 |
 
|
|
Who We Are - Sermon, Sunday, September 21st, 2003
Return to the sermon archive.
JAMES 1:2-8, 12 as follows —
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he doesÉ. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Jason is a single 32 year-old guy. Pretty successful, has a good job, a nice home, everything he needs, yet not everything he wants. This Christian man is looking for a Christian woman. His dream is to marry someone who shares his faith, settle down, have kids. The problem is, in the past he didn't live as a Christian. He was sexually promiscuous, he did drugs, he tried it all. Now he's paying the price physically, in serious health problems. Just getting through each day is a challenge, and it looks like his dream will not come true. He is a believer, he knows he's not being punished for his sins, he knows he's forgiven . . . yet truly has a heavy burden to bear.
Bonnie is a 44 year-old Christian woman. She's been widowed for five years and has certainly seen her share of troubles. She has a decent job, just good enough to support her and her two almost college-age children. But now her boss, the owner, wants her to break the law; to engage in some illegal practices that will benefit him. If she doesn't, she'll be fired. She's horrified at the thought of doing anything illegal, but — she's barely getting by now, and if she were to lose this job...!
Derrick is a 17 year-old junior in high school, a Christian and serious about it. He doesn't go around school singing Jesus songs, but he lets people know, he lets his faith show. That's not a popular thing to do at his school; there are a bunch of students who make life as hard, as unpleasant as they can for him — make fun of his beliefs, pressure him to sin, etc. He's isolated and not having a lot of fun.
Many Christians - any Christian - could tell personal stories about trials they have faced. All human beings, of course, encounter difficulties in life — poverty, pain, accidents, illness, loss, troubles, pressure. But God's Word tells us that his children, believers in his Son, will face all of these and more, and that for Christians these indeed are tests.
Tests happen! And sometimes we can see what's causing the trial. One test might be the result of some dumb mistake I made, or it could be the natural consequences of a sin I've committed. Another test is the result of somebody else's sins; they're doing wrong and I'm suffering because of it. Still other trials rise from the hatred that the world has for Christ and those who bear his name. Then there are times when you just can't connect the test to any specific cause. Some just come out of the blue, accidents, deaths, losses, and all you know is that for some reason God has allowed this to happen to you.
No matter what the cause might be, a test, or trial, is any challenge that puts pressure on you. It's any load placed on you that puts your faith to the test — are you going to keep on trusting God and his wisdom and his love? The question is not "will you be tested?" but rather, "how will you respond?" How will you handle the pressure? Will you stand up under the load and pass the test?
Just as there are all different kinds of tests, so there are different ways to respond, normal, human ways to deal with it. You can get depressed. You can get to blaming, or whining, or over-analyzing. You can get to the point of despair, giving up on God, on yourself, on life. You can get angry, you can get anxious. Frankly, you can get a lot of things that get you anywherre. Or, you can get wisdom. GOT WISDOM? James asks here. He says that when you're tested, the best thing you can do is GET WISDOM! Get the wisdom that will enable you to understand what tests are for and to stand up under every test.
Our text begins with what seems to be a crazy suggestion, an impossible challenge: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." You and I are supposed to respond with JOY every time another load of pain or pressure is loaded on us!? Actually, that's not so crazy, if we understand what our God in his love has in mind for us. The reason for joy, James says, is this: "because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
Boy, we're going to need that! Perseverance is the ability to stand up under the load, to hang on, to endure. Let's just call it "staying power." And staying power is what you need if you want to make it to the finish line — if you want to get to the end of your life with your faith intact. Well, the only way to develop staying power is by exercise. If you've had back surgery, you need to regain the strength in those muscles. So you put a load on them, you work the muscles and then increase the load and work them some more.
If our faith is going to endure to the very end, it needs to be strong, and one way it gets stronger is by being tested. God wants us to become mature and complete in our faith, and trials help make that happen. That's why we should receive every test with joy. I don't think he means we're going to laugh our way through life's problems; part of me still hates the pain or loss or stress. But as a believer, I can and will accept trials with joy — IF I can step back and view them with real wisdom.
That's what James recommends that we pray for. I know, our normal, number one prayer, when tested, is: "Lord, make it go away!" I also am pretty sure that that's all that an immature Christian will ever ask for (and what if it doesn't go away?). A better request is a prayer for wisdom. "Got wisdom?" James asks; "Get wisdom!" he urges. If you need it, ask God for it and don't hesitate. God is single-minded; he wants what's best for you, wants you to have the wisdom you need to persevere. And don't worry that he's going to scold you for not having enough, or blame you — "look, this whole thing is your own fault anyway...deal with it."
Not at all! Ask, and "it will be given" — God will give the heavenly wisdom we need, so that we can understand what these trials are for and stand up under them. He will give it when we ask in faith. If I am double-minded, if I'm asking for wisdom to deal with the test but what I really, truly want is to get out of it, then that prayer won't be answered. Let us learn to pray, as maturing believers, for the wisdom than enables us to persevere (and of course, in second place, we can still pray for the test to end, if and when God wills).
But then let's also make sure we go to the store. I mean, if you need food, you can pray for it, confident that the Lord will provide — but it also helps if you put your shoes on and go to the grocery store. If your truck is low on gas, go ahead and pray for fuel — but you might want to head for the gas station, too. There are places for us to go for the things we need, ways that God supplies what we need, and wisdom is no different! There is a wisdom store, a storehouse of wisdom, a place to go to get what we need to deal with our trials.
Remember what Jesus said about the wise man who built his house on the rock? The wise person is the one who "hears these words of mine and puts them into practice," our Lord said. In Ps. 19 David wrote, "The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." God gives wisdom through his Word. Paul wrote that the Scriptures are "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." That's the greatest wisdom of all, to know that God has saved you through his Son. That Jesus died for you and redeemed you from your sin and your guilt and your hell. To know that he rose from death in that event, God declared you utterly not guilty. The greatest wisdom is to believe that in Christ God has given you eternal life.
All wisdom flows from that, and your God has so much more to add — wisdom than instructs your thinking and guides your living, wisdom that enables you to succeed — remain in faith, trust God, do his will — when tested. Blessed is the Christian who, when tested, heads for the store, the Word that gives wisdom. Even more blessed is the Christian who doesn't wait for the test, who has been going to the store all along. He or she is far better equipped to deal with the trial when it happens.
And blessed, James says, blessed is the believer who passes the test! He or she "will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." The victory crown will be yours! That crown is eternal life, eternal glory, eternal love, eternal joy, eternal pleasures in the presence of God, eternal everything that's good, earned for you by your Savior and stored up for you in heaven. That's what's at the end of all these trials, but you have to make it to the end with your faith intact. That takes staying power. What you need for developing that is the special wisdom that enables you to respond to each test with joy, understand its purpose and stand up under it. Got wisdom? Get wisdom! Ask God, and he'll open the store and supply all you need! Amen.