Sunday LinkUp – 22September2024 – James 3:13-4:8

Sunday LinkUp / By

 

 

 

OPENING COMMENTS

 

 

OPENING SONG

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST MESSAGE

  • An Unlikely Object Lesson    
  • Greg Williams   

 

 

Program Transcript … 

I imagine that we have all witnessed the wonder, honesty, and even humor in kids as they grow and develop.

When my son Glenn was three years old, he somehow got away from the family and initially, it caused great fright and concern, but within moments we found him nestled in a corner of the lady’s cosmetic section and he was painting his face with bright red lipstick.  When my mother heard this story, she reminded me that when I was the same age, she temporarily lost me in the grocery store.  She discovered me in the canned vegetable aisle, and I was fixated on a can of Green Giant corn and I was mimicking the giant by repeating the advertisement jingle, “HO, HO, HO Green Giant.”   What can I say?

Kids have a way of making every room — pretty much the whole world — their own.

Have you ever tried to “kind of” welcome a child?  There are no half-measures when it comes to kids.  Once they arrive on the scene, they own it.  The whole dynamic changes.  Adults might slip in and out of the room, but kids never do.

We see one of Jesus’ interactions with children in Mark 9.  The disciples have just finished arguing about who is the greatest, and Jesus gives them an unlikely object lesson:

And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”  And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”   

Mark 9:35-37 (ESV)

In the honor/shame culture of the ancient world, hosting a respectful person at your home brought you honor, which brought status and connections.  Children weren’t worth much on the honor spectrum.  Better to spend your energy and time on having a great rabbi like Jesus or a rich man to your house.

And here, right in the middle of an argument about honor, Jesus plops a child down in front of them.  Runny nose, sticky fingers, constant demands — a child.  And he says when you welcome this person — this person who is the least of these, whose only gift is their need — then you welcome him.

When you welcome the inconsequential that’s when you meet Jesus.

Because the presence of Christ can be a bit like that child — occasionally overturning tables, always full of wonder and forgiveness.  Jesus changes the dynamic.  His values change the gravity.  This is what it means to welcome Jesus.  He doesn’t play by our rules, he doesn’t follow our plan, but to welcome him is to welcome life.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of that Life.

1 Kings 19:11-12
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.”  And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord,  but  the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a] a still small voice.

 

PASSAGE FOR DISCUSSION

James 3:13 – 4:1-3,7-8    Who is wise and knowledgeable among you?  Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.  14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth.  15 This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.  18 And the fruit of righteousness[e] is sown in peace by those who make peace.   

4  Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?  Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  2 You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet[f] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have because you do not ask.  3 You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures . . . 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 

 

 

 

SPECIAL MUSIC

 

 

 

WHAT WE’VE SEEN SO FAR …

  • Warning against Partiality
  • Necessity of Good Works.
  • Importance of Taming the Tongue

WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE … 

  • Importance of Wise Living … including submitting to God.

James 3:13-18; 4:1-3,7-8 

Who is wise and knowledgeable among you?  Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 

 

  • At the beginning of James 3, the author addressed those who were teachers or wanted to be teachers among Christians.  There he told such teachers how they should talk; here he speaks about how they should live.
  • The type of life they lived showed the type of wisdom that they had.
  • It is not what the would-be-teachers say that James is concerned with, but rather how they live.
  • Wisdom is not acquired with just head knowledge. Real wisdom requires understanding … and that understanding will show in our lives, by our good conduct.
  • True wisdom is also evident by its “gentleness” (meekness) manner. Those who do their good works in a way designed to bring attention to themselves show they lack true wisdom.

 

14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth.  

  • Bitter envy and self-seeking: These are the opposite of the meekness of wisdom mentioned in James 3:13.  These words actually refer to the temper of bitter jealousy and rivalry (i.e. party-spirit, selfish ambition, factiousness). Do not pride yourselves on that, on the intensity and harsh zeal which lead to such unscrupulous partisanship.
  • “Religious people may be extremely provoking, and defeat their own ends by overbearing methods; right views and sound counsels may lose their effect if they are expressed by men who are self-seeking partisans or unscrupulous controversialists.” (Moffatt).
  • Do not boast and lie against the truth: Anyone who shows bitter envy and self-seeking should not deceive anyone – especially themselves – about how wise they are … because that is not Godly wisdom.
  • They show a wisdom that is more characteristic of the flesh and the devil than of God.

 

15 This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 

  • James is talking about human, earthly wisdom
      • Earthly: appealing to lust of the eyes … motivated by materialism
      • Sensual: pandering to the lust of the flesh … focused on gratification of the passions
      • Demonic: driven by the pride of life … inspired by demons
  • One could say that is the type of wisdom that Eve had
  • One could also say he is talking about the 3 ‘S’s that we have to overcome — Satan, Self and Society.

 

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 

  • James is talking, here, about Godly wisdom.
    • God’s wisdom — also has fruit, that is full of love and a consistent with the character of God. (See James 3:13)
      •   pure:  without any sinful attitude or motive
      •   peaceable:  exemplified by a king, who has every reason to be stern and punitive toward men in their sin, but chooses to be gentle and kind instead.
      •   gentle: “The man who is epieikes is the man who knows when it is actually wrong to apply the strict letter of the law.  He knows how to forgive when strict justice gives him a perfect right to condemn … It is the ability to extend to others the kindly consideration we would wish to receive ourselves.” (Barclay)
      •   willing to yield: “Not stubborn nor obstinate … the opposite of stiff and unbending.”    According to William Barclay: “Eupeithes can mean easy to persuade, not in the sense of being pliable and weak, but in the sense of not being stubborn and of being willing to listen to reason and to appeal … true wisdom is not rigid but is willing to listen and skilled in knowing when wisely to yield.”
      •   full of mercy: not quick to judge others strictly on the basis of the law, but knowing that the same measure of mercy we grant to others is the same measure God will use with us (Matthew 7:2).
      •   full of… good fruits:  The good conduct (works) that prove this wisdom isn’t just about the inner power to think and talk about things the right way.
      •   without partiality:  without a desire to find fault, so as to discriminate … without favouritism.
      •   without hypocrisy:  genuine, sincere, authentic … without pretending to be what one is not … without a mask se … acting always in one’s own character.    “Seeking nothing but God’s glory, and using no other means to attain it than those of his own prescribing.” (Clarke)

 

18 And the fruit of righteousness[e] is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

 

  • What is James referring to when he speaks of the fruit of righteousness ?
    • Is he referring to “righteousness” itself, as the fruit that is righeousness? (Note Luke 3:8,9; Romans 6:22; Philippians 1:11)
    • Or is he referring to the fruit that righteousness produces … such as good works, etc.?
  • What do you think is James’ main point?
    • Is it that the sowing of righteousness (or sowing the fruit of righteousness) will result in peace?
    • Or is he saying that those who make peace are sowing righteousness?
  • I think both interpretations could work.
  • But … given that God is the One who is always righteous, I’m more inclined to think that our focus should be on making peace, so that righteousness can/will result.

 

 

4  Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?  Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 

  • The phrase among you … literally, in you (plural).  Because the you is plural, the understanding is interpersonal, not intrapersonal … i.e. between persons, not within persons.
  • cravings … from the Greek hedonon (pleasures), from which we get “hedonism”  … some versions have “desires”

 

2 You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder.  And you covet[f] something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts.  You do not have because you do not ask.  3You ask and do not receivebecause you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.   

 

  • Yet you do not have because you do not ask: They do not seek God for their needs.  James reminds us here of the great power of prayer, and why one may live unnecessarily as a spiritual pauper, simply because they do not pray, or do not ask when they pray.
      • Note Psalm 2:7-9   God told the Son to ask … Maybe we should ask too
  • You ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures: After dealing with the problem of no prayer, now James addressed the problem of selfish prayer … with purely selfish motives … Destructive desires persist, even if we pray, because our prayers may be self-centered and self-indulgent.  .
      • “When a man so prays, he asks God to be his servant, and gratify his desires; nay, worse than that, he wants God to join him in the service of his lusts. He will gratify his lusts, and God shall come and help him to do it. Such prayer is blasphemous, but a large quantity of it is offered, and it must be one of the most God-provoking things that heaven ever beholds.” (Spurgeon). 
      • We must remember that the purpose of prayer is not to persuade a reluctant God to do our bidding. The purpose of prayer is to align our will with His, and in partnership with Him, to ask Him to accomplish His will on this earth (Matthew 6:10).

WHAT, for you, IS THE TAKEAWAY?

 

  • If you don’t have, then ask
    • … BUT don’t ask wrongly (selfishly, contrary to God’s will).

 

4 Adulterers![g] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  5 Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks to no purpose?  Does the spirit that God caused to dwell[h] in us desire envy?  6 But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says,  

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

 

 

7Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  

  • Why “therefore” in the first sentence in verse 7?
    • See verse 6 …
    • It is because God gives grace to the humble.
    • Please note, however, that it is NOT that our humility earns the grace of God.  Rather, by being humble, we put ourselves in a position to receive the grace that God freely gives (as gifts). 
  • Submit to God, therefore …  In light of the grace offered to the humble, there is only one thing to do: submit to God.
    • What does it mean to “submit” to God?
        • It means you surrender to God.
        • It means you order yourself under God.
        • It means you seek to do God’s will, instead of your own will.
    • Why should we submit to God?
      • Spurgeon suggested several reasons why we should submit to God:
        • because He created us.
        • because His rule is good for us.
        • because all resistance to Him is futile.
        • because such submission is absolutely necessary to salvation.
        • because it is the only way to have peace with God.
  • We must also resist the devil.  This means to stand against devil’s deceptions and his efforts to intimidate.
  • As we resist the devil, we are promised that he will flee from you.
  • Significantly, James does not recommend that demons should be cast out of believers by a third party. Instead, James simply challenges individual Christians to deal with Satan as a conquered foe who can and must be personally resisted.
  • Resist comes from two Greek words: stand and against. James tells us to stand against the devil.  Satan can be set running by the resistance of the lowliest believer who comes in the authority of what Jesus did on the cross.
  • Draw near to God and He will draw near to you: The call to draw near to God is both an invitation and a promise.  It is no good to submit to God’s authority and to resist the devil’s attack and then fail to draw near to God. We have it as a promise: God will draw near to us as we draw near to Him.
  • “When a soul sets out to seek God, God sets out to meet that soul; so that while we are drawing near to him, he is drawing near to us.” (Clarke)
  • What does it mean to draw near to God?
  • Spurgeon considered a few ways:
      • · It means to draw near in worship, praise, and in prayer.
      • · It means to draw near by asking counsel of God.
      • · It means to draw near in enjoying communion with God.
      • · It means to draw near in the general course and tenor of your life.
  • In one way, this text illustrates the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant.  In the old covenant, God told Moses to not come any closer to the burning bush and take off his shoes.  Under the new covenant, God says to the sinner: “Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you.”  Now the ground between God and the sinner has been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and we can come close to God on the basis of that blood.
  • This also shows what God wants to do for the sinner.  It doesn’t say, “Draw near to God and He will save you” or “Draw near to God and He will forgive you,” though both of those are true.  But what God really wants is to be near man; to have a close relationship and fellowship with the individual.
  • From the rest of the chapter we see the results of drawing near to God:
      • · Drawing near to God helps us to resist the devil.
      • · Drawing near to God helps us to become pure.
      • · Drawing near to God helps us to sorrow for sin.
      • · Drawing near to God helps us to speak well of other people.
      • · Drawing near to God helps us to think of eternal things.
  • Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! As we draw near to God, we will be convicted of our sin. So we lament and mourn and weep as appropriate under the conviction of sin, and we are compelled to find cleansing at the cross.
  • “The word used for sinner is hamartolos, which means the hardened sinner, the man whose sin is obvious and notorious.” (Barclay)
WHAT, for you, IS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY?
James 4:7-8a
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 
  • The word resist is translated from two Greek words that mean stand and against.
  • Ephesians 6:10-13, 14-20

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [b]wiles of the devil.  12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.   

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.   

  • Exodus 14:13
And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid.  Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
  • 1 Samuel 17:46-47
46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
CLOSING SONG

Lectionary Notes

Humility that Comes from Wisdom

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a NIV

The day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968, many of Jane Elliott’s third grade students in Riceville, Iowa came to school upset and confused about how such a terrible thing could happen.  She decided to conduct a two-day social experiment to help her students better understand discrimination and how it affects people.  She divided her class by eye color — brown eyes and blue eyes.  On the first day, she informed the class that blue-eyed children were smarter, nicer, and generally better than brown-eyed children.  Throughout the day, Elliott gave her blue-eyed students more privileges and overly criticized the work of the brown-eyed students.  She even made the brown-eyed students wear a collar so they could be easily identified.  On the second day of the experiment, the two groups switched places, with the brown-eyed students becoming the privileged group.  The results were immediate and startling.

On both days, the group designated as inferior performed their schoolwork more poorly than usual as they internalized the labels being placed on them.  They were more withdrawn and often lamented having their eye color.  The group designated as superior performed better academically, yet they became cruel to the children in the group designated as inferior.  Elliott later said, “I watched what had been marvelous, cooperative, wonderful, thoughtful children turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating little third-graders in a space of fifteen minutes.”  The teacher repeated the experiment with other third grade classes, college students, and adults with similar results each time.

Elliott’s experiments showed that dehumanization hurts everyone — both the dehumanizer and the one being dehumanized.  The dehumanized group internalized the false narratives and viewed themselves as less than what they were.  While experiencing academic success, the dehumanizing group became insensitive, cruel, and entitled.  Despite the negative effects of dehumanization, every large society — past, present, and probable future — has created hierarchies with some humans on the top and some on the bottom.  Nazi Germany, pre-genocide Rwanda, India’s caste system, patriarchal systems that discriminate against women, South Africa under apartheid, discriminatory laws against the Irish in Europe, and the Jim Crow laws in the US are all examples of destructive systems of dehumanization with devastating consequences for all involved.  In the book of James, the brother of Jesus makes clear why dehumanizing hierarchies are so destructive.

Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.  Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill.  You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.  You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a NIV).

In this passage, James guides the reader’s attention to both sides of dehumanization — the side of the oppressed and the side of the oppressor.  “Bitter envy” can refer to a desire to possess what another has to the point that one feels resentment or hostility.  A person who is being dehumanized may feel bitter envy — a resentful desire to have what another person or group has.  At the same time, James warns us to avoid “selfish ambition.”    We can understand selfish ambition as a drive to fulfill one’s desires without regard for the impact on others.  Dehumanizers or oppressors can usually be placed in this category.

The truth is we all feel bitter envy and selfish ambition at one time or another.  At some point, we have all looked with disdain at a person who enjoyed privileges we did not have.  At some point, we have all pursued something only to find out we hurt people in the process.  James acknowledges we may have feelings of bitter envy or selfish ambition, but he tells us not to harbor those emotions — not to let them linger and fester, which is a danger with both these emotions.

James warns his readers that bitter envy and selfish ambition can seem like wisdom.  Bitter envy can masquerade as justice, prompting us to pursue our rights.  To be sure, Christians are invited to participate in Christ’s work to bring justice to the world.  However, God’s justice begins with Christ and is driven by love of God and love of neighbor.  The type of earthly wisdom that results in bitter envy is oriented on the self and on satisfying a desire for vengeance.  Similarly, the earthly wisdom that results in selfish ambition can disguise itself as merit.  It causes us to tell ourselves that we deserve what we have, and others should work hard if they want the same.  Of course, God wants us to be diligent in the work he has given us to do.  At the same time, the work that God gives us to do builds the kingdom, which causes us to bless the poor, the mourners, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

In the American society, we can clearly see the impact of bitter envy and selfish ambition.  We see divisions along political lines, racial lines, class lines, gender lines, and among believers and unbelievers.  Our unredeemed desires cause us to fight and quarrel, as James explained.  And there is a strong temptation to choose sides.  We are tempted to be Democrats or Republicans.  We are tempted to say Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter.  We are tempted to stand with Israel or stand with Palestine.  There is a lot of pressure to declare the team to which we belong.  However, James points to another way.  He reminds us that Christ followers are not called to win arguments and expose our enemies.  Rather, Christians are called to be “peacemakers who sow in peace” and “reap a harvest of righteousness.”  We are supposed to be on God’s team, and he loves all his children without any partiality or preference.  He loves those on both sides of human-caused divisions.  So should we, even as we are led by the Spirit in striving to right wrongs and heal hurts.

Instead of harboring bitter envy and selfish ambition, God wants us to live humble lives, filled with the “wisdom that comes from heaven.”  In other words, we should resist the behaviors that seem to come easily, but are actually against our true nature because God wants to reveal to us his way of seeing our world and responding to it.  In our dealings with others, we are to be “peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  We neither reinforce nor approve of divisions.  We are not convinced that every opinion we hold is unquestionably correct.  We do not automatically dislike those who disagree with us.  We do not tolerate any form of dehumanization.  Instead, we seek to reconcile estranged groups.  We are humble and leave space for those who see things differently.  We affirm the humanity and value of those with whom we may not see eye to eye.  We stand with the poor and the outcast.  We are the Church, the light of Christ shining in this world.  We confound the wisdom of this age and shine a light on a better way.  We illuminate the narrow path that leads to glory.

It brings more focus to Paul’s statement to the Corinthian church, when he said we no longer view others from a worldly point of view because we are called to a ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18).

While we are the church, we cannot be the church apart from Christ.  We cannot hope to purge our hearts of bitter envy and selfish ambition in our own strength.  In this passage, we are commanded to submit ourselves to God — to go before him, surrendering the things that do not originate with him.  This includes our self-centered desires, our unprocessed hurts, our rights, and our opinions.  We are able to submit all to Jesus because he has drawn near — near enough for his ways to rub off on us. He has drawn near enough that his gravity attracts our focus away from ourselves and onto him.  He has drawn near enough for his light to reveal the optical illusions covering the sins of bitter envy and selfish ambition.  He has drawn near enough that there is no room for the devil, the one who is the father of division and strife.

In our drawing near to God, as he humbles us and gives us his wisdom, we participate in Christ’s work to make peace.  It is easy to look at our society’s divisions and lose hope.  But we need not despair.  Our God has made peace in the person of Jesus Christ.  When we look at how we dehumanize each other, it can look like evil has triumphed. But, beloved, our God promises that one day all that is broken will be repaired.  He is making everything new.  Let us start now by laying aside bitter envy and selfish ambition.  Let us do all we can to spread Christ’s gift of peace.

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top