WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 Well, anyway, my name is Gregg Hampton. I'm one 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:03.740 of the pastors here. If we've never met, I would 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:06.219 love the chance to meet you, maybe buy a coffee, 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.259 something like that. At the end of the service, 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:10.500 there'll be a connection card. There's a QR code 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:12.619 for it on most of your tables. You can follow 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:15.179 that and just say your first time guest here 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:16.600 at the house or put in the notes that you would 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:18.760 love to get together. And I'll make sure that 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:23.320 we get that going. We are in the first week of 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.800 a summer series that we're just calling James, 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:28.339 because if you're at all familiar with the Bible, 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:31.269 there happens. to be a book in the Bible called 00:00:31.269 --> 00:00:33.890 James. And so we're going to spend the summer 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:36.210 going through the different sections of that 00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:39.350 book. We're not going like verse by verse, you 00:00:39.350 --> 00:00:41.490 know, like verse 3, 4, 5, 6, but we're going 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:44.729 to go in chunks. And so I'm really looking forward 00:00:44.729 --> 00:00:46.490 to this. We have a few different people that 00:00:46.490 --> 00:00:48.350 are going to be preaching, and I'm looking forward 00:00:48.350 --> 00:00:51.070 to hearing what they have to say about the book 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:53.009 of James. Earlier this year, we did a series 00:00:53.009 --> 00:00:55.869 called Wisdom Lit. We did a series called Wisdom 00:00:55.869 --> 00:00:57.450 Lit because it was about all the different parts. 00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:00.479 parts of the Bible that are considered the wisdom 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:05.760 books. And James often gets kind of put into 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.299 the edge of that category because James talks 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.299 about wisdom a number of times. And most of the 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:14.180 stuff that he talks about would fall into the 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:18.579 category of needing wisdom. But James isn't technically 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:22.519 wisdom literature. James is a pastoral letter. 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:25.480 It's written with the heart and approach. of 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.879 a pastor to people that are trying to follow 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:32.739 Jesus. And if we're going to talk about following 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:36.480 Jesus, we're going to end up talking about wisdom. 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:40.359 Now, if you went to Bible college or if you grew 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:45.140 up in like a super Bible Sunday school heavy 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:48.640 church, or if you even some of us have been to 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.939 seminary, you will be familiar with the phrase 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:56.379 systematic theology. Systematic theology is like 00:01:56.379 --> 00:02:00.379 the schematic for something. It's like the technical 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:04.459 drawing for your phone. None of us actually know 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:08.340 how our phone works, but we know that it works, 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:12.039 right? None of us knows how it's actually put 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.020 together, but there is a schematic somewhere. 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.960 You can probably find it online with the exact 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.939 measurements, with the precise placement of the 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:25.770 battery and the memory. The exact layout of how 00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:29.990 one thing connects to every other part. You can 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:33.250 find an intricate illustration of the inner workings 00:02:33.250 --> 00:02:37.909 of your device. That is what systematic theology 00:02:37.909 --> 00:02:43.650 is like. And some people nerd out about systematic 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:48.770 theology. That is not the book of James. The 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:50.889 book of James is more like what we would call 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:55.740 practical theology. James is more like the first 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:58.060 page of the manual. It's the only page that any 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:00.599 of us reads, right? The quick startup guide. 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:04.280 We go, yeah, I'll just figure it out as I go. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:07.259 We open the first page. It says, push this button 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:09.400 to turn it on. These are the first instructions. 00:03:09.419 --> 00:03:13.500 Step one, turn on the device. Step two, use the 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:17.439 device. Step three, don't throw this device in 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:23.289 fire. James is that direct. He is that. To the 00:03:23.289 --> 00:03:26.810 point, he's not trying to parse the finer details 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:31.969 of theology. He's trying to get us to be like 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:37.069 Jesus, to act like Jesus. So let's open up our 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:42.110 Bibles to the book of James. If you have a physical 00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:46.770 copy in Flip, it goes James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 00:03:46.830 --> 00:03:49.189 1, 2, 3 John, and you're going to be towards 00:03:49.189 --> 00:03:52.300 the back. If you have a digital app, just click 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:54.280 on the little menu and scroll down until you 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.159 see James. If you don't have a Bible of your 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.460 own, you can take one of those blue Bibles home 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.740 or grab one from the bookshelf out in the lobby. 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:05.719 We're going to start in James chapter 1. And 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:07.159 we have a tradition of giving the scriptures 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.539 our full attention when they're read in the context 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:12.300 of a sermon. You can do that any number of ways, 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:14.280 but one of the ways you can do that is by standing 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.889 with me as I read and as you are able. It goes 00:04:18.889 --> 00:04:25.670 like this, James 1. James, a servant of God and 00:04:25.670 --> 00:04:28.209 the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:32.069 the dispersion, greetings. My brothers and sisters, 00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:34.209 whenever you face various trials, consider it 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:36.949 all joy, because you know that the testing of 00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:40.209 your faith produces endurance. And let endurance 00:04:40.209 --> 00:04:43.110 complete its work, so that you may be complete 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:45.689 and whole, lacking in nothing. If any of you 00:04:45.689 --> 00:04:48.540 is lacking in wisdom, ask God. who gives to all 00:04:48.540 --> 00:04:52.579 generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:55.920 to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.699 the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:00.639 driven and tossed by the wind. For the doubter, 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.000 being double -minded and unstable in every way, 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.779 must not expect to receive anything from the 00:05:05.779 --> 00:05:08.060 Lord. But let the brother or sister of humble 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:14.379 means boast in having a high position, and the 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:17.410 rich in having been humbled. Because the rich 00:05:17.410 --> 00:05:21.250 will disappear like a flower in the field. For 00:05:21.250 --> 00:05:24.329 the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers 00:05:24.329 --> 00:05:27.990 the field. Its flowers fall and its beauty perishes. 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:31.310 It is the same way with the rich. In the midst 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:36.189 of a busy life, they wither away. Let us pray. 00:05:36.730 --> 00:05:39.689 God of every tribe, every tongue, every color, 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:42.029 and every nation, we thank you for the scriptures. 00:05:42.149 --> 00:05:45.500 We thank you that we have them. to consider, 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.139 to read, to learn from. I pray that whatever 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:50.040 you have for us to learn today, I pray that it 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.740 would stick, that it would become a part of the 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:55.459 framework of our faith, that our faith would 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:59.399 become stronger as we become more like your son, 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:08.079 Jesus. Amen. You can have a seat. All right, 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:11.620 so James doesn't waste any time getting straight 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:16.519 to the point. He spends one verse on a greeting, 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:21.339 and then he spends ten verses hitting three major 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:25.060 things pretty hard. He talks about trials, he 00:06:25.060 --> 00:06:28.360 talks about wisdom, and he talks about wealth. 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:32.279 He doesn't mince words. You notice that a lot 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.300 throughout the book of James, that James does 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:38.139 not mince words. He says exactly what he means, 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:42.889 and he means exactly. What he says, because he 00:06:42.889 --> 00:06:45.730 never wants the reader to walk away wondering 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:51.129 what he really meant. Because James knows what 00:06:51.129 --> 00:06:55.990 they are walking into. The people that would 00:06:55.990 --> 00:06:59.329 have first read this book, they lived in a world 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:02.930 that was changing rapidly. And it wasn't getting 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:05.990 more friendly to people that called themselves 00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:10.100 Christians. That did eventually happen. Under 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:13.600 the Emperor Constantine, Christianity became 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:16.800 the official religion of the empire, and it became 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.339 a much friendlier environment. But that is not 00:07:20.339 --> 00:07:22.060 what is happening for the people that are first 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:26.040 reading this book. The Jewish Christians that 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.740 James is writing to, they're scattered. They're 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:34.939 far from their preferred home. The Christians 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:37.699 that are reading this after or around the year 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:41.250 70, have just experienced the temple in Jerusalem 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:44.889 being leveled, the temple being destroyed. And 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:48.870 most Jews had been expelled from the holy city 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:53.410 of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. The people 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:55.230 that were first reading this were experiencing 00:07:55.230 --> 00:08:01.430 real trials every day. And they were trying to 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:04.730 follow a Jesus that at that point they had never 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:09.519 seen with their own two eyes. They were living 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:16.839 on faith. And as it turns out, faith comes with 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:21.560 challenges. Listen, and especially to the young 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:23.259 people in the room, I want you to hear me say 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:26.079 this. If someone tells you that all your problems 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:27.920 are going to go away because you're a Christian, 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:32.700 they're lying. James says that they're wrong. 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:37.299 If someone tells you that if you follow Jesus, 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:39.440 all your problems are going to go away, they're 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.019 selling you a gospel that's going to spoil every 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:47.860 time something bad happens. Instead, James says, 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:51.539 consider it all joy when you face trials of every 00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:55.659 kind, because the testing of your faith produces 00:08:55.659 --> 00:09:00.220 what? Endurance. Paul writes about this as well. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:04.399 He says, suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance. 00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:09.149 produces character, and character produces hope. 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:14.070 Bible writers aren't confused about what life 00:09:14.070 --> 00:09:19.610 is really like. And so they give us a framework 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:24.190 for how we're supposed to process it. We can 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:28.149 either frame our trials with woe and despair, 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:34.470 or we can let joy be our imagination. For the 00:09:34.470 --> 00:09:44.190 future. Because joy is future facing. Joy assumes 00:09:44.190 --> 00:09:47.710 that what I feel today, what I experience now, 00:09:47.850 --> 00:09:53.289 will be useful later. And so I shouldn't give 00:09:53.289 --> 00:09:59.529 up. Now that doesn't mean that we should want 00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:04.240 bad things to happen. And that doesn't mean that 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.879 we shouldn't object to the injustices that we 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:12.080 see or that we experience. And it doesn't mean 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:21.259 that God made that trial happen to you. Bad things 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:25.440 happen. It's the nature of the world that we 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:30.440 live in. But we can have the mindset that trials 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:37.960 aren't... Does anybody remember when Apple came 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:43.940 out with their foldable phone? Anybody? Anybody 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:46.279 remembers? Apple came out with their foldable 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:48.700 phone. Yeah, it was called the iPhone 6 Plus. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:55.820 You guys don't remember BendGate? Come on. 2014. 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:03.830 The iPhone 6 Plus comes out. Some of us remember 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:08.090 because we owned this phone. And if you put this 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:10.629 phone in your back pocket and sat down, it would 00:11:10.629 --> 00:11:17.169 bend. It was not supposed to. The iPhone 6 Plus 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:21.830 was 7 .2 times more likely to bend than the iPhone 00:11:21.830 --> 00:11:28.509 5 that had come before it. Apple messed up in 00:11:28.509 --> 00:11:31.600 every Buddy noticed, except for apparently you 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:36.320 guys who 10 years ago... But here's the thing. 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.360 Every phone company noticed, and they started 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.840 making a big deal about how their phones didn't 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:46.179 bend when they weren't supposed to. Every phone 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:49.240 company, every device -making company started 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.240 talking about the tests that they had put their 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.860 phones through to see if it would bend. If you 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:58.840 follow tech people on YouTube... Every new phone 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:00.980 that would come out, they would do the bend test. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.600 Does anybody remember this? They would do the 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.320 bend test to make sure that it wouldn't bend 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:12.200 like the iPhone 6 Plus. See, they didn't just 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:18.360 notice the mistake. They learned from it. From 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:21.659 that point on, you're not going to buy a phone 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:26.120 that bends anymore. Because they learned the 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.710 lesson. Now the only phones that bend are the 00:12:30.710 --> 00:12:37.370 ones that are supposed to. Some trials are going 00:12:37.370 --> 00:12:41.490 to bend us. It's just the nature of life. But 00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:45.769 the experience is supposed to increase our endurance, 00:12:45.909 --> 00:12:50.669 not break us. The stress is supposed to teach 00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:55.450 us how to endure the next thing that might come. 00:12:55.969 --> 00:12:59.809 And if we let joy be the framework for how we 00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:02.789 experience the trials that we are going through 00:13:02.789 --> 00:13:06.429 right now, we will be more ready and prepared 00:13:06.429 --> 00:13:10.009 for what comes next. So then James turns our 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:13.049 attention to wisdom. And he keeps it simple. 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:18.330 He says, if you lack it, what? Ask for it. It's 00:13:18.330 --> 00:13:20.669 as simple as that. If you lack it, if you lack 00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:24.090 wisdom, if you want wisdom, just ask. Some of 00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:26.539 us... Struggle to ask for what we really need. 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:32.279 We're afraid that if we ask, we'll just be told 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:36.120 no anyway. Maybe life has conditioned us that 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:38.860 even if we ask for what we really need, we're 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:43.240 not going to get it anyway. But James says if 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.399 you need wisdom, ask and mean it. It reminds 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:48.980 me of what Jesus was teaching his disciples. 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.539 In Matthew 7, verse 7, he says, keep on asking. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.519 And you will receive what you ask for. Keep on 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.539 knocking and the door will be open. Keep on seeking 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:04.200 and you will find. They're both saying the same 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:10.700 thing. Don't go halfway. Don't stop halfway. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.500 Don't ask for wisdom if it's not what you really 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:17.100 want. And don't stop asking God for what you 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:22.019 think you really need. Make up your mind and 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:27.879 then follow. And if you're already looking at 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:30.019 what you're going through through the lens of 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:35.059 joy, you will be that much more prepared or encouraged 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:44.879 to know that you can follow through. As I mentioned 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.860 earlier, we've already gone through a series 00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:50.860 on wisdom literature in the Bible this year because... 00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:53.669 I felt this conviction that we needed to talk 00:14:53.669 --> 00:14:56.409 about wisdom a lot this year. I don't know if 00:14:56.409 --> 00:14:57.769 it's just because of what's happening in the 00:14:57.769 --> 00:14:59.450 world or if it's just because there are things 00:14:59.450 --> 00:15:02.389 that are happening in our lives, but I just felt 00:15:02.389 --> 00:15:04.730 like we need to be talking about wisdom as a 00:15:04.730 --> 00:15:07.649 church, as individuals. We need wisdom in our 00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:10.409 families. We need wisdom at our jobs. We need 00:15:10.409 --> 00:15:12.950 wisdom in our neighborhoods, in every single 00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:19.179 area of our lives. We need wisdom. What we know 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:22.899 is this, is that wisdom can develop over time. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:28.299 Wisdom can be like a bank of knowledge and information 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:31.340 that builds up, and then you learn how to use 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:33.139 that wisdom over the course of time. But I also 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:35.480 think that wisdom can be like a tankless water 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.220 heater. Does anybody have a tankless water heater 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:40.840 at home? Anybody? I know one person that wants 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.019 one. Jen would like to have a tankless water 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:47.049 heater at home. The first time I ever saw tankless 00:15:47.049 --> 00:15:49.710 water heaters was in India, when I went to India 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:52.450 some years back. Every bathroom that I went to 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:55.649 had this little, like, green egg -shaped thing 00:15:55.649 --> 00:15:58.090 that was fastened to the wall, and at first I 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:00.570 had no idea what it was, but then I figured out, 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:02.509 oh, okay, every time I turn on the hot water, 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:05.769 I hear it do something. Other parts of the country 00:16:05.769 --> 00:16:07.809 use these a lot more, because you don't need 00:16:07.809 --> 00:16:11.830 to have a hot water heater that has 20, 40, 50 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:15.610 gallons of water just always staying hot. when 00:16:15.610 --> 00:16:18.470 you can put a tankless water heater in each room 00:16:18.470 --> 00:16:21.750 that needs water, in your bathroom, in your kitchen, 00:16:21.769 --> 00:16:24.809 and then when you turn on that hot water, it 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:27.830 creates that hot water for you in the moment 00:16:27.830 --> 00:16:32.889 that you need it. In Mark 13, Jesus said that 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.769 when you get arrested and go on trial, don't 00:16:35.769 --> 00:16:39.129 worry in advance about what to say. Just say 00:16:39.129 --> 00:16:42.240 what God tells you at the time. For it is not 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:46.120 you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:52.279 The Holy Spirit has wisdom available in the moment 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:57.960 when we need it. Even if you don't feel like 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:03.539 you have a tank full of wisdom, if you ask when 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:07.220 you need it, God will give you the wisdom for 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:12.960 that moment. In that moment, A wisdom can also, 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.220 again, help us turn backwards and look at the 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:17.920 trials that we're going through with a sense 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:22.819 of joy. All right. So five or six verses, he's 00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:25.319 talked about trials. He's turned us into wisdom. 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:29.500 And then James hits our favorite subject in the 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:32.539 first ten verses, and he talks about money. He 00:17:32.539 --> 00:17:35.640 hits the subject of wealth inequality, actually. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.650 We're not completely sure. which James wrote 00:17:42.650 --> 00:17:45.829 the book of James. That's the truth. We're not 00:17:45.829 --> 00:17:49.809 sure. But tradition tells us that it was written 00:17:49.809 --> 00:17:54.549 by the half -brother of Jesus. That half -brother 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:57.069 of Jesus was not someone that was one of the 00:17:57.069 --> 00:18:02.349 12 disciples. He was not someone that we know 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:05.829 or... as someone that was following Jesus closely 00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:09.170 as Jesus was doing his ministry. And yet somehow 00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:12.410 that is the James who ends up being the head 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:15.029 of the church in Jerusalem. When you read through 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:17.690 the book of Acts and you see Paul and Barnabas 00:18:17.690 --> 00:18:20.750 coming and asking the Jerusalem council what 00:18:20.750 --> 00:18:24.710 they should do, this James, tradition tells us, 00:18:24.789 --> 00:18:28.970 is the one that is leading the church there. 00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:34.109 One thing I love about that concept, that idea, 00:18:34.190 --> 00:18:37.410 is that as I read the book of James, I can see 00:18:37.410 --> 00:18:40.289 how everything that he is saying, I can pull 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:42.630 directly from something that Jesus already taught. 00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:47.490 Jesus talked plenty about trials. He said, I 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:49.630 have told you these things for you will have 00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:51.950 troubles in this world, but take heart for I 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:55.910 have overcome. He's the one that said, don't 00:18:55.910 --> 00:18:57.930 worry about what to say, for the Holy Spirit 00:18:57.930 --> 00:19:02.269 will tell you what to say in the moment. Jesus 00:19:02.269 --> 00:19:05.730 had a lot to say about wealth inequality as well. 00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:09.930 James takes after Jesus when he's saying this, 00:19:09.990 --> 00:19:12.589 because Jesus said, you can't love God and money. 00:19:13.529 --> 00:19:16.829 Jesus said, don't worry about your food or your 00:19:16.829 --> 00:19:19.509 clothes. Not even Solomon was clothed as well 00:19:19.509 --> 00:19:23.269 as the flowers in the field. He said, if that 00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:25.150 is how God clothes the grass of the field, which 00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:27.970 is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the 00:19:27.970 --> 00:19:31.769 fire, will he not much more clothe you? Jesus 00:19:31.769 --> 00:19:34.470 said, do not invite the rich when you have a 00:19:34.470 --> 00:19:37.289 banquet, but invite the poor and the humble. 00:19:37.369 --> 00:19:40.230 Jesus said, the last will be first and the first 00:19:40.230 --> 00:19:44.150 will be last. Jesus said, it's easier for a camel 00:19:44.150 --> 00:19:45.950 to go through the eye of a needle than for a 00:19:45.950 --> 00:19:52.150 rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:57.150 said, blessed are the meek. Jesus said, the poor 00:19:57.150 --> 00:20:03.910 will inherit the earth. Jesus said, the rich 00:20:03.910 --> 00:20:10.349 will be humbled. James is trying to get us to 00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:12.930 ask ourselves, as we're looking at the trials 00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:15.009 that we experience in life, when we're looking 00:20:15.009 --> 00:20:20.000 at the concept of wisdom, Why does it seem like 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:28.079 we all still want to be wealthy? Why does it 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:31.519 seem like if we were really honest, none of us, 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:35.779 probably not, I shouldn't say none of us, most 00:20:35.779 --> 00:20:40.759 of us are still unsatisfied with what we have. 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:49.869 Jesus and James both confront right here at the 00:20:49.869 --> 00:20:56.150 top of this letter that wealth is not what we 00:20:56.150 --> 00:21:03.769 should be looking for. The truth is, the wealthier 00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:07.769 that we are, and hear this, the wealthier that 00:21:07.769 --> 00:21:11.289 we are, the more that God will expect of us with 00:21:11.289 --> 00:21:16.410 what has been given to us. The wealthier that 00:21:16.410 --> 00:21:19.210 we are, the more God will expect of us in how 00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:25.549 we use that wealth. So James says, if you have 00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:31.750 less, be grateful. Because if you have more, 00:21:31.869 --> 00:21:37.710 as Kendrick Lamar says, sit down, be humble. 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:44.849 Because every flower fades. And every earthly 00:21:44.849 --> 00:21:52.049 beauty is fleeting. Some of us don't realize 00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:55.809 that we would trade the trials and challenges 00:21:55.809 --> 00:21:59.589 we have now for the trials and troubles we would 00:21:59.589 --> 00:22:01.769 experience if we were as wealthy as we wanted 00:22:01.769 --> 00:22:11.509 to be. I don't know. Is it awkward to say that? 00:22:12.339 --> 00:22:14.539 God's completely okay with all of us being just 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:19.359 average financially? Is it okay to say that? 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:21.880 Is that uncomfortable for anybody in the room? 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:32.539 I don't know. Trials, wisdom, wealth, ten verses. 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:34.940 So what do we do with any of this? How do we 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:39.019 practice this or participate with these scriptures? 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.099 And here at the end, I actually just want us 00:22:41.099 --> 00:22:43.720 to take a minute. I want us to take a minute 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:47.380 and reflect and ask which one of these three 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:50.880 things God is wanting us to have special attention 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:56.700 for this week. To actually legitimately decide 00:22:56.700 --> 00:22:59.259 today that I'm going to pay attention to this 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:04.279 idea this week. To think about how you view the 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:07.839 trials that you experience. To think about... 00:23:08.170 --> 00:23:11.589 the wisdom that you may need, or to think about 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:18.009 your relationship to money. I don't think that 00:23:18.009 --> 00:23:19.750 it's my place to tell you which one of those 00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:22.529 things is your issue or which one of those things 00:23:22.529 --> 00:23:26.150 that you specifically need to think about. But 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:29.630 I do think that even in this moment that the 00:23:29.630 --> 00:23:32.210 Holy Spirit is already moving in your heart, 00:23:32.289 --> 00:23:35.450 making you go, yeah, I need to think about that. 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:38.960 So let's actually just take a moment of silence, 00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:43.720 listen to the Holy Spirit, and in this moment 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:46.140 decide, this week I'm going to give special attention 00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:52.140 to how I think about my trials, to how I seek 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:57.359 wisdom, or how I have a relationship to my finances. 00:24:38.250 --> 00:24:46.130 I know mine. And I think he'd be okay with me 00:24:46.130 --> 00:24:48.690 telling the story of it. My dad became a Christian 00:24:48.690 --> 00:24:51.910 when he was 50 years old, which means that I 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:56.869 was 20. And I was in college at the time. And 00:24:56.869 --> 00:25:01.890 my dad realized that the amount of grants that 00:25:01.890 --> 00:25:04.869 I might be eligible was directly related to the 00:25:04.869 --> 00:25:07.500 amount of money that our family made. And my 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.240 dad had reached enough years with John Deere 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.819 that he could retire. And he thought, okay, I'm 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:16.799 going to retire for a number of reasons. One, 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:19.180 because it might help Greg out. But I remember 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:23.180 talking to him about it. But he also said specifically 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:27.200 that becoming a Christian caused him to notice 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:30.380 that really he was working harder so he could 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:32.819 have more money so that he could spend more money. 00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:36.630 And he knew. that the truth was that he could 00:25:36.630 --> 00:25:40.529 live on retirement if he was just wise with how 00:25:40.529 --> 00:25:45.849 he used the money that God was giving him. And 00:25:45.849 --> 00:25:49.269 I know that I have the same issue. That I go, 00:25:49.390 --> 00:25:52.769 anytime we get an extra $100 here, a few hundred 00:25:52.769 --> 00:25:57.069 dollars there, magically it always seems like 00:25:57.069 --> 00:26:02.289 it's still just about enough. But anytime we've 00:26:02.289 --> 00:26:07.089 had less, we've still always been okay. And I 00:26:07.089 --> 00:26:09.009 know that God wants me to pay more attention 00:26:09.009 --> 00:26:13.509 to the pennies instead of thinking about the 00:26:13.509 --> 00:26:16.390 big things. Does that make sense? So whatever 00:26:16.390 --> 00:26:18.630 the Lord put on your heart, whether it's how 00:26:18.630 --> 00:26:23.210 you view your trials, how you seek wisdom, or 00:26:23.210 --> 00:26:25.509 your relationship with money, let's make the 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:27.210 commitment today that you're going to give attention 00:26:27.210 --> 00:26:31.750 to that this week and let God work with you in 00:26:31.750 --> 00:26:36.170 how that develops. Amen? Let's pray. Father, 00:26:36.230 --> 00:26:37.750 we thank you for the scriptures. We thank you 00:26:37.750 --> 00:26:41.089 for the book of James. And we thank you that 00:26:41.089 --> 00:26:42.990 we get to come and we get to hear different voices 00:26:42.990 --> 00:26:47.210 talk about something that was written almost 00:26:47.210 --> 00:26:50.109 2 ,000 years ago that still has so much to tell 00:26:50.109 --> 00:26:53.750 us today. Pray that our hearts would be humble, 00:26:53.869 --> 00:26:58.589 that we would be open to what you teach us, and 00:26:58.589 --> 00:27:01.450 that we would act, that we would be practical 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:04.579 in the way that we follow you. In the name of 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:06.660 Jesus, we pray. Amen.