Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! [[James 1:5-8|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible: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|Bible:Mark 9:23-24]].

In [[Mark 9:17-27|Bible: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|Bible:Mark 9:22-24]]: “’…/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.’