Well, anyway, my name is Gregg Hampton. I'm one
of the pastors here. If we've never met, I would
love the chance to meet you, maybe buy a coffee,
something like that. At the end of the service,
there'll be a connection card. There's a QR code
for it on most of your tables. You can follow
that and just say your first time guest here
at the house or put in the notes that you would
love to get together. And I'll make sure that
we get that going. We are in the first week of
a summer series that we're just calling James,
because if you're at all familiar with the Bible,
there happens. to be a book in the Bible called
James. And so we're going to spend the summer
going through the different sections of that
book. We're not going like verse by verse, you
know, like verse 3, 4, 5, 6, but we're going
to go in chunks. And so I'm really looking forward
to this. We have a few different people that
are going to be preaching, and I'm looking forward
to hearing what they have to say about the book
of James. Earlier this year, we did a series
called Wisdom Lit. We did a series called Wisdom
Lit because it was about all the different parts.
parts of the Bible that are considered the wisdom
books. And James often gets kind of put into
the edge of that category because James talks
about wisdom a number of times. And most of the
stuff that he talks about would fall into the
category of needing wisdom. But James isn't technically
wisdom literature. James is a pastoral letter.
It's written with the heart and approach. of
a pastor to people that are trying to follow
Jesus. And if we're going to talk about following
Jesus, we're going to end up talking about wisdom.
Now, if you went to Bible college or if you grew
up in like a super Bible Sunday school heavy
church, or if you even some of us have been to
seminary, you will be familiar with the phrase
systematic theology. Systematic theology is like
the schematic for something. It's like the technical
drawing for your phone. None of us actually know
how our phone works, but we know that it works,
right? None of us knows how it's actually put
together, but there is a schematic somewhere.
You can probably find it online with the exact
measurements, with the precise placement of the
battery and the memory. The exact layout of how
one thing connects to every other part. You can
find an intricate illustration of the inner workings
of your device. That is what systematic theology
is like. And some people nerd out about systematic
theology. That is not the book of James. The
book of James is more like what we would call
practical theology. James is more like the first
page of the manual. It's the only page that any
of us reads, right? The quick startup guide.
We go, yeah, I'll just figure it out as I go.
We open the first page. It says, push this button
to turn it on. These are the first instructions.
Step one, turn on the device. Step two, use the
device. Step three, don't throw this device in
fire. James is that direct. He is that. To the
point, he's not trying to parse the finer details
of theology. He's trying to get us to be like
Jesus, to act like Jesus. So let's open up our
Bibles to the book of James. If you have a physical
copy in Flip, it goes James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter,
1, 2, 3 John, and you're going to be towards
the back. If you have a digital app, just click
on the little menu and scroll down until you
see James. If you don't have a Bible of your
own, you can take one of those blue Bibles home
or grab one from the bookshelf out in the lobby.
We're going to start in James chapter 1. And
we have a tradition of giving the scriptures
our full attention when they're read in the context
of a sermon. You can do that any number of ways,
but one of the ways you can do that is by standing
with me as I read and as you are able. It goes
like this, James 1. James, a servant of God and
the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in
the dispersion, greetings. My brothers and sisters,
whenever you face various trials, consider it
all joy, because you know that the testing of
your faith produces endurance. And let endurance
complete its work, so that you may be complete
and whole, lacking in nothing. If any of you
is lacking in wisdom, ask God. who gives to all
generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given
to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for
the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind. For the doubter,
being double -minded and unstable in every way,
must not expect to receive anything from the
Lord. But let the brother or sister of humble
means boast in having a high position, and the
rich in having been humbled. Because the rich
will disappear like a flower in the field. For
the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers
the field. Its flowers fall and its beauty perishes.
It is the same way with the rich. In the midst
of a busy life, they wither away. Let us pray.
God of every tribe, every tongue, every color,
and every nation, we thank you for the scriptures.
We thank you that we have them. to consider,
to read, to learn from. I pray that whatever
you have for us to learn today, I pray that it
would stick, that it would become a part of the
framework of our faith, that our faith would
become stronger as we become more like your son,
Jesus. Amen. You can have a seat. All right,
so James doesn't waste any time getting straight
to the point. He spends one verse on a greeting,
and then he spends ten verses hitting three major
things pretty hard. He talks about trials, he
talks about wisdom, and he talks about wealth.
He doesn't mince words. You notice that a lot
throughout the book of James, that James does
not mince words. He says exactly what he means,
and he means exactly. What he says, because he
never wants the reader to walk away wondering
what he really meant. Because James knows what
they are walking into. The people that would
have first read this book, they lived in a world
that was changing rapidly. And it wasn't getting
more friendly to people that called themselves
Christians. That did eventually happen. Under
the Emperor Constantine, Christianity became
the official religion of the empire, and it became
a much friendlier environment. But that is not
what is happening for the people that are first
reading this book. The Jewish Christians that
James is writing to, they're scattered. They're
far from their preferred home. The Christians
that are reading this after or around the year
70, have just experienced the temple in Jerusalem
being leveled, the temple being destroyed. And
most Jews had been expelled from the holy city
of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. The people
that were first reading this were experiencing
real trials every day. And they were trying to
follow a Jesus that at that point they had never
seen with their own two eyes. They were living
on faith. And as it turns out, faith comes with
challenges. Listen, and especially to the young
people in the room, I want you to hear me say
this. If someone tells you that all your problems
are going to go away because you're a Christian,
they're lying. James says that they're wrong.
If someone tells you that if you follow Jesus,
all your problems are going to go away, they're
selling you a gospel that's going to spoil every
time something bad happens. Instead, James says,
consider it all joy when you face trials of every
kind, because the testing of your faith produces
what? Endurance. Paul writes about this as well.
He says, suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance.
produces character, and character produces hope.
Bible writers aren't confused about what life
is really like. And so they give us a framework
for how we're supposed to process it. We can
either frame our trials with woe and despair,
or we can let joy be our imagination. For the
future. Because joy is future facing. Joy assumes
that what I feel today, what I experience now,
will be useful later. And so I shouldn't give
up. Now that doesn't mean that we should want
bad things to happen. And that doesn't mean that
we shouldn't object to the injustices that we
see or that we experience. And it doesn't mean
that God made that trial happen to you. Bad things
happen. It's the nature of the world that we
live in. But we can have the mindset that trials
aren't... Does anybody remember when Apple came
out with their foldable phone? Anybody? Anybody
remembers? Apple came out with their foldable
phone. Yeah, it was called the iPhone 6 Plus.
You guys don't remember BendGate? Come on. 2014.
The iPhone 6 Plus comes out. Some of us remember
because we owned this phone. And if you put this
phone in your back pocket and sat down, it would
bend. It was not supposed to. The iPhone 6 Plus
was 7 .2 times more likely to bend than the iPhone
5 that had come before it. Apple messed up in
every Buddy noticed, except for apparently you
guys who 10 years ago... But here's the thing.
Every phone company noticed, and they started
making a big deal about how their phones didn't
bend when they weren't supposed to. Every phone
company, every device -making company started
talking about the tests that they had put their
phones through to see if it would bend. If you
follow tech people on YouTube... Every new phone
that would come out, they would do the bend test.
Does anybody remember this? They would do the
bend test to make sure that it wouldn't bend
like the iPhone 6 Plus. See, they didn't just
notice the mistake. They learned from it. From
that point on, you're not going to buy a phone
that bends anymore. Because they learned the
lesson. Now the only phones that bend are the
ones that are supposed to. Some trials are going
to bend us. It's just the nature of life. But
the experience is supposed to increase our endurance,
not break us. The stress is supposed to teach
us how to endure the next thing that might come.
And if we let joy be the framework for how we
experience the trials that we are going through
right now, we will be more ready and prepared
for what comes next. So then James turns our
attention to wisdom. And he keeps it simple.
He says, if you lack it, what? Ask for it. It's
as simple as that. If you lack it, if you lack
wisdom, if you want wisdom, just ask. Some of
us... Struggle to ask for what we really need.
We're afraid that if we ask, we'll just be told
no anyway. Maybe life has conditioned us that
even if we ask for what we really need, we're
not going to get it anyway. But James says if
you need wisdom, ask and mean it. It reminds
me of what Jesus was teaching his disciples.
In Matthew 7, verse 7, he says, keep on asking.
And you will receive what you ask for. Keep on
knocking and the door will be open. Keep on seeking
and you will find. They're both saying the same
thing. Don't go halfway. Don't stop halfway.
Don't ask for wisdom if it's not what you really
want. And don't stop asking God for what you
think you really need. Make up your mind and
then follow. And if you're already looking at
what you're going through through the lens of
joy, you will be that much more prepared or encouraged
to know that you can follow through. As I mentioned
earlier, we've already gone through a series
on wisdom literature in the Bible this year because...
I felt this conviction that we needed to talk
about wisdom a lot this year. I don't know if
it's just because of what's happening in the
world or if it's just because there are things
that are happening in our lives, but I just felt
like we need to be talking about wisdom as a
church, as individuals. We need wisdom in our
families. We need wisdom at our jobs. We need
wisdom in our neighborhoods, in every single
area of our lives. We need wisdom. What we know
is this, is that wisdom can develop over time.
Wisdom can be like a bank of knowledge and information
that builds up, and then you learn how to use
that wisdom over the course of time. But I also
think that wisdom can be like a tankless water
heater. Does anybody have a tankless water heater
at home? Anybody? I know one person that wants
one. Jen would like to have a tankless water
heater at home. The first time I ever saw tankless
water heaters was in India, when I went to India
some years back. Every bathroom that I went to
had this little, like, green egg -shaped thing
that was fastened to the wall, and at first I
had no idea what it was, but then I figured out,
oh, okay, every time I turn on the hot water,
I hear it do something. Other parts of the country
use these a lot more, because you don't need
to have a hot water heater that has 20, 40, 50
gallons of water just always staying hot. when
you can put a tankless water heater in each room
that needs water, in your bathroom, in your kitchen,
and then when you turn on that hot water, it
creates that hot water for you in the moment
that you need it. In Mark 13, Jesus said that
when you get arrested and go on trial, don't
worry in advance about what to say. Just say
what God tells you at the time. For it is not
you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has wisdom available in the moment
when we need it. Even if you don't feel like
you have a tank full of wisdom, if you ask when
you need it, God will give you the wisdom for
that moment. In that moment, A wisdom can also,
again, help us turn backwards and look at the
trials that we're going through with a sense
of joy. All right. So five or six verses, he's
talked about trials. He's turned us into wisdom.
And then James hits our favorite subject in the
first ten verses, and he talks about money. He
hits the subject of wealth inequality, actually.
We're not completely sure. which James wrote
the book of James. That's the truth. We're not
sure. But tradition tells us that it was written
by the half -brother of Jesus. That half -brother
of Jesus was not someone that was one of the
12 disciples. He was not someone that we know
or... as someone that was following Jesus closely
as Jesus was doing his ministry. And yet somehow
that is the James who ends up being the head
of the church in Jerusalem. When you read through
the book of Acts and you see Paul and Barnabas
coming and asking the Jerusalem council what
they should do, this James, tradition tells us,
is the one that is leading the church there.
One thing I love about that concept, that idea,
is that as I read the book of James, I can see
how everything that he is saying, I can pull
directly from something that Jesus already taught.
Jesus talked plenty about trials. He said, I
have told you these things for you will have
troubles in this world, but take heart for I
have overcome. He's the one that said, don't
worry about what to say, for the Holy Spirit
will tell you what to say in the moment. Jesus
had a lot to say about wealth inequality as well.
James takes after Jesus when he's saying this,
because Jesus said, you can't love God and money.
Jesus said, don't worry about your food or your
clothes. Not even Solomon was clothed as well
as the flowers in the field. He said, if that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which
is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire, will he not much more clothe you? Jesus
said, do not invite the rich when you have a
banquet, but invite the poor and the humble.
Jesus said, the last will be first and the first
will be last. Jesus said, it's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus
said, blessed are the meek. Jesus said, the poor
will inherit the earth. Jesus said, the rich
will be humbled. James is trying to get us to
ask ourselves, as we're looking at the trials
that we experience in life, when we're looking
at the concept of wisdom, Why does it seem like
we all still want to be wealthy? Why does it
seem like if we were really honest, none of us,
probably not, I shouldn't say none of us, most
of us are still unsatisfied with what we have.
Jesus and James both confront right here at the
top of this letter that wealth is not what we
should be looking for. The truth is, the wealthier
that we are, and hear this, the wealthier that
we are, the more that God will expect of us with
what has been given to us. The wealthier that
we are, the more God will expect of us in how
we use that wealth. So James says, if you have
less, be grateful. Because if you have more,
as Kendrick Lamar says, sit down, be humble.
Because every flower fades. And every earthly
beauty is fleeting. Some of us don't realize
that we would trade the trials and challenges
we have now for the trials and troubles we would
experience if we were as wealthy as we wanted
to be. I don't know. Is it awkward to say that?
God's completely okay with all of us being just
average financially? Is it okay to say that?
Is that uncomfortable for anybody in the room?
I don't know. Trials, wisdom, wealth, ten verses.
So what do we do with any of this? How do we
practice this or participate with these scriptures?
And here at the end, I actually just want us
to take a minute. I want us to take a minute
and reflect and ask which one of these three
things God is wanting us to have special attention
for this week. To actually legitimately decide
today that I'm going to pay attention to this
idea this week. To think about how you view the
trials that you experience. To think about...
the wisdom that you may need, or to think about
your relationship to money. I don't think that
it's my place to tell you which one of those
things is your issue or which one of those things
that you specifically need to think about. But
I do think that even in this moment that the
Holy Spirit is already moving in your heart,
making you go, yeah, I need to think about that.
So let's actually just take a moment of silence,
listen to the Holy Spirit, and in this moment
decide, this week I'm going to give special attention
to how I think about my trials, to how I seek
wisdom, or how I have a relationship to my finances.
I know mine. And I think he'd be okay with me
telling the story of it. My dad became a Christian
when he was 50 years old, which means that I
was 20. And I was in college at the time. And
my dad realized that the amount of grants that
I might be eligible was directly related to the
amount of money that our family made. And my
dad had reached enough years with John Deere
that he could retire. And he thought, okay, I'm
going to retire for a number of reasons. One,
because it might help Greg out. But I remember
talking to him about it. But he also said specifically
that becoming a Christian caused him to notice
that really he was working harder so he could
have more money so that he could spend more money.
And he knew. that the truth was that he could
live on retirement if he was just wise with how
he used the money that God was giving him. And
I know that I have the same issue. That I go,
anytime we get an extra $100 here, a few hundred
dollars there, magically it always seems like
it's still just about enough. But anytime we've
had less, we've still always been okay. And I
know that God wants me to pay more attention
to the pennies instead of thinking about the
big things. Does that make sense? So whatever
the Lord put on your heart, whether it's how
you view your trials, how you seek wisdom, or
your relationship with money, let's make the
commitment today that you're going to give attention
to that this week and let God work with you in
how that develops. Amen? Let's pray. Father,
we thank you for the scriptures. We thank you
for the book of James. And we thank you that
we get to come and we get to hear different voices
talk about something that was written almost
2 ,000 years ago that still has so much to tell
us today. Pray that our hearts would be humble,
that we would be open to what you teach us, and
that we would act, that we would be practical
in the way that we follow you. In the name of
Jesus, we pray. Amen.