James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a (NRSV)
Read James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a on biblegateway.com
Verse 13Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. Verse 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Verse 15Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. Verse 16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. Verse 17But 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. Verse 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Chapter 4Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? Verse 2You 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. Verse 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Verse 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Verse 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Devotion
Martin Luther purportedly called James "an epistle of straw" and felt that there was not an ounce of gospel in this work that seemed to focus on one’s "works." In many ways I find this surprising given Luther's contention in Freedom of a Christian that a "Christian is a perfectly dutiful slave of all, subject to all." The issue is not "works" per se, but the motivation for those works. The problem comes when the motivation is wrongheaded: either seeking salvation by works, or, as we encounter in this selection of James, because of our own selfishness. James may not often technically portray Christian "gospel," but it is often profound in its wisdom of understanding human nature. How many of the problems we see in the world around us can be attributed to our own selfishness? War, violence, poverty, etc. The list could go on and on because nearly all of them are symptoms of this one sin.
Prayer
God of righteousness and justice, as people of a fallen creation, as people separated from you and from each other by sin, we fall upon our knees, knowing that we deserve nothing but your wrath; yet we humble ourselves before you. Selfish desires have taken over our hearts and lead us further apart. Guide us back together, so that we may truly be a fulfillment of the One Body of Christ. Help us to give up our selfish ways and draw near to you. Receive us again into your grace and mercy, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.