Make Me A Servant

 
James 1

The Violin is a beautiful instrument, and is capable of making very beautiful sounds. When you look at a violin, and listen to the sounds it makes, it causes you to think, "What an extraordinary piece of workmanship!"
The pieces of wood were carefully cut from the trunk of the tree in thin sheets, which were then cut into exactly the right shapes to fit together into a musical instrument. But that's not the end of the process; the ribs (the wood separating the front and back plates of the instrument) had to be planed to the right width, heated, and bent into the necessary shape.
The face plates were carved in a "bowl" shape, and hollowed out to make just the right thickness and curvature to resonate properly. Too thick, and the violin wouldn't resonate. Too thin, and the violin wouldn't hold the tension of the strings.

If only the tree trunk could speak -- what would it say?
"What are you doing to me? Why are you cutting me up? Why are you putting me on the fire and heating me? Get that knife away from me!"
But each painful cut, each bending and twisting, is necessary to make something beautiful! If only the tree knew what the violin maker was doing, how it might rejoice to know that it was being transformed into something of extraordinary beauty!

So it is with us; James tells us (James 1:2-4) to rejoice when we face difficult times, because difficult times mean that God is making something beautiful of our lives, just as the violin maker transforms the drab tree trunk into something amazing. We should approach our difficult circumstances with the attitude, "Hooray! God is making me complete and beautiful!"

Of course, one of the difficulties for us is that we cannot see the end of the work. Just as the tree trunk can't understand what the craftsman is doing, we can't see what it is God is making of our lives.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that we will not "find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." Nevertheless, the same verse tells us that God "has made everything beautiful in its time."
The real tragedy would be if the tree could stop the violin maker from creating what he desired. What would be the end result? The tree would never become something beautiful and long-lasting. The violin would never be made. But the tree would still serve a purpose; it would keep someone warm in the winter time. But if I had my choice, I'd choose being a violin over being firewood!

Verses 2 – 4 of James 1 tells us;  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I will be beginning a new sermon series today on the letter of James. Now the letter of James is one of those letters within the Bible which I find it very challenging.

It challenges our Christian life in every department and exposes areas within our life which really need to be addressed. But before we get stuck into this wonderful letter, let me begin by sharing a story I heard about this man who was at the cinema lying on three seats.
The usher came up to the man and asked to him to only use one seat, but the man just lay there and moaned. The usher said to him, ‘excuse me sir, you need to sit up and only use one seat’ but again the man just lay there.
So the usher said to him, ‘excuse me sir, if you don’t get up, I will have no choice but to get the manager’, but still the man just lay there moaning. So the usher got the manager and he said to the man, ‘excuse me sir you really need to get up and only use one seat, we need these other seats for paying customers’, but still the man just lay there and moaned. So the manager said, ‘OK sir, if you don’t get up I will have no choice but call the police’, but still he didn’t move. So a few minutes later the police came in and asked the man, ‘sir what is your name?’ the man replied, ‘Tommy’ and the police asked the man, ‘and where did you come from Tommy?’ the man looked up in the air and said, ‘the balcony’.

And I guess the point of that story is that if something isn’t moving it’s usually because there’s something wrong. Now we all know that not everybody who grows old, grows up and that’s because there is a vast difference between age and maturity. And because the church is full of Christians who may be old in age doesn’t necessarily mean that they are mature as Christians.
The Bible calls all Christians to grow up into spiritual maturity and if we don’t ... we end up just laying there moaning about everything around us.
You see, the letter of James was written with that exact purpose. It was written to help us understand and attain spiritual maturity. That’s why he writes in James 1:4, “But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
And it’s my hope and prayer that through this sermon series we can help each other grow up into spiritual maturity. Now if you or I receive a letter from someone the first thing we usually find out is who wrote the letter. And when we’re dealing with any book or letter within the Scriptures that’s the first question we need to answer. Who wrote this letter? Well thankfully James 1:1 tells us the answer, ‘From James’.

Now although there are a few James’ mentioned in the New Testament, most scholars agree that the James whose name is mentioned in the letter is James, the brother of our Lord. And he humbly identifies himself only as "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" in James 1:1.
Now according to Matthew 13:55 we know that Jesus definitely had a brother named James. And we also know according to John 7:5 that he didn’t believe in Jesus at first. But after the resurrection of Jesus and an appearance by Jesus to him, he became a disciple according to 1 Corinthians 15:7. And from that point on, the Lord’s brother became a great leader amongst God’s people who were in Jerusalem according to Galatians 2:9.
And he must have been a deeply spiritual man to gain such importance in the church at Jerusalem.

Even tradition tells us that he was a man of prayer, which might explain the emphasis on prayer in his letter. In fact tradition says that he prayed so much, his knees were as hard as a camel's! Tradition also tells us that James was martyred in 62 A.D, he was cast down from the temple, and then beaten to death with clubs and as he was dying he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Now we mentioned when you receive a letter it’s good to find out who wrote it but it’s also important to know who it was written to. Well again the answer is found within the letter, in James 1:1, he writes, “From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings.” James wrote to Jews living outside the land of Palestine.

Now the "Twelve tribes" is probably a reference to the people of Israel, in other words the Jewish nation. Because remember when the Israelites were taken into captivity by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, many of the Jews were scattered throughout different nations. That’s why we see references to many different nations in Acts 2:5-11.

But that was not the only people he was addressing; James was also writing to Christian Jews. This is evident from the fact that at least nineteen times he addresses them as "brethren or brothers" depending on your translation.
Now we know that James wrote the letter, we know to whom he wrote it, but we also need to ask ourselves why it was written? Well again if you receive a letter from someone through the post you won’t know what it’s about until you read it. And after you have taken the time to read through the entire letter of James you will discover why it was written. And it seems as though people were having problems in their personal lives and having problems in church. They were going through difficult trials, they were facing temptations to sin, they were hearers, but not necessarily doers.  Some were catering to the rich, others were oppressed by the rich, and some were competing for positions in the church.
Improper use of the tongue was a problem, as was worldliness and some were straying from the faith. Does all that sound familiar? Are Christians still suffering today for one reason or another? Don’t we still have Christians whose walk doesn’t reflect their talk? Don’t we all still struggle with worldliness? Are there still Christians who can’t control their tongue?

And please don’t think that James is addressing a host of different topics, he is addressing these issues because they are all related to one another, there is one common factor in each of them. James is going to share with us over the next few months that all these problems have a common cause, spiritual immaturity. He’s writing to a bunch of Christians who suffer from Peter Pan syndrome, ‘the little boy who never wanted to grow up.’
All of us who have children know exactly how children think and behave and I remember when the twins were around 5 years old and they were misbehaving and I said to them,
‘Boys, act your age’ and then I realized they were, they were acting like normal 5 year olds. But as children grow up in age you expect their thinking and behaviour to improve but as we all know that’s not always the case. And these Christians which James is writing to are exactly the same.

In James 1:1-4 he’s going to tell them to stop acting like children when it comes to difficulties. He’s going to tell them to grow up and be patient because difficulties are there for a reason. In James 2:14ff he’s going to tell them to stop acting like children who say one thing but live another way. He’s going to tell them to grow up and realize that faith alone is no good to anyone unless faith have legs attached to it.
In James 3:1ff he’s going to tell them to stop talking to each other like children and be careful what they say. He’s going to tell them to grow up and use their tongue properly for the right reasons.
In James 4:1ff he’s going to tell them to stop acting like children when it comes to disagreements and wanting things that other people have got. He’s going to tell them to grow up and stop fighting and coveting.
And finally in James 5:1ff he’s going to tell them to stop acting like children when to comes to their toys. He’s going to tell them to grow up when it comes to material things. In other words this letter was written to get the Christians to grow up, that’s why he uses the word ‘perfect’ several times.

Now that word ‘perfect’ means ‘mature or complete’ in other words when he writes in James 3:2 and says, “For all of us make many mistakes. If someone does not make any mistakes when he speaks, he is perfect and able to control his whole body”. He doesn’t mean that, that person doesn’t sin; he means that person is mature, balanced or grown up.

Make no mistake about, the Lord’s church needs spiritually mature men and women today.  And so, let’s be honest with ourselves as we go through this challenging letter of James. Let’s look into the divine mirror, God’s word and see ourselves as we truly are. Let’s be honest about what we see and not just have a quick glimpse and walk away.

James 1:25 “But the one who looks at the perfect law of freedom and remains committed to it-thus proving that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what it requires-will be blessed in what he does.” In other words the ‘blessing’ doesn’t come from studying His word, the ‘blessing’ comes from doing His word.
Because let me be honest with you, if you are ready to grow spiritually, our enemy the devil won’t like it, so you need to prepare for some opposition. And when all is said and done, every piece of opposition you receive from the devil will all be worth it. Listen to what James says in James 1:12
“How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor's crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him”.

Mature Christians are happy Christians, despite the trials they face. Mature Christians are useful Christians, overcoming the temptations that cross their path. Mature Christians are Christians who help encourage others and build their home congregations up. Now the first thing that James says you have to do to became a mature Christian is to recognize what you are.
Look again at James 1:1, he calls himself ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”. Now why would James and other New Testament writers describe themselves as servants?
When you signed up to follow Jesus, you signed up to be a servant.
James 1:1 says; “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” If we are servants... then we need to know Who it is we are serving.

James was a servant of God and Jesus Christ and we are too.
in Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant.” In other words Paul says, don’t consider our own profit or preference important, but that of the One we freely serve! Because it never ceases to amaze me how many Christians claim to be servants of Jesus Christ but all they do is complain about having to do God’s will. Or if they do decide to do His will they do it at their pace or pick and chose which part of His will do to. In fact some Christians act as though they are being forced against their own will.

But what they fail to realize is that none of us "have to" serve the Lord Jesus. And if we chose not to serve Jesus then by default we serve Satan, and are destined for hell. God by His grace has offered us salvation, and how dare we ever grumble or complain that He calls us to a life of service in grateful appreciation.
Yes, being a servant is costly, yes being a servant is very demanding of us, but what a great honour it is, isn’t it? We should take it as an honour to be called a servant, why? Well simply because some of the greatest people we read about in the Bible were honored to be called servants. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Job, Isaiah and all the prophets were all called God’s servants. And so, if you want to grow into a strong spiritual mature Christian then serve God and His Son Jesus, with obedience, humility and loyalty.
Song #100 Take My Life & Let It Be

Sermon Contributor Mike Glover