[Originally preached 16 May, 2004
James 1.1b
One of the benefits of studying the openings of the letters of the New Testament is that you can see some of the themes that the author will be writing about. Today, we look at the ‘to whom’ part of the opening. As we do, you’ll see some of what James is concerned about. I used the ESV to read our text because the NKJV translated a technical term as ‘scattered abroad’. Now, I understand why they did that. In a way, it is an accurate translation, yet it missed what James was writing. The term that I am referring to is ‘the Diaspora’ or ‘the Dispersion’. This term refers to the Jews who were dispersed or scattered abroad. The term is used in John 7.
The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’ John 7:35
Over the centuries the Jews left their homeland. Sometimes it was by choice. But very often it wasn’t. Here, just think of the Babylonian exile where so many of Judah were forcibly taken away. Some did return to the Promised Land. But there were still some who did not. Those who continued to live away from Israel were called ‘the Diaspora’.
Now, why was this important? What was so critical about living in Israel? What was there that you couldn’t find elsewhere? Jerusalem was there. Remember the significance of Jerusalem. That was the only place for the temple, the only place for sacrifice. Jerusalem was important because it was the place of God’s special presence. Jerusalem was unique. And so, we read about one of the sons of the Diaspora, Daniel, and his habit of prayer. How did he do it? He opened his window facing Jerusalem and then he prayed. That was where God was and I think that it’s safe to say that that was where Daniel wanted to be.
So, James takes all of this, ‘the Diaspora’, and applies it to the Church. This is who we are. Now, does this mean that our homeland is a piece of ground in the Middle East? Is it somehow a problem that we have been separated from come city in modern Israel? No. We are separated from our homeland. But that home isn’t anywhere on this globe. Our true home is the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. We are exiles from our true home. And this defines who we are. We are ‘the twelve tribes of the Diaspora’, the true Israel exiled from our home. We will see James bring this fact to bear in different ways as we work our way through his letter.
Now, in light of all of this, let me raise a question. What does it mean for us as exiles to live in this foreign place, far from home? Specifically, how shall we respond to this world? That may sound theoretical, but it is a question that you have already answered. You answer it every day as you make every day choices. What I would like to do is to get you to think about the ways that you answer that question and to get you to refine your answers. James will deal with this in some rather specific ways. What I would like to do this morning is to look at that more generally. My concern this morning will have to do with two extremes to be avoided as we all answer the question of how we, the Diaspora, are to live here.
There are those who understand our situation as the Church in exile and, in response, work to construct a huge wall between us and them, between the Church and the world. They establish their little Christian enclaves. These enclaves might be some little community huddled together. It might even be as small as a single family. In fact, there are some who have been called ‘homers’. Everything is centered in the home: home school, home church, home births, home business. They do all that they can to isolate themselves from the world. Some aren’t quite extreme. They recognize that they need to have a job and they need to buy things at a store. But they want to remain pure of the stain of the world and so they still try to limit their contact. As a result, those who think this way retreat from the world around them and abandon it to its coming destruction. Is this what James is pointing to in calling us ‘the Diaspora’? Is that what the Scriptures are exhorting us to do? It is helpful to note that Jesus spoke to this whole issue. Listen.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus defines His Church as salt and light. Whatever else may be true, the Church is to be involved in the world. It pursues that involvement in order to change the world by the Gospel. How can you do that if you remove yourself from the world? How can you be faithful if your goal is to have as little contact with the world as possible? Jesus made this a part of His High Priestly prayer.
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:14-18
Jesus is clear. We are not the world. The Church is different from the world. We are the Diaspora. And yet, we have a mission. We are sent into the world. Just as the Father sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved, [John 3.17] Jesus has sent us into the world with the same purpose, that the world might be saved. So, we are not to huddle up as the Church or even as individual families, marking time until we leave this place for our true home. We have a mission while we are here. We are called to be involved in this world. We are called to change the world by the proclamation of the Gospel.
Now, I told you that there are two extremes to avoid. Now it’s time for the other. If the first extreme is emphasizing our exile status so much that we retreat from the world, the second extreme is forgetting all about our exile status and thus to become just like the world. James will speak rather forcefully to this, especially in chapter four. We need to remember that there is a fundamental difference between us and them. We are the Church. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Our goals are different. Our desires are different. And the reason is that we have been made to be different. Our natures have been changed by the Spirit. Our Lord is not the same as their lord. We are slaves of Jesus. They are slaves of sin and Satan. When this most basic aspect of who we are is forgotten, then everything falls apart. We blend into the scenery. But how can we achieve our mission of changing the world if we are just like them? Remember Babylon, the prostitute. There have been sad times in the history of the Church when it has been hard to see the difference between the Church and the world. The desires are the same, the goals the same, the definition of success is the same. How we spend our time, our money, our energies, all look the same. There is the religious veneer and the moral stance on things. But is that the essence of the difference? Is the mission to change the world by the Gospel being accomplished or is it closer to the truth that the Church is being changed by the message of the world? While the first extreme is running away from the world, this extreme is running to join the world. So much for being the exiles of the Diaspora. In both cases, the result is the same: failure in terms of our mission.
Those are the extremes. Now, how shall we deal with them? I hope that you can see that there is a need for a delicate balance. To use an old phrase that isn’t heard nearly enough, we need to be in the world but not of it. This place is not our home. The hopes and dreams and goals of this place ultimately make no sense for us. We are different. And yet, we are called to be engaged with what is going on in this place. We are called to be salt and light. In the world but not of it. That is a difficult balance to establish and then maintain. You can get a sense of how balanced we are by examining how we are doing at our mission of bringing the Gospel to bear on people’s lives. Let’s examine that a bit.
Each week I bring the Gospel to bear on your lives. I do that not because I think that you aren’t converted. I do that because there is more of the Gospel for you to grasp. For one thing, there is more sin in your lives to be identified and repented of. Hopefully, you’ll see that as we move through James. Consider his list of topics: lust, hearing the word but not doing it, faith that is all talk and no show, tongues that are out of control, conflict within the Church, your prayer life. There is more sin to be identified and repented of. But that leads to the second part of the Gospel. There is more of Christ to be believed and embraced and enjoyed. The responsibility imposed on me is to apply the Gospel to you. The responsibility imposed on you is that you take what you hear and apply it to yourselves and your families. You men who are heads of households are especially responsible to see this happen. Are your wives getting it? Your children? As you look over the past, do you see more sin being revealed and repented of in you family? Do you see Christ becoming more precious to your family as faith in Him grows? Notice what happens as this takes place. First, the difference between us and them becomes more obvious. And that isn’t because of some superficial differences. It’s because we are believing the Gospel more. It is becoming clearer to us that this isn’t home. We are exiles here. Our hopes and dreams are not rooted here. But then, secondly, as we bump up against the world in the normal routines of daily living, the Gospel that we are believing more will make itself felt. The differences of the goals and choices and desires for ourselves and our children will become more and more obvious. Our understanding of what is good and right will grow and show itself. Our disdain of the trinkets of this world will be evident, not because we will be critical of others but because we won’t choose like the rest. To be sure, some people will be put off by all of this. We will seem strange and even threatening. But there will be those who will be attracted to what they see. They will be attracted as they see Jesus being formed in us. They will come wanting to have what we have. And we will see progress in our mission. The balance is being established and maintained.
In all of this you’ll notice that I have not been very specific when it comes to the ‘how to’ part. There is a reason for that. There is no formula for establishing and maintaining balance. You are different people in different situations with different abilities and different callings. You touch the world in different ways. There is no formula for me to give you as a group so that each of you can mechanically apply it to your slice of the world. But this doesn’t mean that everyone goes off on his own to figure out this balance. You will not be able to discern on your own what balance will look like in your life. You need the rest of the saints. And that’s true for a couple of reasons. We need each other because Satan is crafty. He will deceive you into one extreme or the other and you won’t even know that it’s happening. You need the rest of the saints to keep an eye on you and to warn you if it appears that you are falling to one side or the other. Another reason that you need the rest of the saints is that it takes wisdom to maintain that balance in the details of life. It takes wisdom to properly pursue the mission. One important way that God gives wisdom is through the insights of others who have worked through the same issues that you are dealing with. So, what is Men’s Group about? It’s a bunch of guys working to figure out how to be engaged with this world as a man without falling into some extreme. Right now the specific area is how to be a husband. We’ve all heard the world’s take on that. Now, we want to know what the Gospel has to say. What is the Women’s Group, WIC? It’s the same thing for the women. How do you establish and maintain the right balance as a Christian woman? By looking at the Scriptures, sharing their experiences, encouraging one another, these women are working at getting some answers to that question. It’s the same with the other things that we do as a church, even the luncheon. We need each other if we’re going to make it. Thinking that you don’t need to rest is just evidence that you’re on your way to an extreme.
As we work our way through James, you’re going to be challenged. He will speak about specific areas where balance is needed. Please be praying that the preaching of the Word will provide some guidance so that you will be able to avoid the extremes and accomplish the mission.
James 1.1b
One of the benefits of studying the openings of the letters of the New Testament is that you can see some of the themes that the author will be writing about. Today, we look at the ‘to whom’ part of the opening. As we do, you’ll see some of what James is concerned about. I used the ESV to read our text because the NKJV translated a technical term as ‘scattered abroad’. Now, I understand why they did that. In a way, it is an accurate translation, yet it missed what James was writing. The term that I am referring to is ‘the Diaspora’ or ‘the Dispersion’. This term refers to the Jews who were dispersed or scattered abroad. The term is used in John 7.
The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’ John 7:35
Over the centuries the Jews left their homeland. Sometimes it was by choice. But very often it wasn’t. Here, just think of the Babylonian exile where so many of Judah were forcibly taken away. Some did return to the Promised Land. But there were still some who did not. Those who continued to live away from Israel were called ‘the Diaspora’.
Now, why was this important? What was so critical about living in Israel? What was there that you couldn’t find elsewhere? Jerusalem was there. Remember the significance of Jerusalem. That was the only place for the temple, the only place for sacrifice. Jerusalem was important because it was the place of God’s special presence. Jerusalem was unique. And so, we read about one of the sons of the Diaspora, Daniel, and his habit of prayer. How did he do it? He opened his window facing Jerusalem and then he prayed. That was where God was and I think that it’s safe to say that that was where Daniel wanted to be.
So, James takes all of this, ‘the Diaspora’, and applies it to the Church. This is who we are. Now, does this mean that our homeland is a piece of ground in the Middle East? Is it somehow a problem that we have been separated from come city in modern Israel? No. We are separated from our homeland. But that home isn’t anywhere on this globe. Our true home is the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. We are exiles from our true home. And this defines who we are. We are ‘the twelve tribes of the Diaspora’, the true Israel exiled from our home. We will see James bring this fact to bear in different ways as we work our way through his letter.
Now, in light of all of this, let me raise a question. What does it mean for us as exiles to live in this foreign place, far from home? Specifically, how shall we respond to this world? That may sound theoretical, but it is a question that you have already answered. You answer it every day as you make every day choices. What I would like to do is to get you to think about the ways that you answer that question and to get you to refine your answers. James will deal with this in some rather specific ways. What I would like to do this morning is to look at that more generally. My concern this morning will have to do with two extremes to be avoided as we all answer the question of how we, the Diaspora, are to live here.
There are those who understand our situation as the Church in exile and, in response, work to construct a huge wall between us and them, between the Church and the world. They establish their little Christian enclaves. These enclaves might be some little community huddled together. It might even be as small as a single family. In fact, there are some who have been called ‘homers’. Everything is centered in the home: home school, home church, home births, home business. They do all that they can to isolate themselves from the world. Some aren’t quite extreme. They recognize that they need to have a job and they need to buy things at a store. But they want to remain pure of the stain of the world and so they still try to limit their contact. As a result, those who think this way retreat from the world around them and abandon it to its coming destruction. Is this what James is pointing to in calling us ‘the Diaspora’? Is that what the Scriptures are exhorting us to do? It is helpful to note that Jesus spoke to this whole issue. Listen.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus defines His Church as salt and light. Whatever else may be true, the Church is to be involved in the world. It pursues that involvement in order to change the world by the Gospel. How can you do that if you remove yourself from the world? How can you be faithful if your goal is to have as little contact with the world as possible? Jesus made this a part of His High Priestly prayer.
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:14-18
Jesus is clear. We are not the world. The Church is different from the world. We are the Diaspora. And yet, we have a mission. We are sent into the world. Just as the Father sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved, [John 3.17] Jesus has sent us into the world with the same purpose, that the world might be saved. So, we are not to huddle up as the Church or even as individual families, marking time until we leave this place for our true home. We have a mission while we are here. We are called to be involved in this world. We are called to change the world by the proclamation of the Gospel.
Now, I told you that there are two extremes to avoid. Now it’s time for the other. If the first extreme is emphasizing our exile status so much that we retreat from the world, the second extreme is forgetting all about our exile status and thus to become just like the world. James will speak rather forcefully to this, especially in chapter four. We need to remember that there is a fundamental difference between us and them. We are the Church. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Our goals are different. Our desires are different. And the reason is that we have been made to be different. Our natures have been changed by the Spirit. Our Lord is not the same as their lord. We are slaves of Jesus. They are slaves of sin and Satan. When this most basic aspect of who we are is forgotten, then everything falls apart. We blend into the scenery. But how can we achieve our mission of changing the world if we are just like them? Remember Babylon, the prostitute. There have been sad times in the history of the Church when it has been hard to see the difference between the Church and the world. The desires are the same, the goals the same, the definition of success is the same. How we spend our time, our money, our energies, all look the same. There is the religious veneer and the moral stance on things. But is that the essence of the difference? Is the mission to change the world by the Gospel being accomplished or is it closer to the truth that the Church is being changed by the message of the world? While the first extreme is running away from the world, this extreme is running to join the world. So much for being the exiles of the Diaspora. In both cases, the result is the same: failure in terms of our mission.
Those are the extremes. Now, how shall we deal with them? I hope that you can see that there is a need for a delicate balance. To use an old phrase that isn’t heard nearly enough, we need to be in the world but not of it. This place is not our home. The hopes and dreams and goals of this place ultimately make no sense for us. We are different. And yet, we are called to be engaged with what is going on in this place. We are called to be salt and light. In the world but not of it. That is a difficult balance to establish and then maintain. You can get a sense of how balanced we are by examining how we are doing at our mission of bringing the Gospel to bear on people’s lives. Let’s examine that a bit.
Each week I bring the Gospel to bear on your lives. I do that not because I think that you aren’t converted. I do that because there is more of the Gospel for you to grasp. For one thing, there is more sin in your lives to be identified and repented of. Hopefully, you’ll see that as we move through James. Consider his list of topics: lust, hearing the word but not doing it, faith that is all talk and no show, tongues that are out of control, conflict within the Church, your prayer life. There is more sin to be identified and repented of. But that leads to the second part of the Gospel. There is more of Christ to be believed and embraced and enjoyed. The responsibility imposed on me is to apply the Gospel to you. The responsibility imposed on you is that you take what you hear and apply it to yourselves and your families. You men who are heads of households are especially responsible to see this happen. Are your wives getting it? Your children? As you look over the past, do you see more sin being revealed and repented of in you family? Do you see Christ becoming more precious to your family as faith in Him grows? Notice what happens as this takes place. First, the difference between us and them becomes more obvious. And that isn’t because of some superficial differences. It’s because we are believing the Gospel more. It is becoming clearer to us that this isn’t home. We are exiles here. Our hopes and dreams are not rooted here. But then, secondly, as we bump up against the world in the normal routines of daily living, the Gospel that we are believing more will make itself felt. The differences of the goals and choices and desires for ourselves and our children will become more and more obvious. Our understanding of what is good and right will grow and show itself. Our disdain of the trinkets of this world will be evident, not because we will be critical of others but because we won’t choose like the rest. To be sure, some people will be put off by all of this. We will seem strange and even threatening. But there will be those who will be attracted to what they see. They will be attracted as they see Jesus being formed in us. They will come wanting to have what we have. And we will see progress in our mission. The balance is being established and maintained.
In all of this you’ll notice that I have not been very specific when it comes to the ‘how to’ part. There is a reason for that. There is no formula for establishing and maintaining balance. You are different people in different situations with different abilities and different callings. You touch the world in different ways. There is no formula for me to give you as a group so that each of you can mechanically apply it to your slice of the world. But this doesn’t mean that everyone goes off on his own to figure out this balance. You will not be able to discern on your own what balance will look like in your life. You need the rest of the saints. And that’s true for a couple of reasons. We need each other because Satan is crafty. He will deceive you into one extreme or the other and you won’t even know that it’s happening. You need the rest of the saints to keep an eye on you and to warn you if it appears that you are falling to one side or the other. Another reason that you need the rest of the saints is that it takes wisdom to maintain that balance in the details of life. It takes wisdom to properly pursue the mission. One important way that God gives wisdom is through the insights of others who have worked through the same issues that you are dealing with. So, what is Men’s Group about? It’s a bunch of guys working to figure out how to be engaged with this world as a man without falling into some extreme. Right now the specific area is how to be a husband. We’ve all heard the world’s take on that. Now, we want to know what the Gospel has to say. What is the Women’s Group, WIC? It’s the same thing for the women. How do you establish and maintain the right balance as a Christian woman? By looking at the Scriptures, sharing their experiences, encouraging one another, these women are working at getting some answers to that question. It’s the same with the other things that we do as a church, even the luncheon. We need each other if we’re going to make it. Thinking that you don’t need to rest is just evidence that you’re on your way to an extreme.
As we work our way through James, you’re going to be challenged. He will speak about specific areas where balance is needed. Please be praying that the preaching of the Word will provide some guidance so that you will be able to avoid the extremes and accomplish the mission.
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