Even Trade

 

When I was a kid, baseball and football trading cards were a big deal. Topps was the company cranking out those cardboard gems. The 1980s was an age to itself when the players union in the NFL had not yet caught on that these little rectangles actually cost a fortune. In the 90s, once players realized that these cards were in fact -their property- because this is, in fact -their picture- on that item. Then the price for a pack of card began to rise. But, in the 80's, it was a real trick and treasure to try and get your whole team together. If you were a Cleveland fan, like I was, you spent every last dollar you could scrounge up on a pack of cards. Especially, if you knew the local drug store had just bought a new shipment. You wanted to be the first one there to get a pack of 10 cards for a buck. Yep. One dollar bought you 10 shiny gems. Unless you had been collecting for a while. Maybe you had "multiples" on a certain player. A lesser known player that didn't mean as much to you. In 1986, McDonalds got in on the cards front and started to give away their own trading cards. How many Big Macs does it take to collect the whole set of Cleveland Browns? What do you do if you have twelve Jim Vogler's, the Right Guard for the Buffalo Bills, but what you really wanted was a copy of that Bernie Kosar card?

What you want to do is make sure you are getting an even trade. It might take more than an unknown Jim Vogler to wrestle a top card like Bernie Kosar out of someone else's hands. Maybe you get lucky and end up trading with someone who really doesn't know what they have in front of them. How does all this apply to our subject matter today? Here we come into the 4th chapter of James. Ash Wednesday is this week and the beginning of the Lenten season. Normally, next week, I would shift gears and go in a new direction as we enter Lent. However, we still have one chapter left here in James and we are going to finish it out. It is interesting that we find ourselves here at the 4th chapter on this week where we are about to start this season of giving up and letting go. That is truly what Lent is all about. This is season marked by what we are willing to give up. Think of it in terms of trading. What would you be willing to trade for peace? For love? For joy and happiness? James uses some interesting language here that I think is worth a gander, especially with us entering Lent. 

You should recall last week when i made reference to the facts about how scripture was written. There were no chapters and section headers. No verses and paragraphs either. One congruent thought. It was not until much later that writers and editors thought to read it and give it the shape that we see today. So, we should take that question James asks as we open this chapter as a connector between his previous thinking and what he has to say here. There is a lot to process here. What was James speaking about previously? Those matters about the tongue being out of control at times and then seeking true wisdom as to what it means to be devoted to living this life for Christ were in chapter 3. As we go to 4, the brother gets very direct with his questioning. "What causes fight and quarrels among you?" The line of questioning James uses shows that there is inherent evil in all of us. (Out of control tongues, lack of wisdom) "Don't they come from the desires that battle within you?" Almost always, because we want what we do not have. "You desire what you do no have, so you kill" What is it about always thinking we have to have the same or better than the neighbor across the street? "You do not have because you do not ask God for help." We don't ask God because we already know what God is going to say. It's the same game we played as kids. We already have a pretty good idea that if we ask Dad for this item or that, he is probably going to say "NO". So, we go ask Mom. Mom likes us. She'll give us what we want. Until Dad finds out. I thought I told you NO on that. The same is true about trying to go around God's back and seek wealth and blessings for ourselves without His blessing upon our wants and desires. 

Proverbs 3.6 "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight"

Now, there's a trade up worth thinking about. Simply acknowledge Him. That's hard for some to do. This process of becoming the person God wants us to be has to start somewhere. James does make it clear, as he said in the previous chapter. Even the demons believe that God is real, and we know their fate. What about us? What would happen if we turned our lives over to Him and let Jesus lead the way? Well, too often we go the other direction. We take what we want and don't think about others. Too often the old tongue gets involved in this process. I'm sure you could play out the process in your own mind about what people could say to one another through this detailed play by play. We've watched it in history over and over. All it takes is one well timed comment about one nation being mightier than another nation or demanding that one country stop doing some atrocious thing and all hell breaks loose. Many times it is connected to persecution in some form. The Christians of James' time are right in the middle of that, less we stray to far from the beginnings of his letter. A persecuted people. Sometimes on the run. Sometimes having no place to call home, no food to eat, no shelter from the harshness of life. Lets say you are well to do. Lets say you do have the means to make it. James' message is not just for the downtrodden and poor. He has run into those who are well cared for and have little to beg for in desperation. He has seen those who have more than enough. What is the temptation there? Our brother addresses that as well. 

Last week in Sunday School, we read and discussed some scripture where Jesus tells the parable of the man who tore down his barns and built bigger ones. Lets take a read on that. 

Does anyone catch the correlation between these passages? Did you note what James is saying near the end of this chapter? Acknowledgement. We were talking last week in Sunday School that it doesn't sound like this guy with the crops and barns problem is really doing anything wrong. He simply doesn't have the space for this bumper crop that has come at him. He just needs some more space and he does what any well meaning farmer would probably do in his situation. Just build some more storage space. Only one slight issue needs to be addressed. The issue will slide right past many of us because we are not used to having to stop and make sure we do this first. Acknowledge the Lord in all you do and he will make your paths straight. "Well, yea I believe in God..." Sure you do. Most all of us here do, I would think. That's why we are here this morning. But, have you taken the time to actually knock on the door in a time of need? Have you put God first in all you do, so that you would want His counsel and advice on -anything- before you travel forward in life and take something new on. Before you build bigger barns. Before you make a big decision. Before you take on a new job or move half way across the country. Or, even something you might consider small. Before adding on to your house. Before cutting down that tree you're afraid could fall on your house. Before sending your kid away to some summer camp. It's not even a matter of whether or not you might feel unsure about the decision ahead. The farm owner is pretty sure that what he doing is normal and correct. He just does it. Note the brother who drags his own kin out in front of Jesus before the parable. He thinks nothing about forcing a decision out of the Messiah because he thinks "It's my money and its owed to me. Lets just get Jesus to say so..." Um, no. Not that way. For many of us we do not take the time to think about the process in which we approach God (or other people, sometimes) and what we say or the tone in our voice or the attitude we bring to the conversation. We just automatically think we are right or that we are doing is right, and we just do it or say it. Acknowledge the Lord in all you do and He will make your paths straight. We need to take the time and get in the habit of seeking out the Lord's counsel on all matters, big and small. 

Do you think this is an even trade? Is it even or fair to think that we should acknowledge the Lord and let ourselves be humbled with the notion that we do not know everything, nor do we have all the answers? Note what James is focused on in the early part of today's scripture. 

Submit yourselves, therefore, unto to God; 

Resist the Devil and he will flee

The ultimate way of acknowledging God is to submit to Him, letting God lead the way. I have heard from many over the years and have even missed the point myself at times. We want to be able to tell our enemy to get lost. Resist him. He'll get out of here. Except, there's one major note. Submit to God, first. Give yourself to God. This way the enemy knows it's not just you he is dealing with in this struggle to do the right thing. Right before I came to all back in December, while I was with the Pleasant View church up north of Newark, we were covering the book of Acts. We made it as far as we could. A couple weeks before I came to 6th Ave, we were in Acts 19 where the seven sons of the Jewish priest Sceva are given their 15 seconds of glory. It seems these seven sons had gone out with simply "the name of Jesus" thinking they could cast out demon and fight the evils in the world. Until the came into contact with a demon possessed man with a spirit that would not be easil swayed. These seven sons were not followers of Jesus. They had not decided to follow the Messiah. "The name of Jesus" was just a few words they thought anyone could throw around. Until this demon opposed them. "Jesus I know, and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?" And the scripture says he tore into them and "they ran out of the house naked and bleeding" (Acts 19.16) 

What is an even trade? My life for Jesus' life? God sends his Son into this world, to save us, to lead and guide us. He instructs us in what exactly God wants and shows us how to live this life without the constraints of sin holding us back. And, this world crucified Him. God asks that we give our lives. In a world bent on denying God and saying he doesn't exist, we are supposed to stand up and say "I believe". Does that sound fair? Is that a fair trade? Jesus says, "Pick up your cross and follow me." Why?, you might say. Why should I have to endure hardship? Because He did. But, it is the why he did that matters. It's the intention and the reason behind what he did that matters. He did it for you, and me and the whole world. He is asking that you and I learn how to live the life God wants us to live. A life centered on an outward point of view, putting God first in all that we say and do. Or, we could be crushed in our sins. We could be separated from God and forgiveness, sentenced to hell, and eternal punishment, like the devil and his demon/angel friends. Is that fair? Is that an even trade? According to the law it is. Remember, the only factor the law has in all of this is to point out our sin. You didn't keep the commandments. Yep, you have sin. What's the punishment for sin? Sorry son, eternal damnation is all I got for you. If Jesus had not come and did all that he did for us, that's the direction this conversation would be going. That would be the even trade. Except, now we have forgiveness in play. 

Mercy & forgiveness on two. Hut! Hut!

God drifts back. He goes long... Jesus is at the cross! AMEN! AMEN!
Jesus saves mankind! Jesus wins it for everybody!

Watching some Methodists get excited about their salvation. Now that would be an even trade. 

Blessings, folks. 

Jeremy