On the Way to Wonder

Contention and idolatry, that’s an interesting combination.  James proposes in chapter 4 that we have arguments because we are focusing on our own selfish desires and wants.  As we wind into our political season here, we politely call all the differing points of view, politics, convincing us that one candidate can do the job better than the other, help us achieve our dreams if their party has political control.  Are they different paths to the same outcome, different ways of approaching the aame God?  At best it is confusing.

         Jemes calls his friends an “adulterous people” because he points out that friendship with the world is being at odds with God, the kingdom of heaven.  Wow.  That is hard for us to hear and easy to dismiss as “back then” when siding with Rome was not siding with faith in Jesus.  We are far more tolerant and embracing of diversity in culture today and slide over these verses.  It seems though that a core question niggles at the back of my mind.  Am I seeking to please me, achieve my desires, or am I seeking to God’s desires, and perhaps do I have the two confused? 

         When we think of blessings, we can merge the ideas of blessings of God with blessings of this world.  For sure God does not want us sick, poor, warring.  So now we are back to chapter one again.  It is during times of trials that we have trouble sorting out values for suffering tempts us to put our eyes on the values of this world.  Then we hear that little voice whispering in our ear, “IF…”  If God is the God certainly he would not want you unwise or sick or poor or…. Name your problem.  Trials have a way of sorting our values.  Hence the charge of idolatrous, having an idol, making something more important than God himself and seeking, worshipping that outcome.  I justify lying on income tax because…  I justify luxury because…  I justify compromise.

         James ends with a promise.  The Spirit of God is battling for us “intensely” and we are given grace.  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  When we find ourselves pondering choices, may we take that as a clue to stop and reflect.  Who am I seeking to please?  God bless you as you prepare for Sunday tomorrow.  Blessings.

Arguments!  There is nothing that corrodes relationships like arguments and James jumps from discussing how an undisciplined tongue (not unsimilar to the man driven and tossed by the wind like a wave in chapter one) destroys and undermines wisdom.  Faith is what we believe but arguments is the works that reveal the condition of the heart.  James talks about the “desires that battle within” us. That throws us back to chapter one where he says temptation comes from our desires that battle within us and give birth to sin that leads to death.  Here he specifically names the death of relationships and fellowship in our groups.  Again our eyes shift from God’s desires in a situation to our wants.  Perhaps our famous saying is, “my way or the highway!”

         The patriarch Jacob who had twelve sons by two wives, gave a beautiful coat to his favorite son, Joseph, by the second wife.  The other brothers are jealous, envious, and hurt.  Favoritism has led to actions that hurt.  The brothers plot against Joseph, sell him into slavery, and Joseph’s life goes into turmoil.  As far as I can tell, the story is about family conflict, desires for parental love, and sibling rivalry.  Many of us can identify with those kind of family dynamics.  The church is a similar microcosm of people struggling for recognition, affirmation, and power.  We are people.

         The beautiful part of all this is that even in the midst of all our fights and quarrels, God does not abandon us but continues to walk with us.  Joseph eventually rises to power in Egypt and saves his family but the brothers carry guilt for much of their life.  It took decades to heal that wound.  Some families never recover

         James points out our duplicity.  We think we are praying and asking for God’s help but in reality we are asking God to give us what we want for our advancement.  For sure, some time today there will be that irritating encounter that rubs us the wrong way.  May we stop and think about our motives, how our faith is being challenged by the trial, and what response we give would glorify God.  So easy to say and yet so hard to do.  Keep my tongue in check, look for favoritism in my heart, and acknowledge that all good gifts come from God!  Blessings as you walk through your day!

James summarizes chapter 3 with a final statement, “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”  As I ponder the Bible, it seems like so many stories are tinged with finding peace through violence, through war, through wiping out the enemy.  And yet Jesus says in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.” 

         Webster defines peace first as freedom from civil disturbance.  The world is not at peace as refugees flee and our cities have riots.  OR: Peace is not being bothered mentally by disquieting thoughts or emotions.  Suicide rates speak about a lack of that kind of peace.  AND: Peace can refer to harmonious relationships socially as when Jacob sought to appease the anger to Esau by offering flocks of animals as he returned home.  I suspect peace is different than appeasement.  Fourthly, peace can be a period of time when we mutually agree not to shot each other.  In the book Peace Child a tribe in Papua New Guinea would give a child from their tribe to their enemy to care for and as long as that child lived, there would be peace.  The author points out that God gave his child, his son, to us to create peace and since Christ is God and lives eternally, relationship with Christ is eternal peace with God.  Lastly “peace!” can be an interjection to stop an argument, perhaps similar to “be quiet.” 

     Peace means a lot of things to people and James shares that peacemakers, those who do not fall into the traps of doubt, favoritism, and gossip but can navigate through life by a spiritual north star, by wisdom, will reap a harvest of righteousness.  Righteousness is being right with God and people, not being in conflict within or without, harmonious, content that our lives are in God’s hands. God does not tempt us nor lead us into evil.         As we go about today may we find the solutions to whatever confronts and challenges us by returning our focus to a God who sees the big picture and who works outside our little boxes to bring peace with him for all.  Blessings.

Yesterday I was T-boned by fear.  I summoned all my courage to cross the street and join the women, whom I know mostly, to do water exercises.  With all my back pain, could I get in and out of the pool without making a fool of myself?  I crossed the road and suddenly saw sitting at the foot of the column of the porch, a long black snake head raised!!  I admit it, I yelled and froze in place.  After a few seconds the fellow sped under the bushes and out ran a lizard.  I was not going to outrun that snake even as a youth!  In a few moments the director came to work and put his motorbike between the snake and me and I ooched into the building.  Fear without and fear within.  Late in the afternoon I went to see the cottage being rehabbed for us.  There on the cement car port floor lay the snake’s twin sibling!  Everyone else knows about all the black racers on our compound  and know they are friendly but I did not.  My day was undermined.

         James 3 continues in verse 17 to say that wisdom from God is “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  I consider this my litmus test of wise advice and wise strategies.  Still seeking comfort for yesterdays trauma, toay I read Proverbs 23 and finally turned to Psalm 23, forgetting that it was the classic “Good Shepherd” psalm we always quote.  I reflected on the psalm in light of my snake experience.  Christians equate the good shepherd with Christ and how he leads us.  Psalm 23 tells me I can lie down and rest without fear of an unseen snake, be refreshed by water that does not toss to and fro unstable, be guided on the right path, be accompanied by the shepherd, be fed and anointed, and eventually enter the Shepherd’s home.  Unlike my morning and afternoon walk that were T-boned by fear and caution because of perceived danger, Psalm 23 resonates with James 3 confirming the wisdom of the God who guides my paths – even when there are snakes.  As you are surprised by the unexpected today, I pray you will stay grounded in the truth of wisdom that comes from above that leads to life.  Blessings.

Forty-five years ago I became interested in James because he talks about wisdom, the gift king Solomon asked of God.  Wisdom is a key theme permeating scripture.  The person who finds it, is blessed, and the one who does not is defeated and in danger of being foolish. “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,” say James 3:13.  Hearts filled with “bitter envy and selfish ambition” do not come from God but are marked by “envy, selfish ambition, disorder and every evil practice.”  Pretty heavy stuff. 

         I did not want to be known by those adjectives but I struggled.  I had a younger sister who was brilliant with long straight blonde hair to her waist.  There was nothing she couldn’t do or so it seemed to me.  Short, brown curly hair was not the vogue in those surfer days.  It seems silly now as I look back for God has certainly blessed my life. It seems that the wisdom that James talks about comes from above, from God which means I must not be trapped by self centered whining about my trials, trapped by stereotypes that tempt me to think I am better or worse than others, nor trapped by gossip from other’s tongues that take by mind down a rabbit trail of lies and imaginations.

         Certainly I count to ten when I become angry but I also count to ten when I encounter disorder, selfish ambition and envy.  I must ask myself where I find God in the overflow of rhetoric that seeks to justify violence and disorder.  James links wisdom with humility.  I think of humility as the ability to look at oneself objectively, acknowledging truth and not being blinded by comparisons to others.  It is standing in the truth of God’s light and accepting his leadership.  Tough stuff in a world that wants us to be self confident and empowered.  I pray as you reflect on the events of your life today that you will see your life through God’s eyes and not be blinded by looking at others.  Blessings.

Ouch, we have reached James 3, the chapter that convicts me.  James starts the chapter warning us not to rush to be teachers.  I would like to think that he is not speaking about teachers as a profession but the temptation to consider oneself more knowledgeable and hence responsible to set another on the “straight and narrow, the right” path.  That falls in line with chapter two on practicing favoritism, that is living by stereotypes that define one sort of person as better than another, and needs to be taught.  In any case, teaching is when I open my mouth to share words of “wisdom” that I hope might help another.  Parent to child, we think of correction and discipline.  Between equals, teaching often feels more like criticism.  We allow the worship leader to preach because the person is teaching from the Word.  All those examples involve use of the tongue to communicate to another and so James has much to say about the tongue and its potential danger.  In the shadow of the last chapter, talking about faith and works, perhaps we can consider the use of the tongue as an example of how our faith, a matter of the heart, works in the expression of the tongue, our communications.

         Tongues can be so healing and constructive as shown by the example of a bit in a horse’s mouth.  When my friend gives words of encouragement and affirmation, my heart is turned to health and life.  The tongue used for good, motivates us (the Gettysburg Address, our leaders) and heals us (no cancer!).  But likewise the tongue is used for gossip to destroy lives and motivate people to war and hate.  I often find myself reflecting on orators today and pondering how what I am hearing is motivating me to act, to work.  Am I being directed to life or death?

         Interestingly Proverbs 21 for today also says much about the tongue.  Verse 2 reminds us that we often think our words are right but God is looking to see if our heart is right.  Verse 6 shares, “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.”  Twice the writer warns about living with a wife who is quarrelsome and contentious.  And verse 23 shares, “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”

         James pleads for consistency and the avoidance of duplicity.  That is not unlike the image of the wave driven and tossed by the wind in chapter 1.  There is no wisdom when we are tossed about and no blessing when our tongues are undisciplined.  So today I ponder my role, not only as a teacher, but also as a wife, partner.  To what extent do the words of my mouth reflect the faith of my heart?  Does my speech build or is it idle chatter?  As you go about your tasks today, I pray you will hear words that build you as you seek to live with others.  Blessings.

September 18, 2020, Proverbs 18: 4, “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters, but the fountains of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” This caught my eye.  I am now in a little apartment overlooking Lake Minneola and I watch the waves driven by the wind, continually rolling towards the shore, not far from my front door.  One time in Kenya, we lived with a brook in our back yard.  I was greatly pregnant with twins and found great peach taking my three under six year olds out to enjoy the brook and its restless flow to somewhere.  The writer compares wisdom to a brook.

         Where did that brook come from or the waves on the lake?  Somewhere up in the mountains for the brook, driven by the wind for the lake.  Both are a bit magical, soothing my spirit, continually moving and seeking a destination I cannot see.  I can stop and notice and be comforted or they can become part of the scenery.  I suspect God’s wisdom is a bit like that.  It is continually there within my grasp, coming from an unseen source, going to an unknown destination.  I can choose to listen to God’s wisdom or let it be in the background of my life.

         Because of the word “but” I suspect our writer is contrasting the bubbling brook of God’s wisdom to the waters of a man’s mouth, coming from a heart that is impacted by the trials of life and the mood of the moment.  Are those words sincere or is there a hidden message, a hidden trap, a deception I do not understand because I realize a fellow person is a frail as I am.  We do not doubt the truth of the brook.  We may fear its strength if it is flowing strongly but we do not suspect duplicity.

         Water calms our spirits and speaks of life.  I pray as we go about today, we will take time to see the brook of wisdom flowing from God to us, be refreshed, and that our words would be words of encouragement and peace and not traps for another.  God’s word is always true, deep, and wise.  God’s water brings life.  Blessings.

Faith heroes are few and far between today.  Modern media has reported the flaws of leaders and courts have tried them and found them guilty.  I suspect we look to some ordinary people in our lives who have lived out faith three dimensionally.  James looks to the biblical hero Abraham.  As a woman, I have a bit of trouble with this one as Abraham had Sarah lie about her relationship to him and she ended up in the Pharoah’s harem.  I just cannot imagine that was a fun experience.  Abraham also showed great favor for the son sired by the “maid/baby carrier.”  James though looks beyond these human transgressions and into the heart of Abraham.  James says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him.  God saw the faith that acted in an impossible situation, an old wife, and produced a son, Issac.  The “sins,’ mistakes that taught Abraham and defined Abraham’s life, developed a faith in action that God then calls “friendship.”  Pretty touching.  Abraham hung in there with God and God hung in there with Abraham.  Faith and works.

         James gives a second example, Rahab, “the prostitute.”  Now there is an unexpected hero.  James jumps from “the father of the faith”” to an ordinary foreigner, caught in the political chaos of her day as the Israelites sent spies before they entered the Promised Land.  She saw the writing on the wall, saw the actions of the God that protected the invaders and made a decision to act, to hide the spies from the king and plead for mercy.  Rehab’s family was saved when the walls of Jericho fell.  Rehab, the Canaanite prostitute married Salmon the father of Boaz who married Ruth, the Canaanite widow who went to Bethlehem with Naomi.  Boaz who was the product of Rehab’s faith story of acting in the face of social pressure, had compassion and reached out to Ruth, the foreigner who acted in faith and followed Naomi against all odds.

         Faith and works are not about wealth and power like Abraham but is something ordinary people like Rehab, like you and I can believe and live by.  We do not know who is watching when trials come and we make decisions but we do know God is watching and he is faithful.  How wonderful to be called “friend of God” even with all the “oops” in our lives.  Thank you Lord.

Today we come to a discussion in James, chapter 2 starting at verse 14 between faith and works.  This debate comes up through out scripture.  Did Jesus prefer Mary, who sat at his feet possibly seeking faith, more than the doer Martha who was overwhelmed with the tasks at hand?  Social justice vs pietism.  Mystics and monastics or demonstrators.  We see this next section reflected in our world today as we deal with systemic evil, refugees and other issues like capital punishment. Each of us feels we are trying to live a life congruent with our beliefs but struggle with the perceived finger of the other who tackles life differently.

         I note that James places the discussion in the context of a trial (1:2) when our faith is being tested.  Perhaps the question is, must another’s expression of faith be the same as my preferred expression?  Is the choir as “holy” as the Bible study or as the women in the kitchen?  James seems to be saying that faith speaks, expresses itself.  It is not an analytical fact that I agree to like believing Washington was the first President.  Faith finds expression but then we trip on favoritism at the beginning of chapter 2.  We all want to think we are doing life right.  The discussion of the “body of Christ” discussion in Romans guides us as the eyes and ears vie for positions of importance but as someone who has recently struggled with back pain, I can testify that a back that does not allow you to bend down to take an object off the shelf at Walmart, negates all insights my eyes have on which price is best.

         Faith is a living, expressing, growing expression of our personhood, unique to us to be shared with others.  And so back to the beginning, if we are unsure how to express our faith, wisdom comes from God and we must not doubt and be tossed about by comparing ourselves to others.  We must not judge another’s expression of faith and so take the place of God.   May we rejoice in the diversity of expression today and refuse the little voice that would diminish us in God’s eyes.  We are each his child and he is working in all our lives.  Blessings as you seek to live faith today following the law of love.

Yesterday we pondered acting as people who are going to be “judged by the law that gives freedom” in James 2:12 and then James continues to explain that judgment without mercy is weak because “mercy triumphs over judgment.”  Again I am thrown into thinking about Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and the battle between Jean  Valjean and policeman Javert.  It is a story about the law, represented by the policeman, trying to catch a reformed prison convict who has reformed his life.  It ends with Javert throwing himself into the Thames, to satisfy the law.  It is not unsimilar to Christ dying on the cross for us people who cannot seem to live by the law.  We say, we are saved by grace and not by works.

         Favoritism shows no mercy or grace but judges by outward appearances.  Many line up at churches to get free help because Christians are suppose to help.  I’m not sure who is more blind, the person who only see faith as a meal ticket or the person who sees beggars as nuisances.  Both are guilty of favoritism or prejudice.  

         During times of trials the temptation is to fall back on stereotypes of our situation or others.  We perceive we are being judged for wrongs we committed or we perceive the other likewise.  Mercy frees us from the penalties of not satisfying the law.  It frees us to go forward without a secret past, without a burden of bitterness, with a more open heart but it also opens our horizons for experiencing the other.

         Mercy provides a window of hope for the future.  I do not know what burdens of law are plaguing you even as Javert always appeared to steal Jean Valjean’s joy but we can rejoice that Christ offers us freedom to embrace the future and hope.  Blessings as you face your challenges today.