. Remember how offended everyone was in the parable he used? It was the Good Samaritan that set the example and everyone was upset!

According to Jewish custom and social class, it didn't get much worse than the social class of a Samaritan.

3 Suggested Reasons Why:

Persian Period - Samaritans "supposedly" joined the opposing force when the walls were being rebuilt during Nehemiah's time! Hellenistic Period - The arrival of Alexander the Great split the political loyalties between Samaritans and Jews because initially Samaritans gave support to Alexander! (Although the Samaritans revolted and killed the assigned leader over them in Samaria and fled after the persecution of Alexander.) Roman Period - In NT times Samaritans struggled with their own practices and beliefs with a variety of Jewish groups. They were looked down upon because of their inability to unify in belief. They also ridiculed the Jewish Temple.1 (Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary for 3 Points)

Also, remember the woman at the well? She asked Jesus, "why do you, a Jew, speak to me, a Samaritan?"

Just from the Scriptures and other sources, we can see that these areas were not respected and they definitely were not home to the Jewish community!

So already, we're heading to a place that people commonly did not visit nor want anything to do with the civilians. And we're gonna treat ourselves as one of the dispersed.

So in we witness a murder and most likely were present at the crime scene. In Acts, one of our neighbors was killed for professing belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And the guy who approved his killing had all the government funding and approval he needed. If that man killed our neighbor, who's to say we're not next? What do we do? We take whatever we can, gather the troops, and get out of town.

We head to the hills of a rough climate, scarce food, water, and community. The area we're traveling to is embarrassing for us to be a part of because it shows that we are desperate and in need of help.

Those that we are traveling with are whiny, lacking in hope, and are difficult to get along with. Everyone is questioning if the whole Christianity and Jesus thing is worth it or if he really is the Son of God.

Now after a few weeks to months, we've been staying in Judea or Samaria and we got camp set up. Our zip code is established and it's kind of okay for us to receive mail. So one day we walk out to the mailbox and see that we've got a pretty thick letter. We turn it over and see that it's from Jerusalem! This means 1 of 2 things:

Paul found us and got approval to arrest us.

OR

We can finally come home.

You walk back to the camp and spread the word that mail has been delivered from Jerusalem. Everyone gets nervous, some panic and leave, and some spread the word to come see.

After dinner and conversation has quieted... You ask to have the letter brought to you and you open it.

With everyone pressing in, you read the first word "James." The whole room gets excited and there's a giant sigh of relief. This could only mean one thing...home.

READ

Now after reading this brief beginning, you get discouraged immediately and so does MOST of the crowd around you. Everyone wants to see what you just read to validate and the letter gets passed around.

Now you can't get over what he just wrote in those verses. #1

He said count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds

AND

To let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in NOTHING.

How could James speak to the "lacking in NOTHING?" Everyone in this dispersed group LACKS something. Everyone has had to share something out of the lack of another thing among the camp.

These words could only come from someone who's been with Jesus... You go back to your tent and you dig in to the Scriptures to see what James means and here's what we discover:

As a good Jew, you quickly reflect on the life of Job. Job's property, children, and health was all attacked by Satan. Job was brought low and humbled. Yet at the end God blessed him twice as much through repentance and great acknowledgment of God, by revealing Himself to Job.

You remember the great covenant God had made with Israel to bless and provide for them in obedience.

You reflect on the promise of a Savior that would come and establish His kingdom and you think back to the abundance of God's goodness through His Word.

You look into the Psalms and read the prayers of the desperate and needy. You think about the life of King David and his rule. You question if fighting is the only way back to "how it should be."

But then...

You quickly remember the words of Jesus.

You remember the story of the guys who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and they didn't know it! They said that Jesus said "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled." And how Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures!

You remember that Jesus himself ministered in Samaria, and how some of the people in your camp are a result of the woman's witness from her encounter with Jesus at the well.

You remember the great miracles Jesus performed, like when He raised Lazarus from the dead and how the apostles themselves performed the same miracles.

And last of all, you remember the testimony of James and how Jesus appeared to him after his resurrection.

As you look into these things you can't help the conviction that Jesus really was the Son of God. And it all makes sense. All the crazy stories of people coming to faith, and Stephen's last words at his death, "Lord don't hold this sin against them."

You start to get it.

In Jesus said that we would have tribulation in the world, but HE is our peace.

When Jesus was dispersed into this world by his body, He left the abundance of His home. Jesus sat at the right hand of God.

He was sent out among us as an alien, like us, and he conquered eternity for us.

The word used for steadfastness here was used 32 times in the New Testament. It's referred to as:

Perseverance Endurance Steadfastness

The specific word resonated very deeply in the Old Testament scriptures. Very deeply.

In the Greek culture, this word was commonly used for men who could resist and endure by force. It was admirable to be of such strength and human endurance. It was a sought after desire.

But..

In the Jewish writings, this word SOLELY rested on the hope that God will deliver. You have to remember, God HAS already delivered us from death to life through Jesus' resurrection. He has fulfilled that guarantee, but we continue to pray and seek the welfare of restoration around us. We pray for the sick, we pray for the hurting, and we be the hands of feet of Jesus as He's equipped us.

The emphasis on this steadfastness was to solely rest and trust in God. Our confidence is not in any thing that we can conjure up, but in the saving reality of Jesus Christ as our peace.

I believe that when James wrote to let steadfastness have it's full effect in us so we would be full and complete... He was pointing to the completeness found in Christ. Jesus assured the Disciples ALL the time that He would not leave nor forsake them and how keeping His Word creates a home in our heart for He and the Father.

In Jesus Christ, we truly are complete and lack nothing with Him as our peace. There is no greater joy than knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

What's that mean? James says to count it all it joy when we face various kinds of trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Verse 12 says that the man who remains steadfast under trial is blessed, and having stood the test will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

"to those who love Him," is a pretty important part of that sentence. In order to persevere and remain steadfast like we spoke of earlier, it requires a loving dependent hope on God to deliver like He promised.

When I go through trials and am dependent to hope in God, it's amazing what develops in me. Through the hope that it is granted me in Christ, I'm able to persevere and remain steadfast. By the hope invested in me, I discover it's been God holding me the whole time.

This reality is a production of joy. Let's look further into the trial and testing James spoke of to understand how joy is a process.

The "trial" in verse 2: an attempt to learn the nature or character of something, test, OR

an attempt to make one do something wrong, temptation, enticement to sin.

The "testing" in verse 3: the process or means of determining the genuineness of something, testing, means of testing.2 (definitions come from BDAG)

The word used for various trials here points to the inner and external temptations. These temptations are inevitable in our lives, but remember . READ.

If there is no temptation that has overtaken us, then the only emotion I'm left to encounter is that of joy. Undefiled, content, and faithful joy.

I believe the temptations push us to lean on God and it is NEVER a bad thing to be dependent on God knowing that it's He who gives to you daily in the first place.

EXAMPLE...

"The word used for testing in adjective form means “genuine” or “without alloy”; so the noun refers to a “test to prove genuine.” They used this word to describe soldiers. The object of this testing is specifically the Christian’s faith. But the biblical concept of a testing goes beyond what we have come to expect from our school experiences. Most of our school tests are designed primarily to reveal what knowledge the students already have in them. The biblical concept of a testing, as James uses it here, is one that does reveal the genuineness of the person’s faith; but James says the test is also designed to develop something that is not yet present in full measure in the person."

George M. Stulac, James, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), .

This is an amazing reality of what James desires for us.

Our goal is to strive for what is being made in us, by the One who gave it to us! What comforting joy this is!!!

As you ponder the reality and application of James' letter, you can't help but reflect on what took place back home. You remember what Jesus told the disciples and the word that got out about the Holy Spirit. Jesus told them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them and they would be witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest parts of the earth...()

And suddenly, you're kind of overwhelmed.

The recipients of this letter were dealing with the same kind of dispersion Jesus encountered and they too were being persecuted like He was.

The aim from this letter is for us to consider/reason/judge our situation as joy when we encounter temptation and to understand it's God fulfilling His promise in us.

God's aim for the redemption us dispersed Christians is to view the producing of steadfastness and endurance as JOY. This is entirely possible if Christ is your sole hope and trust as you understand it's Christ being formed in you.

In closing,

The joy James wrote of in the letter directly reveals to you the promised redemption God is working in you and to those around you. Perhaps God had sent the Dispersed among the Dispersed to bring hope and good news. You can't help but realize, God has you exactly where He wants you.

What you thought, being dispersed among a heavily looked down upon region and among a broken community, is actually God working in the trial and testing of your situation to fulfill the Gospel getting out to those who have not heard yet. What a joy to consider and know that God wants to use us.

Let's pray.