Category: James

James 5:13-20 - Lectionary for Pentecost 19B

9/26/2018

9/26/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our passage from James speaks volumes about the nature of fellowship in Christ. The Church is to be a place of togetherness where we all look to the Lord as the one who is able to nurture and sustain us. When we are struggling we turn to one another but not merely for human company. We look for divine intervention as we bring our prayers to the Lord. Why would we doubt? After all, the Lord is still supernatural. Prayer stil communicates with God. And God in Christ is still the eternal savior.

Yet we prefer to tell people we will pray, rather than going ahead and praying. Why do we doubt? Why do we defer God’s resources until later? As I write this, it strikes me that I am not reliably going to remember to pray for a need later. I’d better do it right away, as I did for a complete stranger at a bus stop earlier today. She asked for prayer, so I asked her if we cold pray then. Yes, God can hear us when we pray t the bus stop.

What is the hope here? After all, many of us doubt we would be able to do any great spiritual works. What do we see in James 5:19-20? If we have the opportunity to draw someone from error into truth, we save the person’s soul from death and cover countless sins. If may not be flashy, but it sure is good! Let’s go pray for each other.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James 3:13-4:10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 18B

9/19/2018

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9/19/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Some parts of our reading from James 3-4 are popular in the secular culture as well. It’s rare that a week goes by without giving me a chance to observe some well-meaning non-Christian person virtue signaling on social media by saying that real Christians should be humble, that real Christians would pursue peace, or that we all need to get rid of those selfish ambitions.

It’s telling, though, that those same individuals who think they are doing better than Christians, therefore deserve praise, are so hesitant to do things like submitting to God, drawing near to God, or seeking wisdom which comes from God rather than wisdom which comes from man. In short, they make a claim which often rightly says Christians don’t do well enough at some parts of the Christian walk, but are not willing to take on that Christian walk themselves and model what it really looks like.

This in itself is a sort of arrogant pride. It seeks to exalt itself rather than allowing God to do the exaltation. It is not going to be eternally satisfying. As a Christian, my response is fairly straightforward. It’s found right in James 3:13. I show that my works are doing in the wisdom of God by doing gentle good works. And the idea of “gentle” is important. Much of Christian service is done more or less in secret. Not wishing to draw attention to themselves or to the terrible plight of those they are helping, Christians will often carry on works of mercy and charity without any fanfare. I know one person who is very active with homeless people. These activities won’t be displayed on social media. The homeless people receiving assistance don’t want their needs to be broadcast. They just want to have help and resources to get through a tough time. I know several people who work intensively with victims of abuse. Do they really want the abusers to find out where their victims are? Do the victims really want to be portrayed as victims, rather than as people who have worked through their pasts and are more stable now? Not at all. So the work of the Christian is gentle and quiet, caring for the needy, healing the sick, bringing hope to the hopless, and then doing it all over again.

What’s the motivation for all this? It’s in the passage as well. We humble ourselves before God and let him do good works through us. It’s God’s love for others which can motivate us to all that we try to do. This is not social media shaming or re-education at the hands of a powerful secular society. It’s an expression of God’s care for the least of those living in his world.

Time to go, love and serve our neighbors, and trust the Lord’s mercy.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James 3:1-12 - Lectionary for Pentecost 17B

9/12/2018

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9/12/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

A few years ago I wanted to get some pointers on how to make a simple cheese. Like many in this day and age, I turned to the Internet. I found many videos which I hoped would prove instructional. I bet you’ve seen some of these videos also. “I wanted to ______ so here’s what I did. I never did it before but it came out pretty well. Now you know how to do it also.” Yes, indeed, in a pile of cheesemaking videos, there were a few experts who knew what they were doing and a huge pile of people who had, at best, done it once before.

Our reading from James chapter 3 counsels Christians not to desire to be teachers. They will be held to a stricter standard of judgment. It then goes on to talk about how difficult it is to control the tongue, which has the power to cause harm like nothing else in this world. How should we deal with this passage?

First, I think it’s important that we recognize James chapter three doesn’t say the Scripture is uniformly difficult to understand and that interpretation should be left to the experts. That is decidedly not what James is saying. If you have any inclination to read and study the Bible, you should do it. Read with an open mind and heart, expecting God to instruct you through His infallible word!

Here’s what James is warning against, though. What about all those teachers who are looking for something new, something powerful, some sort of insight that will suddenly change the world? There have been several influential teachers in the past who have said that they found out how we should really understand the Bible, and that it is different from everything all the generations before them thought. Really? Do you actually want to say that every theologian before you got it all wrong?

When I was exploring Lutheranism I wrote a series of blog posts about the liturgy, about Law and Gospel, and about the sovereign grace of God. I was testing the water. They were tentative posts. I was hoping for correction and interaction. In general, the interaction I received was affirmation from people who had more experience with Lutheran doctrine. They were saying, “That’s right, you’ve understood what we have been saying.” It’s a very good thing to recognize that some teachers, throughout history, have gotten things very right, and that we can understand them. That’s different from the attitude we see so often. Someone has a religious opinion, maybe a move from one theological camp to another, and sets himself up as an expert. After all, he was wrong before but is right now, so it’s time to set the rest of the world right also.

This is very much like making the instructional video of how to make cheese when you have done it successfully yourself exactly once before. Premature. And, in a way, it is more dangerous. If I learn to make cheese wrong, I get bad cheese. No big problem. If I learn to do Christian theology wrong, I bring eternal condemnation to myself and possibly others. Big problem.

Let’s try to improve ourselves as teachers before we spend too much time teaching anything revolutionary. There’s a great deal to be gained from the counsel of others. Let’s guard our tongues as well as our keyboards, and seek to be good and right before God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James 2:1-10, 14-18 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

9/5/2018

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9/5/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

The letter of James in the New Testament gets a lot of bad press. Theologicans of a more literal bent like to portray it as contradictory to Paul’s writings. After all, they say, James teaches a dependence on works, while Paul asserts that salvation is by grace through faith alone. What’s more, they say, pointing the skewer straight at a Lutheran, Luther didn’t really trust James. Ha! Take that!

Let’s unpack this situation for a moment. James was one of the writings which was slower than some to be recognized by Christians. That was not due to any concerns about the content. On the contrary, because the name “James” was very common, and because the letter was not altogether well identified, it was slow to be adopted. It became recognized as canonical on the strength of the content, rather than becaue of a known author.

What about Luther, then? Granted, Martil Luther was on the forefront, the cutting edge, of the Reformation. He didn’t use James very much, but he was very familiar with the text. There’s no doubt about it. He translated it carefully into German. Luther’s hesitation, again, was not due to the content but due to the fact that the author was unidentified.

How about the alleged argument between James and Paul? Please read Ephesians 2:8-10 and note that verse 10 follows immediately on the heels of verses 8-9. Christians are saved by grace through faith, with the intent that they will do good works. After all, God, the one who is good, likes good works since they are good.

How does that reconcile with James? James never asserts salvation by works. But in chapter 2 verse 18 he says he is unable to show his faith apart from works. So he does good works. After all, they are good. They are used to care for our neighbor and our world.

What will we do, then? We hold to faith in Jesus. That living faith expresses itself in good works toward our neighbor. The Scripture is consistent.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James

8/16/2018

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Thursdays are for the New Testament
8/16/18
Carson, D.A., and Douglas Moo An Introduction to the New Testament - Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. "New Testament Letters" Carson & Moo pp. 331-353
“James” Carson & Moo pp. 619-635

James is considered the first of the “catholic” epistles - those written to the whole church as opposed to a single congregation. Rather than speaking to a specific issue in a specific congregation, James has a body arranged around four main themes: trials and maturity, Christian faith resulting in works, dealing with dissensions, and what a Christian view of the world implies. The author is poorly identified, simply as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1.1). Since James is a very common name it is difficult to decide who could have written the lettter. Carson and Moo suggest James the son of Zebedee, James “the Lord’s brother,” James the son of Alphaeus, and James the father of Judas. Of those, the one identified as “the Lord’s brother” is, in Carson and Moo’s estimation, the best candidate.

As with the author, it is also very difficult to determine where the letter was written or when. There may be some wisdom in suggesting that the letter was written fairly early, possibly before Paul’s writings were well known, as James seems to look at the relationship of faith and works in a slightly different way than Paul, but does not address any of Paul’s statements directly. The addressees are Jewish Christians (the twelve tribes) who are scattered. Again, we do not know the nature of this scattering. The letter is in a fairly clear, generally Attic style, addressing its topics in a straightforward manner, though using metaphors freely.

James may have had an influence on some late first century works. Though the letter was well known, it was not cited as Scripture until Origen. By the time of Eusebius the book seems to be considered Scripture, but was still apparently disputed.

In recent study scholars have found themes of liberation theology and a social gospel particularly focused on the hard work of showing our faith. Yet Carson and Moo observe that it is inappropriate to say that James views salvation as being by works while Paul views works in a negative light. Rather, the two authors both see salvation being by grace through faith, but James has a greater emphasis on showing our faith by our good works.

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James 1:12-18 - Lectionary for Lent 1B

2/14/2018

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2/14/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

I frequently find myself talking with people who are enduring trials. Sometimes they are suffering, and suffering very badly. Life is tough. Often we wonder why we are suffering, why life is so rough on us, why it could be possible for a good and loving God to allow such hardship. Our reading from James 1:12-18 gives us a very helpful commentary.

First, we notice that the harships of our life serve to prepare us for our eternal reward in Christ. Through hardship we develop a longing for that which is good. Through facing our failure, the sin of others, and the generally difficult conditions of this world, we find ourselves less and less willing to submit to a life under the curse of sin.

Second, we realize that our hardship, our temptation, is not from God, but is from our own sinful desires. Why is it so hard for me to avoid entering into sin? It’s not because God likes sin, but because I like sin. I become familiar with my own nature and realize that I am not to be trusted. I can then look at God’s nature and realize that he is the only one any reasonable person would ever trust.

Finally, we recognize that the good things we desire are ultimately a gift of God. By his nature God is good. All his gifts are good. Are we ready to recognize those good gifts of God as what they are? Or are we going to continue to be entrapped by our own evil desire? When we consider God’s love and mercy shown to this world in Christ, who gave his own life to suffer the penalty for sin which we deserved, then we are ready to look for the Lord’s coming in grace. The hardships of this life point us to the grace and mercy of God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James 5:7-11 - Lectionary for Advent 3 A

12/7/2016

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12/7/16
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Epistle for this week, from James 5:7-11, reminds us that we can wait for the Lord’s coming. The farmer waits for crops to grow. The prophets spoke of the coming Christ and never saw him. There is a certain steadfast way of living the Christian life. It understands that there are hardships along the way. It grasps the idea of waiting. Yet that waiting is not desolate.

The farmer waiting for the crops to grow knows what is planted and has a reasonable expectation of a harvest. The prophet who speaks of the coming Christ knows that Christ will come for him as well. The Christian knows that Jesus has promised to come back for his own children.

In this time of Advent I think we can learn a good deal by occupying ourselves with waiting. We wait actively. We sing the songs of the season, looking forward to Christ’s coming. We read the readings which are full of hope and promise. And we wait. As we are waiting, we might decorate a bit, we might be preparing presents for our family and friends. We might even be making my favorite, a fruitcake, which needs to age for a while before eating. We prepare ourselves in the sure hope of Christ’s coming. And then, at the end of Advent, we are well prepared to celebrate Christmas - not just a day, but a twelve day festival. Yet, for now, we wait in hope.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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James 5:13-20 - Lectionary for Pentecost 19B

James 3:13-4:10 - Lectionary for Pentecost 18B

James 3:1-12 - Lectionary for Pentecost 17B

James 2:1-10, 14-18 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16B

James

James 1:12-18 - Lectionary for Lent 1B

James 5:7-11 - Lectionary for Advent 3 A

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