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In the name of Jesus, brother and sisters
in Christ.
Our text
for our consideration today
is taken from
the apostle,
the brother of Jesus,
James, chapter one versus twelve to eighteen.
“Blessed
is
the man
who perseveres under trial
because when he has stood
the test
he will receive
the crown
of life
that God has promised to those who love him.
When tempted,
no one should say,
‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot
be tempted by evil,
nor does he tempt anyone;
but each one
is tempted when, by his own evil desire,
he is dragged away and enticed.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived,
my dear brothers.
Every good and
perfect gift
is from above,
coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like
shifting shadows.
He chose to give us birth through the word truth,
that we might be a kind
of first-fruits of all he created.
James
brings us
powerful words
that are very very important for the Lenten season.
because he bring us
understanding of
how we really engage
a life of repentance.
as you see I am wearing and the altar has
the color purple.
This color symbolizes
that this is a time of
repentance;
a time that we take
hold of our life.
We see how we can
under the cross
change our lives
toward the right action.
Because you see, the word repentance
means
a change of mind.
However,
this change in mind,
according to the first chapter in James,
in order that we have the right
wisdom,
the right way of repentance.
It means that we
play a life
of faith
together with a life of
action under the cross.
Right understanding means living under the promises of God
and placing the
promises of God ahead
of the vicissitudes
the trials,
the cares of this life,
and by doing this, by enduring this trial that we have
set before us by God
we receive a great blessing.
A blessing that will last us until the day of our death.
Now listen
very carefully
how James
shows the way to describe
action to the
right life of repentance.
Blessed is the man
who perseveres under trial
because when he got stood the test
he would receive the crown of life
that God has promised to those
who love him.
Yes, brothers and sisters
in Christ,
trials are useful
for our Christian life, in fact, if you ever read Luther, Luther’s
theology of the Cross, his discipleship of the cross,
he says one becomes a disciple, a theologian of the cross,
not by doing a lot of reading,
not by a speculating about the things of God,
but by living, dying
being bad
In other words,
to
be enduring of those trials
under the cross,
we become
disciples
where the right wisdom
is placed
under the right action,
living under the cross.
Christ,
according to this text,
is
the one who will help us to endure our trials.
And how will we do this? By setting our eyes
on Jesus!
He’s the master who will guide us through the storm.
He is the one, that by
placing our eyes on to the cross and Jesus,
we are able
not only to go through the storm
but our King
truly enlightens us
to see the beautiful shores of life,
and the calm of the sea,
and the beautiful blue skies.
We know
that we are God’s children
because we have to
let God be God
to lead us through this storm.
When we think about enduring trials
and how God
deals also all
with our human condition, our temptations,
through our trials,
I believe that the prophet Jonah
is a good example of how God tests his people
to change them
into his powerful disciples.
You remember when God called
Jonah?
He didn’t set his eyes on what
God asked him to do.
He did not see that the trial that God has set before him
to go to a people that
he didn’t care for;
to go to those freely
idolatrous people of Nineveh. He didn’t see that as the thing to do
because that got in the way
of Jonah’s way of life.
And so Jonah
succumbed
to temptation.
And so he went
the other way,
as we see that text here,
that we are sometimes tempted by our own sin and our life.
But then
comes the message also in change
that applies to Jonah’s life.
Our Lord is the Lord of light, not the Lord of darkness.
Our Lord is the one who never changes his mind
according to his promise
for us.
And the good news
here is that in spite of Jonah’s insecurity,
in spite of him wanting to preserve himself
and not listen
to God’s way –
the way that he plays um…
lacrosse –
God gave him
a second chance.
God gave him a second chance and Jonah
repented and he
was thrown into
the right place
to proclaim the gospel.
Lo and behold,
now that Jonah was setting
he's eyes on the message,
as he endure the trial God under his discipleship,
the
discipleship that God has given to him.
Lo and behold
through his trial,
as
Luther said,
by living,
by dying,
by being dammed
following the way of the cross,
now Jonah became a true disciple.
And so the wonder of what God does when we place our eyes
on the power of the gospel and the power of Jesus:
those idolatrous people,
the greatest nation there was in Assyria,
went down
up to the King,
and repented
and turned to God.
And this is what James
has also in mind for us to see;
what God’s trial
will do for us.
It’ll lead us to see God’s perfect gift
and God’s blessing for us.
Listen to
James’ words in verse sixteen.
“Every good and perfect gift
is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights
who does
not change like shifting shadows
He chose to give
us birth
through the word of truth,
that he might be a kind of firstfruits…
that WE might be a kind of firstfruits
of all he created”.
Yes, brothers and sisters, as we endure our trials,
as we set our eyes on God’s perfect gift,
we are (remember that word?)
the blessed ones.
The word
in the Greek is *spicy-hispanic-phlegm*.
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood
the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised
to those who love Him”.
Where else do you hear those words?
Where did James gather that word “blessedness”
If it wasn’t for his own
brother
in the sermon on the mount
in Matthew five?
I am not going to preach
to you on the beatitiudes,
that would take us beyond the time we are supposed to be here.
But as a time of changing
into repentance,
into the right kind of mind
into action.
What I urge you to do, brothers and sisters in Christ, is for yourself;
take the time to reinforce
yourself in this message
by reading the beatitiudes,
which I am going to end
our sermon
with this word.
“Blessed are the poor
in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed
are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for the will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when
people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in Heaven”.
Do you hear Jesus’ words?
Jesus’ words
are also that
if we endure our trials,
listening
to his message,
we will become truly disciples of the cross.
For us, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
concerning
what kind of life
we will have once we have turned to him in repentance.
Jesus says as we are persecuted,
as we are tried, to listen to God’s Word.
We will become the salt of the world.
We will become the light of Jesus that shines
in the darkness.
Let us pursue all
for Jesus’ sake.
In Jesus’ name, amen.