Opening  Illustration: Electrical Engineer Charles Steinmetz.  Although he stood only about 4 feet tall, he was considered a giant because of his genius with electrical engineering. There’s an old story that Henry Ford was having problems with his generators for his car manufacturing plants.  None of the Ford engineers could figure it out, so Ford hired Steinmetz. Upon arriving, Steinmetz rejected all assistance and asked only for a notebook, pencil and cot. According to Scott, Steinmetz listened to the generator and scribbled computations on the notepad for two straight days and nights. On the second night, he asked for a ladder, climbed up the generator and made a chalk mark on its side. Then he told Ford’s skeptical engineers to remove a plate at the mark and replace sixteen windings from the field coil. They did, and the generator performed to perfection.  Later, Ford would receive an invoice for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Ford was shocked at the price and asked for an itemized invoice.  Steinmetz sent back the invoice with two lines:  Making chalk mark on generator $1. Knowing where to make mark $9,999. Ford paid the full bill. Steinmetz had the wisdom and knowledge to know how to navigate a situation that no one else did. 

Today, as Christ followers, we are given a wisdom to navigate situations in life that are completely foreign to us.  That’s what we saw in our time in God’s Word. If we ask for wisdom, God will generously give it. Today, the question we need to ask ourselves is “Are we using the wisdom we are given?” As I studied the passage this week, I kept seeing a pattern. The pattern is this: Wisdom seeks the eternal. Go ahead and open up your Bibles to James 1 and let’s see what God has to say about wisdom in our lives. We are in our current Sermon Series: James: Faith and Works. We’ve been building towards this all year: 1 Peter was all about our identity in Christ. We looked at what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. 2 Peter was about growing in grace. The call to action in 2 Peter was let your faith grow so that you can stand up against those who want to pull you away. James is about living our faith in a public way. Read James 1:9-18.  Pray.  As we start in verse 9, we need to have the preceding verses in our minds. Do you remember where we finished last week? What do we need to ask God for? Wisdom. And what was the caveat about asking God for wisdom? We can’t ask for wisdom while doubting God. And why do we need to ask for wisdom? Because wisdom is what navigates us through the hard times in life. What James does next is introduce some different areas of life that wisdom is desperately needed. Because without wisdom, these areas may indeed turn into life trials. We start in verse 9 with money and wealth. Here’s what we see first: Define your currency.

1) Define your currency. (vs. 9-11) When James writing to his original audience, their economic status was a lot different than what we experience in the United States. There was no middle class. It was either rich or poor. With the stark contrast between the two, James wanted to make sure it was addressed. In fact, he’ll come back to the issue later on this letter. What James does in just a few sentences is force everyone, rich or poor, to think about their circumstances. He’s calling all believers, not matter where you fall on the socioeconomic status, to think eternally – to think with wisdom -- about your status. James starts off with those who poor. Take a look at verse 9: ⁹ Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. Now, at first glance, you could incorrectly read this verse as sort of a participation trophy. It’s like when a football player loses a game, but their coach tells him he’s a “champion of life.” “Thanks coach, but that doesn’t change what just happened.” Remember, James is going back to what we read last week, which is about asking yourself “what’s the goal?” of your trial or circumstance. This time, James is pointing to our identity. What James is saying is that believers who have very little material possessions are honored over the rich who don’t know God. Your position in Christ is more than your possessions on earth.

And then James addresses the rich and says the same thing, but in the inverse. He’s gives the rich a bit more of a harsh reminder. Look at verses 10 and 11: ¹⁰ And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. ¹¹ The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. He reminds the rich that all they have fades away – it doesn’t matter in the end. What’s the difference between the rich and poor here? The poor are honored, but the rich are humbled. Why is that? Again, James is talking about believers who have wealth. And to be clear, James does not condemn them for their wealth, just like the poor are not condemned for their lack of wealth. What we see here believers who are wealthy put aside their earthly status, humbled themselves before God, they had to deny themselves and everything they had, and accept God as their Lord.

We see it time and time again how money becomes a massive obstacle to submitting to God and accepting His grace. With both situations, James is calling us to define our currency. We are being called to ask ourselves, “What is most valuable to me?” “From what am I deriving my value?” We must live in the right spiritual economy. Illustration: I used to trade quarters for shiny pennies!  I was trading what was of value for what was shiny. It’s ever changing. Your currency – what you value -- will change over time. The question you must keep asking is “Does what I value eternally matter?” James ends verse 11 with achievements that fade away. Then in verse 12, he tells us what doesn’t fade away. What doesn’t fade away is what we should be pursuing. I’ll put it this way: Determine your reward. 

2) Determine your reward. (vs. 12) James gives us his version of a beatitude in verse 12. And there is a connection back to verses 3 through 5 that we saw last week. In hard times, there is an opportunity for joy and an opportunity for growth. We find growth by seeking wisdom that only comes from Jesus. When we live this out – when endure and grow in the hard times, we need to remember what’s ahead. If we live our lives with the right currency, then there is something we receive. What does verse 12 say? ¹² God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. If we live out everything we saw in the previous verses, there is a blessing. What is that blessing? Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.  Now, the crown of life isn’t like something you’d find with the British royal family. King Charles was just coronated last month. Look at all the swag the man had during his coronation. I hate to deflate someone’s dreams, but this is not the crown you are getting. The “crown of life” is eternal life. What we receive as Christ followers is the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life with God.

In verses 9 through 11, wisdom is defining what is most valuable to you. In verse 12, wisdom is taking what is most valuable to you and determining where it’s leading you. Wisdom is about working towards what doesn’t fade away. Wisdom is never trading eternal life for temporary happiness. Illustration: Family vacation - spending time and investing in a competition.  In the end it was a lame trophy to the winner!  What are you chasing after? Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. We see this in Scripture in several places. Fear is “awe” not “scared”. When we are in awe of God, our wisdom tells us to live for Him. That means what we value most and what we are living for has to be Jesus. To me, that the over-arching definition of wisdom in this life. Wisdom seeks the eternal in all things. Now James knows that’s not easy. Why? Because Satan is trying to mess everything up. James adds a caveat in verses 13 through 16. Here’s the caveat: Get rid of anything that gets in the way of the eternal.  

3) Get rid of anything that gets in the way of the eternal. (vs. 13-15)  James makes a distinct shift starting in verse 13. James moves away from trials and begins to address temptations. And he starts by making a clear statement about God and temptations. Look at verse 13: ¹³ And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. God is not the author of temptation. By way of definition, temptation is the enticement to sin. Or the enticement to do something against God’s design or plan. Evil is foreign to God. If God had the slightest ability to tempt us to sin, then it would seem to indicate that there is some capacity of evil in God. But that’s not true. God is completely holy, so God does not tempt anyone to sin. God may test us, but God doesn’t tempt us.  God may allow our faith to be tested so that it will have the opportunity to grow. But God never tempts us to sin.  Then where does the temptation to sin come from? James tells us it’s from ourselves in verse 14: ¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.  Temptation comes from our own desires. Let me ask you a question: Does this mean desires are bad? God creates us to have desires. And when those desires are exercised in the biblical way, then that is as God designed. But here’s the warning: Our desires have a capacity for evil. Quote: Because we live in a fallen world, although not all of our desires are evil, all of our desires have the capacity for evil.” – Alistair Begg.  This means we all have a personal responsibility when it comes to temptations. We can’t put it on someone else. We can’t become a victim of ourselves. James then points out the progression that happens with sinful desires. ¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. Think about this for a minute. Where does the temptation to sin from come? Each person’s desires. What is the end result of sin? Death. What does James mean by death? That’s goal of sin – to bring you eternal death. Sin is designed to keep you from a relationship with Jesus Christ. For those who have a personal relationship with Jesus, sin has lost that battle. But we still battle sin.

What I want to focus on is that middle part of the verse. What did it say? And when sin is allowed to grow. When I read this, I think of a parasite. Illustration: Jorge the Parasite: The number one rule where we were in Honduras: don’t swim in the ocean. Because it’s where they dump their waste. Well, we go to the beach and I swim in the ocean. I came back with a souvenir that I didn’t want. It took months to get rid. And summer football workouts with a parasite wasn’t any fun either. Eventually a doctor found a way to get rid of it. The parasite’s goal was to harm me. But the parasite never would have had the chance to harm me if I wouldn’t have given it the opportunity. I never should have entertained the thought to get in the ocean to begin with. When it comes to temptations, don’t get them any attention.  Don’t flirt with sin. Get rid of anything that gets in the way of the eternal. That’s wisdom! Wisdom seeks the eternal in all things. Wisdom seeks the eternal in what we value. Wisdom seeks the eternal in what are living for. Wisdom seeks the eternal in our temptations. If we stopped there, it would fill like a lot to carry. But James gives us this big dose of encouragement. 

4) There’s always a way to God’s goodness. (vs. 16-18) The danger is stopping with verse 15 is that we attempt to do everything in verses 9 through 15 on our own power. We will fail on our own power, so we seek God. God wants to bestow His goodness on us. He wants to carry us through. Look at verse 16: ¹⁶ So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.  Satan is a liar. He’ll try to entice you away from wisdom. But if he can’t, he’ll tell you that you can live out the Christian life on our your own power. But do we read in verses 17 and 18? ¹⁷ Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ¹⁸ He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. God wants to give you good gifts. God wants to give you His goodness. We are His prized possession. Here’s the truth: All the good stuff in life comes from God!  The joy, the power, the way to God, the way back to God – it’s all from Him. God’s goodness never changes. God’s goodness is a gift. God’s goodness is never ending. GOSPEL PRESENTATION. Do you remember the challenge from last week’s sermon?

Last week, we all agreed – or at least in my mind we all agreed – to seek out how we can make our faith visible throughout these 12 weeks we are in the book of James.  I don’t know if it will work out every week, but here’s your sub-challenge. How often does the eternal play into your decision making? Think through what you value. Think through what you are living for. Think through what you are allowing to lure your mind and heart away from God. Think through how much you are clinging to God’s goodness every day. Think through wisdom in your life. Does it all seek the eternal? Think about it for a minute.  What would seeking the eternal in life look like on a daily basis? What would living like that do for your life? What would living like that do for your family? What would living like that do for God’s kingdom and God’s glory? Run after wisdom this week. Run after God this week. Run after what matters eternally this week. And let God make your faith visible. Let God make the hope of Jesus visible. Let’s pray.

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