INTRODUCTION
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.” (James 1:1)
JAMES, A SERVANT OF GOD
There is a sort of tallness that best describes some who have lived in this world. I’m thinking now of the writers of Holy Scripture. (There have been others, of course, and there are many today I’m sure, who are of this same sort of stature.) Particularly though, I’m thinking of those New Testament writers like Paul and Peter and John and James. They had acquired a kind of insight which gave them a tremendous advantage for living in this world — an advantage that they seemed to want desperately to share with others.
OF A SPECIAL KIND
They had a tallness by which they were seemingly able to feel in their faces the breezes of another world, and at the same time, keep their feet touched down in this world. They learned to breath deeply of that heavenly atmosphere, without floating away from the realities of their present task and the responsibility of living here in this world. They seemed to own a lot of sky, without owning much land. They learned to draw strength from above, and expend that strength down here, not for themselves but others. They found that the higher they could reach, the further down they could stoop.
And they prayed, but only for those things that God wanted.
And they wept, but not for themselves.
And they suffered, but always in hope.
And they died, but not before they lived.
And now they live again, in the other world.
Their faith, and love, and hope was strongly attached to things invisible, yet they were able to maintain a proper relationship to the more temporal, visible things. The more they put their faith in God and trusted Him, the more they saw the value of other people. The more they set about to serve God, the more they found themselves serving people. The more they hoped in Jesus Christ and His promised coming, the more they wanted to see people prepare themselves for that day. They were able from this vantage point of tallness, to see with deep penetration into both worlds. A gift to be envied — no, much more — to be reached for by all.
PAUL TOO
Paul talked about sitting together with Christ in heavenly places, and at the same time, walking worthy of the vocation with which we have been called in this world. Yes, they became great souls, these souls that had been quickened by the Divine Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus.
WE TOO
It should ever be the same for us. But it does require a certain kind of submission on our part, even as it did for them. Much of our suffering and God’s chastening us will be to this end. “Behold, we count them happy which endure.” (James 5:11) Our study of the Epistle of James will bring us in this direction if we will let it.
THE EARLIEST EPISTLE
This epistle, we are confident, is the earliest epistle written to the Christians. As such it holds a place of special interest to us. It was written very early in the life of the Church by one who was considered both a pillar and leader of the Church in Jerusalem. (Gal. 2:9) In it is contained the revelation of truth as well as the instruction and correction that was vital for their day, and still remains just as vital for ours.
The fact that this letter is addressed to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” is not surprising when we realize that the Gospel to the gentiles had not become a blossomed reality. We also should keep in mind that it is not simply Israelites who are being addressed, but Christian Israelites. No doubt the concern was for those thousands of first converts who were gathered at Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost and had now returned to their own land. They had come from “every nation under heaven”, and had witnessed the birth of the Church and the power of God. (Acts 2:1-12) As they listened to Peter explain the meaning of the wonders they beheld, they were confronted for the first time with the Gospel message. Being pricked in their hearts they inquired of the Apostles, saying, “men and brethren, what shall we do?”(Acts 2:37) To this Peter answered directly and to the point, and they that gladly received his word were baptized. It is further recorded that day about three thousand souls were added to that young church. Also, we are told that daily the Lord added to the church those who were being saved. These had now returned to their homelands, all of which are listed in Acts 2. So there were Christian brothers in all nations who were sorely in need of an epistle such as James writes here.
Our need for James’s message is just as great as was theirs. Let determine at the start to embrace its message and bow to its instruction as we become aware that it is God speaking to us. For we know that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Gentile” for we are all one in Him.
JAMES’ A MAN WHO FEARED GOD AND ESCHEWED EVIL
James has been described by some as legalistic and austere, but how much to the contrary I see him as I contemplate his introduction of himself as well as other things he says in this epistle. This man who was the brother of our Lord after the flesh, and to whom our Lord made a personal appearance after his resurrection, and who was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem, introduces himself simply as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He who later will speak of humility in the sight of the Lord is himself first a man of humility. A man who speaks of patience, meekness, and mercy as this man does, and talks about the wisdom that comes from above, and how it is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, surely must be a man who believes in these things.
Still there is a more important word to say here. For is it proper to credit James with these words as is so easy to do? Or should we not rather account this as God’s Word given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to James for this writing? It is God’s inspired Word, of course. We may possibly account literary style and form, to a certain extent, to the person writing, but the truth which is set forth, is jealously guarded by the Lord, the true author.
LIVING WITH JAMES
James writes then as a servant of God. What he writes is truth. Truth is meant to be lived with. From these thoughts came the title of this book and the reason for writing it.
Now as never before in history, I believe, men have become artists at rationalization. There is no surer way to make the Word of God of none effect than by practice of rationalization. If we do not like instructions and teachings which insist on a change of behavior we can always shout, “legalism”, and continue to live our own way. (It had been better for us though, if we had never heard the truth.) Or we can declare, in humble pride, “I’m not under law, I’m under grace”, when in fact it may be we are neither under law or grace. For possibly there has never really been a sincere turning to God in accepting His salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ; hence, the explanation for some men’s dislike of following His instructions and observing all of the things that He has commanded us.
GOD’S WORD — HANDLE WITH CARE!
We must learn to approach the Word of God with eager willingness to both learn and obey. At the same time we must use delicate caution lest in our eagerness we change its design or mar its beauty or twist its intent. When we depart from a confrontation with the Word of God, it must remain the same as when we came, only we must be different.
CHRISTIANITY SHOWS
True Christian living will invariably set the Christian in bold relief against the background of the world estranged from God. For men are preoccupied in selfish pursuits, seeking pleasure and happiness through a thousand different ways that have been tried time and time again since the world began. Our Lord Jesus taught us that we were to be the “light of the world”, and also “the salt of the earth”. (Matt. 5:13-14)
Both of these elements, light and salt, are both powerful in effect, yet unobtrusive in manner. Light will never push a door open; but when the door is opened light gently floods in making manifest all that is there. Light will not crack the thinnest veneer, but let a crack appear and light shines in. Darkness is the absence of light, let us never forget that. Likewise, salt in its powerfully aseptic yet quiet way will check corruption, preserving the good. But let salt lose its savor and it is good for nothing and should be cast out to be trodden under the foot of men. Therefore it is important that we live the truth. Yet we can never live the truth until we are first willing to live with the truth.
A BEAUTIFUL UNFOLDING OF GOD’S WILL
Some see this epistle as a collection of disconnected and random truths dealing with the Christian faith. Indeed, it has been called by some “the proverbs of the New Testament”. But I trust we shall see, as we carefully and prayerfully consider its pages, that it is a unified message from heaven — an unfolding revelation of God’s will. It is like a beautiful and artistic picture of exquisite woven work of many individual strands. Each strand having its own color and beauty. As each strand of truth appears on the surface it lends its needed element to the picture. It then disappears, but never to be gone, still in the background, now providing the backing for the new themes yet appearing. Each time a theme reappears it is in a new setting, adding its importance to that part of the picture. It appears in practice; but when it disappears it lays in the background as doctrine.
Thus on the surface we see practical Christianity, but we must not fail to realize and sense the strong underlying foundation of Christian doctrine so strongly implied in its lines. What is it this epistle depicts? It is the life and conduct of the real and true Christian, — how it ought to be — how it can be — how it will be, if we can just learn to live with the truth of this epistle of James.
APPLES OF GOLD IN NETWORK OF SILVER
So then as these important themes are introduced in the book one at a time and seem to quickly pass, we can expect to see them reappear again very soon. But let us remember they remain the same. We see more of them and we see them in a different setting, but all we saw of them before remains true.
For example, when we consider the prayer of faith in chapter five it is important to remember what was said of both prayer and faith in chapters one, two, and four, or else our understanding will be incomplete. The picture builds as we go and we must retain each element to see and appreciate the beauty of the whole.