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9.18.22 James 1:1-4 Paul Mitton · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you have your Bible or your device, turn to James 1, 1 through 4. It's also going to be up on the screen. James 1, 1 through 4. Pastor James, the stepbrother of Jesus, has written a letter to his young church. And he begins by giving them some pointers on how do you tackle tough times that come your way. And he starts this way. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 0:29
  To the 12 tribes scattered among the nations, the church, greetings. And then he goes on. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Let's pray.
• 1:01
  Heavenly Father, we love you so much. And it's just, it gives us great delight to just sit at your feet and learn from your word. And so this morning, Lord, I just ask for your spirit to flow through this auditorium. Help me to get very small so that you can get real big. And just personalize all of my words to everybody that's here, including me. Teach us what you want us to know. Change us today because we've looked at your word.
• 1:31
  We pray these things in your name. Amen. A long, long time ago, I was a youth pastor in Minnesota. And one of our favorite trips, and we didn't plan this, was to go canoeing in the Boundary Waters. Pretty good, huh? It just syncs up. Carla, you did a great job with worship, wherever you are. It synced up just perfect.
• 1:57
  Anyway, on one of our trips, we were camping on an island, plenty of islands up there, right, Pastor Danny? Yes. And across from the island was an island known as Warrior Hill. It was this mountainous rock that just erupted out of the lake. Well, my father-in-law, Jan's dad, was on a different island with another group of, I was going to say children, but teenagers. And we all decided, wouldn't it be fun if we all climbed Warrior Hill together?
• 2:27
  So the next day we did. I paddled to the bottom of the sheer rock wall. I tied up my canoe and began my ascent. Now, from the bottom, it really didn't look like much. And I thought, well, this will be a piece of cake. But about halfway up, I came to the realization that this is the day that I die. I'm not returning. I'm stuck.
• 2:51
  pinned against that yellow rock with the wind howling around me. It was not good. For one thing, I don't like heights. For another thing, no one has confused me with Spider-Man. And thirdly, we were free climbing, so no helmets, no ropes. If I let go, it was the land speed record to my death down below. So it was just not good. There I was, stuck on the side of Warrior Hill, not feeling like much of a warrior at all.
• 3:19
  Now, I did consider staying there for the rest of my life, but that didn't seem practical. So the only option I had, I was all by myself, was to face my fears and to keep moving vertical. So I began to pray a lot. You ever do that in a troubled situation, start to pray? Yes, I think we all do. Better late than never.
• 3:41
  I worked my way up, and finally I got to the top. My hands were bloody. My mouth was parched. I had a cold sweat that permeated my being, and I pulled myself up over the top and just flopped back on the rock ledge up there. I looked at the blue sky, and I gave thanks to the Lord for everything I could think of, including that I was still alive to give thanks. You ever thought you were going to die, and then you didn't? It's a relief. It's a relief.
• 4:14
  Well, after a few minutes, from a different direction, Jan's dad came whistling up the hill with a group of girls. They waltzed in, giggling, laughing, pushing each other. Lars walks over to me. That's his name, Lars Larsen. He's Swedish. What's wrong with you? I said, I just made it up Warrior Hill. I thought I was going to die. With compassion, he said, you came straight up. Why don't you take the path?
• 4:46
  Why didn't you tell me there was a path? Unbeknownst to me, if I would have just gone a little further around the island, there was a trailhead dumped out on a path and it just wound its way up easy peasy. So here's my question. If you ask most normal folks, not mountain climbers, but most normal folks, if you ask them to choose a path up Warrior Hill, which path do you think they would take? The easy one or the difficult one? Probably the easy one.
• 5:18
  Now what if you ask them that same question about life? Do you want your journey through life to be easy or difficult? What would they say? Are you crazy? Of course I want the easy path through life. I dream about winning the lottery so I never have to work another day in my life. I want to take a pill that makes me instantly physically fit. I want my spiritual growth to be nothing but butterflies and daisies.
• 5:46
  I mean, don't we all kind of think a blessed life is a life that's absent of struggle and hardship? If God really loves us, he's going to keep us comfortable, isn't he? My guess is those first believers in James' church felt pretty much the same way. Given a choice, they would have taken the easy way up the hill. So imagine their shock when they received this letter from their pastor.
• 6:17
  Oh, we got mail from James. Everybody gather around. They rip it open. Oh, they're waiting. And they start to read. Consider it pure joy, my people. Oh, this is going to be good. Whenever you face trials of many kinds. What? James throws them a major curveball here.
• 6:42
  Has pastor lost his mind? Is he dipping into the communion line a little bit too much? Consider it joy when you face trials. Is he crazy? You know, it really doesn't make much sense, does it? So what's going on here? I think pastor James knows he's writing to very young believers. The church was in its infancy right now. I think James may have been the first book written in the New Testament.
• 7:11
  maybe. But they were just baby Christians. Other people in the flock were proudly pious, but we know as we read through the letter that they had already infected the congregation with division and intolerance and favoritism and judgment. They were very immature believers that thought they were all that.
• 7:34
  And so as James spiritually assesses his flock, his congregation, what he sees is a desperate need for them to grow up, to mature, to develop a spiritual toughness that would enable them to stand strong in the face of persecution and difficulty because persecution and difficulty were on their way.
• 7:56
  And so right out of the gate, James presents a foundational truth for the church, and that truth is this. God is much more concerned about building your character than he is in keeping you comfortable. God is much more concerned about building character into his people than simply keeping us comfortable. Yes, there are all kinds of wonderful blessings and benefits to being a believer.
• 8:23
  Peace and hope and strength. But Romans 8, 29 reminds us that God's primary agenda is for us to be transformed into the image of his son, Jesus, through the power and work of the Holy Spirit within us.
• 8:38
  God as the master potter has big plans for you. That's good news. He wants to remold and remake you into a remarkable human being. He wants to develop within you a rugged righteous core that equips you to choose what is good and right and best in every situation. The Lord wants you to be able to stand your ground when the enemy attacks.
• 9:03
  and to be able to attempt great things for his kingdom, no matter how hard the storm winds are blowing. And they're blowing pretty hard right now. Those around Jesus, even his enemies, couldn't help but notice his unshakable character. No matter what was thrown at him, Jesus stayed on mission. And God wants that same unshakable character to emerge in all of his followers.
• 9:30
  So bottom line, God is much more concerned about building your character for good reasons than he is about just keeping you comfortable. And as much as I hate to say it, any kind of godly growth rarely happens if we just keep taking the easy path up the hill. Gain very rarely happens without a bit of pain. Billy Graham noted, mountaintop experiences are wonderful, but have you ever noticed that nothing grows on top of the mountain?
• 9:59
  Growth takes place in the valleys. And so here in verses two through four, James is opening with a brutally honest but loving insight on Christian character building. He says, folks, don't make the mistake of thinking a blessed life will always be an easy life. Just the opposite. It is through the refining fire of trials that your faith grows strong and your relationship with God grows close.
• 10:28
  In fact, it's in your adversity that you will learn the most about the amazing God you serve. Therefore, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds. It's not meaningless pain. There is an upside to your adversity. This morning, I want us to quickly explore three insights that James gives us.
• 10:52
  into this concept of adversity and character building. First of all, James tells us adversity is inevitable. Adversity is inevitable. Look at verse two. Consider pure joy whenever you face trials. James doesn't say if, but when. Jesus underscores this in John 16, 33, when he tells his disciples, hey guys, make no mistake, in this world, you will have trouble.
• 11:21
  The Greek that James uses here for facing trials is literally translated fall into trials. It carries with it the idea of sudden or unexpected problems that pounce on us out of nowhere, like a pandemic. The word usually means an outward attack that comes at us, but it can talk about those inner temptations that percolate up when we're going through a tough time. Now, James is not saying that we should go looking for trouble to prove our faith.
• 11:50
  But what he is saying is that it's normal and natural for sudden storms to sweep in. So be on your guard and be ready. With even more good news, James goes on to note, we're going to face many kinds of trials. Now, if we're honest, some of our trials, some of our problems, some of our mess in life really is self-made, don't you think? Galatians 6.8 says, we reap what we sow.
• 12:21
  And so if we mishandle our finances, if we neglect our kids, if we don't take our physical health seriously, if we get cozy with some kind of sinful behavior that we're hiding from everybody and we think mistakenly that we're getting away with it, we're not. There will be negative consequences, so don't be surprised when the storm hits. Sometimes the storm...
• 12:48
  is a spiritual attack. It really is Satan or one of his entities seeking to divide or destroy your faith or your marriage or your church. Surprisingly, sometimes God will send a storm for our own good. The Apostle Paul was given some kind of physical or emotional thorn in the flesh, but it helped him to stay humble and dependent on the Lord. I think the most difficult storms for us to process.
• 13:17
  are those that are just a mystery. This side of heaven will never fully understand why we had to go through what we went through. Different kinds of storms, also different intensities to our trouble. You know, some hardship is nothing more than periodic pestering. A deadline at work, the water heater goes out, mask regulations. But other trials we face are catastrophic. The COVID death of a friend, a divorce.
• 13:48
  A devastating doctor's report. I'm guessing many of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you may be in the middle of a trial like that right now. You're on a rock wall and you know you've got a tough climb in front of you. James says, excuse me, adversity is inevitable. So don't be surprised and don't think you've always done something wrong when it hits your life.
• 14:20
  God limits it, but he also allows it so that we can be built up as his people. So then the question follows, how are we supposed to respond when trouble hits our lives? Let's look at a second observation. When it comes to successfully handling adversity, James says, attitude is everything. Attitude is everything. He writes, consider it pure joy when you face trials in many kinds.
• 14:46
  How can he say that though? Is he out of touch with reality? Joy doesn't go with trials. Misery goes with trials. I mean, doesn't it play out like this? Trouble hits and the self-talk starts. Oh great, here we go again. More rain on my parade. I try to live a good life and this is the thanks I get. And inside we may start to shake our fist at God. Why are you doing this to me? We see adversity as the enemy.
• 15:14
  And it's not long before bitterness and anger and self-pity take root and infect our soul. And that's what happens when we follow our human inclinations towards trouble. But you see, here in our passage, James is pointing us to a better way. It's not that he's so much out of touch with his reality. He's in touch with his new reality, his new identity now as a child of God.
• 15:45
  Consider it pure joy when you face trials. And I don't think joy here is a giddy, silly kind of joy. As much as it is, and I've got this kind of joy. The joy you have when you start to tackle a 14er or run a marathon or start a big project around the house. Yes, there's going to be struggles up ahead. But at the end of the day, I'm going to rise victorious. I've got this.
• 16:09
  James says believers make up your mind right from the get-go to see adversity as an opportunity to partner with God and accomplish something incredible together. It plays out like this. Trouble hits. The self-talk starts. There's the initial grumbling because we are human and we just like to grumble. But then the Holy Spirit interrupts. Here we go, believer. It's game time.
• 16:36
  Don't just do this on your own. Rely on your kingdom resources. Let's attack that challenge in front of you. Resist that temptation. Why do you keep caving? You've got the power of God in your life right now. The Bible promises if you resist the devil, he'll run away. So do it. When you're out there on your own and you don't know where you're headed, you're lost, don't collapse in a pool of hopelessness. You're not alone.
• 17:06
  God's with you. Rely on him. Trust the Lord to lead you through. Hold fast to the promises you learned in the light. God's promises still work when it's dark. Keep on loving the people that are attacking you. It will do you no good to sink to their level. Keep praying for them. Invite God into the situation. Pray for wisdom when you don't have the answers. Don't panic. Say, Lord, I need your help.
• 17:35
  I need your wisdom on this. Today, you're going to move forward to move into more becoming like Jesus. You see, when you choose to make adversity your ally, when you see it as an opportunity to partner with God for growth, I think you're going to discover several benefits of you. Okay, here's a trial. What can I learn from it?
• 18:04
  First of all, trials help you diagnose the true condition of your faith. Trials will help you diagnose the true condition of your faith. A friend of mine was telling me about a crane company in Venice, Italy. He was a construction guy and they've invented this portable crane that just...
• 18:21
  It can plop down on the back of a truck, but it can lift like 20 tons off the ground. It's a scientific marvel. And the way they developed it was the engineers used a special computer program where they would input any kind of material for the crane arm into the program. And the program would tell them how much pressure that material could take before it snapped.
• 18:42
  After many tests, they finally came up with a material that was lightweight, but also could absorb an incredible amount of tension, and this scientific marvel was born. You see, trials will have that same kind of diagnostic effect on your faith if you pay attention to them. In fact, the word James uses for trial here means to prove the quality of worth of someone or something. Trials will show us quickly.
• 19:10
  where we've matured and where we're having trouble, where we've trusted in God and where we're prone to snap, where we're prone to still try through our own strength and where we can really rely on God. Trials show us where we're quick to pray and quick to panic. And we can observe that. We can think through what happened there. I mean, think through these last couple of years. Are there any areas in your life where you'd kind of like a do-over or a mulligan?
• 19:39
  You know, in your life or in this church, were there any places where you got way too consumed with earthly things instead of seeking first God's kingdom, setting your heart and your mind on things above? Lord, how do you want us to live best as your representative in this mixed up and broken society? When the pressure was applied, were there any divisive cracks that appeared?
• 20:08
  You wouldn't believe how many churches just started fragmenting, falling apart over silly little things. I mean, it was unbelievable. People that had been in fellowship for 30 years are now just fracturing off and leaving each other. Any pressures push you away from God instead of pushing you closer to him.
• 20:31
  Any places where you needed to rely more on your spiritual resources? We worried a lot about that, but we didn't really pray very much. We can learn a lot about our faith growth points just by simply observing, how did I respond when trouble hit? Did I stand strong or did I crumble? Are there places where I need to grow, where I need to come back to the Lord and say, Lord, strengthen me in this area to rely more on you?
• 20:59
  Well, another benefit is that God uses hardship to stimulate needed change. Like a parent eagle who will stir the nest to encourage their eaglets to stretch their wings and soar. Like parents who will stir the nest to encourage their 40-year-old son in the basement to stretch his wings and soar. God will sometimes use hard times to propel us towards change and new frontiers.
• 21:29
  And I'm so proud of you and all of our Converge Rocky Mountain churches and how fast you pivoted when COVID hit. I thought this is going to be trouble. But within a couple of weeks, everybody was just humming with the new normal that they were under. Online services, online giving, a new awareness of the senior citizens in town and the needs that they had. How do we care for people and our neighbors and our first responders and all that kind of stuff. We had a renewed emphasis on prayer. We missed community, didn't we?
• 21:59
  this life and community, we realize, wow, that is a big part of who we are. Healthy changes that without a crisis, it may have taken years to implement those changes. But because God brought purpose to our crisis, hundreds of people accepted Christ through the new methods that we were forced to adopt. We literally had people on the other side of the globe accepting Jesus through a service they watched online that was happening here in the Rocky Mountain West.
• 22:29
  Just so exciting how God uses technology to further his kingdom. And maybe it's going to be a personal crisis that's going to move you to finally seek the marriage counseling that you need. You know you need it. Or maybe to get your financial house in order. I've put it off too long. Or maybe to take care of your physical health. Maybe a crisis will move you to finally enter into a faith relationship with Jesus.
• 22:58
  You've been waiting too long. You weren't designed to live on this earth all by yourself. You were designed to live in a relationship with a God who loves you and wants the best for you, which is really a third benefit of making adversity your ally. As you navigate your trials with your Heavenly Father, you will build a deeper understanding of your awesome God and the tremendous resource He is in your life.
• 23:27
  I have a picture I cherish of my daughter, Rebecca. She was six months old. And this picture catches her at the perfect moment. She's lofted high above my head. And if you look on her face, she's as calm as can be. She's just sitting up there, you know? And yeah, I know she doesn't have a helmet on and there's no seatbelts in the picture and all that stuff. And don't hate me. I do have a point. You see, Rebecca remained calm.
• 23:59
  In the air, because she'd been tossed in the air many, many, many times. And she had learned there's nothing to worry about because my daddy is faithful. He's always going to catch me. I may be by myself for a second, but his arms will soon be around me. The same thing happens in our spiritual lives. You know, in good times, we know about God.
• 24:27
  We celebrate him. He's there to provide and protect. But we hardly really notice, right? But then life tosses us in the air. I've lost my job. I don't know what I'm going to do. And we're flailing and we're panicking. And all of a sudden, God catches us. He's there. And he has another job ready to go. He had a plan. Oh, I'm going to be okay. All right. And just when we start to settle in, he...
• 24:56
  We get tossed in the air again by the world, and our son is acting out, or I don't know what's going to happen, and God catches us again. And he guides us through, and then life tosses us in the air again. What's going to happen? I don't have any money, and God catches us again. And you see, pretty soon, we actually start to believe that our God is faithful, that his promises are trustworthy.
• 25:24
  And you know what happens when we really believe that our God is enough for us in good times and bad? There is a calm that will flow over our lives no matter what difficulty we're going through. We know we're going to be okay because our daddy's arms are around us.
• 25:47
  And he'll never leave us. I talked with a dad a couple months ago, and he shared with me, my son died in a car accident last summer, and it killed me. But the darker my world got, the more I was able to tangibly feel God's presence surrounding me. It was the most incredible thing I have ever felt. God does allow storms to sweep over our lives, but never more than we can handle with him.
• 26:16
  Isaiah 43, God says, do not fear, believer. I've called you by name and you are mine. Therefore, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord, your God. You are precious in my sight and I love you. Powerful words from our spiritual daddy.
• 26:47
  2 Corinthians 12.8, Paul writes, three times I pleaded with the Lord to take my thorn in the flesh away from me. But the Lord said, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. No matter how hard it is, I'm enough for you. For my power is made perfect, made complete in your weakness.
• 27:08
  Therefore, says Paul, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties, why I find joy in trials. For when I am weak, then, then I'm strong.
• 27:34
  Paul says, when I'm put in a situation that forces me to come to the end of myself, when I finally give up and give my struggle to the Lord, that's when I feel the amazing strength of Almighty God coursing through my life and carrying me through my struggle. I mean, if you feel like you're battling alone this morning, you are not alone.
• 27:57
  Your awesome God is waiting to help you. Give your battle to him and he will guide you through. In your aloneness, you will struggle. You're alone, but you're not alone. Give your struggle and fight God into it. Don't let your difficulties infect you with bitterness. See them as an opportunity. They are tools God is using to transform you into his masterpiece.
• 28:25
  Which brings us to the third insight that James gives us. A little bit of pain now will bring lasting gain forever. Inviting God to meet you in your trials will make you a different person, a better person, now and forever. Look at verses 3 and 4.
• 28:41
  Approach trials with a sense of joy because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Perseverance is defined as a determination that never wavers as it moves toward a goal, an inner constancy that is carried along by a greater hope.
• 29:09
  A few years ago, I had both my knees replaced, and breaking the scar tissue was very painful. But I pushed through the pain, driven by the greater hope that I would eventually restore full flexibility to my knees and enjoy a higher quality of life, which is exactly what happened, which is why I'm an incredible dancer today. How fast do they laugh? They laugh that fast last service, too. Why are they laughing? Yeah, you have every right to laugh. Yes.
• 29:41
  Jesus endured the cross. Why? Because of the hope set before him.
• 29:47
  of spending eternity with you and me. His pain was creating the only legitimate way for us to be reconciled and reunited with our Heavenly Father. And the hope that carries a believer through is that our trials do have purpose. They're molding us into the image of Christ and someday we're going to see him face to face and we're going to be like him.
• 30:12
  Our Christ-like character will be complete and fully formed. And you see, in the meantime, God continues to mature us up so that we can stand strong and accomplish the mission he has for us today. He needs a church filled with people with unshakable character to shine bright as a beacon of hope in this dark world that we live in.
• 30:35
  As Paul says in 2 Timothy 2.21, we are becoming instruments for special purposes, God's purposes, made holy, useful to the master, and prepared to do any good work he has for us in our world. Max Lucado writes, ah, to be your instrument, O God, like you used Paul to the Gentiles, like Philip to the eunuch, like Jesus to the world, to be your instrument, to be like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon.
• 31:05
  healing and mending, to be like a plow in the weathered hands of a farmer, sowing and tending, to be like a scythe in the sweeping hands of a reaper, gathering and using, to be an instrument for noble purposes, to be honed and tuned in sync with your will, sensitive to your touch.
• 31:26
  This, my God, is my prayer. Draw me from your fire. Form me on your anvil. Shape me with your hands. And let me be your tool used for noble purposes. The last couple of years have been tough. I think they're going to stay tough. But I think you're a better, stronger, more innovative church because of it. And you may find yourself on a sheer rock wall this morning.
• 31:53
  You're tired, you're scared, you're confused. You may be tempted to lash out at God and push him away. But don't. Let your adversity push you closer to him. Your awesome God is bringing value to every struggle you face. He's using them to shape you into the image of his son. And he's going to use your life. He's going to use this church in incredible ways.
• 32:24
  to bring light and life to a dark and dying world. There is an upside to all this adversity. Let's pray. And maybe this morning you are on a sheer rock wall. Honestly, you're kind of bitter. You're wondering why you have to go through all of this. But can you see God in all of your darkness and despair? Can you see his arms around you? Can you feel his presence? He's with you. And he's going to carry you through. He's going to give you hope.
• 33:05
  and strength and inspiration. He will guide you through. Don't go through it alone. He's there for you. And as a church, I pray that you will just adopt an attitude whenever you face a money problem or something goes wrong or you've got a struggle in front of you, that you'll just start to say with God, we've got this. We can handle this. No need to worry. No need to panic. Our God is with us.
• 33:37
  Jesus is the head of this flock and he's going to carry us through. So let's wait with anticipation for all that God is going to do. Father, I thank you for Highland. I thank you for the lives that they've changed and will continue to change as they are a beacon on the hill, holding out hope for those that need a savior, for those that need to grow in their faith, for families that are broken, that need to be restored, for marriages that need a place to come to be strengthened.
• 34:07
  Lord, let this just be a church that's alive and on fire for your kingdom. Thank you, Lord, that everything that hits us in life, you use for our good and your glory. We pray all these things in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.