“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.” – Vs 13

This sounds so practical. So logical. I mean, who wouldn’t pray if he was suffering? Who wouldn’t sing praises if he was cheerful? Oh, let me think. How about ME? Yes, I confess. When I find myself going through difficult circumstances, my prayer life doesn’t necessarily see a marked improvement. On the other hand, when all is right in my world and I’m a happy camper, it doesn’t always turn me into a praise song-singing saint. But why? Why don’t I pray more in the tough times and sing more in the good times? I think it may have something to do with my perspective. James seems to be saying that the thing common to both responses is their focus. Both prayer and praise should be God-centered.

Bad times. Good God.

Here’s the deal. When I find myself suffering, I usually end up complaining or whining about my lot in life. Instead of talking to God about it, I’ll talk to everybody and their dog. In doing so, I’m either trying to elicit sympathy or find a potential savior. I want someone to help me solve my problem. And if they can’t do that, I at least want them to feel sorry for me. In either case, I’m expecting them to do for me what only God can do.

James says that if anyone is suffering, they must pray. Not should pray, but must.  It’s an imperative, a command. It’s a non-negotiable. If you’re suffering, talk to God. Seek Him in the midst of it. But don’t just seek God to beg Him to get you out of the circumstances you find yourself in. Don’t just pray in order to get God to solve your problem and get your life back to “normal.” When we do that, we’re just using God like some kind of glorified Genie in a lamp. We have a problem and, in our simplistic minds, the solution is to have removed, or at least changed. So we go to God and give Him our “wish.” When He doesn’t deliver, we go elsewhere. We’re looking for shelter from the real world. As Christians, we somehow expect that we don’t have to suffer through what the rest of the world experiences as a part of life: Financial difficulties, health problems, relationship issues, job loss, heartaches, rebellious kids, broken pipes, wrecked cars, or dashed dreams. We somehow think that our faith should inoculate us from trouble. But the Christian life isn’t about finding shelter from the real world as much as it is about God meeting us in the midst of it. Which is why James says we should pray. Pray to meet God, to hear from God, to share with God what you are going through. Yes, even though He already knows. He wants to hear it from you. James uses the Old Testament saint, Job, as an example of those who endure. But Job was also someone who talked with God. That is what the book that bears his name is all about – his conversations with God. He wasn’t afraid to tell God what he was thinking, and God responded. Job didn’t always get what he wanted, but he did get to know God better. In fact, the last words of Job recorded in the book are in the form of a prayer, “I have heard of You by hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:4). His knowledge of God had gone from cerebral to experiential. He had come to know God through his trials and as a result of his conversations or prayers with God. His God was a good god who could be trusted to do the right thing even when everything seemed to be going wrong.

Good times. Great God.

But what about those times when things are going well? What should we do then? James says we should sing praises. But not just some generic, run-of-the-mill praises. Our praises should be directed toward God. We should acknowledge that our good circumstances are a result of His goodness and grace. We should praise Him for those moments in our life when we find ourselves happy and content. But instead, we tend to take credit for it ourselves. Our hard work produced it. Our intelligence made it possible. We are only getting what we deserve. When things are going well in my life, I tend to forget about God. When I have plenty of money in the bank, no problems in my life, and no worries to deal with, I am a cheerful guy. But I don’t stop in the middle of it all and praise God for His goodness. I don’t thank Him for His blessings. I don’t remind myself that none of it is deserved. It is all a result of His incredible grace. The pleasure of a good meal. The companionship of a good friend. The love of a good wife. The beauty of a glorious sunset. The laughter of my children. The joys of life. They are all a gift from God. So I should praise Him. Praise is another form of prayer. It is acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done. We can sing our praises or simply say them. Thanking God is a form of praise. A simple prayer of thanks at mealtime is a form of praise.

A God for all times.

Prayer and praise. Those are our two responses. The circumstances are not the key – God is. Circumstances change. God doesn’t. If we pray to Him in the bad times and praise Him in the good times, we will be reminding ourselves that He is the God for all times. Job had that perspective. Even in after having lost everything, he was able to say, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).  Job had the right perspective. He was focused on God, not his circumstances. Later on, after being “encouraged” by his own wife to curse God and die, he would say, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).  Job knew his God and he trusted Him. So in the midst of his trials, he prayed to Him. In times of joy, Job would praise Him.

“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2

Father, You are a good god and a great god. Yet I do not pray to You in the bad times or praise You in the good times as often as I should. I have the wrong perspective. I somehow think You exist for ME. I am the center of the world. It is all about me and my pleasure. But it is all about YOU. Help me regain my perspective by allowing the struggles of life to remind me of my weakness and Your strength and the joys of life to remind me of Your grace. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong––you want only what will give you pleasure.“ – Vs 1-3 (NET)

James ended chapter 3 talking about bearing the fruit of righteousness that is sown in peace by those who make peace. Now he addresses the opposite crowd. Those who sow quarrels and conflict. And what’s the source of their quarrels and conflicts? Their own passions or sensual pleasures. The Greek word is hedone and it is where we get our English word hedonist – a lover of pleasure, a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification.

These passions or sensual, self-centered desires do battle inside us. Our lives becomes war zones where each these desires for pleasure compete for our attention and demand that we fulfill them. We end up wanting things we don’t have. James says you long for it. The word he uses is epithumeo, and it means to lust after, to covet, and is used of those who seek things that are forbidden. And to make things worse, we don’t end up getting what we want. Our desire can become so great that we even consider murder to get what we want. Our internal passions cause us to covet. That Greek word is zeloo and it means to be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, and anger. We literally burn with desire for that thing. But James says we can’t have what we want. So the frustration build. We are denied the very thing we burn after.

Then James makes an interesting statement. He says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God,” and “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (Vs 2). We don’t usually take these kinds of desires to God. Maybe it’s because we know He will say no. Or maybe because these desires are so fleshly that our heart is twisted to believe that we can somehow get them on our own. We don’t even think to ask God for them. But even if we did, He would say no, because He knows that we are asking with wrong motives. He knows that we are only interested in our own pleasures or sensual desires.

And I don’t think James is only referring to evil, sexual, perverted desires here. I believe he is referring to anything that is so self-focused, that is only about me and my self-centered pleasure. I want that raise so that I can use the money on me. I want that new toy so that I can feel better about me. I want that bigger home so that others will think more highly of me. I want that new relationship so that she will fulfill me. No, James is talking about all kinds of desires. And not all the things we desire are bad. It is more about our motives. It’s a heart issue. We are in love with the world. James makes that clear in the next verse. “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God” (Vs 4). The world becomes our source for all the things we desire. It is the candy store from which all our favorite delicacies can be found. So we spend all our time with our faces pressed to the window, looking at and longing for what it has to offer. And in doing so, we take our eyes off of the one and only thing that can truly fulfill our desires: God Himself. And we become His enemy.

James’ solution? “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Vs 7). And he goes on. He says we should draw near to God, cleanse our hands, purify our hearts, cry over the wrong things we have done, express sorrow and grief for our love affair with the world, and bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him. The result? He will lift you up and give you honor. This is serious stuff. God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. So in other words, He withholds His grace from the prideful – those who stubbornly continue their love affair with the world. If grace is God’s power to live the life He has called us to live, then we are powerless without it. Humility is the key to regaining it. We must humble ourselves before God and confess our ongoing love affair with the things of this world. We must admit that we are filled with pleasures inside of us that battle for our attention, drawing us away from God. We must recognize that only He can meet our needs and that anything of this world that offers to do so is a lie that will never deliver on its promise.

Father, I confess that I love the world way too much. I love what I think it can deliver. But I have found it to be a lie over and over again. Forgive me for my stubbornness and arrogance that drives me to keep going back to the world in spite of how many times it has disappointed me. I know I should turn to You. You have never failed me. Thank You for Your unfailing love and incredible patience. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings.“ – Vs 13 (NET)

Belief and behavior. Who you say you are should reveal itself in how you act. If you think of yourself as wise and understanding, it should show up in your conduct. Wisdom produces fruit. But according to James there are two different kinds of wisdom: The worldly variety and the wisdom that comes from God. The wisdom of this world “is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic” (Vs 15), and it produces the fruit of jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogance, dishonesty, and disorder. It is a wisdom that comes from the world around us. It is natural or sensual. In other words, it is controlled more by the senses than by common sense. This kind of wisdom is driven more by our natural, fleshly desires than by any kind of intelligent, moral code. We do what we do because we FEEL like it. So our conduct becomes selfish and self-centered. It’s all about what’s in it for us.  We become driven by jealousy and selfish ambition. Our motives become skewed and screwed up. In the first 12 verses of this chapter, James has been talking about the tongue and the difficulty we have controlling it. Verse 13 and on are just an extension of that same thought. The tongue, and the words we use to form with it, can be a destructive force in our lives. We do great damage with our tongues. Yet at the same time we can think of ourselves as wise. We can bless God with our tongue and then turn around and curse our brother. Our behavior, or in this case our speech, does not match what we say we believe. Our “fruit” proves it. Our words betray the kind of wisdom we rely upon. Earthly wisdom.

But James says there is another kind of wisdom. It comes from a source outside of ourselves – from above. It comes from God and it produces distinctly different fruit. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere” (Vs 17 – NLT). It’s pure, innocent, or clean. Free from any kind of impurity or flaw. There’s no hint of evil intent in it. No jealousy of pride. It is also peace loving. It’s accompanied by an attitude of peace, not conflict. Its gentle and fair – all the time. It yields to others. In other words, it is accommodating, not demanding its own way. It’s full of mercy for others that shows itself in positive actions. It shows no favoritism in order to gain an advantage. It treats everyone with equal respect. And it is always sincere. There’s no hypocrisy. No blessing mixed with cursing. It is consistent.

The fruit this kind of wisdom produces is righteousness. James is talking about righteous living as a fruit, as the thing produced. The wisdom from above results in lives that are righteous and pure. It produces a fruit that is beneficial to all those who encounter it. When we live according to the wisdom from above, we are sowing seeds that will produce the right kind of fruit. And it will make a difference in the way we live and in our relationships with those around us. I love the way The Message interprets the last verse of this chapter: “You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” We have the job of pursuing peace with one another based on the wisdom of God, not of this earth. And if we do, the result will be righteous lives and healthy, robust relationships with those around us.

Father, I need Your wisdom. I rely way too much on my own or the wisdom that is of this world. I listen far too much to what is passed off as the wisdom of this age. But it always fails me. Help me to hear Your wisdom more clearly. To seek it more diligently. To obey it more regularly. So that I might live a life that results of the fruit of righteousness. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

“Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.“ – Vs 14 (NLT)

Back when we looked at the 11th chapter of Hebrews we asked the question, “What is faith?” It was in the context of the Great Hall of Faith chapter.  The issue was what exactly the writer of Hebrews was trying to say about the topic of faith. I believe he wasn’t celebrating these people’s faith or their ability to conjure up just the right amount of faith so that they could be recognized and rewarded for it. He was talking about God producing faith in us, in spite of us. The very fact that we have faith is evidence of God’s work in us. So now we come to that classic chapter on faith and works from the book of James. Its content caused the great reformer, Martin Luther, to reject the entire book of James, referring to it as a “right strawy epistle.” But I think Luther missed the point. James was not promoting a works-based righteousness or salvation by self-effort. He was simply saying that true faith will be accompanied by tangible, verifiable works. Behavior will go hand-in-hand with belief. To say you believe in Christ and to live a life with no visible fruit of that belief is evidence that the faith was never really there. Go back to Hebrews 11. The very fact that Abraham was willing to offer up his son Isaac on the altar was “living” proof of His faith in God. It was faith made evident. One could not exist without the other. Charles Ryrie describes the co-existence of faith and works this way: “Faith and works are like a two-coupon ticket to heaven. The coupon of works is not good for passage, and the coupon of faith is not valid if detached from works.”

Faith without works is dead. If you take the spirit out of a body, you have nothing but a corpse. If you separate works from faith, you have a dead faith. It has no life. It is useless. That kind of faith is not a saving faith. Because it is missing one of the main results of faith: a changed life. James makes this point very practical in the first part of this chapter. He says, “Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, ‘Well, good–bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’ – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all – it is dead and useless” (Vs 15-17 – NLT).

“I will show you my faith through my good deeds.” No one can see faith. I can’t judge whether someone is saved or not. But I CAN see their deeds. I can see the evidence of their faith. Now, I can’t jump to the conclusion that just because someone does good deeds they are saved. But if someone says they have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and they lack any kind of visible evidence that this new relationship has changed their life, then James seems to say that that kind of faith is useless. It is without life and worthless. Saving faith changes us. It isn’t just some mental assent to the reality of God or the fact that Jesus died. Demons believe in God and they feared Jesus. No, faith produced fruit. Because when God places His Spirit within us, we become new creatures. He gives us a new heart. He gives us a new capacity to live and love that we never had before. And it shows up in the way we act. It manifests itself in our deeds. Our works become proof of the very fact that we are new creations. We don’t make disctinctions God doesn’t make (Vs 4). We don’t act as judges with evil motives (Vs 4). We don’t dishonor the poor (Vs 6). We don’t show partiality (Vs 9).  We have been set free to live differently. “So whenever you speak, or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law of love, the law that set you free” (Vs 12). Our behavior should reflect our beliefs. Our actions should prove our faith. John makes this very clear when he says, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). So our works are proof of our faith. They don’t save us, but they prove that we have saving faith. Real faith. God-given, Spirit-produced faith.

Father, You have changed me and it has shown up in my life in tangible ways. I do not act the same way I used to act. I do things I never used to do before. I love in ways I never could have loved before. I am far from perfect, but I am also far from the man I used to be. All because of the presence of Your Spirit within me. When I do good things, it reminds me that I am a new man. I have a new power to live a new life. My works prove to me that You live within me. Thank You. May I keep my works in perspective and never allow myself to think that I am earning favor with You through my efforts, but to remember to thank You every time I do something good that it is proof of Your grace. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. – Vs 26-27 (NLT)

Here James seems to give us an example of what it means to be a doer of the Word and not just a hear (Vs 22-23). Religion that is free from corruption and does not have anything mixed with it that would make it unacceptable before God is a religion that is marked by obedience and life change. It is hearing God’s Word followed by a willing obedience to do what God’s Word says. In this case, it is controlling the tongue. James refers to someone who is of the opinion that he is religious. In the New Testament, the Greek word “religious” is never used positively. And that’s the case here. James is talking about someone who takes pride in their religiosity, but who is not really right with God. It is reminiscent of the Pharisees. The had all the appearance of being religious or pious, but were walking contradictions. James says someone who has a high opinion of their own religiousness, but can’t control their tongue has a religious that is worthless. They are only fooling themselves, but not God. Their hearing of the Word of God doesn’t ever get transalted into action. So their walk with God ends up with no value because it doesn’t end up changing the way they live and the way they treat others. The way they behave doesn’t seem to correspond with what they say they believe.

But if you want to practice religion that is really free from corruption and doesn’t have anything mixed with it that would make it unacceptable before God, you’ll be more concerned about His opinion than your own. You will want to keep His standards, not yours. You will want to do what He says is important and not try and add to His requirements some rules and religious rituals of your own. God’s view on religion is pretty basic. It’s simple, practical stuff. First, visit the orphans and widows in their distress. Give yourself away to those who have nothing they can give in return. Love the ones who are loved the least. Care for the ones who no one else cares about. Widows and orphans were the downtrodden of the day. They had no rights, no representation, no resources, no hope. They were typically neglected and ignored, even by the religious elite of James’ day. The religious world of James’ day was saying to ignore them. They had no value. They were in their condition because they had somehow deserved it. They were being punished by God. But James said to care for them in the midst of their distress. To not do so would be to allow yourself to become stained or corrupted by the world’s influence. Pure religion is practical religion. True religion is selfless religion.

James sums it up best in verse 25: “But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law – the law that sets you free – and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” Our religion isn’t worthless, it is highly worthwhile because it is based on the Word of God. We do what He calls us to do. We obey what He commands us to do. We love the unlovely. We care for those who have been ignored. We feed the hungry. We clothe the naked. We love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:37-40, NLT)

Father, I don’t want to practice worthless religion. I don’t want to think of myself as being religious when in reality I am only practicing some corrupted form of self-righteousness. I want what I do to be in keeping with what You have told me to do in Your Word. I want my behavior to match my beliefs. No contradiction. No disconnection. No hypocrisy. Give me the grace I need to be “an effectual doer” or Your Word. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org