Well now, we’re coming to the end of our exposition of the letter of James this morning. We’ve spent 12 weeks together reading and engaging with what God has to say to us through it.
Have you learned anything? Has God’s word challenged you over the last three months? If it has challenged you, has it changed you? The Lord has given us the letter of James in order that our faith would be down to earth and shown to be genuine by what we do.
From what we can make out reading James, the original recipients of the letter were evidently believers who knew their theology well enough, but who struggled to put faith into practice. There are two clues that this is the case.
Firstly, think about what James doesn’t write about. There isn’t anything doctrinal in the letter at all. There are no heresies warned against and no vigorous defence the gospel. There’s nothing here about who God is, or why Christ died, or how we receive the Spirit. There’s nothing about the second coming, or the Trinity, or predestination and free will, and nothing about creation or redemption…
Why did James miss out so much teaching? The answer is that he didn’t need to include it. His readers must have known it all already - which is great. The problem is they knew their stuff, but it made little or no difference to the way they lived in the world.
Secondly, think about what James does write about. He challenges them over and over again about what they’re doing – or not doing, in particular;
· Sins of the tongue; gossiping, quarrels, boasting, bragging, cursing, criticism, grumbling, slandering.
· Sins of the heart; fights, bitter envy, selfish ambition.
· Sins of the wallet; meanness, hoarding, covetousness, greed, frittering.
He wrote about these things, not because he thought they might be interested in that sort of subject. He did it so they would start living right.
And the whole point of James’ letter is that genuine faith has to be practical and it must not become merely theoretical.
If you’re the kind of Christian who needs to put your faith into action, James is a great letter to read, pray through and act on. Following Christ is radical stuff. But, as the last two verses of this letter point out, it’s more than that; it’s also a matter of life and death.
I heard a story this week about a man who applied for a job as an usher at the cinema. As a part of the interview process, the manager asked him, “What steps would you take In the event of a fire?”
The young man thought about for a moment and replied “Well… big ones I suppose.” That was the wrong answer!
But the boss gave him the benefit of the doubt. “No, no” he said, “what would you do if a fire broke out?”
The young man answered, “Oh! Don’t worry about me. I would know where the emergency exits are and I’d get out fine!”
He didn’t get the job. But that little story leads us very tidily to James’ final thought.
My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring them back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the way of error will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
And that’s the end of the letter. Let’s break down these two verses into three easy to chew morsels.
1) If one of you should wander from the truth
First of all, “if one of you should wander from the truth.” The word translated “One of you” here is also used in v13-14. “Is anyone among you in trouble? Is anyone happy? Is anyone sick?” It’s the same Greek word, “tis” and it just means anyone. This is the word Jesus used in John 7.37. “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink…” Here James is saying “If anyone among you should wander from the truth…
Here’s the shocking thing; drifting away from God or backsliding in faith can happen to anyone.
Notice I didn’t use the expression “losing your faith.” There’s a reason for that. Losing your faith is an expression you find nowhere in God’s word.
The Bible talks about backsliding, falling away, rejecting your faith and a good conscience, wandering from the truth, drifting away and suffering shipwreck with regard to the faith – but losing your faith is not a biblical idea.
You don’t lose your faith in the same way that you leave an umbrella on the bus or misplace your car keys. Let me assure you of that. No, when someone who was walking with Christ stops doing so they’re never an unknowing victim of a misfortune.
But listen, anyone can wander away from the truth.
Most of us have seen it happen. The first signs of it are when the good habit of frequent fellowship begins to wane. Gathering together with other Christians on Sunday just gets crowded out by everything else.
Why is church so important? In 1 Timothy 3.15 Paul says that the church of the living God is the pillar and foundation of the truth. That’s why when people drift from fellowship they usually wander from truth at the same time.
This morning Scotland are playing Argentina in the Rugby World Cup. The match is crucial for both sides if they hope to progress to the Quarter Finals of the competition (which, incidentally, New Zealand will win). But there’s a Scottish prop-forward called Euan Murray who isn’t playing today. When Murray became a Christian he announced that he would not be available for selection on Sundays. He said: “It's all or nothing, following Jesus.” So he is setting aside today for the Lord - to be at church, to meet with other Christians, to hear the word of God preached, to build himself up in faith and give glory to Christ.
This church thing is serious business. In the New Testament, the church - filled with the power of the Holy Spirit - turned the world upside down. They risked their lives to gather together in Christ’s name. Because it was often illegal to gather publically to worship Christ and break bread, believers had to meet secretly at 4:00am in underground catacombs – and then head off to do a day’s work afterwards. Sunday didn’t become a day of rest until the 4th Century. It was the first day of the working week.
How is it that the Body of Christ in the West has come to take church so lightly? How in the world did we get to a point where many Christians look at church as something that exists just to meet their needs?
How did church ever become just a place to go to, when we get around to it, like Cine World or Tesco’s or Ropner Park?
This is where we meet together to exalt Christ and magnify his greatness with one voice. Above all else it’s for him. This is where we minister to one another with spiritual gifts. It’s an expression of love to our brothers and sisters that we turn up and minister to them. And This is where we declare the word of God with authority so that we get built up in the truth and become resistant to the devil’s deceits. This is where we get right with God and feast on Christ at Holy Communion.
When we come to Communion, as we will later, it’s a unique and special and holy moment. It’s about opening our lives completely to God.
Communion is about saying to Jesus, “Lord, I hide nothing from you now. I lay my soul open before you. Test me and see that there is no falsehood in me. Be Lord and Master of every corner of my being. I choose to live in peace with all my brothers and sisters for your sake. I let go of all bitterness for any offence committed against me. I forgive as Christ forgave me. I receive your cleansing in my life. And as I come to you to eat and drink, you pour rivers of living water into my thirsty soul.”
We come back to the cross where Christ delivers us from the gates of hell and the prospect of eternal separation from God. It’s where he pours out grace upon grace in our lives. This is a serious business and it has eternal consequences.
If anyone should wander from the truth...
What do you think it means to wander from the truth? Does it mean you just forget bits of the Bible? Does it mean you are less good at understanding doctrinal propositions and creedal statements than you were? No, that’s not what it means.
Titus 1.1 talks about knowledge of the truth that accords with godliness. Knowledge of the truth accords with godliness. We need to understand that truth and godliness belong together. They are inseparable. As Alec Motyer says, “Truth is a living thing; when it grips our minds it changes our lives.”
We live in a nation that for decades has been rejecting truth. And as it has done so, we have experienced an erosion of godliness in our society.
Attendance of Sunday school has plummeted across the nation since the Second World War. It is no coincidence that juvenile delinquency, binge drinking and drug use have increased over the same period.
As people have turned their backs on God, represented in declining church membership, dishonesty and greed have increased. It has been exposed in recent times. Reckless trading by investment bankers. Phone hacking by the press. Cover ups at the Police. Expenses fraud in Parliament. These are symptoms – but, as any doctor will tell you, you’ll never stop a serious disease by treating the symptoms – you’ve got to deal with the underlying cause. And all this goes back to truth. When a once Christian country rejects biblical truth, morals and standards in the nation decline accordingly.
That’s at a national level. At the local level, James here urges us to watch for anyone who is losing a grip on truth and wandering in the way of error - because for individuals the consequences are just as catastrophic as they are for the country. Drifting from truth always steers us away from godliness.
2) Someone should bring them back
Just as the Bible says that anyone can drift away from truth and godliness, it says that anyone can be used by the Holy Spirit to bring them back into a right relationship with God again.
That word “someone” in v19, if someone should bring them back is yet again the same word as the one used already in v13-14; “Is anyone in trouble? Is anyone happy? Is anyone sick?” And in v19, “If anyone among you should wander from the truth…” And then here; “If anyone should bring them back.”
So it’s not just accredited pastoral assistants or the ordained ministers or members of the pastoral team or specially trained evangelists that James is addressing. James mentions elders in v14, but not here. This is a ministry that the whole body of Christ should be involved in, not just the specialists. God wants everybody here this morning to be attentive to the urgent importance of this work.
Over the course of my 30 odd years as a Christian, I’ve seen that people have two responses to this notion of watching out for others.
Some people are thrilled with the idea. A little too thrilled actually. The thought of meddling in the affairs of others makes their pulse race with excitement. They can’t wait to identify a problem in somebody’s life so they can tell them what to do about it. To people who love pointing out others’ faults Jesus said, “Make sure you deal with the plank in your own eye before you go round picking the speck of sawdust out of your neighbour’s.” That’s one extreme.
But I think the other extreme is more common. Most of us tend more towards the “live and let live” way of thinking. This philosophy says that the way other people live their life is up to them. Who are we to interfere? We need to keep friendships open and avoid alienating people by being too pushy.
But remember my story earlier about the cinema usher; it isn’t enough just to get out of the burning building ourselves. We are responsible for making sure others get out too. God will ask us to give an account to him for those we have known and who have drifted away from the truth.
When you think about people you haven’t seen around in church for a while - what if that’s the Holy Spirit bringing them to mind, prompting you to pray for them and then seek to bring them back?
I went to see a backslidden Christian this week. We had a drink together and I spent a bit of time finding out what was going on in his life. And then I mentioned these two verses from James and I told him that this was why I had come to see him. He’s been away from church for several years now and, in that time, though he bumps into Christians fairly often, he told me that only two have ever really asked him about his soul and where he is with God.
I asked him whether he would have found it intrusive if more people had done so and he said no, he would totally expect it.
My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and, someone should bring them back remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
I want to challenge you today. This is God’s word. God is the Father of the prodigal son and the Shepherd of the lost sheep. Ask him to give you his Father heart, his shepherd heart. Pray about one person you have seen drift away from the truth and then go and challenge them to return to the Lord.
3) Save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins
And now, briefly, the last point.
Verse 20 says Whoever turns a sinner from the way of error will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Here’s the thing; James never imagines that wandering away from the truth is just taking a path leading to sadness or loneliness. No, it’s a highway to spiritual ruin and James says that bringing people back from the kind of drift we’ve been thinking about is a matter of life and death. “Save them from death” he says.
And James never imagines that this is just about a lapsed member coming back to the club house. He calls a spade a spade and says that it is a sin to wander away from the truth and turning someone back from their error covers a multitude of sins.
It’s a strange expression, that. We tend to think of covering sin as if it were papering over cracks in the wall or sweeping things under the rug. That’s not what it means though.
Think about how we use the word “cover” for financial transactions. Our daughter Anna announced her engagement last week to our great delight. This week we arranged a transfer of money that we had set aside long ago to pay for the wedding and I said to Anna “that ought to cover it.” (Between me and you, it better do!)
Covering it means that when the bill comes in the wedding will be paid in full and the expense forgotten. To cover means a totally sufficient payment. The bill is taken care of. The debt is settled. James is thinking about what Jesus did to completely deal with our sin, every last sin paid on the nail in full, (including VAT).
Ending
That is the beautiful thing that God does when we enlist in his search and rescue team. Anyone can wander off and lose their way. Anyone can sign up to go and look for them and bring them back safe.
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 25th September 2011
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