James has turned his attention to the question of community in this church
that he’s writing to. And he’s been quite blunt. And we would expect no less
from him. He’s talked about how some in the church were giving themselves to
‘bitter envy’ and ‘self-seeking’. He’s used the language of ‘quarrels’ and
even of ‘fights’. It’s helpful to note that some Bibles translate that last
word as ‘battles’ or even ‘wars’. In all of this, James has been careful to
identify the root problem. It’s not just poor character development or some
accidental falling into a bad habit. The conflicts of this church to which
he writes stem from their following a wisdom that is ‘earthly, unspiritual
and demonic’. All of that was in last week’s sermon. James talks about it to
get to the solution. And that is the focus of this week’s sermon.
The Church of Christ has been called to live as a community, a close-knit
group of people, people who really care for each other. If the Church is to
avoid the ‘battles’ and ‘wars’ which destroy community what is needed is
‘the wisdom that comes down from above.’ That’s James’ solution: God’s
wisdom. He gives a little insight into this wisdom in verse 13. ‘Who is
wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works
in the meekness of wisdom.’ The wise show their wisdom. It’s not some mental
thing. And it shows because they are busy doing things. It shows in their
‘works’. But it also shows in their ‘good conduct’. But understand what this
means. James isn’t talking about ‘proper behavior’. No, he’s talking about
an attractive life. This kind of person stands out. His wisdom shows. And it
is very attractive. James ties this all up in the word ‘meekness’, the
meekness of wisdom. Unfortunately, that isn’t a word that is very appealing
in our world. Hopefully, by the time we get to the end of the sermon, when
you see a bit more clearly what James is talking about, you’ll be drawn to
the word more.
Being a good pastor, James isn’t content with a summary. Even as he gets
specific when it comes to the causes of church warfare, he is specific when
it comes to the meekness of wisdom. So, in verse 17 we have James explaining
what he is talking about. ‘But the wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial
and sincere.’ Here are more details of the character of the wise. ‘This is
the meekness of wisdom.’ Let’s take a look at this.
There is a literary structure to what James writes. Part of that is clear
even in the English translation. James sets off one aspect of this wisdom as
primary. If someone has God’s wisdom it will show itself, first of all, as
purity. I fear that there is a tendency for folks to view purity in terms of
what it is not. The thought is that if someone is pure that means that he
doesn’t do this, that or some other terrible thing. That may be true, but
putting it that way misses the point. It’s not so much what the pure person
avoids as much as it is what he embraces. Purity is a positive concept. Paul
suggests some things that move us in this direction. ‘Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’ [Philippians
4:8] Purity is less about what you don’t do, and lots more about what you
pursue. Behind this, of course, is the example of Jesus. Purity in action.
Think about the things that Jesus embraced.
What follows are three qualities that go together. They are linked in the
original language. We have ‘peaceable’, ‘gentle’ and then, ‘willing to yield
’. Like purity, don’t understand ‘peaceable’ merely as a negative, in terms
of the things that the wise avoid. And don’t turn it into some passive,
wimpy response to provocation. Peaceable is positive and quite active and
quite strong. Someone who has this quality strives for more than just a
socially acceptable truce with others. He strives for ‘shalom’. That’s a
Hebrew word usually translated as ‘peace’. It is a rich word with great
depth. The wise strive for this ‘shalom’ with others. They want full,
healthy, honest relationships with those around them. This is far from the
superficial interactions that are so common, sadly, even in the church. This
is also far from merely negative or passive. Then comes ‘gentle’. Think,
here, of a gracious soul, someone who is very warm and inviting. That’s
included in ‘gentle’, but that’s not all. There is a note of realism in this
word. Relationships aren’t all peaches and cream. People can be difficult.
So, this ‘gentleness’ also includes forbearance. Even when wronged and
sinned against, this gentle spirit, filled with graciousness and
forbearance, continues to express itself, at least in the wise. And do you
know why? The wise, remember, want a relationship filled with peace, shalom.
Being gentle in this way will be necessary if that is going to happen. Then
there is this third term: ‘willing to yield’. Last week I mentioned that
Godly wisdom makes you a little suspicious of yourself. You freely accept
that fact that you might be wrong. That’s this word. So, when approached,
the wise will listen. They won’t just tolerate or go through the motions.
They really listen to another point of view. ‘Maybe I’m wrong.’ So much
ruin has occurred in the Church because so many simply dig in their heels
and refuse to budge. They are unwilling to yield. They never consider that
maybe they’ve missed something. They are not wise. And the community of the
Church suffers.
Next on James’ list is ‘full of mercy and good fruit’. Remember that mercy
is different from grace. Grace is giving you something that you do not
deserve. You do not deserve God’s love. Not a bit of it. Yet, because of His
grace, God gives it to you anyway. Mercy, on the other hand, is not giving
you what you most certainly do deserve. Because of your sins of this past
week, you really should be punished by God. You clearly deserve it. But
because of His mercy, your God won’t do that. He won’t give you what you
deserve. I think you already know that mercy is so very important to the
ongoing experience of community within the Church. You will be sinned
against. I’m sure that that’s not news. But how will you respond to that?
Some people claim the rights of justice and ‘do unto others as they have
already done unto them’. Then, there are those who respond by keeping their
distance from the offending person. Having a truce is good enough for them.
But how do you have real community if people are sniping back and forth at
each other? That’s the language of warfare. And a truce is no better, not
really. There aren’t any bullets being shot during a truce but each side
eyes the other suspiciously, ready to fire back if the bullets should fly.
Sadly, I’ve just described too many Christians today. They have little mercy
toward those who have wronged them, little ‘meekness of wisdom’.
Then there is the last pair of qualities. These have been translated in
various ways. I’m going to use the translation of the NASV: ‘unwavering and
without hypocrisy’. The wise have made some decisions about their
relationships and these decisions are not negotiable. The first is their
loyalty to their God. We’ll see more about this when we get to chapter four.
But out of that decision comes their loyalty to the other Christians in the
church. This wise are unwavering in this loyalty. Through thick and thin,
good times and bad, ups and downs, and everything in between, their loyalty
remains resolute. And the rest of the church knows it. It’s part of their
‘good conduct’, their attractive lives. Such loyalty is not something held
up as a virtue in our society. The fruit of that is evident. It needs to be
different in the Church. Then there’s ‘without hypocrisy’. The wise are
straight with the other saints. There is no hidden agenda, no saying one
thing knowing that at the next opportunity you’re going to do the exact
opposite. No masks with big smiles painted on them to hide what’s really
going on. This is simply a promise to be honest. ‘Unwavering and without
hypocrisy’; how can there be community without these two?
The Church in America is having a hard time being a community. And one bit
of fallout from that is that we have churches with an awfully lot of lonely
people. We are not exempt from this problem. That’s not to say that we are a
total failure. But it is to say that we have a ways to go when it comes to
being the kind of community that should exist and that has existed in
churches down through history. In our case, several different excuses are
offered: We live so far apart. We’re all so busy raising kids. And others.
But can there be valid excuses for not being what we have been called to be
as a church? It’s better to think of these as obstacles in the way. They are
real, but they can be overcome. How? The answer is not complicated. James
has told us. Throw off the wisdom of the world. Become wise with the wisdom
of God. Pursuing that wisdom will require some serious repenting. It will
mean embracing Christ in new ways. It will also require some hard choices,
many of which won’t be popular. But we are not alone in this. We are not
expected to depend on our own resources to achieve success. Remember the promise the Spirit wrote for our benefit earlier in James. ‘If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,
and it will be given him.’ [James 1:5]
