A Kind of First Fruit
Pentecost 15 – September 1, 2024
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Psalm 15
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Of all the books of the New Testament, James is one of the most problematic, notwithstanding Luther’s dislike of it. The problem is we know very little about the book and have many unanswerable questions about it. Was the writer a gentile or a Jew? Where did he live? What was his role in the early church? When did he write it? Why did he write this book? James shows up quite late in the lists of Christian writings and its inclusion in the New Testament was probably because it was thought to have been written by Jesus’ brother James. Modern scholarship has shown that it was written too late to have been written by James who was martyred very early. But what is more troubling about this book is that the early theologians of the church did not know it existed until the fourth century. None of them mention James or quote from the book even though scholars think James was written between AD 90 and AD 130. James did not know Paul’s letters or the Gospels which might indicate that he lived in Egypt. His understanding of the gospel came from hearing the story of Jesus and of salvation told to him by others. Of all the above questions the easiest to answer is the why. James wrote his book as a guide to Christian life. This becomes clear at the beginning of the book when he tells the reader to be doers of the word.
While we do not know for sure, it seems that James’ community would rather sit around and try to be theologians than to do the work of Christians. It also sounds like they argued and criticized each other to the point of getting angry with each other. Which was destructive to the community and did not show the unity they had in Jesus. It also seems that many of their arguments were just empty words. James equates them to looking in a mirror. While talking they thought their words were brilliant but, once the argument was over, they forgot what their words meant. So they all needed to still their tongues and do the work of Christians, that is taking care of the orphans and widows.
We get a little taste of what James is talking about in our lesson from Mark. There the Pharisees are arguing with Jesus about what makes a person unclean. They had the Law backing them up. But they had forgotten that the Law was God’s gift to them to help them live together as God’s people. Instead they used the Law to criticize others demonstrating how much better they were than others. Instead of bringing the community together they were dividing it. That is why Jesus calls them hypocrites. It is the same with James’ community. I am not telling you anything that you have not experienced yourself. I can give you many examples of how the church divides instead of unites God’s people.
James is encouraging us to take what God has given us and to use it to build up the community. We are called to take care of the vulnerable and troubled people in our midst. That is what Jesus did and he is our role model. When they were hungry he provided food. When they were sick he healed them. He took care of others with the gifts that God had given him. You are called to do the same. Your gift may not be to become a doctor but they have been given to you by God so that you can be doers of the word. Act, not because you have to but because you can. For every generous act comes from above. You have been gifted with so many wondrous things and have been made a child of God despite your unworthiness and now you are called to imitate Jesus in all that you do.