It Starts with the Heart

James 4:7-12

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

It Starts with the Heart

Do you know who this is?

It’s Superman!

What makes Superman so super?

How does the old cartoon intro go? Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He can fly. He can shoot lasers out of his eyes. There are lots of reasons that Superman is so super.

What if we asked a similar question about Christians? What would make Joe Christian a super-Christian?

We started this James series talking about how important it is to be quick to listen. You have to have ears that listen, first of all, to God, but then also to each other. Of course, in that same passage we also heard that you can’t just be a hearer of the Word; you have to be a doer of the Word, i.e. faith without deeds is dead. James also talks quite a bit about the tongue. A super-Christian will keep a tight rein on his tongue and only use it to glorify God, tell other people about Jesus, build other people up. There are lots of things that would make Joe Christian into a super-Christian.

But let me go back to Superman for a second. We talked about his superspeed, superstrength, superhuman abilities like flight and x-ray vision. But we may have missed Superman’s most important characteristic – he has a good heart. Without a good heart, Superman would just be superhuman at best, or a supervillain at worst.

It’s the same thing for Christians. Does God care about what you do and say? Does he want you to have all these characteristics of the “super-Christian”? Absolutely he does! But do you know what he wants even more? He wants your heart.

God wants you to do the things he tells you to do because you want to do them. He wants you to avoid the things he forbids because they’re as hateful and abhorrent to you as they are to him. He wants you to submit yourself to him, to humble yourself before him, not out of a sense of obligation or fear but because you love him and because it grieves your heart to think that you’ve done anything to hurt him.

That’s what James means when he says:

“Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”[1]

God doesn’t want you to be depressed. He wants you to sincerely repent when you do something wrong.

I’ll give you an example. A Christian is addicted to pornography. She knows it’s wrong. She knows God tells her not to do it. She feels awful every time that she does it. She tries to wash her hands of this sin, as James tells us to do in verse 8, but she has to keep washing her hands of this behaviour because she just can’t put it behind her. She tries and she tries not to sin, but she keeps falling back into it.

If we only focus on our behaviours and forget to “purify our hearts,” it’s like trying to stop your boat from sinking by bailing the water without plugging the leak. The problem is not with our eyes or our hands; it’s with our hearts.

That’s what Jesus says in Matthew 15:

Out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.[2]

We have to change our hearts to have any hope of changing our behaviour.

Have you ever gone skiing or mountain biking through the woods? It can be kind of dangerous to avoid all those trees. If you’re not careful you could crash and break a bone. But do you know what advice skiers and mountain bikers follow? As you’re plummeting down that mountain at high speeds, don’t think, “OK, I’ve got to avoid this tree and that tree. Oh, there’s another one coming up; I’ve got to avoid hitting that one too.” Think to yourself, “Stay on the path. Stay on the path. Stay on the path. Where does the path go? Here’s another turn. Stay on the path.”

In a similar way, if a Christian wants to change their behaviour, it’s not a mind-over-matter kind of moment; it’s a matter of the heart. What do I love? Whom do I love? What does my love for God make me to want to do?

If I just focus on avoiding the sin, I might be able to avoid it 7,8,9 times out of 10, but there will always be at least one tree I’m not strong enough to steer clear of, one tree I didn’t see, one corner I couldn’t make. But if I focus on my love for God and if I learn to love the things that God wants me to love, then I can change from the source and allow my actions to follow.

And look at the promises God makes you!

Resist the devil.[3]

Boy, that sounds hard. How could we ever possibly resist the most powerful, real supervillain? If we tried to do it on our own, we’d fail every time. But when you submit yourself to God, when you make God the King of your heart, when you let him sit on the throne and give him the reins to your life, James says,

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”[4]

The devil will run away from you! Not because you’re stronger than the devil, but because God is, and by submitting to God you’re letting him rule your life.

Come near to God.[5]

That sounds hard too! I know what I’ve done. I know that I don’t deserve God’s love. But God has given me an invitation. Jesus himself said,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”[6]

Peter invites us,

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”[7]

Coming near to God doesn’t mean “making the first step.” It doesn’t mean trying to convince him to like you. It means accepting his invitation and receiving his promise:

Come near to God and he will come near to you.[8]

Confess your sins to God. Humble your heart before the Lord and know that

he will lift you up.[9]

That’s where our hope and confidence come from. That’s what our relationship with God is based on – the forgiving love that we see on full display in the sacrifice he was willing to make for us.

We are not super-Christians. We often fail to resist the devil, but Jesus didn’t. He was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.[10] We are not clean or pure; we’re sinners who need to confess our sins every week, every day. But Jesus was the sinless, Son of God, the spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

It’s no laughing matter what our sins did to Jesus. The sacrifice he made for us was as serious as death itself. It breaks our hearts to think of the price he paid on the cross. But Jesus picks up the broken pieces of our humbled hearts and lifts us up in his forgiving love. He reminds us that he doesn’t love us only when we’re on our best behaviour or because of the good things we do. He loves us purely by grace.

And it’s only the love that God holds for us in his heart that can ever hope to change our hearts. I mean, think about that. If God had no love for you, i.e. if God was an unrelenting task master who only cared about his commandments and your obedience to them, how would you feel when James tells you to submit to him? That’s a terrifying prospect!

But now that you know that your God is a God of love and forgiveness and grace and mercy, a God who is not results-oriented, but relationship-oriented – now that you know who your God is, how much more freeing is it to submit to him? You don’t have to fear punishment; that’s been taken care of by Jesus. You can expect acceptance and compassion because of Jesus.

That’s the power God gives you to change your heart, and once your heart is changed to let your actions follow. God does care about what you say and do, but that’s not what he’s after. He’s after your heart. That’s where Christianity starts. Humble your hearts before the Lord, and know that he will lift you up. Amen.

[1] James 4:9

[2] Matthew 15:19

[3] James 4:7

[4] Ibid

[5] James 4:8

[6] Matthew 11:28

[7] 1 Peter 5:7

[8] James 4:8

[9] James 4:10

[10] Hebrews 4:15

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Heavenly Wisdom Is Meek, Not Weak

James 3:13-18

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 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. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Heavenly Wisdom Is Meek, Not Weak

What’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom?

Knowledge is having the facts. Wisdom is knowing how to use the facts you’re given.

Here’s an example: At 10:00 last Sunday night, when I was getting ready to go to bed, I knew that my dog hadn’t been outside for a couple hours. That was a fact that I knew. How I used that fact would determine whether I was wise or not.

Should I have said to myself, “She’s a big girl. She’s been house broken for 3 years. She’ll be fine till morning.” Or, should I have said, “I’ll regret it in the morning if I don’t let her out now, even though I’m tired and just want to curl up in bed”?

It would have been the wise thing to do let the dog out. It would have been wise… Do we always make the wise decision? Sadly, we do not.

That’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom. You can have all the facts, but if you don’t use them the right way, you can actually be foolish rather than wise.

In our Second Lesson for today, James tells us that there’s a difference, not just between knowledge and wisdom, but between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. In other words, we can use the facts we have in a way that the world would say is smart, but God would not. Our goal today is not only to know what heavenly wisdom is, but to understand how to use it.

Let’s dig into worldly wisdom first.

James begins this portion of his letter with a challenge. He calls on every Christian who considers himself wise and understanding, and he basically says, “Prove it!”

That’s been the theme for the entire letter that James has been writing. He’s writing to people like you and me, who take time to worship on a Sunday morning, who are practicing the Christian faith, who other people in this world could easily identify as followers of Jesus. To us, James has a not-so-subtle message: “It’s not enough to be known as or to claim to be a Christian. You actually have to do what Christians are supposed to do.” Otherwise, as we heard last week, your faith, if it is not accompanied by actions, is dead.

James makes a similar point today, only this time it’s about wisdom. It’s not enough for you to know things. It’s not enough for you to have facts that other people don’t. James wants you to show that you have wisdom, i.e. true, heavenly wisdom, “by your good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”[1]

Sadly, that’s not what we so often do. Instead, we fall into the traps that James mentions: bitter envy, selfish ambition, disorder and every evil practice. These are the hallmarks of worldly wisdom. Worse, James calls them, earthly, unspiritual, demonic.[2]

Like a noose slowly cinching tighter around the neck, James makes it clear that the wisdom of the world, the wisdom that is guided by bitter envy and selfish ambition – the wisdom that we so often use – is not innocent or trivial. It represents everything that God is not.

It’s not the heavenly ideal; it’s dirty and corrupt like the world.

It’s not spiritually minded; it’s carnal and reckless.

It’s not godly wisdom; it’s devilish and demonic.

This is a big deal, especially among people like us who claim to be Christian, who want to be wise and understanding. It has no place in our hearts, yet that’s where it makes its home.

Think about what you’re willing to say or share on social media. It is so easy to feel like because you have the facts on the vaccine, on a particular political policy or candidate, on how to raise your children – you feel like because you have the facts, you can say it. But do you ever stop to think about the impact that those words are going to have on someone else (who, by the way, will be quick to share facts of their own on those same topics)?

That’s worldly wisdom – the kind that’s more interested in getting something off your chest than in being helpful or constructive. That’s worldly wisdom that’s driven by my need to be heard and my need to be right because I have the facts, and that doesn’t particularly care how those facts are used. Worldly wisdom teaches us to be quick to judge other people based on the facts that they share, e.g. “Oh, you’re anti-this or pro-that; I have no patience for you.”

Worldly wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, demonic, and all too familiar.

Heavenly wisdom, on the other hand, is pure, humble and good, but above all, it’s rare. Here’s how James describes heavenly wisdom:

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 reap a harvest of righteousness.[3]

Does that sound like you? Are all your motivations pure and your thoughts squeaky clean? Do you use your wisdom, your intellect, your knowledge to make peace? Are you meek in the sense that you would be willing to be walked on and mistreated and humiliated without retaliating or talking back? Are you submissive, or, as the Greek suggests, are you willing to be easily persuaded when you get into an argument or disagreement? Are you quick to forgive, slow to judge, free of hypocrisy?

That’s a tall order! I know I don’t live up to it. I’m sure you can think of ways that you don’t either – whether it’s the pride that refuses to accept an insult or to allow someone else to be right, or the selfishness that refuses to forgive and always holds a grudge.

Heavenly wisdom is rare and, frankly, impossible for human beings. Well, impossible for all but one.

This is Jesus, isn’t it? In fact, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says,

“Christ Jesus… has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”[4]

Jesus was all these things perfectly, completely. He was pure – without fault or failure or even the slightest sniff of sin. He was considerate and submissive, or as the Greek would put it, he was meek, choosing to be abused – physically, mentally, emotionally – rather than to stand up for his own rights. He was full of mercy, showing love and compassion to people who didn’t deserve it – to sinners like you and me who wallow in worldly wisdom far too often.

For us he bore good fruit by hanging on a tree and being the sacrifice to pay for our sin no matter who you are or what you’ve done, because he’s impartial and sincere. He didn’t just talk about his love for you; he did something about it. He gave his life for you, so that you could be at peace, so that you and I could be free of guilt and shame for our bitter envy and selfish ambition, so that you and I could be reconciled to God and at peace with him.

That’s the heavenly wisdom that comes from above. That’s the humility and love of our Saviour. That’s the freedom and forgiveness we have in Jesus. He is our life and our light, the one who cleanses our souls and gives true, heavenly wisdom to those who have the humility to listen.

So, I’ll ask you the same thing that James asked his first readers,

“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”[5]

When you know that you’re a sinner saved by grace, i.e. that you don’t deserve God’s love but you’ve been given it, that brings the humility we need to set our rights aside, to be meek and considerate, willing to “give in” for the sake of someone else. God’s got us taken care of. What he gives us is all we need.

I am more than grateful for the gift of his gospel and his promise of forgiveness in Christ. Because I have that, I can endure the scorn and shame of other people. I don’t have to assert my dominance or insist on being right or stating the facts as I see them. God’s got my back.

Now, I’m free to be peace-loving, to be a peacemaker – not just someone who likes peace but someone who makes it. The wisdom that comes from heaven teaches us how to do that. Just think about some of the times in you life that peace is threatened.

Someone cuts you off in traffic. You don’t have to cuss them out. Your boss is unreasonable and demanding. You don’t have to mutter under your breath or talk behind their back. You’re arguing with your sibling about whose turn it is to pick up the living room or do the dishes. Even if you’re right, it’s not worth the price of winning.

The attitude of a Christian is the same as the attitude of Christ: peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere[6] – not because we have to be, but because that’s what Jesus was for us; not because it’ll make life easier (sometimes it will, sometimes it won’t), but because we’ll reap a harvest of righteousness.

The world will laugh at you for being a doormat to other people. The world will call you weak, not wise. But God will smile on you, seeing in you a reflection of his love for you.

So, be humble, and seek the wisdom that comes from heaven. Be wise and show it by your good life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God give you the strength to live according to his good will. Amen.

[1] James 3:13

[2] James 3:15

[3] James 3:17,18

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:30

[5] James 3:13

[6] James 3:17

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