Does "Yes" Mean "No"?

Have you ever been talking on the phone with someone and lost track of time? This doesn’t happen to me very often. I am usually acutely aware of time. But this happens to some people. My wife is one of them. This is not negative to my wife or anyone like her! I have her permission to tell this.

Sometimes she will be on the phone talking with someone else for a good 30 minutes or so. Then, she sees the time and realizes that she needs to stop talking. However, she also realizes that she didn’t talk about the 3 things that she called this person to talk about. So, during the goodbyes, it’s “oh, wait, wait! I need to tell you about this, and this, and this.” 15 minutes later, the phone is done.

Again, this isn’t against anyone who is like this, because James does this.

The first 3 words in the passage are “but above all”. This is used sometimes as a sign of an epilogue, showing that the end of the letter is coming, but there are some important things that he really wants the readers to remember and apply.

He is saying “goodbye! Oh, but wait! There were these things that I wanted to specifically tell you that are more important than I said before.” But above all, could also be translated: “Have this priority!”

He then tells his readers 3 things to focus on as he quickly closes the letter. Each of these 3 things are dealing with speech, but dig through the speech into our attitudes.

Today, we will only focus on the first closing command.

We don’t know the situation behind these verses

1A. Do not swear by anything

1B. Do not swear by anything

We don’t know the circumstances of the church that James is writing to which would encourage him to bring this admonition. Some people have conjectured a situation involving the poor Christians being tempted to use oaths to fend off creditors or obtain credit, even though they knew that they could not pay. This is possible. When a rich person comes to take away everything, leaving you destitute without the means to provide for your family, you could be tempted to do many things.

Ultimately, we do not know the circumstances. All we know is what James writes. He tells them not to swear by anything.

James Explanation of Text

Contextually, Baker suggests that James puts this verse where he does because the poor Christians might be “tempted to use oaths to fend off creditors or to obtain credit for food and other necessities,” even knowing that prompt payment would be possible only with a miracle.

Now, swearing is not what we think of swearing today. Some translations expand this word to “swearing an oath” or “taking an oath”. This verse does not prohibit coarse speech, or speaking the Lord’s name when we shouldn’t, or having potty talk. Other verses in the Bible definitely speak to that issue:

Ephesians 4:29 NIV

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 5:4 NIV

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

But, since James is not referring to those things, my sermon isn’t about those things.

James is referring to the oath-taking process. The word here refers to affirming the veracity of one’s statements by invoking a transcendent entity, usually with an implied invitation of punishment if one is untruthful.

This was a very popular thing to do. Consider the story of Herod and John the Baptist. John the Baptist was in jail. Herod was celebrating his birthday. His daughter in law danced for him and his guests.

Mark 6:22–23 NIV

When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

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The king promised with an oath. He invoked whatever god he thought appropriate, and he called on that god to punish him if he didn’t fulfill his promise to the girl.

Job, in the same line of thinking, was encouraged by his wife to “curse God and die” (). This would have involved an oath.

People had sworn oaths all throughout history to prove the truth of what they were saying and to provide a guarantee for what they promised.

The childish phrase, “cross my heart and hope to die”, is a close resemblance to what was. Literally the child is saying: if what I am saying is not true, I will die.

When God called Israel to be his special people, he created some boundaries on this oath taking. He never prohibited oaths, but he demanded that someone be truthful to what they say.

gives us the 10 Commandments, which were given by God to be a sign of the covenant between Him and His people. Commandment #3 speaks to these oaths.

Exodus 20:7 NIV

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Popular quoting of this commandment is: you shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

This is speaking of these oaths. People would take the name of their god and tie the power symbolized by that name to oaths, vows, treaties, etc. This is basically invoking God’s name to guarantee the reliability of what a person says: consider it like making God a cosigner of your loan. Someone who took the name of the Lord in vain, or who misused the name of Lord would wantonly put God on any promise, and then break it.

This concept is repeated in , a chapter that James has already referred to in his letter:

Don’t swear by anything

Don’t swear by anything

“If we truly understand patience and perseverance, we won’t need to swear”?

Remember to define swearing! (Cross my heart and hope to die) Is this what Herod fell into with the head of John the Baptist? Job was encouraged to curse God and die (tie in with previous section)

This is tied to invoking God’s name to guarantee the reliability of what a person says: consider it like making God cosign your loan.

Leviticus 19:12 NIV

“ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

God says: “If you are going to make an oath with my name, keep it!” Those who keep these promises honor the Lord, but those who do not, dishonor the Lord and break the covenant they have made with their God.

Poor Christians could have been

Fast forward to when Jesus was on the earth. The Pharisees had distorted these commands in Exodus and Leviticus. They were teaching that if you swore an oath by God, you had to keep your promise, but if you swore an oath by anything less than God, you could break your promise.

This is not to say that legal oaths are bad, see how many times and oath is used in important undertakings in the Bible.

The things that happen when we try to circumvent clear teaching of Scripture!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches against this distorted doctrine of the Pharisees:

Matthew 5:33–37 NIV

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

He reminds his listeners that the point of the Law was honesty. If you make a vow, keep it. If you have every intention of breaking your word, don’t make the vow.

In saying these things, Jesus is telling his listeners that no matter what they made the vow by, God is in focus. His name is at stake no matter what.

James, as he often does, picks up this teaching of Jesus and basically quotes it in our text:

James 5:12 NIV

Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

The issue at play, as seen through the historical background of Jesus’ teaching on the Old Testament, seems to be rash or unrealistic vows that were often broken, thus destroying the character of the one taking the oath and destroying his Christian witness.

The issue is not legal oath taking, like in court rooms.

Oaths force us into behavior that does not glorify God. It “comes from the evil one”,

Our speech can honor or dishonor God.

Our speech can honor or dishonor God.

The issue is a voluntary oath, to assure the truthfulness of what is said or promised

We should be people who are trustworthy, without needing to swear.

Or condemnation will come

James Explanation of Text

We should live, speak, and act with integrity in all we do. James’s unifying motif of simplicity versus duplicity continues.

These days, we don’t tend to call God as our cosigner for promises. We don’t ask him to curse us if we break them. However, if people know that we are Christians, whether we drag God into the discussion or not, they are dragging God into it. They know that we are followers of Christ and our honesty reflects on his reputation.

Or condemnation will come

Is this condemnation directed at those who break their word or at those who swear?

If we make a promise or say that we will or won’t do something, it better not be rash, and we better follow through.

Contradiction:

James says: don’t swear at all. Which leads to the next point:

God made oaths and swore by himself ()

God made oaths and swore by himself ()

Context seems to be rash or unrealistic vows that were often broken, thus destroying the character of the oath-taker and their Christian witness

2A. Be truthful in all things

Both Jesus and James say: “Let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’, no.” We should be people who have integrity in all we do, in our life, in our speech, and in our actions.

We are called to radical integrity, so that when we say something, people don’t have to ask “are you sure?” But, they can trust us at our first speaking. The old fashioned term is “our word is our bond.”

This was something that Maggie and I had to work through when we first started our relationship. I would offer to do something, and she would say: “Are you sure?” We had to work through this, her realizing that when I said something, I meant it.

The minute that we feel we have to give a promise or an oath, that shows that we have not be truthful in some other area of our life, and we should rectify it.

This radical integrity is seen in the requirements for elders and deacons.

Titus 1:6 NIV

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Titus

This idea of blameless does not mean that someone is perfect. That would rule out everyone but Christ. Blameless means that no one in the community can bring an accusation. The elder or deacon has been so honest, even about his faults, that no one can point a finger at him.

This radical honesty is hard. When we say something, it is the truth.

This applies to if we say that we will do something.

I read a humorous sign in my grandparent’s cabin. “Ladies, if your husband says that he will do something, he will. You don’t have to remind him every 6 months.”

Why have husbands gotten such a reputation for promising to do something and then never doing it? Which reminds me, I need to finish writing a letter to Grace for her 1st birthday...

This principle doesn’t just apply to marriage relationships, but in every area of our lives. If we say that we are going to do something, will we follow through. As a student, if we say that we will complete a project, or finish our homework, will we? Not just because we want to have good grades or because our parents won’t let us do anything until we complete it, but for the reputation of our Savior!

This applies to if we say that we will do something

If you are worker, in an office, or out on a job, maybe you are on the farm interacting with family, and you say that you will do something, will you follow through, or will you find an excuse to get out of it?

If you are like me, we don’t like to let people down. We would rather tell them “yeah, we’ll do that” and then either do something horribly or let them down later by not doing it at all. When I was younger, I had a reputation for signing up for everything, but not following through as I should. I burned a lot of people that way. If we say “yes”, we need to follow through and do it. But, sometimes, we need to have the guts to say “no”, being honest that we cannot do something.

This radical honesty applies to if we say that we won’t do something

If we say that we won’t do something, we better not do it. How many of when we were kids, or if you are still a kid, told your parents that you wouldn’t do something, knowing full well that you would still do it?

(often times we don’t want to come out and say that we won’t be doing something…) (My experience as a younger person)

Liar! Radical honesty says “let your no, be no”.

If you are in school and you tell a friend that you won’t do something, because you know that it is bad, stick with your “no!” For the sake of the reputation of your God.

Husbands and wives, if you told your spouse that you wouldn’t do something, keep your word.

Employers, if you told your employees or your farm help that you wouldn’t do something, or that they shouldn’t do something, stick to your word!

This principle helps a lot with fighting addictions. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I have wanted to sin against my God, but I remembered that I had told him that I wouldn’t do it. So, I didn’t.

Radical honesty.

This applies to how we speak of ourselves and our intentions

Sometimes the hardest time to be honest is when someone asks us if we did something. We should be honest and give a simple “yes” or “no”. However, many times we are tempted to stretch the truth a little bit.

We might deny our actions. Blatantly saying “no I didn’t do that.” This can be tempting, especially if the penalty for what we did is harsh. But, we need to have radical honesty.

We might explain away our conduct by making lame excuses. “Yes, I did that, but I had a good reason...” I used to be really good at this one. My boss at Chick-fil-A would ask me why my shift did something. I would come up with a reason on the spot. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I was sure going to protect myself and my workers. I’m not proud of those lies. I’m sure glad of God’s grace and of him changing how I do things.

We might

We might twist our actions, giving different intentions behind our actions than we were really thinking.

How often do we lead a duplicitous relationship with our spouse or our kids or our parents?

We might be asked “why did you do this?” And we refuse to an honest answer. Perhaps we say “I don’t know.” That’s just lazy. We don’t want to take the time to find out, or we are scared about what people will say if they knew what we were actually thinking.

Many times, people don’t actually know us, because we are dishonest about what goes on in our minds. That’s were most dishonesty occurs: we lie about our thoughts and intentions.

We are called to radical honesty.

This applies to how we speak of others and their intentions

It is so easy to assume things about people, and then to turn around and share it with others. We say something is so, but is it? Until we sit down and ask the person in question and hear their explanation, we don’t know.

And, if we don’t know for sure about someone else and their intention, we shouldn’t say that we know for sure. Let our yes, actually be a yes, and our no, actually be a no.

Radical honesty. Holding ourselves to the standard of the honesty of God.

Or as other New Testament authors say: “Be holy, even as God is holy.”

Oaths force us into behavior that does not glorify God. It “comes from the evil one”,

Our speech can honor or dishonor God.

What does being truthful tell us about God?

We should be people who are trustworthy, without needing to swear.

James Explanation of Text

We should live, speak, and act with integrity in all we do. James’s unifying motif of simplicity versus duplicity continues.

We need to keep our verbal integrity (Word is bond)

What does condemnation tell us about God?

Or condemnation will come

Is this condemnation directed at those who break their word or at those who swear?

I am not going to be so naive as to say that this radical honesty will come easy, or that we won’t suffer hardship because of it. No, this honesty has its cost. You know that. I know that. That is why it is so hard to practice and so easy to forget about.

But radical honesty is worth it.

We need to keep our verbal integrity (Word is bond)

If we are not truthful in all things, if we make brash promises or assertions, James says that we will fall under judgment.

This is not to say that legal oaths are bad, see how many times and oath is used in important undertakings in the Bible.

The issue is a voluntary oath, to assure the truthfulness of what is said or promised

When are we tempted to swear? ( I can’t promise that I won’t sin, etc.)

Jesus said that anything beyond a truthful “yes” or “no” is from the evil one.

At the beginning of this letter that James wrote, he told us that we are slaves of Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be following him. However, if our yes is not yes, and our no is not no. If we make brash promises, and don’t keep them, if we make brash assertions and are not truthful, we are not following Christ but the devil. He is the “Father of Lies”. He will be punished one day, and so will we.

We won’t lose our salvation, but James told us in the previous verses on how Christ is the judge and he is standing right at the door to discipline us and to call us back into holiness.

Condemnation: anything other than the truth is from the evil one, and we will fall under judgment for following him

When are we tempted to not be truthful?

James before he closes this letter, says “Oh, wait! Remember: have a radical honesty, so that everyone will take your word at face value, even if it hurts. Be holy!”

When are we tempted to forget judgment?