Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that
your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy
and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.
Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual,
devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be
disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without
a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in
peace for those who make peace.” (James 3:13-18)
“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they
not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and
do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain
it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do
not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend
what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of
the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing
that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made
to dwell in us’? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.’
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:1-10)
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:1-10)
In September, our
Epistle readings (the reading immediately preceding the Gospel reading, which
generally is from one of the letters of Paul or Peter or John or one of the
other apostles) comes from the letter of James.
By tradition, James was one of Jesus’ brothers, who became head of the
church in Jerusalem. In the book of
Acts, he is presented as one who maintained traditional Jewish religious
observance within the Jerusalem church, while granting Paul permission to
preach the good news of Jesus to Gentiles without imposing Jewish observance on
them. The letter of James has generated
controversy. Martin Luther greatly disliked
this letter because he felt it didn’t say enough about God’s grace, calling it
“the epistle of straw”. And yet in his
use of phrases such as “the law of liberty,” James acknowledges that it is only
by God’s grace that we are not only saved from sin, but saved to
live in a way that is radically transformed and transformative.
The letter of James is
brief (only five chapters) but powerful.
James touches on a variety of topics, including….
Wealth: “My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of
favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person
with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor
person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one
wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one
who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made
distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my
beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be
rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who
love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you?
Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the
excellent name that was invoked over you? (James 2:1-7)
“Come now, you rich people, weep and wail
for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your
clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will
be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up
treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your
fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in
luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.”
(James 5:1-6)
The tongue: So
also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small
fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a
world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature,
and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of
reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species,
but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it
we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the
likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and
sisters, this ought not to be so. (James 3:5-10)
The importance of
putting faith into action: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but
do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and
lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat
your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of
that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)
Judgmental Attitudes: Do not speak evil against one another,
brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another,
speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you
are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is
able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
(James 4:11-12)
Prayer: Are any among you suffering? They should
pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you
sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over
them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will
save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins
will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one
another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and
effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it
might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the
earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its
harvest. (James 5:13-18)
Forgiveness: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth
and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a
sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20)
Endurance: “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the
coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth,
being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also
must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged.
See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and
patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed
we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of
Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate
and merciful.” (James 5:7-11)
In
today’s world, in which hundreds of people live in fantastic wealth while
billions starve, in which hundreds of billions are spent each year on wars
which destroy lives, the natural environment and infrastructure (roads,
bridges, etc.) of other countries while our own citizens go hungry, our own remaining
national parks and natural treasures are laid waste by mining and drilling, and
our own roads and bridges fall apart, in which lies and slander against
individuals, families, communities, and nations posted on Facebook can “go
viral” and circle the globe in a matter of minutes, in which we are prone to
shoot first and ask questions later, quick to judge, condemn, and incarcerate but
painfully slow to forgive and restore, in which we take for granted fast food, instant
messaging, and instant gratification but have little endurance for the long
haul, this letter from James has much to teach us. May we read this letter as an invitation to
accept God’s grace – a grace intended, not to lull us into smug complacency,
but to spur us to words of caring and deeds of love for neighbor- all to the
glory of God.
See
you in church –
Pastor
Dave
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