Redeemer Presbyterian Church - Traverse City, MI

This Lord’s Day is the first Sunday of the season of Advent. Our Advent series this year will be titled, “What Child is This?” In the first three Sundays of Advent, we will be looking at passages from the Old Testament which reveal to us who the promised child born on Christmas will be. And from these passages we will see that the Christ child was born on Christmas morning to fulfill three major roles (or, offices). He was born to be: 1. The Promised Prophet 2. The Permanent Priest 3. The Coming King. We will look at each of these from God’s Word and find the fulfillment of all of these in the birth of Jesus Christ.
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We all make plans for the future. This is a wise practice - good outcomes follow good preparation. But our planning can become poisonous to the soul when we make our plans without including the sovereignty of God. James provides us with the humbling reminder that tomorrow does not belong to us but it belongs to God. This should orient our planning - not just in the plans themselves but the way we make them. We ought to include prayer in our planning, knowing that we may plan our steps but the outcome belongs to the Lord. This is good news! For the future that the Lord has planned for us in Christ Jesus is beautiful indeed.
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Last Lord’s Day, James discussed two different types of wisdom: wisdom from above, and wisdom from below. Wisdom from below, we remember, is demonic wisdom. Now, James wants to provide us with the fruits of demonic wisdom. The fruit of demonic wisdom is conflict and discord within the church. And so James addresses the issue of church conflict. Is there someone with whom you are in conflict, whether in or outside of the church? This Lord’s Day, James will address where such conflicts come from, and what we are to do about them.
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This Lord’s Day, James will return us to the broader theme of wisdom. He presents us with two “ways”. The way of wisdom from below, and the way of wisdom from above. The way of wisdom from below is the earthly wisdom of the Serpent in the garden of Eden. It is the wisdom that seeks immediate pleasure at every expense. As we shall see, it results in the living of an ugly life. However, the wisdom that is from above matches the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. This wisdom, though not prioritizing our instant pleasure, leads to a harvest of righteousness in a beautifully lived life.
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Throughout his letter, James has been concerned with our words and with our works. He moves between these two themes in order to emphasize his point: that our words and our words should be united in our single aim of glorifying God. Having addressed hypocritical works last week, this week James addresses hypocritical words.
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This Lord’s Day we will be considering James 2:14-26. This is the famous passage in James that is often pitted against the teaching of Paul in Romans 4. Paul says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. As to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:3-5).” James says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works; and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that said, ‘Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness - and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? God willing, this Lord’s Day we will see that there is no contradiction in these two teachings. Rather, they agree and cohere together. Just as Paul was not teaching “easy-believeism,”, so James was not teaching legalism. Both men were teaching the gospel of Christ.
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“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27).” In this verse, James talks about something pretty important! The difference between pure religion and false religion. Yet, immediately after this, he launches into a discussion of the sin of partially in chapter 2:1-13. Why would James speak about pure religion, and then go straight to partiality? Doesn’t partiality seem like a “lesser” sin compared to others? James reveals to us that this is by no means true. Partiality strikes at the very heart of the gospel, for it strikes at the heart of Christ. God is the judge, and He is impartial. When we exercise partiality in the church, we are exalting ourselves to God’s place as judge. This Lord’s Day we will see how partiality in the Church is contrary to the gospel. But we will also rejoice! Because for us transgressors, mercy has triumphed over judgment at the cross.
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As James continues to teach us the importance of wisdom, he turns now to the need for wisdom in our words and in our works. Employing the image of a man who looks at his face in the mirror, and then immediately forgetting the truth of his reflection - we too can forget what we really look like in the mirror of the law. We can think that our spiritual reflection is a little more pleasing than it really is, and then fail to act in a manner consistent with the humble nature of Christ. In this passage James is going to confront our inner-Pharisee. But as Pharisees in recovery, James will also meet us with the grace of Christ.
 
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James has already introduced to us the theme of wisdom in the midst of trials. One of the great trials that the Christian faces is temptation. And trials present great opportunities for temptation. When we are facing trial, one of the greatest temptations we can face is the temptation to blame God for our sorrows. The logic can seem simple: God is sovereign, I am suffering, therefore God is causing me to suffer. But James wants to wisely correct such a view: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God.’ For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” This passage roots the source of temptation not in God, but in our own desires. But the good news of the gospel shines in all of this. Our desires may give birth to death and sin. But God’s will for us in Christ is that we should be raised as the first fruits of his new creation. God’s desire is our life and communion with Him.
 
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Every one of us faces trials of various kinds. This Lord’s Day, there will be a heartache in every pew, a tragedy plaguing every soul. Suffering is not unique; it is the one experience that links all humans in all times and places. But God’s Word provides us with a perspective on suffering not found anywhere else under the sun: that we should consider them all joy. Joy is the last word that comes to mind when we suffer. How can we be called to rejoice in our trials? This is the very heart of wisdom. Wisdom is seeing the things of earth - like our trials - from the perspective of heaven. This Lord’s Day in James, we will see how God is using our trials to form our character. And we will also see that our faith is rooted firmly not in our character, but in the character of the generously giving, non-reproaching God.
 
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