To watch this on video, https://youtu.be/MobsjHezAio
INTRODUCTION
We have studied this letter as if it were a sermon given by Ya’akov to his flock in Jerusalem. Remember, he’s the younger half-brother of our messiah, having the same mother but a different father. He has been teaching us for four chapters that we should be doers of the Word, having learned well, we need to be good practitioners of the Word. He calls it ‘pure and undefiled religion.’ We have called it ‘true religion.’
1. The wealthy are not blessed, the rich oppress (1-6)
In today’s final, we see that no matter what else is going on around you, in your troubled and transitory life, we can be blessed. And that notion of blessedness is not a new one in the Scripture. Nor to the hearers of Ya’akov’s brother. The public ministry of Yeshua began with what we call the Sermon on the Mount. That sermon, which probably was a compilation of many sermons, recorded for us by Matthew and by Luke, begins with the Beatitudes, a simple and powerful compilation of countercultural thoughts by our righteous messiah.
Listen to these first few:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5.3-9)
There is nothing at all wrong with these thoughts, of course, but by counterculture I mean this. As Job’s friends advised him after sitting shiva with him for those 7 days, and after the loss of his 10 children and all his property and finances, Job still endured. His three friends gave him counsel that obviously Job had sinned in some way. His ‘blessedness’ was now gone, and if he wanted to please God again, then he had to repent. Nothing happens like all his misfortune without his being somewhat responsible, you know?
Into that situation and against that backdrop of wrong guidance, Yeshua says blessings come to poor people, those who are mourning and not rejoicing. He says if you want to be blessed, make peace with those who intimidate and harass you. Those who have plenty of food and drink are not the blessed ones, but those who hunger and thirst. This is 100% counterculture, or as we used to call this, the Upside-Down Kingdom of the Lord.
This is not new information. Consider Deuteronomy 14.28 and following.
“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat, and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
At the end of every seven years, you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbour; he shall not exact it of his neighbour and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed.” (14.28-15.2)
I mention this passage for two reasons. First, we entered into a 7th year, the Sabbatical year on Monday evening. And for the last year leading up to this week and going forward 12 months, there are regulations in the Scripture about what we should do and not do. And the use of the term ‘brother’ which stood out as I read it last week.
Be prayerful in economic troubles
The other reason I want you to hear this passage is found in verse 29. Note the care the Lord has for the leftovers, the not-usually-considered. He names them: alien, orphan, widow. Of course, he also mentions priest, but that’s for another lesson.
Ya’akov of course, mentions the same two categories in his description of pure and undefiled religion. And I must say that I’ve gotten this wrong the last few weeks. I have said our religion is to ‘care for the widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.’ What I got wrong was the order of the ones for whom we are to care. Yes, widows. Yes, orphans. But note the order please. Orphans, then widows.
Let me explain how I see this. As winter ended here a week ago or so, I noted again the order of God’s care. The grass came back to life on my lawn, and then the shorter plants and bushes. Then the large trees began to bud and leaf again, and finally the tallest trees reaching to the heavens began to leaf.
For me this was symbolic of God’s care. He tends to the humble and the lowly, long before he gives sunshine and photosynthetic activity to the high and mighty. He gives sunshine to the grass first. If he gave such to the largest trees, there would not be any left for the grass, and none would grow.
So in this regard, the orphans need to be cared for first, and then the widows. Obviously, these 2nd category are women without anyone at home, otherwise they would be counted as a household that needed the care and attention of Yaakov’s audience.
OK, back to chapter 5 after that excurses of self-correction. Thanks for indulging me as we all get this right.
Chapter 5 struck me with the call to patience as well as the rehearsal of the people in the audience. Listen how many times, throughout the whole letter, Ya’akov uses the term ‘brother’ or ‘brethren.’ 17 by my count. (1.2, .9, .16, .19, 2.1, .9, .14-15,3.1, .10,.12, 4.11, 5.7, .9-10,.12,.19). And three of those included the word ‘beloved’ as its adjective. If you don’t hear a tenderness when you read this book, you are missing something major.
Authority and power are just words to many, but as I ponder the world and the polarity of strident conversations, I think I’m seeing something. And maybe you see it as well. Why are there so many conspiracists? What are so many believing the most amazing ‘shake my head’ misinformation? It’s due to the desire for power; a way to control what is out of the control of any of us. 20 years ago, tomorrow was 9/11. The terrorists from the Middle East flew four airplanes into buildings and an open field
And why am I mentioning this just now? If anyone had the right to claim authority and dominance, it was the half-brother of Yeshua, and the first bishop of the community of faith in the centre of faith, in Jerusalem. But his use of appeal to the brotherhood is landmark. He is tender and rich in love.
Yeshua taught this. Ya’akov taught this. We need to learn this and live in this. Amen?
2. The blessing of patience (Chapter 5:7-12)
In light of the condemnation on the rich, Ya’akov says, ‘therefore’. Why is that here? Because the rich are going to cop it hard. Therefore, be patient. When you are not given what you think you deserve. When you imagine yourself getting basic considerations, look up to the Lord. Why?
Cole Porter wrote another song, and yet I hear it when I read this section. Patience? Farmers do it. The prophets of old did it. Job did it. Let’s be patient!
Be prayerful in physical troubles
Instead of grumbling or arguing, let’s be patient. Let’s strengthen our hearts and speak in the name of the Lord. Why? Because God is full of compassion and merciful. Sounds like Ex. 34:6 doesn’t it?
Ya’akov even repeats himself from verse 7 and again in verse 8. Why? Because the Lord is drawing near. Due to the return of Yeshua, we need to be patient. Fascinating motivation. It’s like the men’s marathon runners in the Olympics a few weeks back. Yes, Kipchoge of Kenya won, easily actually. What I remember more was the man who came in 2nd cheered on his birth-country buddy who was in 4th place and finished 3rd. Nageeye (Dutch) and Abdi (Belgium) were both born in Somalia and now race for others, but that day as I watched them finish, 2-3, they were on the same team.
Netherlands | |
Belgium |
The idea that we are all in this together really helps me, pastorally, personally, as I read the book of Ya’akov. You on this Zoom call, men and women, each of you is cheering me on. I’m cheering you on. We are not isolated; we should not be insulated from one another. The apostle is cheering us all on, one by one, to be patient when the rich, the government, the powerful, the media all mistreat us. When we feel powerless. When we are empty. When we are but dust.
God says ‘be patient. Trust me.’ And don’t miss this one… “trust each other in the Body of Messiah.”
That’s why he adds this in verse 12. Don’t swear. Now in modern days our parents told us that swearing was the same as cursing. Using naughty language was swearing. But that’s not the word as Ya’akov uses it. He’s talking about making oaths and vows. Yeshua also made those clearly out of bounds, didn’t he? He was the one whom his brother seems to be quoting, almost directly.
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” (Matt.5.33-37)
Remember we learned that in last week’s lesson, to the merchants we heard not to make plans that are based on you, but rather, to say you are going here or there and will trade and conduct business, unless the Lord wills. Make your plans to follow God, and you will never be disappointed.
3. The blessing of prayer (Chapter 5:13-18)
Next we switch gears to the problem of suffering and the role of prayer. And if you think we’ll sort this out in 5 minutes, you have never either been a suffering one nor a prayer warrior. One of the main themes in this letter is trouble, tsuris, real deep feelings and situations which overwhelm us and dominate our thoughts and raise our anxiety. In the beginning, the apostle told us to consider it all joy when you fall into such troubles, knowing the result will be that we are better people.
Then he makes clear some situations which would cause us to fret or be angry, to be frustrated or grieve. The money problems and the lack-of-wisdom problems, the misuse of tongue and the war we have with each other.
He wraps that up in this sermon with ‘is any of you suffering?’ That is the summary statement. The big question… who in here is suffering, from ANYTHING? The apostolic answer—prayer.
Martin says this,
“The two verbs in this verse span the spectrum of emotions. In the first part of v 13, James refers to those who are suffering, κακοπαθεῖν means “to suffer” some type of misfortune. The parallel NT references (in 2 Tim 2:9; 4:5) suggest nothing of illness, and it seems better not to restrict the adversity mentioned in our present verse to physical maladies. James will deal with physical problems in v 14. Rather, κακοπαθεῖν is used here to show that James’ readers are afflicted by hardship, probably as a direct consequence of their faith (cf Josephus, Against Apion 2.203). Moreover, his concern is to highlight [vol. 48, p. 206] the need to bear up under this burden with patience (BGD, 397). The noun form related to κακοπαθεῖν is in v 10, where the prophets are cited as illustrating those who were persevering in the midst of suffering. James is not exhorting his readers to pray (προσευχέσθω, signifying “the natural reaction of a Christian in distress”; Pss 30:2, 8, 10; 50:15; 91:15; cf PssSol 15:1; J. Herrmann, TDNT 2:798) for the removal of trouble as much as he is urging them to seek the strength to endure it (Michaelis, TDNT 5:937), but not in a stoical way.”
Then the rest of verse 13 asks the question… “did it work?” In other words, “Is anyone cheerful?” The Greek is euthumeo, and often is translated as encouraged. In other words, did it work? Are you heartened, knowing that your brothers elsewhere have it as bad and they are carrying on. It does not carry the notion of polyana sentimentality or disregard of problems. Rather, it is putting God in his place over our problems. It’s not Christian Science’s idea of ‘there is no problem’ but rather the apostolic idea that DURING our troubles, God is walking with us. He will never leave us or forsake us, amen?
If you are cheerful, then sing praises. Like Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail (Acts 16). They were in jail for goodness’ sake, and they had the worst day of their natural lives, but they sang praises because no matter what else was going on, and it was going on, they knew who would sort things out to his purposes and for his own glory. They knew the Lord. So they sang praises. (Prov. 15.15)
Ya’akov asks in verse 14 if any is sick. Call for the elders and they will come and pray. This sounds like a big one. It’s not related to a flu bug or a cough. This sounds like a person in the hospital on Covid who is on a ventilator. This sounds like a real biggie. Does that mean God is not concerned about the minor illnesses? The apostle is not addressing that situation. He’s addressing the major one. When a person is on his death bed, like Jairus’ daughter or Dorcas or others in early Church history, these are episodes designed to build our faith. Does that mean that every person in every age will always be healed? Not even close. Everyone will die and often of a death-bed-malady.
Listen to how James builds the case for sin and what to do with it, as it relates to physical sickness.
Sin caused death, he already established that in chapter 1. We have to be ruthless with sin. Get rid of it. Be doers of the word, not judges of it. That’s chapter 2. Speak the word, not misuse of our tongue, that’s chapter 3. We fight too often, and don’t live out the godly life in community; that’s chapter 4. So here again, as he summarizes his sermon, he brings in sin and confession of sin TO ONE ANOTHER.
My friends, the sickness that leads to death is the unrepentance in our lives, the very issue that the elders would be processing with this hospitalized person. The Greek says, “If he has been constantly sinning.” This parallels 1 Cor. 11.30 “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”. So it’s not only that this person is unable to get to the church; it’s that he is prevented by sin weighing him down that causes him to call on the elders. He wants to be restored!
I am 100% convinced that confessing our sins to each other makes a massive difference to overcoming. Yes, Yeshua died for our sins. Yes, if we confess our sins to the Lord, he will forgive us (1 John 1.9) as we will learn next week in 1 John, but if you want to win over plaguing sins in your life just now, you have to admit to God, to yourself, and to at least one other person the exact nature of your sin and failure. You will find victory in the admission of your failure.
I know, that sounds ridiculous especially for macho men and people who simply don’t trust each other, but when you find a mate, a real accountability partner, you will win.
4. Blessing those who fail (Chapter 5:19-20)
Be prayerful in church troubles
Then, Ya’akov says, pray for one another. It will cover a multitude of my sins, and their sins, too. Isn’t that the point of our pure and undefiled religion? To restore those who fail. Let others confess to you their sins. Find others with whom you can share your failings and let them restore you.
Restore such a one who is unwell, whether in physical sickness or spiritually separate (of late) from the Lord.
Next week we will begin a new series, studying the letter by the Apostle of Love, John, in what is called 1 John. I hope you will join me and all of us then.
INVITATION
Dear friends, if you’d like to have true religion; if you want to have that peace and right standing with God, and if you want to know Messiah personally like we do, then why not pray with us right now? If you’ve never given your life to Yeshua, he longs to be with you just now. Come and be cleansed from your sin.
Pray and ask God to show you how to have true religion. Ask him to forgive you your sins and to make you born again.
Then let us know you have done this, won’t you? Write to us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and tell us you have prayed for the first time. We want to send you some literature and welcome you to the family.
And if you have any questions, use that same address, ok?
And join us next week as we start a new 5-part series from the letter of 1 John.
Until then, L'shana tovah and Shabbat shalom.
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Bibliography
Dickson, John (and Simon Smart), Vital Signs, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2006.
Martin, Ralph P., James, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Nelson Publishing, Nashville, 2006.
Ryken, L., Wilhoit J., Longman T., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1998.
Wiersbe, Warren, Be Mature, SP Publications, Wheaton, IL, 1978.
Actual text
James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you;and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
James 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and ismerciful.
James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but 1your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
James 5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will 2brestore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective 1prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was aa man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that 1he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
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