a new do

A new sermon series is cooking for the start of 2023: bring on James!

After preaching through John’s Gospel, the next best thing seemed like a walk through James’ letter. John expounds upon our need to “believe” in Jesus while James expounds upon our need to “do” what we believe about Jesus.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

James 1:22-25 (ESV)

This idea will be developed throughout the message series, and I’ll hope to blog as we go along, adding “extra footage” to our study.

The book of James is notably one of the more famous books of the New Testament, though sometimes gaining negative press. Not everyone finds an affinity with its direct methods or terse statements about Christian faith. But for those who gauge the depths of the undercurrent within, treasures of delight await. James is not contradictory to the writers of the New Testament, nor is he presenting a lesser-than brand of Christianity by comparison. For some in church history, James’ message seemed miniscule in contrast to Paul’s writings, and so it was believed that he got relegated to the back of the New Testament, presumably indicating its lesser value. In elementary school, the back of the line at the drinking fountain was always viewed as a dubious omen of malcontent for reprobate miscreants.

No kid wants to be last in line to get a drink of water after recess!

Praise the Lord for good scholarly work into biblical theology and exegesis over the last several centuries in moving us forward in our understanding of God’s Holy Word!

Something else to consider at the outset of a study into James is his early assessment of applying Christian faith. James is not generating an updated version of the Old Testament, giving us the OT-2.0 or something related to a merited form of righteousness. If that were the case, we can be assured the Spirit would never have allowed this letter entrance into Holy Scripture. Rather, James is giving us the very next steps necessary for those who come to believe in Jesus as their Messiah-Savior. Many date the letter to have been written around 45 A.D., predating the Jerusalem council described in Acts 15 (around 49 A.D.) and the ensuing letter written for new Gentile believers (read Acts 15:22-35). Such an early dating would place James’ letter as one of the earliest written –if not the earliest– for the New Testament.

Already, the early Christians are experiencing persecution and dispersion, seeking freedom from torment and running for their lives in some cases. Saul is on the prowl, carrying off as many Followers-of-the-Way as he’s allowed under Jewish jurisdiction. A scattering is underway that will result in a greater spreading of the Gospel (intriguing how God unites those two ideas). Christianity from its infancy, men like James call for simple and reasonable expressions of life born out of faith in Christ, knowing full well that true faith produces spiritual fruit.

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

James 3:17-18 (ESV)

I’m looking forward to our time reading through this letter. May it move us to clearer expressions of our faith!