Reflection on James 1:17-27

James 1:17-27 (NRSV)

¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

 ¹⁹You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
 ²²But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
 ²⁶If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Reflection 

Years ago, during my pastoral internship, while I was unwrapping my lunch, I got a call just before I took a bite.  It was a woman who was asking for some food.  She had nothing to eat.  I looked at my sandwich and gave it a sigh of sad goodbye.  I wrapped my deli-made, ham sandwich in its wrapper, put it in the paper bag with the bag of chips, and proceeded to drive to the local woman’s shelter, where she was staying. Just so you understand, the shelter provided dinner, but lunch was on your own.  Most women just made sure to have leftovers from dinner, but this woman had just entered into the shelter that morning after days of homelessness.  The previous days had yielded just scraps of food, and she was weak and famished.

After knocking, the door opened to reveal a very thin, old woman with paper thin skin.  Before thinking even to reach for the lunch bag, she said, “Thank you so much, kind sir,” and she shakily took a seat.  I handed the bag to her, and while taking the bag with one hand, she took my hand with another, pulled it up to her lips and kissed my hand with its cross engraved ring, as if I were some sort of royalty; as if I were divine myself; come from above.

“Thank you, Jesus” she declared, kissing the ring again.

It felt so weird.  I was just an intern; not even a pastor.  I was wearing a t-shirt and old shorts; far from looking royal or divine.  I was not worthy of such an honor.

Even today, I can guarantee that there is still nothing that is all that great about me.  And, after spending two weeks with me in close quarters while on vacation, I am certain that my family will whole-heartedly agree.  I was just a guy bearing a cheap lunch from the grocery store deli.  But to her, my meal was something more.  And to her, I was something more.  And this week, as I meditated on our reading from James, I realized that apparently I was something more to God also.  And, so are you.

But, first we will talk about the cheap meal from the deli; that simple ham sandwich.  James 1:17 teaches us, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Have you ever had a divine, ham sandwich? 

To tell you the truth, those deli sandwiches were not really all that good.  They were from a pitiful grocery store and were almost good enough for lunch.   But to her, the sandwich was the “perfect gift,” given to her from a generous God.  To her, it was a sandwich that was bathed in a theatrical beam of white, holy light from the “Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow.”

And, it was delivered by God’s very own divine messenger, who was glowing in his t-shirt and old shorts.  She kissed the divine messenger’s cross ring, to show her appreciation.  He was one of God’s “first fruits” from creation.

And, as ridiculous as that sounds, James claims that it is true.  We are God’s first fruits.  He says: “In fulfillment of his own purpose [God] gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

In Matthew 5:42, Jesus instructs us to “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42).  That day, I was birthed by his word, listening to Jesus, and his word about giving, and I took it seriously.  I am not saying that I have always done so.  There are plenty of days that I have kept the sandwich and moved on, but that day, for whatever reason, the “word of truth” shaped who I was, and in doing so I was counted among the “first fruits of this creatures.” 

Have you ever considered that you are one of the “first fruits” of creation?

Lots of people, whenever they read this Bible passage, are led to believe that the things they are given from God are the first fruits to be given towards God’s purposes, but if you read this scriptures close and meditate on it, allowing it to soak into your mind, you will notice that we “become a kind of first fruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

We are like the first trees mentioned in Genesis, chapter two of the Bible, which are “pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Genesis 2:9).

We are like the first fruit that are harvested and given to God, as the Israelites were instructed in Exodus 23:19.

You are the first fruits that Jesus himself chose and harvested, to be set aside as special so that God has someone who can be devoted to serving God’s purposes.

It is kind of like being chosen to be the teacher’s helper in elementary school.  Do you remember that?  It is such a huge honor to be chosen.  It makes you feel bigger than you actually are.  It is a special gift that fills you with excitement.  It is a role in which you strive to do your best so that the teacher might be proud.  And, it is a role that is not earned, but given; and because of that it makes you to be better than you actually are.

Say with me, “I am God’s first fruit.”  I know the first time saying it just feels stupid.  But, say it again with me because it is true.  “I am God’s first fruit.”  And, say it again a third time because the third time it actually starts to become a part of who you are.  “I am God’s first fruit.”

You are the first fruit, picked and chosen by Jesus to be his love in the world.  And, being a first fruit looks like something.

It looks like someone who, the Bible says, is “quick to listen” (James 1:19).  Now, there are lots of people in this world who are quick to talk.  You know them.  They are the ones who do not really listen at all, but just wait for a break in the conversation in which to insert themselves and all of their knowledge.  We all know people like this, right?  Most of us have all been people like this from time to time, right? 

But, James says this to the people who are the first fruits of Jesus: “You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak,” because in that way you are actually present to the people with whom God has placed you.  How many people, who are feeling lost in life, wish that God would send them someone to just be present with them, to listen?  You are that gift, as unlikely as it may seem.

And, when you are truly present with people, and deeply listening to them, you are then also able to be “slow to anger;” (James 1:19).

And, that is important because the Bible says that “your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:20).

Always remember that “righteousness” in the Bible does not mean “being a good and perfect person,” rather righteousness specifically means being in “right relationships” with people.  Those whose minds have been consumed by anger cannot possibly figure out how to be in a good relationship with others.

If I had allowed myself to get angry about my lunch being disrupted once again, “All I want is a moment of peace so that I can eat!  God, can’t I have even that?”  If anger was my response, then a hungry woman may not have received the gift of God.

“Your anger does not create God’s good relationships,” indeed!  In fact, anger derails good relationships all of the time.  

So, as Jesus teaches, do not continually to be angry with one another (Matthew 5:22).  Allow the anger to stop, and do something else instead. 

James tells us that maybe a better use of our time would be to undress from the filth that clings to us, like taking off blood soaked clothes after a vicious murder.  James tells us to “rid [ourselves] of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness” (James 1:21).  We are to rip off the filthy socks and stained shirts from our souls.  We are to undress from the desire to hurt others and injure others.  How can we possibly hope to help those who we are angry with, James would ask?

Can I just stop right here and say out loud that this is a lot to ask?  I do not know about you, but I quite like my righteous anger, thank you very much.  Evil people are exactly that: evil.  They need to be called out.  They need to be disliked.  They need to be punished in one way or another so that they understand all that is wrong with them!  Though I do not wish them harm, if a bus just happens to hit them on their way across the street, I am not exactly going to cry.

And, then I remember the meaning of “righteousness,” which is “seeking right relationships.”  Can “righteous anger” even do that?  If anger inherently pushes us further apart, can anger ever act in a righteous way and bring us together?

This undressing of the soul is hard work, and it leads me to think that I need a wise word, a divine word even, from Jesus to help me out.  How about you?  Are you ready to accept that your opinion probably is not all that important and that you need to listen?  Are you ready to admit some powerlessness in actually making this happen?

Then, let us join James and “welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls” (James 1:21). That is right, we want the word of Jesus grafted right onto our souls.  We want that salvific word of Jesus engraved right into our hearts.  Jesus has the wisdom we need.

But, where do we even start to look?  How about we look where James loves to look?  James really, really loved the words of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount, and he uses Jesus words from there all the time throughout his letter.  Now, in that sermon, Jesus talks about how we should not judge and condemn people.  Instead, Jesus says that we if we see a speck in someone else’s eye, a sin within someone else’s life, that the first thing we need to do is “take the log out of [our] own eye” (Matthew 7:5).  With a log in our own eye, there is no way we can possibly see to help the speck in our neighbor’s eye.

You are Jesus’ chosen student of the day.  You are the teacher’s helper who wants to do the best and be the best helper possible.  But, you cannot do that if you do not go and look in the mirror and get that big, ridiculous looking log out of your eye.

That is the wisdom.  That sort of self-reflection is the gift that Jesus provides to become his first fruits of love to our neighbors.  James puts it this way, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.  For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like” (James 1:22-24). 

Allow yourself to actually look in the mirror and see yourself as you are; good and bad.

I once had a friend who lived on a cow farm.  He came to school every single day stinking of cow.  But, we were his friends, so we never let the sometimes very, very pungent smell keep us from our friendship.  It was hard sometimes, but not once did we ever mention the smell.  He could not help it!  He lived on a cow farm!

But, one day a new friend arrived in our little group of friends who also had a certain, very present fragrance about her.  We too vowed to not even mention this fact, so as to provide a place where she could find some friends.  But, one morning, the cow friend said to the rest of us, “That girl smells rank!  I am not sure I can handle it!”  We all just stared, wide-eyed at one another.  How could he not see…or smell?

And, we can be like that.  We can look in the mirror and walk away without ever really looking and seeing.  But, being loved and chosen by Jesus first, without any conditions, means that it is safe for us to take a good look in the mirror at ourselves before we do anything to help someone else.

And when we do, when we see the truth about ourselves and how Jesus has chosen us to be his first fruits anyway, James is confident that we will not be “hearers who forget” but rather “doers who act” (James 1:25); people of real religion who do not just talk about God’s love, but are God’s love (James 1:26).

After-all, there are hungry, old women who need food.  There are smelly people who need friends.  There are people with specks in their eyes who need someone who can lovingly recognize the speck and help. 

Jesus has chosen all of you to be his first fruits of all created creatures.  That means that you are not only loved by God, but you love on behalf of God.  Jesus has chosen, even you, as faulty as you may be, “to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).  May you too be surprised and humbled when your hand too is kissed and God is praised because Jesus urged you to offer your ham sandwich, or something even greater.  To God be the glory.