Sunday, October 12, 2014

James 3:18 – “Blessings”


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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