Sermon 9-15-24

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based on the Second Lesson for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, James 3:1-12.

Heart And Mouth

Just who is this James who writes a letter included in the New Testament? The best identification comes from Paul. Speaking of the first years of his journey as a Christian, Paul recounts this in Galatians 1:18-19, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [Peter] and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.” In these verses, Paul identifies James as an apostle. And he also calls him “the Lord’s brother.” This title distinguishes this James from the two other James who were called by Jesus to be members of the twelve. So, did Jesus have a brother named James?

We read in Matthew 13:54-57, “54 and coming to his hometown he [Jesus] taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ 57 And they took offense at him.” This same information is recounted in Mark 6.

Now, to this day, there remains a controversy about these “brothers” of Jesus. They are definitely relatives of Jesus. But are they the children of Joseph and Mary — and so the half brothers of Jesus? An argument can be made from Scripture and from the testimony of the early church father, Eusebius, that these “brothers” are cousins of Jesus. The argument revolves around the “other Mary” who, according to Matthew 27 and 28, was with Mary Magdalene both at Jesus’ burial and at the discovery of His resurrection. 

Either way — a half-brother or cousin — James was a relative of Jesus. And his conversion from a skeptic to a believer in Jesus is a significant thing in Church history. We know from John’s gospel that James was a skeptic along with Jesus’ other relatives. For, we read in John 7:1-5, “1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths [Sukkot/Tabernacles] was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.”

Jewish tradition holds that the Messiah will appear at the feast of Tabernacles. Therefore, his brothers were saying in effect, “if you are the Messiah, go up and show yourself to be the Victorious Messiah.” And in this way, Satan used Jesus’ brothers to tempt Him. For, Moses and the Prophets are absolutely clear that Messiah would not reveal Himself as the Victorious Messiah until He first revealed Himself as the Suffering Messiah. And Messiah’s suffering took place at the feast of Passover where Jesus became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In the future, Jesus has promised to reveal Himself as the victorious Messiah. And He may well do this at Tabernacles any time in the future. We’ll see.

So, James, the brother of the Lord, participated in a temptation of the Messiah. And by doing so, he showed himself to be an unbeliever in the Messiah who must suffer.

However, Yahweh was kind to James. For Paul lists him as one of the people Jesus personally revealed Himself to in His resurrection appearances. Here is Paul writing in 1Corinthians 15:3-8, “3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” So, the conversion of the Lord’s brother, James, from an unbeliever to a believer was significant enough to be mentioned in this list. 

James became the leader of the Jerusalem Church. In Galatians 2:9, Paul speaks of James as one of the “pillars” of the Jerusalem Church. In that same verse, he writes, Galatians 2:9, “. . . .they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” So, James had a ministry to bring Jews to Messiah Jesus and to minister to believing Jews.

As a Jew ministering to Jews, it was only natural for James to zero in on behavior because that’s what the Law is all about. As the minister to the Gentiles, Paul — a pharisee by background — also zeroed in on behavior.  This is because pagan behavior in all modes of life was quite the opposite of that established in the Law of Yahweh. However, in his letters, Paul focuses on behavior only after carefully laying out the Gospel. For it is the Gospel of Jesus — the Good News of resurrection into eternal righteous life — that wins over Gentile hearts.

Now, once won over to the Gospel, the average Gentile needed a strong education concerning the righteous behavior believers have been called to in Messiah. As Paul put it in Romans 6:17-19, “17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” 

Slavery is the human term Paul used to describe the result of conversion. It’s a strong word. A slave has to serve whether he wants to or not. And this is particularly true of our situation with sin. We may be unwilling servants of sin, but the sinful nature compels each of us. However, it’s a bit different with righteousness. Yahweh is true righteousness. Therefore, the only way Yahweh’s kind of righteousness comes out of us is if He puts it in us by His Holy Spirit. Therefore, because Yahweh puts righteousness in our hearts, we could say He creates a compulsion in us. Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful, good compulsion. It creates good and blessed things.

So, this much was true. Paul’s average Gentile convert definitely needed to change his behavior, his worldview and philosophy of living. In this way, conversion to Messiah Jesus is still the same today. And just as Paul led converts into righteousness millennia ago, he still does so today through the words he wrote.

Now, James’ letter is entirely different. Apparently James was combatting a fallacy that can crop up where justification by grace through faith is preached. Some people think that once Yahweh has declared them righteous in His sight by the blood of Christ, they are free to live in whatever way they want. Living in whatever way we want is Original Sin at work. Therefore, as we saw last week, to combat this error, James made this statement in James 2:24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” 

As we also saw, it’s easy to misinterpret this statement. Does James mean that we are declared righteous before Yahweh by our own righteous behavior, instead of by faith in the righteousness Messiah has won for us by atoning for our sin on the cross? If so, then, he’s contradicting Paul.

But, this is not what James means at all. He means that if we are declared righteous by faith in the work of Jesus, that faith — that conversion — makes changes in how we behave, think and speak. Faith doesn’t remain alone. Faith in Jesus must be accompanied in the believer by Messiah’s righteousness. Ultimately, if a person deliberately cares little or nothing about Yahweh’s righteousness, that person has no real faith in Jesus. This is what James wants us to know.

So, James preaches the Gospel to his readers in something of a backhanded way. However, it’s still the Gospel. For, in no way does James say that we can or must contribute anything to the righteous work of Jesus. James knows we are justified before Yahweh by faith in the righteousness of Jesus alone. However, real faith in the righteousness of Jesus immediately brings Yahweh’s righteousness into the life of the believer. This is what he wants us to understand.

Now, it’s most important to recognize that the righteous changes in the believer that Jesus and the Apostles speak of must remain incomplete in this life. Paul wants us to know this when he writes in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Thus, sanctification — taking on the righteousness of Christ — remains a process in this life.

So it’s not until we are free from the sinful nature through death and resurrection that we will be able to live and act in complete, uncontested righteousness. On this side of death we’ll always incur guilt as we struggle to live in righteousness before the Lord who has justified us. For this reason, we’re given confession of sins, absolution and the Sacraments in Christ’s Church to carry us along in this life. Until we’re safely with the Lord Jesus in the eternal Kingdom, we will need forgiveness of our sins.

Nevertheless, we are to press forward into the righteousness of Messiah. Jesus and the Apostles instruct us in what this righteousness looks like in action. And so, that’s what James does for us in his letter.

Today’s second reading begins with a statement that I find a bit terrifying. James 3:1, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Jesus Himself was called Rabbi, which means teacher. And He was involved in controversy with the other Jewish teachers of His day, mainly the Pharisees. Vast swaths of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record the controversies. Jesus spoke multiple woes, meaning condemnations, against the Pharisees for their teaching. And the Pharisees returned the favor by accusing Jesus of driving out demons by the prince of demons — meaning that He was also a false teacher. The struggle was so fierce that it culminated in Jesus’ assassination by the Jewish leadership with the help of the Roman government.

Blasphemy is speaking evil of that which is righteous and good. Thus, to blaspheme Yahweh is to speak evil against Him in one form or another. On the night of Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death on the charge of blasphemy. For, in answer to the high priest’s question, Jesus proclaimed Himself Messiah by claiming that He is the fulfillment of both Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 — two key Messianic passages in Scripture.

As I’ve often said, someone did in fact blaspheme at Jesus’ trial. Either it was Jesus for claiming Himself to be Yahweh’s Messiah, or it was the high priest for condemning Yahweh’s Messiah, the Son of God. Thus, to this very day a decision must be made about Jesus. Was He who He claimed to be? If so, then everything He said and did is pure gold that brings eternal righteous life to those who believe Him. If not, then everything He said and did is pure deception and evil.

As for me, after studying the ancient record, I’ve come to the conclusion that Jesus was not blaspheming. It was the high priest who blasphemed that night. The works that Jesus performed — especially His resurrection from the dead — completely back up His claim to be Messiah. Therefore, Jesus’ teaching and the teaching of His apostles is gold of inestimable value. It’s for this reason that the warning given in James 3:1 that teachers will be judged more strictly terrifies me. I pray that I don’t get it wrong. Your eternal lives depend on it.

Now, to go on, first I present what James says in James 3:6, “. . . the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” Yep. Evil thoughts coming out of our mouths in words can sure start enormous firestorms. The death and destruction of war begins with words. Families fracture because of words. Friends can become enemies because of words. People can be led into all manner of depravity because of words. Try reading the Playboy Philosophy, one of the Communist manifestos, or one of the Feminist manifestos and see what happens to your thinking and life. Words are a fire.

Second, here are Jesus’ words in the wake of one of the controversies with the Pharisees. Matthew 12:33-37, “33. . . the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

In first century Roman understanding, to be justified meant to be declared righteous. So, according to Jesus, before Yahweh’s throne, the words we have spoken in life will either bring His declaration of righteousness or His condemnation upon us. In particular, Jesus mentions “careless” words. These are words that have no thinking behind them — no weighing of consequences for saying them. Like a lazy person who refuses to work, these are idle words. And by the way, this is why at the beginning of service we confess sins of thought, deed and word — so that we will not be condemned for our words, but forgiven.

But Jesus’ main point is that out of the heart, the mouth speaks. And that’s James’ point also. Therefore, if goodness and righteousness is to come out of our mouths, our hearts must change. Again, this means conversion and sanctification. If Jesus is the way, the truth and the life as He says He is in John 14:6, then the converted person’s thinking, understanding of life, philosophy and way of life must align with righteous Jesus. As Jesus said in John 15:13-14, “13 ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.’” Friends of Jesus live in His righteousness because of the precious life He gave for us all. Therefore, we will submit to the taming of our hearts and the taming of our tongues that His righteousness brings.

We’re living in a difficult time. Facts no longer matter much in our public conversation. All that matters is persuasion. And it seems that many public figures and public movements will go to any extreme in order to persuade. This even includes blasphemy against the living God. Indeed, it’s as James said in James 3:8, “. . . It [the tongue] is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” So, giving witness to Messiah Jesus has become a difficult thing as well. In a world where real truth no longer matters, persecution can be expected when we speak of He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

Nevertheless, living on lies produces its own kind of insanity. For this reason, there will always be some who have had enough of lies. Therefore, if we have allowed our tongues to be trained with righteous speech, refugees from lies will take notice and eventually listen.

So, may we be servants of Yahweh’s truth. For Yahweh’s truth is all that will remain after all the lies have been burned up in the great Judgment. Therefore, let us hold fast to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and Life in wisdom, joy, in gentleness, in strength and in righteous speech. Come, Lord Holy Spirit and do this for us. Come and let Your righteousness flow into our hearts and out of our mouths. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.