Well, good morning, church. We are beginning a new sermon series today in the New Testament
letter of James. So let me invite you to grab a Bible and to turn with me to James.
James is a short but incredibly practical book about wholehearted Christian living.
What does it mean to live a life of steadfast living faith in Jesus? What does it look like to live this
vibrant life of living faith when you're under pressure, when you're experiencing trials?
That's what James is all about. So as we come to God's word, let's go ahead and pray together.
Oh, Father, as we have just sung, it is our Lord Jesus Christ who is the source and center and goal
of all that we have been created and redeemed to be. So, Father, would you by your Spirit grant us
mercy that as we come to your word this morning, as we embark on a new book,
that you would grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We pray in his name. Amen. Amen. Well, so in the coming weeks, we are going to take the book of James
and we are going to unpack this timely letter section by section. But today, I want to start
our study of this book by looking at the author. The author introduces himself in verse 1 as James,
a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. But who is this James? Well, there are a few men named James
in the New Testament. There's James, the son of Alphaeus, who is listed among the 12 apostles.
But we don't know much else about this James, so it seems unlikely that he's the author of the letter
that we have. On the other hand, there's also James, the son of Zebedee. And we actually know
a lot about him, along with John, his brother, and Peter. This James belongs to that close inner
circle of Jesus's apostles. He's one of the three that go along with Jesus in many of his miracles
and teachings, even in the Mount of Transfiguration. But we know from Acts chapter 12 that this James
was put to an early death by Herod Agrippa I around AD 44. So it seems unlikely that James,
the son of Zebedee, is the author of this book either. But there's actually a third James that
we learn about in the New Testament. And most scholars agree that he's the one who wrote the letter
before us. And that is James, the brother of Jesus. Now, we often find encouragement by looking
at the lives of these early disciples and apostles and followers of Jesus. Their own spiritual journeys
can help to clarify and even inspire our own. How often are we encouraged by the faith of Peter,
by his betrayal and reinstitution by the Lord? How often are we encouraged by the love of John and
his perseverance to the end in exile? How often are we encouraged by the dramatic conversion of Paul?
But you know, James isn't a character that we often consider. And yet his story is just as rich
with the grace of God, and it is just as encouraging. So I want to look at what we know about James. And I
want us to just walk through his life story this morning under four headings. I want us to think
about James, the doubter, James, the believer, James, the pastor, and James, the martyr. So first,
James, the doubter. In Mark chapter 6, after Jesus has been teaching for some time, he comes back to his
hometown of Nazareth to teach like he'd been doing in other towns. But the people in his hometown are not
buying it. This is what they say when Jesus comes back to Nazareth. They say, is not this the carpenter,
the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?
So this is one of the earliest references that we have to James. He grew up in the household with
Jesus, along with at least three other brothers and some sisters as well, a home of at least seven
children. And if there's any truth to the tradition that Joseph, his father, died and left Mary a widow,
then the picture we get is that James came from a large family living in first century Palestine
under very particular stresses. Not just the common economic stresses that were on the people of that
day, but even some deep family stress as well. But you know, if the hometown crowd had a hard time
believing in Jesus, what about Jesus' own family? What did James think about all of this?
Earlier in Mark's gospel, after Jesus had just chosen the 12 apostles, great crowds were gathering
around Jesus. Mark writes this, he says, and when his family heard it, they went out to seize him,
for they were saying, he is out of his mind. So it's safe to say that James was skeptical
about his brother Jesus, to say the least. And as Jesus' ministry progresses, their unbelief grows.
In John chapter 7, we're told not even his brothers believed in him. Now, of course, at first, you can
sympathize with James, can't you? I have four brothers. I have two older brothers and two younger brothers.
And if one of them started marching around saying, I'm the Messiah, I would immediately say,
no, you're not the Messiah. But on a serious note, why did James doubt? You know, your siblings,
my siblings, they're flawed. They're selfish at times. But James would not have seen that
in Jesus growing up. Jesus was without sin from birth. James probably doubted because, well, it was just,
it was just inconceivable. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of my
family? Surely Jesus isn't the Messiah. And what that means, you see, is that James, he knows what it's
like to doubt. And so in the opening of his letter in chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, when he talks about
doubting and he talks about being double-minded and how that can make us spiritually unstable,
James knows what that's like from the inside. Maybe you've grown up close to Christians. Maybe
you've come from a Christian family. And honestly, maybe for you, that's part of what makes believing
in Christ so difficult because you've been so close to it. But be assured that the Bible,
the God of the Bible, he welcomes doubters. The Bible is actually full of people who doubt.
And not just minor characters, Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, James. They can all attest to having
their doubts. But is there hope for us doubters? That's the question, isn't it? I mean, what in the
world would make James come to actually believe that his brother was the Messiah? At the end of
Jesus' life, when he's dying on the cross and his mother Mary is there mourning, do you know where
James is? According to John 19, nowhere to be found. Jesus actually entrusts Mary to the care of John,
his disciple. But when we turn over just a few short pages from John chapter 19 to Acts chapter 1,
we see something incredible. The followers of the risen Jesus are gathered for prayer in Jerusalem,
and the apostles are there. And then Luke adds, all these with one accord were devoting themselves
to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
And this brings us to the second part of James' story. The doubter becomes a believer.
So what happened to James? You know, we often marvel at Paul's conversion, how the persecutor
becomes the preacher. And rightfully, we look at Paul's story as evidence of the reality of Jesus'
resurrection. How could this enemy of Christ become a follower of Christ, a preacher of Christ?
You know, what else could turn Paul around like that except for an encounter with the risen Lord?
But you know, for me, I find James' story just as powerful, though we know less about it.
How could this family member come to believe that his brother was the Messiah?
Listen to 1 Corinthians 15. This is Paul writing about some of the earliest teachings of the church,
the earliest events of Christianity. He says,
I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that is Peter, then to the 12,
that is the rest of the apostles. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time,
most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James.
The fact that James, the brother, the doubter, the skeptic, comes to profess faith in Jesus as the Messiah,
as the King, as the Lord, is just as powerful a testimony of the resurrection of Jesus as any.
But is it not also an incredible testimony to the grace of Jesus?
Can you imagine you spend your whole ministry teaching, preaching, healing the sick, performing miracles,
and your own brothers reject and ridicule you the whole time, and in your final hour,
they completely abandon you? How would you treat them if you had the chance to come back and treat them in any way?
Thankfully,
Jesus is not like us.
He comes to James, his brother,
in mercy.
He appears to him personally after the resurrection
and extends him grace
and forgiveness.
Jesus, and James's hard heart
comes alive
with saving faith.
What a wonderful,
merciful Savior Jesus is.
But what about you and me?
How does this heart change happen to us?
Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father.
We shouldn't expect a personal
resurrection appearance
to us.
But look at what James writes in chapter 1, verse 18.
He writes,
of his own will,
that is God,
God brought us forth,
that is he gave us new birth
by the word of truth.
That we should be
a kind of first fruits
of his creatures.
James is saying
that the same power that rose Jesus from the dead,
that same new creation power
that was unleashed
in those first resurrection appearances
is at work now
in what James calls
the word of truth.
And what is that?
What is this power
that's being unleashed
even now?
What is this,
this means whereby it comes,
this word of truth?
Well, friends,
it's the gospel.
The good news
that Jesus has died
and risen again for us
so that we can now be freed
from condemnation
and made new,
a new creation.
For James,
this is what it means
to be a disciple,
life-changing trust
in Jesus as Lord
and it's available now
to those who hear
and respond
to you and me today
just as it was available
to James
and his audience back then.
And when you read the letter
that James wrote,
you realize something
very important
about what this faith
in the Lord Jesus means.
It doesn't mean
we simply sort of
acknowledge Jesus
and then go about our lives
in the same old way.
No, that kind of faith,
James will say in chapter 2,
is a dead faith.
In reality,
that's no faith at all.
No, what we see
from James' letter
is that genuine faith
in Jesus
means a whole life
shaped by the person
and work
and words of Jesus.
You know,
at first glance,
the book of James
doesn't seem to have
a lot to say
about Jesus.
Jesus is only explicitly
referenced in chapter 1,
verse 1,
and in chapter 2,
verse 1.
But when you keep reading,
you realize that again
and again
and again,
James' letter
is just saturated
with allusions
and references
to the words of Jesus.
It's woven
into the very fabric
of the letter.
It's as if James
can reflect
the words of Jesus
almost unconsciously
as he speaks
and as he writes.
In that sense,
faith is a bit
like a marriage.
Couples that have been
married for a long time,
they tend to speak similarly.
They tend to have
facial expressions
that mirror each other.
Sometimes it seems like
they can even have
the same thoughts.
And you know,
at the emotional climax
of the letter of James
in chapter 4,
verse 4,
James will use
that same metaphor
for our relationship
with God in Christ,
the metaphor of marriage,
when he challenges
our worldliness
and our selfishness
and he says,
you adulterous people.
In other words,
to act like the world
is to betray
your loving spouse.
So what is real faith?
Real faith is falling
into the arms
of your loving Lord,
forsaking all others
and letting your whole life
be constantly shaped by him.
That's what James,
the believer,
shows us.
But the story of James continues.
As the book of Acts unfolds,
we see that James,
the believer,
becomes James,
the pastor.
In fact,
James becomes
one of the key leaders
of the church in Jerusalem.
By the time
of the Jerusalem Council
in Acts 15,
where the great issue
of Gentile inclusion
is settled
in the early church,
who is it
that's presiding
over that great gathering
of massive theological,
spiritual,
and practical importance?
It's James.
James is the one
who brings that council
to a peaceful
and life-giving conclusion.
And it's James,
the pastor,
that we hear speaking
in this letter before us.
Like a good pastor,
this book is incredibly practical.
There are more practical commands
per verse
in the book of James
than any other
New Testament letter.
And James,
like a good pastor,
is a master of illustrations.
He puts before us
the billowing sea,
the withered flower,
a face in the mirror,
a bit in the horse's mouth,
the rudder of a ship,
destructive forest fires,
pure springs of water,
corroded metal,
moth-eaten clothes.
Every paragraph
of this letter
comes to life
in our mind's eye.
But what is James'
great pastoral concern
in this letter?
Well, the audience
is most likely
Jewish Christians
who are living
outside of Palestine,
scattered
because of the persecution
that took place
after the martyrdom
of Stephen
in Acts chapter 8.
In fact,
later in Acts 11,
we learn that
those who had been scattered
by the persecution
in connection with Stephen,
Luke writes,
traveled as far as
Phoenicia,
Cyprus,
and Antioch.
And so,
James addresses
his letter
in chapter 1,
verse 1,
to the 12 tribes
in dispersion.
The 12 tribes
are referenced
to the people of God,
referencing the 12 tribes
of Israel
in the dispersion.
That is,
the ones who've been scattered.
And we learn
from James' letter
that these Christians
were facing hardship.
Having left their homes,
they're trying to establish
new lives
in often hostile
foreign environments,
and in particular,
it seems like they're facing
economic strains
and stressors
even at times
it looks like
they're facing
economic oppression
by wealthy landowners.
And under that kind
of pressure,
they're being tempted
to begin acting
like the world.
Showing favoritism
to the wealthy
and powerful,
giving in to jealousy
and selfish ambition,
engaging in conflict
and dissensions
in their midst,
forgetting to care
for the marginalized
and the poor.
And so James,
the pastor,
writes this letter
to serve like
an extended sermon.
It's a collection
of encouragements
and exhortations
to help his scattered
flock remain faithful
to Jesus
and to keep on living
the faith
they profess.
And you know,
one thing is particularly
striking about James,
the pastor.
in this letter,
James never once
mentions
that he's the brother
of Jesus.
He never plays
that card.
I mean,
I have to confess,
if I had been writing
this letter
and I had some hard words
to say,
I think I'd be tempted
to slip that in
at least once.
You know,
you should really listen
to what I'm saying.
After all,
I'm the brother
of Jesus,
you know,
the Messiah,
the Lord,
that's who I am,
so listen up.
And yet for James,
not once
does he do that.
You see,
James had come
to see
that real wisdom,
real love
comes
not in exalting
ourselves,
but by humbling
ourselves.
Again,
in the heart
of the letter
in chapter 4,
he will write,
God opposes
the proud,
but gives grace
to the humble.
Humble yourselves
before the Lord,
and he will
exalt you.
James' life
and his ministry
is living proof
of the central
fact
of the gospel.
That what gets us
into a relationship
with God
and what allows us
to progress
in that relationship
with God,
what gets us
into that relationship
with God,
our standing with him
is not about
our good works,
and it's not about
our family background,
and it's not about
our intellect,
it's not about
our performance.
Not even being
a physical brother
of Jesus
counted for anything
because the whole thing
is sheer undeserved grace.
Every good gift
comes down
from the father of lights,
James will write
in chapter 1,
with whom there is
no variation
or shadow due to change.
You know,
if you read
James' letter quickly,
you can miss
the fact
that God's grace
is there
at almost
every turn.
When believers
need wisdom
to grow
under trials,
he points to God
who gives
generously
to all
without reproach.
When we're caught up
in favoritism
and the glory
of fine clothes
and worldly wealth,
he points us
to Jesus,
the Lord of glory,
where our real wealth
is found.
When we're struggling
with judging others,
he reminds us
of the mercy
God has shown us
that triumphs
over judgment.
When we're wrestling
with self-centered desires,
he reminds us
of the desire
of God for us
like a loving spouse
jealous for his bride.
When we need patience
to endure suffering,
he points us
to the coming
of Jesus our Lord
who is compassionate
and merciful.
When our bodies
are sick,
he reminds us
of God's willingness,
eagerness
to answer prayer
and he reminds us
that our greatest sickness,
the sickness of sin
has been forgiven.
And at the end
of the letter,
he reminds us
when our hearts
are wandering
far from the truth,
he reminds us
that we can return.
Like the prodigal son,
we can come home
and find that our father
will welcome us
back from death
and cover a multitude
of sins.
Salvation's by grace,
not for the strong,
the proud,
or the can-do,
but the humble,
the ones who know
they're weak.
This is James,
the pastor.
And this leads us
to our last point.
James,
the pastor,
becomes James,
the martyr.
How does the story
of James' life end?
Well, in the New Testament,
the last picture
that we get of James
is that he's still
shepherding the church
in Jerusalem
amidst growing tensions
and growing conflicts
between the religious
establishment
and the burgeoning
Christian movement.
That's the last picture
we get of James
in the New Testament.
But we know
from historical records
outside the New Testament
that James was put to death
in 62 AD.
At a moment
of political transition
in Jerusalem
when things were
sort of precarious,
the religious authorities
found an opportunity
to accuse James
of transgressing the law
and they delivered him
up to be stoned.
James,
once the doubter,
once the doubter
in the end
refused
to deny his belief
in Jesus as Lord
even though it cost him
his life.
What made James
so steadfast
in the face
of such pressure?
how easy
it would have been
for him
to just compromise
with those worldly
machinations around him
to find a pragmatic solution
to say,
no,
I followed the law
my entire life.
I can sit loose
to Jesus
as the Messiah.
Yet he doesn't do that.
He holds fast.
James,
it seems,
really believed
what he wrote
in chapter 1,
verse 12.
He writes this.
He says,
blessed is the man
who remains
steadfast
under trial.
For when he has
stood the test,
he will receive
the crown of life
which God
has promised
to those
who love him.
The steadfastness
of James
in death
in martyrdom
was rooted
in the deeper
steadfastness
of God.
God's promises
were like
the bedrock,
the unshakable
foundation
on which
James stood.
God's promises
stood firm.
God had promised
in the Old Testament
that he would
save his people
from their sin
and death,
that he would
bring them back
from exile,
that he would
gather them in.
And what James knew
is that he did.
God remained
steadfast to his promise
at the cost
of his own son.
Jesus willingly
remained steadfast
for us,
enduring the cross,
bearing our shame,
rising again
in new life.
What will keep us
steadfast today?
Like James' audience,
we are a church
under pressure.
What will keep us
steadfast today?
The answer is
knowing the same
Lord that James
knew.
You know,
the end of our story
may not be martyrdom,
but the road
for us
will not always
be easy.
Charles Spurgeon
wrote,
the best
of God's
saints
must
drink
the wormwood.
The dearest
of his children
must bear
the cross.
no Christian
has enjoyed
perpetual prosperity.
Now that you are
stronger in the
spiritual life,
you must enter
upon the riper
and rougher
experience of
God's full-grown
children.
We need winds
and tempests
to exercise
our faith,
to tear off
the rotten
bough of
self-dependence,
and to root
us more firmly
in Christ.
That's what we learn
from the life
of James,
the brother
of Jesus.
James,
the doubter,
the believer,
the pastor,
the martyr.
Through it all,
James' life
was one of
becoming rooted
more and more
firmly
in the steadfastness
of Jesus
until his whole
life,
even his death,
bore witness
to the grace
of God
in Christ.
And God
extends that
same grace
to us
right now.
An invitation
to let our
lives be made
whole by him
and to root
our lives
in his unchanging
mercy,
knowing,
as James says,
that God
has promised
a crown
of life
to those
who love him.
Let's pray.
O Lord Jesus,
we confess
that we are
often blown
and tossed.
And we confess
sometimes when we
look at the stories
of these great saints
in the New Testament,
we can be discouraged
because our lives
so rarely,
it seems,
in our own eyes,
reflect these rich
realities.
And yet,
Jesus,
we thank you
that though our
stories in our lives
may look differently,
your presence
and your grace
and your power
and your spirit
in our lives
are just the same.
Give us eyes
to see
your faithfulness
to us
and the fruit
of your spirit
at work in us.
Help us to
encourage one another
with the signs
of life-giving
reality
that we see
in one another.
And Lord Jesus,
root us
more deeply
in your steadfastness
so that we too
might become
steadfast in faith.
We pray this
in your name,
Lord.
Amen.