Faith Works 5

Send us your reckons

“Let us enjoy the glory of your uninformed, ad hoc thoughts.” I started with that video this morning because it really does bridge what we talked about last week and the dangers of what we say- speaking when we don’t really know the story but feel like we should have something to day, to this week’s passage where James warns readers against the sort of false earthly wisdom that leads people to assume they have the answers to everything and are obligated to share their knowledge with the world. So often problems in our relationships with each other start either when we think we have all the information about someone else but really don’t, or when we assume we know enough to fix someone else’s problems, as if people were simply problems to be solved. As James points out today, wisdom and knowledge are not one in the same. You can know all the information and not have the wisdom to use it. You can have no knowledge whatsoever and still be able to act wisely in your interaction with others. Wisdom looks a certain way when lived out- and it doesn’t look like an uninformed, ad hoc reckon. Instead, wisdom looks holy. James 3:13

The New Revised Standard Version Two Kinds of Wisdom

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

James starts today’s passage with a question about what true wisdom really is. Is it something theoretical that exists inside your head, or is wisdom only a real thing when it is put into practice? What’s the purpose of wisdom? Whats the opposite of wisdom? Its clear to James that wisdom, true wisdom that comes from God, is, like faith, something that shows itself through action. Holy wisdom, Godly wisdom, is revealed in holy, Godly action. That means, as James tell them, that their actions reveal whether or not they have embraced Gods wisdom. Actions that are rooted in bitterness, envy, selfishness, or pride; things which often drive people, have a human, and not a holy, source. Those things do not bring about the righteousness of God. When James speaks here of what is in their hearts, he speaks of dedication, motivation. He tells his readers that if they are dedicated to God, they are wise and will put that wisdom on display by acting peaceably and gentle, with a willingness to yield, to be ok with not having things “their way,” and to avoid impartiality and hypocrisy, two things that have shown up repeatedly as we have worked through James. And James also points out that the environment a person helps create says a lot about their motives, what they are dedicated to. Selfish people do not create compassionate communities. Instead, selfishness creates chaos, creates conflict, engenders hard feelings. James continues to point out that the fruit of selfishness is unholy.

The New Revised Standard Version Friendship with the World

4 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.

The New Revised Standard Version Friendship with the World

4 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Once again, here at the end of the section, James reveals what is at the source of the struggle the believers to whom he writes are facing; and what is the source by the constant pull to fit in with the culture that surrounds them, the broader culture and community of which they are a part. Much like the favoritism, the cultural honor and shame system that James spoke against in chapter 2, we find here at the beginning of Chapter 4 James’ complete rejection of the selfishness often promoted by a culturally encouraged desire for more. Now, to be clear, I don’t think James is accusing his audience of actually murdering anyone. James writes at the extremes so that people understand the implications, and at the very least recognizes how far some people are willing to go in order to get the things they want, to make things the way they want them. James’ Jewish audience would certainly know the story of David’s desire for Bathsheba ultimately resulting in the death of Uriah. They know of Ahab and Jezebel’s desire for their neighbor Naboth’s vineyard, and their murder of Naboth in order to take it over. In teaching this way, James both reminds of them of their heritage and the way in which desire has lead to murder in the past which serves as a warning to curtail their own selfishness. James’ overarching warning in the first three verses is that when actions are fueled by selfishness, there is no possible result other than destruction- destruction of others, destruction of community, destruction of relationships, and ultimately destruction of self. To buy into the cultural concept of “looking out for #1,” “Me first, no one else matters.” James paints a devastating picture of what “can” happen when such mentality fuels action. James’ passage here reminds me of a song from one of my favorite bands, the Avett Brothers, called “Ill With Want.” Here’s a sampling of the lyrics, words of a person gripped by a selfish desire for more.

I am sick with wanting And it's evil and it's daunting How I let everything I cherish lay to waste I am lost in greed this time, it's definitely me I point fingers but there's no one there to blame

I am sick with wanting And it's evil how it's got me And everyday is worse than the one before The more I have the more I think, I'm almost where I need to be If only I could get a little more

Something has me Oh something has me Acting like someone I don't wanna be Something has me Oh something has me Acting like someone I know isn't me Ill with want and poisoned by this ugly greed

James writes to a people ill with wanting to warn them that the actions of a selfish person, a person sick with greed, a person in love with earthly things, are not the actions of a person who is a friend of God, a follower of God. And the ancient concept of “friendship” is not the same as the way we understand friendship today. Its a type of dedicated love, the word itself comes from the root of the word love. In saying it this way, James reminds his readers of Jesus own teaching that one cannot serve two masters. True dedication to both God’s standards and the cultural standards isn’t possible- its one or the other. James is begging recognition on their end that they live for a different kingdom, a different God and not the cultural idols of wealth, possession, status, or honor. There is a choice to make, and a truly wise person, a person shaped by God’s wisdom and not cultural wisdom, chooses to live holy life in honor of God. Doing so shows up in actions born of compassion and gentleness- “peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”

My Avett song speaks of this recognition as well, a recognition we all must make

Temporary is my time Ain't nothin' on this world that's mine Except the will I found to carry on Free is not your right to choose It's answering what's asked of you To give the love you find until it's gone

There is nothing on this earth, the song says, that is permanently mine because my time here is not permanent. Therefore, freedom, true freedom, is not the right to do whatever you want, pursue whatever you want to pursue, chase the desires of your heart. No, true freedom is the opportunity to serve, to “answer what asked of you,” to give love.” Dovetails nicely with James’ reminder that that is nearly precisely what God has called us to do- to live selflessly and sacrificially in community out of love for God and neighbor is the definition of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.