[AI translation] As I said on the last occasion, James' letter is quite practical in nature and orientation. There is no speculation in it, but simple advice on how to put Christ's teaching into practice. So it is in the passage we are reading. It gives quite practical guidance for the Christian man in his daily life. As a believer himself, he obviously encourages us from his own experience how to live as a Christian man in this world. No matter how heavy the burdens, no matter how great the dangers, no matter how many obstacles, no matter how unfavourable the circumstances of life, no matter how helpless and helpless he may be in the face of the many problems of life, it is possible to live the life of Christ, to live Christianity, because God has the possibility, the way, the way. It is this possibility that is now discussed in this part of the letter, and also among us in its wake.In the verses that precede it, which we spoke about two weeks ago today, it is about joy, about rejoicing in the midst of temptations and trials. And since all James' words are about practical living, we might therefore say that they are about joy in life. To rejoice is to be a person who can say yes to life in every situation. To be able to accept life as it is. To rejoice means to accept, love and bless life as it is, with all its ups and downs, its light and shadows, its joys and sorrows! To rejoice means to live: to live truly, to live with inner peace, to live with confidence, to live like a child sitting in the twilight room with his mother, in the dark, and who, because of his play, does not even notice that it is getting dark. Can we live like this?Yes, we would like to live like this, we would love to live like this, but... - Well, yes, we need something: a great deal of wisdom! And not just any philosophy of life, not just any serene, optimistic outlook on life, but life wisdom!
This is what James is talking about when he says: "But if any of you lacks wisdom..." (James 1:5a) So we are not talking about wisdom that can be learned from books, from philosophers, not the kind of wisdom that well-educated, well-educated, clever people can acquire with great diligence and study! No! James is a much more practical man than to talk of such things to his scattered brethren. He is talking about the wisdom that a believer always needs in order to be able to behave in the various situations of life as a child of God should. It is a life of unceasing divine counsel and guidance. The ability to find the right way moment by moment, even in the most difficult situations, in the most distressing need, in the most tempting and trying situations, and to do it!
He can say what needs to be said in his rotation between friends and enemies. In choosing a career, in choosing a spouse, and in the thousand small and great decisions of life, he can decide according to God's will. So it is wisdom that always finds the right way out of the messiness of life, that looks from a higher perspective, from God's point of view, and appreciates the potholes and abysses through which its path takes it. So it is indeed Christ's wisdom of life that is at stake here, something that not only illuminates the path before us step by step, but also gives us the strength to follow it. It is a wisdom of life in which one finds the possibility of the victory won by the death and resurrection of Christ in every situation of one's life.
And now our Word says: "But if any of you lacks wisdom..." James knows very well that no one has such wisdom of his own. No matter how much he has experienced, no matter how much he has learned at the expense of himself and others, no matter how much he has seen in life, he cannot have such wisdom. And it is well to admit that we do not have it either. It is in vain to show that we do. It is in vain to pretend that we do! Just think of how fundamentally insecure we are, how often we miss the mark, miss the mark, are perplexed, perplexed by the events of our lives and the lives of others. How many times do we say, or even dare not admit, that we feel we should not have spoken or behaved in this or that way in this or that situation. Time and time again we fall short, despair and feel ashamed.
But it should not be like this! After all, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our redemption and rose again on the third day for our justification, our renewal, our opportunity to be strengthened in redeemed life! And that means that God wants to reach into our lives, to transform us, to make us different people, to give us new life! But let us not think that forgiveness of sins and the grace of Jesus have nothing to do with all that we live in, all that we deal with day by day in our practical lives. Let's just not think that all redemption is about making up for everything we have done wrong all our lives, like in the fairy tale, when it all works out for the best in the end! No! That is not Christianity! It is not Christianity that does not become in us the power of a renewed life, of life on earth! Jesus did not die and rise again so that we could die happy, but so that we could live happy, that is, Christian lives! And at the end of such a happy life comes a happy death! But now we are talking about life, the life of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, that which illuminates the way and gives us the strength to live it! That is what James is talking about! Not in us, of course, not in ourselves - but in God!
So, "And if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God!" Go before God, tell Him: Lord, I am here, I am entangled in the labyrinths of life, I don't know what to do, I don't see a way out, I don't want to decide, speak, act according to my own foolish head, give me the wisdom you promised! There is really no shame in confessing to God one's own helplessness, groping in the dark, at a loss! If only we could come to this humiliation! If only we could truly admit before our Lord and before ourselves that we cannot help ourselves, that we have no wisdom! Would that the knowledge of our own helplessness were so real that we could take it on ourselves to the point of supplication! For how little wisdom we lack, it shows every day! Let us then have confidence in our Father, Who only wants us to let Him help us! For God has shown us in everything that has happened with Christ on earth that He truly wants to help us in everything, first of all to live as His children. James no longer speaks here specifically of Jesus, of His battle and victory for us. But he assumes it, and he assumes that the church already knows about it! Therefore, he does not restate what Christ's sacrifice means, but wants us to draw the consequences for our lives now of all that we know about Jesus. The way to the Father is open. God has offered His help, now let us accept it! If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, all that remains is to reach out and receive from Him what He offers.
So. "To all": so let no one say that I cannot pray, that I am not a godly man, that I am an unfaithful man who forgets God again and again, how then shall I now be allowed to turn to Him at once? I have no good report in heaven! Well, but who has? Who is there who does not turn away from God again and again? But Jesus' redemptive work means that the one who had a bad report card in heaven is replaced by a good one in his blood! This is what the Scripture says: "He has blotted out the handwriting of the commandments against us" (Col 2:14), the record that contains the accusation. He has destroyed it! No one can say any more that he must not ask for wisdom, that is, for the wisdom of life! That he prays in vain! God gives to all who ask! "Willingly"! He does not put conditions, He gives without any further conditions. He does not see if we are worthy. There are plenty of reasons not to give, and no reasons to give. And yet He gives, without any reason, simply because He wants to give, because He is God, Who can give freely! A giving God, because He is rich. "Without reproach". He doesn't teach us a lesson first: Well, when you started on this path, you didn't ask me, now that you're lost on it, you turn to me for help, don't you! For He knows that we can only make things worse for ourselves, but He is glad when someone sees this for himself. He doesn't blame anyone for their lack of wisdom, because where would He get it from if He hadn't asked the Lord?
And if He encourages us so much, then it is truly reasonable not to doubt Him! Therefore he continues: "But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing: for he that doubts is like the foam of the sea, which the wind drives and tosses to and fro. For let not such a man suppose that he can receive anything from the Lord; the double-hearted man, the man who is steadfast in all his ways." (Jas 1:6-8) Every believer knows the doubt that sometimes grips him when he prays. Does God really hear? Is there a God to whom I am speaking? Is not all prayer self-suggestion? Isn't it like when I speak to someone in the dark and I can't see them, and they're not there? Yes, every praying person is surely familiar with this doubt. Well: here there is no certainty but the promise of God himself. There is one sure but unshakable ground of all our prayers: the word of God himself. He says that we may ask for wisdom, for He gives it to all willingly and without reproach. And whoever asks in faith, it will be given to him! Our Lord has written about it! He lets Himself be taken at His word.
So: if anyone lacks wisdom, the wisdom of Christ, ask God and it will be given to him. Come, let us ask in the words of the song:
Teach us to believe, Lord,
teach us to ask.
In spirit, with fervour,
teach me to ask!
You are my saviour,
Give me your love, your strength, your heart.
Do not leave me with your soul!
Teach me to ask!
Teach me to believe, Lord,
teach us to ask.
The minute passes quickly:
teach me to ask!
See my weakness,
Strengthen me,
Till I triumph:
Teach me to ask!
(Canto 479, verses 2-3)
Amen
Date: 8 March 1953.
Lesson
Péld 8,11-23