As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
13Who
[is] wise and understanding among you? Let him display his works out of the
good lifestyle in humility of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter
passion and factiousness in your heart, do not boast over or lie against the
truth. 15Such wisdom is not coming down from above but [it is]
earthly, animal, demonic, 16for, where [there is] passion and
factiousness, there [is] disorder and every foul practice.
17But
the from above wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, reasonable, agreeable,
full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, [and] without pretense. 18And [the] fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace by those making peace.
Speechless. This study in James 3 leaves me overwhelmed. As
usual, I started the chapter fearing I wouldn’t get “much” out of it. It was so
familiar. I’ve read it, taught it, even memorized it. I’ve “known” it for 35
years. “What more can there be?” my heart wondered. Yet I’d never actually
studied it. That was one of the things that moved me to study the book itself
to start with – the fact that it seemed so familiar and yet I’d never taken the
time to slowly work my way through it, to try to make sure I’m hearing what the
Lord is saying. I’ve also learned in my 35 years that is a recipe for freight
trains and atom bombs. Familiar but never studied? Without exception I’ve waded
into those books and passages only to find myself right where I am –
overwhelmed, bowled over, stunned.
This book, and most recently, chapter 3 is a total
bombshell. I sit here feeling like the Lord has blown open my eyes to see
myself so much more clearly, to see the world so much more clearly, to see
Jesus and this whole business of wisdom and peace and righteousness so much
more clearly. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
I feel like I don’t want to move on. I want to somehow just
sit here and soak this up, to hide in it “’til this storm passes by.” But of
course I must move on. I need to ask the Lord to write these lessons deeply on
my heart, help me to live them, and then keep going back to the well, to drink
more of this water of life. As much as I’m loathe to move on, I am excited to
go back and finish the book of Ruth. That too has been such a bombshell. I can’t
even imagine what goldmines of truth I’ll find there in chapter 4. And when I
finish that, I plan to come back and continue on into James 4. Chapter 3 has
been such a bombshell and I suspect chapter 4 is actually just a continuation
of the same thoughts. What on earth will the Lord teach me there??? Crazy. What
a ride.
Partly because I’m reluctant to move on, I want to record a
few last thoughts from 3:13-18. I say “partly” because there are a few things I
want to record just so I don’t forget them. In case anyone wonders, that is
actually why I write these blogs – really this is where I go to pull together
my own thoughts after I’ve studied a passage. I can study and study and study
but at some point I need to stop and mentally pull it all together and put it
into some kind of order. A lot of times that is actually when the Lord really
drops the bombshells on me. But mainly I need somewhere to record my own
thoughts so I hopefully remember them and let them change me. I like the “blog”
platform in case my feeble scratchings are any encouragement to anyone else.
One danger of course is that I’m writing as I learn and quite frankly I don’t
care if what I’m “learning” makes other people’s hair stand on end. I might
realize three blogs later I was wrong. But I have to learn. I have to think. I
have to try to put things together and then think some more. The beauty of my
own private blog is that I can think uncensored. Garsh, this sure is fun!
One of the things that just amazes me is how much order there
is in the Bible. It often isn’t obvious in English but jumps off the page in the
Greek or Hebrew. I think it is totally cool in v17 that the wisdom from above
has seven qualities. Of course. Seven is the number of completion and
perfection. And then some time ago some ancient writer introduced me to the
idea that five was the number of grace. I read that and thought, “Hmmmm. I’ll
keep an eye out for that and see if I think there’s any merit to it.” What is
so cool is that the fifth quality of “from above” wisdom is expressed in
five words (in Greek) and is “full of compassion and good fruits.” It is
grace itself! Every one of the other
qualities are expressed in one word adjectives. Only the fifth is expressed in
five words. So cool. Then too if you go back into vv13-16 and the discussion of
earthly wisdom, you’ll find no order at all – in a sense confusion. And this is
exactly what you find in Galatians 5 and the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit
of the Spirit.” The fruit of the Spirit is expressed in a perfect 3x7 matrix
with the nine fruits of the Spirit right (exactly) in the middle in a perfect
3x3 matrix. On the other hand, you look back up at the works of the flesh and
it’s like they’re just thrown in a pile. So cool. Not only does God tell us
that sin brings confusion while righteousness brings peace and order – He even
illustrates it in the very words He says it in!
Another thing I find interesting is that, in this passage,
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace (in effect, peace produces
righteousness) while in other passages it is righteousness that produces peace.
Isaiah 32:17, for instance says, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; its
effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” Which is the chicken and
which is the egg? I suspect that peace and righteousness are so integrally
intertwined you can’t really separate them. To have one is to have the other.
To sow one is to harvest the other. That is why righteousness is only
sown in peace. The two are like conjoined twins. Each is unique in and of
itself yet they are inseparable. If we would cultivate righteousness in
ourselves and others, then we must master our hearts and our mouths and do it
in peace. If we would have peace, then we must have the Spirit of God working
righteousness in our hearts and lives. Cool.
Another thought: To say we must “sow in peace” sounds good
in church, but I suspect a lot of people would say that doesn’t “work” in the
real world -- the old “if you want to get ahead” you have to push and shove and
connive or other people out there will walk all over you. I will simply say, “Au
contraire!” I like what Matthew Henry said, “Let others reap the fruits of
contentions and all the advantages they can propose to themselves by them; but
let us go on peaceably to sow the seeds of righteousness …” Hear, hear! My good
friend Matthew Henry says it well. Sure you can “get ahead” pushing and
shoving. And sure sooner or later we’ll come up on the short end because we
didn’t push and shove. But all the conniving to “get ahead” and to “win” will
like he says, “reap the fruits of contentions.” I try sincerely at work to “sow
in peace,” to treat people fairly, to be honest, and here I find myself at age
57 – I am certainly no “success story;” you won’t read about me in any
magazines and at home we still struggle to keep it all together financially,
but I have sure made some good friends and enjoyed a lot of good relationships.
The Lord has allowed me to complete some awesome projects at work all down
through the years. No one will ever know it but I’ve been a part of several
projects that actually went on to be industry standards. I’ve been able to be a
part of projects where we solved terrible problems that have been making people
miserable for years. No one ever really even needs to know I was part of those
things, but I know we accomplished it all without pushing and shoving, without
cheating anyone, and again, I made some great friends along the way. I’d rather
have my good memories and the friendships I’ve gained than all the “success”
others may have attained at the cost of personal turmoil. I like peace. I’m
thankful that the Lord’s ways are peace – even in the marketplace.
Well, I suppose I’d better quit. This has been such a
blessing.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power
of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
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