How to Find Peace

In case you hadn't realised our title tonight is "How to find peace!" Buddha tells us that "Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." The Dalai Lama says "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves." Whilst American author Frances Ann Lebowitz declares "There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness and death." Cheery thought! But what exactly is peace?

Someone has defined it as "that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading."

But is that it? Is peace simply an absence of human conflict? No! It's way more than that – and if we're really going to get to grips with peace, we need to understand what God has to say on the matter. Biblically-speaking the word peace is used to describe well-being, completeness and being whole – especially in the context of relationship, and it operates on three levels. The majority of the time the bible uses the word peace it is talking about the nature of the relationship between God and mankind. True peace (all round well-being) is about being in a right relationship with God, through the power of the Holy Spirit because of what Jesus did on the cross. And when our relationship with God is 'well', so our view of ourselves is 'well' and the knock-on effect is that our relationships with one another are also 'well'.

3 levels:

Peace with God,
peace with each other and
peace with ourselves.

God loves peace. From one end of his book to the other God communicates that he wants to bless us with peace and he wants to use us to bring peace to others. So what does James in particular have to say about all this? James says that peace can be found through the wisdom of letting God have his rightful place in our lives – and that a lack of peace really calls into question whether we're doing that.

So, we restart our series in James with a challenge. Ch3v13: Who is wise and understanding among you? Do you think you are wise? Do you think you have understanding? Well, says James, heed the warning – there are actually two kinds of wisdom and we need the right one. There is a wrong wisdom which is earthly and there is a right wisdom which is heavenly. And the way we can tell which one we have is by the way we act, by the fruit that we produce - v.13 continues. By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

And so to my first heading:

1. EARTHLY WISDOM (3v14-16)

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. (3.14-16)

What James is saying here is that truth should dwell in our hearts, but it can't when there is evidence of jealousy and selfish ambition. He is talking about things like bad relationships, divisive attitudes between Christians, fighting for your own right or position - all at the expense of the truth. And where does it all lead? v.16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. In other words, whenever we try to make ourselves look better than others or try and get the better of others, when we try to emphasise how we are the party in the right, when we lie and boast – however much we may justify our actions – things fall apart and we end up divided and at each other's throats. And in so doing we are a terrible dishonouring witness to our redeemer.

The question we need to ask reading these verses is this – am I showing earthly wisdom in my relationships at the moment? Is there is any evidence of pride or disorder with my Christian brothers and sisters, with my parents, with my spouse, with my children…? For the Husbands and Father's among us, we need to constantly be asking whether we are parenting our children and leading our wives sacrificially with what they need, or are we controlling them according to our own desires and selfish convenience?

That's earthly wisdom. And James contrasts it with my 2nd point:

2. HEAVENLY WISDOM (3v17-18)

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (3.17-18)

What a list! But note the source of this wisdom: …it is 'from above', ie beyond us, a gift bestowed on us by God, it is not naturally part of us. Proverbs 2 which we heard read earlier picks up on this. v.6 "For the Lord gives wisdom"… and v.10 "wisdom will come into your heart" And James is saying that the heart of heavenly wisdom is an attitude of humility that comes from having God in his rightful place and therefore the ability to see ourselves as we should.

Let's briefly look at some of these attributes and ask the question James does. "Is heavenly wisdom what we're showing in our relationships…?'

Are our hearts pure?
Are we untainted by selfish motives, do we have as our chief concern the glory of God?
Are our hearts peaceable?
Are we first and foremost reconciled to God?
Are we slow to take offence and quick to resolve offence?
Are our hearts gentle?
Are we kind, or do we get aggressive and loud when we don't get our own way?
Are our hearts full of mercy?
When we have done wrong we want so much to receive mercy, but when the boot is on the other foot are we willing to let mercy flow as unconditionally as it has flowed into our lives?
Look at how James refers to this attitude – it is 'full' of mercy. Not a little bit merciful, or a little bit forgiving.
Just think for a minute about the implications of that.
We need to be people who show mercy, who forgive – no matter what the offence against us. That is at heart what characterises us as Christians.
You may say Jon, you don't know my circumstances.
You may say Jon I can't forget what they did, what they said.
And I'd say. You don't need to.
Forgiveness is not about forgetting, but it is about giving up the right to get even, it is about giving up the desire to hold a grudge. True, there is no reconciliation without repentance, true trust takes time to be rebuilt.

But James is saying that we cannot call ourselves Christians and then not be people who are full of mercy ourselves.

If earthly wisdom results in disorder and vile practices what is the equivalent for this heavenly wisdom? Where does this heavenly wisdom lead? Well James gives us the answer in v.18. It leads to [And] a harvest of righteousness [is] sown in peace by those who make peace. In other words it leads to a harvest of right living, of good conduct before God and with each other. Earthy wisdom, with the fruit of disorder. Heavenly wisdom, with the fruit of peace. James says you show your wisdom by your fruit.

Now, some of you may well be saying "it's all very well for James to tell us there are two wisdoms, and to tell us in such a way that makes it obvious which one is best. But what I really want/need to know is how! How do I get that wisdom? How do I get that peace? Well fear not, because James won't disappoint. As we transition into chapter 4 James explains how wisdom is found and applied through the context of conflict. From my outline you'll see how James progresses his thinking. Heavenly wisdom leads to tackling conflict in a godly way. But before we get there we can see the parallel between earthly wisdom tackling conflict in a worldly manner.

3. WORLDLY CONFLICT (4v1-5)

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (4v1)

Once again, James wants to get to the heart of the issue – and with searing clarity he again shows that the issue is the heart! We're talking about the pleasures, the desires, our felt needs, the seeking and demanding things for self and self alone. This is the earthly wisdom of jealousy and selfish ambition. And James exaggerates his language with words like war, murder and fights. He doesn't mean it literally but he wants to stress the horror and just how seriously God takes the fracturing of fellowship - both between believers and between a believer and God.

We see it first between believers in these verses.V.1:

your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. (v1-2)

And then we see it between the Christian and God

You do not have, because you do not ask.3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (v2-3)

And then he says

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? (v4-5)

What is being described here is a lack of peace and the presence of conflict on all levels. And in his compassion to help those he is writing to James begins with lack of peace within the individual, moves on to a lack of peace between believers before reaching the crucial and most significant problem – a lack of peace with God. And he doesn't mince his words. If you follow earthly wisdom you are by definition an enemy of God.

One of the really sobering things for us, as individuals and corporately as Jesmond Parish Church – is to consider who James is writing to. In case you'd forgotten, James is Jesus' little brother who has grown up to be the leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem. Early on that church was the vanguard of (doctrinal) orthodoxy and any major disagreements were dealt with at Jerusalem. That's what's going on in Acts 15 when a council was convened to deal with the divisive issue of whether the gentile converts needed circumcision. Anyway, the leader of this church is writing a letter to numerous Christian communities that have been scattered…and he is able to make the same general comment on all alike "your passions are at war within you…you adulterous people….whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." We cannot presume that if James were writing this today, to us in particular, he would phrase it any differently.

What he is in effect saying is that by your quarrelling and fighting you look like friends of the world. ie, you're behaving like the world – the 'Christian' church and 'Christian' homes are looking no different from the failed way the world relates. And you know what JPC? James says if we look no different, then at heart we are no different. If you are in a quarrel at the moment with your Christian brother or sister, if you know that there is a problem with the relationship between you and another believer, then examine your heart and ask yourself: What is my justification for being here: is there any hint of pride, self-righteousness, and selfish-ambition? I submit to you that James would say that any justification of earthly wisdom and conflict runs counter to someone who is pure, gentle, peaceable, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.

All of this is pretty tough isn't it? – And you may conclude that there is no hope and the best we can do is to avoid any conflict at all. But that's impossible this side of glory for two reasons. Firstly, we're all sinners! We're going to rub each other up the wrong way, we're going to do and say things we wished we hadn't. Secondly, we know we're engaged in a spiritual battle. We're at war! And when we're at war we expect conflict. When a soldier is shot at, he might not like it, but his not surprised, his feelings aren't hurt – he doesn't peer out over his foxhole and shout "Oi, was it something I said?" No he expects it and he plans on it! And so the key is to take the heavenly wisdom that James was on about earlier and plan to apply conflict in a Godly manner. So my fourth point:

4. GODLY CONFLICT (4v5-12)

If worldly conflict is fuelled by pride and winning, then by contrast Godly conflict is fuelled by humility and worship – worshipping the one true God! Verse 6: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

James is saying that Godly living is about all humility. Dealing with inevitable conflict in this life is all about doing it in the godly attitude of humility.

But let me back up a moment because we need to see three things here. Three things that James tells us will help us apply heavenly wisdom to godly living.

a. Firstly we need to remember the Holy Spirit dwells in us
Whatever else verse 5 may say (commentators are unsure of the exact meaning) it tells us that the Spirit dwelling in us is first and foremost God's work and that his presence in us is a work of grace that is incompatible with sinful, proud, jealous yearnings. So we need to invite him to govern our emotions and reactions.

b. Secondly, we need to remember that God is so gracious!
And his grace just keeps coming! v.6 But he gives more grace. I don't know about you but I find that wonderfully encouraging. God never gives up! He gives more and more grace! As one commentator says:

Whatever we may forfeit when we put self first, we cannot forfeit our salvation, for there is always more grace….His resources are never at an end, his patience is never exhausted, his initiative never stops, his generosity knows no limit: he gives more grace!" (Alec Motyer, BST Message of James)Praise God!

Apparently there was a cartoon that once appeared in the New Yorker magazine that showed an exasperated father saying to his prodigal son, "This is the fourth time we've killed the fatted calf." But that's what God done (minus the exasperation) over and over in my lifetime. He gives more grace!

c. Thirdly, we need to pursue humility

v.6 "Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

v.10 says Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

If we pursue humility, God will give us grace. If we pursue humility, God will exalt us at the right time. But the humble have to play their part. We are not passive recipients of God's grace in our lives. We are not instantly and completely made perfectly holy when we are saved / when God's grace zaps us and takes hold of our lives – it doesn't work like that. At the same time that God says "here's my limitless supply of grace", he also says "here are my commands to obey". There is no contradiction here for James at all. They are two sides of the same coin. Here's my grace, now obey my commands. And where would we be without these pointers between v6&10 of what to do in these situations. This is one of the reasons that I love the book of James – it's so well applied – and in these following verses James, having stated the all sufficient nature of God's grace, marries it to our responsibility. God's sufficiency plus our responsibility.

So what are we to do?

Verse 7: We are to "submit yourselves therefore to God. In other words we put ourselves in a position where we actively hand over control of our lives to God, we obey him and come under his authority, not our own. It's an attitude that recognises that it's not about winning; but it's about worshiping. How can I please the Lord, how can I honour him, how can I bring him glory in everything I do?

Someone once described submitting to God like this:

At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I died. He was out there sort of like the president, I recognised his picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know him. But later on when I met Christ it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me peddle. I don't know just when it was that he suggested that we change places, but life has not been the same since."To submit to God is to give him control.

What else? Verse 7 continues…

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (v7-8)

The only way to resist the devil is to draw near to God. To resist Satan is to actively set up the defences against him. To put in place measures that not only protect you but take you closer to God, through his word, through prayer, through meeting with fellow believers. We need to be intentional in the Holy Spirit's power. It doesn't just happen!

What else? Verse 8:

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (v8)

What James is saying, in his very practical way, is that if you are going to draw near to God you need to get right with him. He is taking us down the road of continuing repentance. And he's not just concerned with the outer appearance (the clean hands), once again he is directing us to our hearts. He is concerned with what is going on the inside.

And this concern for a continuing, brutally honest repentance finds expression in verse 9:

Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

James isn't wanting people to be miserable for the sake of it, he's no killjoy. He wants us to recognise the seriousness of our sin and repent of it. There is no other way. This side of glory we need regular honest assessments of how sinful we are and keep coming to God for forgiveness.

And don't forget – he…gives…more….grace!

I can think of no better example of humility and submission to God and resisting the devil than the demonstration of heavenly wisdom and God's grace in the testimony of Corrie Ten Boom.

CTB was a lady who had been imprisoned in a Concentration Camp by the Nazis in WW2 for helping hide Jews. She lost her Father and sister, Betsie, at that time because of the way they were treated, but God sustained her and after the war she travelled extensively testifying to God's love. Here's what she wrote about one remarkable encounter:

It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein." He said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? "Lord Jesus," I prayed, "forgive me and help me to forgive him."I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. "Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness."As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself." (Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place)

How's that for a practical example of what James calls "a harvest of righteousness" in v.18 of ch3? Corrie Ten Boom experienced what James is preaching here. Her obedience and God's power. The two marry together and in an attitude of humility and submission.

God in his rightful place.

The devil resisted.

True peace established.