In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
‘For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?’ (Vv. 2-4)
Is this not something we all do? That is, we give certain people greater standing at table because of who they are or because of how they can help us. This is fine in the world. After all, this is the way the world works. The old adage, “If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”, seems to fit well. One problem, the poor are not in a position to do any of this scratching. Yet, this is not to be the way of the church. In the church, we are commanded by Jesus to treat every one as He did.
In the church, you and I as Christians are not supposed to treat some better than others simply because one has money and the other does not. To do so contradicts the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. This letter of James was written way back when there really were no Gentile Christians to speak of and so the churches that met were entirely Jewish. These are the early Christians to whom James writes. These early Christians were claiming that Jesus was the complete answer to all of the Jewish hopes.
Jesus was the complete and only Messiah needed.
As we all know from the Gospel accounts, Jesus was not a respecter of persons. He did not treat the wealthy any differently than he did anyone else. Jesus did not treat the Pharisees or other religious leaders any different from anyone else. Jesus condemned every one of them and told them all to repent. The only difference found was in each person’s reaction to Jesus’ preaching of repentance.
The people to whom James writes were assuming wealth was a sign of God’s approval. This is still the way our world thinks. We as sinful creatures tend to see someone who has much and think, “that person must have been blessed much by God”. The problem for James’ hearers was that they had stolen for themselves the privilege of judgement that is God’s alone. This they did by despising the poor and treating them differently and less than those who were rich. Think about this. Do we do this ourselves?
We hear of examples of this whenever someone wins the lottery. Not soon after this is announced, the news then reports of those who seek out the winner and look for a handout. It does not matter if these hopeful are related in any way, family or friend, to the winner. Though these hangers-on may not be connected at all, some still try. We may not react to all of this any more than with such thoughts but each of us knows how Jesus taught us about our thoughts. We know that we are to follow His law in thought word and deed or we have broken it (V. 10).
So, just like we may criticize those who go to a rich person or lottery winner and ask for a handout, James criticizes those to whom he writes. He condemns those who would grab for themselves the best place and held that the poor should instead sit off in the corner. James reminds them of the words of Christ, that the rich will enter the kingdom of heaven only with great difficulty.
To treat the poor in any way like what James describes here, ‘you say to the poor man, “You stand over there or sit down by my footstool”’ (V. 3). To act in this way is to despise our Savior’s own poverty. James convicts his hearers with words that are mindful of Jesus’ first beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount (St. Mt. 5:3). ‘Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor out of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?’ (V. 5)
Yes we have many poor among us. Many even within the church. All of these we watch out for and try to help as best as we are able. In fact, it does not matter if these poor are within the church or not, we still help them because we know and believe Jesus’ words that these are those who are among the most blessed. As that beatitude in Matthew reminds us, it is those who are poor in spirit who shall claim the kingdom of God.
Because of Jesus’ own self-poverty as described by Paul to the Philippians (2:5-11), this shabby treatment of the poor among them as we hear in James is a continual affront. As these poor are in Christ, like all of us who are among the Baptized faithful, it is as if the people of the congregation to whom James writes are treating Jesus as only worthy except to sit by a footstool! As co-heirs of Jesus we are recognizable by our acts of mercy to the poor. In such compassion, each of us Christians resembles Jesus.
‘What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?’ (Vv. 14-16)
James has been making an argument for forgiveness between the brethren throughout this chapter. If it had been too outside their experience or outside the realm of the truly possible before, James makes it concrete in the final verses of our reading. Here at the end of chapter, James begins to refer to things as seen from judgment day. As if Christ the Judge is sitting and examining each and we are “flies on the wall” to see how it occurs.
Now the poor are seen as being so destitute as not to have even the very basic needs for survival. These are the ones who above were described as being placed on the floor along side the footstools. That is, in the worst possible place. They were not even provided with a chair of any kind to rest themselves upon. These are those who were without the least ability to find safe rest in this world. Remember in all of this, that James is not saying that the treatments should be reversed. He is not telling us to give the best places to the poor instead of to the rich. That is, to turn on its head the way of the world. Rather, we are to treat all who are within the church equally, the same.
James is asking, how can you say that you have saving faith if you cannot perform these basic acts of mercy? After all, of what use is your faith if when you see one who is poor and all you do is say, “Go in peace”? If this is not followed up with some attempt to feed or clothe such believers, how can you say you have faith at all? This is James’ question.
This is directed straight at those in the congregation who were playing favorites. James’ words are directed at you and at me as we behave in the same way. This is a difficult thing, to not play favorites. As sinful as we are, you and I fail at this time and again and must repent of this lack of mercy. Praying as we do that the Holy Spirit will continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds that we might become ever more Christ-like in all ways.
What James is describing for us is like our physical bodies and breathing. If you are alive physically, you cannot help but to breathe. If you are alive spiritually, that is, if Christ through the Holy Spirit resides in you, then you cannot help but do good works. We see this also in the words the Holy Spirit speaks through St. Paul. We are all familiar with the words from the book of Ephesians that tell us it is faith alone by grace which saves, not any works of ours. Yet, right on the heals of that, the Holy Spirit tells us also that good works have been created for each of us to do since before the creation of the world (Eph. 2:8-10). Again, like life and breathing.
‘But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith with out the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”’ (V. 18)
Again, here we see that James is speaking to us from the point of view of the judgement day. He is telling us what kind of faith will be rewarded on the last day as being a true faith. The reality is spelled out that a work-less faith will be condemned. Jesus was among other things teaching us to be merciful, as our heavenly Father is merciful. All men need mercy; we are all sinners and so are in need of mercy. The poor have been left among us that we may be merciful. Remember to be counted as poor does not simply require a lack of financial wealth. It could be a multitude of things, which cry out for this Christ-like mercy.
Also, do not fall into the trap of playing Paul over against James. Remember that both have been inspired by the Holy Spirit who cannot contradict Himself. Remember that James is not putting works higher than faith. As we read the words of the text, we can see that James is intent on demonstrating that his faith is indeed alive! He would not then undermine his own argument by saying that it is really works that save. Rather, James is telling us here that if he shows you his works, you can in this way see his faith.
James is saying here that works are the visible aspect of faith. We cannot see into someone’s heart but we can see evidence of where their trust is placed by looking at the works they perform. James is telling us here that it is works of mercy, which will count on the last day. It is then our treatment of the poor, however they appear.
These works of mercy are then an imitation of the Father’s mercy upon you and me through His sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for your salvation.[1]
In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.
[1] My thanks are given for the thoughts of this sermon to the work of Dr. David P. Scaer in his commentary, James: The Apostle of Faith.
A Rich Man
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