James 1:5-8

Translation

5 But if one of you is lacking wisdom, let him ask from God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask with faith without going on doubting[1]; for the one who goes on doubting is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed about by the wind. 7 For that man must not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 he is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Sermon Manuscript

This morning we will read from James 1:5-8.

Last week we looked at James’ instructions for the believer facing trials. In the end we concluded that God can use the trials in our lives to help us grow into the people he wants us to be. The final goal of this, as far as our growth is concerned, is for us to be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

In our passage today James addresses the believer who realizes that he does still lack something. In particular James addresses the believer who realizes he lacks wisdom.

Wisdom for James is not always wisdom as we tend to think of it. Perhaps we picture the Great Guru from the B.C. comic strip, perched on top of a mountain ready to give wise advice to all who would seek him out. Wisdom sometimes seems to be fairly abstract – it’s not something you can put your finger on, but you think you would know it if you saw it.

But James has a different view of wisdom. We find this particularly in James 3:13-18. We will be looking at this passage in more detail in a few weeks, but let’s read now what James has to say about wisdom.

James makes a distinction between two kinds of wisdom – one that is true wisdom and one that is a sham. The true wisdom comes from above, is sent to us by God. The other kind of wisdom is earthly and unspiritual. The man who has true wisdom is the man who knows how God wants him to live, and he goes on to live in that way. When James talks about a wise man he is basically repeating his description in James 1:4. The wise man IS the person who is mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

In other words, if you realize you still need to grow, that you are not serving God as fully as you ought, then you are the one who lacks wisdom. This describes everyone in this room. This side of eternity, none of us will perfectly live the life God calls us to live.

So what do we do, having recognized our need and our weakness? Well, we could sit around and lament the fact that we are not where we ought to be. Or we could even ignore it and respond with something like, “This is just human nature. I am not meant to be perfect. Why be distressed about who I am?” – this is the solution so often offered by the modern world. Don’t change your behavior, be happy with who you are! But James offers a different solution: pray to God and ask him to grant you wisdom, ask him to shape you into the person he wants you to be. Proverbs 2:6 tells us, “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Do not seek the wisdom of God from the world. Seek it from God himself, and him alone. He is the one who gives true wisdom and understanding. Ask him when you find yourself lacking – and if we are honest with ourselves, we will always find ourselves lacking.

Sometimes we are afraid to ask God to give us something because we realize something of our fallenness. Perhaps you have come to recognize that you are truly sinful, truly rebellious, and you think this God would not hear you when you call to him. But James would reassure you not to let such fears keep you from God. He says that you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. God is generous with his people. He delights to give good gifts to his children, and he will not weigh us and measure us to determine whether or not we are worthy for his gifts. None of us is worthy! And yet God gives generously without finding fault.

We find Jesus himself saying something similar in his sermon on the mount. Read with me Matthew 7:7-11. God does not stand in Heaven trying to trick us or waiting for an excuse to smite us. We do not need to cower before him as though we were unsure of what he would do with us. We already know of his love – this has been revealed through his Son, Jesus Christ! And so if you know his love, know the forgiveness that has come to you through Jesus Christ. As forgiven children of God, approach him with the knowledge that he does not now judge you. It is not your worthiness that will cause him to give you good gifts, it is only his grace. I pray that none here will ever feel that you have to do certain things to get on God’s good side, to win favor from God. This is impossible. We can – and should – live in ways that are pleasing to him, or in ways that are displeasing to him, but the gifts of God are not dependent on our own performance. Our actions can never merit even the least gift from God. But God is generous and gives to all without finding fault. Just approach him and ask him.

One of the great reformers of the church has said, “Since we see that the Lord does not so require from us what is above our strength, but that he is ready to help us, provided we ask, let us, therefore, learn whenever he commands anything to ask of him the power to perform it.”[2]

Going back in history 1000 years, the great theologian Augustine put it another way in his Confessions, “My entire hope is exclusively in your very great mercy. Grant what you command, and command what you will.”[3]

Augustine agreed with James who in James 1:17 said, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Every good and perfect gift, even the ability for us to be obedient, comes from God. Augustine prayed for God to command us to do anything God wanted, but also for God to equip us to do that which he commands. Today we have a similar saying, “God doesn’t call the equipped – he equips the called.” We recognize that God makes us able to serve him and follow him. And so with James we pray for God to continue equipping us, to continue enabling us to better follow his will.

James 1:6 tells us of that which is required of us – faith. The only absolute demand on the believer is the demand for faith. We are not saved by our works – indeed our works cannot save us! We are only saved by faith in Jesus Christ. As men and women who are saved, we walk not on the basis of what we can see or understand, but only by faith in God, trusting in his will for our lives. And as we walk by faith we continue to have faith that God will perform his will through our prayers. We trust in faith that God delights to give good gifts to his children, and that he will respond to our prayers in the way that is best. We have faith in his goodness even when we do not understand his actions, even when his actions cause pain in our lives. We have faith in God throughout it all.

We read in James 1:6 that the one asking must believe and not doubt. Allow me to do a little Greek with you this morning. One problem of any translation is that it is often very difficult to bring into English every sense that is present in the Greek. God has preserved his word in such a way that it continues to be truly the word of God even when we read translations of the original languages. But sometimes the translation can leave a little confusion which the original can help to clear up. In this case, from what our Bibles read one might be left with the thought that Christians are not allowed to have any doubts whatsoever. When he asks, he must believe and not doubt! But the words used by James are a little more nuanced than that. The literal translation is a little awkward in English, but here it is: “But he must ask with faith without going on doubting”.

James is describing a person who lives in doubt. His life is not characterized by his faith in God, it is characterized by his persistent doubts. Doubts about the goodness of God, doubts about the reality of God, doubts about whether God would ever really give gifts to sinners, and so on. As humans it is almost inevitable that we will all have some form of doubt at some time or another. This isn’t what James has in mind. James is instructing us that when we go to God in prayer our attitude should be one of persistent faith, not persistent doubt. We can even go to God with our doubts and ask him to help deal with those! One of my favorite passages of the Bible is Mark 9:23-24. In Mark 9:17-27 Jesus performs a great miracle, casting a demon from a boy. Even his disciples had been unable to cast out the demon. Hear the exchange between Jesus and the boy’s father in Mark 9:22b-24: “’…But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’ If you can'? said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’  Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” Let this be your response in the face of doubt. That even when you experience doubts and fears you still trust God enough to go to him with them. Lord, I believe! Help me overcome the unbelief that tries to consume me! And what is Jesus’ response to the man? He heals his son. Faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.

James describes the person who goes on living in doubt as being like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Imagine a sailor crossing the Atlantic ocean. He has a good seaworthy vessel with good navigational equipment. He has learned all he needs to know about using the equipment, he has even learned how to navigate by the stars if something should happen to the equipment. But as he begins to cross the Atlantic he begins to doubt whether or not the instruments really are telling him the truth. His destination is England and his instruments have him sailing East but he begins to question them. “What is this? I thought England was to the south…” He finally decides to ignore his instruments and he turns south. He continues to sail this way for a few days when he begins to doubt again. “Maybe England is really to the west!” (he seems to have forgotten which way he came from!) So he turns west. On and on he goes, constantly changing direction, never relying on his equipment. This is something like what James has in mind.

The person whose life is characterized by doubt will never live in the faith of God. This person can’t be of much use to God for he is always changing direction, always unsure of which way to go. I think we all live like this at times, but I pray that our response would be like the father we saw earlier – “Lord, I believe! Help me overcome my unbelief.”

James says the doubter is double-minded and unstable in all his ways. His ship is roaming the seas aimlessly. His life is without point, purpose, or direction. Commenting on James Douglas Moo said, “So the doubter, not possessing an ‘anchor for the soul’, does not pray to God with a consistency and sincerity of purpose. Prey to the shifting winds of motive and desire, he wants wisdom from God one day and the wisdom of the world the next.”[4] The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 6:19 that the hope of God’s promise is the anchor for the soul. We are fixed, we are set, we are resting upon the rock of God’s faithfulness to us. With us there is no persistent doubt or wavering faith. When the moments of doubt come, even those doubts we take to God.

In Deuteronomy 6:5 we find the opposite of the unstable, divided man: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” This person is unified in his being in loving God. The whole of this person is devoted to God. He does not have a Christian side that comes out on Sunday and a normal side that shows the rest of the week. He consistently strives to live in a way that is pleasing to God. When he approaches God in prayer, he believes that God’s will will be done and that God will give the best response to his prayers.

We have talked a lot about the doubting Christian, but let’s not forget why James brought this up. We are to pray for wisdom with all faith and certainty that God will provide for us that which we need. Make this your prayer every day. Each day ask for God to guide you, to lead you in his way, to give you wisdom that you might live for him. And do not fear what comes. Just trust that your Father in Heaven is good and that he delights to give good gifts to his children.

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[1] I’ve taken the present participle as a sign of continuing action; the man does not have a pattern of doubting, he doesn’t go on doubting. This isn’t an aorist “at no time doubt”; it is a present progressive, “do not go on doubting”.

[2] Calvin

[3] Augustine’s Confessions, X.XXIX

[4] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James