Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (CL)

James 1:1-11

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Amazingly James has a great many lessons for us all. We can think of the most often quoted sections, but here we begin our walk through the book of James. Here we start with a very convicting portion of scripture. "With no doubting"

How often have you doubted the word of God? Have you had those words of satan creep into your ears, "did God really say?" Have you doubted the Love of Christ to forgive your sins? Doubt is found in The Apostles in Matthew 28, when the risen Christ commissions them. But does this doubt condemn?

But take this to its conclusion! "He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Jesus says you can not follow two masters. So therefore don't boast in who you are, but in who Christ desires you to be. Therefore, as we ask for wisdom, understanding, and insight, not as I desire but as God wills. He will grant us the wisdom we need, just as he has granted us faith in Christ. God has called you out of darkness, and revealed to you the Love of Christ, through his death on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins.