[Originally preached 8 August, 2004]
James 1.12
We return to the text that we considered last week. My focus then was the idea of being blessed and some of what was associated with it. This week we’ll look at something else. This week we look at the phrase ‘which the Lord has promised to those who love Him’. James is referring to the ‘crown of life’ which is the specific blessing promised to those who endure trials. And it may be that we’ll return again to this text next week to take a look at that blessing. But this week we’ll consider this phrase and see what the Spirit has to teach us.
The first thing that we’ll need to do is to understand why James writes this. He could have easily left it out and the sentence would still make perfect sense. It sounds like a condition for receiving the blessing of the crown of life. It is granted ‘to those who love Him’. But we saw last week that the condition is enduring trials. Our phrase, though, is related to the condition. By including this phrase James is telling us more about fulfilling the condition of enduring those trials. This phrase is talking about the motive behind enduring trials. The phrase is about why we endure tests of faith. Simply standing firm isn’t enough. Why we stand firm is also important. As in all that we do, the motive behind our actions is important. It’s never just a matter of what we do. It’s always also a matter of why we do it.
Now, James could have chosen from several alternatives to fill out this phrase. He could have written ‘which the Lord has promised to those who obey Him’, or ‘to those who are faithful to Him’ or to some other biblical motivation, any of which could have been fitting. But he chose to talk about love. And this holds some important lessons for us.
Consider some of the popular motives for not giving in when put to the test. For some, it’s a matter of choosing to be good. When these folk hit a serious crisis, like the rest of us, they feel the pull to fall apart, to give in to anxiety or the like. But they choose not to. ‘I’m going to be calm in this. I’m not going to give in to panic like so many do.’ But consider the dynamics that are going on behind the scenes. Whenever this kind of person hits a bump in the road, he consults the ideal of the ‘good person’ that has been given to him. ‘This is what a “good person” does in a situation like this.’ And that’s what he does. This isn’t really conscious. Over the years it’s become second nature. But whatever the crisis, this person deals with it by matching this ideal. He is going to be one of the ‘good people’. He’s going to act like a ‘good Christian’ as he deals with this trial.
Now, there are a couple of problems with this. For one thing, this motivation has nothing to do with Jesus and the Gospel. You could be an atheist and adopt this motivation for dealing with trials. I think that I can say that the god that this person worships is that ideal that’s stuck in his head. He pursues the ideal of being one of the ‘good people’. But secondly, consider what is going on beneath the surface. Consider what is going on in this person’s soul. The real person inside is working hard not to be overwhelmed. Little bumps are manageable. But if this person hits some more serious bumps, life gets awfully challenging. Keeping up the appearance of handling life well - like one of the ‘good people’ - gets more and more difficult. It begins to cost in different ways. But, in many cases, that goal of appearing good is achieved and that makes the work seem worthwhile.
Now, what do we really have here. For one thing, we have a hypocrite. The reality on the inside doesn’t match what the outside is telling people. Also, as long as it works, we have a proud person who rewards himself by reminding himself, ‘I am one of the “good people”.’ And, on top of this, we have a slave. This person is enslaved to his god, and that slavery is a great burden. This person doesn’t understand the Gospel. This person thinks that God approves of and accepts only the ‘good people’. He doesn’t know that God doesn’t accept the ‘good people’ but only sinners. God only approves of sinners who have fled to Christ. This person doesn’t understand the freedom that grace provides. Christians are not slaves but the most free of all people.
There is another popular motive for trying to deal with trials well. It’s fear. Now, there is a kind of fear of God that is good. The Bible exhorts us to that kind of fear. But this kind of fear is very different. This kind of fear is always thinking in terms of being punished. ‘If I blow it, God will be angry with me, and then I’ll get it.’ When this person encounters the challenge of a trial, his key question is, ‘What should I do to keep God happy so that I won’t get whacked?’ What is this but slavish fear? It was this kind of fear that John had in mind when he wrote, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.’ [1 John 4:18] This person is not much different from a whipped puppy. Is this the fruit of the Gospel? Does God call us to be frozen by our fear? Neither of these kinds of people understands grace. Both are depending on their works. And so, life becomes a growing burden. How can there be joy for such people?
The Spirit knows that there are people like this and that there would probably always be. So, He guided James as he wrote our text. He had James write about love. The blessing is promised to those who endure because of love. Let’s take a look at what this means.
Most people in our culture have no clue when it comes to understanding love. For them, love is only about feelings. If they have a certain set of feelings toward a person, then they’re in love. If they don’t have those feelings, then they’re not in love. So, when you fall in love you marry, and when you fall out of love you divorce. Sadly, the Church hasn’t been able to fully escape falling into this misunderstanding. So, in an attempt to fix this problem, some within the Church try to downplay emotions, the feelings that we have. They emphasize that love is a decision of the will. It is a decision to act to benefit someone. And they tell fellow Christians to forget about emotions and feelings, and just decide to do the right thing. Now, there is an element of truth here. We are not to be ruled by the emotions. That’s not their purpose. But we must remember that part of the truth presented as the whole truth is a lie. And that is one of Satan’s favorite tools. We are not ruled by our emotions, and yet they are a part of our being. If we are going to correctly understand ourselves, we need to include the emotions, those feelings of elation and sadness, of excitement at being with that very special person, those comforting feelings you have when you are with a person who knows all about you - the good, the bad and the ugly - and still loves you. We are emotional people. God has made us such. And when we look at what it means for us to love, we need to include this aspect as well. Yes, love is a decision to act for the benefit of the other. But we do so with all of the emotional attachments that have been created over time.
Now, all of that is included in our love for Jesus. When we encounter a trial, we are confronted with choices to make. It’s good and proper, in such a situation, to ask, ‘What does obedience look like here? What shall I decide to do?’ But if that is all there is to it, then something very important is missing. Think about the people you love. Do you make decisions for their good based on the facts? Do you ask yourself, ‘What is the best thing for them in this situation?’ Of course, you do. But is that all that goes into it? I certainly hope not! If you love them, part of the equation includes the emotional attachments that you have with them. Any computer can analyze a situation based on the facts and spit out a course of action to pursue. But that’s not loving a person. One person loving another is an emotional thing. That’s true when we are talking about a husband and a wife, or two people who have been best friends since grade school, or an adult child caring for his aging father. And that’s also true when we are talking about a Christian and his Lord. When you face a trial and some choices need to be made, you could consult your Bible and find some formula that says, ‘In situation A, do B’. But is that it? As you consider your Bible to decide the best way to deal with a trial, you also need to say, ‘Lord Jesus, I choose this path of enduring the trial because I love You.’ Including that element makes all the difference. It’s the difference between merely being religious and having a real relationship with a person.
But let’s push on and ask a question that may seem obvious. Why should we love Jesus? Be careful how you answer that. Is it because that’s the religious thing that we’re supposed to do? Is it because that’s what the ‘good people’ are supposed to do? Some folk answer the question that way. But that can’t be. John gives us the answer to our question. ‘We love because he first loved us.’ [1 John 4:19] Now, think about how Jesus has loved you. Think about His living on this fallen globe and all the frustration associated with that. Think about how He had to deal with those obtuse apostles who seemed never to get it and the scheming Pharisees who were always after Him. Then think about the cross and that He suffered – physically, emotionally, spiritually – there. Why did Jesus endure all of that? He did it because He loved you. ‘The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ And remember that the Good Shepherd knows all His sheep by name. He suffered all that He did because He loved you as an individual. So, why do we love Jesus? Our love for Him is a response to His love for us. We love Him because He loved us first.
Now, this leads to two thoughts. First, James’ reminder of the dynamic of love highlights the very personal nature of our religion. Think of the popular religions on this globe, the Eastern religions like Hinduism or Buddhism, and Islam. There is no emphasis on any personal relationship with any god. Even the spin-offs from the Christian faith, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses or liberal Protestantism, lack this personal element. These religions emphasize behaving according to the rules or holding to proper doctrine or the like. If there is a deity, he or it is distant. It really does boil down to trying to do the religious thing, being one of the ‘good people’. But it isn’t so with our religion. Ours is a religion of love, complete with all the emotional attachments. Our religion is a personal relationship. This is at the heart of the Christian faith. Merely doing the religious thing or holding the right doctrine doesn’t cut it. The goal isn’t to be one of the ‘good people’. The key is love for Christ. This is so very different and so very important.
And that leaves my last thought. Believing this part of the Gospel is a great aid when it comes to dealing with the trials of life. When you hit a particularly tough trial, you might find yourself asking, ‘Why is this happening?’ But you know why it’s happening. The trial is an expression of Jesus’ love for you. All that He does is because of His love for you, including the trials. These trials are not quirks of fate or some such thing. They are expressions of the love of Jesus. If you can hold on to that it will help you to be able to respond well to the trial. The trial isn’t punishment. It isn’t Jesus turning the screws to see how much pain you can handle. And it isn’t even His coldly proceeding to the next step of His master plan with you as a mere pawn. The trial is His love in action. Jesus is in the process of doing you good by the trial. And so, we can refine that question that is at the heart of all our trials, ‘Do you trust Me now?’ We can expand it to be ‘Do you trust My love now?’ If you can answer, ‘Yes’ to that, even a faltering ‘Yes’, you will be able to stand when others fall. ‘Yes, Lord, I do trust You, I do believe that You love me even now. So, I willingly submit to this test of faith and I do it because I want to love You back.’
James 1.12
We return to the text that we considered last week. My focus then was the idea of being blessed and some of what was associated with it. This week we’ll look at something else. This week we look at the phrase ‘which the Lord has promised to those who love Him’. James is referring to the ‘crown of life’ which is the specific blessing promised to those who endure trials. And it may be that we’ll return again to this text next week to take a look at that blessing. But this week we’ll consider this phrase and see what the Spirit has to teach us.
The first thing that we’ll need to do is to understand why James writes this. He could have easily left it out and the sentence would still make perfect sense. It sounds like a condition for receiving the blessing of the crown of life. It is granted ‘to those who love Him’. But we saw last week that the condition is enduring trials. Our phrase, though, is related to the condition. By including this phrase James is telling us more about fulfilling the condition of enduring those trials. This phrase is talking about the motive behind enduring trials. The phrase is about why we endure tests of faith. Simply standing firm isn’t enough. Why we stand firm is also important. As in all that we do, the motive behind our actions is important. It’s never just a matter of what we do. It’s always also a matter of why we do it.
Now, James could have chosen from several alternatives to fill out this phrase. He could have written ‘which the Lord has promised to those who obey Him’, or ‘to those who are faithful to Him’ or to some other biblical motivation, any of which could have been fitting. But he chose to talk about love. And this holds some important lessons for us.
Consider some of the popular motives for not giving in when put to the test. For some, it’s a matter of choosing to be good. When these folk hit a serious crisis, like the rest of us, they feel the pull to fall apart, to give in to anxiety or the like. But they choose not to. ‘I’m going to be calm in this. I’m not going to give in to panic like so many do.’ But consider the dynamics that are going on behind the scenes. Whenever this kind of person hits a bump in the road, he consults the ideal of the ‘good person’ that has been given to him. ‘This is what a “good person” does in a situation like this.’ And that’s what he does. This isn’t really conscious. Over the years it’s become second nature. But whatever the crisis, this person deals with it by matching this ideal. He is going to be one of the ‘good people’. He’s going to act like a ‘good Christian’ as he deals with this trial.
Now, there are a couple of problems with this. For one thing, this motivation has nothing to do with Jesus and the Gospel. You could be an atheist and adopt this motivation for dealing with trials. I think that I can say that the god that this person worships is that ideal that’s stuck in his head. He pursues the ideal of being one of the ‘good people’. But secondly, consider what is going on beneath the surface. Consider what is going on in this person’s soul. The real person inside is working hard not to be overwhelmed. Little bumps are manageable. But if this person hits some more serious bumps, life gets awfully challenging. Keeping up the appearance of handling life well - like one of the ‘good people’ - gets more and more difficult. It begins to cost in different ways. But, in many cases, that goal of appearing good is achieved and that makes the work seem worthwhile.
Now, what do we really have here. For one thing, we have a hypocrite. The reality on the inside doesn’t match what the outside is telling people. Also, as long as it works, we have a proud person who rewards himself by reminding himself, ‘I am one of the “good people”.’ And, on top of this, we have a slave. This person is enslaved to his god, and that slavery is a great burden. This person doesn’t understand the Gospel. This person thinks that God approves of and accepts only the ‘good people’. He doesn’t know that God doesn’t accept the ‘good people’ but only sinners. God only approves of sinners who have fled to Christ. This person doesn’t understand the freedom that grace provides. Christians are not slaves but the most free of all people.
There is another popular motive for trying to deal with trials well. It’s fear. Now, there is a kind of fear of God that is good. The Bible exhorts us to that kind of fear. But this kind of fear is very different. This kind of fear is always thinking in terms of being punished. ‘If I blow it, God will be angry with me, and then I’ll get it.’ When this person encounters the challenge of a trial, his key question is, ‘What should I do to keep God happy so that I won’t get whacked?’ What is this but slavish fear? It was this kind of fear that John had in mind when he wrote, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.’ [1 John 4:18] This person is not much different from a whipped puppy. Is this the fruit of the Gospel? Does God call us to be frozen by our fear? Neither of these kinds of people understands grace. Both are depending on their works. And so, life becomes a growing burden. How can there be joy for such people?
The Spirit knows that there are people like this and that there would probably always be. So, He guided James as he wrote our text. He had James write about love. The blessing is promised to those who endure because of love. Let’s take a look at what this means.
Most people in our culture have no clue when it comes to understanding love. For them, love is only about feelings. If they have a certain set of feelings toward a person, then they’re in love. If they don’t have those feelings, then they’re not in love. So, when you fall in love you marry, and when you fall out of love you divorce. Sadly, the Church hasn’t been able to fully escape falling into this misunderstanding. So, in an attempt to fix this problem, some within the Church try to downplay emotions, the feelings that we have. They emphasize that love is a decision of the will. It is a decision to act to benefit someone. And they tell fellow Christians to forget about emotions and feelings, and just decide to do the right thing. Now, there is an element of truth here. We are not to be ruled by the emotions. That’s not their purpose. But we must remember that part of the truth presented as the whole truth is a lie. And that is one of Satan’s favorite tools. We are not ruled by our emotions, and yet they are a part of our being. If we are going to correctly understand ourselves, we need to include the emotions, those feelings of elation and sadness, of excitement at being with that very special person, those comforting feelings you have when you are with a person who knows all about you - the good, the bad and the ugly - and still loves you. We are emotional people. God has made us such. And when we look at what it means for us to love, we need to include this aspect as well. Yes, love is a decision to act for the benefit of the other. But we do so with all of the emotional attachments that have been created over time.
Now, all of that is included in our love for Jesus. When we encounter a trial, we are confronted with choices to make. It’s good and proper, in such a situation, to ask, ‘What does obedience look like here? What shall I decide to do?’ But if that is all there is to it, then something very important is missing. Think about the people you love. Do you make decisions for their good based on the facts? Do you ask yourself, ‘What is the best thing for them in this situation?’ Of course, you do. But is that all that goes into it? I certainly hope not! If you love them, part of the equation includes the emotional attachments that you have with them. Any computer can analyze a situation based on the facts and spit out a course of action to pursue. But that’s not loving a person. One person loving another is an emotional thing. That’s true when we are talking about a husband and a wife, or two people who have been best friends since grade school, or an adult child caring for his aging father. And that’s also true when we are talking about a Christian and his Lord. When you face a trial and some choices need to be made, you could consult your Bible and find some formula that says, ‘In situation A, do B’. But is that it? As you consider your Bible to decide the best way to deal with a trial, you also need to say, ‘Lord Jesus, I choose this path of enduring the trial because I love You.’ Including that element makes all the difference. It’s the difference between merely being religious and having a real relationship with a person.
But let’s push on and ask a question that may seem obvious. Why should we love Jesus? Be careful how you answer that. Is it because that’s the religious thing that we’re supposed to do? Is it because that’s what the ‘good people’ are supposed to do? Some folk answer the question that way. But that can’t be. John gives us the answer to our question. ‘We love because he first loved us.’ [1 John 4:19] Now, think about how Jesus has loved you. Think about His living on this fallen globe and all the frustration associated with that. Think about how He had to deal with those obtuse apostles who seemed never to get it and the scheming Pharisees who were always after Him. Then think about the cross and that He suffered – physically, emotionally, spiritually – there. Why did Jesus endure all of that? He did it because He loved you. ‘The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ And remember that the Good Shepherd knows all His sheep by name. He suffered all that He did because He loved you as an individual. So, why do we love Jesus? Our love for Him is a response to His love for us. We love Him because He loved us first.
Now, this leads to two thoughts. First, James’ reminder of the dynamic of love highlights the very personal nature of our religion. Think of the popular religions on this globe, the Eastern religions like Hinduism or Buddhism, and Islam. There is no emphasis on any personal relationship with any god. Even the spin-offs from the Christian faith, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses or liberal Protestantism, lack this personal element. These religions emphasize behaving according to the rules or holding to proper doctrine or the like. If there is a deity, he or it is distant. It really does boil down to trying to do the religious thing, being one of the ‘good people’. But it isn’t so with our religion. Ours is a religion of love, complete with all the emotional attachments. Our religion is a personal relationship. This is at the heart of the Christian faith. Merely doing the religious thing or holding the right doctrine doesn’t cut it. The goal isn’t to be one of the ‘good people’. The key is love for Christ. This is so very different and so very important.
And that leaves my last thought. Believing this part of the Gospel is a great aid when it comes to dealing with the trials of life. When you hit a particularly tough trial, you might find yourself asking, ‘Why is this happening?’ But you know why it’s happening. The trial is an expression of Jesus’ love for you. All that He does is because of His love for you, including the trials. These trials are not quirks of fate or some such thing. They are expressions of the love of Jesus. If you can hold on to that it will help you to be able to respond well to the trial. The trial isn’t punishment. It isn’t Jesus turning the screws to see how much pain you can handle. And it isn’t even His coldly proceeding to the next step of His master plan with you as a mere pawn. The trial is His love in action. Jesus is in the process of doing you good by the trial. And so, we can refine that question that is at the heart of all our trials, ‘Do you trust Me now?’ We can expand it to be ‘Do you trust My love now?’ If you can answer, ‘Yes’ to that, even a faltering ‘Yes’, you will be able to stand when others fall. ‘Yes, Lord, I do trust You, I do believe that You love me even now. So, I willingly submit to this test of faith and I do it because I want to love You back.’
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