The Testing of Your Faith | Sunday, April 5, 2020

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4)

On Palm Sunday, in the midst of a global trial, James reminds us we can have joy because God uses suffering to make us like Himself.

Palm Sunday and the Passion of Christ

Behind me on the screen is the city of Jerusalem as it appears today from the Mount of Olives, just east of the Old City. The city looks far different than it did two thousand years ago, but this is roughly the same vantage point Jesus would have beheld as He and His disciples came into the city that Palm Sunday, the Sunday before the final Passover and what we call Christ's passion.

It is interesting that we call this the Passion Week of Christ. In our day "passion" means intense desire, emotion, or love. But when we speak of Christ's passion, we are speaking of His suffering—a time of trial. And it is at least a little fitting that as we prepare to remember the Passion Week, we find ourselves in the midst of something of a passion ourselves: a time of trial and, for some, true suffering.

We Are All in a Time of Trial

Not just here in San Diego County, or California, or the United States, but around the entire world, all of us are experiencing a time of trial. Some are suffering the actual effects of the coronavirus at this very moment—in a critical care unit, on a ventilator, fighting to breathe. I hope no one you know is in that place, but we know people are suffering, and we want to be lifting them up to the Lord.

Even those not suffering the virus directly are feeling the economic effects. In the last two weeks ten million Americans have filed for unemployment. The previous one-week record was about 650,000 people; two weeks ago some 3.7 million filed, and this last week six point three million. We are all beginning to feel this impact.

If given a choice, none of us would choose to suffer. We would choose to avoid trials. Yet God has allowed this. If I believe what I say I believe about God revealed in Scripture, then I must believe He is not surprised by what we face, and that He is not uninvolved or uncaring about what we are experiencing.

Even Jesus Did Not Welcome Suffering

The night Jesus was betrayed, He prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane—right between where this picture was taken on the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount in the Kidron Valley. He prayed, "Father, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from Me." That reveals that Jesus, in His humanity—fully God and fully man—did not want to suffer, just like you and me. We don't welcome trials into our lives.

But this passage in James reminds us that although we may never welcome suffering, we can have joy in the midst of it. As you turn there, remember that Scripture itself is a comfort. Paul tells the Thessalonians to comfort one another with God's words, and in Romans 15:4 he writes, "Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." If you are struggling to find patience, comfort, and hope right now, spend time reading and listening to the Word of God instead of distracting yourself with social media, the news, or Netflix.

James: An Early Word to a Persecuted Church

This is one of the earliest writings of the New Testament—many scholars believe the first letter written. James, the author, is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus and a key leader of the early church in Jerusalem. When he wrote, the Christians in Jerusalem were not going through easy times. They were a persecuted minority in a city under foreign occupation, going through difficult days. And to them James says, "Count it all joy."

I Must Choose Joy in Trying Circumstances

The command James gives is fascinating: they are to govern themselves, to rule themselves, into joy. This is a willful and decisive move. You have to make a decision to step into joy in the midst of trying circumstances. That brings us to our first point: I have to choose joy in trying circumstances.

I don't always do that. When I am going through difficult things, I do not immediately choose joy. Often I choose pity, frustration, irritability, impatience, or pessimism. That is my default, and probably yours too. When we are in trying circumstances, our true fallen nature comes to the surface—when I'm sick, tired, hungry, or going through a tough time.

I experienced this in a big way this last week. Whether it was the weather or my sinuses, I had several mornings of the worst vertigo—lying on the edge of my bed while the whole room moved like I was on a boat in a storm. In that moment I was not the most patient or kind person. I'll confess it to you.

Many of us are feeling this. My wife and I have four kids who are normally in school every day, and suddenly I've been nominated to be a homeschool dad and she a homeschool mom. Moms, you may have been impatient with your kids. Wives, you may have been irritable with your husbands. Husbands, I won't leave us out—we may have been unkind or harsh with our wives. This might be a good moment to confess that to the Lord, repent of it, and choose not to default to our unkindness and lack of self-control, but to make that decisive move of the will and choose joy instead.

Trials Are God's Tools for My Transformation

Now to choose joy in trying circumstances seems entirely impractical and implausible by itself. But that is not the only thing James says. He continues in verse 3: "knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." Verse 2 is impractical without verse 3.

I can choose joy if I understand the second point: trying circumstances are God's chosen tools for my transformation. That may be hard to accept—that the very things we go through are the tools God uses to bring about the transformation He wants in our lives, to make us more like Him.

Some of you face very challenging situations in the coming weeks and months—not just medically but economically. You may think, "This Bible teacher just studies the Scriptures; he doesn't understand what I'm facing." But aside from teaching, I help run a small organization, Cross Connection Church, with staff and payroll. Two weeks ago we proactively examined our budget, adjusted benefits packages, and set aside variable expenses to prepare for the trial we foresaw. If you operate a business, you've likely been doing the same—talking with your bank about the CARES Act and the paycheck protection program, submitting applications to the Small Business Administration's emergency loan programs.

Maybe you're the primary breadwinner and you've already received the call: "I don't have any work for you—don't come in next week." That is a frightful, trying circumstance, and it is easy to become anxious, irritable, and frustrated. Maybe you're not worried about finances but about family members vulnerable to this virus. At this very moment my wife is working in the critical care quarantine unit of a local hospital, so I understand those concerns. I can be anxious, worried, angry, and irritable in the face of these things—and then justify it, saying, "I'm stressed, don't you understand?"

But that is not an acceptable answer—not just because I'm a pastor, but for any follower of Jesus. It is Christ's aim to make me more Christlike by the working of His Word and the power of His Spirit. Because I have the Spirit of God abiding in me and the Word of God in my heart, I can, by His empowering strength, choose to respond in line with the Spirit of Christ—showing forth the fruits of righteousness. Simply knowing that God desires to use this situation as an instrument for my transformation changes my perspective and helps me find joy in the trial.

The Fiery Trial Purges My Imperfections

The words "the testing of your faith" are important. Trials prove the genuineness of my faith. They push me to ask: Do I really trust God, or is my trust in the economy, my own ingenuity, my health, my savings account, or my 401k? When shaking circumstances come, we are forced to ask what we really trust in.

The word "testing" is also connected to the idea of refining metal. When you take metal out of the ground, you purify it by putting it into the refining fire. The fire melts it, and the impurities rise to the surface. The same is true in my life. When God puts me into a fiery trial, the impurities—anxiety, fear, irritability, anger, impatience—rise to the surface. God already knows these things are in my heart; He allows them to surface so I can see them, confess them, and ask Him to refine and remove them.

That is our third point: the fiery trial is meant to purge my imperfections. Peter, James's friend, writes the same in 1 Peter 4:12: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

The Completed Work Is a Completed Worker

James says the testing of our faith produces patience. I would note this is a potential outcome, not a certain one. Sometimes the trying of our faith results instead in added frustration and unkindness. But God's desire is that trials produce good fruit, the fruits of righteousness. Paul writes in Romans 5: "We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope." That word "perseverance" is the same word James uses for "patience." Patience, perseverance, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness—these are what God wants to produce.

But there is something more. James 1:4 says, "Let patience have its perfect work in you, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." The word "perfect" means fully grown, mature, and complete. That gives us our fourth and final point: God's completed work through the trial is a completed worker.

Whatever you are going through—the medical issues, the economic issues, or the added stress in your home—the completed work God wants to accomplish is a completed worker. He wants to make me more mature, growing me into the likeness of His child. If I allow God to have His way in me through this trying circumstance, He will accomplish it. As Paul says in Philippians 1:6, "He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Communion

On the night Jesus was betrayed, just hours before He prayed "if there is any other way, let this cup pass from Me," He gathered with His disciples for Passover and shared bread and a cup with them. Today we partake of communion. Many pastors and I have discussed how to do this while apart. It is not the substance of the elements that matters but what they represent. So grab whatever bread and cup you have—a tortilla, pita, grape juice, even water—and let us partake together as Jesus led His disciples that night.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11: "The Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'" Let's partake together. "In the same manner He also took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'" Let's partake together. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."

This Friday we will remember the Lord's death on Good Friday—broadcasting a service at noon. Two thousand years ago Jesus's body was broken and His blood was shed so we could experience salvation, His forgiving grace, and the transforming work of His Word and Spirit, even through the trying circumstances of this life.

Gospel Invitation

If you have never put your faith in Jesus, I want to ask you to do that today. So much that is happening in the world shakes us—we even had an earthquake here in San Diego County the other night, and people texted me wondering if this is the end. You may feel worried, anxious, and without hope for the future. God sent His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus died on the cross so that you and I could receive salvation and grace.

If you would like to receive His forgiving grace, pray with me now—prayer is simply talking to God: "Dear Jesus, I realize my need for You. I know that I'm not perfect, that I have sinned. I ask that You would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith, to know You and to love You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer, please reach out and let us know by texting our questions line at 760-814-1223. We would love to connect you with materials to help you grow and with this church or a church in your area. For the rest of you, we miss you, we're praying for you, and we look forward to gathering in person again.

Closing Prayer

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.