SUBMISSION OF THE WILL
Text: James 4:1-7
There is in British history a war that has a title that is just as ridiculous as its cause. It is called the War of Jenkins’ Ear. This war began back in 1739. It started out as a trade war between Spain and England. There was a treaty that restricted the way that the British would trade with Spanish colonies in America. The British tried to circumvent the rules as they began smuggling. Robert Jenkins, a captain of Rebecca (a ship), was one of those smugglers. He refused to surrender his cargo to the Spaniards when they boarded his ship. They in turn cut off one of his ears. Later, Robert Walpole, a self declared (Britain’ first prime minister) Prime Minister under King George II, declared war over this incident. It became known as The War of Jenkins’ Ear. It had transpired from a trade war into an actual war that became part of a bigger war, The War of Austrian Succession. Not long after that, Walpole resigned. Imagine that! A war started over on ear. We know that there was more to it than that with the trade wars as the base. But, it is almost funny.
This story relates to something that the book of James in the New Testament was talking about. James 4:1-2 points out that wars ---conflict start within the individual and have the potential to transpire into something more as it can become a war between people.
THE CAUSE OF CONFLICT
Conflict starts within the individual.
The cause of internal conflict of individual people arises from the need to gratify the self. I once sat on the waiting room of the Datsun dealership in Spartanburg while I was waiting for my car to get fixed. I do not remember how the subject cam up, but I got involved in conversation with another fellow who was also waiting for his car. As we were conversing, he mentioned that if there were two babies and one bottle in a crib, that there would be a fight. He was right.
Conflict within can transpire into conflict without.
The story about the two babies and the one bottle is an example of that. But, it is also true that violence originates from this same idea. Violence is a breach of conduct. Violence can be as simple as a fight over who won the game or something as complex as murder.
The cause of conflict without is the result of not having what one wants. James points out that killing and coveting is the worse case scenario of not having what one wants. Remember Cain and Able in Genesis 4? Cain killed Able because he wanted God’s approval of his offering. God was pleased Able because he obeyed and displeased with Cain because he did not obey.
FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD
The world has a view of life and living that is in opposition to what the Christian faith upholds.
The King James Version of the Bible uses the word lust in both James 4: verse 1 and verse 3. The Greek word for lust is hedone which means to seek to gratify the sinful nature of the flesh. It is interesting that to note that there have been commercials on tv for NIKE that say “If it feels good, do it”. NIKE might have labeled this concept in terms of athletics, but in reality the hedonistic philosophy has always been in the world. But, at the same time it tends to be self –centered or cliquish. It is that kind of thinking that leads to discrimination and what we would call a rank and file mentality. That lifestyle is dangerous because it creates the grounds for conflict. It is the kind of mentality that lives by the creeds of us and them.
The world also has a view that upholds that every man is for himself.
Although Darwin might have given the behavior a label survival of the fittest, that behavior has always been a round. Survival of the fittest is a way of thinking that says that that the weak do not have a place because they are not fit. That same way of thinking is what leads to the mentality of approving of something that is unacceptable in God’s eyes. People might say that survival of the fittest of a way of life among the beasts of the jungle. True, it is a way of life among the beasts of the jungle. But, God created humanity to be stewards of the earth. That order means that we are supposed to be intelligent as well as apply our intelligence. Therefore, we are to live above the laws of the jungle because God created us that way (Genesis 1:29-30).
The world also holds a view that glory is for the self.
A self-centered or cliquish view becomes idolatrous because it seeks to serve an object such as the group or the self instead of God. It is a way of life and living that seeks to gratify the sinful desires of the self or the group. How can we love God with all of our heart and soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5) when we give someone or something else place that God and God alone should have? How can we love our neighbor as we love ourselves when we treat them as less than?
In her book Balcony People, Joyce Landorf talks about two kinds of people. She calls them Basement people and Balcony people. She notes that Balcony people are affirming and uplifting whereas Basement people are discouraging and critical. Balcony people build us up and Balcony people tear us down. Landorf writes “I am sure, if there were a way to view a movie and see instant replays of all the strategic change points in our lives, that we’d instantly spot the people who either broke our spirits by their critical judgemental evaluations, or who healed us by their loving, perceptive affirmations” . (As quoted by 56 Devotions On Short Notice. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988, p. 74). It is through God’s grace that those who were once Basement people can be transformed into Balcony people. It is also by God’s grace that people who have been put down by Basement people can rise above those criticisms that brought them down.
SUBMISSION OF HE WILL
Apart from God, man is at enmity with God.
James 4:4 tells us that those who choose to be friends with the world are God’s enemies. The world is opposed to the ways of God because the world that we live in chooses to live by its own rules and wisdom rather than God’s wisdom. When it comes to the Kingdom of God, we must not compromise.
“George 0. Wood writes that on October 31, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 departed from Anchorage, Alaska, for a direct flight to Seoul, Korea. Unknown to the crew, however, the computer engaging the flight navigation system contained a one-and-a-half-degree routing error. At the point of departure, the mistake was unnoticeable. One hundred miles out, the deviation was still so small as to be undetectable. But as the giant 747 continued through the Aleutians and out over the Pacific, the plane strayed increasingly from its proper course. Eventually it was flying over Soviet air space. Soviet radar picked up the error, and fighter jets scrambled into the air to intercept. Over mainland Russia the jets shot flight 007 out of the sky, and all aboard lost their lives. Choose your direction well. Although poor choices may hurt you in only minor ways for a while, the longer you go, the more harm they bring.” (Craig Brian Larson. Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers And Writers. Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1996, p. 50). It must therefore be said that to compromise Christian principles with the friendship of the world is also dangerous.
When submission to God is a problem, it is a problem of the will.
There are many reasons why people refuse to submit to God’s will, such as indifference, selfishness, love of the world and so on. It is often scary how people are indifferent to something until they are confronted in a personal about the matter of their indifference like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). One might be indifferent and critical of the homeless until he or she became homeless. An employee of Firestone company who is in the hierarchy of the company might be indifferent to accident statistics and faulty Firestone tires until it becomes the cause of death or injury to one of his or her family members. It is scary to think that there are actually people who are indifferent to God until the certainty of their eternal future is put on the line. There are some who have suffered eternal consequences because of their inability to submit to the way of salving grace of God through Jesus Christ.
We must submit to God or nothing changes.
We must submit in our will and affections, time and talents, plans and purposes, pleasures and possessions (James Smith. Handfuls on Purpose. Volume 1. Grand Rapids: William Be. Eerdman’s Company, 1947, 1997 reprint, pp. 227-228). We must submit because God gives grace to the humble, but he resists the proud (James 4:6). People may say, “Well, that’s just the nature of the beast.”
“A man went out to a river for a time of quiet meditation one morning. During his meditation he noticed that the river was rising as well as a scorpion that was trapped in the roots of a tree. He tried t o release the scorpion and with every attempt it drew back its tail ready to strike. An observer watching this man said, “ Don’t you that its is the scorpion’s nature to sting?” The holy man responded, “Indeed it may be his nature to sting, but it is my nature to save. Must I change my nature because the scorpion does not change his?” (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 72).
It is God’s nature to love even if His love is rejected. It is God’s will for us to be like him in that respect (Matthew 5:48). St. Augustine once said “There are two wills and each one possesses what the other one lacks”. It is sometimes the will of man to think of himself as something when in turn he is nothing. The Bible calls this self deception (Galatians 6:3).
