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James 2-3 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is James 2:1-3:18.

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

That Wordle really makes the point, doesn’t it? Is that giving us the picture of faith and works? No, I can’t help but notice it demonstrates exactly what James says: “Faith works!”

My brother-in-law recently pointed out to me what I’ve often overlooked in this passage. James didn’t say, “I’ll show you my faith and my works,” as if these are two completely separate things. Rather, he said, “I’ll show you my faith by my works.” James is not actually saying that faith needs something added to it in order to justify us. Rather, he is telling us what kind of faith justifies us.

Mental assent, minor agreement, and mere acceptance do not justify. I can acknowledge the truth of God’s Word all day long. But that faith provides no victory at all. Even the demons do that. Justification comes from a faith that walks, a faith that works. Faith is the victory, but only when that faith changes my life, leading me to surrender to the one who I truly believe will justify.

At the same time, we do need to recognize that if I’m doing works without faith in Jesus, those works accomplish me nothing. After all, I can’t justify myself. I can get baptized, attend assemblies of the church, avoid adultery, give to charity all in the attempt to establish my own righteousness without faith in Jesus’ power to justify and I won’t be justified.

I need to see both sides of this. Faith alone (that is mere mental agreement) doesn’t justify. But then again works alone won’t justify either. Only a working faith justifies, because only a working faith surrenders to the only one who can justify.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Hebrews 13 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Hebrews 13:1-25 and James 1:1-27.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).

H.A.L.T. Hungry. Angry. Lonely. Tired.

I’ve known for some time now that these are dangerous times. Whenever I’m hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, I’m far more susceptible to temptation and triggers. James highlights one of these. Anger. I know that simply being angry is not a sin (cf. Ephesians 4:26). But at the same time, being angry can very easily lead to sin.

My anger does not produce God’s righteousness in me. When I’m responding out of anger, I’m not likely responding with God’s righteousness. When I’m acting in anger, I’m not likely acting with God’s righteousness. Oh, I know there is a holy anger. I’ve heard all about “righteous indignation” (by the way, can you find me the verse that mentions that?). There is a time to be angry. However, I need to be really, really careful. I have a tendency to think that anytime I’m angry is justifiable, but I’m probably biased. I’m guessing that even in response to sin, if I’m simply acting out of my anger, I’m probably not going to pursue God’s righteousness.

Therefore, today I need to check my motives. Am I just angry? Is that why I’m acting the way I’m acting? If so, I need to back up and slow down. What can I do to deal with my anger quickly and not give the devil any opportunity in my life?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking the following link: Post a comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Hebrews 13:1-25; James 1:1-27.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19-21).

I have a tendency to equate “save” with “forgive.” While being forgiven is part of being saved, the two are not completely synonymous. Being saved means being made whole, being healed, being fixed. That is what I want. I don’t simply want to be forgiven. I want to be made well. I want the sickness of my sins removed. I want the control of sin removed. I want my defects discarded. I want to be fixed. I want to be saved.

Sadly, I have learned I do not have that power. I cannot save myself. No amount of my good works will do it. No amount of my decision making will do it. I’ve tried that path but I have already let myself become sin’s slave. What am I to do? James says the word of God is able to save me.

Today, if I want to be saved, I need to be in God’s word. I need to be quick to hear it. That is, not only letting its words enter my ears but also allowing them to impact my life. I need to be slow to speak, that is, slow to say the way I think things should be and slow to speak against what I hear. I need to be slow to anger. I may not like everything God’s word says. If I give myself to anger against it, I will not attain the righteousness of God.

I don’t read the word today because God has given me homework. I read it because the word is able to save me and I want saving.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is James 4:1-5:20.

I was immediately struck by James 4:1-3: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you! Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

What causes quarrels and fights among us? He didn’t say error or false doctrine. Nope. The fights and quarrels were caused by selfishness. Now, don’t misunderstand, I know this passage is talking to specific people with specific issues and is not meant to cover every quarrel or fight brethren have ever had. But it just hit me about how true this statement is in most cases. How many times are even doctrinal quarrels predicated on pleasure and passion? How many times is some doctrine latched on to in order to justify having a quarrel, a fight, or a split? 

Think about the Pharisees in Jesus’ day and the Jews against Paul. How often did their doctrinal arguing only come after they became jealous that more people were following Jesus and Paul than following them? The quarrel and fight actually came from passions and pleasures.

How can we immediately reduce the number of quarrels and fights we have whether we are speaking within the congregation, the family, the neighborhood, the workplace, or wherever? How can we increase unity in all of our relationships? Get rid of our selfishness. Certainly, we can’t make anyone else be selfless. However, we can start with us. If we get rid of our own jealousy, selfish-ambition, self-centeredness, and arrogance imagine what peace might ensue. After all, it really does take two to have an argument. If I can modify the old saying, “What if we decided to have a fight and no one showed up?”

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is James 2:1-3:18.

I had to take yesterday off for my sanity. But I’m glad to be back here with you today. And, of course, I immediately got blasted by today’s reading.

All that talk about keeping the tongue under control really smacked me right between the eyes. I like to think that usually I’m a pretty good guy, a decent husband, an okay father. But on some occasions, I just lose it. The tongue starts going and I really blow it. That happened this weekend as I got into a bit of an altercation with my wife. Yes, sadly, arguments happen in our home too.

This whole scenario was just a reminder of what James says, “For every kind of beast and bird, or reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:7-8). I don’t think James is saying we can’t control our tongues at all. I think his point is that wild animals can be broken to do our bidding naturally. If we work hard enough with those wild animals they will eventually become tame, no longer wild, no longer needing the restraints and cages to keep them under control. The tongue, however, if it will be kept under control must always be under restraint. It doesn’t get tamed so that its natural wildness is gone. There will never be a day in which we’ll be able to say, “Oh, I don’t have to watch what I say, my tongue is now tamed and only ever says good and right things.”

The very shameful thing is when the tongue sets to work and starts a huge fire, it might apologize later, but damage is often still done and takes time to overcome. Put the bit and bridle on your tongue. Don’t let it out of its cage. Watch it carefully. If you let it off its leash, it can do major damage more quickly than you can imagine.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

James 4:13-17 is a reminder I need today.

“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” (ESV).

I recognize the point of this passage is about relying on God and understanding that I cannot boast as if to say I am somehow by my own power going to ensure that I survive another year and by my own power will make sure the business I conduct is profitable. However, where this struck me today was the reminder that the reason such mental games are foolish is because I don’t even know if I’m going to be here tomorrow.

My problem is often the very opposite. Instead of thinking about how successful I’m going to be over the next year, I can get bogged down in worries. “Oh no, the economy is failing. What will that do to my income or my retirement or…” “Oh no, my kids are growing up and I know they are going to be faced with all kinds of temptations. What am I going to do about that?” 

One of the crazy “Oh nos” I have happened last night. My wife took the car to go to the store. It was raining like crazy and she lingered. Suddenly my mind was filled with fear that something bad had happened, at any moment the police were going to show up and now I was going to be a single father of four children. Actually, nothing happened to her. She showed up at home just as usual. However, this morning as I was stuck in traffic I started thinking about that scary possibility and I actually began to be filled with fear as if it were already true. How crazy is that?

The fact is, someday my wife will die. It may be before me or after me. It may be while the kids are at home; it may be after they are on their own. The thing is, it has happened today. She is at home right now doing her part of our family work. Why let all the possibilities of tomorrow over which I have no control mess up today.

You see it works both ways. I shouldn’t let my arrogance think I am going to ensure some success is going to happen apart from God’s will. At the same time, I shouldn’t let my fears about what might happen tomorrow send my today in a panic. Rather, I should just rely on God and pray “As the Lord wills.” Then, each day, I can rely on the strength He gives me to make it through whatever happens today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

There are a ton of things that catch my attention in today’s reading. But one overshadowed them all. James 2:1 says, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (ESV). It then goes on to describe  a form of partiality and expresses that to be partial is to “become judges with evil thoughts” (James 2:4, ESV).

This struck me because of Barak Obama and the recent election. Let’s face it, whether we like Obama’s politics and philosophies or not (and I assure you I do not), we have to be able to see the momentous occasion his election represents. Since November 4, however, I have been seeing a disturbing trend even among Christians. For some reason many are just honing in on race. Some white people are quick to rebuke black people for being excited about finally having a black president. If a black person says anything about how glad they are that it has finally occurred, some white person somewhere is going to accuse them of being racist. Well, it is always easier to take someone else’s inventory than our own. It makes us feel better about that little bit of prejudice that still remains if we can point out how “they” are just like us or possibly even worse.

The fact is, I’m not all that smart and I have a hard time trying to be philosophical. I cannot possibly articulate what the right amount of happiness is for black folks this week. But here is what I say to all the white folks who are desperately trying to pin partiality on black people, we should be just as excited that we have reached a point where a black man can become president. This doesn’t mean racism has ended. In a practical sense, it doesn’t even really mean that any issues black people have faced in their every day lives will change. But it least it says something about our country in general. Let’s face it. There really was a reason why a black man was not elected president in the 1700s. There really was a reason why a black man was not elected president in the 1800s. There really was a reason why a black man was not elected president in the 1900s. 

Frankly, based on politics, I can find so little to rejoice about regarding this election, I say we as white people should rejoice with our black friends and brethren who see this as a momentous, earth-shattering moment that is worthy of rejoicing no matter your political persuasion. I say we work to try to understand all that it means for our fellow men and women whose skin is darker than ours. The fact is, we white people cannot possibly understand what it has been like growing up black in America. Instead of tossing the joy of our fellow man in their faces and trying to act like they are sinning for being excited about the success of someone in their race, let’s work on being impartial. The fact is, if Obama had been a man from a particular college and everyone from that college was rejoicing, we wouldn’t be blasting them. If he was simply a man from a particular town that had not ever had anyone as president before and everyone in that town was rejoicing, we wouldn’t be pitching a fit. 

Frankly, I tend to think if Obama were a conservative Republican and had won the presidency, that few of the white people who keep blasting away at our black friends for their joy would be saying anything about it. So, let’s get over ourselves. Let’s be impartial. Let’s let folks rejoice at the great meaning behind having our first black president whether those rejoicing are black, white or some other race. Let’s quit trying to put everyone in their place and show them how wrong they are for some issue of race in this election.

Instead, let’s act like Christians and simply love our brethren, love our enemies, honor and submit to the governing authorities and let’s be impartial about it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: If you would like to listen to the sermon I presented about James 3:13-18 just this past Sunday, go here.

I guess James 1:2-4 stands out to me right now because of our nation’s perilous perch on financial failure. We haven’t heard as much over the past few weeks since the bailout, but that was no more than a band-aid. A government bailout cannot fix America’s financial follies. It can only prolong the inevitable if business practices steeped in debt do not change. The great fear is another depression. What an amazing trial that would be. 

What if it does happen? 

We as Christians can count it all joy. Why? Because we know that the test of our faith will only serve to produce endurance and steadfastness. That will only make us stronger. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I lie awake at night praying for a depression. I don’t want to go through one of those anymore than anyone else. I’m totally unprepared for such an occurrence. But perhaps a testing such as that would be good for us. For Christians, it won’t be the end. It will merely be another time in which we can learn to more greatly rely on God. The more we rely on God, the stronger we will be. The stronger we are, the more we can accomplish for God’s kingdom, which is what is most important anyway.

Don’t fret the future. Just take it one day at a time. However, if the trial comes, lean on God and grow from it. The fact is, it is only the challenged who grow. The complacent who have it easy rarely do more than languish in their mediocrity.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC