The Mind
James 3:13 – 4:10
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
October 7, 2018
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.’
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. - James 3:13 - 4:10
Last weekend I had the great privilege of leading a women’s retreat in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Friday evening that we gathered together I was so nervous because I knew only two of the women there – my mother who I invited to come with me, and my dear friend from seminary whose husband is the pastor of the Fairbanks congregation. But God is good and so are overnight retreats with a diverse group of women. You get to know each other rather quickly sharing meals, laughter, small group discussions, sleeping quarters and bathrooms!
My greatest hopes for the retreat were for God’s presence to be made known, for the each of us to grow stronger faith muscles together, and for the women’s shared spiritual wisdom among to build up one another.
I took the wisdom I have learned from our Van Wyck women among us; I asked the women of Fairbanks to participate in Secret Sisters. Each woman’s name was placed on a piece of paper and drawn from a basket. Over the course of the weekend, each woman was to write two notes of encouragement to their secret sister…a strength admired about her or a prayer to lift her up. By mid-morning on Saturday and Sunday, each woman was blessed with a word of spiritual insight and strength.
I was fascinated to learn about the woman whose name I drew. She has an unassuming and gentle smile. She is a lover of adventure. She is a pilot and a motorcyclist. And she feels strongest when she does not depend upon anyone but God alone.
This woman discovered I was her secret sister and before we parted ways she shared some intriguing wisdom with me. Her sending words seemed to be out of the blue, but in that moment, she wanted me to go with a part of her lived experience. She looked into my eyes and said when she was learning how to drive a motorcycle two truths had been life-saving to her.
First and foremost, as you drive a motorcycle along the twists and turns of the road, it matters where you focus your mind’s eye. If you look out into the wild blue yonder or at that tree as you take the turn, that is where the motorcycle will go. In order to keep the motorcycle in the line of the road your mind must be intentionally focused on the path ahead of you. Distractions that break your focus can be costly.
Second, when you are on the bike and when (not if) you get stuck in a rut – do not keep spinning your wheels. Just stop. Be still. And then allow the power of the motorcycle to drive you up and out of the rut.
I received those words and just said, “That is proverbial and prophetic.”
Like a wise sage, James begins with godly wisdom: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done in gentleness and born of wisdom” (James 3:13). James encourages us to keep our minds focused on God’s Word.
James knows what it means to stay intentionally focused on God’s path that leads to life: “For the ones who find wisdom and gain understanding are blessed; her income is better than silver and her revenue is better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, nothing can compare to her” (Proverbs 2: 13-15).
Godly wisdom is practical wisdom gained through the course of our lived experience as the book of Proverbs entails. Attaining godly wisdom begins with the gentle force of God’s inspiration and it leads us by the empowerment of God’s direction.
James says the wisdom from above is holy, unfailing, and trustworthy. It is peaceable because it always moves in the direction towards God’s wholeness. God says, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:20) therefore as disciples we are to discern God’s path and follow it in obedience. God’s wisdom is gentle because it is equitable and available to all. It is willing to yield in perfect obedience to God’s purposes. It is merciful because it loyal to God’s steadfast love and marked by love for neighbor.
Remember for James the greatest marker of our Christian identity is the Law of Love.
On the other hand, earthly wisdom persuades us to rely on human insight. When we are wise in our own eyes, our face of faith turns inwards towards envy and selfish ambition and turns away from God. Earthly wisdom disquiets the soul with disorder, conflict, and disputes. It leads us off God’s path and into the ravine of unrest and untruth.
At the fast pace of life today, it matters what our minds are focused on. If we get caught up in the conflicts and disputes of the day and our minds are not focused on the Law of Love, then we will do nothing less than my secret sister’s proverbial motorcycle wisdom – our faith will spin out into the foolishness of the world. A divided focus can be costly in the twists and turns of life.
James is leading us to confess that our minds get stuck in the ruts of earthly wisdom. He says, “Draw near to God and he will be near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).
James recognizes how tempted we are to divide our loyalty between God and the world. A divided focus is costly and leads us where God does not want us to go. A divided focus leads us to partiality and hypocrisy.
Therefore, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not - to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1 :27-29).
Holding these Scriptures in one hand and the news in the other, I cannot help but wonder if God is saying how foolish we are to lean into earthly wisdom.
Teresa of Avila lived in Spain in the 16th century. She was a Carmelite nun, an author of faith, and a preacher. She once said, “Fix your eyes on the crucified Lord and everything will become small for you.”
Fix your mind’s eye on God’s wisdom and the path of faith will come into focus. Fix your mind on the humility and sacrificial love of Christ you will find life-saving truth. “God is the source of our life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Today is World Communion Sunday we unite with sisters and brothers around the world as we approach the Lord’s Table. The bread of life and the cup of salvation reveal the mind of Christ for us:
“Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave (less than and despised), being born as one of us, and he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
God desires the face of our faith to have the mind of Christ. We are to have the same love and compassion for others as Christ did for us. That means we are to “do nothing for selfish ambition, or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than ourselves. Let us not look to our own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).
If you find your faith is in a rut of earthly wisdom today, know you are in the right place.
Be still. Draw near to God and the Lord will draw near to you.
Let us share our need for God’s gift of grace. Let us ask God to break our hearts for what breaks the Lord’s heart.
And may the power of God’s Spirit lift us up in godly wisdom to go and continue Christ’s ministry of humility, compassion, justice, and peace.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.
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