Context is everything! Am I right? Isn’t this one of the first things that you do when you meet a new person? You ask where they live, what they do, maybe who they are related to, or what school they attended, and so on. Maybe that’s just me, but it helps me remember who they are and who I might know that they know, and in the end begins a relationship. This is good.
Likewise, when meeting a new author (inspired by God) we should learn a bit about Him. James was Jesus’ half-brother. But that status did not help him become a devout follower of Christ, really. Can’t you imagine how difficult it would be to believe that your big brother was the one and only Messiah you learned about in the Torah. However, when Jesus met him after His resurrection (1Corinthians 15:7) James’ life was changed! He left behind the doubts and the mocking he had done in the earlier years of Jesus’ ministry and bowed to Christ as his Lord and Savior.
James was part of the group that met in the upper room (Acts 2:1) waiting for the promised coming Spirit of God and ended up as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. What a story He had to tell! Imagine the number of people that would come to him looking for the inside scoop on the real Jesus! You know Jesus work is mighty when the lives of your family are changed, I can’t imagine the joy that Jesus experienced watching his brother(s) serve God as they did and help build His church.
This is an exceptional position that James is writing this book from. Side note: Jude also shared the same brother/follower status that James had. Since we are not going to be looking at that chapter yet this year, this writing could serve to look at both writers and Christian examples God gave to us to give you better context.
The writings of James are so useful and helpful for the Christian today. Sermons upon sermons upon sermons and scores of devotional books have been written with the practical teaching from this book. I personally jotted down note from 14 topics that stood out to me as applicable teachings that would be life changing. But relax! I am not going to cover points 1-14. Whew!
Instead, I want to just take some time imagining what it would have been like to grow up physically with Jesus and how his life experience would have mixed and mingled with the Torah and the teachings of the prophets that he learned as well as with the life altering experience of meeting the risen Lord face to face.
Scenario one
Did you grow up with siblings? Now we don’t know the ages of the 7 plus kids in the Joseph and Mary household, but I think it’s safe to say that they were pretty close in age. I didn’t grow up in a large family. There were 3 children in our house, me the oldest, my sister was born when I was nearly 7, and my brother born when I was 13. In addition we each had separate bedrooms to retreat to or be sent to. In Jesus’ home I can easily imagine that they were living in very close quarters. Eating with elbows bumping into one another. Someone had to have taken the biggest piece of bread, or swiped a second fig before a younger one had a chance. I have to imagine that tattling happened when one didn’t do a chore or someone hit me, or someone touched me or someone……. You get the idea. Can you also imagine, as this argument breaks out, that Jesus’ is never the one to point out faults, never the tattler, never the loudest voice who is trying to make a point or win the argument.
Can you also imagine how the memories of his childhood and watching Jesus’ demeanor affect his ability to lead the church? Especially when he witnesses or hears of Christians bickering, and not treating one another with love. He gives this piece of advice in James 1:19-20. Be quick to listen. Be slow to speak. Friends, anger doesn’t help anyone he witnessed it as a child growing up and knew that his experience lined up perfectly with the truth of God’s word and the leading of the Holy Spirit that dwelled in him.
When I think of people who display this kind of godly character and discipline, I think of grandparents. Usually it takes a long life to learn these lessons. I imagine Jesus as being “wise beyond His years” as he acted not out of vain selfishness, but out of love for others. Listening is not always easy. Giving up that determination that you’re right and must prove yourself is hard to let go of. At the “end of the day” the eternal thing that matters is that we are pointing people toward God and we are bringing Him honor in the process. All of the rest is not worthy to carry around. James says “get rid of” it.
Scenario two
In Jesus’ ministry we read all about how His compassion. His mercy. His healing. How He touched people and helped them. I personally do not believe that a switch got flipped on just when He went to be baptized. From personal experience we know that we are better at the things that we’ve practiced. I don’t exactly remember the date that I learned to tie my shoe, but I am really confident that tying bows is much easier today than it was as a 5 year old. I could also say that speaking kind words, recognizing people’s hurt, and knowing how to respond to someone who is angry is a whole lot easier now than it was when I was 5. I say all of that to relate to Jesus who chose to be fully human. I believe that Jesus was practicing compassion, mercy, and touching people’s lives and serving with humility all through his childhood and teens and 20s. His siblings witnesses this. I’m guessing they may not have fully appreciated it at the time, but later on in life the memory of His actions that reflected His character was invaluable.
Now back to the writings and life of of James. He is leading the church in Jerusalem. He is partnering in ministry with the apostles like Peter and Paul. The church is new born and as we might think of an infant “growing like a weed” with all of its victories and failures. James remembers how Jesus not only listened, but He LIVED the word. I imagine that James looked back and remembered that Jesus in synagogue learned that He was to love God and love people and He didn’t only recite the words, He lived them out. All of the Jews learned that He should obey God, and Jesus not only obeyed with His words but people could see it in His walk. Instead of telling his younger siblings to straighten up, to be quiet, to listen, and bossing them around, He modeled it and this made an indelible impression upon James. James 1:22-25 is surely a result. The phrase “more is caught than taught” comes to mind and James knew that when you see people acting on their faith and living daily the truth they say they believe, it becomes real and repeatable.
You see it’s pretty amazing to me that James is so full of wisdom when He did not follow Jesus and minister with Him as the apostles did. James knew the scriptures from His Rabbi, undoubtedly. James received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as did all other followers after that point. But today we so appreciate the practical teaching of James, and I believe that God chose to share those words with us, to show us that even though there may have been a period of time when James didn’t believe or appreciate Jesus, he was still watching and hearing truth that would become incredibly important later. He remembered it. He inherently knew the habits of Jesus, and could apply those to life as a follower.
The lesson that I learn from this is how important it is to DO the word of God. People catch what they see. They believe what is authentic. And even when they appear to not be interested at the moment, to mock or to doubt. God can still use your example later in their lives to bring about transformation.
I also see this as a gut check for people who call themselves Christian. Throughout the book of James he is saying, listen, use your life to serve, get rid of all of the sin and evil in your life, use your words for GOOD, help the needy, be humble, submit, seek peace, and bear fruit. If you are not seeing growth in many of these areas of your life, something is wrong. If you don’t have desire to become more like this picture that James paints, go back to God start a relationship fresh and new. If you need help, I will absolutely walk with you, or connect you with someone else who will.
