"James: Lesson 2"

... James reminds us that God looks beyond fine clothes, or rags, and sees into people’s hearts. We strive to do that too! But it is a challenge...

[1] Zero Hunger mural - Houston

James 2:1-17

September 8, 2024

Dr. Todd R. Wright

James’ letter has many lessons to teach us …

like students heading back to the classroom or teachers seeking best practices,

like athletes trying to reach a goal or coaches trying to squeeze out the last bit of performance,

like children growing in knowledge and stature or parents wanting to guide them.

But let’s be clear: James is not a gentle teacher.

Kelsie Rodenbiker writes, “James is a letter that does not pull any punches. The rhetorical style of this passage is not intended to comfort and assure, but to jolt readers into action.”[2]  

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So when he ends last week’s lesson, “Religion that is pure and undefiled … is this: to care for widows and orphans in their distress,” he follows his pronouncement with a real life example.

That’s good teaching technique. Jesus did that with his parables. Maybe James was on the receiving end of such practical applications growing up in the shadow of his big brother and never forgot the sting.

This one is a doozy! James invites his listeners to imagine two people walking into worship. They couldn’t have been more different. One rich, in fine clothes; the other poor, in rags. Or as Frances Taylor Gench summarizes, “one bejeweled; one bedraggled.”[3]

Sadly, the event unfolds as you would expect:

The usher fawns over the rich person, giving them the best seat in the house, but gets one whiff of the poor person and pushes them toward a back corner, out of sight, out of mind.

We don’t know whether James has crafted a hypothetical scenario to make a point or is drawing on rumors of how his congregations are actually acting. Either way, I picture him glaring as he writes of this breach of the royal law to love your neighbor.

I’m sure they squirmed, as do we, for this scenario cuts too close to home.

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What are we to do with this lesson James is trying to teach?

One reaction, is to try and rationalize the behavior described. One scholar suggests:

“Maybe [the people gathered to worship are] hoping to work a business deal.

Maybe they're trying to improve their social status. We are known by the company we keep.

Maybe they are just schmoozing.

Or maybe, just maybe, they recognize that to meet the needs of the larger community they have to have some benefactors who can provide the financial support to get it done.”[4]

But there is a flaw in that logic. (Actually, several flaws.)

James anticipates them and lists them:

He suggests that his communities are placing value on the wrong thing – financial wealth rather than spiritual depth.

He reminds them that it is the rich who oppress them and drag them into court.

He invokes the laws laid out in Numbers that call for us to love our neighbors, including the poor. Especially the poor.

And he calls showing favoritism toward the rich a sin. And in case folks are tempted to minimize it as just some religious misdemeanor, he explains that it is actually a transgression that brings condemnation just like adultery or murder!

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Remember when I said that James is not a gentle teacher?

Let’s consider how what he is saying to his congregations applies to our congregation,

Do we fling ourselves at wealthy visitors and turn a cold shoulder to the poor?

That has not been my experience of Village. I think we offer a warm welcome to all.

But we are all tempted to be more welcoming to some:

families with children to fill up our Sunday school classrooms;

young adults to bring energy and enthusiasm and sustain us as we age;

and dedicated people willing to share their skills and their money to further our ministry.

We’d love to have people like that. Anyone would!

But James reminds us that God looks beyond fine clothes, or rags, and sees into people’s hearts. We strive to do that too!

 But it is a challenge. We are not super wealthy, but most of us are not poor either. We are used to being givers, not those in desperate need.  

So where do we meet the poor and build relationships that would correct our bias?

Common Grounds, where we hear people’s stories not just hand out boxes of food.

Or Bream’s SHOP ministry, where some of the underwear we collect today is going.

Or even Chamberlain elementary, where we sent school supplies and backpacks, and where the rest of the underwear is going, especially as we get to know the kids and their families.  

Really, these opportunities are everywhere … and they can be life-changing!

Trace Haythorn tells of a conversation with a Young Adult Volunteer, like Brendan Stump. She came from an upper-middleclass home and found living on $100 per month to be a tremendous struggle. At first it made her angry about the persistence of homelessness, hunger, and poverty in a country with so much wealth, but “she realized she could not have known [about] these things if she didn't take time to give a year of her life not only to her volunteer program but, more importantly, to those whom the program serves.” She said she now knows “how to move among the rich and the poor, and that perhaps her call is to bring the two together.”[5]

Is that our call? To move beyond making sinful distinctions between rich and poor to a more generous welcome? And then to move from simple welcome to real relationship? And then to serving as a bridge between economic classes, so more people might learn James’ lesson?

I’ll let you answer that. Amen

[1] Zero Hunger mural - Houston

[2] From her reflections on the text for workingpreacher.org, 9/8/24

[3] From her reflections on the text for jointhefeast.blogspot.com, 8/7/09

[4] From “Standing in the Tragic Gap” by Trace Haythorn, 9/6/09

[5] Ibid.