Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37

I really like the book of James. I, like this books author, firmly believe that Christians can't just be hearers of the word. We must also be doers of the word. But this book is not without its critics. Ever since the Protestant Reformation there have been those who would say that James is making a case for a works- righteousness theology as opposed to a belief that we are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Martin Luther was only the first of many who struggled with this book and its claim that faith without works is dead. But I think this book is worth the struggle.
The key word for James is faith, which, as I have said in previous sermons, should be read as a verb - “to faith.” In both Hebrew and Greek faith means to trust, and has, in James, a dynamic quality of action and strength.

Faith is something that is alive; it is an event that happens. If we have faith the people around us will know it because they will see our faith in action.
Faith is the living out of our relationship with God. Because we have been forgiven we are able to forgive others. We can love others because we ourselves have first been loved by God. Genuine faith in Christ should always result in actions that demonstrate our faith in him and his saving grace.
And for James, faith is to focus on God and to rely on God for help. James urges his readers to ask for wisdom from God and to live our lives based on our understanding of God's wisdom.
“Who is wise and understanding among you?” James asks his readers. He continues, “Show by your good life that your good works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”
And James goes on to describe this wisdom that we receive from God as “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of hypocrisy.

And the outcome for those who follow the wisdom of God is “a harvest of righteousness sown in peace for those who make peace.”
I am particularly struck by these last words because in two weeks we will be receiving the Peacemaking offering, and today will hear about how instruments of war can be turned into symbols of peace.
And in the midst of so much talk here about peace, we are hearing in the news so much talk about war. James talks about gentleness and the TV set is tuned to violence.
James and Jesus both urge humility while our culture gives great glory to those individuals and nations that are able to convince us that they are the strongest and the best. And I ask myself what's wrong with this picture?
People are making loud noises that this is a Christian nation, but if I use James and Jesus as my guides, I'm not so sure. James knows us well when he writes:

“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.”
Let me tell you a story that relates to what James is saying. It was told by news anchor Keith Olbermann in the September 11 speech he gave two weeks ago. It comes from The Twilight Zone.” The episode was called “The Monsters Are Due On Main Street.”
A meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for calm. Suddenly his car – and only his car – starts. Someone suggests he must be the alien.

Then another man's lights go on. Charges and panic overtake the street and guns are inevitably produced. An “alien” is shot – but he turns out to be just another neighbor who has gone for help.
The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials are seen manipulating a small device that can jam or start electricity. The veteran tells his novice that there's no need to actually attack, that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, “they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it's themselves.”
And then Rod Serling sums it up with these words: “The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men.”
What was true then is still true today. It seems to me that we as a nation, as a culture, and as individuals are so focused on ourselves, what's in it for us, and who's threatening what we already have that we have lost track of the gospel message.

And when our own self-interest becomes more important than the message of Jesus we can be so easily manipulated by the powers of evil that dwell within us and outside us to harm one another in both small and very big ways. We are more intent upon preserving our own greatness than on responding to Jesus' words of service, love and peace.
The letter of James makes the claim that when we shift our focus away from ourselves and look to Christ for wisdom, guidance and grace we can face up to our sins, receive God's forgiveness, and experience God's love for us.
When we are freed by God's grace and love in Christ we are able to let go of ourselves and our self-motivated behavior and move to serving others. And as we act in faith our faith is strengthened.

As our way of life reflects our trust and faith in God, we are brought closer to God. “Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.” And when we do that then we are no longer manipulated by evil, but lead by Christ. And by following him we discover that just as our so much harm can come from small shifts away from God, so good much can emerge from small acts of faith.
Another story – a fable really: “Tell me the weight of a snowflake,”a sparrow asked a wild dove.
“Nothing more than nothing,” was the answer.
“In that case, I must tell you a story,” said the sparrow. “I sat on the branch of a fir tree, close to its trunk when it started to snow. The snow wasn't heavy, not a blizzard, but as in a dream, that peaceful snow that is soft and silent.
“Since I didn't have anything better to do I counted the snowflakes as they landed on that twig. The number was exactly 3,741,376.

When the 3,714,377th snowflake dropped onto the branch – nothing more than nothing, as you say – the branch broke off.” And the sparrow flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on such matters, thought about the story and finally said to herself - “Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world.”
Perhaps the small acts of faith, nothing more than nothing to most eyes, perhaps these small bits of gospel love, tiny specks of service, simple Christ-like gestures of caring - perhaps it will be these that will bring change in our world.
You see, to be a Christian is to be different from the world, and also, because we have been transformed in Christ we are called to transform the world.
Stanley Hauerwas teaches theology at Duke University. He has written: “The first social-ethical task of the church is to be the church - the servant community.

Such a claim may well sound self-serving until we remember that what makes the church the church is its faithful manifestation of the peaceable kingdom in the world. It seeks to influence the world by being the church, that is, by being something the world is not and never can be, lacking the gift of faith and vision, which is ours in Christ. The confessing church seeks the visible church, a place, clearly visible to the world, in which people are faithful to their promises, love their enemies, tell the truth, honor the poor, suffer for righteousness, and thereby testify to the amazing community-creating power of God.”
In the book of James we are being encouraged to live in such a way that our faith in Jesus Christ is this kind of positive God-powered force in our world. And as we are faithful, God strengthens more and more us for the task.
The first question asked in The Wired Word Sunday school class for today is: “Why should reasonableness be a part of Christianity? Isn't it enough to simply believe?”

If I were to equate reasonableness with wisdom, I would say that in James, at least, wisdom – or reasonableness, if you will – comes to us through our faith in Christ. Paul calls Christ the wisdom of God, and as Christians, we are made wise in him.
And James would certainly say it is not enough to simply believe.
Our faith is known by our actions. Our lives are our testimonies of our belief.
We may not be able to bring about peace in the Middle East, but we can, by our words and our actions, foster peace in those areas and those situations that are touched by our own lives.
Our greatness is not determined by how much money we have, how powerful we are, what important positions we hold, or how we are valued by the standards of our culture and our world.

Jesus says whoever will be great must be a servant, be like a child; he says, “Love others as I have loved you.” The nothing more than nothing of small gestures of peace and gentle words of caring have the power to change the world.
“A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” May your harvest be plentiful; may you might share it with the world.