September 7, 2021
Dear church family,
As part of our time together on Zoom for Launch a couple of weeks ago, Pauline led the kids (and the other leaders) in a fun game called ‘Never have I ever’. I wonder if you’ve played it before? The way it works is that you need to come up with something that you have never done but that you think all, or at least most, of the other players have done. So, for example, if you have never gone bike riding in the National Park, and you suspect that most (or all) of the other participants have, you might say, ‘Never have I ever gone bike riding in the National Park’. It’s played over several rounds and is enjoyable as well as challenging.
In commencing reading through the book of James last week in my personal Bible reading I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Never would I have ever said that’! In Chapter 1 verse 2 James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” . Never would I have ever come up with that! I couldn’t help but think whether James’ original readers felt like he was being uncaring or at least demonstrating a lack of understanding and empathy. But he does refer to them as his “brothers and sisters” , and there are other parts of the letter that also indicate his love and care for them. Perhaps there is something else going on here?
Maybe it might help us to ask a different and, at first, seemingly unrelated question – Is being “mature and complete, not lacking anything” a description that is appealing to you? I would think that such a state would be attractive to all of us. The logic of verses 2-4 in James Chapter 1 is that such a state is only reached when perseverance has finished its work. Perseverance, for its part, is only produced through the testing of one’s faith. And our faith is only tested when we experience “trials of many kinds” . Although undoubtedly difficult, having this perspective is what enables us to see the joy in our trials – “Consider it pure joy …”
It’s little wonder that James goes on to talk about our need for wisdom because this is certainly not the response or the perspective that we naturally have to our circumstances and situations. Our privilege as believers is that, when we need wisdom, we are able to “ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (v. 5a). His assurance, when we come in faith and not in doubt and double-mindedness, is that we are given the wisdom we seek and need (vv. 5b-8). Please be praying along such lines for yourself and for others in our church family during this time of ongoing lockdown and restrictions. It is affecting all of us in different ways but I’m sure for each one of us it represents yet another of these “trials of many kinds” .
We are coming to the conclusion of our current sermon series, as I preach this Sunday on Commandment # 9 and Matt finishes off on September 19 with Commandment # 10. Our plan is to then have a couple of guest preachers (via video) during the school holidays. In Term 4 we are looking forward to diving back into Matthew’s Gospel, picking up from where we left off late last year, and exploring Chapters 14-20 together.
With our ongoing love and prayers,
James (on behalf of the elders)