WEBVTT 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.640 Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to New Sun Churches Podcast. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.359 We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.399 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.719 The second reading this morning comes from James chapter 4, verses 13 to 17. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:36.719 Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.079 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.920 What is your life? 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:46.640 For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:54.799 Instead, you want to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.640 As it is, you will boast in your arrogance. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.359 All such boasting is evil. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:07.040 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him, it is sin. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:08.959 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:11.439 Amen. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.959 So, dear news song, what is your life? 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.480 Let's pray. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:26.000 Gracious Heavenly Father, we pray that you would meet us exactly where you are at, where we're at right now by your Holy Spirit. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.400 That we may be where you are. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.079 Caught up and hidden in Christ, Lord, safe and secure. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:37.760 We pray that it's by grace we would strive to enter the narrow door. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:48.799 We pray it's by grace that we would submit all we have to you, ready to receive your grace and your goodness, which you are so eager to share with us. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.719 Speak through your word, Lord. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:51.680 We thank you for your word. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:02:00.959 It had power in its day when it was written, it has power in our day as well to transform us, to center us in your truth and in your promises, Lord. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:02.000 Would you do that? 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.439 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:04.400 Amen. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:06.239 Please be seated. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:17.759 So have you ever started a project that you figure this is going to be simple enough? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.120 And you already know where that's going. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:32.400 I had a uh, I mean, I've I've known folks who've started simple, you know, drywall patches and discovered the whole thing's infested with termites, you know? 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:39.520 I had friends who had some dampness in their basement, so they go poking around and discover the entire foundation of the house needs to be redone. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:41.039 That kind of thing. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:47.919 Sometimes you start something that looks pretty simple and you discover this goes a lot deeper than I thought it would. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:55.680 And I wonder if today's passage from the Letter of James that we've been journeying through the last number of weeks together, I wonder if our passage is a little like that. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:08.319 At first glance, it seems like there's one particular group of people within the church doing a particular occupation with perhaps a particular problem. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.360 And that problem looks like it should be nothing but a patchwork job. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:23.599 But the more I dig into this verse, the more I realize I think the problem that James is identifying goes a lot, lot deeper than the drywall, so to speak. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:37.120 It goes right down into the foundation, and not just for a particular group of people within the church that he's writing to, it goes right down to the foundation for all Christians in his day, and I think in our day as well. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.960 Truthfully, after last week's sermon, uh it was twelve very jam-packed verses. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:47.840 I looked at this week's text and I thought, I'm so thankful it's only five verses. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.639 And then I discovered these are five very jam-packed verses. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:55.599 So I have two pages and not just one page of notes today. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.400 So we're going to enjoy our next two hours together. 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:07.120 James is already getting at uh some of the foundation issues for the Christian life. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:26.399 Uh last week's passage we went through, chapter 4, verses 1 to 12, James is looking at those self-centered desires that deteriorate a community of grace, the kind of community of grace that the church is supposed to be to one another and to the world as well. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:36.959 Self-centered desires like pleasure and prosperity and pride just deteriorate this community that's meant to be completely focused and centered and identified by grace. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:49.680 And I think James is continuing that same thought in a lot of ways in today's passage, even as he addresses he picks up on a symptom and addresses the disease, something like that. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:53.439 In our passage today, this is James's main point that I take it. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:55.600 And this is the main point of our sermon today. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:01.439 It's this Christian wisdom, because that's what James is all about, putting God's wisdom into action. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:08.720 Christian wisdom begins by submitting to the Lord's sovereign will. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:15.920 Christian wisdom begins by submitting to the Lord's sovereign will. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:22.000 And if the question is, what's James asking us to submit, the answer is yes. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:37.120 But I think James identifies two very related um two very related things uh in our life that are cause for particular concern or particular focus. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:50.879 We should submit everything to the Lord's sovereign will, our whole life, our whole will, our whole every decision, because our time in life is finite, number one. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:55.680 Number two, our control in life is finite. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:04.720 Our time in life is finite, and our control in life is finite, and therefore we should submit everything to God's sovereign will. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:12.800 And all of this drives home to a kind of concluding principle in verse 17, which basically amounts to do the right thing. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:17.199 So our time in life is finite, our control in life is finite, therefore do the right thing. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.920 That's basically the outline of our passage, that's basically the outline of our sermon today. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.519 And James is offering a lot more than just patchwork. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:36.480 He is going at our very worldview itself, the frame with which we understand the world we live in, the decisions we make, the priorities we have, the way we live our life. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:38.959 James is going at our worldview. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:52.800 And as uncomfortable as that might be, and as deep as the surgery gets, I wonder if we're willing to be courageous enough to track with James here and to measure our own life and our own worldview against what he has to say. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:07:01.839 I wonder if we'll discover something like an answer to worry and anxiety and despair in what James has to offer. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:06.639 So, if you have your bulletin, if you have your Bible, open it up to James chapter 4. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.519 Let's begin at verse 13 together. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:10.639 Here's what we're going to see. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:18.959 Christian wisdom begins by submitting our decisions, our life, our will, everything, by submitting to the Lord's sovereign will. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.399 Here's reason number one. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.839 Reason number one to do that is our time is finite. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.120 Verse 13. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.319 Come now, basically, listen up. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:35.839 You who say, today or tomorrow, we'll go into such and such a town, and we'll spend a year there, and we'll trade and we'll make a profit. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:40.160 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.240 What is your life? 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:48.319 You are like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:49.519 Okay. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:51.600 So who's James talking to here? 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.399 Who's the uh you who say that he's addressing here? 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:00.639 The you who say is the merchants within the church, kind of the business class of the church that he's writing to. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.120 And this suggests, I think, a couple of things right off the bat. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:09.680 One, even the earliest church was made up not just of those who are economically poor, but those who are economically well off. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:16.879 Church is a representation, meant to be a representation of its whole community, and it calls us to live life together. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:25.519 And so James is addressing a particular group within the church, folks whose profession it is to do commerce, to do business. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:31.519 And in James' day, business looked like we gotta be ready to go where the money is, something like that. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.360 I mean, it's like that in our day too, right? 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.360 But for James' day, it's well, we need to leave this city, Jerusalem, or wherever. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.879 We need to go to do business in Damascus or Ephesus or wherever the money takes us, right? 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:49.840 In our day, it might be less like I need to uproot my life and go somewhere, go down to downtown Toronto or go to Hamilton or wherever. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.279 It's more like maybe I need to think about changing my career track, right? 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.600 But either way, we go where the money is. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.039 That's the idea here. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:08.960 And before we say anything else about this passage, I think it's important for us to note that James's point is not that commerce or business or industry is wrong. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:16.000 The point here is not that going about business is an unchristian or a godless thing to do. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:22.000 In fact, the Bible affirms commerce as a vocation that God calls many into. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.960 I mean, we went through a series on Proverbs last fall, right? 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.000 And maybe we remember Proverbs chapter 21. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:34.480 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:42.240 I mean, that's just one of many examples where the proverbial wisdom here is that wealth and success is desirable. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:47.120 So apply wisdom, and generally you'll find more success than less. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.559 That's the idea. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:50.879 What's the real problem here? 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:59.519 The real problem is not pursuing a successful career, is not earning enough money to provide for our family or provide for our needs. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:09.200 The problem, as James would identify, or maybe let's put the problem in the words of our Lord Jesus, Matthew chapter 6, no one can serve two masters. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.399 You cannot serve both God and money. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:18.480 The real problem here is not commerce, it's not earning, it is idolatry. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:24.080 It's making money or success or what have you, the purpose for our life. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.440 It's the focus, it's the drive, it's the most important thing. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:28.720 It's become our God. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:32.879 It's what we worship, it's what we prioritize above all else. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:40.799 James is driving at that motivating force, that thing that our whole worldview, our view of the world, focuses on. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.039 And if it's that, James is saying, then you've lost perspective. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:51.279 It's not that the Bible's against commerce, it's that as you go about your commerce, you have lost perspective. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.159 Here's two ways you've lost perspective, merchants. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:58.720 Number one, you assume that tomorrow is a sure thing. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:00.399 You just assume that. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:07.600 Number two, you assume that you have all the time in the world and that it's yours to spend. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.440 The problem is not that they're making plans. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:18.399 The Bible is not saying, you know, never make long-term investments, you know, never schedule your calendar or something like that. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.799 The problem is that you see yourself at the center of your own calendar. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:28.080 It's your time and it's your time to spend, and you assume that you have all of it. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:29.840 So, what is your life? 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:30.960 Is the question. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.360 That's a worldview question. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:36.879 What's at the center of your life is what James is asking. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:40.159 Your time is not your own. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.960 Therefore, what is your life? 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:50.879 We read about something like this, uh, illustration of this in Luke chapter 12, where Jesus is telling a parable to make this point. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:12:00.799 His point is this take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:10.080 Guard against covetousness, that idolatry towards money, because your life isn't valued by the dollar amount, so to speak. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:20.240 So he gives, Jesus gives this uh parable, he gives this illustration of someone who's uh he owns a field and he has a very successful harvest, he has an overabundance, and what does he say? 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:26.559 He says, Well, it's time for me to build bigger barns, so I can stuff all my abundance in barns, and that's gonna be my security, right? 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:32.879 If I have a few years of you know uh lean harvest, then I've got all I need to live on. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:34.240 And that's mine, right? 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:35.840 And I've got that time. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:37.360 And what does Jesus say? 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:44.639 He says, it's a he imagines God addresses this guy and goes, You fool, your life is demanded of you tonight. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.879 You're planning for a future when your time really isn't your own. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:13:00.879 Again, the problem is not that he's planning, the problem is not that we try and be wise with our long-term finances, that we never even factor in the idea that our time really belongs to God. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:06.480 And therefore we ought to consider that in our priorities and in our planning. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:15.919 Your time is not your own, so Jesus says, so is the one, a fool, who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.960 If we aim at earthly riches, we will lose it all. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:27.039 If we aim at being rich towards God, we will discover what makes life truly valuable. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.639 So there's any number of variations of this, I wonder. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:41.120 I wonder if one variation of this in our day would be something like, you know, I'll join this Bible study when this busy season gets over. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:42.240 When I retire. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.399 It's amazing how many retired folks I talk to. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:45.519 I'm a long way from retirement. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:52.720 It's amazing how many retired folks I talk to who are like, I'm more busy in retirement than I have ever been in my working life, or something like that. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:54.639 It's amazing how consistent that is. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.080 I don't mean to pick on folks who are retired, I'm sure I'll experience much the same. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.120 But it's amazing how we have this idea that I'll get to all that. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.120 You know, all the important stuff. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:04.639 I'll get to that when. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.200 Or I'll perhaps I'll start giving. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.519 I'll start giving when I'm this financially secure, I have this much money in the bank. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.399 It's amazing how we get there and we discover life still has all these financial burdens I need to meet, right? 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:27.120 We can infinitely put these things off, assuming that we always have the time, and we never think to factor in the idea that our time really doesn't belong to us, it belongs to God. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:37.519 So, what are we choosing to do in the present that submits our own sense of time to his will, to his purposes, to his design. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.679 See, James is not saying you should just disregard your calendar. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:47.120 You should never schedule an event in the future, you should never meet with a financial advisor, you should never make investments. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.440 James is not saying that. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:58.879 He is saying be wise with money, because wealth is a blessing, and increasing wealth should result in an increase of generosity. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.559 That's a Christian principle. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.440 James is saying pay attention to the focus of your worldview. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.039 What's at the center of how you view the world? 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:12.080 Do you think your time is unlimited? 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.000 Do you think it's yours to spend? 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.559 What is your life? 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.240 I think James has Proverbs 27 in mind. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.080 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:27.759 So, what's James's point? 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.080 James's point is that God is infinite. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.159 Our time is finite. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:42.720 So wisdom, applying ourselves to the good life, begins by submitting how we use our time to the Lord's sovereign will. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:44.399 That's number one. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.240 Here's the second related principle. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.080 James is offering something of a corrective. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.279 If this is what we're not supposed to do, what are we supposed to do? 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:52.639 Verse 15. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:59.440 Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.799 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.320 All such boasting is evil. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.799 So it's the instruction that James gives here. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.720 Did you see that in verse 15? 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.320 Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.120 So there it is, there's the magic formula, right? 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:23.279 We premise, we preface all of our plans with, well, if God wills it, and then it's guaranteed to happen, right? 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.000 Well, that's not what James is saying, is it? 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:35.840 In fact, James is trying to guard us against that sort of uh arrogance that masquerades itself as piety, right? 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.679 That can happen. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:45.679 I think it's John Wesley who warns Christians, warns preachers in particular, against loading their sermons with pious jargon. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.000 I love that phrase, pious jargon. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:56.159 If the Lord wills, if we just think all James has asked me to do is preface all of my sentences with that, we're just engaging in pious jargon. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.240 We're not getting at the heart of the matter. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:04.400 Nor is James suggesting a magic formula, as if God just needs to hear the right words and then it happens for us. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:10.240 Um I was thinking earlier this week about um one of my favorite examples is kind of magic formula. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.160 Thinking, I'm gonna quote from a good friend of our parish here, Karen Stiller. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:21.359 In her book, uh The Minister's Wife, she talks about um, well, she talks about one evening at Bible study. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.839 We've also had those evenings of Bible study, maybe. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.400 She says, that night at Bible study, one of the men cleared his throat and started talking about prayer. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:34.160 When we pray, he said, we should just thank God ahead of time for answering our prayers. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.319 This shows that we believe him. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.480 So the idea was that God likes it when we demonstrate such confidence. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.079 It shows we trust him. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:54.640 We might say, Thank you, God, for how you heal Betty, or thank you, God, for how you're going to provide me with work, or thank you, God, for the financial blessings that are yet to come, but are so close that I can almost smell the money. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:56.559 I love that phrase. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:03.680 We're not talking about a magic formula, a magic formula like thank God ahead of time and then he'll surely bless you with it. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.880 You know, just say if the Lord wills and it'll surely happen for you. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.240 We're not talking about a magic formula when we deal with God Almighty. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:15.519 Instead, we're trying to get to the very heart of the matter, which is what is our worldview focused on? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:21.200 The whole Christian life, including our prayer life, is premised on this fact. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.039 God is in control. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.599 God is large and in charge, is the way my friend puts it. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.200 God is in control, and that's the heart of the matter. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:38.640 If our prayer life, if our Christian life doesn't reflect the fact that God is in control and I am not God, then we're missing the plot. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:42.000 Here's how church reformer John Calvin puts it. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:59.920 He cautions us against just loading our language of pious jargon, and instead he says it is right and indeed and pro it is indeed right and proper when we promise anything as to future time to accustom ourselves to such words as these, if it shall please the Lord or if the Lord will permit. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.359 But he says, no scruple ought to be entertained as though it were a sin to omit them. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:18.640 For we read everywhere in Scripture that the holy servants of God spoke unconditionally of future things, when as yet they had, as a principle fixed in their minds, that they could do nothing without the permission of God. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:20.480 So what's Calvin saying there? 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:23.839 He's saying, Don't worry about loading your speech with pious jargon. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:35.119 If your heart reflects the fact that God is in control of everything and that includes my life, then you will act as though there is nothing outside of God's will, right? 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:40.319 That God has a will for your life and you can trust him to accomplish it. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.079 That's the heart of the matter. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:48.319 If we live with that at our center, then our speech, our actions, everything will follow after that. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:55.039 But James says, as it is, you boast, you rejoice, you glory in your arrogance. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:06.400 The arrogant idea that James is getting at here is that our control, our sensed, our felt control, is greater than God's own will for us. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:15.039 That we can somehow displace God's will by asserting our own, and that is creaturely arrogance, is what James is saying. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:22.400 And all such boasting, all such rejoicing, all such glorying, all such self-centeredness is evil, James says. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:25.920 Anyone else kind of go, whoa, evil? 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.160 James identifies one other thing in his letter as evil, and that's partiality. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.759 We saw that in chapter two. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.440 What does James have in mind when he describes it as evil? 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.039 Is that overstating his case? 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:38.240 I don't think so. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.319 Because I think James is willing to be a little bit more honest than perhaps I am. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:57.759 James understands something is evil when it is godless, when it's displaced God from the center, from the focused of everything, from his will and his purposes from the center, and instead displaces God and substitutes our own self-will. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:59.839 That's a godless life. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:01.920 That's evil, is what James is saying. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:07.359 It's evil arrogance to think we can displace God and become the God of our own life. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:12.799 And let's be clear, when we think we're in control, we are displacing God. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.240 We're forgetting him. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:17.279 And we're occupying his throne, aren't we? 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:24.079 Because someone's got to occupy the throne, and we figure that we can do a better job than him, so we might as well forget him. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.000 One thing I've forgotten in life was on my wedding day. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:29.680 I forgot the boutine ears. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:33.440 I had to look up how boutineers were spelled for my sermon notes here. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.759 Uh that's how unfamiliar I am with boutine ears. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.559 Those are the little they're the little flowers for the lapel, right? 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:39.279 That was what they were? 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:39.759 Okay. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.680 I just remember that I forgot them. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.839 They were sitting in the fridge. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:48.480 I showed up at the wedding and I got asked where's the boutaneers, and I had a blank stare on my face. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:53.359 The thing that wasn't forgotten at the wedding, here's the thing that didn't happen at our wedding. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:57.680 Even though I forgot the boutine ears, we made our way down, all the groomsmen, we didn't have our boutane ears. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.359 Rachel did not show up in roots. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.319 Sweatpants and a hoodie, and think, oh shoot, I forgot my dress. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:08.240 That has never happened at any wedding ever. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:13.119 Although probably I'd like to say at least half the men have forgotten their bouton ears, I'd like to think. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:14.960 That has never happened as a wedding, right? 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.319 Because that's absurd. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:21.359 You don't forget something as important as your white dress on your wedding day. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.480 That's the idea here. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:28.880 In fact, that informs a biblical metaphor for God's call to remembrance. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:38.559 Jeremiah chapter 2, God says through the prophet Jeremiah, does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride, her wedding ornaments? 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:44.400 Yet, God says, My people have forgotten me, days without number. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:45.200 Whoa. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.880 What's God saying there? 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:50.319 He's saying, My people forget the most important thing. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.319 Like a bride would forget her wedding dress on her wedding day. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.720 But God remembers. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:04.000 He says, Isaiah 49, can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she is born? 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.079 Though she forgets, I will not forget you. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:13.440 We his people forget him like a wedding dress all the time. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:20.880 But he's saying it's it is as likely for a mother to forget her nursing child as it is for me, your God, to forget you. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.160 In other words, ain't gonna happen, is what God's saying. 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:26.240 God doesn't forget us. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:29.039 And he's calling us to remember him. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:34.319 When we forget God, we displace God and we presume to do his job for him. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.400 And I think this results in one of two things, at least. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:42.480 It results in anxiety or despair or worry. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.599 And it takes one of two forms, I think. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:52.160 Form number one, we think we're in control, and so we worry about losing it. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.400 This is the workaholic, right? 00:23:54.640 --> 00:24:04.000 Who is putting in endless hours to always stay ahead of the game, always staying on top of it, always checking the stock market, always checking the news. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:05.759 I've got to stay ahead. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.119 Because if I don't, if I lose the plot, it's over. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.960 I think I have control, I worry I'll lose it. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.039 And that's an endless treadmill. 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:17.200 But I think there's another variation of this. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:21.279 It's like an inversion of that same problem that James is talking about here. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:27.359 We think we're not in control, and we worry that we'll never gain it. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:29.039 That's what we're after. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:36.559 We're after gaining control, because once we feel like we have control, everything's gonna be safe and secure and nice and orderly, right? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:48.559 I mean, I don't need to mean to step on a nerve here or something like that, but I have heard more Canadians use words like economy and tariffs than I've ever heard my entire life. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:53.359 And I am not advocating, and James is not advocating, that we should just be ignorant of what's going on in the world. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:56.240 We should never check the news, we should never know what's going on. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:04.319 But here's what I wonder about all this conversation we're having, and I'm having it with strangers at coffee shops, of all things. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:11.119 I wonder if behind all of that endless going back and forth, back and forth, is really this. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.799 It's a desire for control. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:22.319 We feel like things are out of control, and I want to figure this out so that I can feel like I'm in control and I have what I need to be safe and secure. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:23.839 I think that's what's behind it. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:30.880 I wonder if that's also what you know spins into so many popular kind of conspiratorial TikTok or YouTube videos. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.519 It's this idea that I just need to figure it out. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:37.200 Once I figure it out, then I've got control over my life. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:43.119 And here's the thing: I think James would look both of that, you know, I have control, I'm worried I'll lose it. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:45.440 I don't have control, I'll worry I'll never have it. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:47.680 And he would say, both are evil. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.079 Both are arrogant. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:57.519 Because at the heart of both is this idea that we should have control of our life. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:02.160 That we ought to have control of our life, but we can't. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:08.559 Or that our control over life is preferable to having God in control of it. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:12.720 So here, I wonder is an antidote for worry. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:16.640 It's hard, but I think it's liberating. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:29.440 The antidote I think James is trying to drill at here is a worldview not focused on our own self-centeredness, not focused on our own desire for control, not focused on our own infinite time, however we think about that. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:33.599 It's a worldview focused on God's sovereign control. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:38.720 It's premised on the fact that not only is God sovereign, I can trust him. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:40.400 He has my best in mind. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:44.400 In fact, he might have better in mind for me than I have for myself. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:52.240 So if I'm willing to hand over to him this desire for control, maybe I can experience some of that freedom from anxiety. 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.319 Maybe I can experience a release from despair. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:03.119 Maybe this is what Jesus is trying to get at when he says in Matthew chapter 7, look at birds and look at lilies and conclude this. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:08.960 Your Heavenly Father knows exactly what you need, what you need before you even ask him. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:13.279 God is infinite. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:18.480 Our time is finite, our control is finite. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:28.400 Wisdom begins by submitting our time and our felt need for control entirely to God's sovereign will. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:34.240 All of that is driving to this one conclusion for James. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.279 It's a principle. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.759 Do the right thing, not the wrong thing. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:39.119 That's intuitive, right? 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.720 Verse 17. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:46.720 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him, it is a sin. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:50.160 What's the right thing in James's mind? 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:57.440 The right thing is to submit your whole life to God's sovereign will, to his purposes, to his design. 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:00.880 Failing to do that is a sin. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:07.599 It's godless arrogance, it's self-centered presumption, it's putting me on the throne. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:13.039 And that's a transgression against God's law that leaves us guilty before him. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:16.000 So, what does all that mean? 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:19.200 What does that mean for us, new song, as we go out from here? 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:22.799 Does it mean get busy doing the right thing every time? 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:23.839 Always? 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:27.279 You're gonna be very busy indeed. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:37.359 James, we need to bear in mind, is calling us to put God's wisdom into action, but God's wisdom is always premised on the gospel. 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:43.119 And the gospel is this God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:45.759 That's what he's accomplished in Christ. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.319 Let's think about Gethsemane for a moment. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:29:03.039 Here's Jesus on his way to the cross, calling out to his father in anguish, asking his father to remove this cup, remove this judgment from him if he can, but nevertheless, not my will, he says, but yours be done. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:04.720 What's Jesus doing here? 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:16.960 Jesus, our mediator, Jesus who takes our place, one, refuses to do the evil that we so often do, which is assert our arrogant self-will and put ourselves in the middle of everything. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:22.559 But he also chooses to do the good that we fail to do, which is this. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:27.759 Jesus submits entirely to God's sovereign, saving will. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:32.960 Theologians call that Jesus' passive and active obedience. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:40.559 And because Jesus is our substitute, he accomplishes those two things that we so frequently fail to do. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:44.880 So what is your life is James' question. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:47.200 What's at the center of your worldview? 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:50.960 I think James would recognize the Apostle Paul's answer. 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:55.279 Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:56.720 What is your life? 00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:59.039 Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:13.920 Your life is tucked away with the one who has done for you what you cannot do for yourself, the one who has perfectly submitted himself to his Father's will, the one who has accomplished the good that we failed to do, the one who has refused the evil that we so often do. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:19.440 Our salvation is not accomplishing this perfect submission to God's will for ourselves. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:30.079 It's trusting in the one who has perfectly submitted himself on our behalf and now reigns over all time and everything. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:38.000 Not submitting so that our life, pardon me, it's not submitting, so that our life is hidden with Christ. 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:44.000 It's our life is hidden with Christ, therefore the wisest thing we can do is submit. 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:45.759 Do you see the difference? 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:51.680 So James is going a lot further than patchwork, isn't he? 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:53.119 He's challenging us. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:55.039 What's at the center of your worldview? 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:56.319 What's the priority? 00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:02.000 What's the most important thing for how you use your time or how you endeavor to live your life? 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.480 James would give us this caution. 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:10.319 Christian wisdom begins by submitting to the Lord's sovereign will. 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.279 Our time in life is finite. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:17.599 Our control in life, if we have any, is finite. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:25.119 Not only is the wisest thing we can do to submit that to God, we have a God who has gone to the cross for us. 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:31.039 We know he loves us, and we know he will accomplish what we cannot accomplish for ourselves. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:33.680 Who better to submit ourselves to? 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:38.559 What greater hope could there be than to be hidden with Christ in God? 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:40.079 Amen. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:43.599 We hope that you've been blessed by God's Word today. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:49.200 If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:52.880 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:57.920 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:03.279 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:11.599 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:14.559 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.