Patience and Faithfulness

I hope you are enjoying your week. Sunday in worship, we talked about nurturing patience in our lives. If you struggle with trusting God and waiting patiently, consider starting a spiritual journal. Read below to learn more about it or download the audio.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/svg3alxs58q6req/Patience%20and%20Faithfulness.mp3

“Patience and Faithfulness”
Brimfield Faith UMC / August 29, 2010 / James 5:7-11

INTRO
We have arrived towards the end of our summer journey through James. James’ letter is one of the most unique and at times controversial letters in the New Testament. We have touched on a variety of issues relating to putting our faith into action. Next week, we’ll see James conclude his letter with a few parting words about prayer and faith. In the verses, we heard read this morning, James revisits one of the themes that he began his letter with. In James 1:2-4 it reads, “2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
In chapter 5, we heard this theme of being patient in the face of suffering one more time. If you’re like me, an encouragement to be patient isn’t my favorite thing to hear. James starts with… “BE PATIENT!” At least that’s how I hear it. Patience is used four times. Stand firm a synonym once and perseverance twice. Do you think James has a point that he wants to make in this section of the letter. He wants us to be patient. Patience is important to James. It is not only a virtue but a fruit of the Spirit. Patience is evidence that God is working in your life. By exercising patience we keep ourselves out of trouble. Patience allows God to act in his perfect timing. James believes patience will lead us to a mature and complete faith. So he kindly, loving, pleadingly says, time and again, be patient!
By my estimation, there is only one problem with this… Telling someone to be patient is like telling someone to relax. Sure it sounds easy, but have you tried it relaxing when you are upset or anxious about something. Try telling the bride to relax on her wedding day probably isn’t going to help much. Patience is easier said than done. I should know because my family struggles with patience. We aren’t good waiters. We pace, we sit, we wait and ponder. Ask Michelle about delivering Caleb a week past his due date sometime. Needless to say, to hear James say, “Be patient,” isn’t the easiest word because we cannot will ourselves to be patient. Thankfully, James gives us some means by which to nurture a patient spirit within ourselves and to discover the fruit of patience in our lives.

WAITING
Before we talk about practices to nurture patience we need to acknowledge the difficulties of waiting. Waiting is one of the challenges of humanity. By its very nature, waiting implies we want something to happen sooner than it is. Waiting becomes even more difficult in the face of suffering. Waiting for the wounded soldier on the battlefield is harder than when Michelle is waiting for me to come home from the office. The Christians James writes to are waiting in the face of suffering. They are waiting for the Parousia or the Second Coming of Jesus. First Century Christians believed that Jesus’ return was imminent. As they waited for Jesus to come back to save them, they were being persecuted, robbed, and killed. Waiting was difficult and was creating problems among the people.
Most of us become impatient if we are left waiting too long. We become irritable, angry and frequently begin to complain. The ancient Christians were getting antsy waiting for God as well. They began complaining, backbiting and wavering in their commitment to the faith. James sees Christians engaging in hurtful behaviors when they should be engaging in practices to nurture their waiting. The key to patiently waiting is to know the God on whom you are waiting. I want to share two attributes of God that when we meditate and reflect on them will help us wait patiently.

#1. Remember that God is judge. (v. 9)
Listen to James 5:8-9: “You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!” James’ first reminder for those who struggle with patience is to remember that God is Judge. It is easy to forget this and begin to grumble against each other.
When we find ourselves waiting for someone or something, it is easy to start complaining and grumble about each other. We like to point fingers, place blame and find fault. Without understand the fullness of a situation, it can be easy to fall into such a position. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you get really upset about someone being late for something only to find out that they got a flat tire on their way. When we become impatient, we tend to judge before we have all of the facts. We want to jump ship instead of ride out the storm.
James tells us that not only is God the ultimate judge but he is standing at the door. While God is never to be rushed or hurried in his judgment, James understands that judgment is near at hand. James frequently refers to impending judgments upon wrongdoers and oppressors in his letter. He sees judgment at the final retribution against the rich and corrupt. As we eagerly await the judgment of the corrupt it is important to remember that God will judge everyone and each of us will be accountable for our actions.
God as Judge is an image we often try to gloss over. As we look closer, it is strewn throughout the Bible. God is not any judge though, he is a holy judge who hates sin and the effects it has upon us. We see this vividly depicted in Matthew 25:31-46: “33 [Jesus] will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left… Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…” These are harsh words and yet if God is a holy God, they are necessary. If God did not judge, he would be indifferent towards sin, injustice and corruption. God’s judgment is not about God being angry at the world; rather it is about God attempting to restore a broken world.
As we learn to properly embrace God as judge, it should lead us to a place of humility and patience. We learn walk in reverence and patience with God and knowing that God is at the door prepared to judge the world. In that place of patient humility, God is able to act on our behalf. Therefore, as we seek patience, remember that God is Judge.

#2. Remember that God is faithful. (v. 11)
The second attribute to remember is that God is faithful. In verses 10 and 11 James references the story of Job. Job in Hebrew culture was the epitome of patience and righteous suffering, even though the Old Testament book doesn’t quite read that way. Nonetheless, at the end of Job’s suffering, God acts generously and restores Job’s fortunes. In verse 11 James make this conclusion about Job and the character of God: “You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
God does not ask us to wait without purpose. God is using what we perceive as a delay to bring about blessings. After all, the Lord is compassionate and merciful. I did some research about these two words because they felt important to nurturing patience. The word translated compassionate comes from the Greek root, spagizomi. Spagizomi refers to the innards parts or the guts of a person. In antiquity it was believed that the gut was the seat of heart-felt mercy and where true compassion originated. This word compassion then depicts God as a being deeply moved on our behalf. He is full of compassion for his people, especially those suffering.
The other word, merciful, reflects an emotion of sympathy, grief or pity. It conveys the sense that God shows sympathy to our present condition and will be moved to act. It also draws on the idea of God’s steadfast love. Ultimately, these two words teach us that God is faithful to act on our behalf. It is in the divine nature of God to respond in our times of need. It is almost as if God doesn’t have a choice. Therefore, we can trust God to act on our behalf. We will not leave or forsake us. In Psalm 103, the Psalm praises the attributes and actions of a good God. He says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
When we meditate on the faithfulness of God, we will gain patience to endure difficult situations. Reading and re-reading Scriptures like Psalm 103 help sustain us. The repetition is helpful because it gets engrained into our souls. Then, when we find ourselves waiting in the face of suffering, trust and patience will ooze out of our beings.

SPIRITUAL JOURNALING
James opened this section up with a familiar image for his reader. He writes, “The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient.” To a person who has never planned a garden, watching someone put tiny seeds into the ground might seem ridiculous. It might look even crazier as the person simply sits around and waits for the seeds to grow, patiently waiting for the rains and the sun to nurture the plant to produce crops. Yet the experienced farmer knows that the fate of the plant rests largely in the hands of God. The farmer must patiently wait as God provides the necessary ingredients to produce a bountiful harvest.
The practice of spiritual journaling can help you to have patience like the farmer. It is a way to remember the character of God, and it reminds us helps us to remember how God acted in the past. It gives us confidence that God can and will act in a similar way again.
You can approach the act of journaling in a variety of ways. Begin by buying a special notebook to write in. Then, date each entry and write down the ways you experienced the faithfulness and blessings of God in your life. You don’t have to do it daily, although it can be helpful. In addition to writing down God’s activity in your life, I like to write down Scriptures that are speaking to me. As I record the Scripture, I might write how the verse pertains to my life or current situation. The final piece of spiritual journaling is to go back and read through it occasionally. Rereading your journal is just as important as writing in it. It serves as a form of memory which testifies to the fact that God is just and faithful. As you look back over a spiritual journal, you can gain clearer insights into the ways of God. We can often see better God’s reasoning and especially his time. It can promote more patience.
There are many other ways to nurture patience and God’s activity in your life. Remembering that God is judge and God is faithful will move us in the direction of patiently waiting on the Lord. If we will wait, God is able and willing to move powerfully in our lives.
Let’s pray.

Fat Farmers

This week's message was a sobering one. We looked at the plight of injustice and corruption in antiquity and in modern society. We specifically looked at the crime of human trafficking. Thanks to Amanda Marshall, (http://www.wearelostandfound.org/), for supplying me with the statistics and websites. (One editorial correction, I say 4 -7 million people enslaved. I should have said 4 -27 million). Follow the link for the audio or read the text below. I'll also supply some links from the DIG Guide.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/xdi6c30bxnnocus/Fat%20Farmers.mp3

WEBSITES:

http://www.wearelostandfound.org/
www.polarisproject.org
www.gracehavenhouse.org
www.greatergood.com
www.tenthousandvillages.com
www.madebysurvivors.com
www.wonderfullymadejewlery.com

“Fat Farmers”
Brimfield Faith UMC / August 22, 2010 / James 5:1-6

I want to begin this morning talking about a topic that has only recently come to my attention. Human trafficking and enslavement is becoming a growing problem in the world. Human trafficking is defined as “is the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor: a modern-day form of slavery.” A friend of mine, Amanda Marshall, who is an advocate against human trafficking, sent me these slides on human trafficking to share with you this morning.
· 4-27 million people enslaved worldwide - $32 billion dollars (2nd largest criminal industry)
· Numerous causes: demand, $$, corruption, conflict, insufficient penalties
· Happens everywhere in the US
· Map

The passage we encounter in James this week, addresses two groups of people that are considered opposites: the oppressor and the oppressed. To begin, I want us to take a look at these two opposites and see what James has to say about each of them. After we do that we are going to look at a third option when it comes to relating with the oppressed and the oppressors.

THE OPPRESSOR
Let’s look at what James says about the oppressor. He doesn’t say much of anything nice, in fact, his words are the harshest words that we encounter in the entire letter. James identifies the oppressor in antiquity as rich people. He says, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.” James sees the rich as the powerful business owners who have hoarded wealth at the expense of the workers. He accuses them of not paying their workers. The historical context informs us that large land owners dominated the marketplace and had all kinds of ways to fix prices, increase profits, and crush smaller farmers. Significant social evils were perpetrated in James’ day that no one was doing anything about. The government didn’t stop it. There were not civil rights or worker advocate groups to petition against it. There was nothing to hold the corrupt rich people accountable to their actions. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
Good things that has changed today… society is still plagued with this type of corruption and people. With the collapse of the economy over the past several years we have seen plenty of rich, corrupt businessmen and women. Bernie Madoff, Layman Brothers, and Enron are the poster children for these offences. While these people and companies have caught the public eye, countless other businesses and people use their power to abuse others on a daily basis. This makes James’ words as pertinent for us today as they were 2000 years ago.
As we understand what oppressors look like , I think it is important to look in the mirror. Do we try to take advantage of those with less power than us? Oppression happens when there is an imbalance of power. We’ve all heard the saying, “Power corrupts.” In the case of the oppressor, this is true. The oppressor is anyone who misuses power. Oppressors view power as self-serving and see people as a commodity to be exploited. Have you ever misused the power you have in a given situation? When we choose to use power to curse instead of bless, we become one of the oppressors that James rebukes.

THE OPPRESSED
Now that we have some understanding of the oppressor, let’s take a look at the opposite, the oppressed. In antiquity, there were very clear lines of social class and status. The land owners, farmers, educated, and rich were at the top and the uneducated, laborers were towards the bottom. They did not have unions to represent their cause. Work was so scarce the day laborers would gather in the marketplace and wait for someone to offer them work for the day. Many wouldn’t be offered work that day and they would hang around hoping someone comes with work. There was a great supply of workers than demand of work. This shifted virtually all of the power to the land owners. It enabled them to abuse the workers and withhold pay if they wanted to. There were few legal ramifications for this behavior because there were always more workers to be found. The day laborer had no ability to stand up for themselves and was at the complete mercy of his employer.
While James makes mention of the laborer, they were far from the only oppressed people in antiquity. The slave population was considerable and was not based on race. If your family came upon hardtimes, you could get sold into slavery to pay off the debt. The ladder went laborers, slaves, and then women and children. Women and children had absolutely no rights at all. They were considered property and were frequently treated as such. These are some of the faces of the oppressed within James’s day.
Many of these faces remain the same today. Plenty of people in our society continue to be powerless and oppressed. We may not have clearly defined boundaries between societal classes but there are still distinct barriers between the lower class, middle class and upper class. Many people get caught in the cycle of poverty without anyone to help them escape it. They don’t know the unwritten rules of the middle class. They don’t understand how the government system can help lift them out of poverty. They suffer the judgment and stigma from the rest of society.
A number of people groups continue to suffer oppression to one degree or another in our society and even our own backyards. African Americans, immigrants, women, children, and the disabled are just a few of the groups that find themselves oppressed at one point or another. Those that are oppressed feel hopeless. I am here to tell you, there is hope for the oppressed. And there is accountability for the oppressor.

THE LORD OF HOSTS
While it may feel like the powerful get more powerful and the weak get weaker, God is still at work. In the Scriptures, God had a special and unique way of balancing and even tipping the scales of injustice. In James 5:4, it reads, “The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” The name, Lord Almighty, does fully reflect the meaning of this name of God. It is actually a Hebrew name for God, YHWH Sabaoth or Lord of Hosts. This name occurs 279 times in the Old Testament. The Lord of Hosts depicts God as the commander of heavenly armies. It conveys a sense that God has the ability to fight and crush the evil forces in the universe.
Although this warring imagery makes many of us uncomfortable today, if you are a powerless, oppressed person, this imagery is extremely comfortable. It gives you a sense of empowerment and hope to know there is a God in heaven that doesn’t ignore injustice in the world. Even when the world seems to enable the oppressor, God is and will rage against it.
In the Scriptures, God rages against injustice through the person of the prophet. The first prophet we read about in the Scriptures is Moses. Moses, of course, leads the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. The Egyptians had enslaved and oppressed the Israelites people and God was going to use Moses to put an end to it. In fact, God sends ten plagues as retribution and punishment for the sins of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. The ten plagues I think are a powerful illustration of God’s names, YHWH Sabaoth. God is able and willing to act on the behalf of the oppressed.

DEFENDING OUR BACKYARDS
God doesn’t only use the prophets of the Old Testament to battle oppression. He calls all of his followers to act as prophetic voices to call out against injustice and to work as defenders and peacemakers on the behalf the weak, powerless, and oppressed. We need to wake up and realize that injustice is happening all around us.
Ohio ranks 5th in the U.S. for the most trafficking of persons. We have an extensive highway system, growing immigrant population, and high levels of poverty. In the last 5-10 years, we have seen some significant human trafficking cases exposed. Just last year in Akron, a couple was using their own children and neighborhood children to produce child pornography. We can turn our backs to it or believe it only happens elsewhere, but the reality is that it is happening in our own backyards. As Christ followers, we must be defenders of the weak and work to stop these kinds of oppression. In closing I want to suggest three ways we might work to defend our backyards from oppressors.

#1. Pray for and defend the oppressed.
In Psalm 82:3-4 it reads, “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” We must wake up to the fact that injustice happens all around us. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand about issues as serious as human trafficking. We need to educate ourselves about who are the faces of the oppressed. There are several good websites that can inform and give a face to the injustices of human trafficking. I visited several of them this week and they will bring tears to your eyes. As you see the faces and the plight of the oppressed, you can pray for them to look for ways to help defend them.

#2. Pray for and lobby government officials.
While many of the Psalms are songs to God, Psalm 72 is a prayer for the king to lead and govern in a certain way. The psalmist hoped that the king would be a defender of the Prayer for the king to be a defender of the poor and to crush the oppressor. It says in verses 1-4: Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. 3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.”
Instead of simply complaining we need to pray for the government officials and leaders. And because we live in a democracy, we also need to lobby them for pass laws that protect the poor, weak and vulnerable among us. You can write your local congressman


#3. Work to empower the oppressed.
In Isaiah 58 “Loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free.” We should go beyond simply praying and defending the oppressed. We need to find ways to empower the oppressed. The only way to eliminate oppression is to shift the balance of power in the world. There are a number of organizations and ways you can work to empower different people caught in the bonds of injustice.
If you want to help empower those that have been affected by human trafficking, I would encourage you to visit the websites. Another easy one, is to donate your old cell phones to a program like “Phones 4 Freedom.” The phones are given to survivors of human trafficking to help them stay connected with the Survivors Connect Helpline. It is a great way to get rid of your junk, save the earth, and help survivors become empowered. You can also buy fair trade products made by survivors of oppression.
Here in Portage County we have an initiative called, “Empower Portage” that is working to combat poverty, one of the causes of human trafficking. Many of your would be perfect mentors in the Circles program. I would encourage you to visit their website to learn about the great initiatives happening right here.


CONCLUSION
Whatever you decided to do, I hope that you will act. We are called to be defenders of the weak. We may not be oppressing others. If we don’t cry out on the behalf of others, when we become the oppressed, there will be no one to cry out for us. The Lord of Hosts wants us to join the battle against oppression and injustice.

Let’s pray.

Faith Filled Future

This week we continued along the through James. It has been an enlightening and challenging ride thus far. This week we heard some strong words and a challenge to change how we live. A challenge to live more humbly and trust in the Lord. Follow link to download the audio or read below.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/7drtaoa7n15e77p/Faith%20Filled%20Future.mp3

“A Faith Filled Faith”
Brimfield Faith UMC / August 15, 2010 / James 4:13-17

INTRO - MISQUOTES
Bible quiz: Tell me where these verses are found in the Bible.
“God helps those who help themselves.”
“All things happen for a reason.”
“Moderation in all things” (Aristotle).
“To thine own self be true.” (Shakespeare, Hamlet).
“Money is the root of all evil.”
“Cleanliness is next to godliness.” – John Wesley
Most of these statemtents, while not in Scripture have a Scriptural basis. But, let’s come back to that statement, “God helps those who help themselves.” Is this statement Biblical? Possibly, possibly not. If we apply it to the message of salvation it certainly contradicts Scripture. In Romans 5:6 we read, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” We understand that God saves us in our brokenness and that there is nothing we can do apart from him. On the other hand, God does want us to partner with him on the earth. He calls us in 1 Corinthians to be the body of Christ. In a real sense, when we act, go will act on our behalf. In that way, the saying is biblical.

PRACTICAL ATHEISM
If we look beyond the saying to that author who penned it, we may gain further insight. The original source is most likely Algeron Sydney in Discourses Concerning Government, but the saying is generally attributed to Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac. Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of our nation and a great man in many ways, but he was not a biblical Christian. In fact, Franklin was a self-professed deist. He believed in God, but he believed in a God that acted like the clockmaker. That is a God who created the world and then stepped back from it. This is why Franklin most likely embraced the statement, “God helps those who help themselves.” Franklin did not believe in a God that was active in the world.
While many of us theologically know this to be incongruent with the Bible, many people actually order and live their lives as if it were true. We may confess that God is active in the world, but our lives don’t match that reality. We live as practical atheists. We believe in the power of prayer but rarely ask God for help. We believe in miracles but don’t look for them. We know God loves us but we don’t live that way. We may say we believe in a loving active God, but we live as if there is no God. We are not the first group of people to ever live this way.

BOASTING
In fact, this section of James is effectively speaking to people in antiquity who lived as practical atheists. They may have professed to be God-fearing people, but they lived as people who relied on their own means. In verses 13 and 14 he says, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” He accuses the people of giving themselves credit for their own success. They believe it is their business savvy and acumen that has led them to their prosperity and security in the world. James thinks these people are fools. He says, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Boasting in one’s own abilities is a serious offense, especially against a person professing faith in God. . The Scriptures are replete with examples condemning those who boast. James and Paul do. The
Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” And Proverb 28:26 expands on it: “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
Boasting is considered the antithesis of faith. Boasting is pride in action. It keeps us far from God. In the verses previously in James, we learn that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. By boasting, we are creating a serious separation from the One who loves us.
Jesus tells the Parable of the rich farmer: Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
The boastful person thinks there is security in our possessions and salvation in our stuff. While we may be able to convince ourselves of temporarily, eventually we will be forced to face the reality of life and death. I am reminded of this reality on a regular basis when I have the privilege to officiate a funeral. I typically read verses from Isaiah for which remind us that we are like the flowers of the field that wither away. In this passage, James likens humans to the morning fog. We can attempt to ignore this reality or we can embrace it by living a life rooted in God.
HUMILITY
James warns against our boasting and calls us to humility. James calls us to stop living like atheists and place our trust in God. He suggests that we approach life with the sentiment found in verse 15, “Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Last week, we defined humility defined as complete reliance upon God. Part of humility is to recognizing our human frailty. It is to acknowledge where our provision comes from. It is to realize that all of life is a gift from God that can be taken away in a moment. The challenge of life is to build constant reminders into our daily lives.

#1. Start in the arms of God and stay in the arms of God.
Last week, I suggested starting each day in the arms of God. One easy way to do this, is to begin the day with a simply prayer of yielding to God. “Lord, I give you this day. Guide me and direct in it.” To start the day in this way, will increase the likelihood of continuing the day like this and ending the day in God’s presence. Periodic simple prayers of yielding will help us to live out of humility and into God’s presence.

#2. Submit your plans before godly counsel.
The second practice of humility comes to when we make our plans. In Proverbs 3:5-6 it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Applied in the wrong way, trusting in the Lord can become a super spiritual activity. While there is great value in listening to the Spirit speak to your heart, there is equal value in listen to the Lord through trusted advisors. Proverbs 15:22 offers this insight: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
I have shared before that when I entered ministry I sought the wisdom and counsel from trusted pastors and Christians in my life. To this day, there are certain people I seek out before making any significant life decision whether it is my personal life or for the life of the church. As a young pastor only a few years out of seminary, there is the temptation to think I know it all. Allowing wise counsel speak into my life, has prevented me from making many mistakes. (Not all of them!) If nothing else, it reminds me that I should not boast in my own efforts. I can acknowledge that God is working through me but I should never believe the press which says, I am working in my own strength.
DIG Small Groups are intended to serve as wise counsel and reminders for our lives.

#3. Practice generous giving.
In the parable of the rich farmer, the farmer failed to recognize that the Lord has blessed him with abundance. He thought he has produced the abundance through proper farming techniques and shrewd decisions. As a result, he missed that the Lord had blessed him to be able to bless others. If you find yourself with an abundance of possessions, it is not simply so that you can relax, eat, drink and enjoy life. As a Christian you have been blessed to be a blessing.
The Lord calls us to give him a tithe, 10% of our incomes, our first fruits back to him to remind us that everything we have is from him. Jesus says, in Luke 12:15, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” The spiritual practice of tithing is not for God or even for the church. It is for us as believers. Each time we place money in the offering plate, it reminds us to trust our lives and plans in the hands of God. We may think 10% is too much and the reality is that for many us of it is too little. Giving 10% or more may require us to adjust our lifestyles and that is the point. There is truly no better way to daily be reminded that God is in control than to give back of our resources.
In the Beacon Journal Sports page this week, there was an article about one of the Cleveland Browns players. Over the winter, he threatened to hold out over his contract. He thought he deserved more money. Then, he was invited by one of his teammates to go on a mission trip to Africa to help the needy there. After seeing children push wheel barrows full of bricks and watching women walk several miles for water, he realized that he had missed the point. He had taken for granted things that he shouldn’t have taken for granted. He had become like the those James’ was addressing in his letter. He was boasting in his own talents. As a result of the mission trip, he realized that he was worried about the same things in life. No one here may make as much as a professional football player, but we all need the occasional wake up call. We need to stop boasting in our own talents, and we need to start trusting in the Lord.

CONCLUSION
God may or may not help those who help themselves. I can tell you that God will not help those who boast in their own efforts. God will always oppose the proud but he will always give grace to the humble. James begs us to put our faith into action and stop living like atheists. We have a generous, loving God who wants to guide us through life and bless us richly. When we adjust our attitudes, our decisions, and our lifestyles, we will discover the true abundance of life. We can walk into the future with faith and trust in the Lord. Let’s pray.

Draw Near

God wants us to have a mature faith lacking nothing. James is gracious to give us the means to fulfill our intentions. Follow the link for the audio or read the text below.

Remember... Draw near to God and God will draw near to you.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/g6m8dbml3rf89gm/Draw Near.mp3

“Draw Near” / August 8, 2010 / James 4:1-12

SPIRITUAL FORMATION
When we began this journey of James, we learned that one of the main themes of the letter was maturity in faith. In James 1:4, he desires us our faith to “be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” In short, James wants us to grow spiritually. The Letter of James focuses on spiritual formation. Spiritual formation is encompassed in our three component vision of connect, deepen and engage. At Brimfield Faith we believe to meaningfully follow Christ means we connect with Christ, we deepen in Christ, and we engage for Christ. It is a continual cycle that we repeat over and over again that propels us forward towards discovering our fullness in Christ.
The second component, deepen, we fully define as creating relationships that deepen our faith in Christ. The deepen component is about building right relationships and living rightly in the world. DIG GROUPS are the vehicle by which we are facilitating this to happen. Christianity is about relationships with God and with people. It is learning to journey with God on a regular basis. When we are growing deeper with God, we are learning to live in such a way that God acts more often in our lives. Deepen is about discovering the grace of God and the gifts of God in our lives. To deepen our faith is to live the abundant life of God. This is probably one of the hardest moves for most people to make in the Christian faith. For most people, it is easy to do acts of service, witness, and mission as we engage our faith. But to grow deeper in the love and knowledge of Christ through relationships is challenging.

IMMATURE FAITH
If you struggle to deepen your faith in Christ, you are not alone. Shallow faith is and always has been a challenge for Christians. This year as a church we are journeying towards a deeper relationship in Christ. This difficult journey is not new to Christianity. In this section of the letter, James is addressing a group of people mark with spiritual immaturity and shallow faith. Listen to the words: “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?”
These are seemingly harsh words to a group of Christians struggling with maturity. Their lives are marked with fights and quarrels, poor prayer lives and unfaithful living. They have a lack of love and their faith is incomplete. For a letter that begins with a desire to people to have a mature and complete faith, there are scathing words. Because of the harshness of the words, it is important to continue reading for James’ remedy to the situation.



INTENTION WITHOUT MEANS
James is truly a teacher and so he doesn’t simply chide them. He in no uncertain terms commands them to stop but he also understands that we cannot simply will ourselves to maturity. We don’t grow simply through trying harder and good intentions. I’m thinking James might have coined the phrase, “the road to hell is paved in good intentions.” Intention without means causes us to fail. Effort without training will cause us to fall short.
Intention without means is like trying to hit a home run against a 95 mph fastball by Mariano Rivera. When you step to the plate, you can act like a major league hitter and fully intend to hit the ball, but unless you have practiced and have the proper skills you will never hit the ball. You will fail because you do not have the means to hit the pitch.
I played a lot of baseball as a kid and I used to watch hitting videos to hone my skills. This illustration of means can be seen two different approaches to the baseball swing. One video was by Jose Canseco. This was back in his heyday. This juiced up guy… Just swing real hard
Then I later went to a hitting camp over in Tallmadge. The instructor broke down the baseball swing into 10 steps or something. We would practice each of the individual component of the swing. Step, hands, etc… When we finished practicing all of the steps, we took batting practice. And you know what? I could hit the ball better because I had acquired the means. I had trained by body hit the ball. My intention became a reality because I had the means by which to accomplish it.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH - HUMILITY
Mature faith is the same way. Too often we take the Canseco approach and tell people to just hit the ball. Love your neighbor. Be more patient. Be nicer. Stop this. Start this. Let me ask you, have you ever tried to be patient in an extremely stressful situation. You can only do so long before you snap. Am I right? We cannot learn patience in the heat of the moment, just as we cannot hit a fast ball by simply picking up a bat. We must train our souls if we want to deepen our faith. We must acquire the means necessary to act upon our intentions and to fulfill the vision of a mature and complete faith. Otherwise, our faith will stay shallow and incomplete.
James understands this concept. Listen to his words of wisdom to the immature Christian: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
To fulfill our vision of mature faith, we need the means to act upon our intention. James knows that we have a master teacher in Jesus Christ who can teach us all of the means necessary for fullness of faith. Therefore, we calls us to be humble and to “submit yourselves to God.” Spiritual maturity is learned by living life in the presence of the Rabbi, the Teacher, the Master. The only way to do this is by being humble.
Humble can be a difficult word to define. The Greek word for humility, tapeinos, conveys the sense of “to make low, small and to bow down.” It can be a tricky word. We are told to be humble but we feel there is a fine line between being humble and being humiliated. The world has a distorted view of what humility is. It is perceived as weakness and almost low self-esteem. I had a friend in college who frequently bought into this view. Dan is a talented musician: guitarist and singer. The only problem is that he didn’t know it. You would give him a complement and he would deny it…. This is not humility. Instead, humility is probably best as a full reliance of God. To be humble is to submit to the Lord and to bow down at the foot of his throne. It is to focus on serving and loving others. Humility is what allows us to live in the presence of God. This is why James calls us to humility and submission before God because he wants us to grow spiritually in the presence of God. Humility ushers us into God’s presence and facilitates spiritual growth.

SOUL TRAINING
James suggests some spiritual practices to keep us in the presence of God. Essentially, he is giving us means to become apprentices and students of Jesus. Each of these practices brings us closer to God and keep us in his presence.

#1. Resist the Devil and Drawn near to God (Resist)

#2. CONFESS YOUR SINS: Wash and Purify (Confess)

#3. Repent and make yourselves low and be lifted up. (Repent)


IN HIS PRESENCE
Every morning, I get up after Caleb and Michelle are up. After sleeping for a little while, get up and come into the living room where they are playing. One of the best times of my day happens when Caleb sees that his dad is in the room. He excitedly begins to crawl towards his daddy. As he moves towards me, I move towards him. When he reaches me, he begins to crawl up my legs. I then bend down pick him up and give him a big hug and kiss.
As children with a Heavenly Father, we would do well to begin our days in the same fashion. Beginning our day in the arms of God and allow our hearts to be touched by him is the beginning of spiritual formation. James doesn’t provide a ton of spiritual practices in this passage, but he provides the most important one: Be in the presence of God.
Caleb is learning how to live life (for better or worse) when we spends time with me. He learns right and wrong, good and bad by simply watching me and spending time with me. Spiritual growth and maturity ultimately will come through spending time in God’s presence. Through His presence, your hearts, minds, wills and desires are transformed. Instead of fighting there will be peace. Instead of unanswered prayers we will receive abundantly from God’s heart. Instead of unfaithfulness there will be faithfulness. Instead of immaturity there will be maturity. We will begin to be filled with the fullness of God if we chose to crawl into the Presence of the Lord. Are you ready to draw near to God?


Prayer… come to altar during the last song… resist, confess, repent. Rest in the arms of your Heavenly Father.