This post by christinecoltman was originally published at GRACE PLACE
Hands up who’s read this letter in the Bible before, the book of James. Hands up who’s studied it through, verse by verse, before. Hands up who thinks they don’t need to study it again. Hands up who has completely nailed everything it says. Fewer hands there, because, James says some challenging things. He says:
“Consider it joy when you face trials…”
“Don’t just listen to God’s Word; do what it says…”
“Care for widows and orphans…”
“I will show you my faith by what I do…”
And just in case you thought you were smashing it on all those so far, here is an area where we all fall down:
“Control your tongue…”
All of those examples are from chapters 1 and 2… and there are 5 chapters.
YIKES!
James is a very very practical, down-to-earth, call a spade a spade, sock it to you straight in the face kind of letter.
It is often referred to as “wisdom literature”. So it has more in common with Old Testament books like Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, where the writer is giving lots of wise advice in short sayings.
It doesn’t deal with one or two major issues of Christian doctrine and explain and explore those in depth for chapters. “`
Instead James uses 59 commands to bluntly tell us what it means to live for Christ. How to live a wise, godly life in an unwise, ungodly world.
59 commands. Wow. That can easily fall heavy on us and weigh us down. It becomes a To Do list which can lead to feeling great about achieving in my Christian life… or on the flip side it can be 59 commands that are a shortcut to despair and disengaging and dropping out.
(By the way, that To Do list is called ‘Legalism’ and it is no way to LIVE LIFE. The Son came to set us free, to give us life in all its fullness. So this book of James is not intended to put us back into slavery. These are not commands to make us miserable about how we are doing, or smug about all the good things we do. It is there as practical wisdom for those who aren’t sure what Christian life looks like.)
This is very much an ‘overview’ night. And the trick is going to be, doing an overview, without doing a year’s worth of talks and stealing what all the other fab speakers are going to say. So I’m going to give 20-minute introduction, Who What Why Where When – What’s in it? and then hand over to you with questions to really delve into the big themes of James and orientate yourself around God’s Word.
So let’s look the WHEN.
It is written somewhere around 50BCE, about 15-20 years after Jesus returned to heaven.
If we think back 15 or so years… That is when the final Harry Potter book was published, or if you only watched the films, about when Harry Potter 5 was released. My daughter Anna is 14. So. The church in Jerusalem – and the church worldwide, is only as old as Anna Durant.
This means that, being a Christian is a very new thing for everyone. When James wrote this letter, he wrote to baby Christians. No mature Christians out there. It’s not like when Paul writes to Timothy and says, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Tim 1:5) There is no one like Granny Lois with a plaque on the wall naming them as Sunday school teacher of the church from 150 years ago. No! Everyone is learning together for the first time about how to follow Christ; so everyone needs to hear and see what Christian life is like. What the priorities are. How to be wise and apply wisdom in their everyday lives, for their good and for God’s glory.
So James gives them very direct instructions and clear examples of what is Christian behaviour, what are Christian attitudes, what to do when you face suffering, what to do if you are rich or poor… because they don’t have the wonderful living examples of older, mature Christians in the church who can mentor and encourage that we enjoy here at CBC.
So when we come across all these commands and instructions, That’s the spirit in which we need to read the letter. Not as a Legalistic To Do list. Not a check list for how well I am doing in my Christian life compared to everyone else. But more as a picture of what Christian living is like, so that, when we don’t know what Christ would have us do – i.e. when we lack WISDOM – we can see clearly what God desires in our everyday lives and live to please him.
Some of this will make us uncomfortable – because it will point out error and places where we are way off the mark. When that happens, these are moments to rejoice. The Holy Spirit is showing us how he wants to work in our lives to make us more like Jesus! The Holy Spirit is bringing us to repent and be amazed all over again, that God loveD us so much he sent Jesus and God loveS us so much he sent his Spirit to live in us! That he is not going to leave us in our ungodly state but to make us more like Christ as we look in the mirror and be changed by the Spirit to become more like Jesus.
So yes, some of James’ commands will make us uncomfortable.
But also, there is great encouragement. so let’s read on.
We’ve looked at lot at When. Now let’s consider WHO, and WHERE. So let’s hear from God’s Word. That’s where the answer to those questions will be. Let’s actually hear the opening greeting of the book of JAMES… James 1:1.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
WHO
James, in his opening, reminds us of what really matters. And he introduces himself very humbly.
James was the brother of Jesus; he could have leaned on that for credibility. (Study buddy notes – who was James, brother of Jesus, leader of church in Jerusalem, The MotherShip) but he calls himself Servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
It all comes round to Jesus, and when James puts himself in a position in relation to Jesus he doesn’t view himself as an equal, a brother, or a close companion. He is “servant”, or more accurately, “slave”. And Jesus is master, he is “Lord”.
What about us – would we consider ourselves slaves of God and Jesus?
Often we think of Jesus as someone like us, the one who walks with us, who never leaves us, even as friend? Yes he is, he is all those things, but he is also Lord. And more importantly, he is Lord. We belong to him. This brings us phenomenal security and safety. He has bought us at a price – the price of his blood! His very life! He has a place for us, a household for us, tasks for us to do, a way of life for us to enjoy.
Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is also Christ. This means he is God’s chosen king. He is the one that the whole Old Testament points towards and the New Testament celebrates. If you feel trapped and powerless, if you are waiting for someone to rescue you, then JESUS IS CHRIST.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
OK that is half of the Who. But Who is the other Who?
This is a letter: Remember those?
Addressed to…? Can give big clues about who it is to. And what kind of thing is inside.
This letter, in James, is addressed “TO THE TWELVE TRIBES SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS”. That address is so vague, that Royal Mail would probably just Return to Sender. You’d likely have more success writing to “Santa Claus the North Pole”! Why is James so vague with his address label?
Two things going on there:
12 tribes
Scattered Among the Nations
So who is James writing to? Who are these 12 tribes?
Alex Motyer helpfully describes this as “a straight line from the Old Testament to the New.”
If you remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob was renamed ‘Israel’, Israel had 12 sons. Those 12 sons had children of their own and from those 12 families sprang the 12 Tribes of Israel, each taking its name from one of Israel’s sons. Here they are neatly listed in Exodus 1:1-5:
“These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.”
So is James writing only to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? I think not. And here’s why.
Jacob’s children referred to themselves as the 12 Tribes (this is from about 1700 BC) but as time went on, they formed geographical countries – Israel in the north and Judah in the south. In 722 BC, the country of Israel was invaded and became part of the Assyrian empire. Which left only Judah… The people of Judah began to call themselves ‘Jews’ and when, eventually Judah was invaded by the Babylonian empire in 597BC, all the descendants of Israel were calling themselves ‘Jews’, not the 12 tribes.
As a helpful comparison, I personally would consider myself to be ‘British’. (I’m not aiming to be political here!! Just a point of interest.) If someone referred to me as ‘English’, they might be talking about the language I speak, or my connection with a time 500 years ago back when Queen Elizabeth I ruled, before England and Scotland joined up (with a big ‘sorry’ to Wales and Ireland).
Maybe not such a helpful comparison.
Anyway! Israel’s great- great- great-grandchildren considered themselves to be ‘Jews’, not the 12 Tribes, because of various nationalistic and geographical movements that had brought them together around their common worship of God, but separated them from individual plots of land belonging to each tribe.
And if JAMES was wanting to write only to people ethnically descended from Jacob, he would have address his letter “to the Jews”, not “to the 12 tribes”.
So who is this letter to?
In Mark chapter 3, Jesus chooses 12 men that he appointed specifically to preach and carry out ministry. The Twelve disciples. It’s clearly an echo back to the 12 Tribes of Israel. These 12 later on become the founders of the church in Acts 2. Some might view this as Jesus creating a whole NEW Israel, to replace an old and failed Israel. However I don’t think that’s the case. Jesus spent so much of his time on Earth ministering to Jewish people; and the first Christians all came from a Jewish background.
The church is not there to replace Israel, but to fulfil it. To complete what God started. Paul writes to the church as “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16) because those who have faith are “children of Abraham” (Gal 3:7). He even goes as far as to say, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16). Both Jews and non-Jews are welcomed into God’s Israel.
AM I MAKING A POINT HERE.
Yes. Yes, I am. James has written to “THE TWELVE TRIBES…” Who are they? They are the Israel of God. Those who have faith – whether Jewish by birth or followers of Jesus by being grafted in. James is not writing to a specific ethnic group, or only to Christians who have got a Jewish background. He isn’t writing to one church in one place at one specific moment in time. he’s vague on purpose. ALL God’s people need to hear this. ALL of us need to hear what life is like when you follow Christ. Anyone who has faith in Christ is included as a recipient of this letter. So that’s you. And that’s me.
NEXT PART of his address label:
To the 12 tribes SCATTERED Among the nations.
I’m going to lump ‘Scattered’ and ‘Among the Nations’ together.
This is a reference back into Jewish history to those times of exile, when they had been invaded and were deported away from their homeland as refugees. (REMEMBER DANIEL from the away day in spring?)
Some came back to Jerusalem and rebuilt God’s temple – we read about it in Nehemiah and Ezra – and so gradually there became Jews who lived at home and others scattered among the non-Jewish nations.
James – if you did the study buddy you’ll already know – was the brother of Jesus and in charge of the church in Jerusalem. He was the ‘home boy’ in the nicest of senses. But even the home boys considered themselves to be NOT AT HOME in the world. Peter (another home boy) writes to us telling us to live as “foreigners and exiles” in the world (1 Pet 2:11).
As Christians, as the Israel of God, we are all of us FAR FROM HOME in this world. We’re living in a world hostile to God and full of trials and temptations. We are all of us scattered, in different towns and workplaces, in different home and contexts; We are not yet gathered into God’s house where we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We are among nations that don’t recognise the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
James is writing to people who need God’s wisdom for how to stay true, how to lead Godly lives in an ungodly world. How to be wise among people who aren’t on the same page.
James is writing to us. Because it’s a tough world out there.
But let me tell you the good news about being scattered. Because it’s not all bad news. Yes there is struggle and hardship.
But do you remember what happened to the exiles? To the people scattered among the nations?
God brought them back together. Made them a home and brought them to it. They may have been 12 tribes, but God made them into a holy priesthood and nation. They may have been scattered all over from Lebanon to Iran, but God brought them back home.
In Jesus, God hold out an amazing hope to us. That this time of walking on a lonely road, and a Boulevard of Broken Dreams, is limited. It is measured. It will end.
One day, the book of James won’t be needed.
I know I know the Word of the Lord stands forever. But I’m not aiming at heresy. I mean that, one day, we’ll be face to face with Christ. In God’s presence forever. All of us, All the Israel of God, no longer scattered but brought home again. And we won’t need faith, and we won’t need hope. Because all that we hope for will come true. All that we now only see in part we will see in totality.
So one day, the book of James won’t be needed. It won’t apply to us anymore. We won’t be scattered among the nations. We won’t lack wisdom, because we will be complete in Christ, who has become for us Wisdom from God.
We won’t be needing to care for orphans and widows, we won’t be controlling our tongues, we won’t be needing to flee the devil, we won’t be grappling with the inequality of rich and poor, no one will be ill. We won’t need reminding to hear God’s Word and do what it says.
These days of being scattered are NUMBERED. And each day that number gets smaller and smaller.
But in the meantime, we need to hear and do what God’s Word says. We need to pay close attention to James, as he points us to a wise course as God’s people scattered among nations that reject God.
To the 12 tribes – that’s us. That’s anyone who trusts in Jesus. We are God’s people.
Scattered among the nations — We are pilgrims on the path, exiles scattered far and wide.
We are not yet home. But we long to be. And one day soon, we will be.
So that’s WHEN, WHO AND WHERE covered. So WHAT is in this letter?
There are all sorts of ways people divide up the 5 chapters of James. He has some pet topics that he comes back to over and over again, most of which he introduces in the first chapter and then goes on to unpack in greater depth.
I don’t want to talk much about that now, because otherwise Hollie and Kathy and Christine and the others won’t have much to say on their talks!
But this is a book about relationships. Firstly our relationship with God, and then interpersonal relationships with others.
But what I do want to point to is the structure.
In Chapter one, he introduces all sorts of trials and temptations that Christians face every day, and he shows us what wisdom is for a godly life. We find that we have to take an honest look at our own relationship with God. As individuals. Because how can we call on others to walk the path if we ourselves are not on it?
We need to get that straight and sorted first, and love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. And then chapters 2-5 he looks at how that plays out with others, as we love our neighbour as ourself.
But his first advice is: Get it sorted with God for yourself first. Take the plank out of your own eye. be single-minded. Have faith in Christ. Hear God’s Word and Do it.
Then after that very inward and personal examination – James turns to how to put our faith into practice (chapters 2-5). Care for orphans and widows. Love your neighbour. Have compassion. Use your words to encourage. Do what you say. Care for the sick. Share with the poor. Care for each other’s souls.
But first and foremost, James begins with James as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when all is said and done, it’s all about Jesus, not about me.
So to summarise:
- JAMES
- GENERAL BOOK TO GENERAL PEOPLE
- Different from Paul. Not a specific church or person at a specific time with specific instructions for a specific situation.
- And that’s actually helpful. We can read this as God’s wisdom straight to us, now, as part of the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. We still face the same issues – controlling our tongues, struggles with finance, illness. And our God is still the same God. Jesus is still Lord, and Jesus is still Christ.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Who? Servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. In what ways is Jesus ‘Christ’ to you, setting you free and welcoming you into his Kingdom? In what ways is he Lord and in what ways are you still your own master? How can you repent and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life?
Who? You are one of the “12 tribes”! How does it impact you to know you are included in God’s people?
Where? What makes you feel “Scattered among the nations”, out of place and not at home in the world? How does the knowledge that God will bring us back help you to endure?
What? Look through the themes of James’ letter (read the chapter headings!). Why is it so tempting to look at what others are doing rather than focus on our own faith and living it out? Which of these are personal challenges for you? How does personally knowing Jesus as Lord and Christ, and working on that relationship as a priority, encourage you as you live out this life in front of others?