CALL TO WORSHIP | Psalm 39:1-7
I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
Song #1 – Hidden by Citizens
Song #2 – Only Ever by Cory Asbury
Dismiss Kids
INTRO |
“You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?... Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:7-10)
Having landed the knockout punch, putting us in our place, “You adulteresses,” you unfaithful; James says to get up, get back into the right fight, not with God or even with one another, but with the enemy (who from the beginning has been a taker of life, even as he entangled us in his disposition) and with yourself, a heart twisted by envy and selfish ambition and a soul divided, double-minded, rather than devoted.
This is the fight that faith at work within you empowers you to engage in. Faith that recognizes who God is: Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, yes, and Giver, Husband, Jealous for those whom He has given Himself to. God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17).
God, who is consistent in His person and purposes, “Of his own will brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits” (1:18).
Faith that empowers us to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls” (1:21), and so “in the wisdom of meekness” (3:13), a faith that enables us to live in congruence with the nature and ambition at work within us to reach our end, our telos, the fullness of life with God face-to-face.
A faith activated by the “trials of various kinds” that “produces steadfastness,” so “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (1:2-4). A faith that comes alive when it is stimulated by the movements of life, and so is the very means by which we experience joy now, not just at the end. For at the heart of the work of faith, we are being made ready to see, clearly, rightly, True.
But here is the irony: the more clearly and truly we see God, ourselves, the other, the enemy, etc., the more humble, lowly, poor, and dependent our hearts should become. Our exaltation, being raised high, should result in a meek and lowly disposition, a heart like the One implanted within us. In fact, such a disposition is the evidence of a life submitted, partnering with faith at work.
With that in mind, let us enter our text today, asking, as we have learned, for what we lack (wisdom), fully expecting to receive generously. Pray with me as ______ comes to read the conclusion of James chapter 4.
PRE-SERMON READING | James 4:11-17
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
SERMON | If The Lord Wills
James concluded his exhortation to pick ourselves up off the mat, declaring, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (4:10). Have the disposition of one of low estate, living in poor and petty relations, with no more possessions and power than a slave. No matter how we want to clean up the idea of ancient Near Eastern slavery in comparison and contrast to the inhumanity of American slavery, the truth remains that the slave of the ancient world possessed no more standing than the slave of the new world. But notice that the disposition encouraged is not matched by the status bestowed. The recognition of positionlessness and powerlessness is contrasted with the reality of esteemed position and merciful power.
Faith works in us so that we might experience this wondrous paradox. The more we recognize and submit to our utter dependence on God (his unchanging character and purposes, his just mercy and greater grace), the more we recognize and experience the richness of our relationship with God. James is not encouraging self-flagellation or self-abasement. He is not urging us to beat up on ourselves in hopes of manhandling our souls into a state of humiliation that qualifies for glorification. No. Rather, James points out the joyous irony that when we are actively exposed, unhidden, and vulnerably honest before the One who is obviously and undeniably greater, we are not condemned but conformed. That which is not true, good, and beautiful, like dross, is removed, and we are made pure: tested and so persevered.
This is why, preceding James’ incredible description of our faith’s foundation, he encourages us to “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (4:9). Again, James is not encouraging a disposition of depression or pessimism. Rather, James contends, along with the whole of Scripture, that to be in the presence of God is to grieve over Sin (singular), the brokenness of the world (its enmity, opposition to the Good, True, and Beautiful), and our sins (plural), our twisted passions and double-mindedness that contribute to and perpetuate that brokenness.
In fact, it is grieving Sin and sins that show faith at work, allowing faith to be evident in our works—in the ways we relate to others and in our roles and responsibilities in daily life. We see this in the concluding verses of chapter four. Let’s look at them again.
Verse 11.
“Do not speak evil against one, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.” (4:11)
What is James describing? The rather human habit of condemning and judging one another. Not merely pointing out unhealthy or unholy ways of being, as if you were correcting, thus speaking to a brother or sister; but “speaking against” them. Condemning not only their behavior but their person. In this way, you are pronouncing judgment on them, declaring they are this or that, or that this and that should be their just due.
We are all guilty of such actions toward others, whether we express our condemnation in words or in the silence of our hearts. And while we can intuit the negativity of such actions, James reveals the ironic truth. In speaking against and judging others, we are actually acting in opposition to the law; that “perfect law, the law of liberty” (1:25) which James spoke of in the opening chapter. Our actions, no matter whether we “judge rightly,” are in opposition to the spirit of the law. But how? According to James, by becoming condemners and judgers, we are not submitting to the law, putting ourselves under the law as doers of the law, but exalting ourselves to lawgivers. Here is how James says it in verse 12.
“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (4:12)
Who are you to judge your neighbor? Are you one who is above the law, one who can rightfully judge, save, and destroy? Of course not! Why? Because you and I are those who have been condemned by the law:
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty to it.” (2:10)
When we are the ones who condemn and judge (regardless of our justification), we exalt ourselves rather than humble ourselves. But when we remember, mourn, and grieve our sins (plural), we humble ourselves, placing ourselves as “those who are to be judged under the law of liberty” (2:12), and so, in turn, we reciprocate what we have received: mercy. For “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (2:13). We cannot be merciful if we are not humble, if we do not remember how much mercy we have received. And so, by grieving our sins (plural), faith becomes sight in the way we treat (react to, respond to) the other.
I believe it was A.W. Tozer who said something like this, “When I see the other in sin, I remember my sins, and so see myself and remember God’s grace toward me.” James exhorts a similar habit. In doing so, we avoid judging and perhaps even discern how to respond wisely.
But we don’t just grieve our sins (plural) as a means of participating in the work of faith; we also grieve Sin (singular), the brokenness of the world, a world separated (at least in thought and recognition) from its Good Source and End. A world that thinks, like the first-century merchant depicted in verses 13-16, that we are the source of our present and future. Quickly, let’s read:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (4:13-16)
If the universal sin of the individual is to put oneself in the role of judge and lawgiver rather than a doer of the law, then the universal collective sin is to presume that we are in control of our lives and to act on that presumption. To presume that we can make a life on our own power, our own wits, our own efforts, is to fail to see the necessity of life and its dependence upon the grace and goodness, the will of the Lord. A will that never changes. But when we recognize this tendency not only in ourselves (certainly that), but also in our organization, our society, our business, our club, our community, our government, etc., we can enter into the life we are made to make good, and with humility in faith, “discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
When we grieve the separation of this world from Life, truly, we boast not in our arrogance, but in the grace of God, just as when we grieve our sins (plural), we do not condemn and judge, but act with courage and compassion for truth and goodness. We live by faith through faith.
Thus James concludes,
“So whoever knows the right thing to do (because we have humbled ourselves before God) and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (4:17); it is a life off -the-mark.
In some ways, this final verse sums up James’ exhortation on wisdom and on living wisely as we join with the faith at work within us. A faith that compels us not merely to know but to do, because we have come to see what is good, and true, and beautiful. So let us do as James encourages and humble ourselves before the Lord, and in so doing, find that He exalts us.
REFLECTION |
Where have I condemned others because I failed to grieve my sins?
How can my grieving Sin lead to my submitting to and discerning of God’s will?
What would be different tomorrow if I humbled myself through faith at work within me?
CORPORATE CONFESSION & COMMUNION[1] |
(Celebrant)
The table is ready,
here waiting for your arrival.
It is the table of company with Jesus,
and all who love him.
It is the table of sharing,
with the poor of the world,
with who Jesus identified himself.
It is the table of communion with the earth
in which Christ became incarnate.
So come to this table,
you have much faith
and you who would like to have more;
you who have been here often
and you who have not been for a long time;
and you who have tried to follow Jesus,
and you who have failed;
come.
It is Christ who invites us to meet him here; on the day made for us, at the table he prepared for us.
Invite People to the Table to Receive the Communion elements
(ALL)
Loving God,
through your goodness
we have this bread and juice to offer
which has come forth from the earth
and human hands have made.
May we know your presence
in this sharing,
so that we may know your touch
and presence in all things.
We celebrate the life that Jesus has shared
among his family of faith through the centuries,
and shares with us now.
Made one in Christ
and one with each other,
we offer these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single living act of praise.
Amen.
Song #3 – Consider Him by UpperRoom
Song #4 – Heaven on Earth by Eauclaire
BENEDICTION | James 5:7-8
As we rest in the day made for us, we prepare to enter into the work for which we are made [LIGHT THE CANDLE], remembering to…
Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
[1] Adapted from Common Prayer: a liturgy for ordinary radicals, 564.