James 5:13-20, September 25-October 1, Lectionary Year B:

This will be the lectionary epistle reading this year for Worldwide Communion Sunday.  The passage reminds us that the prayer of a righteous man avails much.  Who was the ultimate Righteous Man--in fact, the only perfectly righteous man ever to walk the earth?  Of course, it was Jesus Christ.  When you think of this passage in light of that truth, it gives the chapter a whole different perspective.  I was struck by this when I heard a presentation by a Lutheran pastor years ago.  This is why the prayers of Christ, our Advocate and Intercessor, and the prayers of His Spirit, the Comforter, are the grounds of hope for every Christian.  The prayers of Christ avail the very most because He is the Ultimately Righteous Man!

 

It is very important for us, His brothers and sisters, to pray as well.  Our prayers, however, must be through the only Mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus.  Our prayers must be aided by His Holy Spirit in order that they will have any prevailing power at all.  Prayers apart from Christ are but meaningless words tossed into the wind--empty and futile.

 

The passage also has exhortation and encouragement about how to respond to God when we are merry, how to deal with sickness, and how to continue in the Christian life.  Some pastors take the comments about sickness very literally, and will not even visit someone whom they know to be sick unless they are summoned by that person or his family.  I don't take the verse quite that literally; but the point is important.  When a member of the household of faith is sick, that person needs to let the pastor and the elders know so that they may come and offer prayers and encouragement.  To fail to do this either reflects a false kind of modesty or a disinterest or even possibly  hostility toward the church and its ministry.

 

When we are told in James 5 to anoint the sick with oil, we should remember that oil was believed to have genuine curative powers.  Today, it is still important to pray for the healing of the sick; but perhaps the counterpart to the oil would be a cup of cold water, a wet sponge on the forehead, or some other known agent that would make the person feel better.  I don't think we have to assume that when we pray over someone, we should have a bottle of corn oil or cooking spray ready in reserve.  That almost smacks of superstition and may even, to some people, seem to be ridiculing the Word of God.

 

    

James 3:13-4:8a, 9:18-24, Year B:

I am sending in some of my lectionary notes a bit early again because Lydia and I will be away for a few days.  Maybe this will give some of you a chance to catch up on reading some of my blog entries; but there will probably be a few more before we leave.

 

This passage in James reminds us of the importance of sincerity and a good Christian spirit in our dealings with others.  We are to be wary of envying, bitterness, and strife.  James reminds us that often we have not because we ask not, or we ask amiss--selfishly, in a spirit of greed.

 

A well-known minister tells of an incident that occurred when he was a student minister in Florida. His apartment was near several orange trees.  In fact, the trees were right out in his yard.  One day, a little boy sneaked into the yard and made off with his arms full of oranges from these trees.  The minister said that the irony of the situation was that those weren't even particularly good oranges.  However, one of his church members had given him a whole basket of some of the best oranges Florida could produce.  The young minister had more oranges than he could ever hope to use.  If the little boy had only asked him, the student minister would have gladly given him all the oranges he could carry home--and they would have been some of the very best.

 

That's a lot like us.  We scheme and plan and work out all sorts of strategies to get what we want.  Sometimes, we are even guilty of rather serious sins and presumptions in order to reach some particular goal or acquire some particular desire.  Yet, we fail to do the one thing that would be so much more pleasing to God.  We fail to ask our heavenly Father.  And even when we do ask Him, we ask amiss--selfishly, without submitting fully to His will or desiring His glory.

 

Our passage closes with the call to draw near to God, and the promise that He will draw near to us.  And if we resist the devil, he will flee from us.  How often do we consciously draw near to God?  How determined are we truly to resist the devil?  If we would but do these things, we would find that God is true to His Word.  He will be faithful, even when we are faithless.  He knows how much we need for Him to draw near to us, even when we do not realize our need to draw near to Him.  We are to draw near to God because He seeks our fellowship and deserves our unconditional worship and reverence.

  

James 3:1-12, September 11-17, Lectionary Year B:

This of course is the famous passage in James which deals with the use, or misuse, of the tongue.  Notice, however, the initial context in which this passage is placed.  James is reminding the church of the importance of not having too many teachers--especially of not having novices as teachers.  A teacher's words come under closer scrutiny than those of other Christians.  New Christians therefore should not be placed under the heavy burdens and responsibilities that come with teaching, as their words will be heard by many impressionable people, young Christians, and outsiders--and will be monitored very carefully by the older members of the church.

 

It always amazes me that we often will put our youngest Christians in charge of teaching our youth and young adults.  We think that people relate better to those of the same age.  It may be a reasonable assumption; but the nurture and instruction of young Christians is far too important to leave to a kind of public relations campaign.  The important thing is the maturity of the teacher, not whether that teacher likes the same kinds of things the young people like.  Many new Christians or teens are still very impressionable, forming their first ideas of what the Christian life and doctrine are all about.  The people who influenced me most at that age were not other young people, or even young adults, in so far as church things were concerned.  The person who influenced me the most in spiritual things was my pastor--and he was the same age as my father.  The mature use of the tongue in teaching and guiding young Christians is of far more significance than whether or not they all go to the same movies.

 

Of course, the chapter goes on to elaborate on how difficult it is to discipline the tongue.  We all know many stories of how a thoughtless word has done irreparable damage.  A comment of rejection has perhaps hurt someone's feelings this very day who may be reading this blog.  Your tears may be the direct result of an unkind word or a sharp-tongued person--perhaps even in your church.  Jesus certainly can identify with your experience and would desire to comfort and encourage you in your hurt and pain.  Regardless of what the childish rhyme says, words do hurt.  They may re-enforce feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy that are already firmly rooted in our being.  Let the words of Christ's love from the Bible drown out the noisy words of an unfeeling world around you.

 

James also addresses the idea of consistency in our speech.  How can it be that the same person can, at one moment, speak words of blessing and kindness and, in the next, speak words of anger, hatred, and malice?  As James says, this ought not to be. 

 

Let us be careful in the use of our tongues--both as teacher and as Christian who relates to others daily.  Let us also however remind ourselves that just because someone says something hurtful or mean to us, that doesn't make it true.  The words spoken by God are more powerful and more wonderful than any words spoken by those who wish to hurt us.

  

The Day After:

I didn't watch any of the 9/11 retrospectives yesterday.  It seems that most Americans do not really take the threat from Islam nearly as seriously as they should; but I don't fully comprehend the reaction of our government, either.  It would seem to me that we should be on a wartime footing as a nation.  We should be marshalling all the resources at our command to fight terrorism and the Islamic threat.  We should be educating our citizens about the true nature of the threat to our national security.  We should have basically the same relationship with governments like Syria and Saudi Arabia that we had with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and presumably as we have now with Iran.  In other words, our citizens should be made to realize that we are at war. 

 

Of course, none of us know what's going on behind the scenes.  Maybe there are actions being taken by our leaders that truly represent a wartime effort and approach.    It just seems to me that our way of life would have to change radically if we really approached this "war on terror" with the single-mindedness it seems to require.  Do we have the will to resist and to survive as a nation?  I think we will find out the answer to that question within the next few years.

    

 

 

How Fragile We Are!

Straight AheadJust a few thoughts tonight about how fragile we are! Most men don't like to think about their vulnerability--physical and emotional; but I'm convinced that all of us, male and female, are very fragile. I'm also convinced that most of the "quick fixes" that people use to try to help us deal with our vulnerabilities are neither very effective nor very loving. After all, it takes time to show love, and most of us just don't think we have that kind of time--outside, perhaps, of our own immediate family. I'm reminded of all this because of pressures in my own life and the need to be truly present as a pastor and friend for those who are going through difficult times--even as I myself struggle with change and uncertainty. I'm also reminded of it because of people with whom I am in correspondence who have experienced the seeming indifference of those who were expected to extend concern and love. When a person is experiencing depression or grief or doubt or any other kind of emotional upheaval, they often are encouraged by well-meaning Christians simply to "pray harder," or have more faith." I remember when I was a child and would be going through a time of hurt feelings or rejection, that often an adult would say, "Well, just do something nice for somebody, and then you won't be thinking so much about yourself." While it's always a good idea to do something nice for somebody, that kind of dismissive approach hardly gets at the cause of most truly serious emotional pains. No, most of us need genuine love and concern when we hurt. Sometimes, the love of immediate family is enough; but sometimes, the worry and concern are brought about by family situations or health crises, or things that directly concern those we love the most. And besides, what about those people who have no close friends or family whose love they can really trust? How many people need to be hugged and held close, to know they have the freedom to cry, to have a hand on their shoulder, to be assured of someone's love and concern--rather than just a professional interest? Yes, the grace of God is sufficient. The presence of God and the assurance of His love is enough for any Christian; but that love is made manifest as another Christian reaches out and demonstrates the love of Christ--because all of us are fragile, vulnerable, weak. All of us are children who need a loving heavenly Father.

Dialogue and Feelings can be Roadblocks to Principle:

When differences of opinion on major issues are evident, it's generally a good idea to talk about the issues.  The trendy word for such discussions is "dialogue."  There comes a time, however, when dialogue is simply an excuse to delay a decision, to block the enactment of principles.  We've been discussing certain issues in the Presbyterian Church, (USA), for two decades or more.  Yet, when we seem right on the verge of making decisions, the common mantra is "dialogue."  Sometimes, it's because the losing side is afraid that a vote is going to go against them.  Sometimes, it's because one group or another fears that if somebody really acts on their beliefs, it may lead to some kind of split that would weaken the institution.  The facts haven't changed; the basis of the decision hasn't changed.  Nothing has changed.  And it's for certain that the Bible hasn't changed. The decisions we make based on principle, and certainly the decisions made by a body within the church, are decisions based on theology, biblical interpretation--areas in which there should be less room for compromise and politics than other areas in life.  It's not like we're debating which route should be followed by a new highway, or how money should be divided up in a school district.  Even in government, I hasten to add, there are times when the decisions that are made have to do with principles, and not just party politics.  There is a time for dialogue; but there is a time when dialogue simply becomes a tool for delay.

 

And feelings?  There is a time for feelings, to be sure; but we have come to the point in our society where feelings are substituted for thought.  How often have you been asked how you *feel about something, as compared with what you *think about something?  When I was growing up, we were asked what we thought about things.  We were encouraged to consider the facts and use our minds to make decisions.  Now, pollsters make front-page news by asking people to express their feelings.

 

The twin tactics of encouraging dialogue and talking about feelings,  to the point of the absurd, have weighed on my mind for some time; but the whole subject has been brought to mind recently by emails and other information I have received regarding the way that many people are continuing to discuss recent decisions made by the Presbyterian Church.  None of these issues are new.  Yet, people are asked to continue to discuss, to air their feelings, to suspend judgment and, by all means, to delay action.  The same kind of thing goes on in political discussions, in all kinds of meetings.  The general idea seems to be that if we stall long enough, we can somehow reach a compromise that will make everybody happy.  Of course, the casualty in all this will be principle.  Truth will be sacrificed for "getting along" with everybody.  Integrity will be discarded as old-fashioned.  Individual convictions will take second place to community conformity.  And in the end, everybody will lose.