425. Thursday after Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity.
Give us, O Lord,
thy spirit of wisdom and love.
James 3, 13-18. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not; and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
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Since the very essence of the devil is pride, we all are by nature vain, puffed up, wise in our own conceit, and self-willed; none has been born meek and lowly. Some are, however, even above others wise in their own eyes. When they are carried away by a spiritual revival, it is possible, to be sure, that the Spirit of God may humble them, and his discipline keep them humble; but they will, as a rule, sooner or later display their wisdom in such a way as to cause dissensions among the brethren. They imagine that they see more clearly than others the defects of society; they feel called upon to make “improvements” in the church; and their wisdom begets “envying and strife,” a continual tossing to and fro, “confusion and every evil work.” Such people are not “easy to be intreated”; they know it all. They pretend that in setting themselves apart and forming coteries of their own they are only following the example of our Lord Jesus; of Paul, and Luther, and other holy men. If they knew the living spirit of fellowship which characterized the Lord himself and his holy followers, and could feel the bitterness of their pain in being cast out, they would not charge them with having founded new sects. The separatists under consideration have so tender a conscience forsooth, that they cannot endure the imperfections of society! Did they but in the love of Christ take upon their conscience the sins of their people, they would find something to do besides cultivating bitter roots which produce confusion. “Glory not, and lie not against the truth.” This is not “the wisdom that is from above”; for the wisdom from above is “first pure,” having no admixture of the devil’s spirit of pride; “then peaceable,” gathering and uniting them that are the Lord’s in the bond of peace. Furthermore, it is “gentle,” kind and charitable toward all. It is “easy to be intreated”; ready to hear what others have to say, obedient to the truth, and willing to accept correction. It is “full of mercy and good fruits”; mark you, full of mercy and good fruits, “without partiality, and without hypocrisy,” just, earnest, and upright. He that has this wisdom makes peace, and shall reap blessed fruit in this world and in the next. — Help us, O God, that none of us may hold himself aloof from thy grace. Let no bitter root grow up and yield confusion, defiling many. Give us the wisdom that is from above, and let us shew out of a good conversation our works with meekness of wisdom. Amen.*
May he our actions deign to bless,
And loose the bonds of wickedness,
From sudden falls our feet defend,
And guide us safely to the end.
May faith, deep-rooted in the soul,
The flesh subdue, the mind control:
May guile depart, and discord cease,
And all within be joy and peace.
[ELH 487; sheet music here, listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.