Living in recognition of who God is and in relationship with our neighbor...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of James. And it is this section that we have discovered that the faith that works places God first. The faith that works willingly places themselves under God in a way that places God first as the One who is large and in charge of their lives.

So far this week, we have discovered that we place God first when we place ourselves in opposition to the devil. We have discovered that we place God first when we pursue a closer relationship with God. Instead of dancing with the temptation and the tactics of the Devil, instead of pursuing our selfish desires, we are to pursue a closer and deeper relationship with Jesus. We have discovered that we place God first when we pursue moral purity and truth. James point is that, as followers of Jesus, we are to pursue moral purity with our external actions and activities.

And we have discovered that we place God first when we demonstrate remorse for the selfishness within us. As followers of Jesus, the selfishness within us should distress us. As followers of Jesus the selfishness within us should cause us to grieve over its impact in our lives. And as followers of Jesus, the selfishness within us should cause us to take selfishness, sin, and rebellion seriously. Instead of attempting to minimize, manage, or tame those selfish desires within us, we should take those selfish desires seriously and put to death those selfish desires by placing God and His desires first.

Today, we will see James reveal for us two additional ways that the faith that works places God first. We see James reveal a fifth way that the faith that works places God first in verse 10:

  Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Now to fully understand James command here, we first need to understand what the word humble means. As one person famously stated “to be humble does not mean that we think less of our self; to be humble means that we think of ourselves less. To be humble means that we live our lives in light of the reality that there is a God and we are not Him. And to be humble means that we act according to that reality by placing ourselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord before ourselves.

And it is in this command that we see James reveal for us the reality that we place God first when we live our lives in recognition of who God is. James then explains that when we place God first by living our lives in recognition of who God is, then He will exalt you. Now the word exalt literally means to cause someone to have an enhancement of honor and fame. James point here to followers of Jesus throughout history is that the Lord responds to those who live their lives in recognition of who God is by placing themselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord first by enhancing their reputation in the eyes of others. James here is echoing the words of his half-brother Jesus that are recorded for us in Luke 18:14:

for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

So this morning, here is a question to consider: Who or what are you exalting? In other words, who do you think is God? Who is large and in charge of your life? Are you living your life in light of the reality that there is a God and you are not Him? Are you acting according to that reality by placing yourselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord before yourself? Or are you living life as though you are God and are large and in charge? Because the faith that works places God first when we recognize who God is. James then concludes this section of his letter by revealing a sixth way that the faith that works places God first in verse 11-12:

 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

James begins verse 11 by commanding followers of Jesus throughout history to “Do not speak against one another”? Now the phrase “speak against” literally means to speak evil or ill of another. And here we see James reveal for us the reality that we place God first when we refuse to speak critically of others.

James then explains that the reason why he was commanding followers of Jesus to not speak critically of others was due to the fact that “he who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law”. But what does that mean?  When James refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five letters that are recorded for us in the Bible today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law, or Torah.

In addition, when James uses the word judge here, this word means to pass an unfavorable judgment upon something. This word conveys the sense of finding fault with or criticizing someone or something. And in a section of a letter that is a part of the Law called the book of Leviticus, we see God say the following in Leviticus 19:16-18:

'You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. 'You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.

James point here is that when we speak critically of others, we speak critically of the message of Jesus. But not only do we speak critically of the message of Jesus when we speak critically of others. In addition, James states that when we speak critically of others, we are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. James is revealing for us the reality that when we speak critically of others, we fail to follow the message of Jesus.

You see, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 22:34-40, the most important command in the entire Law is to love God with our total being and to love our neighbor as ourselves, because we show and demonstrate our love for God when we love our neighbor. So when we speak critically of others, we disobey the most important command of the Law.

And as a result, as James points out, when we speak critically of others, we place ourselves over the message and teachings of Jesus. When we speak critically of others, we are not following the message and teachings of Jesus, but are instead sitting as judge over the message and teaching of Jesus. When we speak critically of others, we are placing ourselves in a position to judge others, instead of allowing Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus to judge others.

James then hammers his point home by reminding followers of Jesus of a timeless truth that we should make sure that we do not forget: “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy;”. James point is that there is only one being that gives us the standards to follow and there is only on being that reserves the right to judge. There is only one being that is able to rescue us from our selfishness and rebellion and there is only one being who has the power and authority to bring ultimate destruction. And that being is Jesus.

And because of that reality, James asks a very pointed question: “but who are you who judge your neighbor?” Now this question is rhetorical, because the answer to this question is so obvious that is does not need to be answered. James point here is that when we speak critically of others, we fail to recognize Jesus as the only One who has the right to judge. And because of that reality, we place God first when we refuse to speak critically of others.

So here is a question to consider: What do the words you say reveal about who is in first place in your life? Do the critical words that you say about others reveal that you are actually failing to follow the message and teachings of Jesus? Do the critical words that you say about others reveal that you place yourself as judge and jury over those around you?  Because the faith that works places God first when we refuse to speak critically of others.

And as we have seen this week, the faith that works places God first. The faith that works places God first when we place ourselves in opposition to the Devil. The faith that works places God first when we pursue a closer relationship with God. The faith that works places God first when we pursue moral purity and truth. The faith that works places God first when we demonstrate remorse for the selfishness within us. The faith that works places God first when we live our lives in recognition of who God is. And the faith that works places God first when we refuse to speak critically of others.