Sunday February 15th, 2009

4. Living without prejudice (James 2:1-13)

We are rapidly approaching the beginning of the season of Lent, an ideal time for individuals and churches to examine themselves and consider whether or not they are living their lives in accordance with God’s will for them. Often during Lent, we give up things like chocolate, or alcohol, or some other little luxury, as a way of identifying with Christ’s time of testing in the wilderness. As valuable an exercise during Lent (if not more so), would be for each of us to spend a little time each day allowing God to show us areas of our life which require attention. If we need some help with that sort of self-examination, the Letter of James is the scripture we just have to read.

Anyway, this morning as we begin chapter 2 of the Letter, the first thing that James wants us to know is that we should be ...

Looking beyond appearances (vv.1-4)

James puts it quite bluntly in the first verse of the chapter:

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favour some people over others?

Surely, it’s outrageous even to imagine that a church would discriminate between people, or show prejudice towards someone? And yet it does happen, sometimes with significant consequences. For instance, there’s the incident with Mahatma Gandhi:

In his autobiography, Gandhi wrote that, during his student days, he read the Gospels and seriously considered becoming a Christian. He believed that, in the teachings of Jesus, lay the answer to the caste system that was causing so much trouble for the people of India.

One Sunday, he decided to go to a service at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he tried to go into the church. The person welcoming visitors refused to give him a seat and suggested that he should go and worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. He reflected, “If Christians also have caste differences, I might as well remain a Hindu.”

And so Mahatma Gandhi was lost to the Church and never accepted Christ.

It really is an outrage if any Christian church discriminates against anyone who is seeking to worship God and desiring to know Jesus Christ on the grounds of race, gender, disability, social status, or anything else for that matter, because Christ Himself broke down all the barriers that once separated us from God and from each other. The apostle Paul confirmed the truth of that when he wrote these words:

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians – you are one in Christ Jesus. [Gal. 3:28]

All who are believers are one in Jesus Christ, so there should be no discrimination between us; and neither, I believe, should we discriminate against those who have not yet come to faith, because Jesus died for them as much as me and you. The single most effective way of stopping people from accepting Jesus as their Lord is to give the impression that we don’t think they’re good enough in some respect, or for them to see us treat them differently to others. We must always act towards others, as God Himself acts – Romans 2:11 says, “God does not show favouritism.”

In verses 2-4, James picks up on a very particular situation, the favouring of rich, important people over poor, scruffy people. Whether this was a common occurrence in Christian fellowships, or it was merely a general warning against what was often seen in the outside world, I don’t know, but the injustice of it is clear.

One morning as church members began to arrive at church, they were aghast to find a homeless man sleeping on the steps of the church. He was particularly scruffily dressed, with a dirty cap covering his face as he snored, and the church people thought this was disgraceful – “Why didn’t the pastor send him away before we arrived?” they muttered, as they stepped over him to enter the church.

The church filled up and the service was just about to begin, but there was no sign of the pastor. Just as the church secretary was about to go and find out what had happened to him, the door to the minister’s vestry opened and the scruffy old tramp came out and walked up to the platform. He took off his dirty, worn-out coat and cap and everyone saw that it was their pastor. He began to speak, “I was naked and you did not clothe me, I was hungry and you fed me not, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.”

All of us – Christians and non-Christians alike – have this wicked tendency to judge by appearances, we have this problem with trying to relate to people who are very different to us and, as a result, we pigeonhole, we stereotype and we reject those whom we should be going out of our way to welcome! The truth is, if we don’t treat those in need in the way that God treats them, then His love is not in us; if we favour the rich over the poor, we are acting completely contrary to Christ’s own teaching.

So, James goes on, in verses 5-7, to say that we should be ...

Seeing through God’s eyes (vv. 5-7)

“Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom He promised to those who love Him?”

We overlook the poor, or discriminate against them, at our peril, because often it is the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed who are strongest in faith. Maybe it’s the Christian woman in East Africa unfairly infected with HIV/AIDS who is shown to have great faith in God, even though her prognosis is poor; or, perhaps it’s the Chinese Christian farm worker who risks beatings and imprisonment to attend a forbidden house church meeting; or maybe it’s the father in another part of the world who converts to Christianity, knowing that it means rejection by his family and perhaps even death for apostacy.

Jesus Himself appreciated the tremendous faith of some of the poor people He encountered during His earthly ministry. Remember the poor widow’s offering?

While Jesus was in the Temple, He watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies. “I assure you,” He said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” [Luke 21:1-4]

When we underestimate the faith of poor people, we ourselves are impoverished. And when we favour the rich over the poor, we are surely acting foolishly, because “it is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”; whereas “the poor are blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” In God’s eyes, “rich” and “poor” are not standards of wealth, but measures of faith.

On another point, remember how Jesus told the rich young man:

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

It seems, then, that the way we treat the poor here on earth has a bearing on how we will be rewarded in Heaven. The thing is, we need to see all people through God’s eyes, by reading and reading the Bible, so that we become familiar with the way He wants us to live and by just resting in His presence, seeking His will in prayer.

Then, in verses 8-11, James talks about ...

Reserving judgement (vv. 8-11)

In vv. 9-10, James writes:

But if you favour some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

I think that what James is saying here is that we should not be so quick to condemn others for being sinful, for doing wrong things, when we ourselves are not without fault. If we discriminate against the poor person, or someone of a different race, or someone who is disabled, etc., then we are sinning and are certainly no better than those we want to push away or mistreat. In the eyes of God, the sins of those we despise most are no better or worse than my own.

Many Jewish leaders of that time when James was writing, recognising that no-one could possibly keep every commandment for a whole lifetime, argued that God’s grace led Him to overlook most disobedience, and some rabbis even taught that obedience to just one essential commandment was enough to satisfy God. James was saying that this isn’t true: it’s only through Jesus that we receive mercy, and so we shouldn’t take it upon ourselves to be the judge of other people.

And then, finally, James tells us in verses 12 and 13 about ...

Receiving our just desserts (vv. 12-13)

We need to be aware of the consequences of our own actions. These verses hark back to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells His followers:

“Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way as you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.”

If we judge others – and that, in effect, is what we’re doing when we discriminate against certain people or sections of society – we can expect to be judged in exactly the same way; but if we are merciful to others, God will show mercy to us. It’s as simple – or, perhaps, as difficult – as that. “Do unto others, as you would have God do unto you” is the idea.

In the Good News Bible and the New International Version, verse 13 finishes like this: “mercy triumphs over judgement.” I think this is a better translation than the New Living Translation and it emphasises something very important that we need to bear in mind: we must appreciate that God’s mercy is boundless, that, through the sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus Christ, and His subsequent resurrection, mercy has triumphed over judgement and we – the guilty ones – go free. Regardless of poverty, of skin colour, of disability, of age and of gender, God’s mercy triumphs over judgement – what better thought is there to leave you with than that one?

Let’s pray ...

Sunday February 8th, 2009

3. True & Counterfeit Faith (James 1:19-27)

As we return to our study of the Letter of James, we come to the end of chapter 1. In January, we first heard what James had to say about how people of faith should respond to the trials of life that we all face. Then, we considered how we who have faith should respond to temptation. This week, in the final verses of chapter 1 of the letter, we see that James now begins his teaching on how we must put our faith into practice.

First of all, in verses 19 and 20, James appears to be saying that we need to ...

Control ourselves (vv.19-20)

He splits that self-control into three distinct parts:
· first, be quick to listen
· second, be slow to speak
· and, third, be slow to get angry

Be quick to listen

These days, everybody has an opinion on everything and we are keen for everyone else to know what our opinions are. It seems that our twenty-first century society has seized upon the right to free speech and almost made it compulsory to be speaking most of the time! Of course, I’m exaggerating a little, but it does seem as though the art of listening is being lost, as a consequence.

I really believe that listening to what other people have to say is a very important, very loving thing to do, because through careful, respectful listening, we might ease someone’s pain or distress; or, we may allow someone to express pent-up frustration or anger in an appropriate way; or, we may even help to alleviate their fear of something. But the listening we do has to be good listening:

- when we listen, we need to give time and space for the other person to say what he needs to say ... if we appear impatient, or if we interrupt, he will feel insecure;

- when we listen, we need to look at the person and give her our full attention, not stare out of the window or continually look around ... we should be listening with our eyes;

- when we listen, we need to nod in the right places and show the appropriate expressions on our faces, then the other person will feel valued.

Good listening has many healing possibilities and surely this is part of the ministry to which Christ has called us. Remember, Jesus once said, “Do for others what you would like them to do for you. This is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Mt. 7:12) If we can do nothing else for others, we can at least be their good listeners.

Then, James also tells us we should be ...

Slow to speak

As I argued earlier, in the modern world there is perhaps an over-emphasis on speaking, when perhaps there should instead be a greater emphasis on remaining silent.

Maintaining an attentive silence when someone else is talking is respectful and often helpful to that other person, as we’ve seen. In addition, if we hold our silence and resist the temptation to interrupt, we give ourselves time and space to consider what our response should be to what is being said to us. For instance, if someone is criticising us, or having a rant against the Christian faith, we may want to jump in and defend ourselves, or our faith without delay; but, in truth, it is much better that we wait, listen and don’t speak until we can do so in a considered way. If we speak too soon, we may say something we regret, or we may appear overly defensive, or we may exacerbate the situation unnecessarily, rather than fostering peace. As Christians, we have an important responsibility to be careful how and when we speak.

Just listen to what Proverbs 10:19 says: "The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet."

That says it all, doesn’t it? But James does write more about controlling our tongues later in this letter, so we will re-visit this particular topic soon.

James also maintains that, as Christians, we must be ...

Slow to get angry

And if we are obedient to this, then we are following God’s example, for He is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” In the Jewish and non-Jewish cultures of the time that James was writing, angry speech was a sure sign that a person lacked wisdom. Indeed, Proverbs 29:11 says:

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."

Of course, it was particularly important that, within the Christian community, people were slow to show anger to one another, because it would – and in some cases already had – caused problems. Jesus Himself was very hard on displays of anger and bitterness – in the Sermon on the Mount, He told His disciples:

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit murder. Anyone who does will be brought to trial.’ But now I tell you: whoever is angry with his brother will be brought to trial, whoever calls his brother ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Council, and whoever calls his brother a worthless fool will be in danger of going to the fire of hell."

Personal anger, bitterness and resentment directed towards others doesn’t serve the cause of Jesus Christ and is not acceptable to God, so we need to maintain our self-control and seek the way of peace rather than recrimination.

Next, in verse 21, James says that, in addition to controlling ourselves, we need to ...

Clean up our act (v.21)

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

James is addressing Christians – people like us – and so, we need to heed his call to rid ourselves of every type of inappropriate behaviour. The thing is, we can so easily spend all our time focussing and commenting on the sins we see other people committing and end up not dealing with our own sinfulness. You may remember that Jesus was very firm about this – He said:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye.”

Interestingly, the Greek word for ‘filth’ is closely related to the word for ‘ear wax’ – something that obstructs the hearing – and this is what James is trying to convey: we must clean out of our lives anything and everything which may get in the way of us hearing what God’s saying to us. And the way that we do that is to confess our sins, show sincere repentance and conduct ourselves appropriately in the future. Only then can the word of God work effectively within us.

So, according to James, we need to control ourselves; we need to clean up our act; and, third, we must ...

Comply with God’s word (vv.22-25)

It is not enough to receive God’s message, to hear His call, we also have to act upon it – as James stresses:

“... don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourselves.”

The example that James gives of looking in the mirror, seeing our appearance and then going away and forgetting what we look like is deliberately silly – is there anyone who gazes into the mirror, sees themself as they are, but then forgets how they look as soon as they walk away? James is saying that anyone who professes to be a Christian, who reads God’s word, who hears what God is saying to them, but then forgets about it and doesn’t act upon it, is just as ridiculous.
Obedience seems to be a bit of a dirty word today, because, when we obey someone, it implies that they have authority over us and, in our modern society, people don’t like to admit to that – they assert their independence at every opportunity and present themselves as free spirits.

We who truly follow Christ, we who recognise what He has done for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection, declare that Jesus is Lord and thereby confess that He has authority over us; that we are not independent, but dependent upon Him; that we are not free spirits, but belong to Him. This being so, we must be obedient to Christ, obedient to God and what He tells us, and through our obedience we will be blest by Him – this is what James is saying here.
And if we are obedient to God, one of the things that we will be careful to do is to ...

Curb our tongues (v.26)

James writes:

If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

As I’ve already said, I’m not going to dwell on this too much today, because we will be considering the importance of controlling our tongues in much more detail in a few weeks’ time when we reach chapter 3 of James’ letter. But, just in passing, let me share with you an epitaph that can be read on an old grave stone in a small country graveyard:

Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,

lies Arabella Young,

who, on the twenty-fourth of May,

began to hold her tongue.

Suffice to say that an uncontrolled tongue can cause untold upset and, in fact, it reveals more about you yourself than it does about the one of whom you’re speaking. Someone who, on the surface, seems to be very pious – attending church every Sunday morning, saying all the right prayers, giving to the collection every week – but who, at the same time is heard to gossip, speak ill of others, or be foul-mouthed, reveals that their religion is really only skin deep and therefore worthless. Let’s not be like Arabella Young, but rather, learn to hold our tongues before the grave!

Last of all, James tells us to ...

Care for the needy (v.27)

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

It’s a theme that God returns to again and again in the Bible: true religion, true faith is seen in how we relate to the neediest in society, not in how we behave in church. In the early church, the neediest people were usually orphans and widows: there were no insurance schemes to help those who had suffered tragedy; there was no benefits system to support them; and it would be difficult for them to find work for themselves.

A true Christian faith is demonstrated by the way believers speak and act; it’s shown by how we care for and look after those who have the deepest needs – it’s not a matter of merely looking after those who are closest to us ... our friends and family ... but all who are in distress and especially those whom the world rejects. It is the extent of our love for others that reveals the depth of our faith and the sincerity of our love for God.

Conclusion

So, as we reach the end of chapter 1 of the Letter of James, we are already very much into the apostle’s very practical teaching about the Christian faith – this is not all airy fairy, theoretical stuff, this is meaty and relevant to everyday life. So do stick with it, as we learn about how we can more effectively witness to the grace of God and the love of Christ in our own lives.

Amen.