6.22.2018

My Reflections on James 2:1-13


IN MY WORDS

(This is my personal expanded paraphrase of this passage. You could try writing one, too! Give it a shot before you read mine!)

 Dearest brothers and sisters: If you believe in Jesus, who is the Christ sent to save us, and Lord whom we must obey, then follow his instructions and don't play favorites with the human masterpieces he has lovingly created.  

 Let's say you're at your beautiful church building on a Sunday morning, all comfortable in the very front pew with your family, waiting for the music to start. Then you see two strangers walking right up the aisle toward you to find seats.  One of them is a swanky gentleman whose fingers flash with his big gold rings, and he's wearing a fancy custom-tailored suit with a diamond lapel pin. He's got a fashionable hair cut, his mustache and goatee are neatly trimmed, and he smells good with some sort of designer cologne. The other dude, well, let's just say he probably hasn't showered or shaved in a while. His old blue jeans have holes in the knees and his shabby work boots have mud on them. He's got on a raggy old T-shirt that he must have gotten on the clearance rack at Goodwill. What's he doing here?

 You catch the eye of the rich guy and wave him over to your pew. "Sir, you can sit right here with my family. We'd be honored." Right behind him is the other guy, looking expectantly at you since your pew has the only seats left. You avoid making eye contact, but he keeps standing there.  You know you could scoot down a little more and make room, but instead you murmur, "Looks like it's pretty full here. You could go stand in the back, or maybe you could sit here on the floor in front of me..." 

 Shameful and rude, I say! You have just discriminated against an innocent man, just because he looks poor! Maybe you're thinking he's going to beg for money from you or that you're going to stink just from sitting next to him. Or maybe you think the rich guy will invite you out to lunch after the service, if only you don't associate with that social outcast. It's all about what's in it for you, isn't it? Let's call that the evil and judgey attitude that it is.

 Get this straight. God is working among poor people too, pouring out the riches of his mercy and grace, giving them faith-filled wisdom to live through hardship. They have a wealth of compassion and insight. Don't you know that they are heirs of Glory Land just like you? Those celestial streets of gold aren't going to be segregated. There isn't going to be a "wrong side of the tracks" there, no exclusive "members only" country clubs. The poor will be full citizens, with full rights and full participation, along with everyone else who loves the Lord. They are hanging on to that promise, and sometimes it's all the hope they've got.

 But here you are dissing them. You're treating them like trash. You're ashamed to be seen with them. You've got your clique. You want to be friends with the rich ones instead? You think they are going to make your life better, that they'll give you good stuff and take you fancy places? Think again! Just like you're looking down your nose at those who are poorer than you, those rich folks are looking down their snooty noses at you! They'll only pay attention to you if they think they can get something out of you, because they're power hungry and on an ego trip. They aren't content with what they already have. They want your money, too. They'll scheme and cheat to get it, with no shame at taking from those who have less than they do. They'll sue you and win, since they can afford to pay for lawyers (and bribes to officials) and you can't.  Yeah, they might show up in church to look all pious, but they're actually full up with snide and vulgar comments about Jesus and his people. They have no true reverence for God. They treat him like dirt, too. Why aren't you worried that their moral stink will sink into your souls? Why aren't you concerned about their utter depravity? 

 So look, if you're serious about obeying Jesus's greatest commandment - loving God with all your heart and then as then loving your neighbors as yourself - then you're on the right path. Your true love for God is overflowing onto other people, just as it should. 

 But on the other hand, if you selfishly and pridefully butter up the rich man while putting down the poor one, you're still full of sin and you're guilty of breaking the Law of Love. You can't keep just part of the law and think you're innocent. If you carelessly disregard any of his commands, you've violated the whole thing because you're rejecting his goodness. You can't say, "Well, I know I killed that guy in the heat of the moment, but at least I didn't cheat on my wife!" That's not going to fly. You're a criminal.

 That's not the life you want, entrapped by sin. No, you can do better than that! You make the choice! Choose your words, choose your deeds, knowing full well that God is watching you, and that there are consequences for what you say and do. Don't be a hypocrite, claiming to belong to him when you won't even listen to him.

 God gave us good commands so that our communities could flourish together, so everyone will have an opportunity to live a happy, healthy life, free from fear, free from shame. But if you choose not to honor his rules, if you choose to discriminate against others to put yourself in a better social position, it's going to backfire on you. Here's the irony: you are the one who will be the outcast in the only kingdom that really matters, the one ruled by the Law of Love. Don't expect to squeak in with your dirty heart and your potty mouth. If you want to live in the embrace of God's family, you have to show them the same mercy you want for yourself. You think mercy is meek and weak? Think again. Magnificent mercy wins out over petty judgment every time. 

HERE AND NOW
This passage talks a lot about the exploitation of the poor. James is using a bit of hyperbole to make his point. Obviously, not all rich people are greedy and evil and out to cheat the poor. Many are generous, humble, and reverent believers who steward their resources on the behalf of the greater good. And honestly, there are plenty of kind and generous wealthy people who aren't even Christians. 

Yet disrespect/exploitation of marginalized people is a  reality we can't ignore. It's not just those who are financially poor. It's anyone who doesn't fit in, whether it is their appearance, or education level, or mental health, or ethnicity, or citizenship status, or gender, or whatever life circumstances set them apart.  

The current situation is not pretty or comfortable or easy to understand. Politicians fight over it. Our social media friends and frenemies debate about it with heated posts and troll-filled comment threads. It's all a complicated multi-layered mess to fix. Yet fix it we must, or at least try the best we can.

We fix it where the problem begins, replacing the ugly with the beautiful, disrespect with respect, pride with humility, selfishness with compassion, screwed up desires with well-ordered priorities. We need a new vocabulary, and moreso, we need new hearts. Hearts truly like Jesus. 

We also need to listen well. We don't get to tell people who are marginalized what to think about their experience. We need to encourage them to tell us what they want us to know, or to keep private what we haven't yet gained the trust to hear. We can't force aggrieved people to fit into our tight molds of comfortable respectability. I'm not advocating violence of any sorts, no dangerous riots in the streets. But I sure can't think of a decent reason why we get so offended by peaceful protests, by impassioned challenges to our entitled privileges. Let's get over ourselves, shall we?

Here's a poem I wrote one Christmastime several years go. The story comes just after it.

"The Jesus Poem"

Jesus, we have lost you, not even seeking, thus not finding
Maybe especially this season in the fancies and parties -- but
It is so easy to decry these, to point the fingers,
To insist that clerks greet us properly 
With "Merry CHRISTmas!" instead of "Happy Holidays."

In our religious circles we find sacred systems, rigid rules,
excess expectations,
Theological Thou-Shalt-Nots that THOU hast not said
In our religious circles we put God in a box and wrap it fancy and tight
Yet drawn into your circle, do we not find
plain liberty and lavish love instead?

If we are looking for you, we must go to the end of the line,
(Which is the beginning, since the last will be first)
We will find you walking among those who mourn,
With the poor, the prisoner, the outcast, the trafficked child.

You are the Physician who came to seek the sick, not the healthy.
You make house calls, or for those who have no homes
(As you did not), the alleyway will do.
You are the Savior to the lost sheep, to the prodigal son.

We are here and now your hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth
Let us go and look and love and pray and give and serve and set free
May we see your face as we follow your way
May we find you and, empty as we are, be filled.
~*~*~


Here is a little of the backstory to this poem. I found this little note penned on a scrap of paper wedged into the window of my van while I was out shopping for school supplies...


"Good afternoon! I saw your Jesus fish & felt led to leave you this note. I hope you don't feel too awkward that I left it. :-) I'd like to ask that you please pray for my husband R--- and our 12 y.o. son L--- (most especially) and myself. We've been battling the enemy through the past 9 months of an unusually high degree of tribulation: physical disabilities, illness, pain, and catastrophic financial hardship. While we persevere in holding fast to our faith, we trust in the perfect will of our Master. Please pray that the homelessness resulting from these trials ends before Christmas and that our son recovers swiftly. Thank you so very much! Peace and blessings, M---" 

Can you even read this and not cry? If I'd had any way of contacting her, I would have done something. I did do what she asked, which was to pray. Will you join me, not only for her family, but for others in need? And being that she is not the only one, will you do what you can for someone just like her?

You can find more this story here: A Note Wedged into the Window on My Van 

I've written several related articles over the years. I'd love for you to take a look at them and let me know what you think.


 Some day I am going to write a blog post about Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House, a community center for immigrants in Chicago over a hundred years ago. One key is that those who came to serve there actually lived among immigrants as neighbors and friends.  Another is that she brought beauty into stark situations. Jane Addams also lobbied hard for legislative reform. She's one of my heroes. You can read more here:


TAKING IT FURTHER

The other posts for this passage:


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