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James 1:12–21

¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every 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. ¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As Christians, we know the Source of all good things. “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” So, for example, when you have a perfectly cooked steak (which, by the way, means rare – not well-done not medium, rare), you know that it has come from God. When you are protected from the cold or snow or heat or rain in your house; when you are surrounded by your loving family; when you are awed at the sight of a majestic mountain, a serene sunset, a perfect prairie; when your body works as it is supposed to; you know all of that comes to you as a good gift from God. And because you know it comes from God, you don’t have to ask, “Is this good?”

You don’t have any problem recognizing those good things as coming from God. But you do have the opposite problem.

We sinners are all deceived when we see something that God has not given but think it is good and God is holding out on us. Whenever we do that, we sin.

A lot of people say, “Love is good and can’t be bad.” But if you love someone who is not your spouse and think that is ok to indulge that love, you are wrong. You are deceiving yourself. It is forbidden. It is sin. It is going to hurt you and others.

Same thing goes for the truth. If you realize that the truth is going to harm you or your reputation, you try to be God. You use your words to try to create a different reality or a different truth – in other words, you lie. Again, you have been deceived by your own false desires. You have sinned. You are fostering and nurturing sin which grows up into death. Repent.

Those false desires are like an infomercial or used car salesman. Sin likes to promise of pleasure and ease and peace, but it never delivers.

Dear saints, put those false desires away. Instead of dwelling on and being enticed by those false desires (show James 1:19-21), be slow to speak, slow to anger. Your false desires only bring about anger and sin and death. And most importantly, be quick to hear. Be quick to hear especially the Word of God because it is that very Word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to bring you forth, to give you the new birth which is a perfect gift from above.

God does not play in the false promises that sin and false desire does. Sin is always ready to make a deal with us, and we love making deals because we can negotiate the terms. We want to calculate the cost of the time, effort, and resources we put in and evaluate the payout. Since we like to bargain and deal, sin has us square in its crosshairs.

But God doesn’t operate that way. God does not make dazzling, enticing, or fake promises. God isn’t a swindler, and He doesn’t make trades. God is a giver. With a giver, you can receive or reject, but you can’t make a deal (Nagel). The giving-God doesn’t play around with negotiations, and we cannot make a deal with Him no matter how hard we try because we have nothing to offer that isn’t His already. Instead, God gives us every good and every perfect gift.

We have all sorts of good gifts here in this life. That steak, the beauty of creation, the relationships that God has given us in this life are all good gifts that we have not earned or deserved. Even your life is a good gift from God. Life is always a gift. No one can give themselves physical life. God used your mother to give you life, and for that we are grateful today. Again, all of these are good gifts, and they are good (but not perfect) gifts because they do not and cannot last.

But the giver-God who is pleased to give you good gifts is also pleased to give you perfect gifts which will never fade and will last for all eternity.

Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God gives you eternal life as His children. He brings you forth by His Word of truth. For most of you, God gave you eternal life when He connected His Words and promises to the waters of your Baptism.

When you heard the Absolution earlier, God actually did what His Word said. The same thing is true when you receive Holy Communion. God gives and delivers exactly and precisely what He says – forgiveness, life, and salvation.

When you hear the Benediction in a few minutes, you will actually receive God’s blessing which is why I encourage you to open your hands to receive the Benediction. It helps to remind you that God is actually doing, delivering, and giving to you exactly what those words say (Num. 6:27).

With all the good gifts and all the perfect gifts we receive from God, we can begin to get uneasy. We think it’s too much. We think we are going to be punished by God if we abuse or misuse these good and perfect gifts. But God doesn’t tire of giving. He just gives more. He would have us open our hands wider to keep receiving good and perfect gifts from Him. And if you are worried that His gifts will get too big and overwhelm you, there is a simple solution: Join God in His giving game.

Because God continues to pour out His gifts and blessings us, we know that we are free to bless others and join God in giving His gifts away.

The giver-God pours out His good and perfect gifts on you because He has made you His child. With each gift, He nudges you to open your hands wider to both to receive and to give.

With hands held wide open to receive and give His gifts, we move forward from being the firstfruits toward the joy of the final harvest.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful for a sermon by Dr. Normal Nagel for the outline and theme of this sermon.