Admonishing Loving Exhortation - October 13, 2024 - Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23) - Text: Hebrews 3:12-19

Our Old Testament reading for today is one of many Old Testament prophecies of warning of the children of Israel to turn from their sin, to repent, to “seek good, and not evil, that you may live.” And we heard Paul quote from Psalm 95 a similar warning which is a warning to us today. The Gospel reading is the account of the man desiring salvation, yet as we will hear reflected in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews and to us, he was depending, not on Jesus for salvation, but on his own good works. Again, a warning to us today.
 

Last week, Paul, the writer to of Hebrews, being the good Lutheran that he was, pointed us to Jesus and encouraged us and warned us to continue in our faith lest we fall away. This morning we are again encouraged in our own faith life, but also to care for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
 

Paul begins by encouraging us to care for one another. He begins by speaking to those who have already been given faith. He says, beginning at verse twelve, “12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion’” (v. 12-15).
 

Paul is concerned about anyone who might be lead astray from faith to unbelief. Thus, he admonishes us to exhort one another every day, to keep the faith. Paul’s concern is very real and is a concern we should have for each other today. While our faith is a precious gift from the Holy Spirit, the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh continue daily to lead us to despair and unbelief. Woe to those who are so puffed up in their faith that their faith is no longer in Jesus, but in themselves. An example that comes to mind as our synod remembers the Seminary walkout from 1974. Think about those “smart” seminary professors who, thinking more highly of themselves and their own intellect, bought into historic criticism and elevated their own reasoning above what God says in His Word.
 

Paul warns that a hardened heart is one that is deceived by sin. He goes on to quote Psalm 95:7,8 which was an original warning to the children of Israel. In other words, Paul’s warning to the early church is the same as the Psalmist warning to the children of Israel and is much the same as my encouragement to you almost each and every week, that is to always make regular, every Sunday and diligent, all the time, use of the means of grace, remembering your Baptism, confessing your sins, hearing the Word of God, and partaking of His Holy Supper. These are our only defenses and guard against falling from the faith.
 

Paul goes on to make a comparison of the Jewish converts to their Israelite ancestors, “16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (16-19).
 

As he has a habit of doing, Paul moves on to ask some rhetorical questions as his way of pointing to the problem with the ancient Israelites. As we recently have studied the first five books of the Old Testament and especially the history of Israel and their deliverance from slavery in Egypt we saw how quickly the children of Israel would forget the great things God had done. They witnessed the ten plagues of which the last seven did not affect them. They witnessed the Egyptians drown in the sea and yet they constantly complained. God brought them to the edge of the promised land and yet they refused to go in so they spent forty years wondering.
 

When it was time again to enter the promised land God promised He would be with the Israelites and clear the land of the pagan cultures as they moved in. Yet they failed to wipe them out and instead they became influenced by those pagan cultures until they lost faith. This history lesson is one we would do well to take heed as we see churches and people acquiescing to the sinful popular culture of today. Indeed, what was once right is now wrong and what was once wrong is now being touted as wonderful and great. Quite a warning to us in the Christian church to hold firm to the faith and at the same time to boldly speak out against these atrocities of the world even if it means our own persecution.
 

As I have reminded you many times, as God, through Paul is writing to the Hebrews, so He is also writing to us today. God created us to love us and He does love us. We are born with nothing and we will take nothing with us reminding us that everything we have while we are in this world is God’s and is to be used in service to Him, indeed in our serving others we are serving Him. Our lives begin with God giving us life and that life begins at our conception. Because we are conceived and born in sin and are accountable for our sin from the moment of conception it is imperative that as quickly as possible parents bring their children to the waters of Holy Baptism. Thus, in Baptism God gives us faith and we are reminded that the power of the water in Baptism is His Word.
 

As we grow up in this world, God strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Means of Grace, in particular through His Word and Sacraments. As we hear the Word that Word does what it says and gives the gifts it proclaims. As we confess our sins and hear the words of Absolution we know our sins are forgiven. As we partake of our Lord’s body and blood in His Holy Supper we know that we have forgiveness. Indeed, as we make regular and diligent use of these means of grace our Lord strengthens and keeps us in faith.
 

And we need this constant strengthening of faith because the temptations we face daily are to be deceived by the devil, the world and our own sinful nature. The devil tempts us, not because he loves us and wants us on his side, but because he hates us and he hates everything that is from God. The world tempts us to believe that there are many ways to enlightenment or nirvana. The world would have us believe that we are products of millions of years of mutations so that we should follow our animal instincts and desires. Our own sinful flesh would have us believe that we should satisfy the desires of that flesh. Indeed, daily we struggle and fight against temptation and sin and we continually sin.
 

Paul’s exhortation to us today is that he admonishes us to look after each other and to exhort each other to not fall for temptation and sin. Paul reminds us that we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper, we are to recognize sin and call it what it is, for the sake of our brother or sister and because we love them. And here I will remind you as I always do, that recognizing sin for sin is not the same as judging someone as we might be accused. As individuals we cannot and do not judge others, but being sinners ourselves we are to gently call others to recognize their sin and repent. Indeed, it is truly more loving to call our brothers and sisters to repentance than to let them remain in their sin which would mean they would remain unforgiven and doomed to eternal death and hell. It is somewhat like calling out your friend who is doing drugs which could kill them. Would it be more loving to let them go on doing drugs and kill themselves or warn them of such destruction? Yet, ultimately it is God who judges and while we are His people and His congregation, He does give us His authority to judge which is what church discipline and excommunication is all about. Of course, I will remind you that the purpose of church discipline and excommunication is to shake the person so they know how dangerous and serious is their sin so they do repent. Remember, the ultimate goal is repentance and restoration.
 

And as Paul reminds us, we are to encourage one another all the more as the end, either our own passing or the Lord’s return, is coming soon. As I have said many times, no one knows the moment the Lord will return and even if it is not during our own life time, no one knows when we will pass on, thus it is imperative that we are always ready to meet our Lord.
 

So, too, as always, I encourage you to encourage one another in being given the gifts God has to give because of our love for one another, as Christ first loved us. As always, it begins and ends with Jesus. God created us, to love us. God gives us faith at Baptism. God forgives our sins through Holy Absolution. God forgives our sins and strengthens us through His Holy Supper. As we are filled with these gifts of God our joy is to overflow and spill out on each other, encouraging each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
 

The motto of the world is “Live and let live.” God’s admonition through Paul is “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (v. 13). God never promised that life would be easy, but He does promise to be with us always, even to the end of the ages. God never promised that we would not be tempted, but He does promise that He is with us and will help us to resist temptation and sin. God never promised to give us all that we want, but He does promise to take care of all our needs. And while God’s demand has always been perfect obedience, because we cannot fulfill His demand He has taken care of that for us as well. Jesus lived the perfect life demanded of us for us in our place.
 

As always we are reminded we get it right when we point to Jesus, just Jesus. Jesus has done all that is necessary for us for salvation and He gives everything to us. He even stirs in us, gives us our response of faith, to encourage and build each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ. What a great God we have. What a gift giving God we have. What a loving God we have. How can we not simply rejoice and say, to God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Give Heed For Salvation - October 6, 2024 - Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) - Text: Hebrews 2:1-18

Our Old Testament lesson for this morning is the account of the creation of the woman from the rib of the man to be bone of bone and flesh of flesh. It is also the account of God giving the gift of marriage, of one man and one woman. In the Gospel reading we have the account of the question of the Pharisees concerning divorce and Jesus’ answer that Moses allowed for divorce because of the sin and hardness of the human heart. In the Gospel we also have the account of Jesus’ exhortation to believe as little children, to have the faith of a child. Before moving to our text, the Epistle reading, did you notice a couple things from our first two readings? Notice that marriage is not defined by the state, but by God. Marriage is not two men, two women or multiples of such nonsense, but is one man and one woman for companionship and procreation. Also, notice how Jesus Himself attests to the authenticity of the Old Testament as He quotes from Genesis.
 

Moving on, sandwiched between these two lessons for today we have the Epistle reading from the letter to the Hebrews. The epistle lesson, which is our text, begins by helping us to understand the nature of our state of being. We begin at verse one, “1Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (v. 1-4).
 

The writer of this epistle urges us to “pay much closer attention to what we have heard.” He knows well our nature, that is that we tend to forget what we hear and that we tend to drift away from our faith. Research in the secular world suggests that while it takes at least three weeks to develop a good habit, it only takes three days to unlearn that same good habit. Quite a warning to us concerning our own Christian faith and life and our own making regular and diligent use of the means of grace. More specifically this morning, the writer of this epistle warns us that we would do well to take heed of the law which shows our sins and the result or the punishment of our sin.
 

The law was given, first written on our hearts, not to save us, but to show us our sin and the seriousness of our sins. The Gospel was given to show us our Savior and to bring us salvation. And we know the Gospel as the writer instructs us that God gave witness of Jesus as the Messiah through the signs and wonders, that is through the miracles Jesus performed showing Himself to be the Messiah, even God in human flesh.
 

Adding to our understanding of the Gospel and who Jesus is, the writer continues at verse five, “5Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere, ‘What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8putting everything in subjection under his feet.’ Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (v. 5-9).
 

When God created the world, He crowned His creation with the creation of man, humans. And as expressed in this quote from a Psalm of David, man was created above angels. Remember, angels are not human and humans do not become angels. Angels do not have a body and were created to be messengers of the Lord.  Thus, we see that man is the crown of God’s creation and is above angels. As for Jesus, He is true God and true man. And although He was created above the angels, yet for a while, while He was here on this earth, He made Himself nothing for our sakes.
 

Before His incarnation, that is before Jesus took on human flesh, He was in heaven enjoying all the glory that was His and using His divine attributes to their fullest, yet He gave that up; He gave up all the honor and glory that were His in heaven. He subjected Himself to taking on human flesh and blood. He subjected Himself to all His own laws. And, again, as the epistle writer says, “for a little while [He] was made lower than the angels.” Only while He was here on this earth did He subject Himself to be made lower than the angels.
 

In subjecting Himself, He conquered even death itself as well as the devil. It was only as a human being, it was only as one of us, His creatures that He could save us. As God in flesh, as a human being, He fulfilled all the law and all the prophecies, all the promises concerning the Messiah. In so doing He proved Himself to be the Messiah and He accomplished what we could not so that He could become our substitute.
 

But the epistle writer is not through. There is more to know of who Jesus is. We pick up at verse ten, “10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’ 13And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.’” (v. 10-13)
 

The epistle writer reminds us that Jesus is God. He is creator with the Father and the Spirit or as he puts it, “from whom and by whom all things exist.” Jesus was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit at the creation of the world. He was there at the creation of the man and the woman.
 

After Adam and Eve sinned, God immediately stepped in and promised to send a Savior. God did not fulfill this promise immediately, but in time, Jesus was born. Jesus is true God, born in human flesh. As true God He is perfect and holy fulfilling God’s command that we be perfect even as He is perfect. As a true man He is indeed our brother and He is able to be our substitute.
 

Jesus is true God and He is true man and He is our Savior. We continue at verse fourteen, “14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (v. 14-18).
 

Jesus is true God who took on human flesh and blood. We say that He became incarnate, that is He became in carnal or in flesh. He had to be born as human in order to be one of us in order to be our substitute or to use the language of our text, in order to be our propitiation. Certainly we all understand the concept of substituting like things for like things and the idea that one does not confuse “apples and oranges.” And so Jesus became incarnate, He took on human flesh in order to be a like substitute even our substitute.
 

As our substitute, Jesus lived under the law and yet never sinned. As our substitute Jesus suffered every temptation we might suffer and even greater temptation and yet He never sinned. As our substitute, Jesus fulfilled all of God’s laws perfectly, never disobeying even one. And as our substitute Jesus took all our sins upon Himself. He delivered us from death that is from eternal death and hell by suffering eternal death and hell for us.
 

And so, He delivers us from the bondage of sin. The bondage of sin is eternal death and hell. By faith in Jesus, faith given by the Holy Spirit; faith given through the means of grace; by faith in Jesus we have forgiveness of sins which means a release from the bondage of sin.
 

And yet, Jesus work is not over. He never ceases to care for us and watch over us. After His death and resurrection, He ascended to the right hand of the Father where He is watching over us, ruling over us and interceding for us. Because He has suffered everything and even greater suffering than we might ever suffer or think or imagine, we know that He is able to help us in times of temptation as well. And most certainly, as our brother, He is always there to guide, guard and protect us.
 

What does this mean? This morning we are reminded once again of what a great God we have. We have a God who created us. He created us to love us. We have a God who loves us, His creatures. We have a God who shows His great love for us in the fact that He took on human flesh and blood in the person of Jesus who is God who became man in order to be our substitute.
 

This morning we are reminded that by faith in Jesus, faith which is a means or an instrument, faith which is given to us, by faith in Jesus, His perfection is our perfection. Everything that Jesus did is accounted to us. So, when God looks at us He does not see our imperfections and sin, instead He sees Jesus perfection and declares us righteous and holy.
 

This morning we are once again pointed back to Jesus. We are pointed back to the cross and to focus our attention on the cross. Jesus has defeated sin, death and the devil and He gives us eternal life where we will share in His honor and glory in heaven. What a great God we have.
 

Finally, I want to conclude with the most profound words of Jesus from the Gospel lesson for this mornings, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Jesus does all and gives all and He even knows the heart of humanity. He knows and understands the difficulties of this life and how we so often grow up as adults and we become cynical, skeptical, and doubting. We have such a great tendency to try to explain things, to distrust what we do not understand, and even to doubt what we see with our own eyes. At the same time, He understands the heart and mind of a child. Children have not yet learned to disbelieve. Children have not yet learned to distrust. And so, when it comes to matters of faith, Jesus encourages us to be as children. We are to believe Jesus, because He says so. We are to trust in Jesus because He has shown how we can trust in Him. We are to cling to Him because He is the one who has created us, redeemed us and He is the One who continues to watch over us, rule over us and intercede for us. Again, we might boldly proclaim, what a great God, what a loving God, what an almighty God we have. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Word for Christian Living - September 29, 2024 - Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21) - Text: James 5:(1-12)13-20

In our text for this morning, as we reach the end of our walk through his epistle, James makes three related points as he comes to the end of his letter. James encourages us to focus our life, not on the things of this world, but on the world to come, that is eternal life in heaven. James encourages us to be patient in times of suffering and he points to the example of Job and his suffering as well as the Lord’s reward, if you will, to Job after all was said and done. James writes to encourage us to encourage and build each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ. And we must remind ourselves as we begin looking here at the end of James letter, that James begins with Jesus. James encourages and exhorts us as a response of faith, not for works righteousness.
 

Getting to James’ first point, he encourages us in our life’s focus. We begin at verse one, “1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you” (v. 1-6).
 

James warns us that our earthly treasures will rot. He warns us to not get mixed up in attempting simply to gain treasures for this world, especially to the neglect of the world to come. Perhaps we would do well to constantly remind ourselves that what we are born with and what we take with us when we die is what is truly ours anyway. Which is another way of saying that nothing really is ours. What we have while we live on this earth belongs to our Lord and we are to be good stewards, caretakers in our usage of all that is His while we are on this earth. After we pass away, what we have amassed will be passed on to the next generation and as the preacher of Ecclesiastes suggests, it will be passed on to those who have not earned it to waste it in any way they wish. Thus, we are encouraged to be good stewards of what our Lord first gives to us and we are encouraged to spend our time, not amassing treasures of this world, but treasure for heaven.
 

James also warns that dishonest gain is a sin and so he encourages us to work at an honest job and not steal in any way. The example he uses is that of his ancestors who kept back wages from the workers. For us today, James simply encourages us to be honest in our labors.
 

These words from James encourage us to focus our attention and our life, not so much on this world and amassing what will be passed on to the next generation and have no affect on our lives in the world to come, and instead we are to focus our attention on the world to come. We are to focus our attention on our faith in Jesus who has secured our lot in heaven. Again, we are reminded that James’ words of encouragement are words of a response of faith.
 

Moving on to the second point that James makes this morning. He encourages us in our suffering, especially that we are to be patient. We pick up at verse seven, “7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.)” (v. 7-12)
 

James encourages us to be patient and to look forward, in faith, to the day the Lord will return. Unfortunately, too many people, even too many Christians do not believe the Lord will return during their own life time. Yet, He could come any day and any time. And, the fact of the matter is that none of us knows when we will die, so we all need to be ready to meet the Lord each and every day. James reminds us that this world is truly fast and fleeting. Our time in this world is but a breath, even a moment compared to our life in heaven which is for eternity, so we would do well not to dwell so much on the sufferings of this present world, instead, we would do well to focus our attention on heaven. James encourages us not to grumble against each other, instead we are to be patient with each other. And, notice that James says nothing about striving for success in this world, instead he encourages us to remain steadfast, that is to be faithful. James gives us the example of Job who lost everything and yet in the end because of his faithfulness the Lord blessed him with double. Here again, the encouragement to focus our attention on heaven and being faithful.
 

And James gives a bit of a warning about honesty. He says to let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no”. In our world today, as truth has, at least for some, become relative, there is a tendency to want to make sure people believe what we say and the way many do this is by adding something to their word. As children we add, “cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” and so forth. As adults we might add, “I swear to God,” or “to be honest with you,” or any other statement to emphasize we are saying what is true. James urges us simply to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no” and to let our honesty attest to our word. And again, we would remind ourselves that James continues to speak in the context of a response of faith.
 

In the last point of our text, James encourages us to encourage each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We pick up at verse thirteen, “13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (v. 13-20).
 

James encourages us in our prayer life. We certainly understand that our prayer is our part in our conversation with God. He speaks to us through His Word and we speak to Him in prayer. As part of our conversation with God, as part of our prayers, James encourages us to pray for ourselves. We are to pray prayers of thanks as well as petitions for healing and the like. Also we are encouraged to pray for others, especially those who are ill. And we are encouraged to be persistent and patient in our prayers. James gives us the example of Elijah who prayed for three and a half years that it would not rain and then he prayed that it would rain and it did.
 

Not only are we to pray, we are also exhorted to confess our sins so we might be given forgiveness. Every Sunday morning we confess our sins and we hear our Lord’s most beautiful words of forgiveness. Forgiveness is so important. We might remember that very often the first thing Jesus did when He met someone or healed someone was to forgive them their sins. Forgiveness is our most basic need and with forgiveness we know that we also have life and salvation.
 

Finally, we are to encourage each other, and especially, in love, share the truth with others, rebuking and admonishing where necessary. We are to encourage our brothers and sisters who stray from the faith. We are to share our faith with others so they too might have a part in God’s kingdom. What wonderful words of encouragement we are given by James this morning. And once more, these words of James are words of encouragement in our response of faith, faith given by God.
 

So we ask, “What Does This Mean?” In the Old Testament lesson for this morning we see the discontent of the Children of Israel. They grumbled and complained. They exaggerated what they believed to be their condition in Egypt, “they ate fish that cost nothing? They ate cucumbers, melons, leek, onions and garlic that cost nothing?” How quickly they forgot their cry to be delivered from slavery. Yet, their discontent is very much like our discontent. How often we forget what our Lord has done, does and continues to do for us as we continue to ask for more? Yes, even our Old Testament lesson reminds us of our need to keep our focus heavenward. Notice how the discontent of the Israelites is contrasted with Moses’ contentment even that everyone would be full of the Spirit. Quite a lesson to us in our contentment and rejoicing in others and how the Lord blesses them.
 

In the Gospel reading Jesus warns against sin, even little sins. He also warns that those who are not against Him are for Him, in other words, although we may have doctrinal disagreements with other denominations which keep us from fellowship, unless they are blatantly teaching and believing false doctrine, we would do well to not condemn them. At the same time, this does not negate the fact that we will want to encourage them to get their doctrine right.
 

Finally, James ties these words together in the last words of his epistle in which he encourages Christians to be content in all things, remembering that this world is fast and fleeting, that we are to be patient in suffering which, as Paul tells us, ultimately produces hope and certainty of heaven, and that we are to build up and encourage each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And we do this with the Lord’s help, alone and only as a response of faith already given.
 

Of course, the last question we might ask this morning is, “Where is Jesus?” And we have to answer that He is there as the Author and Perfecter of our faith. As we read through James we must continue to remind ourselves that James begins with Jesus. James brings words of encouragement that are not apart from Jesus and faith in Jesus. We cannot do any of what James encourages and exhorts us to do. We cannot do the good works of faith, which flow from faith, except that we have faith. Again, James begins with Jesus. Jesus has already done all that James here encourages us to do. Jesus is God in flesh. Jesus is perfect and holy. Jesus never sinned. Jesus suffered all the temptations we will ever face and more and never sinned. And in His great love for us, Jesus took our sin and paid the price for our sin. The depth of the Gospel is that Jesus lived for us and Jesus gave His life for ours. Now Jesus sends the Holy Spirit who works in and through us to be the people he would have us to be, to be the people James encourages us to be. Where is Jesus? He is the beginning, the middle and the end. And we say, thanks be to God and to Him be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Making Friends with Whom? - September 22, 2024 - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20) - Text: James 3:13-4:10

Now I know I have told this story before and some of you have heard it, but I am going to tell it again, and not just because it is funny, but because, unfortunately,  it is funny because it is true. There is the story of the new church which was meeting in a bar. The bar was not open on Sunday mornings so the church rented out the space for their morning service. At this bar there was a parrot. One morning while the church service was going on the parrot woke up. He looked up and saw the pastor preaching and said, “Hum, new bartender.” He looked over at the choir and said, “Hum, new floor show.” And finally, he looked out at the group of people at the service and said, “Same old crowd.” That story helps us to understand what is happening in many of our churches today as we become people not only in the world, but also of the world. James encourages us this morning to be zealous in being people of the Word and people in the Word, not people of the world.
 

James begins by defining wisdom, beginning at verse thirteen of chapter three he writes, “3:13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (3:13-18). James differentiates between what is viewed as the wisdom of this world and what is true, Godly wisdom. True Godly wisdom shows itself in understanding and meekness. True Godly wisdom is a gift from God. We might be reminded that when God asked King Solomon to ask for any thing he desired as the new king, he asked for discernment, which is the wisdom to properly use understanding, in other words, he asked to be able to rule rightly. True Godly wisdom for us today is to live rightly, discerning the difference between living in the world and being of the world.
 

On the other hand, James tells us that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are not wisdom. The way of the world is that this is a “dog eat dog” world and the way to get ahead in this world is through selfish ambition and stepping on others to get what you want, and what you think you deserve. Certainly through His own life, Jesus shows us that this thinking is not Godly wisdom, but is sinful human nature wisdom.
 

Wisdom from above, that is true Godly wisdom is that wisdom that comes from a heart of faith. As the Holy Spirit gives, even strengthens and keeps us in faith, as a gift, given through the means of grace, so He guides us in all true wisdom, moving us to seek to be godly people, encouraging and building each other up as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
 

As Jesus has His way with us, through the means of grace, a fruit of the Spirit is this peace which is sown from wisdom. Going back to King Solomon, in his writings in the Proverbs, he reminds us of this fact that wisdom sows peace, as he tells us that a gentle answer turns away wrath. When we are provoked by someone, how well we know that an angry response escalates the battle, but a gentle response brings peace. Here again, we see the difference between the Christian who lives in the world but is not of the world and the way the person of the world lives.
 

As we have talked about with James, he insists that faith without works is dead, that is that our faith is shown through our actions, thus James asks, what does your life say? We pick up at verse one of chapter four, “4:1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (4:1-10).
 

James begins by reminding us that quarrels and fights do not come from faith. Quarrels and fights are not the way of Jesus, but the way of the world, the way of power and might, or in the church perceived power and might. We are adapting to the ways of the world when our desire is, well, when our desire is a natural desire. And lest we think we might be exempt from such desire, our Gospel lesson for this morning reminded us that we are really no different from Jesus’ own disciples who desired to be first in the kingdom of God.
 

James wants us to know that we can either be friends of the world or friends of the Lord. We cannot be both. Are we friends with the world or with the Lord? We are friends with the world when we invest our lives in this world, that is when we invest our time, talents, and treasure in this world. When we spend more time with our own pet projects, interests and hobbies, when we use our talents more for advancing our own lives and careers, when we spend our treasures investing in the things of this world, then we are friends with this world.
 

On the other hand, are we friends with the Lord? We are friends of the Lord when we invest our lives in the world to come and we invest our lives in the world to come by investing our time, talents and treasure in the world to come. We invest in the world to come by spending time with the Lord, by reading our Bibles, everyday, by having personal and family devotions, by being in Divine Service and Bible class whenever they are offered. We invest in the world to come by using our talents in service to the Lord and for extending His kingdom and certainly by investing our treasure, that is by giving our first fruits and tithes to our Lord who has given everything to us first, namely our time, our talents and our treasures.
 

Notice the imperatives James uses in our text, submit, resist, and draw near . . . (v. 7, 8). Certainly we understand that these are law words and in and of ourselves we cannot live according to what James here asks. So, maybe we need to go back and remind ourselves that James complements Paul. James and Paul both begin and end with Christ. Thus, these imperatives that James strings along for us are best understood as a response of faith and as being worked in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit, otherwise, we would certainly be left with no hope.
 

Finally, James exhorts us to humble ourselves before the Lord and He will exalt us. Here again we begin and end with Jesus. We humble ourselves before the Lord as Jesus has His way with us and He has His way with us through the means of grace. By faith in Jesus, given through the means of grace, we have forgiveness, life and salvation and indeed we are exalted by God the Father.
 

What does this mean? Last week James reminded us that the power of the tongue reveals what is in one’s heart. This week James reminds us that we are in the world, yet we are not to be of the world. We are of the world when we imitate the world, when the priorities of the world become our priorities and when we fail to focus our attention and our lives on our eternal well-being understanding that our lives in this world are but a breath, but a moment compared to our lives in eternity, which is forever.
 

James gives us examples of how we know we are either of the world or not of the world. We know we are of the world when we claim to be Christians yet we imitate the world, and as James points out specifically when we quarrel with one another, seeking our own power and position in the world, rather than seeking to serve God and others. James tells us that the heart of such quarreling is the fact that we have our attention focused on this world instead of on the world to come.
 

Further, James reminds us that we are either friends of the world or friends of God. And yes, even for us Christians this is a tough choice. Daily we are faced with such tough choices and daily we know we fail and sin. Daily we fail to be friends with God. Daily we choose to be friends with the world. Daily we succumb to the temptations of the world and we act like the world and we look like the world.
 

James reminds us that we do fail. Thanks be to God that just as Paul begins and ends with Jesus, so James begins and ends with Jesus. We fail, but God succeeds. We cannot resist the temptations of the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh, but God has. In Christ God has become flesh. Christ has faced every temptation we will face and more. Jesus never sinned. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and paid the price for our sins.
 

Thus, James further exhorts us to, and we would certainly understand that this is only with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, submit ourselves to God. And the Holy Spirit stirs in us to do what He would have us to do.
 

As always we are reminded that we get it right when we get our focus right. We get it right when we begin and end with Jesus. God gives and we are given to. We fail and yet God does not give up on us. He is always there to give us even more, faith, forgiveness and life.
 

James brings us tough words for today. Very often we tend to be of the world. We tend to be like the disciples in our Gospel lesson. Remember the disciples, discussing who was the greatest? They were living in the world and they were being of the world. Living in the world makes it quite difficult to resist the temptation to be of the world. Daily we are tempted and lured to be of the world and daily we fail. Thanks be to God that our salvation does not depend on us. Thanks be to God that when we mess up God is there to clean up. Thanks be to God that Jesus took care of our sins and continues to take care of us. By faith in Jesus, faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, through the means of grace, faith strengthen by the Holy Spirit, by faith in Jesus we have forgiveness, life and salvation. By faith in Jesus, when God looks at us He sees Christ, He sees us as living in the world but not being of the world. By faith in Jesus our Lord looks at us and He exalts us. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.