10.01.07
James 1: Introduction
Read: James 1:1
Having now finished our series of studies on what the Shorter Catechism has to say about Prayer, I thought I would change tack slightly and begin a study in a particular book of the Bible. But, knowing that on a Wednesday night we are all tired and we are here primarily to pray, I didn’t want to burden you with long sermons and heavy thought. So I decided that together we would study the Book of James. I reckon we can get through this book in 15 short studies; in fact, I’ve set myself the target of 15 15 minute studies through this exciting and challenging book.
And how this is a book we need to take to heart in today’s world! A book which talks about how to stand up under testing; how to be wise in our dealings with each other; and how to view issues of poverty and wealth. Well tonight, I want to begin our studies in this book by looking, with the help of 1:1 at three introductory issues:
[A] The Author
The first word of the book gives the name of the author of the book – James. But who was James – we know of at least four different James’ it could have been, but all the evidence points to the identity of this James as being one of the flesh and blood brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to ask two questions about him:
1. What we Know About Him – we know that during the earthly lifetime of Jesus James was not a believer – he had not been converted. In John 7:5 we are told that his brothers did not believe in him. But then we read, in 1 Corinthians 15:7 that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared publicly, in the sight of other people, to his brother James and so, after the ascension of his brother, in Acts 1:14, we find James and his other brothers gathered in the upper room praying. He had been converted into someone who believed and trusted that his earthly brother was Lord!
We then know that James became an influential leader in the Church of Jerusalem – the biggest Christian church in existence at the time. According to the apostle Paul, in Galatians 2:9, James, John and Peter were the three pillars of the early Church. Many have called him the bishop of Jerusalem, and we do know that he held such an influential position that he chaired the first Christian conference – the Jerusalem meeting in roughly AD49 where Gentiles were officially recognised as being co-members in the Church of Jesus Christ.
As to his own spirituality, we know that he was regarded as a pious and devoted Christian believer, a piety which earned him the name James the Just. Also, he was a man of prayer so much so that the early church gave him the nickname “Camel’s knees”. He spent so much time on his knees in prayer that his skin became callused, like that of a camel. The last thing we know about him is that he was martyred for his faith in Christ, stoned to death in AD 62 by religious Jews.
2. How he Describes Himself – he describes himself here as ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ There are two things I want to notice about this description:
First is how he talks about God and the Lord Jesus Christ in the same breath. Remember, this is a man who had been brought up as a strictly monotheistic Jew to repeat morning and evening the Jewish creed, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One’, and now we find him, in the same phrase putting God and the Lord Jesus Christ together. It is as if James has begun to understand that Jesus is also God. Now I find this amazing, since the Jesus of who James here speaks is his flesh and blood brother and here he is calling him both Lord and speaking of him in the same way as he speaks of God. As we will learn in a moment, the book of James was probably written only 10 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus; so here, at the very beginning of Christianity, we have early Christian leaders acknowledging that Jesus Christ was equal with God.
Secondly, notice his relation to God and the Lord Jesus Christ – James is their servant. There are two words James could have used which we could translate as ‘servant’ in English – the first is diakonoj, from which we get our word deacon. The second is the word douloj, which was used more often than not to talk about slaves. James here is not just a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is their slave. He is their instrument, he does what God wants him to do – his personal will is tied up with the will of God, to do what God wants when God wants him to do it. And remember, this is the brother of Jesus, and yet here he talks of the exalted status of his brother and his own lowly status – he is the slave of his brother.
We can learn much from James about our own relationship to God – how often do we make decisions based upon what we want; we see ourselves as being masters of our own destiny rather than realising that ‘we are not our own; we were bought with a price’. We live to do God’s will and to enjoy Him for ever.
[B] The Recipients
There are three things we can say about those to whom the letter was addressed:
1. The Twelve Tribes – this is a reference to the Jews – there were twelve tribes in the ancient nation of Israel. Bear in mind that James was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and here he is writing to his fellow Jews about things which they would understand. He talks to them about synagogues, Abraham, Rahab, Job and the Jewish practice of anointing with oil. So first and foremost, this is a letter written to Jewish Christians.
2. The Dispersion – for hundreds of years before this letter was written, the Jews had been migrating, either forcibly or voluntarily over the whole known world. There were Jews in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Turkey, Italy and North Africa. These Jews who had been scattered were called the Dispersion, or the Diaspora. Most probably, the Jews to whom James was writing were those scattered after the persecution and martyrdom of Stephen. In Acts 8:1 we read that ‘a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria’. Later on, in Acts 11:19 we read that these Christian Jews were also scattered to Phoenicia (modern day Lebanon), Cyprus and Antioch. And so, what you have here are those who once sat under James’ ministry in Jerusalem, having been scattered over the known world of the day, being pastored at a distance by their previous minister. James is no longer able to speak to his people face to face and so he writes these scattered and suffering Christians a letter which addresses many of the issues they face in their new homes.
3. The Date – This letter was written after the martyrdom of Stephen. But it was written before the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49 or that council and its decisions would have been mentioned here. That leaves us with a date for the writing of the book of James around 44-45 AD, a mere 10 or 12 years after the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that means that the Book of James was probably the first book of the New Testament to be written – it gives us an insight into what the extremely early church believed and practiced. And ironically enough, when people are looking for practical instruction today, as often as not, they turn to the oldest book in the New Testament – the book of James, since the teaching of this book, though very old, is, like the rest of Scripture, as relevant as if it was written yesterday.
[C] The Message
Many commentators have tried to find one theme which runs through the whole book of James – as if to say that James is about this one topic. But all have failed. That has made other commentators, like Martin Luther, to say that the Book of James is “throwing things together … chaotically.” And it is true that there are a lot of different topics which don’t seem well connected. But having said that, we can probably say that there are three main topics on which the Book of James speaks:
1. Testing – the whole of the first part of Chapter 1 is given over to talking about the testing of our faith, as is the end of Chapter 4 and most of Chapter 5. The Christian Jews, at this time, were undergoing major persecution for their faith in Christ – and not just from the Romans, but also from their fellow Jews – and often these Christian Jews found themselves at the wrong end of economic discrimination. So James gives them perspective on their sufferings and how they are to endure through them.
2. Wisdom – Most of Chapters 3 and 4 is given over to the discussion of wisdom, especially with respect to the tongue, the way we speak to each other. The language used here is very like the Old Testament type Proverbs. James is highlighting how important it is to control and wisely use our tongues.
3. Poverty/Wealth – recent studies of the Book of James have revealed just how much of the book is given over to the discussion of poverty and wealth. Most of the Christians were poor – they had been forced from their homes and formed the 95% of people who owned 5% of the wealth. It would have been tempting for these poor Christians to envy the rich and become as materialistic as everybody else. By contrast, their oppressors were mainly rich people. But also, there were a few rich Christians who needed to be instructed about the right way to view their wealth. And so we find a couple of passages in Chapter 1 and the majority of Chapter 2 given over to discussions of poverty and wealth.
There are other sub-topics which fall beneath the radar of these three themes, but these are the three main building blocks of the book of James.
But if you are looking for one super-theme, which characterises the whole book, you could do no better than follow the comments of these three conservative scholars Don Carson, Douglas Moo and Leon Morris when they write, “Genuine Christian faith must be evident in works. James resolutely opposes the tendency all too common among Christians, to rest content with a half-hearted, compromising faith that seeks to have the best of both this world and the next. Double-mindedness is the basic sin for James.”
And so, over the next few weeks, we’re going to be looking at what this righteous, prayerful man James has to say about these intensely practical, yet profound issues. But take away tonight with you that one thing – the basic message of James is that you can’t have the best both of this world and the next. And James’ closing question for us is this – for what world are you living? AMEN