(This sermon was preached at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on 9/30/12 and is the 7th part of a series on the Book of James)
Ps. 53:12; James 3:13-18
As we have looked at the epistle (letter) of James to the Christians in Jerusalem, we have seen that James has addressed numerous practical matters that would help the people live more fully into being Christians – to move them more fully toward maturity in the faith, and become more perfect in their walk with the Lord.
Here at the conclusion of chapter 3, James addresses the matter of wisdom and what true wisdom looks like and acts like. As he had begun this 3rd chapter by addressing the use of the tongue, James is now directing his thoughts especially toward those who desire to be and aspire toward being teachers and leaders in the body of Christ.
It is interesting how Eugene Peterson begins his translation of this passage in the Message version of the Bible: “Do you want to be counted as wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourself sound wise isn’t wisdom…”
James essentially points to two kinds of wisdom – that which is from heaven and that which is not from heaven – wisdom that builds up and wisdom that tears down. The words of James should be viewed against the backdrop of what was beginning to occur among Christians in his day, what is occurring in our world today, and how distorted notions of truth and wisdom in the church and society actually serve to lead people to move farther away from God.
It is apparent that in the times that James wrote, there were distorted and disturbing understandings of what wisdom was, who really was wise among them, and how wisdom was to be used for the up-building of the kingdom of God, and not for the tearing down and demeaning of others.
We can imagine that in the days of James, there were all manner of persons who claimed to be wise – and wanted people to know that they were wise – and who used their self-professed wisdom as a tool or weapon to control, and manipulate others in the church – and get their way.
This is the sort of knowledge – or so-called wisdom – that can be dangerous and can serve more to tear people down than to build them up.
If you know like I know – the admonition of James against the misuse of wisdom, and falsely defining it – is as dangerous today, as it was 2000 years ago. There are people – even today who will let you know how smart and wise they are – where they went to school – what academic degrees they have on the wall – and with whom they have studied.
And not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with any of this – but the attainment of knowledge and wisdom – within the scheme of God’s divine intent for our lives - is to be used for the up-building of the kingdom of God – for the up-building of the body of Christ, the glorification of God, and not simply to further our own selfish ambitions and build ourselves up. James has some word to the wise today.
There’s the story of a minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert who were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped.
The computer whiz said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped.
The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.”
The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!"
Intelligence is not the same as wisdom.
It appears that James was dealing with some people in Jerusalem who had been living in a state of misguided understanding of wisdom, and as a result, many in the church were beginning to turn their lives away from God, and had begun to place their trust in other people and other things.
And if we look around us, we realize that the world today really hasn’t changed very much from the days of James. Today, we find that too many people have placed their trust in too many people and things other than God, and have turned away from the Lord.
And so the questions for us is in what do we place our trust and belief today? How do we keep trusting and believing in God amidst all the misguided wisdom around us? Where might we find wisdom and truth for the living of these days?
I believe Psalms 53:1-2 can help us, where, we find more words to the wise. Here psalmist declares that only a “fool does not trust and believe God. But the wise trust in the Lord.”
The psalmist says – “the wise trust in the Lord.” Those of us who would be truly wise today – those of us who would be filled with wisdom – would learn to place our trust and faith in God, first and foremost.
To trust and believe in God is to know that beyond the realm of our humanity, God is the God of all wisdom, and it is at the point where our minds meet with the mind of Christ that we really become wise. It is at the point where our minds connect with the one – Jesus – who had the mind to humble himself – even unto death on the cross, that we become truly wise in this world.
That is why it is written that “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10) The writer of Proverbs goes even further by saying that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
Now we can see why those of generations past seemed to have a wisdom that so many people today don’t possess - because they trusted in the Lord. In days past, there was no Internet, no information age, but they trusted in the Lord. The world was not at their finger-tips - there were no cell phones, no cable television, no PDA’s and laptop computers, no I-pads or I-phones, but they trusted in the Lord.
Often their ministers were not well educated, many did not have the benefit of college or even a high school education, but they were wise and they trusted in the Lord.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. O that we would learn- in the living of these days - to put our trust in the Lord.
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