Remembrance Sunday: James 3:13 - 4:10
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Rev D. Graham Leitch

10 November 2002

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

For over 80 years, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - and in services like this one on the nearest Sunday to it - the dead of the Great War and the Second World War, as well as the numberless lives claimed since by the conflicts which have continued to ravage parts of the world have been remembered.

For longer than most of us here can remember the words of Lawrence Binyon have echoed through the naves and arches of city cathedrals and country churches alike:
"They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning - we will remember them."

But despite the optimism which rises up to tease us from time to time - whether the founding of the United Nations or the end of the Cold War - wars still rage and the innocent men women and children - yes, especially the children - die!!

It cannot but be in many minds today that as Christmas - the season of peace and goodwill - approaches this year, the countdown to a possible war with Saddam Hussein against Iraq has begun..

Today most who die in war are UNREMEMBERED - at least to us in our country - their deaths remain largely unreported and thus unnoticed. The deaths of thousands in unreported wars merit fewer column inches in most papers today than the simplest obituary notice in our newspaper columns.

Yet those who die are not statistics but individuals - people with names and faces. They are children with parents who love them - children who laughed and played in the streets until they were bombed; they are husbands and lovers, mothers and brothers - real people.

They are not just soldiers but civilians - armed and unarmed. And today more will die, and tomorrow still more! We can send people to the moon, it seems, and build stations in space - but we are unable to stop killing each other!

As the young Christian poet Steve Turner once wrote:

"History repeats itself. It has to. No-one listens."

THREE SUBJECTS
Today we are going to be thinking about three things

First, the cause of conflict - why IS the world dis-eased? Why are wars and rumours of war forever with us?

Second, can we make any difference? Is there anything WE can do to make the world a more peace-loving and peaceful place?

And then third, is it worth it?

THE CAUSE OF CONFLICT
We begin with the cause of conflict. "What causes wars and fighting (fights and quarrels) among you?" James asks at the beginning of Ch.4 of his letter. But then he answers his own question, adding:

" - Don't they come from your desires that battle within you."

In this verse James locates the problem in the human heart. What causes fights and quarrels? The problem, he says, isn't purely or even primarily political or economic.

Now, of course, it would be flying in the face of history and the plainest facts to deny that political considerations and economic conditions haven't been one of the major causes - if not the major evident cause of many of the conflicts which have taken place and most of the conflicts seen and unseen in the world today.

No! James isn't saying that politics and economics has nothing to do with war, but rather that these are secondary causes - the primary cause - the real problem's a deeper one and lies elsewhere.

Why, even in the life of the church the politics of who gets to use the church halls and what groups, if any, have priority and the economics of replacing this or redecorating that can occasionally lead to long and heated discussions and bitter disagreement! But , you see, that isn't where the problem lies.

When James says that "fights and quarrels" - warring, whether its personal or international - comes from our "desires that battle within us" he’s locating the problem where it really lies - with US!

NOT GOD'S FAULT
It isn't GOD's FAULT. From time to time you hear people using the state of the world as an argument against belief in God, as though somehow he's to blame. As though the mess we're in's a result of what He's done rather than what we've done. When James points us to "your desires that battle within you" he making the point that the real problem is not external to us - out there or "up there" with God - but in here.

If after the service this morning for some unaccountable reason I decided instead of shaking your hand at the door to strike you in the face and then tried to defend myself by telling you to blame GOD not me, I hope you wouldn't believe me, because it would be my fault not God's - I'd be the one to blame, not him! And I'm sure you'd see it that way too!

When James tells his readers that fights and quarrels come "from your desires that battle within you" he's identifying the real source of the trouble in them and in us.

Don't blame God. Yes - of course, as the eternal Creator He gave us the freedom to choose violence and war and death. But by the same token He gave us the freedom to reject these very things. We can't blame him for our wrong choices!

NOT THE DEVIL'S FAULT
And it isn't the devils fault either. Or at least we can't just blame him. Yes, of course there is a diabolical element in every evil thought and deed. James makes this plain when he describes bitter envy and selfish ambition (3:15) as "earthly, unspiritual, of the devil." We certainly mustn't discount his activity or fail to recognise his foul hand at work in undermining the peace of the world and disturbing the affairs of men and nations. The idea of a "prince of the power of the air" may seem rather vague, but the results of his work are plain for all to see - just as a hurricane may wreak physical havoc and destroy countless lives in its remorseless progress so the Devil delights to wreak spiritual havoc on earth.

Yet it would be as grave a mistake to blame him as it is to blame God. When James identifies the source of war and fightings as "your desires that battle within you" he's pinning the blame where it must rest and we must face it - ON US or more accurately IN US.

And when we really begin to examine honestly why fights break out in our families or resentment grows breeding hatred, we soon discover that James is right.

We're no better than little children squabbling over a toy in the Playgroup because one toddler wants what the other one's already got. - "I want .....!" explains half the quarrels in the world.

SELFISHNESS AND GREED
Look at vv.2-3 "You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight."

The translation we have in the NIV is rather clumsy and James' meaning becomes clearer if we regroup the words - which we can because James wrote in Greek which has no punctuation. and read instead:

"You want something but don't get it so you kill. You covet but can't have what you want, so you quarrel and fight."
In these verses James identifies the LOCUS of the problem and explains the CAUSE.

The locus is made plain in the words “You...you...you...you!” And the CAUSE of fights and quarrels he reveals as as "misdirected desire" - You want but don't get... you want..but can't have!

At the end of the day the blame for fights and quarrels - from personal vendettas to international conflicts - rest not with God or the Devil but with US. The root cause isn’t divine incompetence or diabolical interference but human selfishness and greed - the problem lies in our hearts!!

PART 2
CAN WE MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?

Faced on all side by distressing news of famine and war and surrounded on all sides by what is famously called “man’s inhumanity to man” it’s easy to feel helpless and be tempted to despair. The world seems driven by unrelenting forces; the course of history isn’t set by ordinary men and women.
We’re just spectators - or occasionally actors in the Drama - but the script is written and the play is directed not by us but by others.

What difference, then, can I make? What contribution to a peace loving and peace-ful world can I offer? In the garden of Gethsemane when dark powers were poised to execute the perfect Son of God and the dark shadow of a Cross fell upon Jesus path he told his disciples to “watch and pray”.

Is that all that we can do? I don’t mean to belittle prayer but CAN WE DO MORE? I ask the question specifically of those of you who own name and confess Jesus Christ as Saviour and follow Him...

As Christians we call Christ not only our Saviour, Master, Guide, Lord and Friend, we call Him OUR PEACE. Because He has changes us from rebels of God to relatives of God. From enemies at war with God into friends at peace with Him.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
Now WHAT CAN WE DO? We may feel helpless - powerless to influence or shape world affairs - but we can start with ourselves.

Indeed because the root of the problem lies in the human heart - from which human conduct proceeds - starting with ourselves makes a lot of sense.

Do the things I do in my life - my attitude and conduct, my behaviour towards others and response to the tensions and difficult situations I meet - do the things I do in my life make for peace or make for war? When there is trouble - between individuals or among friends - do I fan the flames or try to take the heat out of the situation with a view to limiting the damage or extinguishing the blaze?

Some people seem to make waves and cause arguments and quarrels wherever they go - they feed on trouble and thrive on conflict. Other spread peace and healing -pour oil on troubled waters with gentleness and kindness...

It sometimes seems that the whole world is made up of peacemakers and troublemakers!! But of what kind are you?

TWO WAYS OF LIVING
The passage we read from James this morning reveals TWO WAYS of living.

There is the way of the wisdom of the world - this is the natural way - its the godless way and its the common way. Its a way described at 3:15c as “earthly, unspiritual, of the devil” It’s the way that puts SELF first and ME at the centre of life. This way lead to what v.16 calls “disorder” - in other words to the opposite of peace - to strife and war

But there’s a different way - another way - the Bible tells us. It isn’t the natural way (the way natural to sinful humankind) but it isn’t unnatural either - it’s the supernatural way. It’s what James calls “the wisdom that comes from heaven”

This is the Christian way and its the opposite of the natural way - it isn’t self-centred; it’s OTHER centred because it’s GOD centred!

“The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure (no mixed motives or hidden agendas, then!),
peaceable (it’s heart and efforts are set on peace), considerate ( respectful or others and considerate of their situation and needs), submissive (not ready to lose the rag or fly off the handle), full of mercy and good fruit (kind even to the undeserving and always seeking to do others good), impartial (in other words, refusing to take sides and free of every kind of bigotry) and sincere (not just put on for show but through and though...)

This is the Christian way and its the opposite of the natural way - it’s the supernatural way - from heaven” in a double sense:

* it’s the way that God calls us to live and invites us to model in a selfish sinful world.

*but it’s also the way that God equips us to live by pardoning our sins, by delivering us from
selfishness and by equipping us with His Spirit.

During the recent heavy rains I stood and looked at a river in spate - its power was undeniable - the debris that had been carried off and was being swept along bore eloquent witness to that. But do you know this - that it all came from rain - from individual drops of water......

Take heart then - and don’t despair. And start to make a difference today!!

PART 3
IS IT WORTH IT?

I want to deal very briefly with the final question. We began by asking the question “What causes strife and war? Then we asked “Can we make a difference?”

The last question is simple. “Is it worth it?” And the answer is given in James 3:18:

“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Yes, we CAN make a difference - and yes, it IS worth it!! There is point at which the voices which cry for peace not war cannot be ignored. And it is the voices of ordinary men and women that count - no more so than when elections are approaching because their votes count!!

Yes we CAN make a difference and yes, it IS worth it!! Take heart at the influence public opinion and the mood of their countries has had upon US foreign policy and our own governments approach to the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

Yes we CAN make a difference and it IS worth it. The Christian at his/her best - is a role model of a different/better way. As those who have been blessed by Christ who is our PEACE we choose a different path, we live by a different wisdom - we model a nobler and better way.

It is the way of love not hate, the way of forgiveness not revenge, the way of peace not war! Is it WORTH it?
Let me ask you a question - in your life, in your home, at work, amongst your friends and at church would you rather have good relationships or bad relationships - a life characterised by happiness or a life characterised by hostility? Would you like your relationships to get better or to get worse.

Is is worth it? Of course it’s worth it. Listen:

“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

In the Bible righteousness spells blessing:

“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Is it worth it? Of course it is! Only a blind fool would refuse a harvest of righteousness and the blessing of God for a harvest of tears!!

AMEN

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