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    The Letter of James
    The Letter of James
    The Letter of James
    Ebook162 pages2 hours

    The Letter of James

    By Abson Prédestin Joseph

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    About this ebook

    In the letter of James, the author urges and encourages his readers to persevere through the temptation and trials of daily life by example of his own learned wisdom. His letter exemplifies what it means to live consistently in Christ and serves as a guide that will resonate with anyone looking to pursue a godlier life.

    This next installment in the OneBook Daily-Weekly series is a careful and perceptive study of James from Abson Joseph, an associate professor of New Testament. Joseph leads disciples through an eight-week course of understanding, self-reflection, and real-world application of the teachings of James. Each week carries themes of hospi-tality, humility, faith, intentionality in our speech and actions, community, and, most importantly, prayer.

    Joseph’s masterful juxtaposition of godliness versus worldliness woven throughout the text remind the reader they are a part of a community of other believers working toward a life of continual spiritual development. This book is for anyone who wants to actively be stronger in Christ no matter where they are on their journey.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSeedbed
    Release dateDec 7, 2021
    ISBN9781628249040
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      Book preview

      The Letter of James - Abson Prédestin Joseph

      WEEK ONE

      James 1:1–18

      A Call to a Life of Perseverance

      ONE

      Facing Trials in Diaspora

      James 1:1–4 NRSV James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

      To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

      Greetings.

      ²My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; ⁴and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

      Key Observation. Trials have instructional value and can be a source of growth and transformation.

      Understanding the Word. We can know a lot about people by the way they introduce themselves to us. James introduces himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The term servant of God combines the ideas of marginality and belonging. The word servant can also be translated as slave. To be a servant or a slave is to have low status in the world. Those who have chosen to follow Christ adopt this posture to signal that they share in Christ’s servant attitude. To adopt Christ’s posture and to live like him imply that one lives counterculturally. It means that one upholds standards that often go against what the dominant culture promotes. This may cause one to face the world’s hatred and social isolation (John 15:19). They often view and find themselves on margins—on the fringes of society and outcast. However, to be a servant of God creates a sense of belonging to the family of God, which is an honorable position. Being on the margins and belonging to God reads like a paradox, but it determines the way James not only sees himself, but the way he wants others to view him. This also presupposes the way he lives and acts. Christians throughout the ages have wrestled with this dual reality.

      We can also learn about others based on how people describe them. By addressing the audience as brothers and sisters, James invites them to view him and each other as equals and to acknowledge that the audience shares the same status and is living in the same reality that he is experiencing. Further, James describes his audience as the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. To be in diaspora is to be away from home. The word diaspora describes the reality of Jews scattered outside the land of Israel. James, like other New Testament writers, uses the term as a metaphor to describe the reality of Christians in the world. Some may be experiencing physical or literal displacement, others may be living in the land of their birth, but all feel uneasy about the social norms of the world around them. The discomfort about the status quo is such that they feel, and realize, that they no longer belong. Jesus refers to this reality when he prays for his disciples: They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world (John 17:16 NKJV; cf. James 4:4).

      With this imagery, James speaks of his readers in words that evoke the realities and experiences of Israel in exile. Stories of life in diaspora paint a bleak picture of suffering, discomfort, hostility, and alienation. The stories of Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah’s contemporaries in Babylon are all cases in point. Yet, these stories offer a vision of hope and deliverance. Whether James’s audience experienced physical displacement or whether the author is using this as a metaphor to convey his message, his readers would be able to identify as outsiders living in a world that is hostile to those who view themselves as servants of God. This hostility has created a situation in which facing trials is part of the reality of being a Christian. It is against this backdrop that he is writing to exhort and encourage them.

      James is exhorting the audience to face trials or tests of all kinds with a joyous attitude. At face value, this is counterintuitive. It is very difficult to be joyful when the realities of exile and the pressures of the outside world are weighing heavily on one’s heart (cf. Psalm 137:4). It is difficult to be joyful when resources are scarce, life is not unfolding as planned, and one wrestles with internal pressures to take matters in one’s own hands. However, James invites the audience to view tests and trials from an instructional perspective. The testing of a person’s faith leads to endurance/patience, which provides opportunity for growth toward maturity and perfection. This, according to James, is something worth being joyful about.

      What challenges and trials do you face as a Christian? What hopes and expectations do you nourish? In what way(s) can you relate to James’s audience?

      Why does James use endurance/patience as the foundational element in the Christian maturation process?

      TWO

      God, the Generous Giver

      James 1:5–8 ESV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

      Key Observation. God gives generously to those who ask in faith.

      Understanding the Word. Have you ever experienced a situation in life where you are faced with choices of equal significance and implications? You may have all the information needed to make the choice but, without wisdom, you may be unable to make the right kind of decision. Life in diaspora needs not only endurance, but also wisdom. Whereas a person learns endurance from the testing of their faith, wisdom is a gift that one receives from asking God to provide for what one lacks.

      Proverbs 8 gives us a glimpse of how important wisdom is: For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her (v. 11). King Solomon understood the importance of wisdom. When God offered the king the opportunity to ask for anything he desired, he asked for wisdom (2 Chron. 1:7–10). For James, a Christian needs wisdom to understand the role trials play in one’s life, and to learn how to navigate these trials. It is the reason why praying to God for wisdom is crucial.

      James describes God as a generous giver who will give wisdom to all who ask. He is a generous giver who does not shame or reproach those who come to him with requests. This knowledge should empower the audience to have the freedom to acknowledge their limitations. It is worthy to note that this follows the statement in which James encourages the audience to seek maturity and perfection, lacking in nothing in that domain: Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God (1:4–5a). Christian perfection does not lead to self-sufficiency, but to an awareness of our dependence on God, the Generous Giver. Yet, in order to receive from God, one must ask in faith.

      Praying to God for wisdom requires the believer to have a singular focus. James contrasts faith with double-mindedness. He uses the imagery of a wave tossed by the wind to depict a person who does not hold a firm commitment to God, someone with divided loyalty. Further, James describes this person as being "unstable in all his ways." In a way, this passage offers the picture of two kinds of persons: the first is mature, single-minded, and lives with undivided loyalty to God; the second is inconsistent in their walk with God, holds a divided allegiance, and demonstrates a wavering commitment to God. The one will receive wisdom that will enable them to live rightly; the other has not positioned themselves to receive anything from God.

      This passage is a reminder about the importance of prayer. Pray for wisdom in order to understand the trials one faces and to acquire the knowledge of how to tackle the challenges of life. Pray to God in faith because he is a generous God who gives to those who ask. As God answered Solomon’s prayer and gave him wisdom to lead a nation, he will answer our prayers for wisdom to navigate the trials we face.

      What circumstances in life prevent us from acknowledging our limitations in order to ask and receive (wisdom and other things) from God and from one another?

      What kind of petitioner do you want to be? What will it take for you to demonstrate single-mindedness in your relationship with the Generous Giver?

      THREE

      Leveling the Playing Field

      James 1:9–11 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

      Key Observation. Life is fleeting. We need to learn to depend on God.

      Understanding the Word. James continues to paint a contrasting picture of two kinds of people and the way they interact with and experience God and the world. In these verses, the focus turns to the lowly and the rich. While these two words are used together, lowly points primarily to a state, an attitude, a posture, and not financial means. A double entendre is evident in James’s use of the terms. Throughout the letter (2:5–6; 5:1), James uses poverty and riches to address not only financial status, but also a person’s posture toward God—namely, humility versus pride; dependency versus self-reliance.

      When people joined the Christian family, they encountered a new reality. Those of lower status in society found themselves elevated, and those of higher status needed to humble themselves in order for all to interact and treat each other as brothers and sisters. In the ancient world, social boundaries were clearly defined. A person’s birth, gender, family of origin, ethnicity, and accomplishments (or lack thereof) determined one’s place in society. Therefore, there were established norms, for example, on who could sit together for a meal and where one should be seated at the table. These norms also guided people’s behaviors and their relationships.

      Christianity undermined these norms of inequality and

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