James 2:1-17
“Just Mercy”
September 5, 2021
If you have little use for high-falutin’ language and theoretical ideas that involve peeling off multiple layers – like a partially decomposed onion – before you get to the good stuff, then James is your man.
His letter is believed by many scholars to be the oldest epistle in the New Testament.
Along with Peter and John, James got pretty short shrift ending up at the end of the book and in spite of the authors thought to have actually known and walked beside Jesus, they have never been given the respect that Paul who wrote after them and never knew Jesus has been showered with throughout history.
James speaks of a primitive form of Christianity, talking like the people around him did.
He emphasizes in his over 100 statements of “do this” and “don’t do that” a lot about lifestyle.
He’s not really that interested in what we believe.
For James the proof is in the doing.
As Eugene Peterson paraphrases the end of the reading Ann just shared when he explains that if you come across a friend dressed in rags and desperately hungry and all you have to say is, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit” and then you go your merry way without “providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
As disciples and followers of Jesus’ lead, we are intended to be in the mercy business and yet think about how much more energy is devoted to judgment?
This week, after the devastation in Louisiana from Hurricane Ida the familiar refrain of why anyone would continue to live in places that were so susceptible to the uncontrolled rage of Mother Nature over and over again.
It is easy to be up here in Vermont, our home, and question why others won’t leave their homes, never mind the fact that so many that bore the brunt of the destruction and loss down south and through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York as the storm made its way north were those without the financial means to move.
“Mercy triumphs over judgment” says James.
How do we get past our very human tendency, even when we don’t want to admit it, that we are judgy people?
Is it possible to be a church that withholds judgment in favor of mercy?
In multiple conversations with different church leaders and human service providers here in Bennington County over the past 18 months of COVID, the discussion has often turned to the fact that contrary to what we thought would be the case, we just have not seen the numbers of folks we were expecting to be seeking our assistance.
“Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.” – Father Greg Boyle, Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice, and justice demanded death. “But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.” “But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied. “Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son. (Luis Palau, “Experiencing God’’s Forgiveness“, Multnomah Press, 1984)
Years after the death of President Calvin Coolidge, this story came to light. In the early days of his presidency, Coolidge awoke one morning in his hotel room to find a burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up, asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved charm he wanted to keep. Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet-which he had also persuaded the dazed young man to give back!’declared it to be a loan, and advised the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! (Yes, the loan was paid back.) (Today in the Word, October 8, 1992).
The book of James takes on that huge gap between the haves and have-nots. He pulls no punches in pointing out that if God is going to take sides, it is going to be on the side of the poor and oppressed. The writer of James is talking to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” These are early Jewish followers of Jesus that are migrants or refugees, if you will, who have been pushed out of Judea. They, like so many refugees today, lived a hard life of economic and political persecution. James recognizes that there are class distinctions in churches and he’s reminding those who would look to Jesus’ example to act justly and with mercy for the poor.
It can be really tempting to look past poverty with an attitude of sad resignation – as if it’s a done deal, especially for those who conveniently use Jesus’ own words – “The poor you will always have with you” to end the discussion. ) Shutting down or charity fatigue is not an option. The poor that are always with us are always our responsibility – this is one of the tough truths if we are to call ourselves disciples of Christ.
“The poor” – when we use that descriptor who are we talking about? Is it The definition of poor cannot be our greatest worry. Let’s spend more time on the other part. Let’s put our energy into the care part.