Reflection on James 2:1-17

 

James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17

1My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2For 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, 3and 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,” 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, 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? 6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

8You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 9But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.]

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16and 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? 17So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Reflection

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount today, who would be standing on that hillside looking up at Jesus? 

As Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” or as we might understand, “The good life belongs to the powerless, for the kingdom of the skies belongs to them,” I imagine a single parent, whose spouse has left them with little money and little help, hearing those words as they try to keep their children quiet (NRSV, Matthew 5:3).  Jesus looks directly at that parent and assures them that Jesus plans on including them in spreading the love of the kingdom.

Jesus looks up again and says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).  The message that the good life belongs to those who cry out at the injustices of the world falls on the ears of a young teen who fears that school violence might also hit her.  Her dark shaded eyes of pain and grief over this violent world lock on Jesus’ own eyes as Jesus ensures that God’s good kingdom has not forgotten about her.

“Blessed are meek, for they will inherit the earth,” catches the attention of the factory worker who can afford to live in nothing more than a trailer.  He has no power or ability to increase his wages.  He is an unnoticeable cog in a huge corporate wheel, but Jesus notices him and promises that the good life belongs to those with no influence in the world.  The man is intrigued.  He wants to know more, so he draws close to Jesus.

I imagine the scene to be similar to the actual scene on the mountain where Jesus taught.  I imagine the poor, the powerless, those hungering for equality, those who try their hardest to create peace in this world, and those who are pushed around and forgotten all being invited to be Jesus’ people, a city on a hill that shines God’s light and love to the world.  

It is an astonishing scene, really.  Jesus does not go first to the movers and the shakers in the community as he seeks to establish his kingdom.  Jesus does not go first to those with money and power. 

But, is it not to those powerful people where almost all of us think to go first when we desire to start a new ministry or begin to try to make change in the world? Do not most of us seek out those who have the resources, who can create the most bang for the buck? 

Jesus is so very different.  Jesus starts to make change in the world by gathering the hungry, homeless, powerless, and a handful of blue collar workers to create his kingdom of light and love.

A few years back there was a young preacher in town who wanted to make a difference for Jesus in our community.  He was a great guy, and we got along really well, but I was blown away when the first people he called together to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our little town were those who lived in a mental health group home.  

“What a strange place to start” I thought to myself.  But, before saying something to him that would have been outright stupid, I looked at Jesus and those he invited on the mountain, and I realized that those very people were the probably the most faithful place to start.

Jesus was rarely impressed by those with money and power.  Rather, Jesus was most impressed by those who had faith.  Jesus was most impressed by those who trusted in him and actively followed in his footsteps.  Jesus sought to create in his kingdom people an active faith.

And, James has all of this on his mind as he preaches to his own people.  He holds close the image of those poor and powerless people being invited to be the hands and feet of the Jesus movement.  He holds close those powerful words of invitation and promise from Jesus, “for yours is the kingdom of heaven,” as he attempts to redirect a people of God who have started to wander away.

Just listen to how James has Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount on the brain as he teaches, “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?” (James 2:5). 

“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

James worries that his community of Jesus followers had started to get it all wrong.  They had started to treat those who were well off, wearing fine clothes and jewelry, with places of honor, while forgetting to equally honor those who had nothing.

“This is not the way of Jesus!” James insists.  Jesus outright chooses, as his kingdom people, those who are poor, forgotten, and cast out.  They are his go-to people.  So, we do not get to make any distinctions.  Income does not matter to Jesus.  Race does not matter to Jesus.  Community standing does not matter to Jesus.  Even, religious rank and title does not matter to Jesus.  That is bad news for me as a pastor, but good news for you as a people. 

James bristles at the notion that distinctions have become a thing in his faith community.  He says, “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 2:4-7).

What James hopes will sink into his people’s very souls in an active faith, filled with Christ’s equal love for everyone.  He says that all of us would do good to remember to “love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8).  In fact, it is part of Jesus’ primary commandment, to love God and neighbor.  James hopes that we not only remember it, but that it might become a part of our daily existence.  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

James is not impressed by those who only talk as if they are faithful and caring, but is rather impressed by those who are actually faithful and deeply caring.  He is impressed by the same people for whom Jesus is impressed. 

Take that gentile woman in today’s gospel reading from Mark, Chapter 7 that deeply loved and cared for her demon possessed daughter.  That woman heard about Jesus and his power.  That woman trusted that Jesus could do something about her suffering daughter.  And, her trust in that never wavered.  She knew that Jesus could do something for her precious one.  The woman loved her daughter as much as herself, and because of that love, she pressed and pressed Jesus until the girl was healed. 

“Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus answered her demand to intervene and heal.  But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:27-28). 

The faith Jesus had given her when she first heard about his healings, was not a dead faith.  It was not a flat faith.  It was not a poorly carbonated and sugar-free faith.  It was a faith that was alive with an active sort of love that would not give up until her girl, her precious girl, was healed and restored.  Who do you press Jesus about again and again?  Who do you love so much that you would do whatever it takes to give them what they need?

Jesus was impressed.  As I said before, Jesus was most impressed by those who had an active faith.  Jesus was most impressed by those who trusted in him and actively followed in his footsteps.  Jesus seeks to create in us an active faith that actively loves. 

There are plenty of people in this world who simply say, “Thoughts and prayers.”  There are plenty of people in this world who pray that people might be warm and fed,” but they never lift a finger to do anything about it.  If I am completely honest, sometimes I am that person.  But, “What is the good of that?” James asks (James 2:16b).  Jesus actually cares that his people actually be warm and fed.  “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).

But, your faith is not dead, O followers of Jesus Christ.  Not after today anyway!  After-all, you have been called by Jesus from the mountain.  You who are poor, and weak, and sinful have all been called by Jesus to be washed in the love of his kingdom.  And, because you are washed in the love and mercy of his kingdom, you too become the love of his kingdom.

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).