Go and Read - The Letter of James

Every Sunday we read three or four scriptures. There is a Psalm. A reading from the First Testament. A Gospel reading and a reading from one of the Epistles or Letters. Very often the readings from the Letters will have great insights into the life of the church. After all that is who the original audience was. The early church community struggling to find a path and learn to be the church.

            During each Sunday in September, we will be reading a portion of The Letter of James. It is a letter written to be shared among early Jewish Christian communities struggling to figure out how to follow Jesus. It is a fascinating letter with an interesting history. The great reformer Martin Luther referred to James as “an epistle of straw” because it seemingly went against the apostle Paul’s emphasis on justification by faith alone.

            While I’m not a theologian on the level of Martin Luther, I would argue that he is maybe missing the point in this harsh criticism of James. I think James assumes the faith of his audience and is trying to help them grow to the next step. What do we do with this faith?

            Maybe you have heard, or have seen on social media, the reaction to some catastrophe – “Thoughts and Prayers.”  James wants to change the metaphor, the image to something like “Prayers and Actions.” James encourages us to be doers of the word, not merely hearers (James 1:22). James warns against judging others and even goes on to call that judgment a sin (James 2:2-7).  And then he asks what good is it if you say you have faith, but do not have works?  And the real kicker is in James 2:15-17:

“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.”

            For James, faith is revealed in the work that proceeds from it!  Today in the life of the church we call that mission. A church that only looks inward will soon starve itself. Our mission grows from our faith.

            James is a short little ethical handbook filled with instructions for how a community is meant to live together. It is filled with strong, fun, pointed metaphors and images that reflect what following Jesus can look like for a community. It is an instruction manual for living in community.

            So, in the spirit of James – Go and Read! The Letter of James and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Peace

Dave