Sermon on James 1:13-18, 1st Sunday in Lent, "Two Sides"

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Lent always opens with Jesus’ wilderness temptation. 40 days of testing, and 40 days of Lent. Temptation, sin, and repentance are major Lent themes. Two sides are always at work in the struggle. Temptation vs. testing, Satan vs. God, our sinful will vs. God’s good will. The two sides of the struggle spring up from two different planted seeds. Planted seeds? What do you mean?

In the parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, Jesus says the devil sows weed seed in God’s fields after God first plants good seed. The world is filled with bad seed mixed among the good, these two seeds that are planted with two outcomes, two sides in the struggle. James also looks at human sin and temptation as a weed seed that we plant in ourselves by an evil desire. An evil desire is a seed planted, that conceives and gives birth to sin, then matures into adulthood and brings forth death. That’s weed seed and its outcome. On the other hand, God plants the good seed, the “word of truth” in us. Receive it with meekness, James writes (Jam. 1:21). Good seed conceives and gives birth to new life, steadfastness, and matures into adulthood that brings us forth as God’s first fruits. Weed seed or good seed, there are two sides. Two outcomes.

Temptation and testing are two sides of what may be the same situation. Temptation is engineered by the devil as a malicious way to get us to stumble and fall. James’ description is reminiscent of fishing language—“each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire”. You know how fishing lures work—a sparkly or colorful or wiggly bait lures the eyes of a bedazzled fish. Hungry for a quick, tasty meal—the fish bites the bait. And the hook is hidden beneath the bait. A perfect description of sin. Our own desires generate temptation, and there’s always an attractive, appealing bait.

Sin may seem to offer excitement, pleasure, satisfaction, or the thrill of power. The forbidden affair, the dishonesty that promises easy riches, the unethical grab for power. Whatever bait is held before our eyes, beware the hidden hook! Sin holds a powerful attraction because temptation flows from our own desires. Desires in themselves are not bad, but that our desires are pulled toward evil and disorder and self-serving ends, instead of towards good, towards God’s order, and towards the blessing of others. It’s good to have strong passions for the good, not weak passions prone to evil. Because the hook always hides beneath the bait. The hooks of sin are often well-hidden, but the power to snare and kill is real.

On the flip side of temptation is testing or trial. Tempting is the tool the devil uses for our failure and death. Testing is God’s tool to create steadfastness—the ability to resist and stand strong. God desires our success and life, over against temptation. The devil aims to cripple and injure, the Lord to strengthen and heal. Temptation weakens faith and creates doubt when we pull away from God; testing strengthens faith so we lean into God and His grace.

So, if these are the two sides in this spiritual struggle, isn’t it as simple as my choice of good over evil? But notice carefully what James says. Sin and temptation are the product of our own desire maturing like a weed seed. Being brought forth as God’s first fruits, however, is a product of God’s own will. My will, my choice, my desire, is not the solution, it’s part of the problem! My own will is handicapped, or more truthfully, enslaved by the power of sin. That’s why we need a Savior, not a do-it-yourself manual. Enslaved to sin, we can’t make the choice to break free. We’re following our own choices to death when we are ruled by sin.

But of course, there is a way to be broken free from our chains! You know it: if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! It’s not by our own will that we can break free, but by God’s “own will He brought us forth by the word of truth.” God’s will is the jail-breaker, the chain-breaker, God’s will creates the freedom from our own desires that desperately and compulsively crave bait and hooks.

James talks in the reading about the blessed man “who remains steadfast under trial” and who stands “the test…[and] receive[s] the crown of life”. How do we become that blessed person? How do we triumph over tests and receive the crown of life? We must be born by God’s will. God’s will that implants the word of truth; God’s will sows the seed of life in us. Born into Christ Jesus, the True Blessed Man who remained steadfast under trial for us. And joined to Christ we are blessed to have His victory become our victory over temptation. His crown of life in resurrection becomes our crown of life in baptism, raised up from spiritual death. This is the fruit of God’s will, good seed and planting. He gives every “good and perfect gift from above”, making us alive with a new heart and a new will. God gives us the desires to seek His ways, not to bite at every bait-covered hook. Godly wisdom sees through temptation, is not deceived, and God implants His word of truth in us, so we crave what is good.

But it’s no surprise that our self-will doesn’t go along easily, and that we need to be empowered by God’s new life. Seen with the eyes of faith, it’s a no-brainer. But the eyes of flesh see sin and temptation as “crowned” with excitement, pleasure, delight. Sin only looks and feels that way until the dreadful bite of the hook snags us. And it’s not often immediate. On the other hand, to the eyes of flesh the life of discipleship is crowned with hardship, crosses, and self-denial. Who wants such a crown of thorns when sin’s “jeweled crown” is so easily had? Well, you know who chose such a crown of thorns, and despised earthly crowns and power. Christ our Savior. By His temptation, by His agony and bloody sweat, by His cross and passion, He wore the crown of thorns—hardship, cross, and self-denial, to defy sin and every evil. Jesus bit no bait, swallowed no hook. But as Luther creatively pictured it, Jesus Himself was swallowed by death. He was the Lamb that burst open the wolf’s gut. Jesus defeated death from the inside out.

So again, it comes down to two sides. Sin is self-serving and surface glitters for the world to see, but rewards us with rotten fruit, fleeting power, and hidden hooks. On the other side, the self-denial of obedience outwardly looks painful, dull, and ordinary. The earthly rewards are few to none. Walking the way of the Lord might get you laughs or dirty looks. Labeled and left out. But James calls this joy! James says God works trials in you to beef up your strength and make your faith steadfast. Sin hides hooks, but the hardship of discipleship hides good gifts from above and unexpected blessings.

How so? Let’s go straight to the losses of life—death and dying. Death can be bitter and empty without Christ. Facing death as the “great unknown” or a return to meaningless nothingness, is all a life without God can offer. But facing death with Christ, even suffering, is just the preparation for eternal life without fear, pain, or suffering. Jesus’ resurrection alone makes death, no longer a loss, but a gain of everlasting life. Instead of uncertainty and bitterness, we have the sure and certain hope of a risen and glorified body like Jesus’. Death has no sting because Christ defeated sin and rose again! These are the Father of lights good and perfect gifts from above, hidden under the way of the cross.

God routinely hides blessings in our crosses and hardship. Thankfulness or gratitude is an exercise in finding those blessings and acknowledging the Giver of the gift. What is the cross or struggle you are presently facing, or recently have faced? How did it test or try your faith? Did it pull you away from God, in doubt or fear, or did it make you cling to Him more closely? When certain doors or opportunities were closed, what new ones opened, that you wouldn’t have seen before? What unexpected blessings came through that cross or hardship? Have you grown into a different or better person as a result? Return thanks to the Father of lights, from whom comes every good gift and perfect gift from above.

In this spiritual contest of temptation and testing, there are two sides. We’ve already shown it’s not simply choosing sides, as though our will was neutral and free to choose. Our will and our desires are at the root of the problem, needing to be broken free. So to come into the new life of the Spirit happens by God’s will subduing our sinful flesh and taking it captive. God’s will implants the good seed of His word of truth, that grows endurance, strength and life. God’s will rescues us from the jaws of temptation and raises us to new life with Him.

Jesus was the blessed man who stuck it out against sin and trials. He wills to do the same in your life. His work is written all over every good and perfect gift from above, and again and again we turn to His victory, His strength and endurance against our failure, weakness, and easy surrender. To stand up strong against temptation is to stand strong in Him. To defeat temptation is to have our sins nailed to the tree of His cross and paid for. To have the hooks of sin pulled out of our mouth and the line cut free, is to have our sins forgiven by Him, and to be thrown back out to live again. To wear a crown of thorns is to take up the cross of discipleship, in the confident hope that He holds in store for us a better crown and better reward—the crown of life. To be brought forth as His first fruits is to be born again from His good seed! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!