How do I Know it’s You?

Peter Fitch, St. Croix VineyardJanuary 19, 2014

Studies in James, Part 1

James 1:1-11

1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:1-11

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:1-11

9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

Current Theme

• Trying to deepen our knowledge of God• Last week we spent some time after the

teaching and waited—soon it seemed as though God took over the service in a gentle and beautiful way

• For the next season I’d like to focus on the Book of James because I think this theme of knowing God is quite strong in it

First, a disclaimer . . .

• As Inward/Outward’s devotional for this morning (January 19, 2014) says, “Come and see what you don’t know . . .”

• What we would like to find is a knowing that goes beyond what we have known before

Next, a suggestion . . .

• One of the major avenues to getting to know God is in getting to know ourselves

• So much of the teaching in James seems to be meant to produce a certain kind of person: sincere, faithful, practical, careful in what they say, etc.

• You get the idea that if you embark on a quest to know God, a certain kind of knower has an advantage . . .

What should the ‘knower’ be like?

• Strong, able to respond well to adversity (“Count it all joy”)

• Aware of need of help from God (“if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of

God”)• Sincerely faithful (“he must ask in faith

without any doubting”)• Crying out from a level place (rich and poor)

Let’s look at possibilities for the double-minded ones . . .

• Maybe James has a particular kind of person in mind: – People drawn to the new teaching about Jesus but

still very caught in Jewish or Roman culture– People who are very ‘up and down’, on an

emotional roller-coaster

Or, maybe . . .

• Perhaps this passage is a gift to those who really need wisdom from God, who long to know Him more deeply

• Perhaps it outlines a temptation that we will all have and let’s us know the way to beat it

• To understand this, let’s remember C. S. Lewis’ teaching in A Grief Observed

The drowning man . . .

• Two ditches:– Not asking– Ripping the door off its hinges

• One approach works best: child-like faith• Knocking and trusting that Someone will

answer

What of rich and poor?

• Poor need to be lifted up to ask . . .• Rich need to be brought low to ask . . .• We approach God from a level place• Better not to come in desperation• Better not to avoid coming

If we want to know God

• We need to know ourselves• We need to face our weakness as well as our

pride, our doubting and our struggles• We need to come to God as children He has

made and that He loves, and we need to rest in the assurance that He will be with us as we sort out what He is like and what we are to do

Once again, let’s wait on God

• In music• In silence• In dance, if someone would like to• In words and pictures• In any other way that the God who is beyond

our knowing would like to communicate