Who is wisest amongst us?

Who is wisest amongst us? September 23, 2012 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8 Mark 9:30-37 17th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Who is Wise amongst you? I have just one question for you today - who is wise and understanding among you? James says - those who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. I want us to remember that, so let us read that together – those who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. James has been telling us how to live a life based on the wisdom above. In chapter 1 – and all throughout the book he says that faith without works is dead. Today he is telling us faith without good character is dead. in chapter 2 he tells us that faith is judged according to those who are less then us. In chapter 3 he tells us that we have to be careful about what comes out of our mouth. If we call us ourselves good, then bad language should not come out of our mouth. Today we will look at the end of chapter 3 and chapter 4. He talks about conflict and jealousy, and the importance of not only being gentle to others, but being in prayer to God. But I want to go back to my original question – who is wise and understanding amongst you. We have a lot of examples of wise people – people in our family, people who taught us in school, people who taught us in church, people we see on the news, people we admire. An example of wisdom Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of Dr Myron Mccoy that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology. Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it. It is a telling little piece of scripture in verse 32: "But they did not understand." That's a picture that can be hung in the halls of the museum of mankind. When confronted by true greatness, we simply do not see it… Some of you may know that Dr. McCoy was also the pastor here at St. Mark. We all know that no pastor is perfect and does everything right. But let us use this example of his job interview as an example of wisdom. An example of what Jesus calls servant leadership. Servant leadership is when someone puts the needs of those who others may think of as unimportant, before our own. Jesus says that those who want to be first, but put themselves last. Our greatness is in serving others, not ourselves. Our wisdom is in doing the will of God, not what we contrive in our own hearts and minds as what is good. As a matter of fact, James says that wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. But James is also not afraid to list the characteristics of those who have wisdom from the earth. He calls this devilish, unspiritual wisdom. Where there is envy and self ambition, there is disorder and wickedness of every kind. He says that were there is conflict amongst us, there is jealousy and where there is jealousy there is selfish ambition, and not ambition for the things of God. I don’t know if that is always true, but Jesus also talks about selfish ambition in Mark 9. The disciples are back in Capernaum, at Peter’s house. That seems to be the safe house for them to come to when they have been out traveling. And Jesus gives them the news for the second time. He knows that he will be betrayed and killed. Scripture says that they start to have a discussion about who is the greatest among them. Jesus tells us that is not the discussion of a servant leader. In servant leadership, it is not about how great you are, or how talented you are, or how much more knowledge you have then anyone else. In servant leadership is it in how you treat others. It is how you listen, not in how you talk. How you are aware of the needs of those that no one else is listening to. The selfish ambition of the frog I read a story once about a little frog that wanted to go south for the winter. It was too far to hop and he did not have wings to fly. Two Little birds felt sorry for the little frog and together they came up with a plan. The little birds would hold each end of a stick in their beaks, and all the frog would have to do was to clamp down on the stick with his mouth and hold on. The sky was clear and everything seemed hopeful for the little frog. Two farmers were standing in a field and saw the little birds carrying the frog and one said to the other, "That was a brilliant idea, I wonder who came up with the plan." The little frog couldn’t keep his mouth shut and He said, “I-I-I-I-I- I”. All he had to was to keep his mouth shut. That is happens to all of us, when we feel that we need to take credit for what God has done is our lives. We don’t get anywhere. When we work together and respect one another, then we get to our destination. James is trying to address how we work together, and reach our destination. We will learn more in chapter 5 about the beauty of Christian community and the love and healing that it can bring. How wisdom for one of us is wisdom for all of us. But James likes to give the bad news first, and in chapter 4 he talks about what happens when God’s wisdom is not put first. When we don’t respect others as children of God. There is conflict and trouble. We become jealous of what we perceive others to have. The dictionary describes jealousy as a painful sorrowful, resentful desiring of others. Where does that come from, but more importantly, where does it lead us as a community? We don’t get very far. Perhaps that is why Jesus was so hard in his disciples when they tried to set up a system where one would be greater than the others. Perhaps that is why he set a little child among them, and reminded them that if they had to ambition to lead, then they needed to be like a little child. Totally dependent on others for their care. The role of a child in the old world You have to remember that in Jesus day, children were not the sweet innocent things we think of in our world today. In our world – we put our children first. In jesus day, if a house caught on fire, first a person had the responsibility to save his father as head of the household, then his mother, then his inlaws, then his wife, and if there was time – you thought about the children. Children were dead last in society. In Jesus world, a child did not have any needs. If you could put yourself into the shoes of a child, then you understood what servant leadership was. But the conversation that the disciples had that day was not totally off base. Their master had just told them that he was going to die. He was not going to be with them. The most obvious concern of all of them was, who was going to lead them. The most obvious person to take over is the person deemed the greatest, the most like Jesus. In the ways of the world, who is going to take over once Jesus is gone. James asks us that question, who is wise and understanding among you. Perhaps that person should be running things. Jesus is trying to help us as the church understand that he did not raise up a leader – he intentionally rose up leaders. Who is going to take over the work of Jesus – we all are. Not one of us does it alone – we do it together. Our gifts, our talents, our servanthood is for the good of us all. For the community. A servant leader never serves alone. Carry Someone with You There was a tribe of Indians who lived a long time ago in the state of Mississippi. They lived next to a very swift and dangerous river. The current was so strong that if somebody happened to fall in or stumbled into it they could be swept away downstream. One day the tribe was attacked by a hostile group of settlers. They found themselves with their backs against the river. They were greatly outnumbered and their only chance for escape was to cross the rushing river. They huddled together and those who were strong picked up the weak and put them on their shoulders; the little children, the sick, the old and the infirm, those who were ill or wounded were carried on the backs of those who were strongest. They waded out into the river, and to their surprise they discovered that the weight on their shoulders carrying the least and the lowest helped them to keep their footing and to make it safely across the river. Jesus is trying to teach the disciples an object lesson about greatness, about servanthood, about leadership. He is saying to them and to us, "Have you lost the childlike joy and love and faith that once were yours?" He is also saying to them and to us, "If you want to walk on secure ground in this world it helps to carry someone with you." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Who is wise and understanding amongst you – the one - the ones who show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. In the midst of a chaotic world, that can push up in all types of directions. The message for today is that it is important for us to stay grounded. The best way to keep both feet firmly on the ground is to have someone on your shoulders to balance you. In helping others, you help yourself. In caring for others, you care for yourself. The greatest leader is one to serve. James lesson follows the prophets of old. Bad news first so that you can end with the good news. He takes us through the ringer first, and then sets us out to dry in the sun. He talks about the effects of our bad character. James is talking specifically to Christians in the church. He is not talking about bad people. He is saying that sometimes even the best of us get misled. And a lot of the things that we do, especially to one another, come not from being evil but being confused. The come not from being mean, but from getting comfortable with being double minded. From calling ourselves Christian, but forgetting that the fruit of our actions says all that needs to be said about the condition of our hearts. James asks where does all of this conflict and division come from? It comes from jealousy – where does jealousy come from? From wanting something that we think someone else has over us? But we are all children of God – anything we need, we don’t need to take from another – we can pray to God for ourselves. This is where the famous saying you have not because you ask not comes from. And if you did not get it, James says that you asked in the wrong way. There are three answers to our prayers, yes, no, and I need to prepare you to fully receive what you ask for. If we don’t have it yet – God is working it out for us. Finally martin luther tells this story of how he overcame the devil. HOW MARTIN LUTHER OVERCAME THE DEVIL Martin Luther was often very graphic in his description of the activities of the Devil. Asked one time how he overcame the Devil, he replied, "Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks 'Who lives here?' the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, 'Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.' The devil seeing the nail-prints in the hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately." It is surely good for every life and for every one to have Jesus as a permanent resident. These assured heavenly blessings are sure to fall upon such bodies. (Sword of the Lord. From a sermon by Bill Butsko, The Blind, 8/5/2010) Who is wise and understanding among you? The one who is at peace with God, and God’s intention for our lives. How much strife is out there in the world because people have not come to terms with God’s plan. They are still trying to come up with their plan. Draw near to God and God will draw near to you. James good news is that you draw near to God by bringing your entire life to God in prayer. Let God take over your heart and your soul. Stay grounded by helping others- and you will finally find the peace that you are looking for. Let us pray……