2019-11-03 James 5:12 Above All, Keep It Real

ABOVE ALL, KEEP IT REAL (James 5:12) November 3, 2019 Read James 5:12 – Fred Holloman, chaplain of the Kansas Senate once prayed: “Omniscient Father: Help us to know who is telling the truth. One side tells us one thing, and the other just the opposite. And if neither side is telling the truth, we would like to know that, too. And if each side is telling half the truth, give us wisdom to put the right halves together. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Thus, 21st century politics. So much spin goes on you feel like you’re on an e-ticket ride at Disneyland with no escape. We expect that in politics; sadly, it has entered the mainstream. Spinning is main street since we’ve diminished the whole idea of truth. Shady dealing is applauded rather than disparaged. And believers are not immune. Shifty or semi-shifty lives occur for many reasons. Fear that we don’t meet expectations; need to manipulate a situation to advantage; mistrust of others; fear of being taken advantage of – all excuses for being less than genuine in our dealings with others. But true faith – saving faith works, and it is reflected in a life that is straightforward, honest and above board – without the need to swear an oath to make it so. Jas instructs with two commands – one negative; one positive. How does it look to be REAL in a world of SPIN? I. Don’t Swear An Oath (Don’t Be Shifty) How does swearing an oath relate to the previous context of patience under unfair circumstances? There is a connection. We tend to make rash decisions and promises under duress, right? When hurt, we are quick with reactions: (“By God, I’ll get back at that person if I ever get the chance”) and even make rash promises to God (“I swear I’ll never miss church again if you’ll just get me out of this”). Jas’ point is, a believer ought never go there – for any reason. We are to be real, speaking truth without the need to swear to it. Thus, Jas’ command: “Don’t swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath.” To see what that means we must first see what it doesn’t mean. A. What It Doesn’t Mean “Swear” isn’t profanity. It’s an oath that something is true. And he says, “Don’t swear such an oath.” So never?! Not even a public oath in court? 1 That’s how the Anabaptists, the Moravians and Quakers, saw this. Geo Fox, founder of the Quakers, was given jail time for refusing to swear on the Bible that he was telling the truth. He told the judge, “You have given me a book to kiss and swear on. This book says, ‘Kiss the Son,’ and the Son says in this book ‘Swear not at all.’ Now, I say as the book says, and yet you imprison me; why do you not imprison the book for saying so?” It is because of Fox’s stand that to this day, you are not required to swear on the Bible, but may simply affirm that you are telling the truth. So, is this what God meant? Well, I admire Geo Fox’s stance, but I do not think this was God’s intent here. If we had only this passage, maybe. But we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. Any passage must be explained in light of all. And we find many examples in Scripture of people taking oaths. In II Sam 19:23 David, having been cursed by Shimei, nevertheless “gave him his oath” that he would not die. David and Jonathan swore an oath to love and protect each other (II Sam 21:7). In II Chron 15:14-15, Israel swore an oath to God which He accepted. Num 30:2 advises, “If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word.” It doesn’t say, “Don’t swear an oath”; it says, “If you swear one, keep it.” In the NT Paul takes oaths: Gal 1:20: “In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie.” Phil 1:8: “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all.” I Thess 2:10: “You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.” Paul would not have called God as witness if it was wrong! Even Jesus took an oath. Mt 26:63b: “And the high priest said to him, I adjure you (put you under oath) by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” So did Jesus ignore him? No, He responded. “You have said so.” And God! Heb 6:13: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself 14) saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” Jas cannot mean don’t take a genuine oath to emphasize the significance of an answer – whether in court or a personal promise. So, what does he mean? B. What It Does Mean Jas’ issue with oathtaking is twofold. Sometimes people take an oath to cover a lie. That’s a problem. Second, if an oath is required to insure you’re telling the truth – that’s a problem. The first issue – oathtaking to cover a lie – was rampant in the ancient world. Notice Jas’ language: “Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath.” Why not by heaven or earth? 2 Wm Barclay, an expert on Jewish customs, says the Jews distinguished between oaths that were binding and oaths that were not binding. Any oath in which the name of God was directly used was binding. Invoking His name made Him a partner in the promise. So it was common practice for clever people to take advantage of those less well-versed in the finer points of tradition by swearing by other things – heaven, Jerusalem, by one’s own head (swearing on one’s life). To the well-informed, while this all sounded good, it was not absolutely binding. They could weasel out later with good conscience. It made a mockery of the whole process, but was widely done. Jesus blasted that idea: Mt 5:33: “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34) But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35) or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36) And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.” He’s saying, “You want to swear by heaven so you can weasel out of it later bc you did not specifically invoke God’s name? You forget, heaven is God’s residence. You have invoked God. You think swearing by earth let’s you off the hook? You forget, earth is God’s footstool. Jerusalem? That’s the city of God’s king. Any oath automatically involves God, so just say Yes or No and mean it.” It’s not swearing an oath in court Jesus and Jas condemn, but taking an oath with the intent of breaking it. Like when we were kids and promised something with fingers crossed behind our back. That negated the whole thing. You never did that? Sorry you missed all the fun! Same concept. It’s swearing a promise in a convincing way, with no intent to keep it. It’s saying to Mom and Dad, “I swear I’ll do better next time,” even as you’re planning the next escapade. It’s saying to the store clerk, “I swear that TV never worked,” knowing full well, it was fine until you dropped it during setup. A pastor got a call from the IRS checking on the $15,000 deduction claimed by a member on his tax return. The IRS wanted to verify the amount. He said, “Well, I can’t tell you for sure today. But if you’ll call back tomorrow, I’m sure the answer will be Yes.” Right? Listen – you swore when you signed the return. If it takes a call to the church to make it so, something’s wrong. That’s the first error Jas is after – oaths taken to hide the real truth. But there’s a 2nd issue – oaths taken to affirm you’re truthful this time. We’re saying, “I fudge sometimes, but not this time.” “As God is my witness, this will never happen.” “I swear on my mother’s life, I’ll follow thru.” 3 Why is oath-taking popular? Bc people are liars. It’s that simple. Dr. Helmut Thielicke who kept his integrity during Hitler’s era put it like this: “Whenever I utter the formula ‘I swear by God,’ I am really saying, ‘Now I’m going to mark off an area of absolute truth and put walls around it to cut it off from the muddy floods of untruthfulness and irresponsibility that ordinarily overrun my speech.’ In fact, I am saying that people are expecting me to lie from the start. And just because they are counting on my lying I have to bring up these big guns of oaths to make you believe me.” Oaths taken to cover my usual lack of integrity. If we need an oath to tie us to truth, we’ve got bigger problems. So the negative command: ““Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath” – not to cover an intended lie or to step up your game for this instance only. That’s Jas’ first point. II. Do Speak Honestly (Do Be Straight) A. Be Real – Part 1: “but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” “Be real. Be transparent. Be up front. Don’t fudge. Don’t deceive. Don’t be clever. Don’t scheme. Have integrity. If you say it, mean it. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it.” Be straightforward; someone to count on. Jas is quoting Jesus again: Mt 5:37: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Be honest and clear. Anything less (spin, shiftiness, white lie, whatever) is evil according to Jesus. Many of us have gotten so used to shading the truth we don’t even notice it. It happens to easily and cleverly. In an old Leave It to Beaver rerun, Wally, Eddie Haskell and the Beaver are going to a movie. But Mrs. Cleaver says they are to see Pinocchio, not Voodoo Curse. As they near the theater, Eddie says, “Wally, your mom told you not to take the Beaver to Voodoo Curse, but what if Beaver takes you?” With that rationalization, they are off the hook, obeying the letter but not the spirit of the instruction. Sound familiar? Don’t we do it every day? But God says, “let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” A lot of people fail on income taxes. Even more on an area I had a lot of experience with -- resumes. It is estimated that at least 78% of resumes are misleading in some way: 40% with inflated salary claims; 33% inaccurate job descriptions; 21% fraudulent degrees. We call it padding or fudging or just a little embellishing to feel better. But it fails the “yes” or “no” test, doesn’t it? I heard of one politician whose campaign manager called: “Jim, you’ve got to get to Dallas and make a speech. The opposition are spreading lies about 4 you.” Jim answered, “I’d like to, but right now, I’ve got to get to Houston.” The manager replied, “But, Jim, they’re telling lies about you in Dallas. Why Houston?” Jim replied, “Because they’re telling the truth about me in Houston.” So we have to ask ourselves – would our lives pass the “they’re telling the truth about me” test? Are we real – in the way we speak; the way we live? Do we shade it a little here and there, or are we straight up honest? B. Be Realistic – Jas closes with a warning. “Let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” That is dire language for a few ill-spoken words. Is it true that I can fall under threat of hell by how I speak? Isn’t that a bit extreme? Well, once again, Jas reflects exactly what Jesus taught. Mt 12:36-37: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37) for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Words matter. They are the outward reflection of your heart. And an unregenerate heart is a condemning heart. Jesus was clear about this. He told the Pharisees in Mt 12:34: “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Why do words condemn when they lack integrity? Because they reflect an unregenerate heart. It is the unbelieving heart that sends someone to hell, but words that mislead reveal that precarious condition – like the tumor reveals the cancer that lies within. Dissembling, misleading, untruthful words tell the tale. Jesus says in Mt 12:18: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.” So Jas and Jesus are saying, “Be realistic. In fooling others with your false oaths, don’t fool yourself. Your lack of integrity, of straightforward, honest living, is revealing a heart that is under condemnation.” Shady words reflect a shady heart. This all derives from Jas’ continual theme – true faith is reflected in true living. Lack of integrity reflects a false faith – whatever your profession. So beware. Be realistic. Be honest with yourself. On March 21, 1973, Chief Counsel, John Dean walked into President Richard Nixon’s office and told him, “Mr. President, there is a cancer on the presidency that is growing daily.” He was speaking of the Watergate coverup that had been going on for 9 months by that time. Deceptive words and misleading statements had been issued by the ton that reflected a heart of darkness. At that point, Nixon could have come clean, confessed what had happened and probably saved his presidency. But he chose to stonewall, and 18 months later he became the only president ever to resign. His clever 5 attempts to cover the truth led to his downfall – not because the words themselves but because of the cancerous heart that drove them. So with us. The reality of our faith will be demonstrated by the integrity of our lives. Conc – Here’s the question our text is asking, “Is your life a performance, or is it real?” A few years ago, a true news story was on TV about a wealthy woman who had no children so her only heir was a nephew. He was always the milk of human kindness around her, but she knew human nature and was curious if she was seeing the real thing. So she dressed up as a bag lady and sat outside his townhouse. His action was revealing. When he came out, he informed her she could not stay there, threatened to call the police, kicked her and told her to get lost. Now she knew. He was just acting a part around her. Apparently there will be a lot of those on Judgment Day to whom Jesus will say, despite their protests, “Depart from me, I never knew you” (Mt 7:21). Saving faith will express itself in the way we live. Geo Cukor directed Jack Lemmon’s first film, It Should Happen to You. During rehearsals Cukor kept telling Lemmon, “Less, less, less!” Finally in frustration, Lemmon asked, “Don’t you want me to act at all?” Cukor replied, “Dear boy, you’re beginning to understand.” So in our lives: no acting; keep it real. Let’s pray. 6