Is It Not This?

James 4:1-3
May 16, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

One of the saddest things that can happen in the church is quarreling and fighting. Brothers and sisters in Christ can get into disagreements and arguments with one another. That’s quarreling. And brothers and sisters in Christ can attack and hurt one another. That’s fighting. And it’s really sad.

There are stories of churches that have to call the police for help and churches that decide to split in two. There are stories of pastors and elders and deacons who descend into gossip and politics and hatred. There are stories of married couples who quarrel and fight and then get divorced. There are stories of friends who quarrel and fight and then become enemies. This really happens.

In today’s passage, James addresses this sad reality. He asks a simple question. What causes quarrels and fights among you? And he gives an honest answer. It is you. You cause quarrels. You cause fights. The responsibility falls on you.

This is not easy to hear. But this is wisdom from above. Jesus loves you. He knows that you will struggle at times with quarreling and fighting. He knows that you will be tempted to point the finger and blame others and think that the cause of quarrels and fights in your life is outside of you. But he loves you. He invites you today to understand the worldliness of your heart and mind. And he invites you to repent and humble yourself and draw near to him. Jesus loves you.

There is one primary cause and two secondary causes for quarreling and fighting in the church. The primary cause is this: your passions, your desires, and your coveting. There are things that you want. They may be good things. They may be bad things. But the point is that you want them to the extent that if you do not have them then you will not be content or satisfied or happy. It becomes personal because it is about personal gain. And it becomes a hedonistic and lustful desire. The greek word for “passions” is actually hedone. And so it all becomes about you. Your pursuit of pleasure. Your indulgence and self-gratification. Your luxury. Your wishes and dreams. And so you fix your eyes on the things that you have set your mind on, the things that your heart longs for. You end up with covetousness. You see other brothers and sisters in Christ and you burn with greed and envy and jealousy as you compare yourselves with them. This is your passions, your desires, and your coveting.

And when you don’t get what you want, when your desires are not met, when your wishes and dreams do not come true, when you do not have and when you cannot obtain, you murder. You fight. You quarrel. It is eye-opening that James connects murder with quarreling and fighting. You murder in the sense that you hate people in your heart and you kill people in your mind. And then that inner murder is outwardly manifested in quarreling and fighting.

The answer to the question is clear. Murder and quarreling and fighting happens when you do not get what you want. This is why churches crumble in disunity. This is why church leaders turn against one another. This is why marriages fail. This is why friends stop being friends. The cause for quarreling and fighting is simple but profound.

Why do Christians struggle with this? The reason why is because while we are putting on the new self, we are also putting off the old self. We have lingering passions and desires and we have remaining covetousness that come from our old sinful selves. In Galatians 5, Paul describes these things as “desires of the flesh.” The flesh is referring to the old self, the old you. Paul goes on to say that the desires of the flesh are contrary to the desires of the Spirit. This is why you struggle with quarreling and fighting. You struggle with quarreling and fighting because your desires that are of the flesh are contrary to your desires that are of the Spirit. The old you was put to death and buried when Jesus died and when Jesus was buried for your salvation. But now you are a new creation in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit dwells in you now. And now you are putting on the new self, the new you. The new you that has been raised to newness of life because Jesus resurrected from the dead for your salvation. Now the old wants and old desires that come from your old sinful self is by God’s grace and sanctification being challenged and replaced by new wants and new desires that come from your new holy and righteous self. This why you struggle with quarreling and fighting.

In Romans 7, Paul shares honestly about this Christian struggle. He says this: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me…. Wretched man that I am!” Paul is putting off the old self. But Paul is also putting on the new self. He concludes by saying this: “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Dear Highland, put off your old self and put on your new self. Jesus loves you. May the Lord replace your old desires with new desires. May you walk away from quarreling and fighting in your life.

There is one primary cause and two secondary causes for quarreling and fighting in the church. The one primary cause is this: your passions, your desires, and your coveting. The two secondary causes are this: You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for what you want, and you when you do ask God you ask wrongly.

This is about prayer. You quarrel and fight because you do not pray to God. This is not rocket science. If you never pray to God about what you want, then you will not have what you want from God. And when you do not have what you want from God, then you will be tempted to quarrel and fight. You don’t pray. You do not have because you do not pray.

But that’s not all. When you do pray, you pray wrongly. You ask God to fulfill your hedonistic and lustful desires. You ask God to give you your pleasures, your indulgences, your self-gratification, your luxuries, your wishes and dreams. You pray to God with a discontent and dissatisfied and unhappy heart. You pray to God with a mind that burns with greed and envy and jealousy as you compare yourselves with other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is how you pray. Your prayers are personal because they are about your personal gain.

This does not need to happen. God loves you. You have been reconciled to the Father through the life and death and resurrection of his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Son prays and intercedes for you right now (Romans 8:34). The Father invites you to pray to him (Matthew 6:7-13). And the Holy Spirit helps you to pray (Romans 8:26). Remember that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17). Remember that God has promised the crown of life to those who remain steadfast under trial (James 1:12). Remember that God gives generously to all without reproach those who lack wisdom and ask him for it (James 1:5). And remember that God is testing your faith and producing steadfastness and making your perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, as you meet trials of various kinds. All of this is our joy. God loves you. Why then do you not pray? Why then are you not content or satisfied or happy? Why do you quarrel and fight and murder and desire? This is not wisdom. This is not the life that you have in Christ.

Dear Highland, repent and return to Jesus. Humble yourself and draw near to your Lord. I’m sorry to say this, but many of your wishes and dreams are foolish and selfish and worldly and old. I pray that those wishes and dreams of yours never come true. I pray that God destroys those wishes and dreams of yours and gives you new wishes and dreams. Better wishes and dreams. Wishes and dreams that are wise and selfless and heavenly and new.

May our church always keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. May our church’s leaders always be one in the Lord. I hope that your marriages flourish. I hope that your friends will be your friends forever.

And then when this old and fading world asks us “What causes love and unity at our church behind the gas station,” may we reply and say, “Is it not this, that the heart, mind and will of the Lord Jesus Christ reigns within us? Jesus desired us and Jesus obtained us by his redemption, so we desire him. So we care for one another and serve each other in his church. And instead of quarreling and fighting against one another, we pray for each other in our church. And we pray rightly, to spend it on the kingdom of God.”

Dear Highland, repent and return to Jesus. Humble yourself and draw near to your Lord. Jesus loves you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Soli Deo Gloria