THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 4 & 5, 1999

St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church - Watertown, WI

BE A PEACEMAKER NOT A TROUBLEMAKER James 3:6-18

Life is full of conflicts and troubles. As the Apostle Paul once said, "We must go through many hardships to enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22b) We see those conflicts everyday. You see them in the personality conflicts that arise between our children and classmates that they have in school. You see it in the work place when people can't get along with each other and work together in harmony. We read about it on the streets of our cities when people can't get along and so they shoot and stab one another. We see it between nations as the United States and Great Britain continue to bomb Iraq. We have seen it in Kosovo and even though the media has turned its attention elsewhere, it is still going on, the tensions between Albanians and Serbs.

The writer of the Word of God that we wish to examine and apply to our personal lives today speaks of these problems. James, the brother of our Lord Jesus, later became the leader of the church in Jerusalem, is the writer of this letter. As we focus our attention on what God says, James encourages us BE A PEACEMAKER NOT A TROUBLEMAKER. James gives us (I) An Autopsy Of A Troublemaker and then II) Describes A Peacemaker

THE AUTOPSY OF A TROUBLEMAKER

What's a trouble maker like? Do you enjoy the company of a troublemaker? I am sure that most of us would say that we do not appreciate being in the company of a troublemaker. James points out for us the source of a troublemaker's problems and then how a troublemaker causes many problems and difficulties in his own life and in the lives of others.

James writes, "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." (vv. 14-16) The problem with troublemakers is that they have a heart problem. A heart problem that everyone of us is born with. It is called original sin. And that disease of sin shows itself in envy and selfish ambition. Envy or jealousy is discontent. We aren't happy with the way we are or what we have and so we are busy examining everyone else and observing what they have, what they are able to do, how they look and lo and behold we don't have the same things, we don't look the same, we can't do the same things and so we become jealous of the other person. We want to be like them. And if we can't be like them, we will attempt to destroy that person and make their life miserable. The same thing happens with selfish ambition. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious and intense. But when that ambition and intensity is focused only on oneself and what I want and what's good for me, then it's selfish. When these things rule a person's thinking, James says, "there you find disorder and every evil practice." (v. 16b) Many of you may have been or still are in situations where this is the case. What happens? In the work place you may find a lot of back biting and talking behind someone's back. Those who are discontented attempt to destroy the other person's reputation. They try and make that person's life miserable; turning fellow workers against the person, telling lies about the person and doing everything in their power to cause trouble for that person they don't like. You find similar things happening in schools. When one person is jealous of someone else, they line up all kinds of people on their side to oppose the person they are jealous of. When it comes to selfish ambition, if someone is trying to climb up the slippery ladder of success, they may do everything in their power to cause the downfall of those who are ahead of them. They may use other people in order to get ahead and then throw those people aside like dirty, used kleenix.

How is this often done? The first part of our reading points out that tool that most of us use to vent our jealousy towards someone else and to accomplish our selfish goals is our tongue. That small little part of our body that most people never see causes so much trouble in this world. James makes this comment about our tongues, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (v. 6) A small match seems so insignificant and useless. But this match when lit could set this whole building on fire and destroy it. It's the same way with our tongue. It's small, but it has great power for destruction. With a few well chosen words we can destroy a person's reputation for life. We can ruin a person's career. We can turn a person's friends and family against them. And all with a few words that we may speak.

The tongue is something that everyone of us has a very difficult time curbing and training. As James notes, we have learned to tame all kinds of wild animals, lions, tigers and elephants. We have trained birds, even hunting birds, like falcons to sit on our hands. We train reptiles, snakes and lizards; and even creatures of the sea, whales and dolphins. "But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." (v. 8) Our Lord's brother then goes on to point out what we do with our tongues. He writes, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." (vv.9-10) We have heard that and we have done that. We tell God how wonderful and great he is and then we turn around and destroy someone else's reputation by what we say about them.

You don't find anything like that in the rest of creation. As James notes, "Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." (vv.11-12) However, out of our mouths come words sweeter than honey and words bitter, harsh and condemning. What's the problem? As Christians we have a dual nature. There are two parts to us. There is the believer in us that speaks kindly and wishes to build up others and defend them. But within us there is also the unbeliever who loves to destroy and tear others down. And so everyday their is a continual conflict going on within each of us. We want to be a peacemaker, but we also want to be a troublemaker. Someday the troublemaker wins and other days the peacemaker wins. And thank God that he forgives us when our troublemaker takes over and starts running over everyone else. And it is this forgiveness and peace that God shows to us that daily empowers us to be better peacemakers.

THE DESCRIPTION OF A PEACEMAKER

Peacemakers are different. They strive to maintain peace, to build up other people and not tear them down and ruin their reputation. James describes how this peacemaking shows itself and then reminds us of the greatest peacemaker of all who empowers us to be peacemakers.

The disciple writes, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." (v. 17)

The wisdom that God gives us in his word is pure. It's holy. There are no flaws or imperfections with it. It's not like human philosophy and ideas which continually change and are in conflict. God's Word of life is pure and holy and it gives us all the direction, guidance and strength that we need for this life. The wisdom that comes from God loves peace. As Christians we all love and enjoy peace. You know that things go better when you are at peace with those you live with and work with. And we want to be at peace. Because of that desire to be at peace, we are kind or yielding and submissive or obedient. We are kind. We consider the needs and feelings of other people rather than pushing our agenda forward without thinking of others. We submit our wills to the will of God. It's not what I selfishly want, but what does God want in this situation.

A peacemaker is full of mercy. That is, he forgives. so often what causes conflicts between people is the refusal to forgive and let go of past hurts and disappointments. Recently I was reading in an Ann Lander's column about the strife and heartache that a refusal to forgive can cause a family. An elderly woman had written about a divorce that she had gone through years ago. After ten years she had remarried and moved to another city. Her married daughter became upset with her mother and refused to speak with her. She claimed that her mother had deserted her. Now her mother has cancer and is dying. The mother has tried to re-establish relations with her daughter. The daughter has spoken to her mother, but refuses to have anything to do with her mother. The mother asked what she could do. The author of the column said to the mother, "There is nothing more that you can do." How sad when people hold grudges and refuse to forgive. She refuses to have mercy. As Christians we have learned to forgive. Oh, it's not always so simple and easy, but we know what it means to be forgiven. We have received the pardon of our God. In fact, everyday our heavenly Father forgives and forgets sins that we continue to commit. In fact, he says to us, "As far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your sins from you." (Psalm 103:12) When you realize what God has done for you, then you are able to forgive those who sin against you. Peacemakers are forgiving people. They are also impartial and sincere. We try not to treat people differently because of what they have or what they can do for us. You treat everyone the same and fairly. Why? Because our God is not a respecter of persons. He loves everyone equally and he died for the sins of everyone. He wants all people to be saved and to spend eternity with him in heaven. So as peacemakers we try to be impartial and sincere in all our dealings with other people.

As James concludes this section he reminds us that "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." (v. 18) When we live a life of peace and attempt to maintain peace with others we reap a harvest of righteousness. Things go right and we have peaceful and fulfilling lives. I was reminded of that fact just recently while talking to someone who related to me how someone they knew had a violent temper and could not control their tongue or actions. This person often would lash out at the police and curse them. He would destroy others property in fits of anger. And he has spent many months behind bars. He has not reaped a harvest of righteousness.

But why do Christians attempt to make peace? Because we have experienced the work of the greatest peacemaker of all, Jesus Christ. He has made peace between us and our Creator. He has repaired the broken down bridge and blown up highway to heaven. He has secured for us a glorious and eternal future in paradise. Because Jesus Christ has made peace for us, daily we strive to be peacemakers and live in peace with others in this world.

Amen.