The 1994 movie Forrest Gump tells the story of a simple man,
Forrest Gump, and his lifelong love for a broken and hurting woman, Jenny. It
is painted against the background of US culture and history from childhood in
the 1950’s through the turbulence of the 60’s and 70’s and on into the 1980’s. The
movie is peppered with Forrest’s, folksy down home sayings, His momma’s wisdom
captured in easy to remember proverbs. “Momma says, ‘life’s like a…Box of
chocolates.” Not necessarily earth shattering insights or the prevailing wisdom
of the day but things that steer Forrest through his life. One line from the
movie sprang to mind as I contemplated the two different kinds of wisdom that
James talks of in the passage we had read out this morning… I’ll let Forrest
Gump give us the line…
“I’m not a smart man,
but I know what Love is”, all through the movie Forrest has cared for and
befriended Jenny, he has shown her kindness and respect, welcomed her back
after wild episodes, feed her, nursed her through drug withdrawal, he had been
the only person who didn’t exploit or use her, in the end his love for her is
redemptive and healing for both of them. Maybe the character Forrest Gump
wouldn’t naturally come to mind as an answer to the question James asks ‘Who is
wise and understanding among you?’ but just maybe Steven Spielberg and his
writing team have managed in Forrest Gump to capture something of the wisdom
from above that James speaks of.
James contrasts earthly wisdom with wisdom that comes from
above, and in his very practical way he says you can tell which wisdom is which
by the kind of life that they result in. Wisdom, like faith, is demonstrated in
actions. The wisdom from above is the one needed for Christian leadership and
Christian community.
Cricket world cup fever seems to be sweeping the country at
the moment, and of course one of the things that makes it great is that our
cricket team is playing so well. A lot of that is down to the leadership of
Brendon McCullum and Coach Mike Hesson. But
you won’t hear that from them. One of the things that McCullum has introduced
is what he calls a culture of humility. Cricket has been called a team sport
played by individuals. Much of the focus is on individual statistics and
achievements, but when members of the Black caps are interviewed you will not
hear them talking about their own great performances rather they will talk of
the contributions of others. Batsmen will acknowledge the people at the other
end, and how the bowlers backed up what they did. Bowlers will talk of how the
bowling group as a whole exerted pressure, how they were backed up by good
fielding and that the batters had set them a total to defend. It’s all about
the team, it’s all about the common good and the common goal.
This is what James is talking about when he says that the
wisdom needed for Christian leadership and living in community is shown in acts
of humility. The Greek word here is the word meekness. It has the idea of being
committed to the common good, and not being willing to be distracted or
diverted from that common good by thoughts of personal advancement or avoiding
personal disadvantage and suffering. The
illustration often used of this is a Clydesdale horse, which is blinkered so it
will not be distracted from harnessing its great strength to the task at hand. The
great example is Jesus Christ, who Hebrews tells us for the joy set before him,
endured the cross.
Earthly wisdom, says James, is the opposite; it is motivated
by personal achievement and personal success. It is what Dan McCartney calls
the wisdom of success and power. The words James uses to explain it are bitter envy
and selfish ambition. People involved in leadership because of what they can
get out of it rather than what they can give.
When it is focused on the individual and not the community the community
will suffer. Such wisdom says James is earthbound, it is unspiritual, and it is
the sort of behaviour you would expect from the demons. WE only need to look
around us in the news today to see the impact that focusing on personal gain, personal
success and personal power can have… as James says it leads to disorder and
every evil practise.
T
hen James moves on to contrast the wisdom of this world
with the wisdom that comes from above. Wisdom Dan McCartney sums up as “ how
one displays Godly character patterned after the life of the one who identified
himself as meek and lowly”…Jesus Christ. We should not be surprised that the
wisdom from above reflects the one who came from above, who was God’s word,
God’s wisdom made flesh.
James explores this wisdom through a series of seven
virtues. In the Greek they are all start with the same or similar vowel sounds.
Most importantly says James this wisdom from above is pure. As it comes from above it comes from God. It
is not contaminated by divided loyalties and divided motives. At the beginning
of his letter James had spoken of two kinds of faith, one that was totally
focused on Christ and the other that was in two minds and here James picks that
up again to say that wisdom from above is focused on Christ and the common good
opposed to the double minded earthly wisdom, split between Christ and self, a
division that will result in a divided community. In Hebrews we are encouraged
to fix our eyes on Christ the author and perfecter of our faith. Wisdom from
above is undivided it is pure because it comes from God and reflects Christ. In
the Civil rights movement in the 1960’s one of the catch cries when faced with
opposition and opportunity for self-advancement not the cause, was to keep your
eyes on the prize.
Peace loving. Again speaks of desiring the common good. The
Hebrew word for peace is shalom which speaks of wholeness and right
relationship. Sadly in the church we have seen peace loving as avoiding
conflict at all cost. We often will sweep things under the carpet, which really
only means that we will trip us up later, or we will walk away, or give in for
the sake of peace. But to be peace loving is being willing to face and work
through those things to be committed to each other and to justice. It is to
seek wholeness.
Being Considerate speaks for itself. It is being willing to
consider the other person, the other perspective. David Noystrum says that being considerate was
usually associated with the administration of Justice and had to do with a
judge not abusing their power but staying calm and committed to the exercise of
the highest ideal of that position.
Submissive. Kind of sounds like it does not fit in this
list, it sounds like you just give in to the most dominant voice… which only
gives the semblance of peace. But it is not simply the idea that someone will
always give in rather it goes along with being considerate, its acting on what
we consider, we are attuned to hearing the truth and the word of God and being
willing then to accept it and work with the rest to see it put into action:
Being a team player.
Mercy and good fruit go together and speak of that
willingness to care and be committed to the common good being shown in acts of
kindness and love: In meeting the needs of others.
Being impartial and sincere, are grouped together. James had
already spoken about impartiality and favouritism, encouraging his hearers to
care equally for all within the community of faith. Being sincere calls this
not to be simply for show, it is not just a shallow mask to hide our selfish
ambitions but rather comes from a genuine heart felt love for others.
James major concern was with those who lead and teach and
this passage challenges us about how we view leadership. Robert
Greenleaf wrote possibly the most influential book on leadership of the twentieth century, it was called
servant leadership. He looked at the model of Jesus and others and it is a good
summary of what James is talking about here. He says that a servant leader is a
servant first and a leader second. They lead out of the desire to see others
benefit rather than a personal need for power or to obtain some material
benefit. He goes on to say…
“The difference manifests
itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s
highest priority needs are being served. (This
is a great definition of the Greek word agape which epitomised for the Greeks
the highest ideal of selfless love and which the New testament writers used to
talk of the love of Christ) The best test, and difficult to administer, is:
Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served,
become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to
become servants? And, what is the
effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be
further deprived?“
It also speaks to
us all about how we live. We started off talking about Forrest Gump and the
proverbs that encapsulated his momma’s wisdom and steered him through life, James
finishes each of his section of teaching with a proverb to sum it up. Here it
is verse 18, ‘Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness’,
and maybe its lost something of its pithiness in translation from Hebrew
thought patterns to the Greek language and on into English, but it hasn’t lost
anything of its challenge. It is a call to be a people who are about peace. That
we are called to be Peacemakers… To be first and foremost about the wholeness
of the community and the world in which we live, because that reflects the
priority of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. As I mentioned before this does not call us to
simple avoid conflict, or be willing to settle for peace by appeasement, or by
forcing others to see things our way, or even compromising our standards. As
one commentator has said “Peace that leads to righteousness is peace that
steadfastly refuses to let go of its standards: justice, righteousness and the
wisdom of God.” Peace that sacrifices these things is not biblical peace.
We are called to
be peace makers because we follow the one who himself has become our peace. Who
was not willing to sacrifice his standards or settle for anything less but gave
himself as a sacrifice so that we might be reconciled to God, that we could be
reconciled to one another.
In the end we may not be very smart, but in
Christ we know what love is.
We are wise if we seek to live that
selfless love out, to make peace with the help and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit
that lives in us.
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