[AI translation] With the help of the Holy Spirit of our Lord, I would like to start a new series. After the Abraham series in the Old Testament, we now turn to the most practical book of the New Testament, the letter of James. By way of introduction, let me say a few words about the letter itself. I have already said that it is the most practical document in the New Testament. There is nothing speculative about it, but rather it is a profound, serious, simple testimony to the applicability of Jesus' words to real practical life. It is not a dogmatic work, but rather an ethical one. Its basic idea is that true faith bears fruit in good works. Faith divorced from life and morality is hypocrisy or delusion. It proclaims a Christianity of action as opposed to a Christianity of word. It is like the echo of the Sermon on the Mount after a generation.Its author describes himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Jas 1:1a) The more accurate translation of the original is "slave". This introduction is all the more striking because it does not refer to the apostle James, but to the fleshly brother of the Lord Jesus. How much humility there is in this expression: it makes no reference to a blood relationship. While the Lord was on earth, he looked at him as perplexed and perplexed as the rest of the family. But since, as Paul tells us, the risen Lord appeared to him, he has seen and believed in Him. Later he became the ruler of the church in Jerusalem. It is from here that he writes the present letter to the 12 tribes who were scattered, that is, living in the dispersion, around the years 44-50. The letter is therefore addressed to the Christians who are scattered, that is to say, dispersed as a result of persecution, a scattered, dispersed flock. This is how he describes the state of the church, this is the situation of the church of God, the people of God in the world. Scattered among all the nations of the whole earth. And even there in such a scattered, scattered condition, where apparently as a church it is together.
And is not virtually every local church, including ours, in such a scattered, fragmented, disunited state? How much disunity and disunity, how much distance and alienation, even among those who should be united together as the people of God! How united, cohesive and cohesive is not even a local church, but rather a scattered flock! And yet, in this address, "James... to the twelve tribes scattered abroad" (v. 1b), it is expressed that even in such a state there is a church, the scattered church is a church, in spite of its scattered state. James' address shows. Let him therefore address us in our scattered state, and on that basis let us also cry out to one another, like hikers in the mist among the mountains, where one cannot see the other, 'Here we are! We are together! We are here! Yes, we may be separated by many differences, unlovingness, indifference, thoughts, aspirations, and because of this, as God's people, we too are scattered - but we are not lost, we are found! And we are saved because of Jesus Christ!
James is not writing a private letter, and he is not writing the letter of his own accord, but as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he is calling attention to the presence of Jesus, to His mighty presence with His people. The church lives by and from the presence of Jesus among them, even in their dispersion. Let us not think that the powerful and gracious presence of Jesus among his brothers and sisters on earth has ceased even for a moment! Just a week ago today we spoke of the fact that Jesus is not somewhere in the distant starry distance, but is right here, with us, close at hand. His invisible presence among His church is a reality, a reality to live from. And for us, whenever we meet in this way, or do not meet at all, but think that there is a scattered congregation here: it is precisely in our faith that we should be inspired that Jesus lives here with us, among us!
It is in this faith, in this certainty, that James dares to cry out to the scattered church, as his very first message, "Consider it full of joy!" (v. 2) - as if to say: Rejoice! Be happy! Whatever the case, whatever the situation, you are free to rejoice! Yet that church, if we look at its external circumstances, had little reason to rejoice. In its large, disjointed state, it was exposed to the temptation that many would renounce their faith and backslide. In the absence of a fraternal community, they had no one to rely on for support, no one to form a battle line, each one having to fight the many battles of faith on his own. And yet, James does not lament the plight of his brothers, nor does he write: Oh, my poor brothers, accept my sincere condolences - but with some incomprehensible, serene hopefulness he cries out to them, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations... But in endurance, let it be a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and whole without any defect." (verses 2 and 4) But that is why he dares to do this, because he believes in the reality of Jesus' invisible presence. And indeed: without this faith, to encourage one to rejoice in the midst of temptations, to persevere in trials, to do perfect works, to live without consumption, is just plain good advice, which only makes one more discouraged, because one feels that this is the trouble: one is incapable of doing it.
On our own, we cannot make any progress in this direction, as James indicates here. In trials we do not rejoice, but groan, complain, lament. And not to triumph, but to fail. I, with my own weaknesses, my own defeats, my own daily failures: shall I be enduring, whole, without loss? I know my weaknesses, I know what happens in the midst of temptations, I am helpless when fear surprises me, when some trial comes upon me! And when James speaks here of endurance in temptations, of perseverance, of perfection, surely he knows that this is what we are incapable of! He surely knows from his own experience of our failures, our defeats, our weaknesses - but here he is thinking of something else! When He says that you should count it joy when you are in the midst of trials, He is thinking of Jesus, of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course, apart from the person of Christ and His redemptive work for us - left to ourselves - we can do nothing but sigh and lament when someone exhorts us to joy and perseverance in the midst of trials. Yet here is one from the Lord Jesus Christ, in the embassy of the crucified and risen Saviour, proclaiming that you can rejoice even in trials! There is victory over temptations, there is help for you, there is strength to count on - Jesus says! Take up the fight, take up the fight, but with faith in Him, with trust in the crucified and risen Jesus, and you will see that faith is something that can take up the powers available in Christ! And so it is no longer just good advice to count temptations a joy, to be steadfast and perfect - but a warning of a great opportunity: look, here is your chance to live in Christ.
And it's not just for the twelve tribes scattered across the world, it's for us too, in the same way! No matter how scattered, vomit-covered we are, no matter how weak, weary, small-hearted, whining, there is not one of us who does not know the name of Jesus Christ. There is not one who has not been baptized, not one who has not been laid at the Lord's table, not one who has not been called to be one of God's people, one of the army of which Jesus is the victorious leader. At most, we forget Him at times, we fall asleep, we feel helpless, we feel at the mercy of our nerves, our moods, our inner stubbornness. But that is why Jesus Christ Himself comes to us through the word of His servant James and says, "Rejoice! You are free to wake up, to be strong, to overcome! I say this, Jesus, who by my death and resurrection have redeemed you!
Yes, if, amidst the burdens and temptations of life, we believed in the invisible presence of Jesus, we would no longer sigh, we would no longer complain! We would acknowledge that although I am poor and powerless, and I have reason to be weary, to sigh, - but in all this Jesus is with me, who always says to all who are weary and burdened: come to me, turn to me, look at me! Think of what I have done for you! Then we understand what the apostle Paul said when he cried out, "O wretched man! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"(Rom 7,24) Then we will also understand when he writes: "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (1 Cor 15,57) Yes, so it would be if we could, if we dared to believe in the reality of Jesus' invisible presence.
So, "Count it all joy, brethren, when you fall into various temptations". From morning to night, we are assailed by many "temptations", blocking our path, spoiling our day and our mood. For example, worries, pains, regrets, or the baser instincts, images and thoughts that arise from within us. To this James says, should we rejoice? How? Should we rejoice in that which causes us discomfort, trouble, that which we should be ashamed of? Yes, says James, because these small, perhaps quite hidden, processes in the depths of the soul, where the temptations take place, are processes of great importance! For it is in these that Jesus can give us joy, real joy. Because this is the moment, the place where our faith can be put into action, where we can be convinced of the reality of the invisible presence of Jesus! Is this where we find out if I am truly a child of God, if I belong to my Father? And if I am - as I am - then I should not sigh, I should not look at myself, but let the truth that I belong to God prevail! What can separate me from His love that is in Jesus Christ? And then this will be the victory, the perseverance I must develop in the temptation!
It is then that it will show whether or not I read my Bible, say my prayers, in vain? Now, at this moment, I must make myself aware that Christ is my Saviour! Now, to make this small movement within me: to turn away from temptation and turn to Jesus. And this small movement: this is our victory! Or rather: it is the victory of Jesus Christ in our lives! This is when God reaches into our temptations with His victorious power! And it is this possibility of victory that makes every moment of our human, earthly life truly joyful, as our Word says: "Count it all joy, brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the trial of your faith will make you endure." (James 1:2-3)
So then it is true what is expressed in an old Hungarian hymn:
"As the devil may fish for you.
He shall rage against thee in his members,
All with dagger and sword shall he hasten after thee,
If you trust in Christ, believe that it can do no harm.
(Cant. 380, verse 4)
Amen
Date: 22 February 1953.