James; Just Live It

How would you describe your life? Could you say it in a sentence? Are you happy with it? Do you know where it is heading? What is most important about your life? What will your legacy be? If you're still working on answers come and join this conversation.

We have already seen that one of the themes of James is Christian maturity-growing more like Jesus.  In chapter 1, James urged us to seek wisdom, and in chapters 3 and 4 he explains more about this search for wisdom. As we as a community are faced with big decisions, it is especially important that we join James in asking "What does wisdom look like? "

It is okay to have favourites, isn't it? A favourite car, colour or football team maybe but what about favourite people, is that allowed? Jesus  asks us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Who is the neighbour? How different is the body of believers in this respect when compared to the world?

As we began last week we heard James tell us of God’s relentless pursuit of transforming us into the image of Christ.   Even our trials and suffering, he tells us, are redeemed and filled with meaning.   But how do we nurture that in our lives?  How do we participate with God in the transforming of our hearts?   The second part of James 1 begins to tell us-  begins to describe for us how to become like gardeners who cultivate the word of God in our lives.

The book of James doesn’t imagine a faith that only applies in a fantasy but one that is active in real life.  He starts by talking about the fact that life is hard and that it is full of trials.   James reframes life for us as he states that the goal of our life, and God’s work within us, is to shape us into the image of Jesus.   This changes how we are able to approach the hardship in our lives.

Trials and struggle are God’s ways of growing us into maturity. That is the goal – to shape us into the image of Christ. Maturity is seen by James as living a Christ-life. One that is counter-cultural to the world around us.