Far & Near

Recap

As we conclude our series studying the book of James, it is important to stress that James is describing the Christian life, as it should be. None of us is there. No one has come close to living the life of Christ, but Christ himself. Nevertheless, Christ created us to live as he lived.

We are all on the way of progressing to become more and more like Christ. We are all on this journey; we are at different stages. God himself has brought us together so that we can learn from, encourage, correct and train one another in righteousness.

James concludes his letter by being open, honest, and frank. It’s not the end you’d expect, there’s no, “greet one another”, no “say hi to so and so”. Rather, there’s just an instruction regarding wandering saints, and an encouragement that bringing wandering saints back is totally awesome and important work.

The fact that James concludes in this way says something. It says that wandering is typical. We should expect our hearts, our lives, the lives of our friends and loved ones to wander. We even sing about this reality, sometimes, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”

That’s reality.

So, how do we deal? How do we respond to it?

Don’t freak out. People are going to wander. Kids will, friends will, leaders will, loved ones will. People who know better, people who should behave better, people who have demonstrated great faithfulness will wander. This is why we read headlines bout pastors like Tullian Tchvidian, R.C. Sproul Jr. and guys like Josh Duggar, public Christians, who have publicly admitted to sinning.

We can expect that those who were near to God can sometimes move very far away from him and his ways.

There are two ways we typically respond. First, and most common, is to secretly rejoice in the failings of others. This appeals to our selfish, sinful nature that feels better about oneself when compared to the failings of others. This is sin, and this is terribly wrong, putting us in the very same place as the sinner. The moment, any one of us thinks we’re better than another person is, we’re guilty of sin, and just as guilty as that person! We cannot rejoice in the failings of others.

To avoid that sin, we must be completely surrendered to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings us to awareness of our own sin, and enables us to confess and receive forgiveness. This is, or should be a daily activity. As I mentioned at the beginning, no one has arrived, we’ve all sinned, and we all still sin. So, we fall, we repent, we receive forgiveness, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to continue leading us in righteousness. The reason we always, or almost always have a time of confession in every service is because of the reality of our brokenness.

The second response is to ignore the sin, brush it off, and excuse it away. As God’s people, as members of Christ’s body, we must encourage one another to grow in faithfulness, in obedient living. Let us encourage, correct, lift up and restore one another.

The wandering that James is talking about in this passage is a wilful determination to sin and keep on sinning. There’s a sense where you know you’re doing wrong, and you just keep doing it, because you enjoy it, it gives you what you want, financial gain, pleasure, what have you.

Now, those of us who have been Christians for a long time know how easy it is to wander. We know how easy it is to give into temptation. How easy it is to sin, how hard it is to fight against it.

But sometimes, such wandering is proof that the wanderer isn’t really a Christian, that they’ve never been a Christian. It is easy for them to pretend, to play at church and look like they’re doing all the right things. Have you ever come across someone like that? You talk to them and they describe doing certain things, but they don’t talk about Jesus. They don’t talk about how amazed they are that Jesus saved them from their sins. When they talk about Jesus, they simply talk about him as a figure from history, like Martin Luther, or Sir John A. Macdonald.

We have to remind ourselves that where we were born, who our parents, were, being baptised, none of that makes us a Christian. Following a bunch of moral rules, being good, those things don’t make you a Christian. James is concerned that there would be people in church who believe they’re Christians, but in reality, they are not. Sometimes such people wander, and our job is to lovingly bring them back, or bring them in truly.

James concludes his book by saying, “whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” This echoes where it says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”

Sin, if left to its devices will harden our hearts. We will become more and more used to it. Only love can conquer sin. Love wins, love seeks out, love brings back. Peter reminds this is chapter 4 of his first letter, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly.”

The place to start when bringing someone back to truth is . “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” The goal is not being right, not exercising power over the other person, the goal is to win the brother back, to bring them to salvation.

This happens in relationship, with people who already know each other. When it happens, it goes like this, “Hey, brother, guess what, you’ve sinned. I see you’re moving away from the truth, away from the way to really live. I’m concerned.”

But what do you do if the person responds with, “You know, when you started talking to me, I started thinking about what Jesus said in about the guy with the 2x4 in his face. I think, in this conversation, you’re the 2x4 guy and I’m the speck guy. Why are you worrying about me?

So, if the brother doesn’t listen, doesn’t hear, this is what Jesus says, “But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” So, to sum up, we came and said, “brother, I’m concerned for you.” The response we got is, “Dude, the problem isn’t me, it’s you, or it’s them.” So then you get a couple of people, and you ask them, “Am I right to be concerned? Am I totally out to lunch? This is not meant to be an opportunity to get people on your side. The point is restoration, not condemnation. You go to the person again, but with two or three with you, who support the evidence.

Then, when the evidence is established by more than just one person, if the wanderer still refuses to listen, still prefers to sin, says, to the effect, “I don’t care. I know what God’s word says, but I’m going to do what I want.”

Then it goes to the next level. You tell the church. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Church discipline is something that is serious and demands great care. What happens at the end is the church saying, “We can’t affirm you as a believer in Christ. We can’t affirm this, because you have said that you do not care what the Bible says, what the church of the ages has believed about Jesus. You’ve said you’re going to do whatever you want, and you don’t care what happens.”

The hope of such discipline is that it forces the wanderer to think, and to see the seriousness of stuff, and to come back.

Now, discipline is a difficult thing for most churches to deal with. On the one hand, it is hard to approach someone who has sinned, who is sinning, and try to talk to them when you yourself are a sinner who also sins. Even so, God calls us to hold one another accountable to scripture. God calls us to call each other out when we’re not living, speaking, doing, believing in the truth.

As I have been here, I know I have sinned. I have sinned against some of you. I’m sorry, please forgive me. I’ve also become aware that some members have been sinned against by former members—people who are no longer attending. And I am aware that some have been sinned against by current members. Some are still sinning against others. I am aware that some have simply received this sin, and haven’t done anything about it. We can’t just let sin be. We must deal with it, in our own lives yes, but sometimes we don’t see our own sin for what it is. We need others to point it out in us.

I confess that the leadership of this church, that is, the consistory, the elders, have not always dealt with conflict, with sin, well, sometimes not at all. We have failed to act and hold people accountable for their sinful actions against others, some of these actions happened before I got here, some since I’ve been here. I myself have said, “Oh that’s just so and so, that’s the way they’ve always been.

But when the way someone has always been is been sinful, that’s not acceptable. I get it; no one ever arrives. But we can’t ignore sin any longer. We need to call it out when it happens and deal with it. We’re working on this. We’re trying to go about it properly. It will be hard. It is always hard to receive correction. It is hard to give correction. It is hard to forgive. It is hard to ask for forgiveness. It is hard to admit sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ. All have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory. If you know you’ve sinned, go confess your sins, first to God and then to another. If someone has told you that you have sinned against them, please listen. Please accept their correction. Please ask for forgiveness. Don’t lie. Don’t try to cover up. Don’t try to excuse your behaviour.

Receive correction, because of what is at stake. Those who remain in the error of their ways remain dead in sin. But whoever brings back a sinner for his wandering will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Ask yourself. “Am I near to God? Am I wandering far away?” Ask someone you trust; ask someone not in your family. Ask them if they see any sin in your life. If you realise that you’re far, then turn and come to Christ. Don’t assume you are near. Don’t. Come to the father now. Amen.