How Can Troubles Be a Reason for Joy? | James 1:1-12

When I worked at a school, occasionally Cindy would call me during the school day and if I wasn't on class I would answer. And one time we were kind of just shortly into the conversation and she stopped me and she said, you're talking to me in your work voice.

And I being the husband who takes on board feedback from my wife, I said, I don't have a work voice. You have a work voice. She was working as a receptionist at that time in a medical practice. She spent all day talking to people, making phone calls, and I was like, you have a work voice. So she did an impression of me, I did an impression of her.

We got to the end of it with neither of us accepting that we have a home voice and a work voice voice. I suspect, though, that for many of us we have a work voice and a home voice. It's normal to sound different around the boardroom table compared to your kitchen table. We speak differently, we use different words, we speak with a different tone. I hope you're just as lovely at home as you are at work to your colleagues, but it's normal to have two voices.

As we come to the Book of James over these next seven weeks, the thread running through it is not about having two voices. It's about something much deeper than that. It's about whether or not we have two lives. It's about whether or not we're living one consistent, undivided life. I think the place where that perhaps is most clear is the gap between what we know to be true and how we live.

I think it's easy for many of us, particularly those of us who have been in the church for a long time. We can be experts in what God's word says. We can know it really, really well. But it can be hard to live that out consistently. We know God's word tells us that we're forgiven, but.

But we can find it so hard to forgive others. We know that we are to be generous and open handed with our money and our resources, and yet we can find it so hard to loosen our grip on them. We know where to speak to others in a way that honours and builds them up, and yet we find it so easy to tear people down. We know we're called to carry the gospel into our community and into our neighbourhoods, and yet when Monday comes, it's much easier for us to stay silent. We know God holds all of our life together, and yet we can find it so much easier to try and stay in control of it.

Now, if you're feeling convicted by Anything on that list before you think, oh, gee, I'm never coming here again, I want to say that was the easiest part of the sermon to write. It was the easiest part of the sermon to write because I could identify all of those things in my own personal experience. I suspect we all could. And that's who James is writing to. He's not writing to people outside the church.

He's writing to us, to believers, to those who know Jesus. He says the danger is not that we will hear God's word and reject it. The danger is that we'll hear God's word and will walk away unchanged by it. The reality is it's so easy to live like that. It's so easy to live a divided life.

It's so easy to live like that, especially when things are going smoothly in our lives. But as James opens the letter, he doesn't speak about times when things are going well. He speaks about seasons where we're facing trouble and trials. And he says, in those seasons, God is building in us an undivided life. So this morning, to help us as we work through just the first 12 verses of James 1, I've worked really hard to give you 5A words.

5A words. So I hope you're impressed by them. Number one is the author, then the aim, then the ask, the assessment and the assurance. Let's look at verse one and the author. This letter is from James, a slave of God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm writing to the twelve tribes, Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings. The James who writes this letter is almost undoubtedly James, the half brother of Jesus. Now, if I was James and I was writing a letter to the early church, I can guarantee I would have started it with, this letter is from James, the brother of the Lord Jesus. Now, this is the ultimate opportunity for name dropping.

It's the ultimate opportunity to say, hey, I'm James, the brother of Jesus. But instead, James says what? He says, I'm a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a world where being a slave was the lowest thing you could be. He uses a word in the Greek doulos.

And doulos means someone who is owned, someone who fully belongs to someone else. So James starts by saying, my identity is not in my name or in my birth. My identity is in fully belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. The remarkable thing about that is that 20 years, roughly 20 years before James writes this letter, I don't think he would have said that. He would have said something very different.

You see, in Mark 3, we have a glimpse into what Jesus family thought. It tells us that Jesus and his disciples are so inundated by the crowds that they don't even have time to eat. And Jesus family come along and they say, he's out of his mind. He's out of his mind. Jesus is crazy.

This is his family saying that. I mean, gee, you've got a good family. If that's what they're saying. Then in John 7, later on in Jesus ministry, Jesus brothers, of which James is one, are saying to him, hey, Jesus, if you really believe what you are saying, if you really are the Messiah, stop doing miracles here in this insignificant backwater of Galilee. Go to Jerusalem and do them there.

And then John adds a little line for us. He says, for even his brothers did not believe him. For even his brothers did not believe him. Imagine being James for a moment. Imagine growing up with a perfect older brother.

Now, I didn't have to experience that. I could say that because he's in the room. I didn't have to experience that. Praise the Lord. But James did.

James grew up with. He grew up in the same house as Jesus. He'd seen the miracles. He'd seen a life without sin. He had heard the teaching, and still he did not believe him.

But something changes, and Paul actually tells us what it is that changes over. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul starts listing the people that the resurrected Jesus appeared to. And in verse seven, there he says, then Jesus appeared to James. Now that James is the same James who writes this letter, the result of encountering the risen Jesus is that James has now given over everything for the sake of the Gospel. In the second part of that opening verse, James says, I'm writing to the 12 tribes, to Jewish believers scattered abroad.

The people he writes to are believers who have been scattered away from their homes by persecution. The letter tells us that many of them were poor. They were being exploited by the people around them. So that's the group of people that James is writing to. In verse two.

It's our second point. He gives us the aim. James says this. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. I find it interesting that he doesn't say, dear brothers and sisters, if troubles come your way.

Instead he says, when troubles come your way, you see, we weren't promised a life without trials. We weren't promised a life on this side of eternity. I think that that's important to see that we aren't promised a life without troubles. I think Some of us face troubles and we see that as a sign that God has forsaken us. But it's not.

There's something else here that might be easy to miss. Because in the Greek, what we have translated as any kind is the same word that means many colored. So there is no one type of trial. Trials and troubles come in many coloured ways. They come in different shades and in different ways.

And then James says something to us that seems impossible. He says, when those trials come, when those troubles come, consider it an opportunity for great joy. Now, we might look at that this morning. We say, how is that even possible? How is it even possible to put joy and trial in the same sentence?

But what James isn't saying is not saying, be unaffected by the trials. He uses a specific word here when he says consider it. It's about a balancing, a weighing up. So this is not James saying be joyful about the trial itself. It's not an encouragement to laugh through funerals or to be happy at a job loss or a relationship breakdown.

He's saying something else. He's saying that when trials come, because they will, I want you to count something as true even before your heart catches up to it. Because the joy is not in the trial. The joy is in what you are counting. On one side sits the trial and on the other side sits what God is doing in you.

And verses three and four tell us what that is. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be perfect and complete, needing nothing. We're told three things here. First, be joyful, because when your faith is tested, your endurance is growing.

The word endurance here literally means to remain under. It's painting the picture of someone who is standing in position, determined under a weight, because they trust the God who is with them there. Second, notice how verse four starts. James writes, so let it grow. You see, endurance is not something you're growing, it's something God is growing.

It is God's work in us and all it takes from us is to stay under the weight rather than running from what he's doing. The third thing is that when our endurance is fully developed, James says this. He says, you'll be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Now, we might hear that and we think the word perfect means flawless. But the Greek word here is teleios and it means finished, fully mature, something that has arrived at the point of what it was made to be.

So James says this is the destination that you will be whole in every part with nothing missing. Here's the encouragement for you. What God is doing in your most difficult season is making you whole and undivided. And in the midst of those trials, James says there is something that we should ask. And that's our third point, verse five.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. In the midst of a trial, James says, ask for wisdom. Now, I want to explain what that means with two connections here. One is an Old Testament connection, and one's a New Testament connection.

In the Old Testament, these Jewish believers that James is writing to, they would have known that wisdom was a concept about skill. It's used in Exodus, speaking of the craftsmen who build the tabernacle, people who knew what to do with their hands. It was the skill of living well before God. So when James says, ask for wisdom, the connection for us is ask God how to live well in this moment. And then there's a New Testament connection for us.

Over in Luke 11, Jesus is teaching on prayer and he makes a promise. He says, if you who are sinful know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father, Father give the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to those who ask him? Jesus says, this is the best gift for you, the Holy Spirit. So when we ask for wisdom, we're asking that God, by his Spirit alive in us, that he would teach us how to live well in the midst of a trial church. I want to remind you this morning, hopefully you know this, but we have the Holy Spirit with us, just like the early church did, to empower us, to gift us, to work in us, to shape us.

So this is a prayer that we can keep on praying. Holy Spirit, would you give me wisdom to live through this trial in a way that honours you? Grow in me an endurance that I might become undivided and whole. And James says this to us. He says, God doesn't keep track of how many times you've asked.

He won't rebuke you for asking. He doesn't have a limit. Instead, you can keep going to God. You can keep asking him for wisdom. And then verse 6 says, but when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.

Do not waver. For a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James takes us back to this idea.

When you ask God for wisdom, don't be divided, he says, don't be a person whose loyalty is divided. The Greek word here is dipsocus, which literally means, and theologians think James actually made up this word. It means too sold. Don't be too sold. Remember a few weeks ago as we worked through the end of 1 Kings, we saw Elijah standing in front of the people on Mount Carmel.

And his challenge to the people was. He said, how much longer will you waver? The word he used there painted a picture of having one leg shorter than the other so that you lurch from side to side and you can't walk in a straight line. His challenge to the people is, you're being too soled. You've got one foot following God and one foot following baal.

It was a problem for the Israelites in the days of the Kings. It's a problem for the believers in the early church, and I'd suggest church, it's a problem for us today as well. James wants us to see a contrast here. He wants us to see God who gives with an open hand. There's nothing held back.

There is no hidden motive. God is completely undivided towards his people. And then look at how we so often come to him. We come too sold. A person who wants God but wants to hold on to something else at the same time and can't settle on either one.

James says that person is like a wave blown and tossed by the wind. I wonder how often we ask God for wisdom. But what we really want is God to agree with what we've already made up our minds to do. One part of us is asking, the other part is holding on to control.

Then our fourth point, verse nine, the assessment. James goes on to say, believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honoured them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers.

The little flower droops and falls and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. At first look, it kind of seems like James has changed topic here, like he's just decided mid sentence that he's going to talk about something else. But remember, what he said is, don't be divided, don't be divided between God and the world. And he goes to an example for that.

He applies it for us immediately, perhaps in the way that gives us the best example. He says, your money and your possessions, they often divide us. It was the struggle of the believers then, even though many of them were poor. It's probably even more so of a struggle today. We can so easily hold on to God and with the other hand, be holding on to our financial security here.

So James says to the believer who has nothing in God's eyes, you have been lifted high and honoured. And to the believer with plenty, you have been brought down to the same ground in Christ, you're standing in the same place. The way God sees success and achievement is completely different to the way the world sees it. And he uses a picture to illustrate it to them. In verse 11.

There he goes to Isaiah 40. The grass withers and the flower fades. If you've lived through a Canberra summer before, you know this is reality. We have a couple of days of rain and everything is green. There's flowers everywhere.

And then we have two weeks of dry sun and all of a sudden the grass is brown, the flowers are dead. He says, picture this. This is what the rich are like. Every possession, every earthly achievement that looks bright and beautiful, it fades quicker than what you might think. Cindy and I have had a taste of that recently.

We purchased a new car. Our old car died and so we had to go and get a new one. And it had the wonderful new car smell. And the tech is much improved on our old car. We thought it was pretty fancy.

On a recent drive to Sydney, I won't say who was driving because it wasn't their fault. I'll make that clear. On a recent drive to Sydney, a rock hit the roof. I don't know who designs a car with a glass roof. Like, what a ridiculous thing to have.

And it cracked this glass roof, and so it's all right, that's fixable. The next day, driving home from Sydney, a kangaroo jumped in front of the car and the car hit the kangaroo. The car that I saw driving out of our driveway, polished and new, literally came back the next day with things falling off it. But how often is life like that? Things fade quicker than what we might think.

Now, before you feel too sorry for us, it's fixed. It's in the car park today. It's fixed. The car is only half of what James is saying. Because if you look at what he says there in verse 10, he doesn't just say things fade.

He actually says the rich person fades.

The divided life that he's calling us away from always has one hand on something that's already fading. But James says, be wholehearted, be undivided. Because the assurance for us is here in verse 12. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward, they'll receive.

Receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. We started in verse two with trials, and now James closes that loop here in verse 12, he says, when trials and testing come, keep holding on, keep enduring. Because on the other side is something that is waiting for you. Here's the assurance. Waiting for you is a promise from God.

It's the crown of life, eternal life. A place where there'll be no more testing, no more temptation, no more trials. As we close this morning, I don't want you walking out of here thinking, I'm going to try harder to be undivided this week. I'm going to try harder to be undivided so I can earn eternal life. Because that's not what happened for the man who wrote this letter.

He didn't reason his way to Jesus. He didn't earn his way to Jesus. He didn't decide to try harder. Instead, he met the risen Christ and everything changed. And I want us to see that the undivided life James is calling to us is a life that Jesus shows us how to live.

On the night before he died, Jesus knew the trial that was ahead he was in. It was physical pain that was waiting for him, but even more than that, it was being rejected by the people he loved. It was taking on the weight of our sin. It was the Father turning his face away. There in the garden, Jesus prays, father, if it's possible, take this cup from me, but not my will, but yours be done.

Luke tells us that Jesus was in agony as he prays this. And so I want you to hear this this morning. Being undivided doesn't mean being untroubled. Jesus was wholehearted, but he was anguished at the same time. But he certainly wasn't what James would later call too souled.

He wasn't a wave that was blown by the wind. He said, father, I want your will.

I will stand under this trial because I know that there is something great awaiting. Hebrews 12 tells us what that is, that Jesus, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

So that's what Jesus does. He counts the joy before him as worth more than the trial that is in front of him. That's what we've seen in verse 2. He remains under the weight of it rather than running from it. That's in verse three.

He received the crown that waited for him, that's verse 12. Everything that James asks of you and me, Jesus did first. And in doing that, he carried our sins so that we could be forgiven. He rose again so that the crown of life is a promise that we can be confident in, that forgiveness is not something that we have to earn our way to. It's given and we receive it by trusting Him.

I want to say one more thing before we pray. In verse two, James says, the trials come in many colors. And some of you might have experienced that today, some of you might know what that feels like. But it's not just one thing in one way, it's lots of things all at the same time. How often does it feel like trials come that way?

But there's an encouragement for you because over in 1 Peter, 4 Peter, as he writes, he uses this same term. He talks about something being many coloured as well. But the thing he says is many coloured is God's grace. God's grace is many coloured. So what I'd say to you this morning is if you're feeling like there are many colors of trials coming at you for every trial, God's grace is also there and it is so much greater.

So keep enduring. Let it grow in you a whole undivided life. Let's pray. God, we thank youk for your word. We thank youk for James as he writes this letter to the church.

We thank youk for all that we're gonna see in it, all that we're gonna be challenged by it. Lord, we thank youk that it is living and it is active and it is relevant today. Lord, it asks something hard of us. You ask something hard of us that when we're facing troubles and trial, to consider it joy. And so, Lord, we come to you today particularly.

We pray, Lord, for those who are in a season where it feels like they're facing troubles and trials. Lord, we pray that you would help them to fix their eyes on you, that they might look ahead in anticipation, in confident hope of what you've set before us. This crown of glory, this eternal life that you promised to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, help us to, as Jesus did, look ahead and let that help us to stand firm in the midst of trials, in the midst of trouble. And so we ask you this. We pray that we would know the presence of your Holy Spirit, empowering us, gifting us, working in us, that your Holy Spirit would strengthen us in the moments where we feel weak.

We thank you that it is the very presence of God. He is the presence of God in us. The many colored grace of God outworked in our lives. So we thank you for that. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.