The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
The
Fourth Sunday after Easter
May 18, 2014
James 1:18 ” … so that we
might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. “
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 from the Epistle of James.
In this important passage, something meaningful is bestowed on the
people of God as we see the major theme of first fruits shining clearly
through.
Let us briefly 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 “is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.” 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 forth evil as well as good.[2] We Christians 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, in the Old Testament, 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 against 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, as their personal
heterodoxy led to national rebellion and 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.
Thus, in James’ mind, receiving the word
means acting on it as well. We are not
simply to hear, nod our head, and walk away.
Doing this, we may very well 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
Martin Luther, that the “old man” is persistent in his ways, we who wish to be
holy someday must be patient today. Our growth in holiness may be more
immediate, or it may be the work of a lifetime.
Yet, let us all begin this important work. Let us beseech God that He sees 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.
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, 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 all that 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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