Christ Church Washington D.C.

Our sermon text this morning comes from the letter of James, chapter 1, the first four verses. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s word. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, and she may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing. Then Acts 8, verse 1 says,

And Saul approved of Stephen’s execution. And there rose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered, dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The word of the Lord. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, especially as we push out into a new book. We are grateful for the letter of James, and we will pray, Holy Spirit,

that as the apostle inspired by the Spirit would have wanted us, that as we give ourselves to the boot camp of this book, that we would come out on the other side more mature in the faith and more glad in the gospel and more confident in the providence of God over every second of our journey. Through Christ our Lord, and it is in his name that the people of God said, Amen and Amen.

Well, today we do begin a new sermon series through the letter, the epistle of James.

Real quick flyover over the next few weeks in our sermon time. Today, I’ll do more of an introduction generally on the book of James. It’ll feel a bit more like a sermon flavored lecture that rather than a full throttled sermon as intros are want to be. Then next week, I’ll be here leading the service, but Pastor Ben Zorns will be in town from Moscow. And so he’s going to minister the word to us. And then after that, we’ll get into the meat of the letter itself and begin our exposition of it

in earnest. But now in this sermon, I would like to introduce you to the book of James. James is somewhat unique within the canon of the New Testament in that it really reads more as the wisdom literature that we find in the Old Testament, the Proverbs and the Ecclesiastes. James is brimful of on-the-ground, earthy, practical, dirt-under-the-fingernails exhortations.

For James, of course, faith is essential. It is important. But he also makes it crystal clear that true faith, the kind that saves, saving faith, is not something that just happens between your ears.

Genuine faith lives. Genuine faith flows out of your fingertips. James insists on this so much that he even has that notable verse in 2.24 where he says,

This has even famously compelled Martin Luther when he was writing his preface to the New Testament to say, in comparison to Paul and John, he is an epistle of straw. Well, he went on to say, James has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.

Luther didn’t get everything right, just so you know. Got a lot of things right. And that’s because, of course, he thought that James ran roughshod over the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which one can understand if you just abstract that verse out of context. That was so precious to him for good reason. It was the rallying cry of the Reformation. We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

He didn’t like James. He cast sidelong glances at this rogue letter and far preferred the seemingly more gospel-soaked letters of Romans and Galatians. Now, of course, there would be a problem, of course, if James and Paul were in contradiction. But in fact, they are not when understood contextually and understood given the semantic range of the word justification. What all can that mean when we say that?

To use the fancy words, justification can have a forensic thrust. Namely, it can mean a legal declaration in a moment, or it can have an evidentiary thrust. It can mean evidence, fruit that reveals that moment actually happened.

As our Lord said, with merciful simplicity, you will know what kind of tree it is by what kind of fruit it bears. This is the angle James is emphasizing in his letter, and we’ll get more to that when we get to that text itself. But what’s true is the gospel and the implications of the gospel, what it looks like when it goes to work in a people,

is all throughout the epistle of James. That’s what it’s all about. Of course, we’re saved by faith alone, but what does that look like when it actually hits the ground to quote Francis Schaeffer’s iconic line, how then shall we live if we have trusted in Christ? Does the Spirit have any power that shows up on a Tuesday afternoon? James would say, well, of course. And so would Paul, of course.

James wants to make it clear that lip service about Jesus’ lordship means nothing if you are not living under Jesus’ lordship. It doesn’t matter if you say, Christ as king, I don’t care how big the font is or how bold it is. The question is, are you actually living like it? Or James would say, do you love the royal law that flows down from your king? This is what he’s getting at. Side note,

Luther did personally edit out that slander against James in the later editions of that work, though he never actually retracted it, though. I don’t think he had it in him. James doesn’t sound exactly like Paul, of course, not because he has a different theology, but because he’s writing to a different audience.

in a different context who needs a unique exhortation to address their specific challenges and their specific temptations. See, when God chose to communicate to us through a book,

The story of his redemptive dealings in the world, that’s what scripture is. He did not send it to us as a shrink-wrapped set of systematic theology. Neatly formatted, properly indented, cold, blunt facts. He did not do that, thanks be to God. It came to us as a grand, true story. Different genres, different authors, different contexts, different audiences. And this is important. The good Bible student always remembers that when he’s reading scripture,

What he was reading wasn’t written to him, but it was written for him. What I’m reading, okay, wasn’t written to me, but it was written for me. And to rightly understand how it applies to you, you have to understand the author’s original audience and the atmosphere he was writing into. And we’ll look at that in just a moment. But first, let’s consider the author himself. So what we know is it was written by James.

Verse 1, James, a servant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notably, James is actually, in the original, the name Jacob. It’s Jacobus in Greek. James actually is Jacobus.

The late Latin got us all confused because it softened the B to an M, and then when we took it on, we just said James is easier to say. But it really is Jacob. So that’s where we got that. So in this letter written by Jacobus or James, we know that much, but which James is it? Which James could have had the apostolic authority, the pastoral gravitas to write this letter in this context?

We have three James in the New Testament that in theory could fit that bill. There’s James, the son of Zebedee. He was one of the 12, the brother of John, one that the Lord called one of the sons of thunder. There’s James, the son of Alphaeus, also known as James, the lesser one of the 12. He only ever shows up in the listing of the disciples, nothing else notable. And there’s James, the brother of our Lord.

who before the Lord’s resurrection was actually himself something of a skeptic. John 7, 5 tells us that even his brothers did not believe in him during his life.

But that changed. After the resurrection, Brother James became not only a believer, but a stalwart leader in the church, the first bishop of sorts, actually oversaw the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and would ultimately give his life for the faith. He would die for his faith in his brother, who he knew was the Messiah.

Well, the overwhelming consensus has been that this letter was written by James, the brother of our Lord. There were some outliers. Calvin, for instance, was open to it being James the Lesser. Now, I’m going to throw a little wrench into things. Bear with me. I’m not prepared to go against the majority of church history yet, but I will simply say there’s a minority view that has compelling reasons for seeing James, the son of Zebedee,

and the brother of John as a likely potential author. I just want to offer it to you. I don’t want to spend too much time here. It doesn’t change the authority of the letter, of course, but a little detective work is warranted because considering it helps situate us more closely to the actual atmosphere that this letter was written within. Here’s how.

The main reason that it is assumed that James, the son of Zebedee, could not have possibly written this letter, he’s just dismissed from the get-go. It’s not even considered. The reason is because he died in AD 44, in Acts 12. He died really early. And people say, well, he couldn’t have written it yet. He just died too early. That’s how the argument goes. He lost his head. He can’t write the letter because obviously it could not have been written before 44.

And James, the brother of Jesus, became the leader. It must be him. But there’s one issue with that argument. There’s really no strong reason to believe the letter was written after his death in Acts 12. In fact, there’s quite compelling reason to believe it was written very early on in the 30s before his death.

And this brings us to the atmosphere. So it’s written to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. James says that at the very beginning. James, servant of God, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. That’s the audience. Look at that more in a minute as well. But for now, I simply want to connect that

So who he’s writing it to, to the other verse I read at the beginning, namely Acts 8. So that was the moment that the dispersion, the scattering happened. So it’s right after the stoning of Stephen, what Saul slash Paul over Saul approved of, great persecution breaks out against the church. So they run, they disperse, they flee deeper into Judea and Samaria.

Later in Acts 11, we get another report about this dispersed church. This is before James’ death, son of Zebedee. We hear that the ministry is growing. Even the Gentiles are getting converted through their work, through their witness, and the church starts to take greater roots and sees more structure form. Well, that is precisely the context James is writing to.

He’s writing to the 12 tribes, that is the new Israel, the church who have been dispersed, who are facing fierce, violent resistance to them. He’s writing to call them to remain steadfast during that trial, to understand God is forging and purifying and maturing their faith through the persecution, through the displacements.

So this is clearly one of the front burner issues in the church that the letter speaks directly to before his death. So the timeline of Acts 8 to 12 spans 10 to 14 years. It fits surprisingly neatly in the narrative. And to make a compelling argument for his authorship at a later date just isn’t assumed.

There’s no conclusive reason a later date must be assumed. A few other quick drive-by pieces that might add a little weight to this argument in his direction. Not only was he martyred in Acts 12, the text says that Herod saw that the people approved. They loved that James got martyred, which means he was a snare in their side. Could it be?

Even writing this letter was partly evidence that he had become a big deal and was encouraging the church that was being persecuted. Two, he was one of Jesus’ three closest apostles. Remember, there’s Peter, and then there’s James, and then his brother John, the one who wrote the gospel and the epistles. Obviously, Peter wrote an epistle as well. It is not a stretch at all to imagine James would have as well.

Three, it’s likely that Matthew’s gospel was the first New Testament book and written very early as well. I don’t have space to argue that here. But if entertained, which I think it should be, the overlaps between James and Matthew are absolutely striking, specifically with the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew alone records.

James makes no less than 16 clear references to Jesus’ most famous sermon in that gospel. He speaks of joy amidst persecution. He speaks of a generous Father bestowing good gifts, of being doers, not just hearers. He speaks of mourning that will lead to rejoicing. He speaks of not serving two masters because friendship with the world is enmity towards God.

He says, be slow to judge your brother. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t store up treasure that will rot. And on and on and on. And so if the writing of the New Testament goes Matthew, then James, both quite early, we’d expect James to draw heavily from it, which he clearly does. So which James was it?

God alone knows. But I believe a good case can be made for James, the son of Zebedee, with this letter written during the post-Steven scattering, 8 through 11, when that situation was so hot before his death in Acts 12. But we’ll leave the topic there for now. This is obviously not a test of orthodoxy, but hey, I have Rich Lusk on my side, which is always really fun. Okay, now let’s move on. So we already saw that this was written to the 12 tribes in the dispersion.

Now, this is James’ way of addressing the church, the true Israel of God, in opposition to the Jewish Sanhedrin who, in their unbelief, obviously maintained that they were the true Israel of God when, in fact, their age was sunsetting and would come to an end in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple. And this beginning lands with a greater thud when we recall James is actually Jacob in the original. And so this is Jacob saying,

giving a word to the 12 tribes of Israel. Draw any connections there? How about Jacob in Genesis 49, giving a word to his 12 sons before they established the 12 tribes. This is another Jacob instructing 12 new tribes, the Christian church, as the Lord establishes them in these early hard years.

And he’s writing not primarily to the church generally, though the entire church obviously could benefit from what he’s saying, but it seems he’s writing specifically to the leaders within the dispersed church. There’s a very important detail in Acts 8 that we could skip right over, but is actually important for the context. It says, Acts 8.1, they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, everyone except the apostles.

Everyone except the apostles. Now, of course, the apostles still had a pulse on the happenings in the dispersion. Acts 8.14 says that when they got wind that Samaria had received the word, they sent Peter and John to encourage. However, this providential scattering, this shakeup, would have caused significant leadership challenges. They would have needed more leaders, and these leaders would have needed more wisdom, more

more encouragement, not only to know how they should be responding personally to what they’re encountering, but also how should they pastor this church with these specific temptations as they do ministry in a pressure cooker. To appreciate what this letter addresses, we must labor to get in the skin of these folks. Remember,

The Sanhedrin, driven by rage and envy, had murdered Jesus. Obviously, that was not successful. He didn’t stay dead. He rose. He ascended on high. However, this did not dampen their resolve to try to destroy Jesus. It only intensified it. And since they could no longer get at Jesus himself at the right seat of the Father, they

The Sanhedrin unleash their special forces, as it were, to go after Jesus by trying to destroy his body, the church. Going back to Acts 8, in verse 2, we get the burial of Stephen. He’s martyred. Then verse 3, it says this, but Saul, also the apostle Paul, Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Now, just imagine how disruptive this would be to a new Jewish convert to Christianity. Not only are they entirely displaced from their home, they had to flee from Jerusalem. But just months before, these same men who are literally hunting them down Gestapo style were their Sunday school teachers at the synagogue.

They’ve murdered Steven. They’re coming for me now. This is the context.

This is what James is talking about when he says, counting it all joy when you face trials. This is not waiting five minutes for a latte when you have a meeting. This is hard to fathom persecution that’s very close to home. Leave your home. Sunday school teachers killed Stephen. Coming for you. You’re the enemy. Another disorienting factor arises, and it’s the question,

Now, again, think new convert. This would have been true for the apostles, no doubt as well. But if the Messiah has come, the one who is to lay low our oppressors and to establish his kingdom of peace, why aren’t we winning? Like what in the world is happening now?

Not only does it seem like we’re losing, things have gotten so much more worse since his ascension. We see even at the beginning of Acts, this is the question. This is on the front burner of the disciples’ mind. Before the Lord ascends, this is the last thing they say to him. It’s a question. The question is, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Are we going to see this in the next 10 minutes?

This is what their expectation was. That’s Acts 1.6. And the Lord tells them they’re not going to get a detailed timeline. Rather, they are to wait for the Holy Spirit, whom He will send, He will empower, and then they are to get to work with where the Spirit leads them.

Now Jesus has ascended, but their enemies only seem more empowered and they only seem to be more oppressed. And this tempts some, not only towards discouragement, but towards taking matters into their own hands, towards taking the zealot’s path and starting to actually look and act like they’re oppressors, even within the church. Through their vitriolic speech, James hammers on this. They bless God and

And they turn around and curse men, just like those who are coming after them. James likens their words to setting forest fires, vitriol going viral within the church. So these things ought not be. What are you doing? You’re Christians.

They quarrel amongst themselves. So much so, it appears violent clashes are happening within the church. Chapter 4, what causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this? Your passions are at war within you. You desire and you can’t get, so you murder.

We often think that’s hyperbole. I’m not so sure it is. Far from modeling a striking contrast to those who are hunting them down, seeking to destroy them, the church is starting and being tempted to look like them, to employ the same tactics, to allow their persecution to inflame their own sinful passions.

So that they start to resemble the enemies of Christ and not Christ himself. And so Pastor James grabs them by the shoulders, throws water in their face to wake them up. How inconsistent this is. How unbecoming of Christians their actions are. And how, to be frank, they need to grow up. They need to mature. They need to be adult followers of Jesus. And so, beloved,

In 2026 in Washington, D.C., James is a very timely word for us as well. It wasn’t written to us. Oh, it was written for us.

Because we face the same temptation in our day, especially given the trajectory of our country over the last century and the active hostility that we face as Christians. There’s a temptation towards frustration, towards discouragement, towards being perplexed as to why Jesus isn’t winning quicker.

Why isn’t he moving with greater power? Why would he allow this good land, a land that was founded in his name, to be overrun by those who hate him and hate the faith and hate virtue that it was built upon? This can tempt the church not merely towards discouragement.

but towards impatience, towards an unhinged zealotry, a Boromir impulse that wants to grab the ring to fight under Gondor’s banner, which becomes looking like Gollum in the process. This is James’ concern that a good and holy zeal for Jesus can turn into a hypocritical zealotry in Jesus’ name.

He says, how unbecoming, how unbecoming to pour out the fresh water of blessing during service on Sunday and then gush the brackish water of bitterness and cursing the other days. Chapter 3 says, brothers, these things ought not be. A true well, a life-giving well, a Christian well cannot flow fresh living water and salt water at the same time. Instead, James is going to give them wisdom.

earthy, aged Christian wisdom on walking well amidst the disorienting dispersion. And the first thing they must gain is patience. Patience amidst trials. Because what Jesus is up to in redeeming the world is

is going to be a far longer, far more dramatic, far more unlikely and better story than they first realized. The kingdom isn’t Amazon-primed with two-day delivery after the ascension. Rather, it is like a mustard seed. So small, but grows slowly and unstoppably through many twists and turns.

They need the wisdom that understands the affliction that they’re facing does not mean Jesus isn’t winning. Rather, the affliction they’re facing is actually an essential part of the expansion of the kingdom. The gospel does not take root in the world or in a city by quickly overthrowing Rome or stopping the Sanhedrin. Of course, Jesus could have done that.

if you wanted to, but it also comes through sanctifying the church, making real sinners grow into real holiness after they’ve been saved, which it turns out takes immense pressure. So even in this current hardship, what’s true is all the sinful reactions that are oozing out of them amidst the persecution, it was not caused by the persecution.

All that gunk was already in them. This was just the mechanism that exposed it. And he wants them to realize this so they can become grown-up Christians whose faith has been refined and purified by fire and now produces the fruits of maturity, even in the trenches, which does not look like being a keyboard warrior who starts firestorms through rage baiting.

It looks like earthy, practical piety. Having a patient passion for the advancement of the kingdom. Having a tame tongue that knows how to cast the light of truth, but not in the way a flamethrower does. And having generous hands that look to bless the needy.

not to use the rich or influential in the church like rungs on an ambition ladder. It looks like mercy towards widows and orphans. It looks like having a holy zeal that does not devolve into a hypocritical zealotry. And under it all, it looks like an unwavering faith in the providence of God, even and especially through the twists and swerves and sorrows and trials that are sure to come, trusting that for the Christian,

He is working all things for good, turning us into grown-up, mature Christians who will, by faith, leave a massive dent in D.C.’s darkness. In Jesus’ name and over the long haul.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we are thankful that you are more committed to our holiness than we ever would be, which means you’re more committed to our happiness. Help us to believe that through this study. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray.

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