Hodgepodge - Christianity 2.0

“Hodgepodge - Christianity 2.0”

James 1:5-18

Preacher: Rev. Mark Bartsch Kobe Union Church January 19, 2025

Just a little follow-up from last week, where I talked about trials. I want to remind all of

us—friends, husbands, brothers, and sisters in Christ—how we can care for someone

we love who is going through painful trials. Take a page from Job’s friends (Job2:11-13).

1. They knew about their friend’s pain. Too many of us keep our trials and

challenges to ourselves. Don’t. Sharing allows others to help carry the burden.

2. They went to their friend and sympathized with him. The midst of trials is not

the time for judgment or accusations. The world will do enough of that.

3. They showed their hearts. When they saw Job, they wept, tore their clothes, and

put ashes on their heads. Their empathy was tangible and sincere.

4. Finally, they sat with him and didn’t overwhelm him with advice or words.

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is simply be present be quiet.

When we go through trials, we need wisdom. When we care for others going through

trials, we also need wisdom. Not the wisdom the world gives, but wisdom that comes

only from God. Let’s learn from the example of Job’s friends.

We are continuing our study of the book of James. If any book of the Bible is written for people living in a world of constant distractions (ADHD types), James is it. He jumps from topic to topic! It reminds me of living in Kansas – if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. In just a few verses, James shifts ideas several times. This isn't like Paul, who carefully builds his arguments. James moves from wisdom to faith and doubt, to our attitude towards wealth and poverty, to enduring trials (which we covered last week), and then to the nature of temptation. In just a few verses. It can feel a bit overwhelming!

One of Stephanie's critiques of me is that in conversations, I can switch topics from the main thing that people are talking about. She will sometimes gently tell me, “Mark, lets stay on topic.” 

Today, we'll explore the three main themes James addresses in these verses. I pray these insights will enrich your spiritual walk as they have mine. Let us pray.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God..." (James 1:5)

I believe James uses the wrong word here. It shouldn't be "if" but "when." We all need wisdom constantly. We live in an age of information overload. A lot of people confuse having information for having wisdom. The two are not the same. The amount of information doubles every year, yet our wisdom seems to diminish. Wisdom isn't about reciting facts; it's about applying knowledge with discernment and understanding this is the hallmark of wisdom. The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). I prefer to say "awe" of the Lord. Wisdom starts with knowing your creator and sustainer. It's about acknowledging that we don't have all the answers and recognizing God as the ultimate source of truth and wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

We are information-rich, but wisdom-poor. It's like having a powerful car with no gas. It looks impressive in the drive way, but it's useless. The world overwhelms us with choices, not all good, not all bad, but the sheer volume can paralyze us into in action and confusion. Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologian, had profound insights into the concept of choice within the framework of Christian thought. He gave an example of when God gives you a steak the evil one does not give you dog poop. Instead the evil one will give you nice pasta dish. And since you can only choose one it can throw the Christian into inaction. We need wisdom to know what life choices God is directing us to. That only happens in prayer. 

James says, "Ask God." We often turn to the wrong sources for guidance. I was at an expat bar in Kobe, and I overheard men discussing serious life questions with other men who didn't really care about them. They were offering "earthly opinions," and I wanted to shout, "Go to the Lord! He will direct your steps!" James isn't telling us to go to our pastor first. He says to go directly to the Lord. Ask God for wisdom, and He will give it.

It's also crucial to have other believers pray for you. It's wonderful when God speaks through a pastor or friend, but the most powerful encounters are often direct from God. And He will speak! Sometimes we need confirmation from a brother or sister, but ultimately, go to the source – God Himself.

Jesus said that if a child asks their father for bread, he won't give them a stone. If they ask for fish, he won't give them a snake. If we can approach our earthly parents with our needs, how much more can we go to our Heavenly Father?

Sometimes, what we ask for isn't granted exactly as we expect. But in my experience, God always grants the wisdom we need to navigate the challenges we face. And when God doesn't answer immediately, He's calling us to wait. "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." Many of us rush to confront problems in our own weakness instead of waiting for God to empower us. We don't want to be double-minded, tossed about by the winds of doubt. We need spiritual balance. I once read that the most important qualities for a sumo wrestler are power, speed, technique, and – most importantly – balance. (Physical example.) When life throws us off balance, it's much easier to fall. Stay in the Word! Come to worship! Pray! Fellowship with other believers! Laugh! When I feel overwhelmed, I go for walks and pray. It helps me regain my balance when life feels unsteady.

The believer in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the believer who is rich should take pride in their low position, because they will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plants; its blossoms fall, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich person will fade away even while he goes about his business.

What is the root of what James is talking about in verses 9 and 10? The early church in Jerusalem, just like the church in Corinth, and just like the church here in Kobe, has a variety of people on the economic spectrum. Some have more than others. Here, James is comparing the faith of a lowly brother against a person of means. James wants rich, middle, and poor believers to see their lives from an eternal perspective, not from the perspective of their bank accounts. If the rich man thinks that his wealth will get him any reward in the eternal world, he is totally 100% mistaken. He is saying that a poor person, who has to pray about the choice sometimes between getting medication and buying food, is so much more adept at trusting the Lord than a person who does not think about money at all. Their faith is strengthened because they use their faith every day in their daily life. He wants to tell the poor person, "Your poverty is only of this earth; it is not eternal." And to the rich man: "Your wealth will buy you nothing eternally."  

That is the sin of the Catholic Church. In the 1500s, in order to build the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica (I have never been there, but I would like to), they told their priests to highlight the fires of hell and to talk about the torment of purgatory. To rescue their loved ones, people could buy their way out of purgatory with indulgences or offerings (a "get out of hell free card" or a "points card"). It was a horrible, evil, sinful thing done by the church—and it worked. It worked and it didn’t work because it split the church; they raised huge sums of money and also jump-started the Protestant Reformation in the process.

In the most famous story Jesus tells about wealth (well, there are actually two), one is about the rich farmer. God blesses his farm with bountiful harvests, and to fit the new harvest, he builds bigger and bigger barns, thinking that his security is in his wealth, not in his relationship with God. I will say that again. He thinks his security is in his wealth not in his relationship with God. Jesus says that very night God called him to account. Jesus calls him a fool. (Luke 12) Don't be a fool.

The other story is Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16. The rich man (we do not have a name because he will not be remembered) would rather throw his food away into the trash than give his leftovers to the poor man, Lazarus. When they get to the other side, the rich man goes to hell (Gehenna), and Lazarus goes to a place with Abraham (heaven). The rich man still wants to lord it over Lazarus by telling him to go to his brothers to warn them. He wants Lazarus to leave heaven (which he does not do—he is wise) and go back to his poor life, where only the dogs would lick his sores, just to warn the brothers who, by the way, would never listen to a poor man—just like so many people did and do not listen to our Savior who came back from the grave.

Thirty or so years back, the church I was attending was doing a coat drive for poor kids in the community. I was shopping at the secondhand store for something I needed (yes, I like secondhand stores), and I saw a well-to-do woman from our church unloading clothing that included coats. They were beautiful, stylish coats, both adult and children’s sizes, that cost a lot. But she didn’t want them anymore because she had bought new coats. Rage boiled up in me. I said, "What are you doing? You would rather get pennies on the dollar than get the warmth and satisfaction that a child who needs a warm coat would receive. I said this is evil and wrong, and you better ask the Lord for forgiveness because your soul is in danger of ending right next to the rich man.” I scared the crap out of her. I am not a hellfire and damnation preacher, but I was that day because it was wrong. I wasn’t even her pastor; I was just a believer calling another believer to account. We all need to Check ourselves from time to time. 

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. Each person is tempted when, by their own desires, they are dragged away and enticed. Then, desire gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear believer. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth so that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. From practical to theological, James corrects some believers in the church by saying that God does not tempt people. That doesn’t mean God won’t test you—He absolutely will. Sometimes, God even allows Satan to tempt us. I’ll be honest: I don’t always know how to process that, but I trust that God knows more about my journey than I do. Two of the most well-known examples of God allowing the evil one to tempt are Job (the oldest book in the Bible) and Peter. At the Last Supper, Jesus casually informs Peter that Satan has asked to sift him like wheat. That is not the big news. The big news—and its clear key—is that Jesus tells Peter, “I have prayed for you.” Then He adds, “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Satan is brilliantly stupid. He knows he’s lost the war. The cross and the resurrection sealed his defeat eternally. All he has left are little battles—and you and I are the battleground. Even though he’s lost, his only victory is to drag you and me down with him and his demons. When we face demonic attacks, we need to pray the blood of Jesus over us. I do not say this to be overly dramatic—just to be real. Most of the time, we are our own worst enemy. We fail to allow the Holy Spirit to help us learn from our mistakes, and we repeat them over and over again. But there are times when we come under the evil one’s attacks, and that is when we ask God, the Lion of Judah, to fight for us.

Back to God. You might feel like God is testing you, and He might be. But you cannot say, “God is tempting me.” Temptation involves something unhealthy or evil, and God doesn’t work with those tools. First, He doesn’t need to use evil to accomplish His purposes to grow you. He doesn’t. Second, God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Now, there is darkness in our hearts. Jesus describes us as a mixture of wheat and thorns. Here’s a warning: run far away from any pastor or spiritual leader who claims they don’t have thorns. They’re lying. God is the only one without darkness. For God is love (1 John 4:8). And because He loves us, He doesn’t leave us in our mess; He wants us to mature.

We like to quote, "Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). That’s true. But some Christians see a devil behind every bush or call anything they don’t like “spiritual warfare.” James doesn’t let us off the hook like that. He says temptation comes from WITHIN. We’re tempted by our OWN desires. Satan just piggy backs on those things we dwell on. So, we have to ask: do our desires align with the Fruit of the Spirit? If not, it’s time to do some soul-searching. Remember, I said there’s darkness in my heart. That’s the place the evil one tries to exploit—not just to tempt me, but his goal is to lead me to destruction.

Take Cain. His story (the second-oldest tale of temptation after Adam and Eve) is a lesson for all of us. God wasn’t happy with Cain’s worship, but He told him how to fix it. Instead of listening, Cain let his darkness take over his heart and mind. He turned on his brother Abel, thinking, “If there’s no competition, God will have to accept me.” But God saw Cain’s heart. He warned him: “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you (consume you), but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).

That’s James’ message too. We need to take responsibility for the darkness in our hearts and let God’s light shine in. Light drives out darkness—always. No ifs, ands, or buts. Martin Luther King Jr. said it well: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”

James uses the image of birth to describe sin. Birth is a process. It takes time. At first, you might not even realize it’s there. But eventually, it starts to show. You can hide it for a while, but not forever. Left unchecked, sin gives birth to death.

So, how do we confront this darkness?

1. Confession. I used the Catholic Church in a negative light earlier, but now let me highlight something good. The Catholic Church has the confessional, and while we don’t necessarily need a booth to confess our sins, there’s wisdom in speaking our struggles aloud. I have two brothers in Christ whom I sometimes use as confessors. We hold each other accountable, and I can’t overstate how valuable that is. Who helps you stay accountable?

2. Don’t go it alone. Lions hunt the isolated and weak. Even an armed hunter is no match for a lion, but lions will not attack a group even a group of children. We all know the scripture: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, the Spirit is there." The decline in Christianity in the West has one of its roots in individualism—people trying to go it alone. Don’t. Don’t be easy prey for the evil one.

3. Bring your struggles to God. Say, “Lord, I’m struggling with anger,” or “Lord, I’m caught in lust,” or whatever it is. Name it. Be specific. And don’t come doubting. Come with confidence, knowing that Jesus, just like He prayed for Peter, is praying for you to overcome. And when you do overcome, God will open up a whole new area of ministry for you, just like He did for Peter.

Let us pray