People Get Lost
James 5:19-20 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins.
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins.
Here’s what I’m excited about: after studying all of this, it’s safe to say that our faith, if it’s placed in Christ, will change us. It’s okay to be where you are, but it’s not okay to stay there. “You don’t know where I’m at! Or my past, or what I’m struggling and dealing with right now!” It’s okay! It’s okay to be there as you learn this, as you grow, as the Spirit speaks into your life, it’s not okay to stay there. Now you have to do something, now you have to take action, now you have to do something with your faith. I’m excited about this.
James is Jesus’ little brother, we all know how little brothers can be. I have two of them, and I torment them without end. My birthday is coming up, and Clay’s as well, but more importantly my birthday is coming next Tuesday and Cole’s birthday is coming…but we’re celebrating all the birthdays together. My parents bought us tickets to the circus last night, and it was a lot of fun, and I saw things being done with excellence, but we stopped at Dad’s house first to eat, and as soon as I saw my brothers, I just started hammering them. That’s just the brotherly love, that anyone else would think, “Good grief, you’re a pastor! You can’t do those things!” “That’s my brother.” “Oh, well, okay then.” There had to be times when that’s how James was, that irritating, annoying little brother. And it didn’t stop, because James turned into one of the guys who said, “Jesus, you’re out of your mind! You’re crazy. How can you say that you’re God? How can you do these things?” And Jesus had to deal with that from his little brother. Then Jesus died on the cross and rose again. The whole time, James is thinking his brother is nuts, until he has lunch with his brother after he watched him die on the cross. Instant change. James’ faith in Christ changed him, and over the course of time he became the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. In this passage we see that James is definitely, without a doubt, a pastor because in a pastor’s heart, this subject is always going to come up: Faith Helps Me Lead Others to Faith. I can’t have this faith in Christ and it not be contagious. I can’t have this true faith in Christ and it not spread out to others, it not have an impact on somebody else. James recognizes this.
Faith will help me lead others to Christ. If I gave you five seconds and said you need to be completely quiet, close your eyes, and think of somebody you need to love like Christ loved, who you need to talk to about why they’re seeing changes in your life – it wouldn’t even take five seconds for most of us to think of somebody that you think, “If they could just see this, if they could just get this, about Jesus, it would rock their world.” James knows that, because he’s a pastor and shepherd.
Here’s the question: You ever been lost? Most guys’ hands are not going to go up. They’re going to say, “I always found my way back, so no, I wasn’t lost!” Whatever. You ever been lost in a crowd, where the crowd is so big you don’t know which way to go? If you’re a guy, you didn’t read ahead to know which gate or door to go through, you’re just in a huge crowd of hundreds or thousands of people and have no idea where you’re going or what to do. Have you ever been shopping, remember when you were little, shopping with your mom, and you were at the mall and jumped in the clothes rack? All kids do that, and all parents hate it. Then you jump out…and she’s gone! Do you know just for that split second, the panic that set into your heart? You’re wandering around like, “Mom??” And she’s just waiting to jump out and scare you. Am I the only parent who did that? Parents, have you ever been in a crowded place and you have this hand full of bags, and coats in that one, and holding onto your child’s hand, and you have to open a door or push an elevator button, and you let go of your kid’s hand…and they’re gone. Just that fast. Ever had that immediate panic because they’re lost? They’re gone! Kids will wander away. It happened just a few months ago, and at this point I’m not too worried about my kids, but just for a minute, I told Cole where to be – he’s still kind of little so I keep my eye on him – I went looking for him, and he wasn’t in any of the places I told him to be. The first thought is not panic, it’s “where is that stinking kid?” Then I kept looking, and couldn’t find him, so I started getting a little concerned. Do you understand the concern that happens, the panic that sets in, even if it’s just for a minute, because somebody’s lost? They’ve wandered away from you, and they’re lost. Do you get that?
James is concerned. His nerves are shot sometimes, because he’s the pastor, and people are messy, and he knows he’s going to answer to his big brother. Jesus is going to ask him, “How did you pastor my church?” and James is going to say, “They’re a mess!” But he’s also concerned because he sees people just veering in every direction and he’s trying to address them as a church as a whole. We see James’s final send-off in verses 19-20. It’s not fancy words or a big elaborate salutation, it’s not that at all. James’s heart still as a pastor, still up to the very end, he’s begging them to pay attention, to not lose this. His last effort is leading his sheep through this letter. What are sheep prone to do? Whatever they want. We all want to go do what we want to do, when we want to do it, and if there’s not somebody leading us, we get distracted “squirrel!” and we’re gone. Some of James’s flock, his church – now imagine if Jesus’s little brother was your pastor, how cool would that be?! The stories he would have! But people in his church still wandered off. And it wasn’t because he was a bad pastor or because it was a bad church, they just wandered off. That happens. It’s happened here, just in the two years we’ve been a church.
James is Jesus’ little brother, we all know how little brothers can be. I have two of them, and I torment them without end. My birthday is coming up, and Clay’s as well, but more importantly my birthday is coming next Tuesday and Cole’s birthday is coming…but we’re celebrating all the birthdays together. My parents bought us tickets to the circus last night, and it was a lot of fun, and I saw things being done with excellence, but we stopped at Dad’s house first to eat, and as soon as I saw my brothers, I just started hammering them. That’s just the brotherly love, that anyone else would think, “Good grief, you’re a pastor! You can’t do those things!” “That’s my brother.” “Oh, well, okay then.” There had to be times when that’s how James was, that irritating, annoying little brother. And it didn’t stop, because James turned into one of the guys who said, “Jesus, you’re out of your mind! You’re crazy. How can you say that you’re God? How can you do these things?” And Jesus had to deal with that from his little brother. Then Jesus died on the cross and rose again. The whole time, James is thinking his brother is nuts, until he has lunch with his brother after he watched him die on the cross. Instant change. James’ faith in Christ changed him, and over the course of time he became the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. In this passage we see that James is definitely, without a doubt, a pastor because in a pastor’s heart, this subject is always going to come up: Faith Helps Me Lead Others to Faith. I can’t have this faith in Christ and it not be contagious. I can’t have this true faith in Christ and it not spread out to others, it not have an impact on somebody else. James recognizes this.
Faith will help me lead others to Christ. If I gave you five seconds and said you need to be completely quiet, close your eyes, and think of somebody you need to love like Christ loved, who you need to talk to about why they’re seeing changes in your life – it wouldn’t even take five seconds for most of us to think of somebody that you think, “If they could just see this, if they could just get this, about Jesus, it would rock their world.” James knows that, because he’s a pastor and shepherd.
Here’s the question: You ever been lost? Most guys’ hands are not going to go up. They’re going to say, “I always found my way back, so no, I wasn’t lost!” Whatever. You ever been lost in a crowd, where the crowd is so big you don’t know which way to go? If you’re a guy, you didn’t read ahead to know which gate or door to go through, you’re just in a huge crowd of hundreds or thousands of people and have no idea where you’re going or what to do. Have you ever been shopping, remember when you were little, shopping with your mom, and you were at the mall and jumped in the clothes rack? All kids do that, and all parents hate it. Then you jump out…and she’s gone! Do you know just for that split second, the panic that set into your heart? You’re wandering around like, “Mom??” And she’s just waiting to jump out and scare you. Am I the only parent who did that? Parents, have you ever been in a crowded place and you have this hand full of bags, and coats in that one, and holding onto your child’s hand, and you have to open a door or push an elevator button, and you let go of your kid’s hand…and they’re gone. Just that fast. Ever had that immediate panic because they’re lost? They’re gone! Kids will wander away. It happened just a few months ago, and at this point I’m not too worried about my kids, but just for a minute, I told Cole where to be – he’s still kind of little so I keep my eye on him – I went looking for him, and he wasn’t in any of the places I told him to be. The first thought is not panic, it’s “where is that stinking kid?” Then I kept looking, and couldn’t find him, so I started getting a little concerned. Do you understand the concern that happens, the panic that sets in, even if it’s just for a minute, because somebody’s lost? They’ve wandered away from you, and they’re lost. Do you get that?
James is concerned. His nerves are shot sometimes, because he’s the pastor, and people are messy, and he knows he’s going to answer to his big brother. Jesus is going to ask him, “How did you pastor my church?” and James is going to say, “They’re a mess!” But he’s also concerned because he sees people just veering in every direction and he’s trying to address them as a church as a whole. We see James’s final send-off in verses 19-20. It’s not fancy words or a big elaborate salutation, it’s not that at all. James’s heart still as a pastor, still up to the very end, he’s begging them to pay attention, to not lose this. His last effort is leading his sheep through this letter. What are sheep prone to do? Whatever they want. We all want to go do what we want to do, when we want to do it, and if there’s not somebody leading us, we get distracted “squirrel!” and we’re gone. Some of James’s flock, his church – now imagine if Jesus’s little brother was your pastor, how cool would that be?! The stories he would have! But people in his church still wandered off. And it wasn’t because he was a bad pastor or because it was a bad church, they just wandered off. That happens. It’s happened here, just in the two years we’ve been a church.
James 5:19-20 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering
will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering
will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8b love covers a multitude of sins
The love that was poured out on the cross covers any sin as long as you still have breath. And he says some of you are going to wander off, you’re going to lose sight of it, and you’re going to wander off. Look around you – some of the people in your family, in your church, are going to wander off. James says if you see that, bring them back! You’re a lifeguard. I kind of always wanted to be a lifeguard – sit by the pool in the sun all day and get paid? Sign me up. Some of us are lifeguards. Some of us should be lifeguards and we’re not.