Are We There Yet: Where Do Conflicts Come From? James 4: 1-10 Rev. John Hill March 2, 2008

Transcription

1 Are We There Yet: Where Do Conflicts Come From? James 4: 1-10 Rev. John Hill March 2, 2008 Has anyone here ever said something that caused them to have a fight or an argument with someone? Has anyone here ever failed to say something that caused them to have a fight or an argument with someone? I remember one of the first arguments that Terri and I had after we were married. Terri had made a big dinner in our apartment for the very first time she made several of my favorite things, including mashed potatoes. After I took one bite of the mashed potatoes, I said these words: My mom s mashed potatoes don t have lumps like these do. Not one of my best moments. Last week, as we looked at the 3 rd chapter of James, we heard him tell us how we can cause a lot of damage with the words we use. And he encouraged us to allow God to help us learn how to tame our tongues. This week, as we turn our attention to the 4 th chapter of James and the discussion about conflict, we can see how these two chapters go together. A lot of our conflicts are ignited by the words we say. However, James is calling us to go deeper James wants us to ask the question where do our conflicts come from? Listen to the first ten verses of James Chapter 4: James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 1

2 Where do our conflicts and fights and arguments come from? They come from inside of us They come from our own selfish cravings and desires. We want something we do not have, so we say things and do things so that we can get what we want. This takes us back to what James told us in the first Chapter. In versus James 1: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. It is our own desires our own cravings that lead us to fight and argue and battle with each other. That s true in our closest relationship. I want something and I want it my way and I want it my way now that leads to conflict unless the other person also wants it my way and wants it my way now! It s also true on a societal level. People attack and kill others because they want something they do not have. According to the FBI, there is a violent crime in our country every 24 seconds. There is an aggravated assault every 48 seconds and someone is murdered every 23 minutes. What did James say? You want something and do not have it, so, you commit murder. This is also true on a global level. Almost all wars or armed conflicts are caused because one country or one group wants something they do not have or they want things done their way and they are willing to kill to get their way. How many wars do you think are going on right now? The number ranges from 30 to 56 all depending on how you define the word, war. If you define it very narrowly there are 30, if you define war as an armed conflict there are 56. And because of these armed conflicts there are 300,000 children under the age of 19 who are actively fighting in them. And there are over 43 million children who can t go to school because of these armed conflicts. From where do wars, and from where do battles among you come from? Is it not from your desires that are at war among you members? (James 4:1: The Anchor Bible). And James wants us to understand that this just isn t right this is not what we are supposed to do this is not what God created us for. 2

3 The 5 th verse of Chapter 4 is a really difficult verse to translate and one of the best and most literal translations says this: Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks in vain? Does the spirit which God made to dwell in us crave enviously? (James 4:5 The Anchor Bible). What he is saying is that God has put his Spirit in us it is God s Spirit that makes us alive but God s Spirit does not crave enviously. So when we crave enviously we are fighting against God s Spirit we are at war with God we are enemies of God. As James said, Do you not know that friendship with the worlds is enmity with God? whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God And that is the decision we have to make do we want to continue to give in to our own selfish cravings and desires and be in conflict with the people around us and with God or do we want to be the sort of people God created us to be? That really is the question we have to ask ourselves this morning? What is going to be the motivation of your life? Your selfish cravings? Or God s will for your life? If you want your life to be shaped by God s will, James gives us several things we are supposed to do. First, we are to submit to God. This means that we are to let God be the leader of our lives. We are to do what God calls us to do. We are to do what Jesus teaches us to do. We are to allow God s Spirit, which dwells in us to shape what we say and do. We are to allow God s Spirit to determine what we are to want. James tells us that one of the ways we are to submit to God is by asking him for wisdom. In James 1: 5, he says, If any of you is lacking wisdom, ask God who give to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. And it is God s wisdom that enables us to move just our bitter envy and selfish ambition. James 3: says this: 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. 3

4 It is God s wisdom that will enable us to make the decisions that bring about peace it is God s wisdom that enables us to move beyond our selfish cravings and to submit our lives to God. That is what James means by resist the devil For James, it is the devil who tempts us to return to our selfish desires as James 1:14-16 says, 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Submit to God. Resist the devil. And then James tells us to draw near to God. We draw near to God as we allow more and more of our lives to be shaped by God s will. So each new day becomes a day when we can draw closer to God as we become more and more like his Son. That is really the goal of being a Christian to follow the teachings of Jesus that that we can become like him. And one of the primary ways we do that is by humbling ourselves. In Matthew 18: 1-4 we read that 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus calls us to humble ourselves and we do that by submitting our wills to God by allowing God to shape our lives, not our own selfish desires and cravings. And when we do that, we dwell in God s Kingdom where we can overcome our conflicts and disputes as we can become peacemakers. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 4

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