September 29, 2012

Live According to Heavenly Wisdom!

18th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/30/12
James 3:13-18


Live According to Heavenly Wisdom!
I. It avoids sinful, earthly strife.
II. It produces peaceful, righteous living.


We know when we’re in the presence of a wise person, but what makes a person wise? How much education do you need to be wise?

If you think about that question for a moment or two, you might quickly conclude that a person’s level of education often has very little to do with how wise they are. A smart person may possess a tremendous amount of knowledge, and yet isn’t necessarily wise. In fact, they may say and do some things that we and others would deem to be utterly foolish. Their level of education didn’t prevent their foolishness.

A wise person may possess far less knowledge, but they know how to put into practice what they do know. Wisdom acts according to what one knows.

In today’s gospel, Jesus spoke to his disciples about greatness in the kingdom of God, the most important kingdom there is. By faith in Jesus we are members of that kingdom. Greatness in that kingdom is found in humbling yourself. That’s the exact opposite of worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom shouts at us to think about ourselves first. If we don’t, we’ll either get left behind everyone else or we’ll get crushed as the rest of the world steps all over us.

But we know that isn’t true. Jesus humbled himself all the way to death on the cross and now he is exalted above everyone and everything else. We know that. Heavenly wisdom puts that knowledge into practice in our daily lives.

That’s what the Apostle James encourages us to do this morning. Live according to heavenly wisdom. Let’s pay attention as he gives some very practical advice on how to do just that.

Part I.

When is the last time you experienced an entire day without any strife? A few of you might be able to answer that question with a specific day. Others of you might answer that you can’t remember one; it’s been so long. And some of you whose lives have been particularly difficult for quite some time will confidently answer that you never have had a day without strife.

With strife being what appears, therefore, to be a significant problem in our lives, let’s analyze where it comes from. What’s the source of the strife that you most often experience? If you’re like me, you will answer that it comes from out there. The source is external. It comes in the form of the people who enter our lives or who are a significant part of our lives. It comes from the unwanted situations that come slamming into our lives on a daily basis. Strife seems to be an unavoidable element of living in this sinful world.

But did you notice that James doesn’t mention a single one of those sources as he speaks about the strife in our lives? Instead, he focuses completely on what’s inside. And what he finds inside us is not attractive at all. Let’s spend a minute studying his list of internal maladies that produce strife in our lives and see if we agree.

He states, “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

He begins his list with bitter envy. At first that might not seem to be a problem for us. But the root meaning of the word for envy indicates a fierce desire to promote your own opinion to the exclusion of others. It results in demanding that we get our way and being miserable if we don’t. And when that happens, even if it’s only rarely, strife results.

Next on James’ list is selfish ambition. Do you see the progression from bitter envy? We’ve moved from what we think or want to what we do. The root meaning of the word indicates the vice of the leader of a group. He or she resorts to anything that will keep them in the lead or advance their position as leader in spite of what’s good for the rest of the people. Again, when that’s our course of action, strife is the inevitable result.

And that’s where James takes us with his list. He speaks about disorder. In a group of people—whether that’s a family or friends or co-workers or a congregation of believers—people will not put up with one person always putting themselves, their ideas and their ambitions ahead of the others. The group quickly breaks apart. The individuals begin secretly or outwardly going their own way to the further detriment of others. It’s not a good situation by any means.

And then the final result occurs—every evil practice. People who are split apart by the sinful ambitions of others first start thinking evil thoughts about others, then are led to speak evil of them, and finally to practice evil against them. We become exactly the kind of person we are despising. We end up playing their wicked game. And there are masses of people who would advise us that playing their wicked game is the right and beneficial thing to do. But here’s what James tells us, “Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.”

Heavenly wisdom is the exact opposite. Live according to heavenly wisdom! It avoids sinful, earthly strife.

As we take these words to heart, I’d like to draw your attention to one particular phrase. James states, “Do not… deny the truth.” What’s he talking about? When the focus of our lives is on ourselves and what we want, instead of on our Lord Jesus and what he says about the way we should feel, talk and act toward others, we’re actually denying the truth. We’re denying the very gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We taking the stance that we will feel and say and do whatever we please. And that denies Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But it’s so easy to do because that’s the way people are acting all around us in this world. It takes spiritual reality checks like this one that James provides to bring us to our knees in repentance for our envious, selfish, and prideful ways. And then receive the comforting good news of our Savior, who has won our forgiveness by humbling himself all the way to Calvary’s cross. There’s heavenly wisdom! Live according to it!

Part II.

Where strife is absent, peace is present. How blessed we are at the end of the day to reflect for a moment on the blessing of a peaceful day. Those days may be rare. But they don’t have to be. You see, when we understand the peace we have with our God because of what Jesus has done for us, then we also have the power to produce peace in our earthly lives.

James speaks about that very subject. He opens our text with the words, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” When we live according to heavenly wisdom, our lives will be characterized by the humility that Jesus displayed. He always placed the needs of others ahead of his own. And when we live like that, the result will be peace.

James says it like this, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” His first description of heavenly wisdom is that we live lives that are pure. Now there’s a rare encouragement in our world today! That means there are no false motives or hidden agendas. It means being completely genuine in our Christian love for others. We want only the best for them.

Next, James highlights being considerate and submissive. The two go hand in hand. They’re the exact opposite of the bitter envy and selfish ambition that James mentioned earlier. Living this way means asking yourself what other people need and making the effort to supply it, all the while placing your own needs under theirs.

James goes even further than that. He encourages us to live a life “full of mercy.” Being merciful means not giving someone the punishment they deserve. Please don’t misunderstand. The Bible forbids us from tolerating sin and becoming enablers. But we can also be merciful when Christian wisdom indicates that mercy is the best course of action to take. Being merciful is the opposite of always demanding that someone pays for what they did.

Lastly, James urges us to be impartial and sincere. That’s not easy. It’s easy to love the loveable. It’s even easier to treat a person well who has the ability to return the favor to us. But Jesus urges us to treat all people the same, with the love that he showed us. Impartial.

That list of encouragements on how to live isn’t long, but you can see what an impact such living will have in our relationships with others. That’s living according to heavenly wisdom and when we do, it produces peaceful, righteous living.

Peaceful, righteous living! If only that would always describe our lives! How do we attain such a thing? By realizing that each day we fail. We bring strife into our lives as we follow our own sinful inclinations. So let’s admit it! Let’s confess it! And then hear the gracious good news that in Jesus we have forgiveness and peace with him. And through the power of the risen Lord Jesus we can produce a peaceful, righteous life as we hold to Jesus in faith and look to his word for guidance and power. There’s no higher, greater wisdom than that! Live according to it! Amen.