Liberally - James 1:1-7

This book of James is home to so many of the oft quoted scriptures in Christendom and he’s very clear, which was not necessarily what I got from Paul. This Epistle of James is written by James the brother of Jesus. We know from our study of the gospels that Jesus’ brothers didn’t initially regard Jesus as the Messiah until after His resurrection when they then converted and became active in the success of the church. The IM comments, “As a leader in the Church, (James) played a prominent role in the council held in Jerusalem. His influence in the Church was no doubt strengthened by his kinship to Jesus, yet he showed humility in introducing himself not as the brother of Jesus but as a servant of the Lord.” I thought the last bit was pretty telling because I hadn’t even considered that perspective. Imagine if James had introduced himself as Jesus’ brother. The amount of power that could have given him would have eclipsed anything Paul or Peter could have claimed. But because he didn’t claim his status as Jesus’ brother for credibility, we can deduce that James was worthy of and very in touch with the Spirit. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com recounts Eusebius version that James was the first bishop of Jerusalem “and was called James the Just, respected by Jews and Christians as being the most just man alive. It is said that he prayed so often and so long for the people that his knees became as hard as camel knees.” As far as James’ death, the article says that James “lost civil protection when the Roman governor died. Jewish leaders then forced James to stand on a temple wall at Passover and demanded that he deny Jesus before the massed pilgrims. Instead, James bore a powerful testimony of Christ and was thrown to the ground and stoned. He died while praying that his persecutors would be forgiven.” What an interesting man and situation. There’s probably enough material to spend a ton of time talking about the importance of the dynamic between James and Jesus as brothers and how that would make James unique in his understanding but maybe we’ll cover it as we go. 1:1-4 - Unlike Paul who wrote to specific groups of people about specific problems they were having to the point that much of Paul’s commentary could be lost without the proper context, James addresses “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” Verse 2 has an important clarifying JST which renders the verse “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into many afflictions.” I think it’s very interesting that this is the first point that James makes when starting this epistle. Even when the verse says to count it joy when we fall into “divers temptations,” it still makes sense because both meanings have us being put into situations where we would rather not be, usually through no fault of our own. The whole purpose of the afflictions and temptation is “the trying of your faith worketh patience.” The IM says, “James wrote that when faith is tested or tried through difficulties, patience is produced. This patience, which leads to sanctification and spiritual development, is a necessary attribute for all who seek eternal life.” I heard something from a general conference talk from this most recent session called “Room in the Inn” in which Gerrit W. Gong teaches, “During this life, we sometimes wait upon the Lord. We may not yet be where we hope and wish to be in the future. A devout sister says, ‘Waiting faithfully upon the Lord for His blessings is a holy position. It must not be met with pity, patronizing, or judgment but instead with sacred honor. In the meantime, we live now, not waiting for life to begin.” It’s really hard to wait, it’s one of my most hated activities in this life. But what James points out here is that patience is required for perfection. The article quotes Neal A. Maxwell as teaching “To Joseph Smith, the Lord described patience as having a special finishing or concluding role, for ‘these things remain to be overcome through patience, that such may receive an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’ A patient disciple will not be surprised or undone when the Church is misrepresented.” James says the same thing, “but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” This begs the question, what characteristics do we develop when we have patience? First we have to recognize that the Savior knows best for us and our circumstances even if it doesn’t seem like it, so that’s faith. Second, we learn to pray because we ask for what we want and we learn to listen for the answer so we know what our next steps are. We learn to find joy in the journey, we learn to do God’s will instead of our own. We gain an eternal perspective and serve others. And when we maintain our positions and commitment to righteousness when we don’t get what we want, then our testimony is strengthened and our resolve to stay faithful is hardened. Patience is the device through which we learn and implement our spiritual progression. 1:5-7 - Here is the most famous verse in all of Mormondom, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him as of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” The word “if” is cross referenced with D&C 42:68 which includes the promise of not only wisdom, but that it will be given “liberally.” The Lord will give us everything that we are ready for when we are ready for it. He doesn’t do a knowledge dump on us before we are ready, which is why he’s the greatest educator. But to get the “liberally” amount of knowledge, we must “ask in faith.” The IM quotes David A. Bednar as noting about Joseph Smith’s account as “My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join.” Joseph Smith didn’t ask which church was right because he was curious, he wanted to know so that he could do what God wanted him to do. It’s the same for us, we have to make an effort to figure out what we want to know and then ask with the intention of following the Lord’s guidance. That is for specific questions, but I think that it’s ok to just say “please help me learn.” That’s what I do with this, I just pray beforehand that I’ll study in a way that allows the Spirit to teach me. I guess sometimes it is specific questions, sometimes maybe just more general ones. If we put forth even the slightest bit of effort, we will be rewarded with learning and spiritual growth. We all have to start somewhere and this is the only circumstance in which I’ve ever really felt like saying, “meet you where you are” was true, in the case of Jesus coming for us.