James - Love in Action
Presented at Trinity United Methodisit Church
October 6, 2024
James 1:19-27 and other selections
Today’s lesson is from the New Testament Epistle of James. This short book, just 5 chapters, is full of pithy wisdom for living a life that follows the Way of Jesus. Since the earliest days of the Jesus movement, a debate has raged about the balance between faith and works. Martin Luther called this book a “straw epistle” because Jesus and God are barely mentioned. He thought James put too much emphasis on practice and not enough on faith. However, John Wesley considered it a foundation for Christian living - a guide for putting faith into action. You can read the letter in its entirety in one sitting and judge for yourself.
This letter is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus, so someone who knew Jesus quite well. It may not be surprising that James would not focus on the divinity of Jesus, because he grew up with him and saw Jesus in all aspects of his humanity. It is no wonder that James and Jesus’s other brothers and sisters were late in coming to see him as the Messiah. Yet we know that they did. We know from the accounts in the Book of Acts that Jesus’ brothers James and Jude were leaders in the early days of the church.
In Acts 15, we learn that Paul came to the leaders in Jerusalem (The Jerusalem Council, of which James was the head) asking support for his ministry to the Gentiles and It was James who said yes. It was James who settled the question of whether Gentiles had to become Jews, that is follow all the law, including circumcision, before becoming Christians. After deliberating and quoting the prophet Amos, James said “Therefore I conclude we should not create problems for Gentiles who turn to God.”
James addressed this letter to the Jews living outside of Jerusalem, the diaspora, those who were following the Way of Jesus His purpose was to provide guidance for daily life consistent with Jesus teachings. In a sense then, James was writing directly to us - the children of the diaspora.
James is chock full of advice for us who seek to follow the Way of Jesus, words we may have heard many times.
James 1:17 Every good gift, every perfect gift comes from above…
James 1:19 Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to grow angry
James 1:22 You must be doers of the Word and not only hearers who mislead themselves
Be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
Martin Luther may have rejected James, but not his message. Luther didn’t just complain about corruption in the church, he did something! By nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, he began the Protestant Reformation, of which we are children.
John Wesley was a doer. He was not content to complain about a church that had lost touch with the needs of common people, he did something - not just preaching, but starting schools so people could read the Bible for themselves, caring for the sick, establishing small study groups, advocating for the rights of workers and against child labor and against slavery, setting up a system for the ministry of the laity, including women. The result of his doing was the Methodist movement, of which we are children.
In Chapter 2, James bluntly says, “My brother and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.”
Today the United Methodist Church is doing something in the world. We are not content to play at “ain’t it awful,” but as a denomination and conference and a local church we are doing something to make people’s lives better. Today we are gathering an offering for people impacted by Hurricane Helene. Tomorrow the women will be assembling Hygiene Kits through our conference missions. And the women will be deciding how we can use the funds collected from our sale to make our church and community a better place for everyone, especially those most in need. Last spring we packed food buckets for Zimbabwe. In two weeks we will learn how we can continue to be in ministry with young people in South Sudan. Recently we have prepared Hygiene Kits with backpacks for displaced students in our own community. In our own small ways, we are doing something.
But being doers of the Word is not limited to how we help others who have material needs. Doing is also how we conduct ourselves in our everyday interactions with each other and with everyone we encounter. That is what James is really getting at. He is giving us practical advice on how to act so that others might come to know the Way of Jesus.
So he says, Be doers of the WORD. Theologically speaking, the word WORD is a loaded word, if I may play upon words.
In Genesis, in the beginning, God’s WORD speaks creation into being. His WORD is sufficient to create the heavens and earth and everything else. In the beautiful opening to his Gospel, story, John says that the WORD was with God and the WORD was God and that all things came into being through him. Here John is saying that God’s ultimate, most eloquent, and most accessible WORD to us and for us is the person of Jesus, Jesus the Nazarene, Jesus the Christ.
Being doers of the WORD is more than following a list of rules. It is following the Way of Jesus. If then we are to be doers of the WORD, we must make sure that our doing is consistent with God’s WORD as revealed in Jesus the Christ; that we are not doing for our own sake, our own feel-good, not for our ideas about what others should want or ought to need. We are doing the WORD when our actions flow out of LOVE - Love for God, Love for his gift of Jesus in the world, Love for one another, Love for our neighbors to the ends of the earth - no exceptions.
We can’t be doers of the WORD unless we know the WORD. James acknowledges that when he says in verse 25 of Chapter 1: But there are those who study the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continue to do it. They don’t listen and then forget, but they put it into practice in their lives. They will be blessed in whatever they do. This is where prayer and bible study and studying the works of the saints before us and among us come in. To know the WORD, we must be disciples. Knowing the WORD is essential to our discipleship and there are no shortcuts.
James has a lot more to say about how to be doers of the word. In fact, I could go on for another hour, but why don’t you read it for yourself. I’ll just share some highlights. In Chapter 2, James explains how showing favoritism, especially to those who have wealth and status, is a denial of Jesus message of love and mercy to all. After all, Jesus often lifted up the “least of these” as examples for us.
Chapter 3 warns us about the power of words. It is subtitled “Taming the Tongue.” He cautions that not many should become teachers because more is expected from teachers. Words are powerful and can create great harm if we are not careful about how we speak to and about one another. Words can make someone’s day or ruin it. Taming our tongue is about exercising self-control and practicing love.
Chapter 4 deals with conflict and how people of faith deal with interpersonal conflict. Everyone is lifted up when we humble ourselves and put away personal pride; put away the need to be right. James cautions: Brothers and sisters, don’t say evil things about each other…Who are you to judge your neighbor.
In Chapter 5, James reminds us again to not put our self-worth in material riches, but instead be patient and steadfast in our faith. James ends with these words:
If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call the elders and the elders of the church should pray over them….The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.
James’ message throughout has echos of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which we call the Beatitudes, the Blessings. He reminds us in simple and practical ways how a Christian is to live in relationship with others.
This short paragraph from Daily Disciplines sums it up. “Each community of faith, and each individual follower of Christ, must consider these words from James. The debate about the connection between faith and works has long raged with ardent adherents on each side proclaiming their way is the best - or the only - way. But the whole of scripture teaches that both are essential. Our faith must inform our works, and so our faith is essential. But if our works do not point back to our faith, as James says, what is the good of our faith?”
Here at Trinity we like to say that the heart of our ministry is Loving God and Loving our Neighbor. James urges us to put our Love into Action.
AMEN
Benediction:
This day, O God, we pray that our faith and our actions
intertwine to help us live and work for your kingdom
here on each. Go now in peace to love and serve. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer:
Merciful and Holy God. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on our world. Have mercy on the people scattered across the Southeastern United States who have suffered devastation and loss caused by Hurricane Helene. Give comfort to the afflicted. Give strength to those who are working tireless to help their neighbors. May we not be content to rest in our comfort and safety while others are in need.
Yet we know, Merciful God, that there are neighbors in dire need every day, everywhere: victims and perpetrators of violence; hungry, homeless men, women and children; the sick and the dying. We cannot be everywhere nor can we do it all, but lead us to doing what you will, what we can, to show love to our neighbors.
We have called the names of our family and friends. We thank you for extending your comfort and healing to those we have named our loud and to those we carry in our hearts.
We know you are a loving God. Give us the courage and grace to extend your love to those outside our comfort zones. Give us the power to put your love into action, so that all may know your love through us.
We make our plea in the name of your Son, Jesus the Christ, who shows us the Way as together we pray the words he gave us:
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever.
AMEN
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