Sermon - The Rev. Leah D. Schade
Reformation Lutheran Church, Media, PA
Sept. 3, 2006
The Letter of James, Part One (Chapter 1)
Did you ever wonder how the bible readings are chosen each week
for our worship services? There is something called the “lectionary”
which lists what the readings are each week. You’ll notice that our
lessons almost always follow the same form - they include a reading from the
Old Testament, sometimes a Psalm, one of the Epistles of the New Testament, and
a Gospel reading. The readings in the lectionary rotate every
three years, which gives worshipers a broad-based sense of the Bible as a
whole.
Now Pastor Smoose and I don’t always follow the lectionary for our
sermons. When we do our sermon series, we’ll choose passages that fit the
series we’re preaching at the time. For example, we just finished a
series on the parables of Jesus, and chose Gospel readings that were different
from the lectionary.
But it just so happens that in the lectionary this week, they are beginning a
continuous reading of the Letter of James in the New Testament. There are
five chapters in James, and the reading is spread out over five Sundays, so it
works out nicely for preaching. And today begins this new sermon series
on the Letter of James.
Just out of curiosity, how many of you can say you’ve actually read the letter
of James as a whole, either on your own or in a bible study? Not too
many, which isn’t surprising. While certain verses of the Letter of James
are often quoted, it’s not usually read or studied as a whole. It is one
of the oldest of the New Testament texts, however, and contains some very
interesting instructions and advice that have something to say to us, even as
modern Christians.
Let’s take a moment, first, to answer some basic questions about the Letter of
James. Who wrote it? We’re not exactly sure. Many believe
this was written by James, the brother of Jesus. According to tradition,
James was a skeptic while his brother was alive; but after Jesus’ death and
resurrection, James became a believer and a key leader of the church in
Jerusalem. So tradition has it that this is written by Jesus’
brother. However, it’s very possible that the author only wrote under the
name of James to give authority to his words, the way some of the letters of
Paul were written. In any case, we’re pretty certain that it was written
sometime before the fall the of Temple in 70 CE, and that it was written by a
person of Jewish origin, as opposed to Hellenistic, or Greek background.
What’s more important than its historical background, though, is the style of
the content of the letter. This is what could be called “Christian wisdom
literature”, because it mimics the style of the Hebrew wisdom tradition. It’s
chock-full with advice on practical morality, like how to live one’s life in
light of one’s faith, similarly to the books of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes in the
Old Testament. As we go through these chapters over the next few weeks,
you’ll see that the author is very passionate about the practical, day-to-day
aspects of faith as demonstrated in one’s actions.
In fact, you can see that very clearly right here in the first chapter.
If you’d like to look at the full text, you can pull out your the bible from
underneath your seat. For most of you, the letter begins on page ____ way
back near the end of the book. While you’re looking it up, let me suggest
that you read each chapter of James on your own at home before hearing it
preached on Sunday. This will give you more time to think and meditate on its
meaning, and help you get more out of our sermons.
Now the letter begins in the typical way with the author identifying himself,
and then stating who his audience is. In this case we have: “James, a
servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the
Dispersion: Greetings.” Some say that he’s refering to the twelve
tribes of Israel, but its more likely that he’s referring to the new Jewish
Christians in his address.
Then he launches right into his pep talk: “My brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you
know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have
its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (James
1:2-4). You see, the early Christians were persecuted during these years,
so this advice serves to strengthen them right at the outset.
Then the author lays out a seemingly unrelated list of topics one right after
the other. He speaks about asking for wisdom from God in verses 5-8 - a
common phrase found in Hebrew Wisdom literature. In verses 9 - 11,
he abruptly changes topic to speak about the low being raised up and the rich
being brought low. Then he switches gears again and talks about temptation
in verses 12 - 16. And in 17 - 18 he veers into talking about generosity
and truth, then gives advice on living a clean life by hearing and then acting
on God’s word. Whew! Seems this author is a little disjointed in
his thinking.
Actually, what the author is doing here is giving us a sort of
table-of-contents about what the rest of the letter will address. So we
know just by reading the first chapter the basics of what he’s going to cover
in the rest of the letter, which include social justice, temptation, getting
wisdom from God and then acting on it, and how to live a life that reflects
one’s faith.
Now in the time that we have left this morning, I want to focus on just three
verses of this chapter so that you can see how they become the keys to
understanding the author’s purpose for this letter. Look at verse
18: “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 creation.”
This “word of truth” is what caught my eye. Because look, then, at verse
22: “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves
. . .” then skip down to 25 . . . “be not hearers who forget but doers who act
- you will be blessed in your doing.”
Like I said before, the author is very concerned with Christians walking the
walk, not just talking the talk. First, you have to hear and understand
this “word of truth”, and then you have to act on it.
Now what do we mean by “truth”? These days, truth is a hard thing to come
by. We’re never sure if we’re being told the truth. We’re just bombarded
with “spin” and people either deliberately or mistakenly misusing words to
represent the truth. Faced with such a myriad of distortions of the truth, it’s
no wonder people have difficulty deciding what is “the word of truth.”
How do we decide what is true in our lives spiritually? Or, let me ask it
a different way: What is your spiritual truth?
I ask that because your spiritual truth involves the way you live your ultimate
values and commitments. It’s about whom or what you love and why, and how
you behave each day because of that love. If you’re a person of faith,
your spiritual truth is going to be centered on God, how you relate to God, and
how you relate to the world in light of God. And then what James tells us
is that the evidence of your spiritual truth is going to be visible in how you
relate to your neighbors, how you treat them, how you pray, how and what you
sacrifice for what you believe.
It’s not too often that we’re asked to contemplate the really big questions of
life. But I’m challenging you to do that today. I want you to
really think about this question: “What is my spiritual truth? And
how do I live that out each day?” This is a good day to do this kind of
thinking. We’re taking a break from our work tomorrow because of Labor
Day, so you have a little breathing room to contemplate how your values affect
your work. And for many students and teachers, the day after Labor Day is
the beginning of school - so now is a good time to center yourself in your
identity as a Christian and set the compass of your decision-making and your
actions according to this orientation.
But I’m going to challenge you even further. Because James warns us to
“Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves . . .” and
not to be just “hearers who forget but doers who act.” I have in mind a
particular activity that often most clearly reveals where we fail to apply our
spiritual truth, where we deceive ourselves on what our values are, and where
we fail to act according to this word of truth. It’s a very mundane
activity. Most of us do it every day. And many of us will do it a
great deal of this over the holiday weekend and in the week ahead. I’m
talking about . . . driving.
Driving?! What does driving have to do with my spiritual truth? you might
ask. Well, let me use myself as an example. I can tell you that my
spiritual truth involves following Jesus’ command to do unto others as I would
have them do unto me. It is important for me to be a person of compassion
and understanding, striving to keep my ego in check, and taking deliberate
steps to think about how my actions will affect others around me. And I
can tell you that where I most often come up short, and where I could be
accused of being the most hypocritical is . . . when I’m behind the wheel.
I don’t know what it is about driving a car - but it tends to bring out the
worst in me. I become the exact opposite person that I profess to be in
my moments of spiritual truth. My sense of self-importance just balloons
in the driver’s seat. I want to rush slow drivers in front of me. I
think that where I’m going is so important and my timeline is so critical that
it justifies my aggressive driving. I get impatient, my temper flares, my
anger comes out, and I say mean things that I would never speak to a person
outside the confines of my car. Or sometimes it’s not that I’m being
aggressive, it’s just that I’m not thinking about any other driver around me.
I’ll be so focused on getting through a light, that I won’t take the time to
simply let someone out who’s trying to pull into the road. Or I just
think I can’t wait to hit the button for another radio station, and find myself
drifting dangerously close to the car beside me. Truth be told, I often
fail to live out my Christian values and my spiritual truth when I drive.
And I don’t think I’m the only one who struggles with this kind of
behavior. I’ve heard racial and sexist comments from people when they’re
driving that I would never hear them speak when their feet are on the
pavement. Individuals who I normally think of as gentle and easy-going
become white-knuckled, foul-mouthed fiends while they’re driving. Is it
just me, or have others observed this kind of behavior in themselves or
others?
You see sometimes it is the smallest everyday activities that are the most
telling about where we need to do the most work in having our actions match up
with our words and our beliefs. And it may seem that I’m nitpicking here
- but we’ve seen the tragic, killing results of what can happen when people
ignore their stated values when they’re behind the wheel. How many fewer
accidents and deaths might result from people simply making the decision to live
out their spiritual truth while driving?
I’d like to invite you to join me in an experiment during the next week.
I’m going to treat each driving experience as a spiritual exercise - and have
the same attitude I would as if I were walking into a worship service.
When I get into the car and start the ignition, I’m going to begin by saying a
short prayer asking God to help me be the kind of person God wants me to be as
I drive. And I’m going to regard each driver I encounter the same way I
would encounter someone here in this church. I’m going to be kinder, more
patient, and attentive to the needs of others, and see if I can put my sense of
self-importance aside.
I’m going to look for ways to demonstrate my spiritual truth and values as I’m
driving. Like slowing down and simply following the person in front of
me. Keeping an eye out for someone who needs to merge into traffic, and
allowing them in. Holding my tongue when someone cuts me off or does
something thoughtless. And when I do encounter a driver that angers me,
I’m going to take seriously Jesus’ command to pray for our enemies - I’m going
to offer a prayer of forgiveness and goodwill on that person’s behalf.
And when I turn off the ignition, I’m going to pray for forgiveness of my own
transgressions while I drove, and also give thanks for arriving safely at my
destination.
Now this is going to be a tall order for me. I don’t know how well
I’m going to do. I’ve never tried this experiment before, so I’m not sure
how it’s going to turn out. And I’ll be lucky if I can remember to do
this for a whole week. But my theory is that if we try this spiritual
exercise, it will help us not only to be better drivers, but better
Christians. That it will bring our actions more into line with the faith
we confess.
In this way, we will not just be hearers of the word, but doers of the
word. And then, as James says, we will be blessed in the
doing. Amen.
Sources:
Dreyer, Elizabeth A., “Truth Matters,” Weavings, Volume XXI, No. 3,
May/June 2006
Johnson, Luke T.; “James”, Harper’s Bible Commentary,
HarperSanFrancisco, 1988, pp. 1272-1278.
Laws, Sophie; “James” Introduction, The Harper Collins Study Bible, NRSV,
1989, pp. 2269-2276