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. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. [James 3:17-18 NIV]
James has referred to earthly wisdom which was evident among the early Jewish Christians. This was a destructive type of wisdom. We have seen this in action as we have looked at previous verses in this chapter in previous Day Share blogs. Today we are going to join James in focussing on the positive - wisdom from heaven. We are simply going to highlight some features of this wisdom.
PURE: This wisdom comes from heaven so it does not contain the defilement associated with sin and evil so rampant on this earth. Sadly, our Christian lives are so often tainted by the values and attitudes of this world.
PEACE-LOVING. A wise person will love peace and seek to promote and foster peace in the church and in his or her relationships with other people. This is not peace at any price. It is not compromising the truth contained in the Word of God. But a wise person will not stir up conflict or division or bitterness. The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the mount are very relevant.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God [Matthew 5:9 NIV]
GENTLE- Wuest translates this word as 'sweetly reasonable.' The original meaning of this Greek word (epieikes) is fitting or appropriate. It can be translated as mild, gentle, patient, considerate. Here is how one scholar expresses the meaning of this word, "It expresses that considerateness that looks humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case." This is about avoiding a quarrel or a dispute.
SUBMISSIVE - The next adjective used to describe a person who displays this wisdom from heaven is hard to translate. It might be translated as 'easy to be intreated.' Someone might think that this is talking about a spineless person who has no convictions. Not at all, it is describing a person who is not so hung up on his own reputation that he will not listen to other people's opinions or arguments. It might be translated as 'compliant.' You and I have probably met the exact opposite - a person who is so convinced that s/he is right, that s/he will not listen to anyone who disagrees with him or her. If all Christians demonstrated this quality, there would be fewer conflicts in churches (See Ephesians 5: 21 'submit to one another').
FULL OF MERCY AND GOOD FRUITS - This person will have an abundance of compassion and tenderness towards other people. There will be ample evidence of divine working in his or her life. This wise Christian individual will be hesitant to judge other people even when they are in the wrong and they will be eager to assist those who are struggling in life.
IMPARTIAL: James condemned partiality at the beginning of his second chapter when he described the scene in the synagogue where the rich person was given preferential treatment and the poor person was slighted and humiliated. So this wise person is without partiality. S/he will treat everyone alike fairly and without favouritism.
SINCERE. The last characteristic is another negative - without hypocrisy. "….he is not a hypocrite. He doesn’t say one thing and mean another. You will never hear him flatter. He speaks the truth and never wears a mask."[William MacDonald: The Believers Bible Commentary]. This is a very challenging quality. How often we pretend to be what we are not. We use pious words and phrases to impress other people and make them think more of us.
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
This is a powerful statement. It is on the same theme as Paul in his letter to the Galatians:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. [Galatians 6:7-9 NIV]
Paul makes a general statement which is in total agreement with James's teaching - "A man reaps what he sows." If we live a life which is dominated by our sinful nature, we will reap the harvest in this life but also after death. The Christian who live a spirit filled life will reap a harvest in our heavenly home. James is specifically speaking about the peacemaker. He is writing in the context of conflict and quarrels in the Christian community and sadly this is still true in the 21st Century. We plan to talk more about this in a future Day Share entitled, "Quarrels in churches 13/10/2022." James is promoting the role of peacemaker in such a context. Again, this chimes with the words of the Saviour in the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [Matthew 5:9 NIV]
The Lord was not singling out a select few who would take up this extraordinary role of peacemaker. It is not an easy role to play and often the peacemaker becomes unpopular and misjudged. So Jesus is not promising the blessing of popularity and approval for those who seek to take on this task of keeping peace. We are seriously misjudging this statement from Jesus (one of the so-called beatitudes). Every Christian is expected to be a peacemaker and the life of the peacemaker is a righteous life. This is the standard God expects from every one of his people. It is not an optional extra which you can leave to a select few misguided individuals who are prepared to go a step further and promote peace and avoid conflict. The clue is in second part of the statement -"they will be called children of God." Every believer is a child of God. This is a mark of being a Christian. What tools do we need in our toolbox to carry out this role? Just look up to the features already listed in capital letters in this blog - we should be pure, peace-loving, gentle, submissive, merciful, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, impartial and sincere. This is a challenge to every Christian (including the man from Falkirk who is writing this blog). The next blog will unpack the statement about sowing in peace a bit more and set it in the context of James's Letter.
Photo by Karren McPherson. There were many photos on Unsplash on the topic of 'peace,' but they were misleading referring to the activities of CND activists and other anti-war protestors. The sunlight shining through the darkness of the forest represents God's wisdom needed in this dark, sinful world.
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