Sermon Tone Analysis

Anyone who is around young things is privileged to see rapid growth and hopefully a trajectory of maturity.

After several years, one hopes that their young thing will be different than they were.

A baby cries.

That is how they communicate.

But, after several years, a baby should be able to communicate through words and sentences and not through tantrums.

You hope that there is some maturity as there is growth.

Now, in teenage years, everything changes.

That’s another discussion.

As something grows, one should also mature.

James is writing to Christians who had been kicked out of their homes because of their faith.

He wrote them words of encouragement, telling them that their persecution was not in vain, but that they should continue to persevere.

Then, he tells them that their faith, no matter their situation, should produce maturity in every area of their lives.

As they grow in Christ, they should show change.

James has hit many different areas, concluding two weeks ago, that we should seek to be followers of God, not friends with the world.

Several times in this letter, he has mentioned the tongue and our words should change because of our faith in Christ.

James returns to this subject and gives consequences for our actions and our speech that should motivate us to change.

In these two verses, James tells us about 4 actors, two actions, and one choice.

He goes back to the tongue and give consequences for actions

Inclusio of speech in 3:1-4:12.

This is a brief reprise of sins of speech.

1A. 4 Actors

In every situation on earth, whenever there is a meeting, a conversation, a controversy, a disagreement.

There is always four actors at play.

Before we can face our meetings, conversations, controversies, disagreements; before we can apply this verse to those times in our lives, we need to understand the four actors at play in all our situations.

1B.

Us

James calls his readers brothers and sisters.

This is a welcome change from the previous verses, when he called his readers adulterers, sinners, and the double-minded.

James is writing, by the inspiration of God, to us, assuming that we are followers of Christ, that we have turned from our sin and trusted in Christ alone, not in our works, prayers, church attendance, or family’s faith.

If you have not turned to Christ, but are still somehow trying to live life on your own, this verse does not apply to you.

You can live however you want, treat people however you want, but you will be judged based upon your actions one day after it is too late to change.

In every situation, there is an us.

In our situation, we are Christians, follows of Christ, slaves of God.

Our identity as such demands that we react in a specific way.

This way is not natural to us.

It only comes through regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

James comes back to nice title of brothers, from adulterous , sinners, double-mindedz

2B.

Them

In every situation, there is also a them.

We as humans naturally approach situations as “us vs. them.”

We will interact with people who are like us or who agree with us, but we will naturally throw up a wall of hostility (to borrow the language of Paul in ) against those who are not like us or who don’t agree with us, at least according to our perception or feeling.

In this passage, James narrows the “them” to a distinct group of people: Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

These are fellow believers.

They are followers of Christ.

They have turned from their sin and trusted in Christ.

They are committed in some sense to living a redeemed lifestyle, reflecting Christ.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in recent years through tumultuous political years, and as a student of history would see through church debates over miniscule issues, Christians very often set up war camps against each other in an “us vs. them” situation.

Though James narrows this verse to situations concerning Christians on both sides of an issue, the application can be applied to situations where non-Christians are in the “them” category.

Two actors: us and them.

3B.

The Law

James was a Jew who had converted to Christianity.

His original audience were Jews who had converted to Christianity.

These are a community who understand very clearly the Law of Moses, the Torah.

And they valued it.

They would agree with the Psalmist:

They loved the Law.

The Law guarded their steps, teaching them how to live in a way that honored God, but even more so, the Law taught them who God was.

They loved and valued it so much that they wanted to live according to it.

But, the Law that James refers to here is more than just the Torah.

It is more than the Torah and the prophets.

In James’ mind, the Law is that which is fulfilled in Christ.

The Law pointed to Christ, and as Jesus said:

The Law points to Christ and is fulfilled in Christ.

But, through Christ, the perfect law that gives freedom (as James refers to in ) sets a standard by which we are supposed to live.

This is a Law which is not defined by Moses, but defined by Christ.

A law of the kingdom, if you will.

Is this Torah?

or is this Torah fulfilled in Christ?

This law is referred to by Christ throughout his teaching, in the Sermon on the Mount, and other locations, but is referred explicitly in moments leading up to his crucifixion in .

There is a law of the kingdom that is given through Christ, as he fulfills the Old Testament Law.

All the love and reverence that James had for the Law is applied for this new law of the kingdom, the one which gives freedom.

All throughout his letter, James tells us “Follow the Law of Christ, as contained in Scripture.”

So, in any situation, not only is there us and them, but the Law of the Kingdom, the Law of Christ, is dogging us.

4B.

God

The final actor James mentions, for every situation, is God.

This might seem a little cliche: “Be careful what you do, because God is watching you.”

But, James is speaking of something deeper, as we will see in the text.

James refers to God as the Lawgiver and the judge.

As one person mentioned: God is both the executive judicial branches of the Heavenly government.

God is the one who sets the standard for right and wrong.

He is the one who gave the Law to Moses.

He is the one who fulfilled the Law in Christ.

He is the one who calls us to a higher living in Christ.

He is the one who will judge us based upon those standards.

God is also the one who is able to save and destroy, eternally speaking, based upon how we live and what we do with Christ.

God is God, and no one else can be God.

Two Actions

God will destroy, but he will also save.

:28

Is judging speaking of the ultimate destiny of an individual?

In every situation, there are 4 actors: us, them, the Law, and God.

No one else can be God.

2A.

Two Actions

Have you ever gotten mad at someone.

I should qualify this: have you ever gotten mad at a fellow Christian.

Have you ever felt like cutting off communication, maybe not trusting them anymore?

Maybe you haven’t felt anger to that extent, but a fellow Christian did something, or said something, or didn’t do or didn’t say something, and all your emotions suddenly blew up.