Evening Service, 15 November 2009
“Come now” says James, clearly calling his readers to take some time to reason together, to take time to think through what they were saying. That is something we all need to do – to review our practices and habits. So many of the things we say are habitual, things we say with little apparent thought, said casually and maybe even thoughtlessly habitual.
It may be greetings like “G’day”, “How are you?” or the response “Fine thank you”… There may be certain words that form part of our daily speech – eg, not long ago a parody was made of this by a character on a comedy show (Kylie Mole) whose every phrase was introduced by “like” – picking up a thoughtless trend in youth of the time, she actually turned it into a social identifier.
As a Pastor I am constantly reviewing my preaching to see if I am beginning to use certain words or phrases – some that I have picked up over the years have been a frequent start of a paragraph with “Now” – not in itself wrong but it can be off putting and even worse lose its logic power
Here James addresses a common attitude that is found even within the church, and shows that it is at the very least irrational and more often than not a presumptuous arrogance that is foreign to true faith and crushing to the humility produced of true faith.
It is an attitude revealed by a certain phrase either said or implied, and it is something we all need to take time out to think through what we are saying.
1. The Problem to Address – v. 13,16
1. Image Considered
The first thing we must note is that James is talking of a practise by some Christians. These are not merely businessmen, but Christian businessmen.
James draws on a common picture and one that is repeated daily throughout the world even today. Here they are, poised over their maps, research data on local markets, with their sales projections, – and they develop their business plan and strategy.
They select a certain city, set limits on their commercial enterprise, and project their profits.
2. Practise Condemned
What’s wrong with this you ask? Is this not sound business practise?
Ah, says James, it is far from being right. Not because it is wrong to research and plan, but because of what they failed to do in their research and plan. These actions reveal a whole attitude to life that is foreign to true Christian humility.
Again, James chases through to the heart and reveals a fundamental problem of attitude. We see this strongly stated in v.16 “you boast in your arrogance”
They had their plans, they oozed with confidence, and anticipated with security – certain that as a result they would return home with so much money they’d be set for life.
Tony Bird identifies 4 presumptions underpinning v.13:
1) of independent choice: “today or tomorrow we will…”
2) of future prospects: “spend a year there…”
3) of performance ability: “carry on business”
4) of material success: “and make money.”
But this view is defective because it finds no place for God. Though claiming to be the people of God and enjoying His blessings, they had neglected God – they had left God out of their consideration. God’s will is the essential element for all our plans – and Christians should be the first to express that. But they were living with no reference at all to God. That is what we logically expect to see in an unbelieving world – but it is a greater tragedy when seen within the church.
They were so caught up on business there was no time for the Bible; so concerned about where the market was in the new town, they gave no thought as to where a biblical church was; so concerned about profit, there was not time for prayer.
James is not trying to stifle or ban planning – it is essential for good stewardship. For example the Bible commends the ant as a model for daily life as it gathers food in the summer for winter. But as Motyer points out James is condemning ‘the self–reliant, self–important, planning that keeps God for Sunday but looks on Monday to Saturday as mine.’
We must not leave God in the church when we go off to the office or school, nor even when we stay and labour at home.
Now what James identifies in the area of business is true of every area of planning for today or the future. So often as Christians our ‘planning’ reflects a worldview where there is no God or at the very least where God is not active or concerned, a worldview where we are in control of our own lives. It is effectively usurping the role of God, thinking that we can ‘will’ and do what we ‘will’ independent of God. Every time we make a list of activities to do we are confronted with this danger – arrogant presumption that we may do it and thinks this way because God is not considered. But how do we avoid it?
2. The Principle to Apply – v.14
James returns to fundamentals here to show the absurdity of such presumption.
1. Our Ignorance of Life – 14a, ‘you do not know what will happen tomorrow”
We are here reminded of Proverbs 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth”. And if not a day, then surely not a week or a year. We cannot look into the future as we think, only God, knows the future will bring.
Tomorrow may not bring what we need to fulfil our plans. May it not bring a crash on the stock market as in 1930, or a crash in the car that may ultimately result in the bankruptcy of our business because we can’t attend to it? What a myriad of events could undermine our plans!
As C H Spurgeon wrote, ‘There are two great certainties about things that shall come to pass – one is that God knows and the other is that we do not know.’
But not only may tomorrow not bring what we want, it may not even come:
2. Our Brevity of Life – 14b… He challenges us to look at the nature of life.
“What is your life?” It is but a ‘vapour’ – a mist, a fog. It speaks of a something which seems so solid, but soon dissipates and is gone.
J. M. Boice: ‘We are not here to stay, We are here to go.’ We should take this truth seriously! By the time the teenagers leave their teens, nearly a third of the ‘three score and ten’ is gone.
When the eastern Emperors of the Roman Empire were crowned in Constantinople, the new emperor was shown a number of quarried slabs of marble, one of which he chose for his tombstone. In ruling he was to remember the uncertainty of death. In this way they were reminded that this life is but a little spot between two eternities. Even George Bernard Shaw saw this: ‘The ultimate statistic is the same: One out of one dies. Death is every man’s problem.’
We must not act as if we will live out today, yet alone forever on this present earth. Death – by design, by disease, by decay, by disaster – could come at any moment. This is not morbidity, but sober realism.
These fundamentals are aptly illustrated by Jesus in Luke 1218– 20. The Rich Fool had left God and his spiritual life out of his thoughts and dealings. So Boice: ‘He was so busy with his accounts that he forgot he was accountable!’
These were adults who throughout their everyday life had experienced the frustration, failure, disappointments, yet here we see them blithely planning the future without any thought that it might not materialise – cf Isa 56:12.
This being true in relation to daily life, how much more so with reference to our dealings with God. How foolish to say that you will repent and believe in Jesus tomorrow, that you will confront this or that sin or undertake this or that spiritual duty then. Your tomorrow may be the birth of your eternity.
3. The Practice to Adopt – v.15, 17
The “if” is not saying that we should do nothing, make no plans, exercise no industry, nor display any acumen – but rather that in these things we are to put God back into our planning and program. Now this involves confessing:
1. Our Dependence upon God
Unless God wills it then it cannot happen. In my activity I am not independent of God. As Job saw: “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the Lord!” How foolish then not to look to God in our plans. We
2. God’s Absolute Sovereignty
As Christians our confession is that God has a plan, and that He is fulfilling it (Eph. 1:11; 2:10; Heb ,12:1) We must recognise that God’s sovereignty reaches out into the whole of life – in every detail and in detail.
That is the force of “If the Lord wills...” We defer to Him as the Lord both of our life and of all life. Seeking the Lord’s will is the essence of the Christian approach to life.
This covers two aspects:
(1) This is true of His revealed Word, so we study the Bible so that we do not act contrary to what He has made known. But also
(2) with reference to God’s secret will – which He has not made known to us – it means that we remain open to the unfolding of His will through Providence.
We see this so clearly in Paul, who was clearly a man of drive and decision. But notice how he discusses his plans in Acts 18:21; Rome 1:10; 1 Cor 4:19; 16:7. In all his aspiration and activity he realised the importance of “if God wills” – it did not cripple his enthusiasm or weaken his resolve – rather it threw him back on God and energised him as he laboured for God.
Note the significance of this is three–fold:
1. We should not turn “DV – Deo Volente!” into a mystical charm for success. What does James mean but that it is not enough for us to make our plans first and then to ask God to bless them. God is not the last step in the process. What James is talking about here is that we should see that God is involved all along. Planning involves interaction with God that in turn exhibits a submission to God in every stage. We make plans, prayerfully and being guided by God’s Word, yet at all times writing them as it were in pencil – looking for and allowing God to confirm, correct or even delete – he alone writing in indelible ink!
2. Nor should we turn it into a cosmic ‘cop out’ for inactivity – of living carelessly and aimlessly in the hope that God will work it out somehow or other. This practice when adopted doesn’t sap us of energy or confidence, as some might suppose, but the very opposite. We go forward in His will, confident of His over–ruling providence, convinced that God will bring good fruit out of the activities of His faithful servants.
3. As a result, it also means that we will not fall into a sulking heap when God shows we have misunderstood His will, or surprises us with a new turn in the road. Our response will be one of gratitude, knowing that His will is perfect and for our good even in the immediate as well as eternally.
Paul’s first prayer as a Christian was, “Lord what will you have me to do?” It was a prayer that fully incorporated God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.
Let us make this our practise – and knowing God as we do as a God of grace and mercy we have every encouragement in doing so.
But, lest we are not earnest in practising this, let us hear the words of v.17 which is connected to this teaching by a “therefore”. JB Phillips brings out the force of it as he translates, ‘No doubt you agree with the above theory. Well, remember that if a man knows what is right and fails to do it, his failure is real sin.’