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| JAMES LESSON #59 James 3:17 says that wisdom that�s from above is full of �mercy� and �good fruits.� Those two things go together. Genuine �mercy� produces an �action� of some sort. I can�t tell you how many times I�ve seen someone go to someone else and indicate that �so and so� is really hurting � and hear the response, �I�ll pray for them.� That�s all well and good if the person who said that really DOES pray for that person � but that response is not a response of �mercy.� �Mercy� would step in and begin to �do� � make a visit � make a call � take in food � show up with a gift � sit and listen � it�s about �doing.� James is saying that �wisdom that�s from above� releases �practical usefulness� through mercy that �does� � to those who are in need. This type of �mercy� is undivided � it�s decisive � it does not waver � it�s a whole hearted conviction because it�s from above. It doesn�t flip back and forth in partiality with circumstances that vary. It�s not bitter one moment and sweet the next. It doesn�t look at one person in need and stand apathetic, and look at another person in need and pour out in strength. James says, it is without �hypocrisy.� �Hypocrisy� means that it doesn�t wear a mask. The word �hypocrite� was used to describe theater actors who wore masks. Wisdom from above is free from �posing� � free from �attempting to make a good impression.� Why? Because it�s �pure� � it has no �selfish ambition.� Wisdom from above is full of �mercy and good fruits.� That�s totally contrary to our society. According to Manning, �Our culture says that ruthless competition is the key to success. Jesus says that ruthless compassion is the purpose of our journey.� A friend of mine recently reminded me that God didn�t call me to be �successful,� He called me to �serve.� How confusing it is to find �middle� in the journey when everything that surrounds you yells, �On your mark, get ready, get set �� and the competition begins. Jesus was all about this �wisdom from above� that was �full of mercy and good fruits.� Although He was surrounded by demands to succeed � the push to compete � the drive to �be somebody� � �make your mark� � He emptied Himself � according to Phillipians 2:7. Ok � get it: He set the example to follow: He is/was all power/ all knowledge/ all understanding/ all presence/ and He emptied Himself, to serve. Why? THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP in �position, status, power, knowledge, understanding� �only �stance and image.� --something to be looked at, not interacted with. Jesus was into getting His hands dirty � being �with� � Although you may succeed � because God blesses you to do so � you are not �called� to succeed � you are called to be a �servant.� The requirement? Ruthless Trust. �Wisdom from above� imparts �mercy and good fruits.� I�ve been using a lot of �permission� words - �mercy, servant, serve-� those words are very different than, �compete, strive, achieve, conquer-� The first group of words gives permission for me to be..nothing more than I am. The second group of words forces me to �wear a mask� � hide � while I attempt to become something I am not�God. Ruthless trust is a response to �mercy� � it�s the perseverance of a long time friend who for twenty some years has labored in prayer for a lost husband without one comforting emotion, believing that �God will see justice done to His chosen who cry out to Him day and night even when He delays to help them."� (Luke 18:7) Ruthless trust is the servant�s heart that doesn�t �parade her good deeds before men to attract their notice,� (Matthew 6:1) but instead, routinely performs hidden, secret acts of kindness that no one will ever know about � (leaving food on a doorstep, special notes stuck in a door or a car window, anonymous money in an envelope, listening without judgment, interceding for long hours in prayer)-knowing that �your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you� (Matthew 6:6) Ruthless trust is hanging tough in the dark nights � when loneliness screams so loud it�s the only voice you hear-knowing, that the absence of God is only �apparent.� As Bede Griffiths said, �I feel myself in the �void,� but the �Void� is totally saturated with love. I John 1:8 says that if we say we have no sin we�re deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth. Everything that surrounds us attempts to put a band-aid on our inner condition � never ever, truly addressing the �wound.� So many times I�ve heard people who are confronted with truth condemn the confrontation as being �authoritative judgement� � and classify it as an �attempt to dominate and control� � I�ve also heard many refuse the acknowledgement of sin pointing to �poor self image� as the problem. The result? Total withdrawal from personal responsibility. If we avoid any confrontation with authentic guilt, we shut down our own personal growth. If we continue to blame others for our weaknesses and failures, we refuse accountability for the present direction of our lives. Self-pity gets in the way of self-acceptance. We take on the role of �victim,� in order to make ourselves appear �ok.� Wrong.. Wrong.. Wrong. Stay with me � I�m going down this road for a reason. Manning gives an illustration of a married woman whose seven-year affair with a married man had ended abruptly when he dumped her for a younger woman. Unable to face her essential unhappiness, she blamed her loveless marriage for her infidelity and sought therapy and pills in order to justify herself from her self-inflicted suffering. Severely depressed and suicidal, unresponsive to antidepressant medication, she was hospitalized. Get this: Because this woman did not hold herself morally responsible, she refused to recognize any sense of personal guilt. For the same reason she turned to a psychiatrist for relief rather than to the Jesus of her childhood. Even in the church, we quickly by-pass the cross for a �quick fix.� Why? Because we have no concept of the �mercy� to be found there. In a world where the only plea is �NOT GUILTY,� what possibility is there of an HONEST encounter with Jesus, �who died for our sins?� GET THIS: We can only �pretend� that we are sinners, and in so doing, only �pretend� that we are forgiven. THAT, is a problem. To sort through our �pretending,� �cowardice,� and �avoidance� to see �truth� about ourselves and the �true� state of our souls before God requires enormous courage and ruthless trust in what? My ability? Someone else�s persuasion? Manipulation? Dominance? Control? No No � and more no. It requires enormous courage and ruthless trust in the �merciful love� of the redeeming God. In simple words, sin has to be acknowledged and confessed before there can be forgiveness and real transformation and healing. There is no other option. If any one really knew who we truly were�that�s the line that causes all of us to hide. Truth? If you knew how many times I�ve fallen down � how many times I�ve blown it � how many times I�ve hit the wall � how many times I�ve wandered to the farthest side of the pasture, fallen into a crevice and wondered if I�d ever find my way home � If you knew how many times I�ve been self-absorbed, focuses on pettiness, fought with an unending desire for approval- lapsed into laziness and indifference�you�d probably be embarrassed for me. I keep falling down again and again and getting up again and again, trusting that when Jesus responded to Peter�s question about how often he should �forgive his brother� � the response was �No, not seven times but seventy times seven.� (Matthew 18:22) Jesus, at that point was describing �His own practice.� Manning quotes clinical psychologist Jim Finley who asked, �Is it possible that each time we stumble, fall and rise again, that God can barely bear the bliss of it?� That�s a heart question. Yes- it would be true, should our hearts in the failure, in the fall begin to stand, begin to rise in response to His heart�s call � not one to cover our own backside. We are all chronic �fall down-ers� - James has been addressing the heart � as reflected through the tongue. �Wisdom from above� is full of �mercy and good fruits.� It �gives permission� to �get back up again �� in response to what? A beating? Ridicule? Rejection? Abandonment? Control? Domination? Manipulation? No. No. No! It �gives permission� to �get back up again,� in response to �mercy� � Mercy that calls �truth� from the heart. Those who have no intention of repenting - and strike out in a new direction deceive themselves and mock God�s mercy. For many of us, the move toward the heart of God in the area of �un-confessed sin� is thwarted by what James calls �earthly wisdom.� Our culture thrives in �earthly wisdom� � to bring an open, vulnerable heart to God in an environment that�s full of condemnation, selfish ambition, and �me first� mentality is a very dangerous thing to do. Generally, the attempt to �confess sin� is countered by �re-violation� � which drives the heart into deeper hiding. Wisdom from above is �heard� through a mouth that�s �pure� (not focused on selfish ambition) � peaceable (not judgmental) gentle, (quick to listen, slow to speak) reasonable, (full of truth) and full of �mercy� that �does� �it�s full of mercy that gives permission � that offers help � that acts in support of - �ruthless trust� - the kind of support that believes when no one else can � the kind of support that lifts up, when legs no longer carry � the kind of support that listens when no one else has time � the kind of support that sees life as the greatest treasure God�s created � and values it to such a degree that it will carry it to the cross if it has to, in order to bring healing. They key here is this: None of us have �wisdom from above.� None of us are able to �give it to others� until we in ourselves have encountered, �mercy.� The more mercy we encounter, the more mercy we release. The encounter is not passive � it�s active- and it begins at the cross..nowhere else. Two questions for you to think about: Is there un-confessed sin in your life? Rebellion? Hate? Anger? Resentment? Bitterness? Lies? Immorality? Control? Manipulation? Dominance? Is there sin that you�ve held on to � and worked a life time to hide? There�s mercy at the cross. The measuring stick? Your words. What do you hear? Do your words reflect a �wisdom that�s from above?� � Is your life reflective of such wisdom? Are you all about �doing� � imparting mercy, because you�ve known mercy? Or are you all about defending because all you�ve known is hiding? I want to remind you that God is for you � He�s not against you� And that you indeed have a �friend� in Jesus. Are you free? Loving you, Robin �copyright Jim and Robin Hibschman 2001 |
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