“Give Thanks for the Gifts of God”

James 1:17

November 19, 2006

Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg

You and I, had we been given the chance to help James write his letter to the twelve tribes, probably would have tried to get James started in a different direction. 

“Consider it pure joy,” we might write, “when your Thanksgiving table is overflowing with food fit for kings and queens.”

“Consider it pure joy,” we might write, “when you no longer receive calls asking you who you would vote for if the election were held today.”

“Consider it pure joy, when Ohio State beats the Michigan, when someone gives you the gift you’ve always wanted, when Emmitt Smith wins Dancing with the Stars, when your accountant tells you that taxes aren’t necessary this year.”

“Consider it pure joy,” we might write, “when all of the circumstances in your life go your way so that you come out on top without any worries or suffering.”

Of course, no one asked for our opinion when James penned this letter, so James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”  Joy when we face trials?  That must be a typo.  He couldn’t have meant that we are to experience a deep sense of pleasure when we are tested.  After all, when we experience trials, we take that as our opportunity to complain, to grumble about our circumstances, to lash out at those who are responsible.  Sometimes, we even want to cry out against God and blame him for our troubles. 

That’s what happened to the recipients of James’ letter.  These first recipients were Jewish Christians who had come to follow Jesus while living in Jerusalem.  Right after Stephen was stoned, the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem were driven out of that city and scattered to distant lands.  In their flight from Jerusalem, they left behind families, homes, occupations: their whole lives.  These early Christians knew what it was like to suffer trials and temptations, and James, their pastor, sought to teach them how to live in these trials as true followers of Jesus.  They needed to hear this word and so do we.  James’ flock must have been blaming God for the terrible condition of their lives, so their pastor points them in a different direction, wanting them to remember God’s goodness in the midst of their trials.

When trouble comes, we are tempted to wonder, “Why has God sent me this sorrow?”  When chaos enters our lives our inclination is to think that God is driving us away from him, but James is telling us that troubles and chaos are not intended to drive us away from our Heavenly Father but right into his arms, trusting and relying on him in spite of our circumstances.  Can you see the difference between these two attitudes?  The first blames God and runs from him.  The second grips tightly to God, trusting that adversity will bring us closer to him.

A while back I read a man’s account of the birth of his son.  Doctors had told this man and his wife that the baby would die as soon as he was born.  These parents were overcome with sorrow.  On the day of the boy’s birth, the whole family came to the hospital and waited for this baby.  As soon as he was delivered his brothers and sisters, grandmothers and grandfathers, and aunts and uncles were invited into the delivery room along with the family’s pastor.  Each person had an opportunity to hold the baby, and as his breathing became labored and slowed, the family gathered around one another and sang the doxology:  “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above the heavenly host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

In the midst of one of the most painful experiences of life, this family turned their hearts to God in praise.  This didn’t make the circumstances of their lives change.  The death of this baby boy hurt and filled this family with sorrow, but their sorrow had a place to rest: in the arms of their Abba in heaven.

How is it that we can nurture such an attitude in our own lives?  Like those early Christians to whom James was writing, we are tempted to blame God for our trials, yet James offers us a way to place our trust in God when he says, ^“Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:16-17)  In these verses James is inviting us to remember God’s good and perfect gifts.  He’s inviting us to take note of our status in the Kingdom of God and to find our comfort in the One who does not change.

When we are in the midst of trials, we will probably not feel as though our trials are a good gift from God; in fact such a statement is a matter of faith rather than a conclusion that we come to through reason.  While we might not be able to see our particular trial as a good gift, it will help us to trust this is so if we focus on those gifts we know that God has given to us and which we can identify as good and perfect.  Let me point out three of those gifts today: creation, our redemption in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  If we can reflect and embrace these good and perfect gifts, then perhaps we will come to acknowledge the good gift of our trials.

Think back to the account of creation found in the first chapter of Genesis.  In this account God speaks forth the creation in a systematic way.  At the close of each day of creation we’re told that “God saw that it was good.”  On the sixth day, God speaks humans into existence; he then looks upon all that he has made and he sees that it “was very good.”  It wasn’t just okay or pretty good or the best he could do; it was very good.  The Hebrew behind this word translated as very suggests an abundance, which is to say that there was an abundance of good in what had been created.

As Christians, we know that when sin entered the world through human disobedience the creation itself was subject to its effects.  What we see now in creation is but a hint of the goodness that once existed, but what a wonderful hint it is.  Think about all of the resources present in the creation that are available to sustain every living creature.  Think about the patterns of creation: sunrise and sunset, the moon waxing and waning, high tide and low tide, times for planting and harvesting, a baby being formed in its mother’s womb, and the migratory travels of birds, all of these patterns point to our Creator and the good gift of a creation we can count on to support our needs.  Listen to the way that Psalm 85 (11-12) points to the good gift of creation: ^“Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.”  Wrapped up with our living in the creation is the knowledge that all that there is comes to us as a good gift from God.

We can count on another good and perfect gift that God has given to us: our redemption in Jesus.  In two weeks we will begin the season of Advent, a four week period in which we intentionally seek to practice the art of waiting.  During Advent we give ourselves the opportunity to feel what it must have felt like for those who lived before Jesus who found themselves longing for the coming of the Messiah.  Hebrews 11:39-40 reflects on the faith of those who longed for Christ and notes that, “These (who were waiting) were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”  The season of Advent offers us the opportunity to rest in the gift of God’s redemption.  With awe and amazement we can wonder at the coming of this one who offers salvation.

Every year, beginning with this season of Advent and moving through our celebration of Christmas and then on into Lent, Easter, the Ascension and Pentecost the Church tells the story of our redemption.  For six months we immerse ourselves in the story of Christ’s saving work on our behalf.  For six months we surround ourselves with the sites and sounds of this good and perfect gift given to us by God.  When trials come your way, rest in this redemption won for you.  Listen to what the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

If we were to remember the gifts of creation and our redemption in Jesus Christ during our times of trial, this would be enough to encourage us to rest in the embrace of our Father in Heaven, but God’s gifts aren’t limited; they are beyond our imagination.  There is even more that God has given to us. 

Listen to Luke in the first chapter of Acts when he writes, “On one occasion, while [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”  In Acts 2:38 Peter says, “’Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church and he dwells in the heart of every believer.  The Holy Spirit is the sign and seal of our redemption, who comforts the afflicted, afflicts the comfortable, pierces our consciences, fills us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  The Holy Spirit works in our lives to make us more and more into the image of Jesus our Lord as we put off our old nature and put on the nature of Christ.  God the Father, graciously gave us this gift so that we would not be alone as we wait for Jesus to come again, bringing with him the New Heavens and the New Earth where we will dwell with God forever and ever.

Friends, when you are beset by trials and chaos seems to be overtaking your world, take your sorrow and hurt and fear and lay them at your Abba’s feet, allowing yourself to be embraced by his love, even in the midst of circumstances that you would rather avoid.  When your sorrow, hurt and fear threaten to overwhelm you, remember that our Father is the giver of every good and perfect gift.  Let your mind and heart reflect on the gifts of creation, our redemption in Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, for in this reflection you can know for sure that God is not seeking to drive you away from him but is drawing you into his very heart.

Father, may it be that we remember your good gifts when trials come our way and so be drawn into your embrace.

May it be.

Amen.