feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)
Dearest family,
Last Sunday I tried to complete my unfinished message from the previous Sunday and I still did not manage to “close the deal”! How longsuffering you all are! (I think! I hope?) I spent a little time talking about the book of James in the context of the message’s encouragement to us all to pursue wisdom. James is in the great tradition of what we call biblical Wisdom Literature. It is as close to a NT commentary on the book of Proverbs as you will get. Because James’ letter is all about wisdom, it is not surprising that it is absolutely soaked, suffused, veritably stuffed with the scriptures. Scholars have carefully annotated the text, and whether by direct reference or allusion, can relate James’ teaching and commentary to: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi. Why is James wise himself? Because he breathes and thinks scripture. It flows through his communication with an indiscriminate, unself-consciousness, spraying truth and spewing wisdom wherever he goes. He is not quoting verses like a know-it-all, chalking up his apostolic credentials, but simply oozing truth through his pastoral passion. I’m reminded of Spurgeon’s exhortation to his students to study the Word until their very blood was bibline!
I wonder where James got that from? Listening to the apostles use of scripture takes us into that inner sanctum where Jesus, post-resurrection, “explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.” (Lk.24:27) But may I remind you of Jesus’ words that prompted his exegesis of the scriptures? “He said to them, How foolish you are!” What did these fools need? The wisdom of the scriptures, and Jesus obliged them.
Would we be censured any less by Jesus for our foolishness? If our relationship with God’s word, and our love for it and obedience to it are any measure, where are we between folly and wisdom? How integrated are we? Would we be chided by Jesus any less for our abject lack of embroilment with the scripture? Do not the statutes of the Lord yet “make wise the foolish”? (Ps.19:7) The point is that James was nurtured by Jesus’ words and Jesus’ words were the words of scripture. So without laboring the point, note that connection, the integration, between the wisdom of God and the Word of God.
The fact is that James was intimate with a wise trinity. His personal life was integrated with the trinity and the relationships between Father, Son and Spirit.
With the “only wise God” of Roms.16:27, the God to whom all wisdom belongs (Job 12:13)
With Jesus, who became for us, wisdom, who is our wonderful counselor, of whom they asked in Mt.13:54 “where did this man get this wisdom from?” How subversively and infectiously wonderful is it that his disciples would provoke the same questions after his ascension! “They were unschooled ordinary men… and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
With the Holy Spirit, the “spirit of wisdom” of Isaiah 11:1-3. Did not Jesus promise his disciples that the Father would give them another counselor (another source of wisdom), even “the Spirit of truth.” (Jn.14:17) “Ask that God may give you the Spirit of wisdom” writes Paul to the Ephesians. (1:17) We must heed what scripture teaches about the mind without the Spirit. This is why Romans 8 is so crucial here. Having prepared your message on the relationship between wisdom and the word, now you need the non-negotiable message about the relationship between wisdom and the Spirit. Remember Stephen in Acts 6:3, described as “full of the Spirit and wisdom”. What integration, what integrity. Should we then be surprised that a few verses later in 6:8 he is described as “full of grace and power”. None of these can be separated. You cannot be big into doctrines of grace without being big into the work of the Spirit. You cannot separate wisdom from power.
It is not ultimately your attendance at this church that will improve your integrity or further the integra-tion of heart and mind, but the attentiveness you give to the personality of the Godhead. It is not so much about your fellowship with others in this church, as good as that is, but all about being in fellowship with the trinity: God as your Father, Jesus as your fellow, the Spirit as your filler: God only wise, Christ the wisdom of God, and the Spirit of wisdom.
It is impossible to treat James’ letter as if it is a functional manual of “do’s and don’ts.” The wisdom extolled here is no less than a mighty and brilliant manifestation of the Holy Spirit. One theologian has described it as “wisdom pneumatology”. Wisdom is totally charismatic, though you’d be hard-pushed to believe that given the silliness and stupidity, fleshliness and foolishness that is so often presented in conjunction with much that is called charismatic ministry or behavior! It is understanding this relationship between the Spirit and wisdom that makes sense of his descriptions of spiritual wisdom in chapter 3, that reads like a list of the fruits of the Spirit. (“pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy…righteous”) I’m suggesting why James is a wise man, who is qualified to write about wisdom. It isn’t that he had a better handle on the rules for good living, on the rubric, but that he was intimately related with God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the NT, wisdom, as in the Hebrew understanding of wisdom in the OT, is not about theoretical or academic theological insight. It is all about a loving, willing, submissive, obedient adherence to God’s word. It is related to understanding God’s declared plans and purposes and determining to do them, and actually doing them. Did not Jesus himself say, “Wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Mt.11:19) Here is the dominical requirement of integrity between what is learned and what is lived, between acquired knowledge and applied knowledge. The Jewish view of wisdom is utterly God-centered. It’s first all about knowing God’s purposes, not negotiating the world’s problems.
Hopefully you have already gleaned enough to begin to understand James better before we even look at his specific exhortation. How could Luther, with all respect, get it so wrong about this book that he called “an epistle of straw.” I’m sure he and James have sorted it out by now, and Luther has confessed that he was not the first one, in Jeremiah’s words, to confuse straw with grain! The fact is that the letter of James is not a polemic about faith versus works. It is primarily about wisdom that is demonstrated in a faith that works: the wisdom of faith that discerns and accepts God’s will, and the wisdom of action that does God’s work. Wisdom is demonstrated in the speaking of God’s words and the living out of God’s ways.
Obviously, I did not have time for a detailed study of James’ text. However, there is a macro contextual point that will help you understand why the need for wisdom is such a big deal for James – and guess where he got it from – yes, the book of Proverbs, but more importantly, from Jesus himself. I would argue that James’ letter is a strategic “last days” book, given its urgency, intensity and catholicity. The reason it is all about wisdom is because it is all about the dangers of deception. He wants to know how we are going to discern in a day of deception, when the foundations of personal faith, of churches, of so-called Christian institutions are hit by the tsunami of anti-Christ. Proverbs 14:8 says: “The folly of fools is deception.” So if you are deceived, you are a fool, whatever you are deceived about. It is a fool who says in his heart there is no God. It is a fool, according to Proverbs, who will embrace illicit sexuality. You could sum up James’ appeal in the oft-repeated refrain “Do not be deceived.” (1:16) It is no wonder then that he begins his epistle with the necessary prior appeal for wisdom from God. “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God.” (James 1:5) Look what happened to Solomon when he asked! Particularly in a context when faith is being tested and under trial, when things aren’t making sense, when survival seems difficult; when events yield no purpose and energy yields no perseverance; when the natural response to trying circumstances would be to consider it jeopardy or maybe judgment but certainly not joy. Without wisdom in such times, wrong decisions, wrong discernments, wrong departures are possible. James is essentially a volume of Fool’s wisdom, and by fool I mean the “fool for Christ” the holy fool. As many of you asked for the outline I gave on Sunday I am including it with this letter. Listen to his appeal against deception:
• 1:1-18 – don’t be deceived about
ο trials: to develop not destroy
ο treasures: transitory not trustworthy
ο temptations: our desire not God’s design
• 1:19-27 – don’t be deceived about true religion
ο not just hearing but doing
ο not just thinking about it but truly knowing
ο not formal obedience but faithful obedience ο not our words but God’s word
• 2:1-13 – don’t be deceived about people
ο judging by appearances
ο showing favoritism
ο being unmerciful
• 2:14-26 – don’t be deceived about true faith
ο professing without producing
ο declaring much but doing nothing
• 3:1-12 – don’t be deceived about your communication
ο small sparks start big fires
ο praising God and cursing others
• 3:13-18 – don’t be deceived about true wisdom
ο heavenly or earthly?
ο Holocaust of evil or harvest of righteousness?
• 4:1-17 – don’t be deceived about your desires
ο your willfulness or His will?
ο Resisting evil or resorting to it?
ο Friend of the world or enemy of God? ο Single-hearted or double-minded?
• 5:1-6 – don’t be deceived about stuff
ο what you hoard (wealth) vs. what God hears (cries of unpaid workers)
ο godly use vs. greedy abuse
• 5:7-11 – don’t be deceived about time
ο our waiting – His coming
ο patience not presumption
You’ll have to download the message for the rest of the points. I spoke about the necessity to ASK FOR WISDOM (exhortations to pray are the bookend of James). I also spoke about the need for wisdom in order to DISCERN THE TIMES, without which, you will not be able to DISCERN THE STEWARDSHIP AND USE OF YOUR PERSONAL TIME. “Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephs. 5:15-17)
Pastorally yours,
Stuart
P.S. Thank you to the sweet person who asked me if I’d carry on with this as a series!
http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)