Sermon 8th February 2009
Today our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches, based on the reading from James 4:1-10
Submit yourselves to God
It is said that as infants we would actually die if we didn't get enough attention, and as adults we are miserable and can actually go crazy if we are ignored for too long. How do we call for attention? James’ deliberate choice of words is designed to draw attention to his readers. The words – kill, fight, quarrel are clearly saying to his readers – his own people of Jewish descent – listen up! He chose words that clearly express the awfulness, the disgust of quarrels and fights and controversies among those who call themselves Christians, indeed every human being.
So, what causes quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
James talks about a condition that we all suffer from. Inside us are forces that rule supreme, (which he calls desires) and that frequently overrun the good intentions we seek to advance. It is like an army on the highest state of alert, ready to pounce on the enemy, these forces are. He reminds us that Christians harbour the old nature which is still potent. That is why you are dragged away and enticed by your own evil desire and enticed 1: 14 we heard a few weeks ago. You see, becoming a Christian does not immunize one from temptation or even falling and failing. If anything, the old nature and the new nature are brought together in an arena of constant combat. No one describes this condition better than the apostle Paul Romans 7:15fwd
...what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing…
Is that familiar ground? It just underlies the fact that followers of Christ are not a protected species. If anything, there is a sense in which they should expect a greater beating from the world as these two desires battle it out. These desires inside us serve a sinful nature. Desires in themselves are neutral, but since they are at the service of sinful nature, when desire kicks in, we will allow nothing to stand in our way, even if it means waging war. His choice of words, in an exaggerated sense, draws our attention to the seriousness of disagreements, not least because they easily lead to death.
Our Lord Jesus himself spoke very strongly about disagreements. Eg in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:23)
If you are offering a gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift.
Desires that battle within us!
Friends, it all begins in our hearts. The controlling self-pleasing, self-centred passions that we carry very easily twist our good intentions as they quickly find expression in our lives and in destructive ways. What we see out there has private causes in here - the self-pleasing heart. And if we are to achieve the full life that our Lord promised, then here (our hearts) needs some attention. The issue with us, as James reminds is actually a spiritual one. We need to discover how to combat that enemy within, which is always causing havoc. That inherent dislocation within us, that generates the self pleasing and self centred passions. So how do we combat this enemy. The answer is in a question!
James asks in verse 4 don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity with God? Worldliness is a tremendous challenge for all Christians today. Some Christians have innovative ways of dealing with it, as I discovered in an article in the Church Times two weeks ago:
‘There will be no race to the altar’ (for weddings), the article started, in a certain diocese in Nigeria. Why? Because the bishop has directed that all seeking to marry in church must first undergo a pregnancy test and also a genotype and HIV test. Reasons? To ensure that Christian marriage was decent and honourable. The results of genotype and HIV would allow couples to be properly counselled as to how to conduct their lives with these disabilities. The bishop also voiced his displeasure with immodest dressing of brides at weddings. The solution? The local vicar’s wife must first vet all wedding dresses before the ceremony. Before you dismiss this as ludicrous, I urge you not doubt the good intention meant by such initiatives.
Actually, the Christianity of yester years embodied very clear guidelines of the expectations of Christians. The older Christians took it upon themselves to instruct young believers on how they should conduct their lives. I grew up knowing the generally expected Christian conduct - where not to go, how not to speak, how to respect sacred space, how to dress – all very vital training.
The one danger to be aware of with this predominantly mid twentieth century Christianity is that it inculcates a reactive, kneejerk and almost thoughtless holiness. It advocates that the world must be contradicted in every way possible by the Christian; anyone confessing the Christian faith must distance themselves from the world. And this attitude is not peculiar just to Christianity. It’s the reason there is Halal and Kosher food, which is an honest attempt to keep members of those religions from being defiled by the world.
Having said that, I think we have lost something. With the changing times and as we have continually reacted against the old school of being separated from the world, we have thrown the baby with the bath water. Let me explain. For many of us today, what goes in the world goes in church. The line between Christianity and the world becomes more blurred each day. Many Christian communities cannot agree on the basics of Christian conduct and behaviour. And this poses a huge question:
How can we be in the world but not of the world, as we are often reminded? Are there things we should take on board on becoming a Christian, are there things we should abandon? Of course there are as we have just been reminded by the baptism liturgy this morning! But worldliness is still remains an issue. Materialism, telling half-truths and scape-goating, cohabitation and dishonesty, gossip and malice are not just out there. And that is how things are. We seem driven by the maxim, if everyone does it, what should stop a Christian from doing the same? After we are in the world! Having one foot in the Christian faith and another in the world only exists in our imagination. And for this reason, James reminds us that friendship with the world means enmity against God. The two are irreconcilable. A middle ground would be attractive but there is none. And that’s not good news! It is very uncomfortable but that is the way it is.
And let’s get this right; you do not wake up one morning to make a huge decision to be friends with the world, or to be an enemy of God. It is the little wishes, desires, curiosities beckoning try me try me… These little things oil our journey, very subtly, to a sphere where the Lordship of Christ is not recognised. And just like an adulterous (unfaithful) person in a marriage, V4, the marriage might look all intact, even exemplary from the outside, but there is cheating going on. What a relevant picture!
But friends, here is the good news! There is an answer. God’s amazing grace. V6 …he gives us more grace. Now that is real comfort. How reassuring to know that God is always on our side, even when our self pleasing, self centred passion takes over and leads us away from Him, his grace is even the more. We're in a mess but He gives more grace than the mess. We are weak but He gives more grace than our weakness. We are tired and fed up but God is tirelessly on our side, He is never less than sufficient; He always has more to give. We may be beaten but He is never beaten. We cannot outdo his generosity. He is an amazing God! He stands and says, come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest.
But this grace comes with a responsibility. To accept God’s grace is to be willing to change. That is the deal. Between verse 7 and 10 James are ten commands for us;
submit to God, resist the devil, come near to God, wash your hands, purify your hearts, be miserable, mourn, weep, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom, humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.
The abundant grace of God does not sweep us into an effortless holiness. God’s rich, plentiful and inexhaustible grace carries a responsibility. The God who says, here is my grace, receive, also says on the same breath, here are my commands to obey. He pours his grace and love and mercy abundantly, but not everyone unfortunately enjoys it, taps into it. He reaches out his hand, but not everyone is willing to stretch theirs to be held by Him. This grace is enjoyed by those who submit to him. That is our responsibility.
But what sort of submission, you ask? In furtherance of James’ war imagery, it means to align oneself under the leadership of a powerful and great Commander in order to fight under his command. It means repentance, regular prayer, reading and hearing his word the Bible and committing to follow Jesus. It means saying, yes Lord, I need you to take control of my life. This is for you here today, if you have never said it. Those who submit to God, by the same breath also begin to resist the devil. Fighting worldliness all begins by submitting to God. Our heavenly Father is a winner, all the time! Submitting to him is my responsibility, your responsibility. May we have the courage to completely submit to God. Amen.
Submit yourselves to God
It is said that as infants we would actually die if we didn't get enough attention, and as adults we are miserable and can actually go crazy if we are ignored for too long. How do we call for attention? James’ deliberate choice of words is designed to draw attention to his readers. The words – kill, fight, quarrel are clearly saying to his readers – his own people of Jewish descent – listen up! He chose words that clearly express the awfulness, the disgust of quarrels and fights and controversies among those who call themselves Christians, indeed every human being.
So, what causes quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
James talks about a condition that we all suffer from. Inside us are forces that rule supreme, (which he calls desires) and that frequently overrun the good intentions we seek to advance. It is like an army on the highest state of alert, ready to pounce on the enemy, these forces are. He reminds us that Christians harbour the old nature which is still potent. That is why you are dragged away and enticed by your own evil desire and enticed 1: 14 we heard a few weeks ago. You see, becoming a Christian does not immunize one from temptation or even falling and failing. If anything, the old nature and the new nature are brought together in an arena of constant combat. No one describes this condition better than the apostle Paul Romans 7:15fwd
...what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing…
Is that familiar ground? It just underlies the fact that followers of Christ are not a protected species. If anything, there is a sense in which they should expect a greater beating from the world as these two desires battle it out. These desires inside us serve a sinful nature. Desires in themselves are neutral, but since they are at the service of sinful nature, when desire kicks in, we will allow nothing to stand in our way, even if it means waging war. His choice of words, in an exaggerated sense, draws our attention to the seriousness of disagreements, not least because they easily lead to death.
Our Lord Jesus himself spoke very strongly about disagreements. Eg in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:23)
If you are offering a gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift.
Desires that battle within us!
Friends, it all begins in our hearts. The controlling self-pleasing, self-centred passions that we carry very easily twist our good intentions as they quickly find expression in our lives and in destructive ways. What we see out there has private causes in here - the self-pleasing heart. And if we are to achieve the full life that our Lord promised, then here (our hearts) needs some attention. The issue with us, as James reminds is actually a spiritual one. We need to discover how to combat that enemy within, which is always causing havoc. That inherent dislocation within us, that generates the self pleasing and self centred passions. So how do we combat this enemy. The answer is in a question!
James asks in verse 4 don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity with God? Worldliness is a tremendous challenge for all Christians today. Some Christians have innovative ways of dealing with it, as I discovered in an article in the Church Times two weeks ago:
‘There will be no race to the altar’ (for weddings), the article started, in a certain diocese in Nigeria. Why? Because the bishop has directed that all seeking to marry in church must first undergo a pregnancy test and also a genotype and HIV test. Reasons? To ensure that Christian marriage was decent and honourable. The results of genotype and HIV would allow couples to be properly counselled as to how to conduct their lives with these disabilities. The bishop also voiced his displeasure with immodest dressing of brides at weddings. The solution? The local vicar’s wife must first vet all wedding dresses before the ceremony. Before you dismiss this as ludicrous, I urge you not doubt the good intention meant by such initiatives.
Actually, the Christianity of yester years embodied very clear guidelines of the expectations of Christians. The older Christians took it upon themselves to instruct young believers on how they should conduct their lives. I grew up knowing the generally expected Christian conduct - where not to go, how not to speak, how to respect sacred space, how to dress – all very vital training.
The one danger to be aware of with this predominantly mid twentieth century Christianity is that it inculcates a reactive, kneejerk and almost thoughtless holiness. It advocates that the world must be contradicted in every way possible by the Christian; anyone confessing the Christian faith must distance themselves from the world. And this attitude is not peculiar just to Christianity. It’s the reason there is Halal and Kosher food, which is an honest attempt to keep members of those religions from being defiled by the world.
Having said that, I think we have lost something. With the changing times and as we have continually reacted against the old school of being separated from the world, we have thrown the baby with the bath water. Let me explain. For many of us today, what goes in the world goes in church. The line between Christianity and the world becomes more blurred each day. Many Christian communities cannot agree on the basics of Christian conduct and behaviour. And this poses a huge question:
How can we be in the world but not of the world, as we are often reminded? Are there things we should take on board on becoming a Christian, are there things we should abandon? Of course there are as we have just been reminded by the baptism liturgy this morning! But worldliness is still remains an issue. Materialism, telling half-truths and scape-goating, cohabitation and dishonesty, gossip and malice are not just out there. And that is how things are. We seem driven by the maxim, if everyone does it, what should stop a Christian from doing the same? After we are in the world! Having one foot in the Christian faith and another in the world only exists in our imagination. And for this reason, James reminds us that friendship with the world means enmity against God. The two are irreconcilable. A middle ground would be attractive but there is none. And that’s not good news! It is very uncomfortable but that is the way it is.
And let’s get this right; you do not wake up one morning to make a huge decision to be friends with the world, or to be an enemy of God. It is the little wishes, desires, curiosities beckoning try me try me… These little things oil our journey, very subtly, to a sphere where the Lordship of Christ is not recognised. And just like an adulterous (unfaithful) person in a marriage, V4, the marriage might look all intact, even exemplary from the outside, but there is cheating going on. What a relevant picture!
But friends, here is the good news! There is an answer. God’s amazing grace. V6 …he gives us more grace. Now that is real comfort. How reassuring to know that God is always on our side, even when our self pleasing, self centred passion takes over and leads us away from Him, his grace is even the more. We're in a mess but He gives more grace than the mess. We are weak but He gives more grace than our weakness. We are tired and fed up but God is tirelessly on our side, He is never less than sufficient; He always has more to give. We may be beaten but He is never beaten. We cannot outdo his generosity. He is an amazing God! He stands and says, come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest.
But this grace comes with a responsibility. To accept God’s grace is to be willing to change. That is the deal. Between verse 7 and 10 James are ten commands for us;
submit to God, resist the devil, come near to God, wash your hands, purify your hearts, be miserable, mourn, weep, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom, humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.
The abundant grace of God does not sweep us into an effortless holiness. God’s rich, plentiful and inexhaustible grace carries a responsibility. The God who says, here is my grace, receive, also says on the same breath, here are my commands to obey. He pours his grace and love and mercy abundantly, but not everyone unfortunately enjoys it, taps into it. He reaches out his hand, but not everyone is willing to stretch theirs to be held by Him. This grace is enjoyed by those who submit to him. That is our responsibility.
But what sort of submission, you ask? In furtherance of James’ war imagery, it means to align oneself under the leadership of a powerful and great Commander in order to fight under his command. It means repentance, regular prayer, reading and hearing his word the Bible and committing to follow Jesus. It means saying, yes Lord, I need you to take control of my life. This is for you here today, if you have never said it. Those who submit to God, by the same breath also begin to resist the devil. Fighting worldliness all begins by submitting to God. Our heavenly Father is a winner, all the time! Submitting to him is my responsibility, your responsibility. May we have the courage to completely submit to God. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 1:12 pm
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