Tasting the Gruel of Love

When Our Words Paint a Distorted Picture

Dr. Larry Thorson
March 15, 2009

James 3:13-18

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

This is the third week of Lent, a season when we prepare

for Easter by remembering the reasons why we need a Savior. You wouldn’t go to a doctor without a reason. How many of you go to the doctor’s office to just hang out? Or probably not many of you are going to buy a new refrigerator if the milk in your old one is cold. In the same way you won’t see a need for a savior when Easter comes if you think you’re doing fine.

That’s why we’re using the Book of James in the Bible during this season to get us ready. But let me warn you, if you think you’re doing just fine, don’t read the Book of James. It’s like a mirror that shows what we really look like and not what we think we look like. I like the fantasy better. Take a closer look in the mirror. Why is there still toothpaste on your lips? Why are toast crumbs still on your cheeks? James helps us take a closer more accurate look at what God actually looks like and then how we look in comparison.

Chapter 3 of the Book of James easily breaks into two parts. Verses 1 to 12 deal with the issue of how what we say can cause big problems. The lesson there is how to control what we say.

The second half of the chapter; the part I read today, deals with not just our words but our motives behind the words. Our words are never isolated from the lives that produce those words. They are the overflow of what's inside of us. Jesus said in Matthew 15:18 "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a person unclean."

I agree with Jesus and James but I don’t like it. What they’re saying is that my mouth is like a television camera broadcasting the privacy of my life on a big screen. It reveals everything about me. If my mouth doesn’t give everything away my body language will. I don’t like that.

But like it or not, that’s how we’re made. Our mouth is going to reveal what’s inside of us and it doesn’t matter whether we learn how to speak politically correct or not. So instead of covering up what’s inside with carefully crafted words, let’s try listening to our own words as a gauge or mirror that reflects what’s inside.

In verses 14-15 we read again “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

He mentions two areas of motivation that bring words to our mouth; “bitter envy” and “selfish ambition.” If your motivation for anything, anything at all, is one of those two things that motivation is from the devil.

Why those two areas? James was writing to his Jewish church at Jerusalem who had been scattered out all over the Asia Minor because of religious persecution. People hated them just because they called themselves followers of Jesus. People attacked them as traitors, as hypocrites, as fools. They lost good jobs because of the Christ haters. They lost their homes. They lost their friends. Life was hard.

If you lost your house and got shipped out to live in a tent in Arizona just because you went to church don’t you think you might develop at least a little bitterness against those who were hurting you? If you lost everything you had don’t you think you’d have selfish ambition to get back on top?

The key term there is “harbor”. Harbor means to protect. Ships in a harbor are protected from dangerous seas. It’s one thing to envy what someone has and to say “Oh I wish I had that.” Or to say “Oh I envy that person, they can eat all they want and never gain a pound”. But to harbor thoughts of bitter envy and selfish ambition means those two things are in a safe place where nothing can stop them from doing their harm. It means that you are the one protecting them.

When you came this morning you came with a safe place in your heart where you’re not letting anyone in. You may be so mad at someone, or you may be so jealous of someone or you may be so hurt by someone but you’re not going to let anyone in who can help heal that. You’re harboring and protecting that bitter envy or selfish ambition.

Whatever comes out of those two areas is not from God. James says it comes straight from the devil. Think about that. Words, according to James, can come out of a Christian’s mouth straight from the devil. The result of those words, James says in verse 16 is, “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

I have seen that happen over and over. When someone is harboring bitter envy they are like a bull in a china shop. The bull doesn’t intend to knock all the crystal on the floor but somehow he does. When you do it in a church you cause confusion. Unfortunately that confusion becomes a stumbling block in people’s spiritual growth. Now you’re multiplying the damage. We’d do well to listen to our thoughts about someone. Listen to our words about someone. Look in the mirror and get a true picture of who you are.

Be honest. If you’re harboring bitter envy it may be that somebody hurt you. You may have been an innocent bystander and somebody took your joy away. What they did is not right. Someday they’re going to be held accountable. But what you’re doing now with your bitter envy is causing more pain to yourself and to those around you. That’s what the devil wants.

Seek out some help. I’d be happy to talk with you. My wife is available to talk with you. There are other counselors available. But don’t stuff it. Don’t harbor it. Face it and confess it. None of us are perfect. We all need a savior and that’s why Jesus came to save us.

The sad thing is that after harboring bitter envy and selfish ambition we don’t even realize we’re doing it. It becomes the way we operate and the way we interact with people. So in verse 17 James holds up a picture of what we should look like if we’re Holy Spirit filled. He says “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

Pure means cleansed of false motives, not selfish, scheming to get our way, no hidden agendas.

Peace-loving here means more than just loving the absence of conflict. It means being in right relationship to God, to people and to one another. Peace-loving means desiring and pursuing those right relationships.

Considerate means that when a decision happens the person understands and appreciates the rules and laws, but takes into account all the circumstances that surround a situation and is thoughtful about how they apply what they know and understand. Think of it as being gently deliberate.

Submissive means it's not stubborn. It's teachable.

Full of mercy means the person doesn’t say, "You brought it on yourself. You made your bed now sleep in it." A person who is full of mercy can understand how someone is responsible for their errors and yet can still have compassion on them in it.

Full of good fruit, impartial and sincere means we don’t pretend to be what we’re not.

Then James ends this section with a gardening illustration in verse 18 "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." Spring is scheduled to begin this Friday. How many of you are going to plant some seeds this spring? If you sow marigold seeds what should you harvest later on this summer? Marigold flowers. If you sow corn what should you harvest? Corn.

If you sow peace what should you harvest? Peace. That means helping people come to peace with God and peace with those around them. But when I sow corn I don’t just harvest corn. I also harvest thistles and other kinds of pesky weeds. That’s part of gardening, pulling up weeds. But if I didn’t sow corn I definitely wouldn’t harvest corn. If we don’t sow peace we definitely won’t harvest peace.

I believe it’s a whole lot easier to sow corn than it is to sow peace especially when someone has hurt me. Look at that list of what we should be like; pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Who are we kidding? Do we really have that in us?

Now do you have the true picture of what we look like and what God looks like? "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is like this." James never forgets that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. The source for wisdom is not us. It is God in us, God at work in us, the Holy Spirit working in and through us. We always come back there; the kind of life change that God is looking for is not something that we generate for God it’s something God generates through us. But bringing peace won’t be generated through us as long as we have a safe place to harbor our bitter envy and selfish ambition. We’ll know the harbor is full by what comes out of our mouths. Listen to your thoughts. Listen to your words. If they’re not producing peace and unity then the harbor is full. Open the harbor up and let the waters of God wash that bitterness right out to sea. Deal with what’s really bothering you. Get a true picture of who you are and who God is.

That’s why God became a man to come and die for these thoughts of bitterness. Jesus died for all our sins so that we could become free from the grip of bitterness. Open your heart to Jesus and receive the forgiveness of your sins and the freedom from their grip. Amen.

Let's pray. God we admit again our incompleteness, our deliberate disobedience, our failure and yet we thank you now for the fact that the wisdom that you are looking for in life and the wisdom that people so long to see in our lives and hear from our lips, that that wisdom comes from you and so teach us now to rely on you in new ways, as we consecrate ourselves to you for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Adopted from a sermon by the Rev. John Schmidt
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org