“Humble yourselves before the Lord”

Meditation on James 4

Aug. 25, 2013

***

     Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 

      Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? 

But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’
        Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

      Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? 

      Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin. (James 4)

***

      A couple of weeks ago, I shared how my family came to adopt Melvyn, a stray cat who showed up one afternoon and decided that we would be his new family.  He decided this before he realized that we had two dogs living in the house with us, too.

      People have been asking, “How’s that cat getting along with the dogs?” 

      My answer has been, “Well, they are getting used to each other.”

      At first, Mabel the Pomeranian went nuts when she saw the cat in the house!  She started shivering and barking her high-pitched barks until we thought we’d go deaf.  We thought she was going to have a heart attack. And because we couldn’t tell if she was angry or just excited, we worried for poor Melvyn, who doesn’t have any front claws.

         About all he can do when threatened is hiss and run away. 

         Nothing would calm Mabel down.  Holding her didn’t help. Putting her in her crate on a doggy time out didn’t help.  She barked all the louder as she imagined that we were petting Melvyn and giving him lots of attention.    

        She is the jealous type. She wants us all to herself.  She doesn’t share her people or her things. She doesn’t even like it when we pet Molly, the sheltie, who was living with us five years before we brought Mabel home as a puppy. Molly wasn’t pleased to see Melvyn the cat, either, but she doesn’t seem to mind him now, after an initial sniffing down.  He can stay, as long as Molly doesn’t have to share her food bowl or give up her sleeping spot next to my bed and under my desk.    

       Nothing terrible has happened, thank God.  Mabel is calmer than she was the first couple of days. Melvyn doesn’t hiss and run away quite so much, though he spends most of his days upstairs, while the dogs stay on the first floor.

       And when I tried to protect Melvyn from Mabel in the beginning, Jim pointed out that keeping them separated would not allow them to get used to each other. They needed to be together to work out their conflicts—one way or another.  And both would have to have a change of heart, let go of their jealousy and mistrust, and decide to live in peace. 

       Both conflict and peace begin in the heart.

    

***

     

     In our reading today, James starts his discussion of conflict and disputes in the Church with a question.  “Where do they come from?” he asks. And then he answers his question with another question. “Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?”

    James is urging his brothers and sisters in the Lord to look inside themselves. The problem is not other people. It’s you, he says. And the "you" he is talking about are everybody in the church.

     “You want something and do not have it,” he says. “So you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.”

      This ancient document, perhaps written by the younger brother of Jesus, the head of the Jerusalem Church, is more evidence that conflict in the Church has been around since the earliest years of the faith.  It seems that people have always fought with each other, well, like cats and dogs.

     Why is that?  The Church, though God’s Spirit dwells within and among us, is still sinful. God’s not finished with us, yet! There’s always something we want. Sometimes the desires are good and godly. Other times, our desires are purely for our own pleasure or preference. Now James, when he says the Church is asking wrongly, is not talking about prayers for healing, forgiveness and salvation.  Those aren’t selfish! The Lord wants us to seek Him for these things that have eternal value. When we or our loved ones are hurting or frightened and in need of His help, he wants us to pray!    

         James is talking about worldly desires that grow to become demands—what we have to have or we will be angry with God and humanity, desires that cause fierce disputes and lead people to commit murder in their hearts. The desires become idols, something loved more than the Lord God of Israel. That’s what James means when he calls the Church, “Adulterers!”

     “Do you not know,” he asks, “that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

   

***

   What, then, will bring peace to the embattled Church of the first century—and for churches in conflict today? James provides a list of do’s and don’ts, beginning with examining our own hearts because both conflict and peace begin in the heart.

      He urges us to submit ourselves wholly to the Lord. God gives grace to the humble!  He opposes the proud, and exalts the humble. He warns against boasting, evil talk, and judging others, as there is only one judge—and He is the Lord. And he warns against those who know right from wrong, but fail to do what is right.  “Resist the devil,” James says.  “And he will flee!”

      The epistle teaches us that the Church cannot live in peace until each of us finds peace with God in Jesus Christ. It is a call to conversion! If something is going wrong with our relationships with one another, then we should ask ourselves, first of all, how is our relationship with the Lord?  Are we are angry or unhappy with God?   

       Do we believe in His love and forgiveness for us?

       Do we trust in Him who became God’s sacrifice for our sakes, our mediator, our peacemaker? 

        Do we struggle with desires that grow to be idols because we are afraid to relinquish control? Afraid to admit that we have never truly been in control because our lives belong to Him?

       Are we worried that God will not take care of all our needs?        

       Do we trust that the Lord’s desires for us are so much better than what we could possibly want for ourselves?

       Let us respond to God’s Word in obedience, drawing near to Him so He will draw near to us.

       Let us go together, as God’s beloved children, to humble ourselves before Him, submit ourselves wholly to Him, and seek His grace.

Let us pray.

   Lord, we seek you now together as the people of God, your children, whom you love. We love you, dear Heavenly Father, and we ask that you forgive us for our sins and cleanse and purify our hearts. We are sorry that we have too often pursued our own desires and preferences and allowed them to become idols in our lives.  Stir us to trust in your loving care for us and allow your Spirit to work in us and change us so that you may use us for your Kingdom purposes.  Move us to gratitude for your love and for all you have done for us in Jesus Christ. Make us your humble servants, and help us surrender ourselves, our wills, and our lives wholly to you.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.     

“The Tongue is a Fire!”

Meditation on James 3

Aug. 18, 2013

***

     3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.²For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle.³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 

     ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire.

    The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

     My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

    ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. (James 3)

***

       My parents are coming to visit us this week!  We’re picking them up at the airport Tuesday night.

       They will be with us when we drive our sons back to college in Mankato on Thursday. 

       And Friday is my dad’s 79^th birthday.   We haven’t been together on his birthday in a long time, since he and my mom spend most of the year at their home in Florida and summers in Maryland.

     I am used to always writing in his birthday cards,

    “Hope you are well!  Wish we could be together to celebrate.”

    And now, we will.

    For those of you who haven’t met my dad, when you meet him for the first time, you will probably say he is a quiet man. Mom does most of the talking when they are out together. He is a little shy.

    But Dad is the one I talk to the most on the phone. He is a homebody, while my mom is always on the go.

     Dad is a good listener, someone who thinks before he talks, choosing his words carefully.  He doesn’t interrupt.  He laughs in all the right places whenever I tell a story.  And he has stories to tell, too.

    The truth is, my dad has always been there for me—whenever I have needed him or just wanted to talk.

    We can talk about most anything. And we can talk a lot.

   Time goes by quickly when we talk.  Soon, an hour or more has passed and my hand is numb from holding the phone to my ear.

      In an age when earthly wisdom is “nice guys finish last,” and men are often rewarded for being aggressive, ambitious, and callously competitive, my dad is different.

     He has never rushed through life at breakneck speed.

     He is a quiet man.  A kind man. A gentle man. 

     Someone who seeks to live in peace.

   

***   

   

             

     We are in our third week of our study of the Epistle of James. 

      Scholars believe the author may have been a younger brother to Jesus, the leader of the Jerusalem church in the early 40s.  James writes often of the need for the pursuit of peace and unity.  He emphasizes the need for God’s wisdom for peace and a faith that perseveres through trials and is revealed through the good works that we do. He reminds us to obey the “royal law”—“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, if our faith is real, then we love our neighbors in word and deed.

     In today’s reading, chapter 3, James addresses the main problem plaguing the church. Some people, out of “bitter envy and selfish ambition,” are lying, boasting, and sowing discord.  Consequently, the congregation lacks peace and unity.

     He introduces his discussion of “taming the tongue” by reminding his audience of his authority as a teacher, someone whom God will judge with greater strictness. Therefore, he must be even more careful with his speech. Still, he includes himself as one who is less than perfect in his speech, saying, “For all of us make many mistakes.”

     To bring home his message on the need for taming the tongue but the great difficulty in controlling this tiny but powerful member of the human body, he uses concrete, familiar images—horses and ships—the main modes of transportation in those days.  Riders control and direct horses with bridles and bits; pilots guide ships with small rudders.  He compares the tongue to fire, which is necessary for every day cooking, light, and keeping warm in ancient times, but also has the potential for evil—to destroy all life that God has created.

     “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” James says.  “And the tongue is a fire.  The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell…. No one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are in the likeness of God.”

     James challenges believers to demonstrate not earthly wisdom that breeds disorder and wickedness, but wisdom from above, a wisdom that is “pure” and “peaceable,” “willing to yield.”  “Show by your good life,” he says, “that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”  And this time, the good works of faith are not acts of charity for the poor, but kind speech to one another.

***

    Friends, I urge you to listen to James and resist “earthly wisdom” that breeds disorder and wickedness and rewards aggression, ambition, and callous competition. 

     Don’t rush through life at a breakneck speed.  Slow down and make time to seek the Lord for His wisdom—for He gives wisdom to all who ask Him in faith.

     Remember, the tongue is a fire!  And all of us make many mistakes!

     Show your faith by your kind words, your gentleness, born of wisdom from above.

     Seek to live in unity and peace.

     Seek to live in love.

  

Let us pray.

   

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word to us today and for reminding us of the power of the tongue—and our need to seek you for Your wisdom and help to control our speech.  Forgive us when we have spoken carelessly or unkindly and have embraced the so-called wisdom of the world over the wisdom from above.  Forgive us when we haven’t pursued peace or valued unity enough and have been reluctant to admit that we all make mistakes. Cleanse our hearts and renew our minds. Lead us back onto the righteous path you want us to live. Move us to gratitude for all that you have done for us –especially for giving us eternal life with you through your Son. Slow us down, Lord, and stir us to follow You more closely—living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please Him with all that we do.  In His precious name we pray.  Amen.  

“Faith without works is dead!”

Meditation on James 2

Aug. 11, 2013

***

      My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For 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, and 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’, 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?

  You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. …

     What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 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.

      But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? 

      Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 

     Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. (James 2, selected verses)

***

     We gained a new member of our household this week.  While I was taking a walk on Sunday evening, a scruffy looking cat suddenly appeared and ran toward me.  “Meow!  Meow!” he said as two aggressive barn swallows dive-bombed his tail. 

    “Meow! Meow,” he said, rubbing my legs as I stroked his head and back, feeling his bony spine beneath his dirty fur. His green eyes blinked up at me expectantly, as if he were saying, “THERE you are!  I’ve been looking ALL over for you!”

     He followed me to the back door of my house, where I offered him some food, which he promptly gobbled down and asked for more, purring and blinking up at me again.

     My cat-loving sons came down from their rooms to visit with him on the back steps. We used to have cats when they were little. But we have had dogs since I married Jim 8 years ago. Jim’s not a cat person.

    After a while, it was time to go inside, and no, we didn’t bring the cat in.  He was missing some fur and had scars on his head and back.  He appeared to have been living outside a while, and I feared he might be a danger to our 2 indoor dogs.

    With heavy hearts we left him outside. But he stayed on the back steps all night, meowing pitifully. It rained that night, and the poor cat got soaked, but still didn’t leave to find shelter—not even in a bush. Jacob woke up at 3 and heard the cat crying.  He woke up James, saying, “We have to help him!  What can we do?”

     Now stray cats have come and gone from our yard before. But never have we had one who immediately became so attached to us --- and we so attached to him. It turns out, the cat was neutered and declawed. Once upon a time, he was somebody’s housecat.

     The next morning, when Jim got up to take out the dogs, I got up to sneak more food to the cat. He was still on the back steps, and meowed and purred when he saw me.  I opened the door and he casually strolled inside, as if to say, “I’m home! What’s for breakfast?”

    Adopting a cat wasn’t in our plans.  Driving a stray to a vet wasn’t on the calendar—especially not on the day of our bell choir recital/hymn sing.  We had enough to do that day, and we weren’t planning on spending money on shots, cat food, and a litter box.

     But we did anyway. Our hearts wouldn’t allow us to do anything else.  And we have been blessed since Melvyn the cat joined our household.

    Guess where he likes to hang out? He sleeps with James at night. But during the day, he often wanders into Jim’s office and jumps into his lap while he works on the computer.   

    Melvyn purrs and snoozes while Jim, the one who’s not a cat person, gently strokes his back. 

   

***

     During worship last Sunday, we read the first chapter of James and were urged to see trials in a different light.  We can consider them all joy, says James, if we look beyond the trials to the fulfillment of God’s purposes for us. The Lord uses trials to build in us a mature, enduring faith.  

      In our reading today in chapter two, we hear James urging us, again, to change the way we are thinking, but this time it is a warning against showing partiality to the rich in the church.

     Many scholars believe that James, who shares little about himself in his letter, may be Jesus’ half brother, the well-respected leader of the Jerusalem church in the early 40s A.D. His society, much like ours today, granted higher status and power to the wealthy and privileged.  Unfortunately, worldly attitudes seep into the Jerusalem congregation. James is distressed when people wearing fine clothes and gold rings are welcomed and offered the best seats, while the poor, who come in dirty clothes, are made to sit on the floor or told to stand. James calls this favoritism of the wealthy SIN. He questions if the church really believes in “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”

     “Listen my beloved brothers and sisters,” James writes.  “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.”

      James exhorts the church to fulfill the “royal law”: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  He urges them to show mercy on the poor and refrain from judgment, “for judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy.”

       His teaching is reminiscent of Jesus, who said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy…” And, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

      Please don’t misunderstand James in his talk of faith and works.  He is not teaching salvation through good works. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ for our sakes. What James is saying is that acts of kindness and compassion will naturally flow from a living, active faith.

     Saying one believes is not enough to be a Christian. James writes, “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

     He holds up Abraham and Rahab as examples to us of faith in action. Abraham was willing to give up, when God required it, what he loved the most—his beloved son Isaac. And Rahab, a prostitute, demonstrated her faith when she risked her life to help God’s messengers.

     “For just as the body without the spirit is dead,” James sums up, “so faith without works is also dead.”

***

     Now, what was the point of my stray cat story? Adopting a stray is not what James is imagining, of course, when he talks about doing good works. But my story illustrates how we can suddenly be stirred to care for someone when the Lord unexpectedly brings them to our attention.  And how good works must come from a heart of compassion and love—not a feeling of obligation.  

     Our good works—acts of lovingkindness and generosity—are done for God’s pleasure and to build up heavenly treasure, as Jesus calls us to do. 

     “Do not be afraid, little flock,” Jesus says in Luke, “for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Let us pray.

     

 Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and mercy shown to us through the sacrifice of your beloved Son for our sakes.  You are so faithful to provide for our needs and to give us more than we need.  Yet we are reluctant to give from our abundance to those with great needs.  Forgive us when we have coveted the things of this world and haven’t sought to please you through acts of kindness and compassion and build up our treasure in heaven.  Forgive us, Lord, when haven’t been as generous as we could have been—when we have looked out for our own family’s needs without considering our neighbors near and far who lack clean water, nutritious food, and adequate housing.  Remove from us any worldly, prejudicial attitudes that we might carry into the church.  Keep us from showing favoritism of any kind.  Help us to love and care for all of our neighbors equally, just as you love us all the same!  We pray these things in Christ’s name.  Amen.