PRACTICAL ATHEISTS

(James 4:13-17)
September 8, 2019

Read James 4:13-17 – The theme of James is saving faith works. Saving
faith exhibits itself in real life. Each section asks, Does my faith show in this
situation? Today, Jas targets practical atheists – people who profess faith but
who live as tho God didn’t exist or doesn’t matter. If there were no God, their
lives wouldn’t change at all. Jas asks, “Is that be you?” If so – your faith may
not be real.

Pres Lincoln in announcing the first Thanksgiving in 1863 said, “We have
grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.
But – we have forgotten God.” Maybe we have, too! Do our lives reflect Bart
Simpson’s prayer: “Dear God, we pay for all this ourselves. So thanks for
nothing”? We’d never be that blunt, but many of us live with never a thought
of God except in emergencies. That could be a sign our faith isn’t real at all.

To plan is wise. To do so without considering God’s will is to be a practical

atheist – living as tho He didn’t matter. Like the atheist, who, realizing he was
drifting toward Niagara Falls began to pray. Later someone asked him why
pray to a God he didn’t believe in. He replied, “It suddenly occurred to me
while atheism is a okay to drift down river; it’s not a good thing by which to
go over the Falls.” Truth is, ignoring God is never a good thing!

I. The Foolishness of Ignoring God’s Will (Two reasons)

A. We are not Omniscient – 14) yet you do not know what

tomorrow will bring.” Our plans are always contingent. Why? Bc we don’t
know everything. When we candidated here, Patty asked about tornados. We
were told it never happens. We barely got home and all the news was of the
Windsor tornado. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring; He does. So, the
wise man lives with this attitude: “I’ll do this or that – Lord willing.” You
don’t have to say that every time, but that is our attitude. “I’ll do this or that,
Lord willing!” The operating premise is: All my plans are subject to the
intervention of a God who knows more than I.” My plan, subject to His will!

Jesus gave a parable in Lu 12:16b: “The land of a rich man produced

plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere
to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns
and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” This
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guy had “I” trouble! Is he wrong to plan? No. But he planned without God!
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many
years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night
your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will
they be?’ He planned to enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor. But he was not
omniscient He reckoned without God – trusting the actuarial table. But his
time was up! And he’d made no preparations for that contingency.

B. We are not Eternal -- A 2nd reason it’s foolish to ignore God’s

will is we’re not eternal. We have an expiration date. A shelf-life. Yet we
often live as though we and our treasures here are forever. One day we’ll find
we’ve invested everything in a short-term venture. Eighty years looks pretty
long when you’re 25, but I promise when you’re 79 you’ll be asking, “Where
did the time go?” That moment is just around the corner. So Jas says: 14b:
“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then
vanishes.” It goes fast! And if that is all you’ve lived for, you are going to feel
short-changed. In fact, you will be short-changed – by yourself!

King Louis XIV, the sun king, reigned for 72 years as one of France’s most
accomplished rulers. He forbade the word “death” in his presence – denying
the inevitable. He died anyway. Contrast that with Philip of Macedon. One of
his servants stood in his presence every day and said, “Philip, you will die.” I
don’t know if that made him more aware of God’s will, but it was a step in the
right direction. Ancient merchants wrote memento mori – “think of death” in
large letters on the first page of their accounting books – a reminder, this life
is temporary. It should be writ large in all of our minds, reminding us to seek
the will of the One who alone can give eternal life and perspective.

It’s foolish to ignore God’s will – because we are not omniscient and we are
not forever. We don’t want to end up like the nobleman who had a deist
chaplain (God is uninvolved) while his wife had a Xn one. On his deathbed he
said to his chaplain, “I liked you very well when I was in health; but it is my
lady’s chaplain I must have when I am sick.” Practical atheism works in
good times; not so much when eternity nears. Wise people love God’s will
always – seeking His grace throughout this life and into the next.

II. The Arrogance of Denying God’s Will

Some people just ignore God. Others deny there is such a thing as God’s will.
They are boastfully arrogant. 16) As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All
such boasting is evil.” This is the person who says, “Today or tomorrow I will
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go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a
profit” in complete denial that God has any say in the matter. They are
absolutely confident in their own plans and abilities.

How we exult such self-sufficiency – like the hero of Wm Ernest Henley’s

poem “Invictus”: “It matter not how straight the gate, / How charged with
punishments the scroll, / I am the master of my fate: / I am the captain of
my soul.” You know the modern version of that, right? “Regrets, I’ve had a
few; / But then again, too few to mention. / I did what I had to do / And saw
it thru without exemption. / I planned each charted course; / Each careful
step along the byway, / And more, much more than this, / I did it my way. . .
“For what is man, what has he got? / If not himself, then he has naught. /
To say the things he truly feels; / And not the word of one who kneels. / The
record shows I took the blows - / And did it may way.” Who needs God? I’ve
got me! I can get myself into trouble, and I can get myself out! But I’ll never
kneel. I’ll do it may way. We think that’s commendable.

Not God. The Greeks called this boastful pride hubris. Homer depicted it
when Achilles succumbed -- going into battle thinking he was invulnerable bc
Mom dipped him into the River Styx. But she’d held him by his heel. It never
got dipped, and Paris kills him with a shot in the heel. Arrogance couldn’t
cover a perpetual vulnerability. One will survives in the end; God’s!

Remember, Jas remarks are written to professing believers. But those who
plan without regard for God in any area of life – not just religious ones – are
arrogantly denying God’s will. Practical atheists. To boast of your plans as
tho you could bring them about without God is arrogant, foolish and evil.

Augustine says we were made to bring glory to God by reflecting the qualities
of His being He’s chosen to share (communicable). But since the Fall, we’ve
been trying to assume qualities He’s reserved to Himself (incommunicable).
So, when we say, “Tomorrow I will do this or that” without regard for God,
we are trying (unsuccessfully, of course) to usurp His omniscience, eternity
and omnipotence -- the opposite of what we were made for. We don’t care
about righteousness, but we care a lot about omnipotence. We don’t care about
holiness, but how desperately we want self-existence. We’re happy to sacrifice
truth, but we want omnipotence. No wonder God calls it arrogant and evil.

Jodie Foster advised the graduates at the U of Penn in 2006, to take this
attitude: “From now on, this life will be what I stand for. Move over – this is

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my story now.” Really?! Pretty arrogant. Better to say with Paul, ”For to me to
live is Christ.” All plans go thru Him. No boasting except in Him.

III. The Sin of Disobeying God’s Will

Sin is wrong things we do. But it’s also the things we know to do and don’t –
sins of omission. An exam question at a Xn school was: “What is a sin of
omission?” One student wrote, “A sin I should have committed but didn’t.”
He didn’t quite have it right, but Jas did: v. 17: “So whoever knows the right
thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” This person didn’t do anything
wrong. Just forgot God. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? But it is one of the most
serious sins of all. It’s so pervasive eventually we fail to notice it at all.

Go to a mortuary. What do you smell? Carnations. You leave and you don’t
smell them, but go back in the room and you smell them again. Small smells
you never miss.

But how about a big smell. A town with a mill of some kind. It’s a big smell.
Every house. Every apartment; every room. Inside and out. A huge smell. But
soon you can’t smell it anymore. Little smells you smell. But big, pervasive
smells; you adapt. Soon, you don’t even notice. It’s part of the atmosphere.

Well, there’s a sin so pervasive, so huge, so natural, requiring no effort, that

we don’t even see it. What is that sin? It is to simply go on about your life,
make a plan, operate, make a schedule and forget God. It’s one of the worst
sins, the most fundamental of sins – but so pervasive we don’t even notice it.
You’re not breaking any commandment – just going about life forgetting God.
But God has a response. Isa 17:10-11: “For you have forgotten the God of
your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore,
though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 11)
though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them
blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day
of grief and incurable pain.” Forgetting God has consequences.

Mickey Mantle had just completed his triple crown season in 1956, but said,
“There wasn’t much danger that I would get a fat head with teammates like
Yogi Berra.” Just before the World Series, a broadcaster interviewed Yogi and
said, “We’ll do free association. I’ll throw out a name and you say the first
thing that pops into your mind.” Yogi said, “Okay.” So the interviewer says,
“All right. Here we go. Mickey Mantle.” Yogi says, “What about him?” That
is what some of our lives are saying about God. “God – what about Him?”
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When was the last time He was part of any decision you made – given any
thought between Sundays. “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to
do it, for him it is sin.” The sin of indifference – a sin of omission – practical
atheism. Widely practiced; seldom recognized for what it is.

IV. The Blessing of Acknowledging God’s Will

15)Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or
that.” You want authentic living. Here it is. Recognize the hand of God in
everything. Acknowledge Him before, during and after every event in life.
This is life with God – relationship, not duty.

Does Jas mean we always say, “If the Lord wills?” The Puritans used to say
“Deo Volente” – God willing all the time. Even used “D.V” as initials on
calling cards etc. Is that what Jas is getting at? Well, there are places where we
find that. Paul told the Ephesians on his 2nd journey in Acts 18:21, “I will
return to you if God wills.” He tells the Corinthians in I Cor 4:19, “I will
come to you soon, if the Lord wills.” And there are other examples.

But most times, Paul and the other apostles do not say that where it would be
appropriate. It wasn’t the jargon that mattered; it was the mindset. There’s
nothing magical about the words. Jas is just urging that we live coram deo –
before God! Always desirous of His will. Living in His presence. Like Jesus.

Jer 2:32, “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my
people have forgotten me days without number.” I’ve done a lot of weddings.
Never yet saw a bride come down the aisle and suddenly say, “Oh, I forgot to
put on my makeup.” Never happened. Probably never will happen. Why? Bc
it’s important. If ever a girl wanted to maximize her beauty, that’s the day! So
God is saying, “You see, you remember the things that are important to you,
but I’m not important to you. You’ve forgotten me.” And Jas’ point is not say
the magic words. His point is, “Don’t forget God. Live life in humility before
Him.” That’s where the blessing is. Don’t forget Him.

Jonathan Edwards used to get up in the morning and say to himself, “I must
remember this, that everything I enjoy today which is better than hell is
strictly by the mercy and gracious upholding of God.” Do you realize how
different your life would be if you actually believed that – and did that.

It’s not about religious jargon -- always saying “Deo Volente,” “Lord willing
I’ll do this or that.” Or worse, “The Lord is really leading me,” or, “The
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Lord has shown me.” That’s the kind of arrogance Jas is speaking against.
“Well, I’ve been praying about and I think the Lord is leading us to do this.”
We make it impossible for someone to say, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Sure the Lord leads us. He does. But He leads others also. We have to be
careful that our speech doesn’t reflect an unhealthy self-righteousness.

What Jas is urging is what Edwards did. Simplify his statement and just say,
“It’s all grace. This is all grace. This good thing that happened. It’s all
grace. This bad thing that has happened? Grace. All grace. This thing I’m
proposing? Whatever happens will be by God’s grace.” You don’t say it out
loud, but that attitude pervades your life. All grace. Let me tell you. Live like
that and your blood pressure will go down; your worry index will fall and your
enjoyment of life will increase. This is the way to live before God.

Conc – We need practical atheism out; God in! Driven like Jesus. Jn 4:34,
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” He repeated that constantly.
And He taught us to pray the same way: “Your kingdom come. Your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.” Always living for His purposes, not ours.

Redd Harper was a Hollywood singing cowboy who came to Christ during the
BG LA crusade in 1949 -- thoroughly converted, he began to use his talents in
BG films and YFC meetings. Thus, he ended up in our home in Hutch one
night. I never saw anyone more aware of God. He’d open the door and say,
“You first, Lord.” His first thought for any decision was to check in with the
Lord. It made an indelible impression on this 13-year-old boy. Now, Jas isn’t
looking for us to be so outward in every expression, but to carry that attitude
in all we do. “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” Let’s pray.