Sunday, September 22, 2013

New Testament History and Letters: Three observations from letter of James

A.) James view of Wisdom: Wisdom and James' Pastoral Exhortation.
1. James is a good Hebrew boy. He read the law, Psalms and Proverbs. Wisdom comes from the law. It gives us practical wisdom for fragmented relationships. He also learned from Jesus, who was the wisdom of God.

2. The idea behind the Hebrew word for wisdom seems to be the ability to apply knowledge to the life. For the Jews, wisdom involved the ability to perceive the proper conduct necessary in light of the knowledge one possessed. The Hebrew idea of Wisdom is more action than insight, more practical than ethereal. biblical wisdom is advice that heals division and guards against fragmentation for it produces integrity. Like Jesus, wisdom's aim is reconciliation and restoration. Like Jesus, wisdom is from God. Wisdom comes from God, not just from the text. A wise person can take a Biblical truth (for example: God's character) and make it live in the middle of a sinful word. Wisdom alive in a soul is the biblical skill of living well and the art of applying truth to life. James had this trait in spades.

3. The Jewish mind understands that a man who lives wisely by the law has integrity of self and  others.  James’s exhortation to a wisdom that is sourced in the Scriptures and resourced by God. Biblical wisdom begins with learning but ends in wisdom as a character trait. (Jam 3:17-18)

        a.)  James 1:5: Now, on most occasions when we think about this passage, we are thinking about decisions we have to make, something unknown that we want God to show us. We need to know which school to send our children to or which job we are supposed to take. So we turn to this passage and find comfort: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God.” That is a wonderful help that this passage brings to us. However, if we take a look at James understanding of wisdom we see that James has a meaning much more profound than God giving us the cheat sheet to some test in life.
        b.) Wisdom is more than just decision making. In verses 2-4: the situation is “trials of various kinds.” in which we ask for wisdom. 
        c.) It is always a helpful thing when thinking through a text to ask, “Does the author talk about this idea any other place in his writing?” Let's look at James 3:13 were James uses the word wisdom again. In James 3:13-15, James describes two kinds of wisdom
                i.) One ‘wisdom' is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. (and as we all know can seem practical and reasonable – might can seem right) What is wisdom that is unspiritual? Notice how james describes it as “bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts.”
                ii.) The second kind of wisdom in v 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.” Notice how James uses the word wisdom. There are two kinds in his mind, a false wisdom and a true wisdom. It seems like James is equating wisdom with character. Wisdom for James has to do with character, as in the contrast of bitter jealousy with gentleness or peace.
         d.) Back to James chapter 1 and keep James' definition of wisdom in your mind. You are in the midst of a trial, “If any of you lacks wisdom,” that means, “If any of you lacks gentleness, peace, if any of you lacks being full of mercy and good fruit, let him ask. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
         e.) James view of wisdom as Character becomes much more profound for the believer. If you are in the midst of a trial and you are responding to that trial with bitter jealousy or envy or anger and you need wisdom from heaven, you need the grace from heaven to respond to that trial in a way that imitates the character of God, ask and He will give it. The wisdom he gives will change the whole self.
         f.) The opposite of wisdom: Foolishness, Emotionalism, indifference, and Thoughtlessness are opposite terms. These traits will cause us to base our decision making on faulty premises and over emotional thinking. Therefore, we will be unable to make good and healthy choices, thereby leading us into bad situations and strife. These rotten fruits will cause us to be calloused and unconcerned about truth or what is virtuous and right. In so doing, we become the fool described in Proverbs. (Foolish is a moral category in proverbs).

4. An ear-mark of wisdom as a character trait in both the OT and in Jesus’ teaching is prudent speech. A corrupt tongue, quarreling, and arrogant boasting are countered with confession and humble prayer, An earmark of wisdom in both the Old Testament and Jesus’ teaching is prudent speech. A lot of what James writes against is corrupt tongue, quarreling, and arrogant boasting. This is all in the presence of confession and humble prayer. He says those do not naturally go together in a fallen world. We have to get these together.

B.) James view of the law: ‘Royal law’ (2:8) and ‘the law that gives freedom’ (1:25; 2:12)
1. For James, godly wisdom is rooted also in the law. The law gives us the information needed to walk Christ-like. It gives us practical wisdom for fragmented relationships. In terms of James’s view of the law, we can see it is the royal law. It is the law that gives liberty. These are very close to the way that Jesus applies the law. He talks about the love of neighbor and the priority of mercy over judgment. In short, Law-keeping is wise living.

2.  James 2:5-11

a) You can hear some of the themes of Sermon on the Mount all through the letter, but particularly in v. 5-7. It is like James was listening to Jesus when He gave the Sermon on the Mount.
b) James even summarizes the law in the same way Jesus does. "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right."(Jam 2:8)
c) "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (Jam 2:9-10) James does not say this to say that you should not keep the law because it is impossible to keep. He says it to say that you should do it.  He admits we can't keep it perfectly, but because we can't does not mean we give up. He wants us to see the wisdom for life in the law.
d) "For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” (Jam 2:11) In other words, the law is not a buffet line. The law is not a smorgasbord. It is not something you pick and choose. We should not cast the law aside because we can't follow it perfectly nor should we pick and choose  which of the commandments we follow. In so doing James seeks to protect the integrity of the law and keeps the definition of sin from fragmenting into personal preferences.

3. Three important hermeneutical keys for law-keeping from James

a) James insists on the fact that you must understand the law as interpreted by Jesus. Jesus summarized and accentuated the law in a certain way. Jesus gave a summary of the law in the commands of love. James is right on board with his older brother.
        1.) The law is good; but how is it Good.
             i.) The law reveals the character of God.  The law points to perfection. The ground of all law is God's character. The value behind the command points to his character.
             ii.) The Law gives a sketch of the created order. The law was given because of sin so it outlines the way things ought to be. It gives us a picture of authentic existence.   
b) In James 2:8, 2:12, we can see 3 very important hermeneutical keys for law-keeping
             i.) It is a standard, not a suggestion.
             ii.) Love your neighbor is our summery and center motive.
             iii.) Mercy triumphs over judgment is our method of application.

4. The third use of the law: the law for our sanctification.

a) The third use of the law is the primary and proper use of the law for Christians. James like a good Jew, really emphasizes the role of the law in the life of the believer. The law is good; therefore the law is to instruct us in righteousness as believers, and direct us in sanctification.
b) Sanctification is growing in christlikeness. If Christ's life was marked by complete obedience in fulfilling the Law, being Christ like will be marked by law-keeping in the gospel. The difference is our keeping is not measured by perfection but by covenant love and gratitude for another competed its requirements so we can received its blessings, put another way it is measured in the gospel.

C.) Character of Christian Community
1.James deploys familiar topics from the Old Testament wisdom tradition to address the threat of fragmentation in the community, arising from a lack of integrity. Practical faith on the part of believer. Joy and patience in the midst of trials. The nature of true Christian wisdom, attitude of rich to poor, abuse and proper us of the tongue (language, words). Being a door of the Word not just a hearer and explaining the futility of dead faith and the subtle deceptive division between 'what one believes' and 'what one does' that leads to dead faith.

2. He points out that friendship with the world is enmity with God (4:4). Wealth is to be used to build solidarity in the community (2:15-16) rather than an instrument of oppression or of one’s own security. It is interesting that in Jesus’ parables about wealth, He talks about a shrewd use of wealth in terms of building relationships. Wealth should be an instrument of solidarity, not an instrument of oppression or separation. James joins Jesus and Paul in offering strong warnings to “the rich” without condemning wealth as such.

3. Power and Place of confession. “Confess your faults one to another and be healed” (Jas 5:16). A call to confession in terms of the tongue. Look at James 5:13-16.

a.) Today, the church have lost the language of confession. It is really important that we not only confess our sins to God but that we also confess our sins to each other. There is really no way to break the power of an addiction if you keep it a secret or if you just talk about it to God. This is the individualism and isolationist approach to sanctification. “It is just Jesus and me trying to fight against my sin.”
b) Such silence and individualism goes against the corporate emphasis of what it means to be incorporated into the people of God in the New Testament. The notion of confession of sin to one another is a vital weapon in our sanctification.
c) We must develop trusting relationships and develop relationships to the point where we can have those people in our lives. We need to be wise. Not everybody, but somebody. We need people in our lives among God’s people who know exactly what is going with us.
“He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone….The final breakthrough to fellowship does not occur, because though [we] have fellowship as believers, [we] do not as ‘sinners’. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner.”
                                                   Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 100
d) Bonhoeffer's words are a  word of rebuke to many of us and many of our churches. We have created pious fellowships where it is impossible to be a sinner. No wonder no one wants to come who does not know Jesus. They are not welcome because no sinners go there!
e) The thing about confession is that it is fraternal twins. As God’s people we confess two things together all the time. We confess our sins, and we confess our faith in the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. We have to do both. If we just confess our faith in the Gospel, that is not the full Gospel. The Gospel is, first, the bad news that we are sinners, second, the good news that God forgives sin in christ. We need to confess our sins and confess our faith.
James offers a vision of a mutually supportive community whose members confess their sins to one another, pray for one another, and encourage one another in moral integrity (Jas. 5:16, 19-20).
                                                               W. Brown, Character in Crisis, 160.

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