Sermon -- 18th Sunday After Pentecost (September 26, 2021)

JAMES 3:13-18

TRUE WISDOM IS PURE AND PRODUCES PEACE.

In the name + of Jesus.

     There are many places to see the sinful nature on display.  Sometimes, you have to see it in others to recognize it in yourself.  It was on display last weekend when Saginaw Valley State (SVSU) played at Ferris State.  The game went into overtime.  Ferris St. was kicking an extra point.  When the kick went up, the ball sailed wide left.  The crowd erupted; some in disappointment, others in excitement.  But there was a flag on the play.  The referee called “Running into the kicker.”  Ferris St. got another chance which ended up being the difference in the game.  The crowd erupted again, with excitement and frustration on opposite sides.

     The SVSU fans were screaming at the referees about cheating and favoritism.  Laura asked me, “Was it a penalty?”  I answered, “I don’t know.  I was watching the ball.  I didn’t see if the kicker was hit or not.”  Chances are, everyone watched the ball and none of the fans saw what happened to the kicker.  But the interesting part is this: No one seemed to care if it was the right call or not.  Each fan base only cared about how the call affected their team.  If it gained an advantage, it was a good call.  For SVSU fans, it was a horrible call.  No one said, “Is that the right call?”  (Note: I checked with Andrew who watched the game film.  It was the right call.)

     This selfish ambition is typical in sinful hearts.  When there is a car accident, our first reaction is, “Great!  Now I’m delayed”—as if we are more inconvenienced than the people who were actually in the wreck.  The stories we tell are biased toward ourselves because we want to be praised or pitied when we finish our story.  When we are self-centered, we become callous toward other people’s problems.  Soon we become the cause for their problems.  We won’t recognize it, and we won’t care.  As St. James wrote, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16). 

     Therefore, St. James warns us, “This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:15).  If it sounds over the top to call worldly wisdom demonic, remember what the first temptation was.  Satan had told Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would make her like God.  Who could pass that up?  Guided by selfish ambition, she and Adam defied God’s command.  They did not get the benefits that the devil had promised, but corrupted the whole world with sin.  We have inherited that sinful nature from which all selfish ambition flows.  We hold that same desire to be like God—to have our will be done over against everyone else.  It is earthly.  We want to make this life our best life now.  It is unspiritual.  It is not the Lord Jesus who tells you to make sure you put yourself first.  It is demonic, inspired by Satan himself.  It benefits no one, produces disorder and discord, and fosters all kinds of wicked behavior.  Repent.

     How does one escape from such selfishness?  We can tell God we are sorry, and we should.  But that does not take away our sinful desires or the damage we’ve done with them.  We cannot purify ourselves if we are impure to begin with.  But that is why Jesus came.  Jesus is wisdom in the flesh.  He is the wisdom that came down from heaven. 

     True wisdom is pure and produces peace.  Jesus is first of all pure.  There is no selfish ambition in anything that Jesus does.  There is certainly no selfish ambition in Jesus’ work to deliver us out of sin and death.  How does Jesus improve himself by saving us?  Is he more glorious?  Can you be more powerful than all-powerful?  Does he gain money, land, or political clout?  Jesus does not gain anything for himself but you.  You are the ones who are rescued and redeemed by Jesus’ work. 

     Jesus, who is pure, chose to be stained with our sins and iniquities.  Jesus, who is righteous, was convicted with our guilt.  Jesus selflessly endured the punishment we had earned for our selfish ambition.  Jesus took our sins and endured the cursed death we deserve.  We are right to sorrow over our sins, but our sorrow does not take them away.  We are right to put our sinful ambitions to death, but we are not that successful at it.  It is Jesus who takes our sins away.  The blood of Jesus purifies you from all sin.  Jesus washed you clean of every spot and stain of sin when you were baptized into his name.  If your sins are removed, then God the Father has no reason to be angry with you.  Jesus has produced peace between God and all mankind.  Whoever believes in Jesus dwells in this peace.  True wisdom is pure and produces peace.

     The Lord has made you wise for salvation and produces wisdom for a godly life.  St. James wrote, “The wisdom from above is first pure…” (James 3:17).  It is pure because it is the word of God.  His word is always true.  It is always right.  It is always good and shows you what is good.  It has purified you and produces peace with God, for it makes you his saint.  And it purifies your minds and hearts so that they conform to the mind of Christ and the heart of God. 

     True wisdom is pure and produces peace.  Again, from St. James: “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).  Heavenly wisdom produces peace not only with God but also among one another.  Worldly wisdom seeks to take advantage of one’s neighbor.  Even husbands and wives keep score about who is winning arguments and getting their way.  Oddly enough, neither one wins when they do.  But heavenly wisdom seeks the advantage of your neighbor.  It is pure because it does what God’s pure word says.  It produces peace because it strives to never sin against one’s neighbor but rather to seek his good.

     True wisdom is pure and produces peace.  St. James uses the adjectives, “peaceable and gentle” (James 3:17).  Consider how Jesus dealt with people in his ministry.  He was willing to fellowship with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other morally suspect people.  He did not excuse their sins, but rather showed them mercy.  These sinners came to Jesus because they knew his reputation for mercy.  Jesus could have hammered them with God’s Law and brought greater shame upon them.  Instead, he revealed that God has a place for those who have broken and contrite hearts.  If they were to know peace with God, that peace would have to be demonstrated.  Jesus proclaimed peace to sinners.  Later, he went to the cross to secure it.  True wisdom is pure and produces peace.

     In contrast, consider Jesus’ disciples.  Right after Jesus explained that he was about to suffer and die for sinners and rise from the dead on the third day, the apostles began to debate which of them was the greatest.  But what would be gained by winning that argument?  Power?  Fame?  Riches?  What were they building up except their own egos?  Jesus had to remind them that the kingdom of God is not about selfish ambition or jealousy.  It is to love and serve one’s neighbor.  The little child he presented to them was not going to give them any worldly advantage.  Rather, the little child was presented as an opportunity to love and serve one who needed it.  Grace looks for reasons to serve, not reasons to boast.  True wisdom is pure and produces peace. 

     St. James goes on with more adjectives.  “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason…” (James 3:17).  He who is wise is not unreasonable.  When we form an opinion, we often dig in our heels to defend it at all costs.  But only fools refuse correction when it is needed.  Simon Peter had grown up in a world where Jews do not associate with Gentiles.  The Jews were to be a race separated from all others.  So when a Gentile called him to come to his house to hear the word of the Lord, Peter’s first response was refusal.  He did not want defile himself.  The Lord corrected him, “What God has made clean, you must not continue to call unclean” (Acts 10:15, EHV).  He who is wise heeds God’s word.  So, Peter responded accordingly and proclaimed that the kingdom of God is open to people regardless of ethnicity, culture, misguided judgment, or even moral failings.

     In matters of lesser importance, he who is wise is willing to be corrected, too.  Better evidence or more accurate information allows you to change your mind.  No one knows everything.  Understanding this gives you the freedom to admit you are wrong when you are.  Pride stubbornly holds on to false belief.  Worldly wisdom would rather be wrong than embarrassed.  But he who is wise will stand correction, especially when it is the word of God which corrects you.  God’s word is the only thing that remains true.

     True wisdom is pure and produces peace.  St. James has more adjectives.  “The wisdom from above is …full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).  True wisdom always seeks the good of others, no matter who they are.  If you are wrong, you are willing to be corrected.  If you are right, you can be right without being obnoxious or insulting.  You can prove your point with arrogance.  It may win an argument, but it will never produce peace.  If you have to belittle someone to prove your point, you will only harden him in his false belief.  What good does that do for anyone?  It may feed your ego, but it does not love your neighbor.

     We do not confess God’s word to prove, “I am right.  You are wrong!”  We confess God’s word to enlighten people who are spiritually blind, to extend hope to those who are hurting, and to show grace to the disgraced.  But just as a wounded animal interprets any helping hand as a threat, so it may be for the hurting sinner, too.  All we can do is continue to show love with mercy in hopes that they will see we are sincere with our words and actions and that we seek their highest good. 

     True wisdom is pure because it comes from God.  True wisdom produces peace because it reveals the mercies of our God.  Worldly wisdom may supply you with worldly advantages, but these are always deceptive, and they will all be lost.  But the Lord has made you wise for salvation.  It is the blood of Jesus which purifies you from all sin.  It is the Holy Spirit who purifies your intentions and your actions so that they seek the glory of God and the good of your neighbor.  These good fruits produce a harvest of righteousness and peace with others.  They are a reflection of the good Jesus has done—securing our peace with God by his selfless sacrifice for us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.