Real Faith Will Sow Peace
Series: Real Faith (Book of James)
Brad Bailey – October 25, 2020
Intro
Hey everybody. I’m so glad you are joining in today. I think we tend to underestimate how much significance there is in showing up itself. It’s been said that “all success begins with showing up.”
And I believe that every time we choose to join in gathering before God... there is a significant underlying spiritual choice being made. When we gather...even online...we gather to explore what it means to know God...and glorify God.. So the choice to gather itself...to give ourselves to this time... is itself a significant choice...a choice to not avoid the role of God in our lives... but rather to dare and face who God is and what it means to align our lives with him. It really IS significant that you and I are taking time to come before God.
And we are continuing in a series entitled REAL FAITH...in which God is speaking to us... through the Biblical Book of James. It’s written by James....who was a half-brother of Jesus himself. James brings forth the nature of what we could call real faith. ... as notably different than just so called “religious beliefs.” It’s a challenge to understand that real faith is faith in action... faith that changes how we actually live.
Many have noted how relevant the themes in this book can be. And today really speaks to this time of intense social conflict.
This week I’ve been reminded of our nations historic Civil War... left in in bloody tragedy... 750,000 lives lost ... over half to disease... nearly half... never identified.
When it was finally over... what President Abraham Lincoln saw...was that this was a moment that was not just about who won...but about so much that was lost. He understood the significance of what was settled... but he also understood the sobering truth that the war reflected a shared and tragic failure. When those created to live as one people ... destroy one another... no one wins. When those who are fundamentally bound by so much common ground can’t find it... it is a tragedy.
When Lincoln looked at the carnage at hand ... he knew that the cause was substantial .....but when 750,000 lives are lost... an entire generation is all but wiped out in the south... he grasped that there was little to be celebrating....little to be proud of. [1]
Essentially... he stepped back...and grasped a higher view.
And today we are called to step back...and grasp a higher view.
Many have described our current state as approaching a civil war. I don’t believe that we will enter into anything that compares to the historic Civil War. The real comparison is how much people have defined sides of a war... defined who is “us” and who is “them.”
We are in the final days of our national election...which concludes in just 9 days. It’s an election that has accentuated how the major political parties have stepped further apart It seems like everyone has left the space of common ground...and withdrawn into their group affirming castles... pulled up their drawbridge.... and is simply accepting the inevitable casualties of war.
Today... I believe that God is calling us to step back...and grasp a higher view. Today in James chapter 3, God calls us to a faith that sows peace, and even tells us what to sow.
Let’s listen to James 3:13-18 as we look at a faith that sows peace.
James 3:13-18?
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. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 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. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Here James speaks about the false wisdom of this world...and the true wisdom from above. Wisdom is about understanding. If knowledge is about information... about being informed... wisdom is about understanding that information... about understanding what is truly going on...and what is truly good.
Now, let me just pause there and point out that God says that real wisdom is seen in your relationships. He begins by saying that If you are a truly wise and understanding person, it will be seen in your life by the good deeds that you do out of the humility that always comes from wisdom.” Whether you're wise or whether you're foolish is not what shows up on some test you take at school but what shows up in how you relate to other people. Wisdom shows up, God says, in relationships. So, I don't care how much money you've made in life or how successful you are, if your relationships are strained or they're weak or they're hurting, you're not very wise.
Now James describes to us the so-called-wisdom of the world. It's not pretty. Human history reveals how powerfully we are driven by envy and selfish ambition, and the result is all the disorder and evil we see in the world. Putting ourselves ahead of all others means creating billions of self-centered independent and often competing goals, and a willingness to use and hurt other people in order to get what we want.
James says... whenever there is envy or selfish ambition, you will always find disorder… the ” The Amplified translation expands that this can refer to, “...confusion, unrest, disharmony, rebellion, and every kind of evil.” Anytime you see any of these things in your home or your work or your school or in society, confusion, chaos, conflict, all of the things we just read... it's because envy and selfish ambition are at work.
If we follow the way of envy and selfish ambition... we may think we are wise...but it is not true wisdom... it’s the way of this world... earthly... unspiritual...and demonic. James says, You may try to frame your pursuits as wise... but you shouldn’t boast about these things... or deny the truth...the reality...which is that they are the way of the world... and not the way of God.
True wisdom comes from above... it is the unchanging nature of God. In verse 17, James describes the characteristics of the wisdom from heaven...and all lead to one goal... and that is sowing peace.
As he concludes...in verse 18...
Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. - James 3:18
True wisdom is that which will sow peace... that will bring the work of peace which God seeks...and which will then lead to the fruit of righteousness... to the good which God seeks for His creation.
This call to bring peace is rooted in the very life and work of Jesus.
He entered a world in which his own people...the Jewish people... had formed various litmus tests that defined good and evil... and that may have welcomed the Messiah to come join the right side. But he didn’t. Jesus the Messiah...the savior...didn’t just join their defined good side to defeat the bad side.
He didn’t see the world that way because it isn’t that way. He saw a world divided not by those who were good and those who were evil...but those who lacked true peace with God and others.... and could realize it and receive God’s work of peace.... and those who lacked true peace with God and others and would deny it and refuse God’s work of peace.
As was prophesied of his coming...he would be called “the prince of peace.” As the prince...he represented the kingdom of God...the way of God...which brings the true peace that everyone needs.
And that is why Jesus said
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” - Matthew 5:9
He tells us that it is those who seek peace who God can call His children. Those who bring peace... are those who reflect God’s true image and work in the world.
In a time of conflict…peacemaking may seem naïve… pie-in-the-sky... idealistic… and even dangerous.
But Jesus was quite serious… and he knew exactly what was involved. It was not an optional quality for those whose had peaceful dispositions.
And those who followed... who were truly taken over by his life ... embraced the call to be peacemakers.
As the Apostle Paul wrote...
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. - Romans 12:18?He says… “With everyone”… how much easier if we could choose some to leave out…but he we are called to seek peace with EVERYONE.
He also begins…“If possible.” The Scriptures understand that we don’t control others… and so… peacemaking is not always peace achieving
He says… “As far as it depends on you”…the responsibility is on us. We are not responsible for what others do…but for what we do.
And it’s vital to understand that peacemaking is not passive. The Scriptures tell us... [2]
Romans 14:19 (NIV) ? “…make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” ??Hebrews 12:14 (NIV) ? “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy…”
In the same way that we speak of waging war... we should understand the nature of waging peace. [3]
Peacemaking is active. It’s doesn’t just avoid the conflict that exists ...it involves actively sowing peace. As James says, we are to be peace MAKERS...not just peace keepers. Peacemakers sow in peace.
The truth is that every day and in every relationship that you have, you are planting seeds in those relationships every day of your life. The only question is, what kind of seeds are you planting? What are you sowing into your relationship? Are you sowing seeds of anger, sowing seeds of distrust? Are you planting seed impatience or fear? Are you always planting seeds of criticism or nagging or anything else? Whatever seeds I sow, I will reap. And that's why whether you're going to have good relationships or bad ones, peaceful or ones with conflict.
And I hope none of us miss how uniquely these speak into this time of such heightened conflict that is at hand.
So we will focus on verse 17, in which James identified the qualities that will sow peace. So we are going to quickly look at what qualities we can sow that can bring peace in our relationships.
If you're going to be a peacemaker in your home, in your work, in your family, in the world, you're going to have to learn how to plant these in the way that you relate. They reflect the wisdom and way of God. these are....
The Seeds of True Wisdom that Will Sow Peace
The first thing James tells us is this...
1. If I’m truly wise, I will not compromise goodness and truth.
If I'm wise, I won't compromise the truth. Because at James 3:17, the first thing it says is
“Real wisdom is first of all pure.” James 3:17
Real wisdom is pure. Now, what is James talking about? He's talking about honoring and telling the truth.
Proverbs 15:26 says, “The Lord delights in pure words.” Proverbs 15:26 (NLT) Words that are truthful, not words that are dishonest, not words that are false, not words that are lies.
Why do you think God mentions this first? Because all relationships are built on trust, and all trust is built on truth. There is no trust without truth. You can't have trust without truth. And so, in order to build relationship, you have to have trust. In order to have trust, you have to have truth. Honesty is the bedrock of all good relationships. It is truthful, it's honest, it's real, it has integrity.
If I want to sow peace with you...I'm not going to try to take advantage of you, I'm not going to try to deliberately deceive you, I'm not going to try to mislead you.
And I believe that this is particularly tested in the political wars at hand. When we see others as part of a war to win... we will justify spinning the truth...using biased facts. James says...that is not from God. If I’m truly wise, I will not compromise goodness and truth.
Number two
2. If I’m truly wise, I will seek to form connection rather than conflict.
The second phrase in James 3:17 says this:
“Real wisdom is...peaceful.” James 3:17
What does that mean? It’s not referring to some trippy disposition. It’s referring to a desire for peace...for harmony...in relationships. True wisdom understands that peace requires a desire for peace... rather than conflict... a desire that will create a safe space.
Have you ever been headed into a situation when you knew that someone was looking for a fight? (If you’re married...no need to answer that.) The truth is that when we feel hurt... we can get angry...and we often want to punish the one who we felt hurt by... and we think that will resolve something. What it won’t do... is bring peace.
The simple truth is that when people don’t feel safe...when they know that you are more critical than caring... we are not sowing the peace of God. This is true in a marriage... in parenting...in a work setting...and on social media. For some of us...this can be really significant. Some of us tend to be more critical in our thinking. Some of us tend to be more proud of being right than being kind. Some of us may think that people need our correcting...that we are God’s gift to the misguided lives around us. But God knows people don’t care how much you know...until they know how much you care.
If we don’t understand this...we will win arguments ...and lose people. But true wisdom will seek to form connection rather than conflict. As the wisdom of Proverbs afforms,
Any fool can start arguments; the honorable thing is to stay out of them. Proverbs 20:3 (TEV) ?
This doesn’t mean that we avoid engaging all disagreement. Being peaceful means that we create a context that is safe...in which care is established...and others know that we value the relationship... that we value connection more than conflict
A third seed of true wisdom that will sow peace...is this...
3. If I’m truly wise, I will consider what others feel and fear.
James says...
“Real wisdom is...considerate.” James 3:17
“…courteous...” (LB)....“…gentle with people…” (TEV)
What is God speaking about? Other translation say, “Real wisdom is courteous.” Real wisdom is “gentle with people.”
Considerate means that we consider... really consider what another person feels and fears. It means you’re not just thinking about your feelings, your agenda. You're not just thinking about your goals, your needs, your hurts, your interest. One of the greatest challenges we face...is breaking out of our own orbits... and considering what others may face and feel.
If someone has feelings and fear that are different than ours...we can tend to think they’re wrong...we can tend to downplay them. We may consider them invalid or illogical or unimportant.
This is an enormous part of the conflict that is destroying and dividing people right now. As I shared a few months ago...everything has become oppositional. In our current pattern, particularly lived out on social media, if someone has feelings about the fear and injustice that black lives have been living with...someone else may feel a need to respond saying that we need to appreciate the police... or vice versa. If someone is afraid of getting the current virus.... someone else may oppose them with concerns for those who are faced with the loss of businesses and work. We hear everything as in opposition to everything else.... as something we need to dismiss.
As Rick Warren recently described,
“One of the reasons so many marriages end in disaster and so many kids are estranged from parents and so many citizens are fractured in angry divisions is because most people have never been taught how to sit with someone's pain without getting defensive about it. How to sit with somebody's pain without getting defensive about it, and it causes all kinds of problems. When somebody tries to express how fearful or heartbroken or angry they are about some deep, painful wound, the most unloving thing and the most unhelpful phrase you can reply with is this phrase, “Yes, but what about…?”
Yes, but what about…? When they're in pain and you say, “Yes, but what about…?” it assumes that what someone actually feels can be invalidated by something we feel is in opposition to it.
True wisdom...that sows peace...will seek to connection with what another person feels and fears.
Romans 15:1-3 says this:
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it’s written, ‘The insults of those who insulted you fell on me.’” Romans 15:1-3
He is describing how Christ bore the insults that feel upon others. And that can be a part of our lives too. We can carry the burdens of others. As the Scriptures say in Galatians 6:2,
“Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” - Galatians 6:2
What's the law of Christ? Love your neighbor as yourself.
The ability to be CONSIDERATE ...to consider what others feel and fear... has a profound potential in our world right now. It is the power of true wisdom that comes from outside this world. It is like an antidote for the constant process of invalidating every feeling and fear that is deemed to represent the evil side.
I can’t think of a better time to learn to consider the feelings and fears of others. Why don't we try to do that his week? When someone expresses a feeling or fear that may be different than ours... maybe we find it negative...or threatening of our view of things....how about we try to challenging it...try exploring it. Ask more about it. In doing so...we will be sowing peace. It could save your marriage, it could save your family, it could save our nation.”
Next, another seed to sow for peace is this...
4. If I’m truly wise, I will remain open to reason.
In the English translation we are using, it says..
“Real wisdom is...submissive.” James 3:17
Now, the Greek word here is only used one time in the entire Bible. Right here, in this verse, James 3:17. It literally means you're open. As the RSV translation says, “You're open to reason. You're not defensive.” The Living Bible paraphrase says, “It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others.”
“…open to reason…” (RSV)
“…it allows discussion and is willing to yield to others.” (LB)
It means your reasonable. You're open to discussion. You're willing to be persuaded. A wise person can learn from anybody. The Bible tells us something we have likely discovered in life... which is that it’s the fool who will not listen to others.
Proverbs 12:15,
“A fool thinks he needs no advice but a wise man listens to others.” - Proverbs 12:15 (LB)
We are being foolish when we are stubborn, closed-minded, and closed to reason. The truth is that being reasonable... sounds reasonable...but it can be hard for some of us. We may tend not to want to bother with the facts... we have already settled what is true...and an inconvenient truth from others is a threat. The result is that we cannot sow peace when we have become a wall to others...a wall that they try to speak to but cannot really be heard. But a wise person is able to overcome being defensive. You don't take everything personally. You don't get offended so easily.
If I’m truly wise, I will remain open to reason.
Now the final seed to sow for peace [4] I would sum up this way
5. If I’m truly wise, I will not condemn others... I will not bind them to their wrongs.
James concludes his description of true wisdom saying..
“Real wisdom is... full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17
You see, mercy, the Bible says, is a mark of wisdom. Mercy is giving people what they need, not what they deserve. When somebody stumbles, you don't judge them, you encourage them. Proverbs 17:9 says this,
“The one who forgives an offense seeks love, but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends.” – Proverbs 17:9 (NET)
Separates friends. That’s what will happen over time when we become unforgiving. Eventually the one we won’t forgive...will give up... they will sense that we have made a choice to keep punishing them....and they will find no reason to hope for peace. But true wisdom won’t condemn others. We can condemn the evil that may be a part of a particular action...but never the person. The very nature of mercy is the means to freedom from what we deserve.
Peace comes through Gods mercy. Only through His mercy can I have peace with God. And that mercy should become what I extend to others. That becomes a basis for peace.
Someone who struggles with being judgmental with others... usually has not accepted the grace of God. They don’t really face the reality of their own sinfulness in themselves...so they have a hard time being gracious with others.
Some of you may sense that challenge in yourself. Are you quick to point out everything that's wrong in the world? Are you quick to point out what's wrong with everything in your home or at your work or in your church? Do you jump on every mistake? Do you bring up the past?
When we resist God’s grace and mercy for ourselves...we will not be honest about our own faults. We will not be sincere... authentic and genuine. We become prejudice... by justifying our own faults as acceptable... and emphasizing the faults of others.
When you're free of prejudice... and honest with others.... open and honest about your own faults, it makes them more open to you. It is essential to sowing peace.
So true wisdom...welcomes mercy... and sows mercy as part of sowing peace in relationships. We won’t condemn others. We won’t bind them to their wrongs.
How can we do that? Romans 15:7 from the Bible, it says this:
“Accept each another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7 (NIV)
“Accepting others as Christ accepted us.” That is at the core of true wisdom.
You see ultimately... apart from God, we will operate by the wisdom of this world...which simply tries to divide the world between the good and the bad... and then judge the bad. There can be lots of talk about peace...and even being into some movement for peace...but we will find that there is ultimately still a war being waged between some version of good and bad people.
True wisdom comes from above. True wisdom flows from Jesus coming for a sinful world... in which every life has declared itself to be independent...the rightful ruler of it’s own life. Christ came to bring mercy for such sinners. So true wisdom is rooted in the common grace and mercy of God through Christ. [5]
The vital truth is that...
“Peacemakers don’t see a war of sides as much as a field of sinners.”
We will sow the seeds of peace when we begin with mercy...when we accept others as Christ has accepted us. The peace that the world needs begins with seeing that we are all sinners...who have no peace with God...but that God has come to bring peace...by providing a way to be reconciled with God...and then with one another. When we know he has bought us with his own life...his own blood... that is what defines us. So we are no longer separated by the differences that divide us as good and bad... as superior and inferior... whether they be our gender...our ethnicity... our money... or our political ideas.
We may have different political priorities... about what matters most. We may fear different directions of governing more than one another. We may have different ideas about how to achieve the common good. But true wisdom... will not see a war of sides as much as a field of sinners.
Like Abraham Lincoln long ago... when he faced the carnage of the Civil War... he didn’t dismiss the merits of what was being fought for...but he knew that something was tragic about brothers having killed brothers. He knew that when such a war is won... we can’t ignore what was lost.
So I can’t think of a better week to choose to be one who embraces the call...to be a peacemaker who sows in peace.... and raises a harvest of righteousness. Theirs is a pretty good chance that this week you will have some opportunity to have an exchange with someone who is different from you...somebody of a different culture, a different age, a different religion, a different race, and embrace the call to sow peace. Don't try to solve anything, just listen and learn and love. Embrace the true wisdom that
Let’s conclude in prayer together. Let’s focus ourselves before God by closing our eyes. ... I invite you to join as I lead us.
Dear God, I want to stop being shaped by the false wisdom of this word... and develop my life according to the true wisdom that comes from above...that comes from you. I want to be a peacemaker... to sow peace in my relationships. I want to acknowledge that I am a sinner...amidst a field of sinners... that nothing makes me fundamentally better than others. So I want to accept your mercy in Christ. I receive the death of Christ as the price of my own sin...and I receive his resurrected life as the power that has defeated death and welcome that life to now come indwell me... to be the ling of my heart... by the Spirit.
I pray this humbly in your name, amen.
Resources:
A Faith That Plants Seeds Of Peace by Rick Warren. Having taught through James twice before, I have the value of a fresh shaping done by Rick Warren, from which I have drawn and adapted element for this section of text.
Notes:
1. From “Statistics From the Civil War” -
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/statistics-civil-war
If the same 2.5% of populations were killed in a war today... it would equal 7,000,000 lives.
“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”?? Abraham Lincoln
2. There is also Ephesians 4:3 (NIV) ? “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
3. Glen Stassen wrote…
“Peace, like war, must be waged. It must be waged courageously, persistently, creatively, with imagination, heart, and wisdom.”
4. There are indeed two more elements which James includes in the nature of true wisdom. For the sake of time and flow, I chose not to include that final pair in this message. However, I did develop what I would have done, adapting from Rick Warren’s inclusion, which I am including below”
The last seed of peace that James recommends that you plant for peaceful relationships and to be a peacemaker in the world is this
6. If I’m truly wise, I will be free from prejudice and hypocrisy.
In the English translation we read from, it says,
“Real wisdom is impartial and sincere." james 3:17
Impartial means that we don’t put our bias on others. And sincere means we are consistent with what we say. Another version translates it this way.
“Real wisdom is FREE FROM PREJUDICE and HYPOCRISY." james 3:17 (TEV)
Wouldn't that be helpful if we were free from prejudice and free from hypocrisy? It is essential to sowing and serving peace in our relationships.
Wise people, the Bible says, are not prejudice. That means that they are fair in how they judge others who are different. They don't despise differences. Just because somebody's different from you, doesn't make it bad. Everything that's different isn't demonic. It's just different. And wise people see God's wisdom in making us all different. So when we relate to people...we don’t assume that our view is the only view. This doesn’t mean that everybody’s truth is the ultimate truth...it just means that we don’t assume our view is the only view. It means we don’t pre-judge everything different as wrong... or less valuable than our own experience.
Part of being a wise peacemaker is overcoming prejudice. We will sow peace into the world when people can experience that they are not pre-judged according to some bias we have toward a morally neutral difference.
And then he says that wise people are not hypocrites. They are not just pretending. They aren’t claiming or showing a position that they don’t actually value. They aren’t claiming to be better than they actually are. In other words... they're sincere... that they are genuine....they're authentic....they don't fake it. In other words...,. He says, it's dumb to pretend that you're somebody you're not. It's even more dumb, it's even more foolish to pretend you're perfect. That's foolish, why? Because everybody already knows you aren't perfect. I mean, who do you think you're fooling? You're not fooling God, you're not fooling everybody else. People actually appreciate honesty more than they do trying to pretend like you got it all together. When you're free of prejudice... and honest with others.... open and honest about your own faults, it makes them more open to you.
5. Also we read - “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV) Jesus came to reverse from all of these alienations. So he calls us to multi-dimensional reconciliation.
