Sermon 6th September 2015

Today, our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches. The reading is from James 1: 1-8.

“Practical”. If you want my 1-word summary of the letter of James from all that I’ve read this week, that is definitely it. This is a very practical letter; from start to finish. So what better way could we begin a study of James than with these wonderfully practical suggestions? 1. If you’re ever choking on an ice cube, pour a cup of boiling water down your throat: the blockage will be instantly removed. 2. You only need 2 tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t move and should, use WD-40. If it shouldn’t move and does, use duct tape. 3. The most effective way to avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables is to get someone else to hold the vegetables. 4. If you can’t fix it with a hammer, you’ve got an electrical problem (though it may then be too late to fix that). And 5. The sure-fire way to guarantee that you won’t hit the snooze button and go back to sleep is to place a mouse trap on top of your alarm clock or mobile phone.

Now I very much hope it goes without saying that none of this advice comes from James’ letter – not even indirectly! But do be assured that between now and the end of November we will be offered more practical advice than we’ll know what to do with. That is, of course, a Good thing: by definition, any halfway-decent biblical teaching will always leave us with plenty to think about, and act on, long after we hear it. And that should be very especially true of this particular letter. James is the only New Testament example of what the Bible calls Wisdom literature. This is the result of literally decades of learning that has been not just hard-bought but thoroughly tested in the burning fires of reality; and it therefore offers us so much.

That leads neatly on into the necessary historical background stuff, then (which I will keep brief). I will say again, though, that this is a very important part of what needs doing each time we start a new Bible book or series. We must always know (as best we can, of course): who wrote it; for what purpose; into what circumstances; and what others have made of it through the centuries since. It’s not that God isn’t capable of saying something new and different through it today. Our task, joy, and challenge, is to interpret God’s Word afresh for our generation. But that always happens in the context of what God has already said and shown through it; so that is what we have to be fully aware of, as we listen, and learn in the present.

So: as ever, vast tomes have been written about this letter, after deep, scholarly research; but nobody knows much for very sure! And the most obvious answers are still the ones which are most likely to be right: that this letter really was written, as it claims in Chapter 1 verse 1, by a man called James. It is a fairly common New Testament name; but chances are it’s by James, the (half-) brother of Jesus. He’s not to be confused with either of the 2 James who were among Jesus’ 12 disciples. The Bible says that this James didn’t become a follower until after Jesus’ resurrection. He was in Jerusalem, presumably with Mary, when Jesus died. Having seen his brother die, he then saw him after he’d been raised to life. Well, that convinced James; and he soon became one of the leaders of the church that began in Jerusalem.

Now some of us may have an idyllic picture of Christian life in Jerusalem. It’s true that that’s where the church grew like wildfire – literally by thousands at a time – in the early days. But it wasn’t long before being a believer in that city was to risk the same fate that Christians do in IS-held territory today. The martyrdom of Stephen triggered mass persecution (led by Saul) that soon led to a Christian diaspora. James, and a few others, didn’t join it but rather stayed on to lead those who’d been left behind; and yes, unbelievably, to risk their own lives by telling others the good news about Jesus. But of course James remained just as concerned for the spiritual welfare of those who’d literally fled for their lives. And so he wrote to those ‘scattered among the nations’ as verse 1 puts it.

It’s only now that we’re ready to hear (and I mean properly hear) verse 2, then. The NIV is much more accurate than GNB when it says: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”; and all the more staggering for it. Consider this pure joy?! Is that what we’d say to the millions of Syrians fleeing in fear of their lives? To people as they crowd onto inflatable dinghies to cross the Mediterranean? Or walk from Hungary to Germany? Or try to jump onto moving trains or lorries; or walk through the Channel Tunnel; etc? Consider this pure joy?! Well, James wrote that to the believers of his day who faced their own life-threatening equivalent. And he wrote as someone who had likely already spent 10+ years with the imminent prospect of his own death.

As Tom Wright is quick to point out in his ever-excellent ‘For Everyone’ commentary, this isn’t about telling people to go out and look for martyrdom, or trouble. It’s ‘just’ James telling his readers what they already knew all too well: that the Christian life is hard, dangerous, and very uncertain. Well, that’s how it was for them, at least; and fact is that those of us for whom it isn’t so are very much the exception rather than the rule. That’s true both historically speaking, and also in terms of the world of our own day – if we’ll but open our eyes and ears to see and hear it. So for James and for his First-Century readers, the big question, the big issue, was ‘How are we going to live for God in and with this reality?’

It’s also Tom Wright who highlights the ‘many kinds’ aspect of the trials that James wrote about. Nobody I know lives a trouble-free life, of course; the issues that we are facing ourselves may not often be life-threatening (though they are that for some); but they can be painful and difficult beyond words: physically; emotionally; spiritually and/or financially. Yes, there are times when our greatest need is ‘just’ to get over ourselves, as the saying goes. But that too is a practical faith-response of the sort that James was encouraging his readers to make in their own extreme circumstances. Simply put, the very practical challenge, to each and every person who calls themselves a Christian, is to stand firm in and for God; in whatever our circumstance may be; however difficult they might be.

The positive Godly outcome of this process, James wrote in verse 3 is that of perseverance. That is why, and how, we really can consider it joy to face trials of many kinds – because of the end result: of increased trust and faith in God; if we stand firm. And yes, James does mean that even if the trial ends in death – as it did for many believers then; as it does for many today. Now I hope it isn’t news to you that you too are going to die one day; in whatever way you will. At the very core of the Christian faith is the belief that death is not the end of the story. What we believe is that Jesus’ death on the cross defeated the last enemy: death itself. The life that begins with God in Jesus here continues after death.

This too is a practical outcome that James wrote to tell his readers to hold onto as they faced their own likely death. They, like us, needn’t ever doubt the facts. They, we are not to be like waves that are the product of random forces. We’re not moved about by any circumstances that we face – but rather are to hold onto God in and through all of them: persevering to death; and then beyond. And through it all – on both sides of the grave – runs that process of growing to maturity and completeness in Christ, so that we lack nothing – again as James puts it here, right at the start of his letter.

There is one thing that we may well lack, though, according to James: and that’s wisdom. That can be the first casualty of troubles: knowing what do to for the Godly-best when x happens. It doesn’t need to be lasting problem he assures us, though: ‘all’ we have to do is to ask; and God will give us what we need. We ‘just’ have to ask in a non-wave-like way; being sure; showing the trust that we have developed in God’s nature and promises along the way. And God will – as He does – generously and graciously give us that wisdom which we need, to face even the most dire, and deadly, of circumstances: in and for Him.

As I say, it’s very practical, and applicable, stuff: too much so for some people. The Reformer Martin Luther was famously unimpressed by James: “A right strawy epistle” was how he once described it. James is indeed quite unlike much of the rest of the New Testament. It was written as a piece of Wisdom literature, offering wisdom to people who desperately needed that in the most difficult circumstances. It was very likely among the first New Testament letters written, as early as 49 AD, perhaps; so there was no Paul-like writing pattern to follow. So instead of those great theological reflections about Jesus, James ‘just’ urged believers to get on and live their faith: right here; right now; in their desperate circumstances.

Over the next 3 month we’ll hear all 50+ direct commands that James issued about doing just that. They’re about: living faith; proving that we mean what we say; showing that we are who we claim to be: make a difference in: facing troubles; handling money; relating to people whether they’re rich or poor; judging others; being patient; and, above all, in what we say and how we say it. And all of that really should make a life-changing difference to us; in the present and in the future; whatever our circumstances. It should, of course, make a real, practical difference to us quite specifically as we face difficult circumstances. It may be that we are facing those ourselves; or that we’re facing them with others in mind as this world-wide humanitarian crisis evolves. There are very practical ways in which we can make a real difference in that today, so listen out for that (or visit Herne Hill Forum’s website: http://www.hernehill.org.uk/news/refugee-crisis-urgent-appeal). Many more such opportunities may well follow in this series; as we look to put into practice all that God wants to teach us – individually and corporately – through James. The question, as ever, then is: are you ready not ‘just’ to hear God’s Word but to live it; in very practical ways? Let’s pray …