James 1:2-4

Translation

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you are encountered by various trials, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 But let perseverance perfect its work, in order that you might be whole and complete, lacking in nothing.

Sermon Manuscript

Turn with me to James chapter 1. We will continue moving through James by reading James 1:2-4.

The Epistle from James has been loved by many Christians for the help it offers to those going through trials. Christianity is somewhat unique in how we are called to face trials and tribulations. Buddhism is probably the religion best known for offering its adherents a way to handle suffering. In Buddhism, suffering is a guaranteed part of life, the only promise that life keeps. In order to cope with suffering one must learn how to become detached from the world. The physical reality is unimportant, and so a Buddhist will work to achieve a state of complete detachment from the world so that the troubles of the world will be unable to affect him.

The Christian response to suffering is a bit different. Christianity, like Buddhism, teaches that trials and tribulations are guaranteed. Note in verse two what James says and what he doesn’t say. We don’t find, “If you face trials”. Trials are certain – “WHEN you face trials”. If anyone becomes a Christian thinking that this means suffering and hard times are over, that person is in for a bit of a surprise.

But rather than trying to become detached from the world, rather than trying to become desensitized to trials, Christians are called to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials. Joy is the blessed gift to the believer. Joy allows us to trust and have hope even in the midst of pain. Joy does not take away the pain, but it makes the pain meaningful. When we face the troubles of the world with a joyful, grateful heart, trusting in the grace and mercy of God, we will find that trials take on a new dimension, one which James will address in the next few verses.

The trials James refer to here are the things beyond our control. They are situations that we did not create. James does not so much have in mind the man who squanders all his money and ends up in financial ruin, or the man who breaks the law and ends up in jail; these trials are things that happen in the daily flow of life. For his readers, James most likely has persecution in mind. The believers were suffering trials at the hands of other people who oppressed them because they were Christians. But his words could also address any trials that come upon us, and so James says to consider it pure joy when we face many kinds of trials. This passage is not just for those facing persecution, it is for all of those who face the troubles of life. Accidents, natural disasters, persecution, economic instability – these are all things included in what James has to say.

As for those whose troubles are of their own making, there is grace and there is peace and there is hope for such a one, but James would not say to consider it pure joy when we face the troubles of our own making. Sin and its consequences is not an occasion for joy – it is an occasion for sorrow and repentance, and while God in his grace will often redeem us from the consequences of our sin, and will even help us to grow closer to him when we do repent, the best way for a Christian to grow is through humble obedience and standing the test of the trials of life.

In verse 3 James tells the reader why he should have such an unusual response to suffering: because God will bring something good out of the trial. The testing of our faith is like a refining fire, like a fire that purifies. This does not refer to God putting us through a trial and stepping back to see how we perform, this is more like a person who is building muscle by lifting weights. He tests himself every time the weights go up, and with the test he is made stronger. God tests us through the trial; he refines us; he purifies us; and he makes our faith genuine and sure.

It is faith that is grown in these times of trouble and uncertainty. Faith is that which allows us to trust in God in all things. For so many of us that faith is a weak and sickly thing. We might trust God to protect us from harm when we go to the dentist, but we are not so sure that he will protect us from harm when the storm is raging around us. When things are truly dangerous, will you still have joy and trust in your Father who commands all the universe? If you stand the test and trust him in all things then your faith will grow all the more.

This growing faith is frightening to some people: “If I grow in faith, won’t God put me through even more trying situations?” Perhaps! And praise God if he does. We do not go out looking to suffer, but we do trust in the will and wisdom of our Father. Do you believe that your God is good? Do you believe that he wants good things for you? Then trust him even in this! Do not fear to grow as a believer; delight in it! I once heard someone say that he had been praying for God to help him be a more patient person. The person he was talking to responded, “No! Don’t do that! If you do then God will let bad things happen to you!” Why do we treat God this way? Why do we try and keep him at a distance as if he were evil and desired bad things for his children? Trust in God’s refining fire even when it burns hot and painful. Consider it pure joy when your Heavenly Father allows you to face trials! He will not let us face something we cannot bear, and through the trial we will become more and more like his Son, Jesus Christ.

Through trials we are refined, purified, and our faith is strengthened. As a result of this we develop perseverance. Perseverance here is not the passive ability to endure troubles. This does not simply give us the ability to make it through a trial, but to thrive even in the midst of suffering. The first Christians seem to have had this. They faced severe trials and testings of their faith through many periods of great persecution. The Roman officials sought to suppress Christianity and they often tried to do so through very violent means. Some Christians abandoned the faith; many remained faithful and suffered for it. But even in their suffering they had joy. They rejoiced with Paul in Colossians 1:24 when he said that he rejoiced in his suffering. They felt they were being honored by God for being chosen to face such a terrible trial. The world saw their faithfulness, the world saw their joy, and the world wanted to share in that kind of life. In just a few generations the Roman empire went from being thoroughly pagan to thoroughly Christian. What kind of indictment is against the church today when we now see society heading the other direction? Instead of being attracted to Christianity because of the example of believers, many people are turned off by the way we live. Certainly this is due in part because of the spiritual blindness of the lost and the work of Satan to keep them from Christ, but I am convinced that Christians bear quite a bit of responsibility; we are not living, we are not trusting, we are not following God in the ways that we should.

What does a person look like who has grown through trials and has developed this kind of perseverance? Just the other day I stumbled on a poem by William Wordsworth that I think illustrates very well the ideal for the believer:

The little hedge-row birds,

That peck along the road, regard him not.

He travels on, and in his face, his step,

His gait, is one expression; every limb,

His look and bending figure, all bespeak

A man who does not move with pain, but moves

With thought – he is insensibly subdued

To settled quiet: he is one by whom

All effort seems forgotten, one to whom

Long patience has such mild composure given,

That patience now doth seem a thing, of which

He hath no need. He is by nature led

To peace so perfect, that the young behold

With envy, what the old man hardly feels.

-  I asked him whither he was bound, and what

The object of his journey; he replied

‘Sir! I am going many miles to take

A last leave of my son, a mariner,

Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,

And there is dying in an hospital.’ [1]

I pray that someday those words can be used to describe me: “Long patience has such mild composure given, that patience now doth seem a thing, of which he hath no need…” Here is a man who has faced the sufferings of this life and has trusted God throughout it all. God has grown his faith, and he has developed his patience, his perseverance, so that it is such a part of him he gives no thought to it. Most of us, when we face a trial, have to work hard to endure with joy, to continue in trust; this is a man who God has grown in such a way that when he faces the trial, simple trust comes naturally. It is his natural and automatic response, grown in him from years of trusting and faithfulness. Even when he is on his way to see his dying son, he trusts his Father above. Can you have this kind of faith that trusts in God no matter what you might be facing?

God is growing us to equip us to better serve him in this life. He is not growing us just so we can look like pious people for God to put in a museum somewhere. He has a purpose for us in the world, and we need to cooperate with him for that purpose. James discusses this throughout the letter when he speaks of the need for believers to do good works. He begins here, in verse 4, when he says that perseverance must finish its work. Another translation reads, “let perseverance perfect its work”. This is a command to the believer, a command for cooperation. Do not resist what God is doing, but yield to him. He is growing you to serve him better; so serve him better! When we have endured the test, it isn’t break time. The trials we face don’t entitle us to any benefits, but as believers we are always called to continue following Christ, to continue serving others. Through trials God makes us more like Jesus Christ and when we become more like Christ we become better able to spread his gospel in the world: through our own example, through acts of service, and by speaking the gospel to others. Let perseverance perfect this work within you. If you say you have faith, show it by living it! As Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

All of this – the trials, the growth in faith, the perseverance, the perfect work – come together to make you into a person who is mature and complete, not lacking anything. Mature here refers to a person who perfectly fulfills his function. This is the man who is fully alive, who is perfectly following the plan and purpose of God. In ancient Greece people spent a lot of time talking philosophy, and they often had a philosophical notion of the ideal human. The word they used for this ideal human is the same word James uses here that we translate mature. James is telling us that God uses these things to shape us into the people he wants us to be. We will also be complete, lacking in nothing. This does not refer to material things. God’s will for us is not that we sit around in a nice house with a nice car surrounded by all the nice stuff that we want. He may bless us with these material things, but they are not the goal he has in mind. He wants us to be balanced, whole, complete people. One way to think of the complete person is to remember the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. The ideal human is complete, lacking none of the fruit of the Spirit.

In the world there has only been one ideal human, only one who we could call fully alive, only one who was mature and complete – Jesus Christ our Lord. But let us go on trusting that God is working in our lives every day to make us mature and complete, like our Savior. He will continue working on us throughout our lifetimes. We will never reach a point when we can stop, look back, and say, “I have done it! I have finally arrived!” In this life we are always on the journey. But we have the hope of things to come, that God will never leave us or abandon us and that his work will be finished. Paul expressed this faith to the Philippians in Philippians 1:6: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Christian, you might realize how far you are from the goal; how fallen you remain; how much wickedness still lives in you. I hope you do realize it. None should think of himself more highly than he ought, but should always yield to God who will continue to work in us and help us grow. When we forget how far we are fallen then we will stagnate, cease to grow, perhaps even go backward. But acknowledge your sin before a holy God and ask him to continue his work in your life. He will do it.

The day will come when God will take away every sinful inclination, every lust of the flesh, every thought of rebellion. We will be his perfect, faithful children. That day will not come while we are in this world, but only when he calls us home. But don’t let this be a cause to become complacent. Don’t let your future hope cause you to sleep in this world. Count it pure joy when you face trials, and let the perseverance that comes perfect its work in you: serve God, serve your brothers and sisters in Christ, and spread the gospel to the lost world around you.

The last word for the church is a word of hope and trust. We count it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds because we know who it is that we serve. We serve God almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth. We serve the one who is sovereign over all the universe. Nothing will ever  face you that he does not control. The trial that has come upon you is under his control and he has seen fit to let you face it. Trust him in the midst of the suffering. Trust him with your uncertainty. Trust that he will get you through and that however hard the day may be, however long the night may last, God will remain faithful to you.

[1] Old Man Travelling by William Wordsworth from the Penguin Classics.