St. Matthew 13:54-58
To look at the confession and life of one of the bishops of the early church is to come to grips with the reality that the accounts written in the scriptures are not, as so many say, fables and myths. James was a man who is reputed to be a brother of Jesus. He is referenced in the gospel of St. Matthew(13:55), and he is also mentioned as one that Jesus went to see privately after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7). It is this same James who wrote the book of James. James had gone full circle in his life. It is presumed through biblical evidence that James was perhaps one of Jesus’ brothers who had not believed in Him(St. John 7:5). In Christ’s great love for those closest to Him, he went to James to show Himself after the resurrection in order that James may believe. Not only did James come to believe, but he became the bishop of the church at Jerusalem, and, it is argued, the most important person in the church at the time of the apostles. James’ opening verses to his letter to the church is borne out of the struggle of faith and life. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience”(James 1:3-4). James understood the struggle to believe in the incarnation of Christ--to know that God “tabernacled among us”; that God dwelt right in our midst in the flesh in order to save us from our sins. James was all too close to the whole realization that this Jesus, the one with flesh and blood, was the savior of the world. James’ letter is most controversial in that it forces us to look as in a mirror at our state of living and confessing. James does not shy away from talking about faith and works: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”(James 2:20). James was a good pastor, because he brought before the Jerusalem church and all of us the challenge of faith and life: “You believe that there is one God; you do well: the demons also believe, and tremble”(James 2:19). James reminds the church that there is more to the Christian faith and life than just making the intellectual “nod” that Jesus Christ exists. Perhaps it is fitting, then, to think on the words that perhaps was a point of much contemplation for James: “But let him ask in faith, not doubting. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways”(James 1:6-8). To be “double-minded” in the Greek is to have two ways of living. James is telling you that you are in danger if you slide into the pew and act the part of the Christian man or woman, but then proceed to live your life that is contrary to the Christian way of life and confession. “For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord”(James 1:7). What adds weight and power to these words is that, while they are the words of a man who lived named James, they are not his words originally. They are the words of God spoken to Christ’s church. God is telling you that your sinful life that you lead is at variance with the Christian confession to which you claim to hold. God is trying to tell you that your breaking of the sixth commandment is not in line with what you claim to believe. He is telling you that having sex apart from marriage, stealing and cheating others, trying to get money that is not yours to get, hating, judging, and despising others is not Christian. Through James’ letter, you are being told that if you believe in the God who took on flesh, but you do not conform your life in the humbleness and gentleness of faith and repentance, then you are no different from the demons who “believe and tremble.” If this very person is told that he or she should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, this can only mean one thing: hell and damnation waits in the balance for the unrepentant sinner, whether he believes that Jesus exists or not. If this doesn’t strike each and every one of us right at the core of our very beings and smite us in our own unrighteousness, then we are to be pitied. There is a critical aspect to the Christian faith and life. Christianity is not a cerebral exercise where we make the intellectual acknowledgment that God took on flesh to save sinners. Christianity is the divine placement of Christ’s love upon the sinner through baptism. Jesus’ bloody and painful suffering and death brings something more than meets the eye. As St. Paul illumines us with the light of the gospel and its effects on us in Romans 6, we are told that we, in fact, participated in Christ’s death on the cross through our own diving into the waters of holy baptism. “Don’t you know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life”(Romans 6:3-4). St. Paul says it all very well. Something real happened to you when you were baptized. You were brought into something that you had not before participated in. But, you have been yoked to Christ. You are in Him and He in you. Jesus actually pours Himself into you through baptism as you have received the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of salvation. This new life in which you have been placed is the life that lives for Jesus. We no longer live for ourselves. But, we see in these words our own failures. We hear in these words of God the words of warning and condemnation for the life of sin. We must be vigilant in this faith...... .....because you are Christ’s children through baptism. You died with your Lord through those holy and life-giving waters. Your sinful, Old Adam died in those waters, and you rose with Christ in those same waters to be a new creation. Christ made you new. Repentance is the life of baptism, and the faith and life that you are brought into is really by the power of Christ. James, a holy and faithful bishop, says it so well: “to the point of jealousy the Spirit eagerly longs to dwell in us, but He gives us more grace. Therefore, He says, ‘God opposes the arrogant, but the humble are given grace”(James 4:5-6). The humble are those who are sorry for their sins and desire to live in this mercy of Christ. James then follows with a wonderful verse in chapter 4, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This is enough to crush us who stare sin right in the face, except that James frames it in such a way that we see God’s goodness. “To submit” in the Greek text is framed in the past tense, imperative, and it is in the passive voice, which means that it says something like this: “you have already been submitted to God and it is done.” Jesus’ love and mercy is so great that the life of faith for which we strive is Christ’s doing from beginning to end. Your ability to confess Jesus comes from Jesus. Your hatred for sin comes from Him. Your sadness over your own sin comes from Jesus. The power to love, to repent, to serve, to receive the gospel comes from Jesus. It is not on you. If it were up to us, we would fail miserably, but the Holy Spirit has been planted inside of you through holy baptism, and you have been sealed as Christ’s own possession. You are forgiven of all of your sins. You are His children. He covers you and all that you are. Cling to those precious words of James: “God gives us more grace.” He is abundantly merciful and rich in the good things He has to give you. Those rich and good things are the stuff of heaven, of holiness, and an inheritance that has been promised from ancient of days and shall come to pass. Jesus pours the gospel into you. Today we call this “giving of more grace” the blessed sacrament in His body and blood. Let us raise the cup and receive more grace as Christ prepares to give it as He graciously feeds us with Himself. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
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