September 24, 2024 

Today’s Reading: James 3:13-4:10

Daily Lectionary: Nehemiah 9:22-38; Nehemiah 10:1-13:31; 1 Timothy 6:3-21

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” (James 4:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sin is not so much an act as it is a condition, and that condition manifests itself in many ways. What James is describing in our reading is sin manifesting itself in quarrels and fights among Christians. What is being described is not the fighting over doctrine or the debate that takes place between Christians in the arena of theology. Instead, it is Christians fighting amongst themselves over the things of this world. This is Christians being overly concerned with status, possessions, and wealth. In other words, this is Christians acting as if they are not even Christians. This is Christians acting like some of the characters in Mean Girls. James goes so far as to refer to them as adulterous and murderers. This is the reality of our fallen nature. Our passions are truly at war. They are at war within us, and they are at war among us. This has led some to observe that the biggest argument against Christianity is Christians themselves. 

Of course, this is not a complete description of what it means to be a Christian. James also writes of the wisdom that comes from above. This wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy and good fruits. This wisdom comes from outside of us; it changes us. The wisdom from above changes the way that we live here in the below. This is the wisdom that allows us to humble ourselves and be exalted. 

The truth is that both of these descriptions of Christians are true at the same time. We are simultaneously both sinner and saint. We have the wisdom that comes from above, and our passions are at war. Our sinful nature remains, but God’s wisdom keeps coming from above. It comes in baptismal remembrance, it comes in the Absolution, it comes in the preached word, and it comes in the Body and Blood of Jesus in Communion. In fact, our passions from below are in a losing battle. God gives more grace. That which comes from above is always stronger than that which is below. You are now sinner and saint, but someday, the sinner will be overwhelmed by the wisdom that comes from above, the war will be over, and only the saint will remain. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The world seeks after wealth And all that mammon offers Yet never is content Though gold should fill its coffers. I have a higher good, Content with it I’ll be: My Jesus is my wealth. What is the world to me? (LSB 730:4) 

-Rev. Grant Knepper, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church Modesto, California.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.