Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon James 2:1-10, 14-17 “Heirs of the Kingdom”
Presbyterian Church of Easton
September 5, 2021
Today I am preaching my second in a series of sermons drawn from the Book of James. As we heard last week, this book, written by the brother of Jesus Christ and the leader of the church in Jerusalem, is very important not only for the early church but for our church as well. In the first chapter James starts with the idea that faith comes to us though the Word of God, but for this faith to be effective for our salvation it must be implanted in our hearts and grow. So it is important that we not allow the Word of God to come in one ear and out the other. Rather we must meditate on the Word of God every day to let it be planted and nourished in our hearts. And this will lead to our transformation as a people who care for the widows and orphans and the poor and needy.
But James also told us that as faith grows in our hearts it will lead to divisions within the church and people will become angry with each other. So James told us to first listen and then speak so that we can be like God: slow to anger and abounding with steadfast love.
Today we will be looking at what caused the anger in the early church that prompted this letter from James. This problem is not confined to the first century church. It affects all churches including this one in Easton. So we have to listen carefully to what James has to say. But first, please pray with me.
Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)
NRS James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? 8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Imagine that you are sitting in the great Synagogue of Alexandria. You are there with Hellenistic Jews who have adopted the Greek culture and language, but maintain their belief in the God of their ancestors. With you are also God Fearers, gentiles who have been attracted to the faith in one God, the God of Israel. Also imagine that an evangelist has come from Jerusalem proclaiming glorious good news.
This evangelist’s name is Matthew, and for the last several weeks he has been telling stories about a rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth. He has said that Jesus was a great teacher and healer and proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven was very near. And this was good news to all who were oppressed by the Romans, especially the very poor, the widows and the orphans. It was hoped that this Jesus was the long awaited messiah, but he was arrested by the authorities and crucified. Incredibly, Matthew’s story didn’t end there. He said that Jesus, on the third day, rose from the dead and was seen and heard by many. Matthew’s stories about Jesus had energized the city like nothing before it. Everyone was talking about this Jesus who had risen from the dead.
One Sabbath evening while sitting in the synagogue waiting for Matthew to speak you notice that the crowd inside is beginning to stir. A man dressed in a spectacular white robe, a Roman Senator, enters the synagogue. He is wearing the gold ring of an Equestrian. He is truly a distinguished guest. The leaders of the synagogue rush to the entrance to greet the Senator. They lead him to the front of the assembly to a special seat reserved for the most honored guests. He eagerly waits for the entrance of the evangelist from Jerusalem so that he could hear for himself the good news that was being proclaimed.
While the Roman Senator is being taken to a seat of honor, a man and woman enter the door of the synagogue. They are wearing old clothes that look like they came from Good Will. They have a tinge of body odor because they had spent the night under a bridge. The couple had not eaten since yesterday, and were very hungry. Someone had told them that a visitor from Jerusalem had come proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven was near, really good news for the very poor. A few people near the back of the synagogue saw them enter and turned away. They assumed that this couple had come to beg and they didn’t want to be hit up for money.
The Roman Senator and the homeless couple were treated differently when they came into the synagogue. This is what James calls “partiality” and is inconsistent with our faith. James says that any favoritism that we show in worship because of the wealth of someone is a sin.
The problem in the churches that James was writing to was that the poor had heard news that the Kingdom of God was near, and were prompted to come to church to hear what this was all about. The arrival of the poor in the churches of Jesus Christ had caused great divisions among the members of those churches. This led to anger and is the reason James has counseled the opposing sides to listen first and then respond being slow to anger. Those with faith implanted deep in their hearts had compassion for the poor and wanted them to join them in worship. Others wanted their church to remain as it was with just the “respectable” people in it. So anger flared between these two groups and James was concerned.
We can understand why having poor people come to church would be a problem. They leave cigarette butts in the parking lot and beer bottles in the bushes where preschoolers could find them. Since there is little affordable housing in this town, and they have to sleep somewhere, they might sleep on the church grounds. They may even have to use the church toilets. Those with a strong faith planted in their hearts want to help the poor. Others see them as problems and wish that they would go away. James says that this situation is intolerable in the church because we have been commanded by Jesus to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
I recently read a new book called Not Just a One-Night Stand, Doing Ministry with the Homeless. This book was about a church that had a passion for helping the poor. Several times each year, they would pack up the audio equipment and the gas grills into rented trucks, and move them to the local homeless shelter. There they would sing praise songs with the homeless and serve them burgers and hot dogs. When the event was over they would pack everything up and return to their middle class church.
This continued until they noticed the homeless men and women who were living on the sidewalks around the church. They thought about their homeless ministry and saw that it was just a one night stand. They met and served the homeless for a day and went home. But they wondered, how could they serve the homeless right there in the neighborhood of the church on a continuing basis. They started a Sunday morning breakfast and invited the homeless on the streets in front of the church for a warm meal. At breakfast they developed relationships with the homeless and began inviting them to worship. Gradually some of the homeless men and women came to worship and the church, guided by the Book of James, welcomed the homeless into their fellowship. This is what a ministry for the homeless is all about: inviting and welcoming the poorest of the poor to worship with us.
Here in Easton many of our poor are recent immigrants. They live here in our community and send their kids to our schools. They are learning English and trying to assimilate into American culture. Many of them attend Spanish language churches because in those churches they find help living here in America.
But what they really want is to become Americans. The only way to do that is to develop relationships with Americans. What if we welcomed them to our church? What if we helped them to adjust to living in America? What if we had a great Sunday School for their kids? What if we had an ESL program to help them learn English? What if we intentionally became a multicultural church?
So as you prepare to look for a new pastor I urge you to think about the kind of church this should be. Should this be a welcoming church for the young immigrant families living in our community? I hope we do. Please consider these words from James.
NRS James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, we follow in your footsteps in loving the poorest in our community. Help us as we continue this vital ministry. Give us the resources and volunteers we need to continue this work. And fill us with God’s love so that we may love others. Amen.
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