True wisdom and false – how can you tell’ James Chapter 3 verses 13 – 18

True wisdom and false – how can you tell’        James Chapter 3 verses 13 – 18

The early Christian letters which we read in our New Testament were selected by the Church for inclusion because just as they were full of clear, practical advice for those first Christians facing all kinds of questions and problems from outside as well as inside the growing Church, so also is the wisdom they imparted vital for healthy and effective Christians and Churches in every generation. 

The letters, which simply burst with praise and thanksgiving for the new-found faith, life, and hope in Jesus, are reassuringly realistic about the dangers and deceits Christians will face both within the Church and from outside it; from the wolves within and the wolves without who, for their various reasons, want to stifle the life and snuff out the light that offers forgiveness and freedom to all. 

How much we need their wisdom today!

One of the very pressing questions, then as now, for Christians, was ‘where to find true wisdom and how to distinguish between true and false, between shepherds and wolves in sheep’s clothing?’ 

How do we know what and whom to believe? What criteria do we need to employ? Do I believe the Vicar because he always smiles at me, is kind to children, and loves dogs? Or do I believe him because, despite his many faults and failings, when preaching, he faithfully explains and applies God’s word? Or, is my thinking guided more by my feelings and by what I see and hear on the television – even though I know little or nothing about the credentials or agendas of those I see or hear?

The essential questions and issues the Church faces today are essentially the same as in James’ day because human nature is, essentially, the same. And it is through the pride-challenging message of the Gospel that we may discover a person’s essence - their real self. 

How do they respond to God’s message to them? That message is not – as many would have it, even in the Church - ‘You are all essentially very nice people and should carry on just as you are following your own wisdom or the wisdom of the world to be ‘free’ to do whatever you like’. No. It remains, because of what human nature still is, and however sophisticated and wise we think we’ve become, ‘Repent, and be baptised for the forgiveness of your sins ...and you will receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit’; that Spirit who, promised Jesus, would ‘lead you into all truth.’ 

The problem is of course that people do not like to be told that they are sinners or that what they believe or do is sinful in God’s eyes: and so we should not be surprised that people do not like to hear such a reality check when we can so easily hide in our wishful thinking about ourselves and about the world. So very sadly, what the world does not understand or refuses to understand is that just such a reality check from God - the God who created us, and so understands us better than we do ourselves - is the first step to genuine freedom. 

The message of the Gospel, of reconciliation with God and new and abundant life with him, is the greatest message of the greatest love there is because it offers true freedom; freedom from the lies we believe about ourselves and from the deceits peddled by a world that only wants to enslave us into following and indulging our feelings and desires – regardless of the consequences.  

Let me give you a current example of this. I was listening to a T.V. programme last week in which there were four guests, one of whom was a Christian. The subject was gender identity and gender transitioning. Two of the guests argued passionately for teaching both - in primary schools. One of the guests, not the Christian, but a doctor of psychiatry, said this. ‘I am not a Christian or a religious person but my work is with children and teenagers and I have children of my own. I believe it is confusing, harmful, and a form of child abuse to press these self-indulgent adult agendas on impressionable and vulnerable children. 

What is more’ – and this is what I thought was most revealing from the professional expert –‘it is deeply worrying that feelings are now trumping not just historically accepted norms about human beings but our biology itself.’

And on another programme I heard a famous feminist historian warning that our current preoccupation with indulging how we feel against proven social and religious safeguards and human biological fact exactly reflects the state of previous such societies which very quickly and destructively fell to pieces.

I won’t apologise for citing this example: it is just one example of clear rebellion against what James in his letter calls ‘the wisdom from above’; that is, God’s wisdom. We must of course always treat those with whom we differ in love and with love because that was and is Jesus’ way, the only way that can be effective in changing people’s hearts and minds. But such love is not, is nothing like, the tolerance the world would have us practise; far from it! 

It is precisely because Jesus commanded us to love others that we are obliged to share with them such ‘wisdom from above’. Reading only portions of letters and Gospels Sunday by Sunday has its drawbacks, which is why I would very much encourage you to read this whole letter of James. To help you understand these verses I would just like to read you three earlier verses in the letter.       In chapter 1: 21 of his letter James says this.  

²¹ Therefore rid yourselves of everything that is sordid, all that overflowing malice, and humbly receive that implanted word which has the power to rescue your lives.

For James then, the ‘wisdom from above’ he equates with the one who came from above; the one whose teaching and message of reconciliation with God offers the freedom to live life not shackled by our own desires, or by the deceits of the world where these run contrary to God’s clear intentions for humanity, but by his perfect ways.

And in chapter 2 he reminds us v 8 that we are called ‘to keep the royal law’, that is, to love our neighbour as ourselves. So we have a God-given responsibility to ourselves and to our neighbours to follow the ‘wisdom from above’. It really couldn’t be clearer.

In the portion of the letter we have today, James is adamant about the character of Godly wisdom, about the real character of those who claim to expound it ,and about what is certainly not characteristic of it or of those who expound it faithfully. Verses 13 –15 are tough talking if ever there was! We can see from these, first, that godly behaviour and humility are the vehicles for heavenly wisdom: that is to say that love of God and neighbour, together with a desire to judge our own and the world’s wisdom by God’s wisdom, are the things which show who (v 13) is ‘wise and discerning’. 

Secondly, the opposite: that those whose motives arise from  (v 14) jealousy, contention, pride, and denying or decrying that ‘wisdom from above’ not only reveal their selfish and worldly motivation but even the unwitting or witting  influence from the one whom Jesus described as ‘the Father of Lies’, the Devil himself. And when we align ourselves, unwittingly or wittingly, with him and his rebellion, then (v16) see what results: ‘unruly behaviour and every kind of evil practice.’

This is why we must ask ourselves, ‘Who or what is informing and influencing our thinking about life and about the problems and issues we face both in the Church and in the world. Again, Jesus warned his disciples that the Devil can appear as ‘an angel of light’. So we must not be taken in by appearances of holiness or godliness or by flattering or indulging arguments. We need to test both the content of what is being advocated in the Church and in the world, and also the character of its advocates and the consequences or ‘fruit’ of it all.

We are in testing times because in the Church of England increasingly advocated and increasingly popular is a wisdom about life and about human beings that, however well-meaning or seemingly well-meaning, is contrary to what has been revealed by the ‘wisdom from above’. Again, I stress that we must deal lovingly with those who argue for this contrary wisdom; but we must also do so with godly wisdom. 

I’ve always found that a person’s response to the Gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation with God is a perfect starting point to discover where someone is really coming from: that and the teaching of Jesus and his Apostles. If the reply you receive is along the lines of: ‘Well, in this day and age that’s just naive’; or, ‘Personally I find that doctrine repulsive’; or, ‘Jesus did not have access to the same insights we now have into human nature’, you know you are going to need a bigger helping hand than usual from the Holy Spirit!

In v17 James spells out the nature and character of this ‘wisdom from above’. Each element he mentions here is vital; vital because, taken together, they help us to weed out the weak, the wilful, and the wishful-thinkers from amongst who consider themselves wise. Christians are called neither to be gullible nor to be cynical about the world and humanity but to be realists whose wisdom is that which ‘comes from above’, which has already been revealed in and taught by Jesus Christ. The faithful are not at liberty to change it or to try to improve upon it simply to curry favour or to ‘keep the peace’ or to maintain a false unity.

And so v18. We are called to be ‘peace makers’. The main way that the Church and all Christians are called to make peace that leads to genuine freedom, and produce fruit that is healthy, is faithfully and lovingly to present the world – and if necessary to remind the Church – with the gospel or ‘good news’ of God’s redeeming loving purposes in Christ. Peace-makers – especially of the Christian variety –do not tend to have peaceful lives: quite the opposite! We are called not to do nothing, not just to rail against injustice, iniquity, or perversions of the Gospel of true freedom, but to speak the truth in love and to do it. As the saying goes, ‘It is better to light a candle than to rail against the darkness’, a darkness that is always seeking ways to quench the light of Gospel freedom.


Again, as James tells us in the very first chapter of his letter, ‘If any one of you falls short in wisdom, they should ask God for it, and it will be given them.’ It is a wisdom that comes not so much – if at all! – through scholarship or by amassing a huge number of facts about God: it is a wisdom that comes from getting to know him personally through reading his word, welcoming his Spirit, and boldly standing up for him in the Church and the world. 

Now and again we meet people who have been already acon that journey for some time and we can see the results in their lives – in their love, in their wisdom, in their characters. They will tell you how difficult but also how rewarding and liberating it is. They will tell you of personal frailty and failure; certainly far more so than of progress or successes. They will prefer to speak of God’s graciousness and mercy, of having fallen and of having been picked up again and restored by a loving Heavenly Father. 

In a world where self-esteem and success are idolised, such people often remain unnoticed or accounted of little account. In reality it is they who are the giants: it is such godly character and wisdom, given from Heaven and grown on earth, that is the true humanity. As you go about your day, you will meet some like those in v16 and some of vs 17 and 18. Which would you rather spend time with? Which are you? Which would you like to become?

June 2017 - Matthew 15 Verses 21 to 28

In today’s gospel reading from Matthew we have the account of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter.

And as I looked at this and prayed about it I started to see God’s planning in the story. In fact I realised that God had planned and watched over the whole story from beginning to end.

And as with a cake recipe, several ingredients in this story come together to make the whole plan work.

So, this morning I’d like to look at these ingredients and see what we can learn from them.

Firstly though we need to understand that God was in ultimate control of this whole situation. He had watched over the mother and daughter all their lives and he understood their situation perfectly.

He understood all about the demon that was tormenting the daughter and the grief it was causing this lady.

He had seen this lady’s suffering and he decided to engineer a solution.

He devised a plan for the daughter’s healing and what occurs as we read the story is the fulfilment of this plan.

Paul says in his letter to the Romans that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And that is what we see occurring in this story.

We see God working for the good of both mother and daughter in this distressing situation and his plan is to turn their heartbreak into joy and to be glorified through the healing that will occur.

Furthermore, his plan is that this healing would be recorded in the bible for us to read and learn from today.

The lady has a major part to play herself – but God has provided her already with everything she needs to see his plan fulfilled.

So, let’s look at some of the ingredients in this plan.

Firstly, the Canaanite woman’s desire to see her daughter healed is motivated by love. She is desperate to find a solution to her daughter’s suffering because she loves her.

And really everything that we ask God for and pray for should be motivated by love. Our prayers should spring from a desire to see the people around us blessed and saved and healed. And to see those further afield who are hurting or suffering, touched and helped by God in some way.

When we pray in Jesus’ name we are praying in line with his character and will. We are asking for things to be done as he would want them done. We are asking for his good and perfect will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, this lady’s desire to see her daughter made well and the demon cast out is in line with God’s will. And when we pray out of love we too will find that we are praying in line with God’s will

Secondly this lady looks in the right place for her answer. She looks to Jesus.

She doesn’t turn to spiritualist healers or Eastern mystics. She looks to the God who created her and who created her daughter. The one who understands them both perfectly and loves them deeply. The one who knows their every thought.

And the only one with the power and the authority to bring about her daughter’s healing.

And if we have problems in our lives – we too should turn Jesus – because he is the only one who truly knows us and loves us and can help us.

Thirdly this lady has a living faith. Although she is a Gentile and not a Jew she recognises that Jesus is the Messiah. She calls him Lord – son of David.

She recognises the identity of the one she is addressing and she knows that he can help her.

Like the Roman centurion who knew if only Jesus would speak the word of command his servant would be healed – this lady knows that a word – a crumb - from Jesus is all that is needed for her daughter to be healed.

But of course the faith this woman has – has come from God. It is a gift from him. God has built this faith in her life beforehand in preparation for this moment – so that she will be able to receive the healing he wants to give her.

And God wants to build faith in our lives – so that we too can receive help and healing and encouragement from him.

Fourthly this lady is determined and persistent, although she has every reason to be dismayed and to give up and go home.

Jesus at first ignores her and the disciples try and turn her away. But she carries on crying out to God.

Jesus teaches us in the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge – that we should be persistent in prayer.

Perhaps you’ve been calling out to God – and he seems to be ignoring you.

Well he isn’t. Like Jesus in this story – perhaps he wants to test your faith and see if it is genuine. Will you keep on knocking at God’s door and asking until you get an answer?

Sometimes it can take years for our prayers to be answered. This is particularly true when we are praying for someone’s salvation or healing but if we know that we are praying for something that is in line with God’s will we should persist and not give up.

Fifthly God arranges the meeting between Jesus and this lady. Often in bible stories we see God arranging meetings. For instance in Acts chapter 8 when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch.

And in the gospels particularly we see Jesus going exactly where God the Father wants him to go and meeting the people God wants him to meet.

He is always in the right place at the right time. And it’s interesting that we are told in verse 21 that Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

God is moving him into position for his plan to be fulfilled. And like-wise he ensures that this lady gets to hear that Jesus is in town.  

None of this is random or lucky – it is planned. And of course God plans for us to be in the right place at the right time. He deliberately brings people across our paths that he wants us to help or bless in some way.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God has prepared places for us to be and people for us to meet – so that we can be an answer to their prayers – and sometimes so that they can be an answer to our prayers.

Sixthly God has given the woman sufficient spiritual insight and wisdom to be able to answer Jesus when he tests her by pointing out that she is a Gentile and he has been sent firstly to the Jews.

We may be shocked that Jesus uses the term dog to describe Gentiles – but this was a term that was commonly used by Jews to describe Gentiles – whom they considered as likely as dogs to receive any blessing from God.

Much of Jesus’ ministry, however, involved turning expectations and prejudices on their heads and he does precisely that in this situation.

I think he uses the term here ironically to make a point to his disciples. You may consider this woman a dog – but she is deserving of my help – and to prove the point – he heals her daughter.

So, as we look at this story we see God working in a difficult and distressing situation and turning it around for good.

And this is what God still does today, where people have faith in him.

In situations where there is hopelessness and hurt and division, He works to bring hope and healing and reconciliation.

To reiterate – the bible verse I quoted earlier from Paul’s letter to the Romans - in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

If you are God’s child and you have put your faith in him – he is always working for your good.

His intention – as you submit yourself to him and co-operate with him - is to bless you and help you and heal you and deliver you - because he loves you and he wants the best for you.

This doesn’t mean that problems and suffering won’t come our way but when they do – God wants to help us through these situations and to bring good things out of them for us.

And this is why we should thank and praise God particularly when times are difficult and we are struggling with life.

As Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians; “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I know this is not an easy thing to do particularly when things seem bleak – but as we start to realise that God is on our side and working for our good we should start to thank him in faith for this.

Thank you Lord that you love me and that in the midst of this difficult time I am going through, you are working out your plan to help and deliver and bless me.

I recently read a very good little book called From Prison to Praise by an American Army chaplain called Merlin Carothers.

And in this book he explains how he came to see the importance of praising and thanking God in all situations.

And as he points out in the book we should do this – not because we feel like it – but out of obedience – because it is what God tells us to do.

And sometimes we may need to do it through gritted teeth – but when we start to actively put our trust and faith in God – he will respond.

When we resent and complain about our situation it diminishes our faith – but as we start to trust God and to thank him for what he is doing – even before we can see any results - our faith grows.

He gives few examples in his book of the power of prayer with thanksgiving, including recounting how his own hay fever was healed.

He’d asked God to heal him from it for years without success. But then he changed his tack – and when he started suffering from it he decided to thank God instead.

Lord you know all about my hay fever – and I choose to trust you with it. I thank you that you understand me and that you love me and I thank you for the good plan you have for me including my hay fever even if I have to suffer with it for a while.

Soon after he adopted this approach he was healed.

So, to tie up what I want to say today – just as he did for the Canaanite woman - God has good plans for us and those we love.

And if we have put our faith and trust in him – whatever situation we may be facing – we can be confident that God is working for our good in it – even if we don’t understand it.

Of course, like the Canaanite lady we need to play our part in seeing these plans come to fruition – by praying out of love. By looking to Jesus for our answer and by recognising that he is our Lord and God. And by being determined and persistent in prayer.

Most importantly, even though it may not be easy, we should put our trust in him and his love for us – and start thanking him in faith for working for our good in the situations we are facing in our lives.

I’d like to close in a moment with a brief time of prayer and reflection where you can respond to God in your hearts to what I’ve said this morning.

If there are situations that are troubling you at the moment I believe that God wants you to realise that he loves you; that he has a plan to help you and that he is working for your good and the good of those you love.

And if you can accept this I’d urge you to start thanking him in faith for what he’s doing.

So let’s pray and spend a few moments talking quietly in our hearts to God .

JULY 2017 - John 4; 7-26 and Ezekiel 37; 1 to 10

A while ago I heard a story about a lady who had a vision while she was in church. And the first thing she noticed was that there were angels dotted around the church building while the service was going on. She was really surprised as she’d never seen any before.

And then she noticed some of the people sitting in front of her had a sort of light around them. In fact, they seem to be surrounded by a light that was emanating from them.

Others though had no light around them. She hoped there was light emanating from her.

I mention this partly because I think it’s an interesting little story and who knows perhaps the idea of halos isn’t quite so silly after all.

I mean Paul tells us that as Christians we are to shine like stars in this dark world, and if the spirit of Jesus - the light of the world - lives in us – perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if this is somehow visible in the spiritual realm.

But whether or not there is light around some of us, the point I really want to make is that as we’re sitting here this morning, according to the apostle Paul - there is a distinction between us.

There is a distinction between those who have genuinely repented and invited Jesus into their lives - who are spiritually alive, and those who haven’t, who he describes in his letters to the Colossian and Ephesian churches as “spiritually dead.”

And I chose today’s passage from Ezekiel because it speaks of God’s bringing people spiritually alive. It speaks of him putting his breath into people that were dead so that they come to life and so that they will know he is the Lord.

Ideally God would like every one of us sitting here today to be spiritually alive rather than spiritually dead and cut off from a relationship with him.

He would love us all to be filled with his life and his spirit so that we can truly know him and worship him.

I think lots of people come to church hoping there may be a God and there may be an afterlife – but they’re not really sure.

And they perhaps hope from some divine insight or revelation but it doesn’t seem to come – and perhaps they’re a bit disappointed.

Well if that’s you, I believe God is speaking to you today – and he wants to make his breath – his life and spirit – enter you so that you come to life spiritually.

And then over time, he wants to flesh out your faith – so that you become a strong mature Christian – not a weak emaciated Christian.

And he wants to enrol you in his army – a vast army of believers - to work and fight for the advancement of his kingdom in the world.

But this can only happen as you make the decision that you truly want God in your life. That you want to live your life from now on with God and that you want to live life his way.

And this is what is at the heart of repentance. And it’s not a negative thing. It’s the moist positive decision we can ever make.

It’s coming home to God, the author of our lives, our creator – the one who knows us intimately and loves us perfectly.

The one who wants to bless us and help us and heal us and deliver us and guide us through life.

The one who gave is life on the cross to save you personally – because your life matters enormously to him.

The one who took upon himself all our sin and wrongdoing and paid the penalty for it himself so that we could go free.

The reason we all start off spiritually dead is that we all turn our backs on God and go our own way in life because we think we know best.

Just like Adam and Eve, each of us initially rebel against God and seek to live independently of him.

But then as we go through life some of us come to a point where we are prepared to admit that actually we don’t know best and that we do need God.

And this is reversing the step of rebellion that Adam and Eve took.

We realise that we need God’s forgiveness and help in this dark and scary world – so we cry out to him and say sorry Lord – I was wrong to try and live my life independently of you – and we invite him to be our Lord and Saviour.

And he responds by welcoming us home and breathing his spirit and his life – the Holy Spirit into us.

Just as after his resurrection Jesus breathed on the first disciples and said “receive the holy spirit” – in the same way when we invite him wholeheartedly into our lives - he breathes his spirit into our very beings.

And at this point we are re-born as his children and our lives are changed forever and we become truly alive as God always intended we should be.

And the things we do and say in church start to take on an entirely new meaning and significance.

We start to know that God is alive and real. That he is our creator - an almighty powerful loving spiritual being – and we start to relate to him through our own spirits.

We understand what Jesus was saying in today’s gospel reading to the woman at the well when he said “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

So, when we come to church we come in order to worship the living God. We understand by faith that his presence is always among us when we meet.

As Jesus said, “where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

And then we relate to God spiritually during the service by exercising faith.

We confess our sins to him – we sing his praises – we listen to his word and the talk afterwards and the Holy Spirit enables us to receive spiritual truths through our own spirits to strengthen and encourage our faith and discipleship.

And as we read God’s word we can pray that God will speak to us through it – to build up our faith and our understanding of his kingdom and his purposes.

But the only reason we can do this is because God has made us spiritually alive. He has spoken words of life over our lives and breathed his life-giving spirit into us.

And our spiritual thirst is quenched because we have been reconciled to the author of life and the very source of all life - and his life lives in us.

Our search for spiritual meaning and significance is fulfilled and our lives take on a new purpose.

This is what Jesus means when he says “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I think some people are perhaps afraid of receiving the Holy Spirit and being born again – but until this happens we don’t function as the people God intended us to be.

We may be alive mentally and physically but our spirits are dead and we are cut off from God and his kingdom.

Worse we remain unforgiven and face the prospect of being cut off from God and judged when we die.

The Holy Spirit is very gentle and unobtrusive. Most of the time in my life although I know that he is with me by faith – because Jesus promised - I will always be with you – I will never leave you or forsake you - I don’t particularly feel his presence with me.

And when he asks or prompts us to do something its normally just a little thought or idea popping into our minds.

Whether we then act on that thought or idea is up to us. We always retain our free will. God won’t force us to do anything.

But hopefully we will want to obey God because we know that whatever he asks or prompts us to do will bring blessing to others and ourselves.

Personally, I like being filled with the Holy Spirit because when I am I feel more loving and joyful and peaceful and patient and willing to forgive.

And having God in our lives is the very best thing – because we do live in an evil, scary and unpredictable world.

Being able to know and to pray to the one who is in ultimate control of the world and our lives, the one who loves us and understands us better than we understand ourselves and the one who wants to bless and help us – is the most valuable gift we can ever receive.

Knowing that whatever the world may throw at us, that ultimately with Jesus in our lives we are eternally safe – is a tremendous comfort.

Of course, when we become spiritually alive and start to understand all that Jesus has done for us – and that the water of his spirit – like cool fresh water is refreshing and life enhancing – we want to share it with others.

And then sharing our faith isn’t so much a chore – something we’re told in church we ought to do – it’s something we want to do because we believe it’s good and we want to share what we’ve discovered.

If you read on in chapter 4 of today’s gospel reading you’ll see that this Samaritan lady is so excited about having discovered that Jesus is the Messiah – that she forgets her water jar and forgets trying to hide away from her fellow townsfolk and goes rushing back to tell them – come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done.

And then lots of people from her city come to believe in Jesus as he stays there for two days.

So, to tie up what I want to say this morning we have two bible passages that speak of God bringing people spiritually alive.

One passage talks of dry bones coming to life and the other passage speaks of a spring of water in the centre of our being gushing up to eternal life.

Perhaps one of these resonates for you. Perhaps you come to church regularly and you try to live by Christian principles but somehow your faith has never really come to life and if your honest it does all feel a bit dry and dusty.

Perhaps you are spiritually thirsty and you’ve reached a point in life where you really would like to know God and to have a living faith – and you are thirsty for the living water that Jesus offers.

Perhaps you have a living faith but you feel weak and tired and you’d like God to refresh and revive you.

I’d like to close now with a time of quiet prayer where we can each share what is on our hearts with God and if you’d like God to make you spiritually alive – you can ask him.

I’ll start this with a short introductory prayer and then you can share your own hearts and prayers quietly with God.

Lord Jesus thank you for your presence with us this morning and your great love for each one of us. Hear us now in this time of quiet as we share what is on our hearts with you and come to each person here this morning who asks for the touch of your spirit upon their life.