The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
The
Fourth Sunday after Easter
May 6, 2012
James 1:18 ” … so that we
might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. “
And
Ezekiel 37:3 “And he said unto me, Son of man, can these
bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.”
Allow me to have you consider one thought for today: first
fruits.
This is the major insight available to us today from the Word
of God taken not only from the Prophecy of Ezekiel, but also the Epistle of
James. In these important passages,
something incredible is bestowed on the people of God as we see the “golden
thread” of the Gospel running through both, as the major theme of first
fruits shines clearly through.
First, let us consider one of most instructive, yet terse
books in the New Testament, the Book of James.
It was a book that was not admitted into the canon of the New Testament
without some controversy, according to John Calvin. He mentions that he accepts it as having
apostolic authority, but not without noting that he believes it was written,
not by James the son of Zebedee, but rather James the son of Alphaeus. This is
the same James whom Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Galatians as one of
the ‘pillars” of the Church. Calvin’s reason for thinking this is the fact that
Herod martyred James the son of Zebedee soon after Our Lord’s resurrection.[1]
At any rate, as interesting as this may be to Biblical
scholars and to those of us interested in Biblical orthodoxy, the real message
comes from James’ instruction in righteousness. James tells us that every good
and perfect gift comes from God, with whom is no “variation or shifting
shadow.” In other words, all good comes
from God. In fact, every “perfect” gift comes from God as well.
While we would not doubt that, being fully persuaded of God’s
absolute goodness, James wrote this in answer to those who felt that God
brought evil as well as good.[2] We Christians also believe that God does not
bring forth evil, for this is against His nature. Notwithstanding this, it is likely that God
allows men to exercise their natural sinful impulses in order to accomplish
some divine purpose. For example, the
impulses and desires of a suzerain like Nebuchadnezzar served God’s purposes,
as he allowed him to conquer many peoples, including Israel and Judah. Later, God would allow the apostasy of Judah
to follow her natural consequences as she rebelled against God, her heavenly
ruler and also Nebuchadnezzar, her earthly ruler. This rebellion, both on a theological and
temporal level, led to the destruction of the Temple and much of Jerusalem,
including its wall. This was the
beginning of sorrows for the Jews of the Southern Kingdom. In short, their
personal heterodoxy led to national rebellion and thus to its natural
consequences.
Yet, as important as this information is, it is not the real
message in this passage, which James reveals next. He tells us that God brought us forth by the
word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits among his
creatures. We are called to be something fresh, something new to mankind and to
the world. We are to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. We are
to put away “all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness” in order that we may
receive the word of salvation engrafted in our souls. To accomplish this, we are to be doers, not
just hearers of the word. By remembering this call to action, we will remember
who we are and our calling. In short, we
are to be the “first fruits” of righteousness.
We are to show forth new life.
The reading from Ezekiel also foreshadows this. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, found itself in
a position similar to Judah, but many years earlier. She too had rebelled
against God and she too were conquered and taken captive by a foreign power.
This time, rather than the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, it was the Assyrians
under their suzerain, Tiglath-Pileser.
Ezekiel’s ministry was centered on his work among the exiles. He brought them a word of hope in their
gloom, as he foretold the rising again of the house of Israel. Our reading
about Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones clearly shows this, as he is
placed among an exceeding great pile of dry bones, of which he is told,
prophetically, is the whole house of Israel.
Both Ezekiel and James tie speak as one voice on the beauty
of regeneration, new birth, or first fruits. Ezekiel sees the pile of dry
bones, stretching out as far as the eye can see. From an initial viewpoint,
this is a dead scene. Yet, the Lord asks
him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” The Lord is about to demonstrate the
principle of regeneration. All life is
His and He is about to give Ezekiel a lesson in new life and new hope. Even though Israel has lost hope in their
captivity and exile, the Lord has plans for them. Referring to Ezekiel 37:11-12
“11 Then he said unto
me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say,
Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves,
and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of
Israel.” What is the message here? Simpy this: when
man has lost hope, God never does. It is impossible for Him to do so,
because he always views every act as complete.
That is, God beings forth every act with the end pre-ordained.
Thus it is with Israel in this situation. God would and will never forsake His People,
even though He may allow them to wander in the wilderness for while and to
suffer oppression. In Ezekiel’s vision, the army stood upon its feet, but there
was no breath in them, no life. Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy upon and to
command the four winds to breathe upon them.
He does so and they are an “exceeding great army” . What is fascinating about this is that the
word used, x;Wr (Heb. -
rûaµ, ) is the same word used when God breathed life into Adam in Genesis 2. Thus, in effect, God is recreating
Israel from death to life and from hopelessness to vibrancy. Despite their sinfulness, He wants to
regenerate them to be a kind of first fruit among the peoples.
Note also that the word of God through
prophecy is that which brings life. Ezekiel speaks life to the bones and they
live. Similarly, God speaks life to us through Christ and we live. The message
is the same, both in the O.T. and the N.T: God’s Word brings light and life to
all who listen.
If we return to James, we read that we,
as the first fruits, are not only to hear the word but to do it. In James’ mind, receiving the word means
acting on it as well. We are not to
simply hear, nod our head and walk away.
Doing this, we very well may forget what we have heard, just as a man
may forget his own looks after viewing them in a mirror.
No, we are to act upon the Word as it
impacts our soul. We are to “look into
the perfect law of liberty” and abide in it, becoming habitual in doing as well
as hearing. As we do this, we will truly become the first fruits of God and do
what pleases Hm.
Yet, having patience with ourselves, as
God certainly does, we must realize that we will not become holy at all
once. Returning once again to John
Calvin, we hear:”And this doctrine is very useful, for spiritual generation is
not a work of one moment. Since some remnants of the old man ever abide in us,
we must necessarily be through life renewed, until the flesh be abolished; for
either our perverseness, or arrogance, or sloth, is a great impediment to God
in perfecting in us his work.”
Just as Calvin recognized, as did
Luther, that the “old man” is persistent in his ways, we who wish to be holy
someday must be patient. Our growth in holiness may be more immediate, or it
may be the work of a lifetime. At any
rate, let us all begin this important work. Let us beseech God that He see fit to call us
to repentance and new life in Him. Let us ask Him to renew us, build us,
restore us and empower us. Finally, let
us, like Ezekiel, find new hope breathed into our very souls.
If we hear the Word of God and act upon
it, we will find new life. As we begin to be both hearers and doers of the
Word, we will note the spiritual health of our being. Perhaps, like Ezekiel, we
feel that all hope is lost and we are cut off. Perhaps. It happens to all of us
at some time or another. We must reject that thought and instead hear the
prophecy of life blowing into our souls.
We will breathe again the new life of faith, of hope, and of love. We
too will stand upon our feet again, an “exceeding great army” of the faithful,
full of the grace and strength of God.
We will know that God has accomplished this and we will act accordingly,
“not
having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer.” [3] In so
doing, we shall be blessed in what we do.
James 1:22 “But be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost.
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