Wisdom That Comes From Above (James 3)

What if reorienting your soul could start with a simple Sunday gathering? On this spiritually enriching episode of the First Love Church Podcast, we explore the sacred significance of these gatherings as a time to remember our true identity as beloved children of God. Journey with us through the teachings of Jesus, the Beatitudes, and the book of Philemon, as we reflect on embodying our faith through generosity and action. We'll discuss the transformative power of living like Jesus, fully immersing ourselves in spiritual life, and embracing the unforced rhythms of grace.

How can the practice of gratitude and prayer transform your perspective on daily life? Inspired by Acts 2:42 and the experiences of early Christians, we encourage you to embark on a year-long journey of recognizing a thousand gifts in your life. By contrasting the comforts of home with the challenges faced on mission trips, we highlight the often-overlooked daily comforts that warrant our gratitude. Through this lens, discover how allowing the Bible to read us can lead to profound personal growth and a deeper appreciation for the blessings around us.

Do you long for true wisdom and a life characterized by peace and gentleness? This episode delves into the essence of divine wisdom, as exemplified in the teachings of James and the story of Jonah. Learn how virtues like purity, peace, gentleness, and mercy can guide your interactions and relationships. We'll also explore the concept of eliminating hurry from our lives, fostering a peaceful environment, and becoming peacemakers guided by the Holy Spirit. Join us in embracing God's wisdom and love, living out these values through service, and cultivating meaningful connections that reflect Christ's love and mercy.

Chapters

• 0:01 Church Teachings on Gratitude and Jesus
• 10:57 Practice of Gratitude and Prayer
• 14:41 Seeking God's Wisdom Through Humility
• 28:32 Choosing Gentleness and Seeking Peace
• 35:08 Living Out God's Wisdom Through Service
• 46:58 Living in God's Wisdom and Love
• 52:56 Becoming Peacemakers Through God's Love

Transcript

Heather Drake: 0:01

Welcome to the First Love Church Podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the Revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, florida. Grateful this morning for those of you who have joined us again. There is so much goodness and truth for us as we remember what Sundays are for us. They are a reorienting of our true selves, a rest for our souls, an invitation to remember who we truly are. We are ones deeply loved by God, and so I'm grateful this morning that you have come to reorient yourself, to reset your soul in the naming of yourself as beloved, in the peace that it comes from recognizing the spirit of Christ is here among us, that love is here and that you are welcomed exactly as you are. You do not need to leave any parts of you in the car or anywhere else. You bring your whole self. That is welcomed in the presence of the Lord, and I'm grateful for those of you who are willing to do that. When things are not going wonderfully, you still show up and say this is where I want to be encouraged, and so I'm grateful for that this morning. I'm grateful for, again, those of you who are excited and have good news to share, and those of you who are struggling, all of us welcomed in the presence of the Lord.

Heather Drake: 1:24

And so, as we gather together today, we got to read together the Beatitudes, and I think that that's such a beautiful way to recenter us, to remind us that Jesus is the one we are following, and all of us at least those of us present today and even those of us online our intention is to be an apprentice to Jesus. What would it be like if all of us understood the work of Jesus in the world and said this is what we would like to join in on? What does it look like for me to behave like Jesus would behave toward my neighbors? What would it look like if Jesus were in my place and he went to the grocery store? Or Jesus drove the car with me this morning to the grocery store, or Jesus drove the car with me this morning? I just think that things might be a little different.

Heather Drake: 2:09

And so, as we get together, we practice and we apprentice together in the good things that are available to us, in learning to live like Jesus did fully human, fully divine and said this is what I've come for, that you would have life and have it to the fullest. Wouldn't it be amazing for all of us to get to the end of our lives and say I rung every minute out, I enjoyed every strawberry I ate, I saw every sunset, I watched every star. And very often, for us, we live on autopilot and we forget the wonder that is around us. So every Sunday when we come back, we are reminded that wonder introduces us to awe and that awe brings us back into the presence of love, into the presence of God.

Dennis Drake: 2:57

Amen, it's beautiful.

Heather Drake: 3:01

I want to read to us this morning from Philemon. We've been studying the chapter in a few chapters of James and so, don't panic, we're getting back there, but this is part of the same kind of language. I'm praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. This is an invitation to actually do what James tells us to do. I don't really want to know so much about what you say, you believe, but let me see it by how you live. Let me see it by how you actually serve the world or what you do.

Heather Drake: 3:40

And this letter to Philemon is reminding us that there's so much good that God has in store for us. There's so much abundance and beauty, even in the world, and we're invited to experience it. I want to remind you that living a Christian or a Christ-filled life is not just knowing facts. It's an experience to be able to live in the presence of love spirit, to be able to be in constant communion with the spirit of God, to be able to live in a place where we see the things as Jesus sees them and that God's good kingdom that we prayed for earlier would actually come into our life, even as it is in heaven.

Dennis Drake: 4:22

You know, a lot of times we uh, uh, misuse our christianity by having the idea that we're going to add some god to us, let's get a little jesus in what we're doing, and, and the truth is that's not how it works. You know, he's not a condiment that you add to the meal. He is in fact the fact, the source of all goodness, and so it doesn't really work until we understand that and live in surrender to that. Not that you can always do it perfectly or always, but that we understand that that is the intent to really follow in a place where I'm giving over to love and letting my will go by the wayside. That's why the old man needs to pass away, we need to be done with that life and then live in this new way, and that's when we begin to see the real transformation and the real immersion, you know, immersion in, in spiritual life. And so, make no mistake, it doesn't happen through dabbling, you know, we, we need to make the plunge. Somebody say amen amen.

Heather Drake: 5:39

That's a good word, that's a beautiful imagery. Remember your baptism, beloved. This is the family that God is creating now, with everyone, because this is our Father's world. And Jesus has come, and the words of Jesus are this are any of you tired? Are any of you worn out? Are you burned out on religion? Then come to me and I will show you the unforced rhythms of grace. I will show you how to live freely and lightly.

Heather Drake: 6:11

And so, together, as a church, we look at what the tradition has given us, what Jesus has given us, what are the unforced rhythms of grace? How do we live our lives in harmony and in frequency with love and what God intended us to live in? And one of the things that we do is a practice called a Sabbath, and it's what we do when we come together on a Sunday and we reorient ourselves in love and we remind ourselves that we are not what we produce. Our goodness or our belovedness is not based on our productivity. We are simply loved by God and there is rest that is given to us. We don't earn our rest. Our rest is given to us. And so when we rest on Sundays and we say I stopped the work that I usually do during the week and I remind myself I am loved, god is with me, god is for me and there is good in the world.

Dennis Drake: 7:05

You know the things that we do and why we recommend come to church on Sunday, you know, or watch church online on Sunday. Why do we want you to engage in that? It's not just a bump up viewership, it really is, because we believe that the things that we talk about are transformative to your life and we always will talk about practices and there are things that the church has handed to us and, as pastors, we hand to you and hopefully you can take some of those and apply those to your life and walk in those kind of practices. And I tell you that you already have practices. There are ways that you automatically think and many of us automatically think negatively.

Dennis Drake: 7:52

Am I talking to anybody here? Are you all just positive 100% of the time? You know when things break. Do you ever have the thought I'm never going to make it? Or where are we going to come up with the money for that? Or this always happens to me. We have patterns of the ways that we think and one of the things that the church hands us is the practice of gratitude and people. To me it's funny because if you're not familiar with that practice, you will literally say to yourself well, I don't have nothing to be grateful for.

Dennis Drake: 8:27

That's the problem that we are living, you know, breathing this beautiful air that we have, even though it's hot air here in Florida it's clean. I've been in big cities. You can go outside and just inhale the most beautiful and look up to to the sky, and almost every day there's in high definition, there's the most beautiful artwork of clouds flowing through in our skies and you right there, could get stuck in a loop of gratitude that would keep you going. But if you stop and think about the things that you do have because we do often assess all the things that we don't have and we oftentimes meditate on the things that we wish that we had, you know, and it consumes us and it brings us to that negative place. You know the just dissatisfied, angry, frustrated, disappointed, isolated.

Dennis Drake: 9:27

But I'm telling you, if you could, if you would just decide, I'm going to take what the pastor says as a, as a prescription, like I went to a doctor, and for the next just week I'm going to practice moments in my day 30 second, 45 second increments, but as many times as it comes to my mind I'll practice gratitude.

Dennis Drake: 9:49

I promise you you will see transformation in in, really in moments, uh, but. But you could begin to have a practice that would be so contrary to the one that you know you don't enjoy, am I right? Nobody enjoys that spiraling down the toilet, meditation and practice that we have, but there's so many, though, and that's just one we're talking about now, but there's so many Practice of generosity, practice of not getting the last word in Patience oh, there, I said it. You know, traffic will give you that opportunity on the way home, and how we and we're gonna we're setting you up, because the things we're going to talk about today in james are going to be honest practices that, we must admit, aren't at the forefront of most of our lives and of our choices of behavior. So let the words of James impart to us potential for real transformation today, amen.

Heather Drake: 10:56

Amen. I was sitting with a wisdom and an older person years ago and I was going to tell them how I did my morning devotions, and a lot of times probably, if you're in the presence of wisdom, you shouldn't say a lot. At least that's what I've learned. I really start regretting some of the things that I said. But I said, oh, now is the time that I am going to sit down and I'm going to read my Bible, and I just think that I didn't want them to think that I was ignoring them. They were in our living room and I was kind of. You know, let me just explain myself here. There's no explanation needed. It just I was declaring that I was going to read the Bible in the morning and this person from across the living room said well, when I sit down to read the Bible, I allow the Bible to read me. And I thought, oh, there's a difference. There isn't there. If I sit down and I let the Bible say to me, I wonder if there's a place that you could give more thanks, or I wonder if there's a place where you could be more gentle and allow the scriptures to actually read you, as opposed to you going there trying to find reasons why you're okay the way you are. I mean, if we look for something, we'll find evidence of it, and so when we look for, I love what you offered us the practice of gratitude, the practice of prayers. Jesus was a man of prayer and so we look at that. As people of faith, we are people who pay attention to prayers, and the prayers are a part of even the new forming of the church. In Acts 2.42, it said all the people, all of them, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the Lord's Supper and to the prayers. I mean, these are the practices that formed this new community, these people that followed after Jesus.

Heather Drake: 12:32

And I would like to one-up Pastor Dennis' invitation for you to think about a few things this week that you're thankful for, and I invite you to enjoy a practice Now. It's a big one and I like to give ourselves lots of grace for things. Is your energy matching your motivation on this? But I would ask that this year, because particularly that we're coming into the Thanksgiving season at least it says that on our calendar. It's very hot outside, and so we can't trust the wind to tell us we're going to trust the calendar in this situation.

Heather Drake: 13:00

But consider this. Maybe this year you begin a practice, and the practice is recognizing a thousand gifts. So the information is that for the next year you would spend time in getting to a thousand of all the gifts that are in your life, and it can be the most amazing sunset. It can be the regular Tuesday sunset. It could be the food that you have eaten. It could be we turned on the water and it came out clean. You know there's a lot of gifts around us, but perhaps this next year you would consider paying attention to a thousand gifts that you are entering into, and so I'm so grateful for you this morning to even consider those things. Jesus was a man of prayer and the prayers. Can I just interject?

Dennis Drake: 13:47

that there's a perspective on that too, because, you know, I oftentimes will miss the appreciation of the hot water in the shower. But every time I come back from Haiti or any third world missions trip that I'm on and maybe we didn't get a shower or you stand in a bucket and you, you know, you pick up and you pour a cup over your head and that's your shower. Or you sneak off to a spring and though you're cleaning in a nice spring, you've got 30 Haitian people watching you bathe. That's not as fun as it sounds, and so you can come back home in your private little shower and tell it exactly what temperature that you want.

Dennis Drake: 14:29

And so it's perspective, because how many of you climbed into the shower this week and felt like it was owed to you or complained because something wasn't exactly the way we wanted? So perspective helps us. And so ask God, god, and I think when you talk about the Bible reading you, sometimes we can begin to see where we are. Think that we're dressed so nice but we are clothed with nakedness, you know, and we're missing. Really, what's going on?

Heather Drake: 14:59

I love the invitation too. From the Psalms. It says give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his mercy endures forever, and you'll hear some of the patterns in reciting or hearing those words and it reminds us these are the things that matter to the way that we are able to see the world, that we can actually see the abundance that God has given us, that we can see the goodness that is all around us. Beloved people will show you where things are broke and where they need fixing. You don't have to worry about that, someone will let you know. But what we do have to do as followers of Jesus is be intentional with looking for the good, with celebrating the good, with tuning our ears to hear the good and to hear the wisdom. We've been hanging out in the book of James and I was thinking about highlighting some of the verses, and then been hanging out in the book of James and I was thinking about highlighting some of the verses and then, when I got to the end of it, I already had 17 verses, like not even in the row. So I just thought we're just going to hang out in James and I just encourage you to read this letter and allow it to read you too and allow it to bring hope to you. But in this particular part of the letter, james is reminding us about wisdom.

Heather Drake: 16:06

Now, last week, we were at the point when James was like, hey, don't talk a lot, just let's just take that down a whole bunch, like, let's see what you say, you believe by what you live. I mean over and over again. James actually says this it's going to be your actions. You say that you love people. Well then, let's see how much you love people. And Jesus shows us how to love people, how to listen to the things that they have need of, how to be gracious to them.

Heather Drake: 16:32

I was noticing something in the scriptures this week where Jesus is healing someone and there are people opposing him because he's decided to heal on the Sabbath and they said well, it's against the rules. And it says that Jesus marveled at the hardness of their hearts. I wonder how many of us are more comfortable with the rule than with the breaking of someone else's heart. And so Jesus has asked us to live differently, and James is reminding us of this. He's writing this letter to a group of followers and he's saying hey, pay attention, there's some wisdom here that maybe you need to refocus on or you need to now align yourself with that. And there's so much hope in that truth. I want to go on a little bit of. I'm going to read to you this morning because I love you. Welcome to my life, welcome to everybody in my family's life. I'm going to read to you this morning because I love you.

Dennis Drake: 17:25

Welcome to my life.

Heather Drake: 17:25

Welcome to everybody in my family's life. I'm going to read you and I didn't say this is going to be one thing, because I learned it's not going to be one thing, it's going to be a lot. And sometimes when you're passing by in my house and you're doing something, I'm like, hey, just a minute, let me read you this one thing. That was really good. And so this morning you're all here, so I'm going to read you a few things, because it's good and it's so beautiful to have truth given to us and for us. I encourage you this morning, don't just listen with your ears, listen with your heart. It's not four pages. Those are some notes Plus. I'm a very good reader and I can read very quickly and you can listen very quickly, I promise. But I'm going to read with intention this morning and I'm going to read. Don't pretend, pretend that you're going to enjoy this part. Okay, it's from the book of wisdom too, so you could go back and read that later.

Heather Drake: 18:13

Realizing that I was only human, I prayed to God and I was given understanding and the spirit of wisdom came to me and I regarded her more highly than any throne or crown. Wealth was nothing compared to her Precious jewels could not equal her worth Beside wisdom. All the gold in the world is a handful of sand, and silver is nothing more than clay, and I valued wisdom more than health and good looks. Hers is a brightness that never grows dim, and I preferred it to any other light. When wisdom came to me, all good things came with her. She brought me untold riches and I was happy with them because wisdom had brought them to me. I had not realized before that she was the very source of all things. I was sincere in learning from her and now I am glad to share what I have learned. No one can ever exhaust the treasures of wisdom. Use the treasures of wisdom and you will be God's friends. God will approve of what you have learned from her. I pray to God that my thoughts are worthy of what I have learned and that I would speak according to God's will. God is wisdom's guide. God gives correction to those who are wise. We are under God's power and authority we ourselves, our words, our understanding and our skills, and God gives us true knowledge of the forces of nature, what the world is made of and how the elements behave, how the calendar is determined by movements of the sun and the changing seasons, the constellation and the cycle of years. God has taught us the nature of living creatures, the behavior of wild animals, the force of the winds, the reasoning power of human beings, of different kinds of plants that use their roots as medicine, and we learned things that were well known and things that have never been known Because of wisdom.

Heather Drake: 20:11

Wisdom gave shape to everything that exists. There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, humane, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, penetrating through all spirits, intelligent, pure and altogether subtle, for wisdom is more mobile than any motion. Because of pureness, she pervades and penetrates all things. She is the breath of the power of God. She is pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. Therefore, nothing defiled gain entrance into her. She is a reflection of eternal light, a perfect mirror of God's activity and goodness. And even though wisdom acts alone, she can do anything. She makes everything new, although she herself never changes From generation to generation. She enters the souls of holy people and she makes them God's friends and prophets. There is nothing that God loves more than people who are at home with wisdom. Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and all the constellations. She is better than life itself, because night always follows day. But evil will never overcome wisdom. And I appreciate what the prophet said when he said in all of your getting, get wisdom. So this would have been the groundwork for the people that are hearing this word. They understood that wisdom is the prize thing. And then he begins to bring some adjustment.

Heather Drake: 21:54

And so we go this morning to James, chapter three If you are wise I like the if part there, because it's possible that you are a fool, and that's okay too. I mean, you'll get what a fool gets, but you know it is just what it is. So you sometimes need to name yourself Am I wise or am I foolish? Where am I building my house? What am I doing? And so, to be able to reorient our lives and say have I understood that God's wisdom is here and that love is here? Wisdom is a choice. If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. Prove it by living an honorable life. We hear James over and over again say your life will testify of what you believe. Your life will testify of who you love. Your life will testify of how big you understand God to be.

Dennis Drake: 22:56

You know it talks about humility and gentleness as being traits of wisdom, and I find that oftentimes in in men we don't value that.

Dennis Drake: 23:09

That has not been anything that has been taught to us as value. So it is wisdom for you to get, to get this understanding and to not maybe just say, because it was handed to me one way, then that you know, because usually what is prized with men is is the, the stronger, the ones that beat you up and push you in the corner. They're the ones that get the respect and there is really for in in the kingdom of god, the value of of humility and uh and of gentleness, and if we won't surrender to that, it kind of explains why we're not walking in the wisdom that God has for us or we're not seeing the things that God has for us as men. Amen, it's not a real popular message among men, but if we will surrender to spirit, god will bring us through to this place of transformation but if you're bitterly jealous and their selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying.

Heather Drake: 24:17

for jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But but the wisdom from above is first all pure. It is also peace-loving, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruits of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere the wisdom from above.

Dennis Drake: 25:08

We've got to understand that that's not something that's going to be natural. For you and I, that's not going to be the first choice. This is kind of God coming in and replacing the way that you would normally do it with a new way. Amen. Are we open to that? Are we open to a new way? I think sometimes we have to get tired of our old way.

Dennis Drake: 25:33

Oftentimes I see, really, as pastoring over the years, I see people like and breakups in relationships. They come around the losing of jobs, uh, you know, maybe tragedies of of family loss and stuff, and people will use those events as as those markers and really begin to allow real change. You know and it's a shame, something of a devastating event has to happen in our lives for us to realize that we need real change and that real change comes from heaven. And so, uh are, are we willing to allow that word to read us, like we were talking about earlier? You know, for us to hear that word of God reminding us of lovingness and gentleness and really to look at myself in that way and say, you know what I couldn't say that I'm gentle, one of the things that years ago I said to Heather. I said I'm nice, right, and she started laughing. That didn't feel good. And I go what do you mean? Like you know, when you think of me, don't you think nice? And she goes Dennis, if I was given one word, two words, ten words, nice would not be the one and I was super offended.

Dennis Drake: 26:54

I go, what do you mean? She goes no, no, it's not bad, it's just. I think you're a risk taker. You're funny, you're kind, loving I'm these things, but nice, you know, it's just. And so if we're honest honest, oh, no, I'm nice, you're wrong. Let me yell at you about how wrong you are, about how nice I am, just to prove your point, even better.

Dennis Drake: 27:19

But if we can allow the holy spirit to do that within us, you know, okay, you're not nice, you're not gentle. When you talk, oh, thank you, holy spirit, that you still love and care for me and will help me begin to see that. And then, all of a sudden, if you really will open up your heart to that, you'll have a lot of cringe moments because a line will run out of your mouth and you'll be like, oh, I wish I could get that back. That had a lot of meanness on there. That wasn't my goal. I wanted to be nice, you know, and the Holy Spirit will work with us in these things. But we first must see the importance that peace brings in to the home loving gentleness.

Heather Drake: 28:04

We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg, reminding you to like, follow and subscribe.

Heather Drake: 28:32

But the wisdom from above is first, all pure. I remind you of this that there is totality in God and in the understanding of who God is. God is love. That's the end of it. That is the end. There is no, but it is God is love. That is the whole thing. And love is the most principal thing. And it's reminding us that it's pure love emanating from God, Again in the understanding that came from the book of Solomon, where it is pervading everything. It is holy, it is sacred, it is all, and it is also peace loving. And this comes and confronts us in ways that say do you have a God who loves peace, is peace-loving, or do you have a God who is like Zeus, full of war? And there is for us an understanding of saying if you understand that, the wisdom that you have is peaceful, is for the making of peace.

Heather Drake: 29:30

Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. The blessing is in the peacemakers. Jesus said to Peter put down your sword, Stop with the fighting, beloved, you know there's another way. And so Jesus is asking us, reminding us, and then James, the brother of Jesus, is also telling us years later hey, it's peace loving, it's gentle at all times. Now that's where it gets a little sticky, because he put the at all times, because some of us are gentle some of the time. I mean when we feel good and everything's nice and it's 70 degrees and there's no reason to be upset, then we're gentle. And so then we mark ourselves as gentle or we name ourselves as gentle. But are you gentle when you disagree? Are you gentle when you sit in the opposition? Are you gentle at all times?

Heather Drake: 30:25

Now, the scripture tells us this in evidence, or a fruit of the Holy Spirit is gentleness. In fact, in another book it says let your gentleness be known to all. To all, that means the other drivers in front of you, that means the drivers in the lane next to you. Let your gentleness be known to all. This is an evidence that we are connected to the Spirit of God that we are people who are gentle at all times and willing to yield to others. Very often we know what we want, we know what we think is right and we know how to live other people's lives. I didn't know if you knew this, but we do. We have a lot of opinions and we have a lot of judgments and we are willing to share them for free. And this particular verse tells us we need to take a look at that. Gentle at all times, willing to yield to others, peace loving, not just tolerating Peace loving this is the spirit of Christ.

Dennis Drake: 31:34

You know, early, early on in Heather and I's marriage, we worked at another church and we were doing counseling. And we were doing counseling with a couple that was like 10 years younger than us and they were just babies and they were married and they were having marriage problems and we were like, well, how can we help you? And he goes. Well, the bottom line is she screams at me all the time, she screams at the little baby, she screams all the time and he goes. And I just grew up in a bunch of foster homes and there was violence and all that. And I've just decided I don't want to have a home like that. And as he's saying that, I could really hear her going, I don't want to have a home like that. And, as he's saying that I could really hear her going, I don't want this either. And I watched the two of them say let's decide, we will not be a home that screams at each other. And I mean, and the two of them came to that decision on their own and I I followed them in in their relationship and it was a pivotal moment where they, no matter how mad they get, that's just not a choice, that's not a place they're going to, because they had decided pre-fight, pre-anger, because there's going to be struggles, but we're just not going to be a family that yells. And they made that decision. What a great decision I.

Dennis Drake: 32:46

I went home and I was talking to heather and I said can you do that? And she said, yeah, that's what I've been telling you for about 10 years of our marriage. And I came from a home where the loudest person won the argument and you had to yell and it was just. It wasn't even something that I considered. It's just the way human beings interacted, because it was. I saw no other way. And Heather was raised where, you know, they didn't yell, they talked. And so she was offering this idea and her and I at that point said well, let's make a decision Now.

Dennis Drake: 33:19

I haven't always honored that Heather has. I haven't always honored it, but I have to to the point that I could tell you it makes a transformation in your relationship. If you decide I'm not going to be mean If you decide that peace is Now, peace doesn't mean you'll never disagree. There's just a way of doing it peacefully. Or you can do it aggressively and mean that we're always, love is always ruling. How can I still be gentle. But be gentle and tell you that what you're doing is trampling all over my heart. There's a gentle way or there's a I say nothing, say nothing, build up and then I blow up. That's the way most of us deal with conflict, and then it's very messy and there's no gentleness with it.

Dennis Drake: 34:04

So I wonder if you could look at this and say, even from this moment forward in my relationship there are things I want to pick up about that, or just my own autonomy. I don't want to live outside of that boundary Because those looking at it, those are the times when I'm the most miserable, when I feel the worst is when I violate that anyway. So once I intentionally go, I don't want to be in that kind of relationship and you talk to your partner. If they're any kind of a of a sensible person, they will see that that makes sense and I'm telling you, if they're not sensible enough to surrender that you may. I'm like Jeff Foxworthy you may be in an abusive relationship. Although it's not funny, it's. You know, if we're not able to look at this and go. I see that now how painful that is to other people and to you and I don't want to. I've seen the light, I've seen a path and I want to apply those practices to my life.

Heather Drake: 35:08

The wisdom that is from above is, first of all all, pure. It is also peace-loving and it is gentle at all times and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy. Wisdom that is from above is full of mercy. We just read this in James's previous chapter. We just read this in James' previous chapter Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy is going to be the thing that wins. God in God's self is infinite mercy. In fact, in the book of Lamentations it says that the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. Great is God's faithfulness, faithful to mercy. I remind you even Jonah I talked about it last week where he says this about God God tells Jonah go and tell the people to repent.

Heather Drake: 36:01

And Jonah doesn't really want to tell them to repent. He wants the judgment that's coming because those people have been an enemy for a long time. And so he goes there and I judge this morning. It's not in the text, but I'm using my imagination and you can judge me on that. But here's where he goes. I think it was half-hearted. I do. I don't believe that he really had intention for these people to change, but he spoke the word of the Lord to them Repent, change your ways. And what is repentance? Repentance is not saying I'm sorry. That's called saying I'm sorry. Repentance is changing the way you think Repentance is, and Jesus said this I want you to live a life of repentance.

Dennis Drake: 36:31

What does that mean?

Heather Drake: 36:32

for all of us as we mature. We should be changing the way that we think, not about love, but about how we can expand and understand what the Spirit is telling us to do. The wisdom that comes from above is, first, pure. It is peace-loving, it is gentle at all times, it is willing to yield to others, it is full of mercy. And Jonah goes there and tells them if you don't repent, there is a judgment coming. And then he goes and he sits down and the people repent and God relents. God does not judge them and Jonah is furious.

Heather Drake: 37:07

Jonah is furious and says to God I knew you were like this before I left the house. I mean, he literally says that. And I remind you his journey involved like being in a fish's belly, you know. So he had quite a journey and he said I knew you were like this before I left the house. You are full of mercy. This is your intention that everyone would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Everyone would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, for God so loved the world that he gave Jesus so that we could come home to God. God's intention was love, and so it's important for us to know that when we hear the words that are coming to us, that someone says this is what God wants. Is it full of mercy? Because that's what God wants. Is it full of peace? Because that's what God wants. Is it full of peace Because that's what God wants? Is it gentle? Because that's who God is and that is what God wants for all of us to be people that our gentleness is known to all. I will give you another. See how these kind of things kind of creep up on us and this understanding of gentleness known to all.

Heather Drake: 38:09

I was thinking of Dallas Willard, because he is, I'm, excited about some new things that are happening with the parables of Jesus. But Dallas Willard said this this is like the beginning, the basic knowledge of like, discipleship or apprenticeship. This is what you must do first. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, because let me tell you when you're not gentle, when you're in a hurry, let me tell you, when you're not patient, when you're in a hurry, let me tell. And you know what we are as Americans. We are in a state of hurry. I mean, alarms are going off all around us. There's meters everywhere to tell us that we are in a rush and there is a peace that comes from slowing and receiving love and recognizing our belovedness is not based on the timetable or the treadmill that has been given to us. We are allowed to disengage and say if I am going to stay in mercy, if I am going to stay in peace, then I have to eliminate and I love that.

Heather Drake: 39:11

He used the word ruthlessly ruthlessly eliminate, hurry from my life. And then he says it's full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. Again, this is James and he's not believing what you're telling him. He's like just let me watch, I'll see what you believe, I'll see how you live. And, beloved, it's not just James, it's the people around you, it's the people you work with, it's your neighbors, it's how you interact with people when you go to the store. Are you full of mercy? Are you full of gentleness? Is it the wisdom from above or is it the wisdom of this world that told you you better get it done fast. I mean, get your stuff, get in, get out, get it done fast. Beloved, there's no way to have a relationship with anyone like that. And all the good stuff is in relationship. All of the good stuff is in the place where spirit allows us.

Heather Drake: 40:01

Silas and I were here last night and there were many people here but we had walked past the kitchen and we have food there and there was a half sheet of a Publix birthday cake and it was so pretty. They just do a good job there and I know that cake to be good. I think it was odd. I came up from the north and we all had bakeries, lots and lots of bakeries, and you've had a favorite bakery and down here you just have Publix and they just got it right. So nobody else is trying the bakeries, everybody's doing something else. So, but this was a public cake.

Heather Drake: 40:30

And I said to Silas when we pulled in, the neighbors right behind us were having some kind of a party. There were so many cars and there were people all outside and I said let's go get that cake and let's take it to our neighbors. And so we did. Silas carries the cake for me and we go to the neighbors and we said we had extra and we just thought maybe you'd like some cake and they were so excited. They're like what kind of a church gives away cake? It's us beloved. We do because we have cake, but I don't know what they're doing. It happened to be someone's birthday.

Heather Drake: 40:57

We didn't set that up, but sometimes gentleness and service just brings things for people, for a lot of people. And sometimes you just need cake, because cake is the celebration, and I believe the Church of Jesus Christ should be big on celebrating the good things. But sometimes you just need to trouble yourself. We're in a hurry, we had agenda it wasn't on my list of things to do bring a cake to the neighbors. But sometimes, when you're not in a hurry, you can see good things right in front of you and you have the ability to share those good things, because you've slowed down and the invitation for us is in the slowing is listening to the wisdom that comes first of all, all pure gentle, willing to yield to others, full of mercy and good deeds you know heather is such a blessing to our house and doing so many things and you know, for years I would see her like washing the dishes and the kids just kind of run off.

Dennis Drake: 41:51

And so for years I've taken my opportunity. I'm going to help her by yelling at the kids and tell them how.

Heather Drake: 41:57

She doesn't want that kind of help. Beloved, it turns out.

Dennis Drake: 41:59

And they don't want it either, and, furthermore, it doesn't really help. All the sermons I gave on rinsing dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, nothing really worked. And so, about a year or two ago, I decided this really strange method Instead of yelling at the kids, I would just start washing the dishes. So I started washing the dishes. It was really weird at first, and then I thought I wonder how many times I'm going to do this and they'll just see and start doing it. Right, that's going to happen. Well, as it turns out, it's been a couple of years and they're pretty happy. And so I thought, well, at what point am I going to like gain enough authority now that I can yell at them, but I yell at them with the authority of a dishwasher. And just yesterday there was a plate left out on the table and it's like really. Just yesterday, uh, there was a plate left out on the table and it's like really, I mean really. And so I thought of all the things that I was going to say and the sermon I was going to give, you know, and it was like, and then it turns out nothing in the sermon lined up with that peace loving gentle. But what did line up was me washing it and putting it away, and it turns out that, um, that, uh, it may very well be that the solution to heather's problem of all that work is me, not me yelling at the kids, and it might just very well be this truth and some people already.

Dennis Drake: 43:33

I sense your resistance, I sense the the frustration on what you're hearing me say, but I'm telling you that I'm convinced of this. God keeps saying to me there's going to be a day when you're going to wish there were dishes to be washed and they're gone. You know, now I'm not there yet. I'm not all seeing that dish as a blessing yet, because there's still work to do on me, you know. And so I think that sometimes, if we can just let it happen, you know, let it just the reality of what it means to hold your tongue and your taste in blood because you're biting down on that tongue, you know.

Dennis Drake: 44:22

But it's like it's in that that God is doing something. Maybe you haven't even gotten to the fulfillment of what it means or what it's doing in you, but I promise you that that is a holy thing and that's much better than you just having some kind of amazing prayer that you can pray over your family, that you were just peaceful in the home, or that you just became a servant. And you say well, I have been a servant, I've been a servant for years and nobody's noticed. Well, I'm sure that nobody on this planet has noticed. I agree with you 100%.

Dennis Drake: 44:54

But I will say this to you, and I think I hear all of you it's starting to bubble up in your spirit the scripture you could give a cup of cool water to a child in secret, and God sees it. And God rewards openly for what's done in secret, and God sees it. And God rewards openly for what's done in secret. And so we can trust that God is keeping an account. And so you don't need to. And the problem is that's the biggest fights that I have in the relationship is when I bring my list. Well, you've got to understand I've done this and I've done it this many and you're doing this. And that list is I don't find that in here, right, and you've been studying the Greek on this and we still haven't found it. It's not in there, is it?

Heather Drake: 45:45

it's not. You talked about plates, and I don't know what happens with plates at your house, but plates means that somebody has eaten food. At least that's what we do with the plates at our house. Maybe it's different at yours, but in our house somebody has eaten food. And I will tell you with all sincerity that there are mothers all over this world who would love to have dirty plates on their table because they had food to feed their children. And so never do I complain about dirty plates, because it means that my children have eaten. And there is for us a practice of gratitude that changes the way that we see things. The plates are still there, beloved, we still have to put them in the dishwasher, and somebody washes them. Nothing changes, but how we see things change. That is an act of repentance, where we say I will allow gratitude to be the thing that opens the world for me, that opens for all the abundance that I begin to see, all of the treasures that are there.

Dennis Drake: 46:48

There are all around us church.

Heather Drake: 46:49

There is so much abundance in the world because God put it there. God intends for us to live this life and live it to the full. The wisdom that is from above is, first of all, pure and is peace-loving. And James is telling us this because some people have wisdom, but it's not from love, it's wisdom from some other place and James is selling. Now you actually have to determine where the wisdom is coming from and what wisdom will you follow From the prophet Jeremiah? Jeremiah says stop and wait. Stand at the crossroads and ask where the ancient paths are. Follow those paths and you will find rest for your souls. Rest for your soul beloved. It comes from ruthlessly eliminating hurry. It comes for looking for the ancient paths, the paths that have been given us the good ways toward God, following wisdom. We have been given the spirit of God to live inside of us, Beloved. We're a resurrection people. This is such good news that we serve a God who will take the dead and bring it to life. This is so beautiful and there is an invitation for us to live as people full of gratitude, to live as people fully willing to yield to others, full of mercy and the fruits of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. Shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Heather Drake: 48:25

If you've heard James harp on a few things, it is this fact. Where there cannot be prejudice allowed, not in the church of Jesus Christ. Prejudice for nothing. No kind of hierarchy is allowed in the way that Jesus is building God's family. Everyone is equal. The apostle Paul even says this there is no Jew, there is no Greek, there is no slave, there is no free, there is no male, there is no female. All the lines that separate us, not true in God's house? In God's house, love is the way that we see everything and when we find love, we can find places to see differently and to look for abundance, to find ways to be grateful. There is a key to unlocking happiness, and it is on joy. It is finding gratitude, finding gratitude in everything, In fact, from the apostle in everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything, find a way to practice gratitude. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Dennis Drake: 49:31

Are you going to go to the next verse?

Heather Drake: 49:32

I will in just a minute, because the Apostle Paul says this to us Let your love be sincere.

Dennis Drake: 49:37

Okay.

Heather Drake: 49:39

And from the Greek it means let it be without wax, which doesn't mean anything. I'm like what the heck is that I don't have wax in my love? At least I don't think I do and it was a particular term. Let it be sincere. Everybody there knew what happened.

Heather Drake: 49:56

It was very popular during that time to have sculptures. It was very popular, and they would make garden sculptures and sculptures for inside your house and everybody loved the sculptures. And sculptures are hard. I don't know if you've tried, but it's a thing. And then sculptures are also fragile. They lose parts of themselves if they're run over or tipped over or run into, and very often the sculptures would lose things like a nose or like fingers, and so people would make them out of wax and put them on, and to everyone else they looked fine, Except you took that sculpture home and you put it in your garden and under the hot sun. All of a sudden there was no nose and the hands would fall apart and you're like that is not what I thought I was getting.

Heather Drake: 50:42

And he's saying let your love be that way, Let it be without wax. Let it be sincere. Recognize that the love that you have cannot be a pretend love, a love that is just doing things because that's what you think someone else wants. Let your love be without wax, Let it be sincere and let it show no favoritism. The scripture here James, is reminding us God shows no favoritism. God is not interested in one above the other. God loves us all and this is who God is calling us to. All of us, come home to the table that God is offering for us. Love is heaped up like a feast and God is saying everyone come home. Love is the way.

Dennis Drake: 51:23

Yeah, and you know, and our, our, our kind of like resistance against. That's really our resistance against God, because that's how he sees us and how he's calling us to be and to behave towards one another. And yet we still kind of have this. Yeah, but don't you think we've got to still categorize the people that are behaving this way or people that are doing what I judge as sin in this way, and so we still, we just want to hang on to that dualism. And the reality is, you and I are not the Holy Spirit.

Dennis Drake: 51:53

So it's not our job to convict of sin and righteousness Turns out. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. What our job is to do is to be compassionate witnesses, to listen and to speak when the spirit of god tells us to and to, to live these ways and and this. This is the way that. Uh, uh, that seems hard, but it's just the way of humility. It's the way that that that that is a direction towards our egos dying and our pride being challenged, but, trust me, that is a good thing. The more that goes, the better off we all are, amen, amen.

Heather Drake: 52:37

Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness righteousness.

Dennis Drake: 52:56

I don't want to just share quickly, uh, the idea of a peacemaker versus a peacekeeper, you know, uh, because you can keep the peace. But how does one make peace? You know that that involves a proactive, uh, stance for us, and that's what the Spirit of God is imparting to us the ability to do to be able to make peace in situations that are not peaceful. So oftentimes we're in those awkward situations and we go oh, good luck with that. I hope that works out over there, when we can walk in a place of peacemaker, where we can bring it to situations, and that's something that we definitely have to depend on the holy spirit to do. And, uh, that's different in every situation, but we can trust that the spirit of god will bring that to us. And so, uh, oftentimes, when we hear about peace, we're like, okay, I'm trying to be peaceful, I'm trying not to yell at you. Well, that's certainly the first step towards peace, but that's not moving into the place of proactively moving in peace, right.

Heather Drake: 54:03

If we remember that God is peace. Jesus is our Prince of Peace, even if we will, and peace is a state of rest and of belonging. Peace is something that we should not give up. In fact, guard your peace, stay with peace, but to be peacemakers, we bring ourselves under the submission of Jesus, who comes to make peace. And he said it's not with a sword, it's not with violence that you make peace, it's with love. Love is the greatest force in the universe beloved the love of Christ. There is nothing can stand against the love of Jesus Christ, and there is hope in that love. There is hope for the whole world. There is a prayer that has been given to us. It's ancient prayer Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me. We hear even blind Bartimaeus praying this prayer. When they said Jesus is passing by. There are times, there are areas in our life where we are blind and we need the mercy of Christ. We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon. If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg.