James 1:1-4

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, 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, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. " (James 1:1-4)

James first identifies himself as a servant of Jesus and addresses his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered throughout the world because of persecution. He then gives a short introduction: Greetings. James then wastes no time in getting to the meat of his letter. What he says next is shocking and counter-cultural to us as Americans:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you experience trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

How many of us get excited and joyful when we think about the trials that lie ahead of us in our lives? I certainly do not. I can't imagine the tribes to whom this letter was addressed were very excited or joyful about the persecution they were most likely enduring when James wrote this letter. How can we make sense of the command James gives us?

Let's first identify some key terms James uses in these verses. What does James mean by trials? More often than not the Bible interprets itself and that is the case we find here. In verse 3 James uses “the testing of your faith” synonymously with the word “trials”. So we can say that a trial is anything that tests our faith or would cause us to question any aspect about who God has revealed himself to be or what he has commanded us to do. Eve experienced a trial in the garden when the serpent raised the question “Did God really say...” The serpent got Eve to question a command that God had given to Adam. Oksana and I recently went through a period of about a week when we thought we had a miscarriage. This was a trial for us because it caused us to question certain aspects of who God has revealed himself to be, namely a good, loving God. When we are tempted to gossip so others will think highly of us we are experiencing a trial and faced with the question of whose approval we seek more, man's or God's. So we can safely say that trials are tests we face in which we have a decision to believe or disbelieve God.

Another key term in these verses in the term “steadfastness”. I'd like to define steadfastness as a perseverance which has faith or hope for its basis.

James says that steadfastness or perseverance is a product of trials or the testing of our faith that comes every day. As we experience trials we are faced with the decision to either trust in God or to trust in something else. James is clear in saying that the test or trial is what produces the steadfastness, not our decisions in the face of those tests or trials. In Psalm 1 David compares the man who delights in God to a tree planted by streams of water. That tree is a great picture of steadfastness. That tree will persevere through storm or hardship but only because it is planted by the streams of water. If we go back to our definition that steadfastness is a perseverance which has faith or hope for its basis we can see that just as the streams of water were the tree's source of perseverance in Psalm 1, who God is and what He's done, also known as the Gospel, is where our hope for perseverance and steadfastness comes from. Our steadfastness is rooted in the Gospel, not in our right decisions.

Why then should we follow James' command to “count it all joy” when we experience trials? Because when we experience trials God reveals to us the truth about who He is in very real and tangible ways. When we see God reveal to us that he is a perfect loving father who in all things is working for our good we become less dependent on our own strength and more dependent on His. As a result we are able to persevere through trials when they come because our strength is found in who He is, what He has done, and what He continues to do, and not in ourselves. This ever-growing dependence on God is process is called sanctification. God uses trials in our lives to sanctify us.

So how does steadfastness lead to us being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”? When we experience trials we inevitably become more dependent on the Gospel for our strength. God shows us through trials that we cannot live our lives on our own strength much less rely on our own strength and good works to reunite us with Him. Steadfastness has its “full effect” when we realize and trust that every time we face a trial, our hope and strength is found in the person and work of Jesus and not in ourselves. The result of this trusting in the Gospel with each trial is that you are now being made perfect or sanctified through the work of Jesus.

Paul gives us an explanation of how we are made perfect through Jesus' work of dying on the cross: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21). We have all sinned. We have all turned from God and chosen to worship other things. But while we were in the midst of this rebellion God sent his son to live a life in perfect submission to Him, the life we were meant to live. Jesus lived a perfect life. He is the perfect man. When Jesus was crucified on the cross he took the sin of all of God's people on himself. He was punished for our sin. That is what Paul means when he says “he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” Not only did Jesus satisfy God's wrath against sin by going to the cross, he also gave us his righteousness. Martin Luther called this the great exchange. Jesus took our place on the cross and gave us his place with the Father. He took our sin and gave us his perfection. That is how it is possible for us to be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”, by trusting in what Jesus has done for us and continues to do in us.

As followers of Jesus are able to then “count it all joy” when we experience trials and hardships in our lives because of the amazing news of who God is, what He has done and what He continues to do. Through trials we realize that God is revealing to us in personal ways the truth about who He is. Through trials God shows us that He is all that we need. Through trials we see that He is a God who keeps His promises. Through trials God shows us how insufficient we are and how sufficient He is. Through trials we realize that God is deepening our dependence on His work and not ours. This dependence on the person and work of Jesus means that we can truly "count it all joy" when we experience trials because we know that we are made "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" not through our decisions in the face of trials but in and through the person and work of Jesus.

If you'd like to listen to more on this topic here is my friend and pastor Brent Thomas talking about joy in the midst of trials: http://bit.ly/gBcbyY