Bridge Church Vancouver

On Jan 1, 1990, President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia addressed his nation.  It had been a few weeks sinces his country peaceably ousted the Communist totalitarian government that had held power for forty years.  Only two days before Havel had been elected President by a parliament still dominated by Communists.  Havel said:

We live in a contaminated moral environment... We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only for ourselves.  Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion, humility, and forgiveness lost their depth and dimensions, and for many of us they came to represent only psychological peculiarities, or to resemble long-lost greetings from ancient times...When I talk about contaminated moral atmosphere...I am talking about all of us...Why do I say this?  It would be quite unreasonable to understand the sad legacy of the last forty years as something alien, something bequeathed to us by some distant relative.  On the contrary, we must accept this legacy as a sin we committed against ourselves.

There are many points of similarity between this brief excerpt from Havel’s speech and the letter of James.  Havel writes from the heart, like James; his is a heart that has known adversity as well as joy.  Both are keen observers of human nature.  Both are vitally interested in the creation of true community, a community marked by mutual care and interdependent responsibility.  In an era in which the sense of personal responsibility seems endangered, Havel calls us to account.

James also is unafraid to call sin by its true name.  And like Havel, he will not allow us to shirk responsibility for our own actions, or for the evil that occurs because of our own inaction.

James wrote to a wide group of churches addressing the challenges of their cultural condition, problems that include giving in  when trials come, passing blame in temptation, intolerance of others yet tolerating sin, favouritism, and the insatiable desire for wealth, materialism and status. 

James is the one who says...

James 1:2   Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,    

James 1:10  the one who is rich should take pride in his low position,

James 2:26  faith without deeds is dead.

James 4:3  you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:4  friendship with the world is hatred toward God?

As we walk through this letter of James, we will find that the thing highest on James mind was the creation of true Christian community that could only begin to develop as the hearts and minds of followers of Jesus began to let the ways of Jesus change them. 

Lets look at an introduction to this letter of James.

It begins.   James 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Who is it that writes this...

I. JAMES, THE AUTHOR

A. His Identity

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (James 1:1a) is the way he introduces himself.

It was a popular name, and was a form of the Old Testament name Jacob.  His brief introduction shows two facts about James.

• he was well known. He introduced himself with only his first name, assuming that his readers could identify him.
•  he showed great humility in that he wanted to be known as a servant of Jesus.  

Four men named James appear in the New Testament.

Two of these are, James the father of Judas(Luke 6:16) and

James, the son of Alphaeus (Luke 6:15).

While both of these are members of the twelve  apostles, they are little‐known figures who do not seem to qualify as possible authors of the letter.

James,  the son of Zebedee, and brother of John, was a prominent leader among the Apostles, but his early martyrdom occurred at a time before the Book of James was written, eliminating him as a possible author. This is recorded in Acts 12:2 and is believed to have occurred in A.D. 44.

This leaves only James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most likely candidate. The early

church accepted him as the author of the book.

B. His Biography

James was a younger brother of Jesus.   By brother, I mean of course, a half‐brother. Joseph was not

the father of Jesus, since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God (Luke 1:35). Contrary to Roman Catholic teaching, Joseph and Mary had other children after Jesus was born.

This truth is implied in     

Matt 1:25  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 It is explicitly stated in Luke’s description of Jesus that Mary “brought forth her firstborn son”

(Luke 2:7).

In Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 it is clearly stated that Jesus had both brothers and sisters, and

His brothers names are listed.    

Mark 6:3

3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,a Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?"

In both Matthew and Mark,

James is listed first, suggesting he may have been the oldest of the other brothers.

Paul explicitly calls James “the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19).

It is surprising to observe that though they grew up with Him and observed His perfect sinless life,

His brothers did not believe in Him throughout His earthly life and ministry. This is stated in     

John 7:5  For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

This is implied in the account early in Jesus ministry...

Mark 3:31-35

31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."

33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Can you imagine how James felt hearing that...

Can you imagine what it would be like to grow up in Jesus’ home.   They lived in the presence of

a perfect, sinless person. They ate, played, worked, and worshiped with Him.

Our fallen sinful natures are usually uncomfortable in the presence of others who are more holy than we are holy. Think of the arguments and divisions they must have had about Him. Can’t you hear them saying, “You always think you are better than us!” Or “He has such a holier than thou attitude!”

The story does have a good outcome.   James becomes a follower of Jesus

We find after the resurrection that Jesus’ brothers  met with the 120 in the upper room for prayer (Acts 1:14).

What was it that caused the change from unbelief to  faith?

I Corinthians 15:7 states that Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection! This convinced James  that He was the Son of God, and James then came to faith in the Savior.

 He then, in turn, would share this knowledge with the other brothers.

James becomes a leader

While James was not an apostle, He soon became one of the key leaders in the church in Jerusalem.

When Paul would later visit Jerusalem, he would describe James, along with Peter and John as “pillars” in  the church (Galatians 2:9).

He would later become, to use a contemporary term, its “senior pastor”, or elder. When Peter was miraculously released from prison, he told the believers to     

Acts 12:17  "Tell James and the brothers about this,"

James presided as moderator over the important Jerusalem Council, which met in Acts 15 to discuss the relationship of the Gentile converts to the Mosaic Law.

Many years later, Paul returned to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey and James was still in the presiding role. Acts 21:18 records that “Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.”

Note that a plurality of elders did not negate James’ primary role as leader, just as the equality in the apostolic office did not negate Peter’s leadership of the twelve.

While we have no record of his death in the Bible, the first‐century historian Josephus records that

James was sentenced to death by stoning on orders of the Sadducean high priest named Annas.

The fourth  century Christian writer named Eusebius maintains that the Jewish leaders cast him down from the roof of  the Temple, but he survived the fall. He was then stoned and finally killed by a blow to the head from a club  held by one of his attackers. This is believed to have occurred in A.D. 62.

C. His Character

James refers to himself as a “bond‐servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:1 NAS). This is a display of his  humility.

Leadership in the early church was based on Jesus’ teaching on humility. He who would be great

must become the least.

In spite of being the son of Mary, the brother of Jesus, the head of the Jerusalem church, and the fact that Jesus appeared personally to Him after the resurrection, James just describes  himself as a bond‐servant.  The word for bond‐servant is doulas and describes a slave, a person who had no  personal freedom and under the control of his master. In exchange for absolute obedience and loyalty, a  master would provide his bond‐servant with food, clothing, and housing.

The word further describes one who had become a slave at birth.

James had become a doulas by his new birth by grace through faith in Christ. (cf. James 1:18).

To be a “doulas of God” was considered a great honour in Jewish society. By taking that title, James

identified himself with these who were honoured not for who they were, but whom they served, “the living God.”

Tradition has it that he was such a righteous and good man, that he was nicknamed “James, the

Just.”

Also that he spent so much time in prayer on his knees that they became hardened, and thus he was

called “Old Camel Knees.”

D. His Ministry

James addresses his letter “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” The word scattered

means “dispersed.” The twelve tribes was a title used to refer to the nation of Israel as a composite whole.

It is Jewish in nature. They were scattered or dispersed abroad into the Gentile nations from their land in Palestine. By New Testament times many Jews, for personal and business reasons, had chosen to live outside of Palestine. Peter used the word as a technical term to identify Jews living outside of Palestine (I Peter 1:1).

James sent his letter to Christian Jews.   At least fifteen times he refers to them as brothers, all in one family by means of the spiritual birth.

It is very possible that many of these believers had been under the pastoral care of James while they were in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1‐4 and 11:19 describe the great persecution which came upon the church in Jerusalem at the time of the death of Stephen, and how many had to flee for their lives. This would expose them to trials of many and various types.

Being Jews they would be rejected by the Gentiles, and being Christian Jews, they would be rejected by their own countrymen. The first subject James addresses in his letter is the purpose behind

trials. (James 1:2‐12).

II. JAMES, THE BOOK

A. It’s Date

James wrote his epistle sometime after he became the leader of the church in Jerusalem in A.D. 44 and before he was killed in A.D. 62. This can be verified by considering both the internal and external evidence which is available to us. Whereas Paul and Peter in their epistles make a distinction between  Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians, James addresses only Christians which belonged to the twelve tribes (1:1), and who called Abraham their father (2:21).

Because there is no hint in the book of the Jewish‐Gentile controversy that occurred in the Jerusalem council of Acts 15, the letter was probably composed before that council meeting.   Scholars believe the council met in A.D. 49. This would make James the first epistle to the Christian Church.

B. It’s Theology

Some people claim that James has no theology. The validity of that claim depends on what is meant by theology. It is true that the book of James covers little of anything about many basic Christian doctrines.

For instance, he does not address such subjects as the person and work of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the nature and gifts of the church as a spiritual body.

It would appear that James is writing under the assumption that the basic doctrines of the faith were already understood by his audience and did not need to have them gone over again.

So if by “theology” one means a system of beliefs explicitly built upon the person and work of Christ, then it is true that James lacks a “theology.”

 If the definition of theology be expanded to include teaching grounded in the  understanding of God and His purposes in the world, then James is theological throughout. While he does not refer specifically to the person and work of Christ, he is saturated with the teaching of his brother and

Lord. No other New Testament book is more influenced by the personal teaching of Jesus than James.

There are some twenty‐one references or allusions to the teaching of the Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount alone.

James challenges us that we cannot merely ‘believe’ the right things and at the same time have a faith that makes no demands on my life at all. 

What I believe must show up in what I do, why I do it, how I do it or it is not really what I believe at all.

What I believe must show up in what I say.

I share my faith because it is making a difference in how I live

One of the sticking concerns of the book of James is this doctrine of Justification by faith; and the casual reader can become confused between the positions of Paul and James on the matter.  The issue is whether we are saved by faith as Paul says

Eph 2:8-10

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 1

But James says...

James 2:14-17

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

James and Paul both share the same view of ‘works’  but are addressing the issue from 2 different points in time in the life of a believer.  Both consider our works must be accomplished in obedience to God, but obedience will not bring you into the family, but once you’re a family member, obedience is crucial.

Works do not save, works will not bring you into a saved condition with God – works will not get you saved,

However, once you are saved, your works of obedience to God – whether religious or acts of love and charity must characterize your life or we should rightly ask ourselves if we truely have been saved.  Is my faith influencing the way I live.  Do I have faith Indeed?

Do I continue to let sin co-exist in my life. 

As a culture we are not too willing to admit our sin.  In reviewing a number of public scandals, the Wall Street Journal (Dec 12, 1991) commented:

    We have “a drug problem and a high school sex problem and a welfare problem and an AIDS problem and a rape problem.  None fo this will go away until more people in positions of responsibility are willing to come forward adn explain, in frankly moral terms, that some of the things people do nowadays are wrong.”

When we fail to recognize things we do as sins, we treat them as unimportant, minor, too weak to gain a hold on our lives, as if the Lord’s Prayer read, “Forgive us our miscalculations as we forgive those who miscalculate against us.”

At other times we redefine sin in terms that sound more palatable.  We confuse nature with behaviour.  “This is how I am”  says the habitual sinner. 

“This is how the world works” says the comfortable wealthy person.  We have begun to accept this sort of thinking as accurate.  But James will have nothing to do with that approach. 

His letter speaks of “moral filth” and “humble yourselves”

To our moral justifications James says    

James 1:14-15

each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James calls us to true community.  His heart longs for the creation of community in the church.  Where we are caring for people who are not like us. We are loving people and bringing them into our lives that others would ignore.  He envisions a Christian community composed of relationships of mutual care and responsibility.  A community where favouritism is broken down like the Berlin wall, and our wealth becomes opportunities for generous sharing.

We need to allow James to make us uncomfortable, expose us, break us and build us into the followers of Jesus and the Church of Christ that God longs for us to become over this summer.