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James 4:13-5:6
! Introduction
A number of years ago on Christmas eve, we were looking forward to a Christmas program presented by the Sunday School and then to Christmas events that would follow the next day.
All during that day, we heard news that an Alberta Clipper was going to come and we should prepare.
But the weather was nice and we saw no indication of the Clipper and so went ahead preparing.
About 4:00, Carla went into the basement.
The sun was still out and it was nice out.
When she came upstairs a short time later, the Clipper had hit and she could not see across the street.
How disappointed we were that all our planning and preparation were for not.
This is just one occasion of many in which I have been upset and disappointed because the plans I had made were changed.
Sometimes, such disappointments are even more serious.
Just this week, many people who had tickets on Canada 3000 flights had to face major disappointment.
We saw their unhappy and angry faces on TV.
Several times I have had my eye on something that we wanted to buy as a family.
I planned for it, saved money for it and just when we had enough money for it, something broke on the car and I had to spend that money to fix the car.
For some, such disappointment is even more serious.
Just this week, many employees of Canada 3000 lost their job.
One family was interviewed on TV in which both husband and wife were employed by the company and now are without work and likely won’t get their last pay check.
Since the events of September 11, we have a lot of reason for fear in this direction.
The instability created by the terrorist attacks has caused a lot of people’s plans to be changed and has created an economic situation which has forced us to look at things in a new way.
What is the problem?
Is it that life out there is so terrible or is it that we have learned to think that we are in control of our life and our money and if we just try hard everything will be OK?
Life can be terrible, these are tragedies, loss is not a good thing, but what difference does it make that we have placed our trust in God?
In James 4:13- 5:6, James identifies two attitudes that reveal when God is not at the center of our lives.
Two of the primary resources we have been given are time and money.
We can so easily be arrogant about our time and who owns it and our money and who owns it.
The passage is divided into two sections.
The first one from 4:13-17 addresses the arrogance of time and the second, from 5:1-6, the arrogance of money.
James begins these two sections with the words, “Now Listen” in NIV.
You know how sometimes we take our children’s face in our hands, look them in the eye and communicate some important message to them?
With these words, it is as if he is taking our face in his hands and looking us in the eye and telling us - “If you are living like this, is God really at the center of your life?”
!
I. Arrogance About Time 4:13-16
In the first section, James raises the issue of our control of our time and the plans we make.
!! A. Am I In Control?
Vs. 13, 14
I like to make plans.
Often, I have put together plans that involved meeting certain people at certain times and getting a whole bunch of things done in one day.
The more complicated the plans and the more thinking it takes to bring all the plans together, the more I like it.
After a day like that, I am always glad when all the things I planned happen and sometimes I am even amazed that it all came together.
There is nothing wrong with making plans, but I also know that at other times, I have had my plans all carefully laid out and one phone call has altered my entire day.
I usually have a real battle adjusting to those changes.
What does that battle reveal about my heart?
James warns those who are arrogant about making their plans.
In Israel, there was a merchant class whose business it was to go to different places, set up shop and make a profit.
We do the same thing.
We make a business plan for our business.
We expect a certain product to do well and we set up a budget according to expectations.
We think about how much we can afford to spend on fertilizer and whether a new tractor fits into the plans.
We plan for household purchases and vacations.
These are all good things, but what happens when the plans we make don’t turn out?
What does that reveal about our heart?
As we make these plans, we sometimes forget two things.
One is that we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
Will there still be a demand for our product tomorrow?
Will the weather allow us to harvest a crop large enough to sustain the purchase of a tractor?
Will we still have our job and the wage we now have tomorrow so that we can pay back the loan that was made assuming these things?
Tomorrow is not in our hands and if we confidently plan as if we control tomorrow, we are in trouble.
The second thing is that our very life is not certain.
James gives a very sobering reminder when he asks, “what is your life?”
My father and I and a few of his friends got up early one morning to go fishing.
The fog on the lake was thick and as the sun rose, it shone through the fog and gave the most wonderful visual effects and my dad, being a photographer, took a whole bunch of pictures, and he won awards with some of them.
By mid-morning, the fog was gone.
I thought about it that day, how different the day looked from the way it had looked in the morning.
If my father had slept in that morning, he would have missed the opportunity of taking those prize winning pictures.
James uses this kind of imagery to remind us that our life is like a mist, it is there for a little while and then gone.
I learned this in a more serious way when my father passed away.
There were 3 months from the time he was diagnosed until he died.
These two realities reinforce that we must not be arrogant about our time and the plans we make.
!! B. If The Lord Wills
Instead, James says, “we ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will…’” What does it mean to say “If it is the Lord’s will?”
I have a friend who often says, “Lord willing” as he makes plans.
He phoned a while ago and let me know of plans to come visit us.
As we were discussing the details, he said, “Lord willing we will be there on Tuesday at 5:30.”
In his case, I know that he means it sincerely.
He is really interested in following what the Lord’s will is and sincerely recognizes that God’s plans for us sometimes change.
Sometimes, however, people say this, but it simply becomes a set of words which make a nice ending to their sentences or make them sound spiritual.
Saying, “If the Lord wills” is good, but it must be more than a set of words, it must be an attitude in our hearts.
How do we cultivate such an attitude in our hearts?
Notice that the attitude does not preclude planning.
James says, “If the Lord wills, we will do this or that.”
Saying, “If the Lord wills” does not mean we stop making plans, it is not the attitude of life that simply accepts what comes and never is proactive in working towards something.
It is not the supposedly super spiritual attitude that expects God to do everything and make all things fall into place.
There is a place for making plans and for projecting into the future.
There is a place for a business plan and for a plan about how to fertilize, purchase tractors, sow fields and plan for household purchases.
Saying “if the Lord wills” begins when we invite God to be part of our plans as we make them.
It means asking God to give wisdom and guidance as we make our plans.
I have learned something recently that has helped me a lot.
I have often wondered, does God have a specific will for me.
If he does, why doesn’t he reveal it?
If I am free to choose, why bother praying.
These two things came together for me when I realized that we are free within the moral will of God to do what we choose.
But, God is interested in the details of our life and as we seek His guidance and learn to listen for His direction, he gives wisdom and guidance in our planning.
Saying “If the Lord wills” means asking God for guidance and listening for his direction before we make plans.
Saying “if the Lord wills” also means recognizing that God may change our plans in mid-course.
When we have a certain course in mind, and God suddenly brings another plan into our life, if we have truly said “if the Lord wills” we will not need to feel the devastating disappointment that we would have felt otherwise.
It is a confidence that if our plans are changed that God has not left us and that his love and power are still active in our life and that he is still guiding.
When Joseph’s life plans were changed when his brothers sold him into slavery, we are not told what his attitude was at the time.
Later, we know that he recognized that that change of plans, even though it was brought about by the evil intent of his brothers was a part of God’s plan for the salvation of his people.
If we say “if the Lord wills” we can understand the same thing.
!! C. Arrogance
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