(Read James 5:1-6)
At times I am overwhelmed with how much life costs. I want to host students and friends in my home, but it costs money to buy groceries. I know I’m called to share the Gospel with students in the Triad, but it costs money to put gas in my car so I can get to all the different campuses. I really enjoy buying gifts for people, especially when I see something that just really makes me think of someone in particular. But those gifts cost money. And then there are things that I “have” to have – water, shelter, clothing.
Many aspects of the Christian life are all about living in the midst of a dichotomy. That’s the whole essence of living in this world, but not belonging to this world. As an American Christian, our wealth (or perceived lack thereof) is an additional dichotomy in which we must live. I look at what others have – maybe it’s a certain car or house, or the newest tech gadget – and I feel poor. I feel like I’ve given up wealth in answering the Lord’s call to be a missionary (or a teacher in many of your cases). And then I feel a bit prideful – proud that I’m willing to give things up to follow the Lord.
However, the flip side of this dichotomy comes when I’m exposed to the billions of people in the world who live with much less than I do. I’ve been to areas of the third world where people have 2 outfits only. They wash the one they’re not wearing by hand and wear these outfits for many days in a row. I’ve seen people who don’t have a car or a house, and have never thought about any tech gadgets. Yet, often these very people are the most satisfied in their circumstances and life. Do they worry about money? I can’t say that for sure, but there is something about a lack of money that causes one to be more content with the things in life that will last beyond the moment.
James confronts the rich in these verses. And my gut reaction is to think that doesn’t apply to me. I’m not rich. Or am I?
He confronts businessmen and wealthy landowners. Maybe we can’t identify exactly with these roles, but we can identify with the behaviors of each that he calls out for judgment. James confronts the accumulation of materialistic wealth that he sees going on. He talks about how the wages of those who work the land are being withheld. And James calls out the self-indulgent actions of those to whom he’s writing – saving up gold and silver. James even opens this section by talking about the “miseries” that will come upon the wealthy who place their faith in their wealth.
And I think that is what it all boils down to – where are we placing our faith? In the light of the American dream, I am not rich. However, my wealth must come from knowing Christ and recognizing the riches of things that eternal – His Word and people’s souls.
Questions
In v.4, James mentions the “cries of the harvesters” who haven’t received their dues. Who have you cheated in order to fund your lifestyle?
Why do we tend to love money, regardless of how much, or little, we have?
One interpretation of “righteous person” in v.6 is those who are one of God’s forgiven people (i.e. believers). This train of thought led me to the focus on where we are placing our faith. Would you agree with this take on a “righteous person”? If not, what is your understanding of this verse?
Written by Michelle
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
I was probably seven or eight. I was singing with a children’s choir that met on Sunday evenings. The church’s adult choir met after the kids were done rehearsing. They needed some of the kids to turn pages for the instrumentalists accompanying the grown-up choir. I assured the choir directors that I had my parents’ permission and took my place beside the guitarist, ready to turn pages for him. That’s when my dad showed up. My dad would eventually become a beloved member of this adult choir, but on that night, they only knew him as Joy’s dad. I was there without his permission and he was not a happy man.
You see, turning pages and staying out past bedtime, that was my plan. My father’s plan was not the same. Twenty-some years later, I remember that night pretty clearly: his disappointment, my shame, the realization that I could not do what I wanted without consulting my parents.
Years spent in church and in Bible studies have taught us that we can’t be spiritual eight-year-olds. We cannot make our plans and then inform God. “Lord, I am going to be a missionary”, or “Lord, I am going to be a successful writer.” We get this, so James must be talking to other Christians in chapter 4, verses 13 through 17.
Not so fast.
James has been talking about humility, and these verses continue the discourse. Here, James is confronting the attitude his readers had about time. His readers owned their time. They were deciding where and how to spend it. They chose what important tasks would “make the cut” and which things they were simply too busy to do. Sound familiar yet? When we fill our days from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM, we are being arrogant. When we squeeze in one more commitment, we make ourselves more important than we are. We believe the committee meeting can’t go on without us. The wedding shower won’t be as much fun if we don’t plan it. No one will tutor this child if we don’t. “Who do you think you are?” James interrupts, “You are a mist.”
The Bible frequently points out that man’s life is nothing without God (see Psalm 90). Instead of treating our days like they are ours to fill and spend, James tells us to humbly submit our time to God. Without Him holding us up, we blow away. He is our support and our substance. He gives us our days. It is pretty common in Christian circles to hear each day spoken of as a gift. “Thank you, Lord, for this day…” But I have to wonder if I would wake up with a groan if I really believed the day was a gift. Would I stand in the shower reciting my to-do list?
James wanted his readers to recognize God’s provision of their days, so that they would move from self-sufficiency to God-dependency. It is not enough for us to recognize our dependence on God’s will. James would also have his readers actively doing God’s will. This is the thrust of verse 17. You know you need God, you know what He wants, now go do it.
1. Can you think of a me where your “to do” list, and “the good you ought to do”
clearlydidn’tline up? Which one won the battle for your time?
2. How can you leave your heart open to God’s will for your life in regards to your time?
3. How does the reality that you are a mist change your way of thinking about your “to do” list?
You see, turning pages and staying out past bedtime, that was my plan. My father’s plan was not the same. Twenty-some years later, I remember that night pretty clearly: his disappointment, my shame, the realization that I could not do what I wanted without consulting my parents.
Years spent in church and in Bible studies have taught us that we can’t be spiritual eight-year-olds. We cannot make our plans and then inform God. “Lord, I am going to be a missionary”, or “Lord, I am going to be a successful writer.” We get this, so James must be talking to other Christians in chapter 4, verses 13 through 17.
Not so fast.
James has been talking about humility, and these verses continue the discourse. Here, James is confronting the attitude his readers had about time. His readers owned their time. They were deciding where and how to spend it. They chose what important tasks would “make the cut” and which things they were simply too busy to do. Sound familiar yet? When we fill our days from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM, we are being arrogant. When we squeeze in one more commitment, we make ourselves more important than we are. We believe the committee meeting can’t go on without us. The wedding shower won’t be as much fun if we don’t plan it. No one will tutor this child if we don’t. “Who do you think you are?” James interrupts, “You are a mist.”
The Bible frequently points out that man’s life is nothing without God (see Psalm 90). Instead of treating our days like they are ours to fill and spend, James tells us to humbly submit our time to God. Without Him holding us up, we blow away. He is our support and our substance. He gives us our days. It is pretty common in Christian circles to hear each day spoken of as a gift. “Thank you, Lord, for this day…” But I have to wonder if I would wake up with a groan if I really believed the day was a gift. Would I stand in the shower reciting my to-do list?
James wanted his readers to recognize God’s provision of their days, so that they would move from self-sufficiency to God-dependency. It is not enough for us to recognize our dependence on God’s will. James would also have his readers actively doing God’s will. This is the thrust of verse 17. You know you need God, you know what He wants, now go do it.
1. Can you think of a me where your “to do” list, and “the good you ought to do”
clearlydidn’tline up? Which one won the battle for your time?
2. How can you leave your heart open to God’s will for your life in regards to your time?
3. How does the reality that you are a mist change your way of thinking about your “to do” list?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Week 9--Humbling Ourselves
Read James 4:4-12
Naboth had a vineyard. It was right next to King Ahab’s palace. One day King Ahab decided that he wanted a vegetable garden, and he didn’t have a good place for it, so he told Naboth that he would give him a really good price for his vineyard. God had told Naboth not to sell his vineyard to Ahab because Ahab was an evil king so he refused to sell it.
We know the rest of the story right? (Read 1 Kings 21 for a refresher). Ahab goes home and pouts about the vineyard until his wife Jezebel promises to get it for him. Jezebel sets up Naboth for a crime he didn’t commit and has him killed, then she goes back to Ahab and tells him to get out his garden hoe and start his precious garden. When Ahab is out looking over his new garden, Elijah shows up and tells him that God is going to have him and his family killed because of his actions.
And then, King Ahab, the one that Kings describes as the most evil man ever, humbled himself in the sight of the Lord. He turned his laughter to mourning and his joy to gloom and God saw and He changed his mind.
What we see in Ahab’s story and in our own lives, is that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17). God responded to Ahab’s humility and spared him death-by-dogs, but He did carry out this punishment on the rest of Ahab’s family. We are spared punishment because of Jesus’ sacrifice, and all that is required of us is a turning. If we turn toward Him, He will come to us. If we humble ourselves, He will lift us out of our gloom and mourning.
James’s audience would recognize the language of verses 7-10 as a description of coming to the temple to offer a sacrifice. Coming near to God would be, literally, coming to the temple. There would be actual rites of hand-washing and purification required before fellowship with God could be restored.
When I compare what was required of a faithful servant of Yahweh in the Old Testament with what is required of believers on this side of the cross, I am humbled. Jesus truly did the work for us, all that is left for you and me to do is believe—and even our ability to do that is a gift from God! I would like to think that being part of this amazing fellowship with God and recognizing that none of it rests on me would cloak me in humility. I should be able to relate to others as one who has received much and who has been forgiven much. But I don’t.
Instead, I leave my posture of humility and go sit in judgment over others. James’s readers were guilty of the same thing. Instead of recognizing our lowly places beneath the true Judge, we set ourselves above the law and judge others; we say bad things about them and we think less of them.
James wants his readers (and us) to live in fellowship with God and with each other. The only way this radical community can exist is if we live humbly, submitting ourselves to God and to each other.
If God's grace is big enough to move Ahab to humility, I feel like we might have a shot.
1. What other people in the Bible have a story like Ahab’s, an account where their humility caused God to lift them up?
2. Can you think of any requirements of worshipers in the OT that really stand out? (Think of some of the wild things in Leviticus you’ve read). How does being free from those requirements inform your life as an NT believer?
3. The NIV translates verse 4:11 differently than other versions, using the word “slander.” How is slander different from speaking evil against someone? Why might that one word make a difference when studying this section?
Naboth had a vineyard. It was right next to King Ahab’s palace. One day King Ahab decided that he wanted a vegetable garden, and he didn’t have a good place for it, so he told Naboth that he would give him a really good price for his vineyard. God had told Naboth not to sell his vineyard to Ahab because Ahab was an evil king so he refused to sell it.
We know the rest of the story right? (Read 1 Kings 21 for a refresher). Ahab goes home and pouts about the vineyard until his wife Jezebel promises to get it for him. Jezebel sets up Naboth for a crime he didn’t commit and has him killed, then she goes back to Ahab and tells him to get out his garden hoe and start his precious garden. When Ahab is out looking over his new garden, Elijah shows up and tells him that God is going to have him and his family killed because of his actions.
And then, King Ahab, the one that Kings describes as the most evil man ever, humbled himself in the sight of the Lord. He turned his laughter to mourning and his joy to gloom and God saw and He changed his mind.
What we see in Ahab’s story and in our own lives, is that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17). God responded to Ahab’s humility and spared him death-by-dogs, but He did carry out this punishment on the rest of Ahab’s family. We are spared punishment because of Jesus’ sacrifice, and all that is required of us is a turning. If we turn toward Him, He will come to us. If we humble ourselves, He will lift us out of our gloom and mourning.
James’s audience would recognize the language of verses 7-10 as a description of coming to the temple to offer a sacrifice. Coming near to God would be, literally, coming to the temple. There would be actual rites of hand-washing and purification required before fellowship with God could be restored.
When I compare what was required of a faithful servant of Yahweh in the Old Testament with what is required of believers on this side of the cross, I am humbled. Jesus truly did the work for us, all that is left for you and me to do is believe—and even our ability to do that is a gift from God! I would like to think that being part of this amazing fellowship with God and recognizing that none of it rests on me would cloak me in humility. I should be able to relate to others as one who has received much and who has been forgiven much. But I don’t.
Instead, I leave my posture of humility and go sit in judgment over others. James’s readers were guilty of the same thing. Instead of recognizing our lowly places beneath the true Judge, we set ourselves above the law and judge others; we say bad things about them and we think less of them.
James wants his readers (and us) to live in fellowship with God and with each other. The only way this radical community can exist is if we live humbly, submitting ourselves to God and to each other.
If God's grace is big enough to move Ahab to humility, I feel like we might have a shot.
1. What other people in the Bible have a story like Ahab’s, an account where their humility caused God to lift them up?
2. Can you think of any requirements of worshipers in the OT that really stand out? (Think of some of the wild things in Leviticus you’ve read). How does being free from those requirements inform your life as an NT believer?
3. The NIV translates verse 4:11 differently than other versions, using the word “slander.” How is slander different from speaking evil against someone? Why might that one word make a difference when studying this section?
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