James 3: Wisdom from Above

James 3 (NLT)          1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.   3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.  7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?     12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.  13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.   17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Context:  Wisdom is one of the themes of the letter of James.  He introduces the concept of wisdom in 1:5 when he says, “if any of you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.”  In week 1, we compared this letter to “wisdom” literature such as Proverbs, and we defined “wisdom literature” as writing in which one has “the ability to ponder and reflect on the profound problems of the human condition.”   As a wisdom writer James takes these human conditions and our natural environment to speak and interpret divine truth.  James writes his thoughts with the same “clipping” style of the proverbs.  A surface reading can dull our ability to see that there are strong themes that are loosely interwoven and run through the letter to hold his thought processes together.    

The Greek word sophia {sof-ee'-ah} is translated “wisdom” and it means

• knowledge of very diverse matters, specifically the varied knowledge of things human and divine, acquired by acuteness and experience, and summed up in maxims and proverbs; devout and proper prudence in imparting Christian truth to others; the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living; supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God …

James begins chapter 3 cautioning teachers not to think too highly of themselves (and their own wisdom ;) of course! Perhaps teachers should be in a state of unceasing prayer every day asking God for the wisdom so generously poured out upon those who ask!   James reminds me of Joshua who said, “Fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly … Serve the LORD alone.  But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve … as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”  Read the entire chapter of Joshua 24 for a comparison of these two men of God as they call us to be servants of God and God alone ... in covenant with the one true God!  

Going Deeper:   Well, I am a spiritual director, a retreat leader … and a teacher.  As I have been listening to and living with James these past three weeks, I am finding him to be a very challenging mentor.  He has this sense of strong unwavering confidence in his faith that I often feel as though I lack.  My own faith is shaped and refined by the doubt that lies deep within my very human heart.  As I engage in ministry with those who share stories of life and love and loss, I listen as they ask hard questions of faith that there are simply no answers for.   I sit alone with silence in my soul for wisdom refuses to speak!  On a good day, I can be fully present.  I can sit with each person in the silence … waiting on God.  I can breathe with them.  I can allow wisdom to emerge from within them by not speaking only from that which is within me.  On a not-so-good day … I can’t.  There is neither a bit nor a rudder in sight.  The consuming flames of the fire engulf me and the words tumble out of my mouth as though they have a life of their own.  Deep sigh … Regrets emerge into my dawning consciousness.  Suddenly, I hear James almost whisper under his breath “we all make many mistakes.”   I’m sorry … what?  James, dude, not you too!   Ah ...  who says James does not understand grace?   I am not alone. 

• Are you a teacher of the Christian faith … to yourself, to your children, to your family, to your friends, to believers who struggle, to unbelievers that cross your path … to your church?  You are not alone … we are not alone!
• What do you struggle with as you seek to love and serve only God through the witness of your faith to others?
• How does James challenge you?  How does James help you see your need for grace?
• What has your experience been with the destruction of a tongue as a “flame on fire,” yours or someone else’s?
• How comfortable are you with silence?  What is your experience with silence? 
• Are there connections you can make between your comfort level with silence, your experience of silence, and any wisdom you are able to hear in the silence today? 

James has a powerful message for teachers and leaders in the Church and the World.  I have found him to be an insightful writer with his adept use of contrasting images throughout the letter that helps us to recognize incongruence between our thoughts, our words, and our behavior which calls us to integration and complete faith.   This is not a series of incoherent “wisdom” sayings strung together.  We are beginning to see the bigger picture. 

As I remember the controversy from last week, which was faith versus works, I find the concept of “works” or “deeds” to be deeper than simply things we do to express our faith.  Suddenly we are talking about the behavior through which our faith is manifested.     Indeed, the authority of a teacher lies not in the words that are said but in the behavior that undergirds the message.   I may be seen as an authority figure, but if I am not living the message of faith, I have no authority with which to speak the message of faith.   If I am not living the message of faith, I am not mediating “Wisdom from Above” that can be seen and experienced by others through my behavior.

Pondering:   James refers to wisdom four times in chapter 3.  In verse 13, he says, “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”  In verse 15, he tells us what wisdom is not as he says, “jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.”    Finally, James gives this beautiful image of wisdom that emerges as a contrast to his earlier diatribe on destructive speech:  “Wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.   And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness."  

• James gives several markers of wisdom.  What are those markers, or signs of wisdom? 
• As you examine your life, what are the “signs” that wisdom is growing in your life?  
• Where do you need help as you grow in your faith?
• How do you pray for wisdom? 
• How has God answered your prayers for wisdom in the past?  
• How are you experiencing God's answers to prayer today?  

Prayer:  Take a moment to center yourself as you seek “Wisdom from Above.” 
Sit in the Silence of God as long as it takes … pray the Serenity Prayer, over and over, day by day, if it helps you rest on your way to becoming a “peacemaker” who plants seeds of peace in your life and in the world.   

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

If music is a pathway to your soul … watch this video on The Serenity Prayer.  You’ll hear the sweet voice of Corinne Bailey Rae singing Like a Star as the words to the longer version of the Serenity Prayer are overlaid upon beautiful photographs of nature.  As she sings, I connect with the deep loving struggle I have with God.  She sings the refrain:  Still I wonder why it is, I don't argue like this, with anyone but you, we do it all the time, blowing out my mind … and then I connect with the peace I receive from God in the struggle … Just like a star across my sky, just like an angel off the page, you have appeared to my life, feel like I'll never be the same, just like a song in my heart.    Yes, I admit it.  Sometime love songs touch me deep within and teach me about myself and about my love relationship with God.