Humility, embodied in Christ, and translated to the bodies of His people in His body, is well worth a meditation this week.
Of all the Year B Proper’s that include a reading from the epistle of James, Proper 20 is the one in which the preacher will notice a felicitous resonance between the epistle and gospel lesson. While on the one hand, the correspondence between the Gospel and Old Testament (Jeremiah singing the lamb led to the slaughter) emphasizes the passion prediction of Mark 9, on the other hand, it is hard to not see the center of the Mark 9 pericope in the zinger Jesus offers the disciples in bringing a child into their midst and naming her the greatest in the Kingdom. Kingdom politics are on display here (the Synoptic parallel of Matthew 18 sees Jesus extend the lesson into one of the major Matthean discourses) and it is always worthwhile to spend time rehearsing the holy switcheroo Jesus plants in His person and work, reigning where first are last and last first, greatest are least and least greatest, where sinners enjoy the happy exchange and become saints, where our Lord reverses everything in the sweet swap, sighting the blinded and restoring the deaf, raising the lame, and raising the dead. One result for the preacher determined to proclaim James this week is that the invitation to any “gospel borrowing” or “importing” need not stretch or seem arbitrary. The Mark 9 great reversal point of dependency, poverty, lowness, humility, desperate need, is low-hanging fruit to interact with at the appropriate time.
Any duality that runs through the opposites game is fodder for talking the “great reversal” kingdom theme like Jesus does, and it is a primary scriptural vehicle for delivering the theology of the cross.
We have made note over the last couple of weeks of how James echoes this in his words about wealth and poverty (James 1 and 2). Here in the end of James 3 and the beginning of Jamess 4, the duality at play is kingdom of the world verses the Kingdom of Heaven; wisdom that comes from below or from above (katōthen verses anōthen; see John 3). God is in the subject position to observe the opposites at work and do something about it. Arguably, the center of this pericope is James’ quotation of Proverbs 3:34: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Peter makes a similar point near the end of his first epistle; 1 Peter 5:5 and following. Notice that both authors include the call to repentance, for their audience to humble themselves under God’s mighty hand that they may be lifted up (James 4:7-8, 10; 1 Peter 5:6), as well as a call to resist the Devil (James 4:7; 1Peter 5:8-9). James’ prophetic call to repentance (4:8-10) might also resonate with Peter’s sober acknowledgment of the trials and suffering his hearers share in common with believers throughout the world (1Peter 5:8-10).
Temptations loom in this text which can waste a preacher’s pulpit time. It is the perennial attraction one may have to see a law-heavy text and imagine the Law should dominate to the point of obscuring the main point of the pulpit: To deliver Christ dead and alive for the justification of the sinner. Furthermore, James hands us a ringer at the end of chapter 3, a prioritized catalogue of what “wisdom from above” is (3:17; pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, sincere). A message that touts the qualities of “anōthen” (from above) wisdom without convincingly assuring the hearer of the impossibility of her or him producing it, and instead locating the fulfillment of this description only and ever in the Christ who is the Wisdom from above, has missed the point of this wisdom literature (much as Nicodemus did throughout the night he interviewed our Lord!).
It is the perennial attraction one may have to see a law-heavy text and imagine the Law should dominate to the point of obscuring the main point of the pulpit: To deliver Christ dead and alive for the justification of the sinner.
Another preacher might be attracted to the catalogue of sins at the beginning of James 4, in particular the “you do not have because you do not ask” (4:2), and decide an audience needs a dose of that motivational name-it-and-claim-it, prosperity gospel, glory-preaching in order to “challenge” their hearers. If I had a dime for every time I have heard this terrible excuse for veering away from delivering the Christ in the sermon (“My people are tired of boring sermons.” “They want to be challenged.” “They need to be told something to do,” and the like), I would certainly have enough for an expensive cup of designer, bourgeois coffee. Maybe it is time to reevaluate other roadblocks to receiving the Christ the Word would deliver, but never forsake a solid “theology of the cross” for a “theology of glory” and prosperity which “itching ears love to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). After all, the most immediate text James alludes to here has, once again, to do with wisdom (James 1:5-8) and is not at all encouraging acquisitiveness in the way of the kingdom of the world.
Still another temptation might be the exegesis of James 4:5-6. What do these verses even mean? I suggest you confine your commentary observations to Bible class if you want to talk about distinctions about “jealousy” as a characteristic of God or otherwise unpack a vexing sentence (on which opinions about meaning are divided!).
Avoiding these temptations will be all the easier if the preacher devotes attention to the central theme: The great reversal of humility and exaltation, of the low and high, embodied not just in a child in the midst of the disciples or James’ audience turning their joy into mourning in repentance, but ever and especially in the Christ who made Himself low in order to exalt you.
One final observation, humility is a virtue unique to Christianity. Given that Christianity was born in the Hellenistic context of first century Rome (when the “time” had fully come, Gal 4:4), it is no surprise that ancient institutions color the literature from that era, like the “ordered” distinctions between master and slave, passages that reveal concerns about status and patronage, even the Mark 9 pericope that points up the “greatness” of a child. Nowhere could that have an effect so scandalous and seem so radical as in the orbit of the early Roman principate, in which a child’s status would not even be contested. No, she or he would simply be the urchin, the lowest of the low. The inheritor of Hellenic notions of glory and honor, Rome could boast a high ethic and ruled in the Republic and even in the early empire a populace which was at least aware of what it took to be good at being a human being (things like thrift, piety, loyalty, courage, decorum, a sense of justice, and a host of other qualities), but none of these virtues would look like what is being preached and taught by James here or throughout the New Testament literature as “humility.” No, this is one of the great and novel contributions of Christianity to the West in general, which in turn has its roots in the spiritual virtues with which Paul punctuates 1 Corinthians 13: Faith, hope, and love. Humility, embodied in Christ, and translated to the bodies of His people in His body, is well worth a meditation this week.
Here is one possible outline for a sermon that considers humility and exaltation, honoring the text of James and delivering the One who went low so He could make us high.
********
Christ has a way of silencing the disciples. All He had to do was ask them to talk about what they were arguing about. Their boasts, their jockeying, their ambition did not seem so mentionable when faced with a Christ who says that is not how His Kingdom runs.
- James 3-4 also reiterates the difference between God’s Kingdom and the kingdom of the world.
- Wisdom from below: Demonic (Jamess 3:14-16)!
- Wisdom from above: That is different (Jamess 3:17; see also 1:17 and others)!
- Wisdom from above is not something we acquire on our own. It has to be given (Jamess 4:2; see also James 1:5-8).
- This is how Jesus taught Nicodemus as well (John 3).
- This is also how John teaches his beloved children, his church members (1 John 2:15-17).
Christ has a way of silencing human pride in all people.
- He literally silences demonic “wisdom” (refer to Genesis 3:14).
- He silences human “wisdom” (see Job 38:1-4, 42:1-6, and others).
- Repentance: Humility is what James’ congregation experiences in godly wisdom (James 4:6-10).
The difficulty in practicing humility is the high opinion we have of ourselves.
- This is to think with the mind of the kingdom of this world.
- Rather, think with the mind of the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Jesus gives His disciples a radical and scandalous example of greatness in the marginalized and needy child; see Mark 9.
- Have this mind in you “which belongs to you in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:1-11).
- Listen to the apostle; Philippians 2:3.
- Listen to the apostle: Philippians 2:4.
- Know that Christ embodies the reversal from equality with God to making Himself nothing; Philippians 2:5 and following.
- Hear the verb: Christ “humbled” Himself, even to death, death on a cross; Philippians 2:8.
- The exaltation of Christ is in due response to His humility; Philippians 2:9.
- Christ has a way of not only silencing but of evoking true confession: Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father; Philippians 2:10-11.
As with all of James and all of the scriptures though, the point is not about your behavior (like turning joy into mourning, outward signs of repentance) as much as it is about your salvation.
- Repentance on its own is never sufficient. See John’s preaching and Jesus’ preaching: Repent and believe the Gospel (refer to Mark 1:15, and others).
- In Luther’s Small Catechism, the fifth chief part, he states how “Confession” has two elements.
- First, we confess our sins.
- Second, we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness.
- Every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), is there to be received in Christ.
- Receive as humbly as a baby (in the waters of baptism).
- Receive in the hand and in the mouth, as a beggar before the Lord and as fellow beggars with your brothers and sisters (at the Lord’s Table).
Success always and only belongs to the Lord. Where then is boasting? It is excluded (see Romans 3)!
- To keep me from being conceited; My grace is sufficient for you; boasting in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12).
- Humility is acknowledgment of need, dependency, and no more nor less than faith.
- Resisting the Devil is not a matter of boasting but of humble trust in the Lord and His Word; dependency on Him.
Final exhortation: James 4, humble yourself, and the 1Peter 5:6-11 intertext.
--------
Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on James 3:13-4:10.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching James 3:13-4:10.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach James 3:13-4:10.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
