Psalm 111 (New Jerusalem Bible)
James 2: 1-10 (Common English Bible)
Well, I broke protocol by skipping the Lectionary Reading of John’s gospel. I kind of figured you’ve heard enough about flesh, blood and bread. So in its place I still remain close to Jesus by reading the epistle written by his brother James, although his real Aramaic name in the 1st century was Yakov. I still don’t understand why those Aramaic names were Anglicized? They were OK in the original. But anyway you will hear the words of James as an almost parallel to what his brother Jesus taught.
The 16th century Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, disliked the letter of James and thought it shouldn’t even be included in the New Testament. Martin Luther considered it a “works” theology instead of a “faith” theology. But I beg to differ with Brother Martin. Faith and works go together like fish and tartar sauce.
We begin by noting that James’ emphasis on justice for the poor is a universal theme in the Hebrew Bible and also the gospels. It was the preaching of John the Baptizer, Jesus’ cousin, that people should prove the reality of their faith by their compassion for the oppressed.
What James is criticizing is the type of faith that has no influence upon their life. And we can see that from every class of people who claim they are Christian. The most hypocritical and dangerous are politicians who boast about being Christian but legislate laws that hurt the poor.
James makes his point using a hypothetical example, of a rich person entering a church to worship with gold rings, expensive clothing, and an important career. At the same time someone who is destitute in filthy clothes enters the same church. If people of faith treat them differently, the former being given a seat of honor and the latter pretty much ignored, they are doing the opposite of what Jesus taught. James calls this discrimination as evil. James calls us to reflect on what it means to be a good neighbor, especially to those of a lower economic class. James’ challenge applies to how all churches treat all classes of people without social power, such as refugees, immigrants, people of color and our sisters and brothers from the LGBTQ community.
The importance of James’ letter are those who profess to follow Jesus and say they obey God’s rule of law, but provide no help to the poor, are living a dead faith. Our own American culture has often valued the cult of celebrity, whether it’s actors, singers, sports figures, or even politicians. Social media platforms have encouraged this and help it intersect with our everyday lives. These experiences shape our vision to value, to envy and praise such famous and wealthy lives. But many don’t realize most wealthy individuals, and by wealthy I mean the millionaires and even billionaires, began with inherited wealth. Elon Musk is but one example. His father owned an emerald mine in South Africa. Author John Steinbeck, author of the famous novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” once made a very humorous statement, “The reason socialism never took root in America was because the poor here see themselves not as exploited workers but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
James refers to some church members in his time beholden to the rich in their society. James said they “were showing preferential treatment to the rich, fawning over them when they happen to visit their church. But during the rest of their life, isn’t it the rich who exploit you?” Now, this is not a blanket condemnation of the rich. Some of God’s most illustrious saints have been very rich people. Think of Abraham, King David and Francis of Assissi, who eventually gave away his wealth to the poor. We should be careful not to criticize all the rich with the same brush.
James ends his letter on income inequality with the strongest possible terms. If Christians really have faith through Jesus the Christ, they will show it not only by welcoming the poor into the church as equals, but also by giving them support to survive. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Second Corinthians, chapter eight, verses 13-15, “It isn’t that we want others to have financial ease, it is a matter of equality. At the present moment, your surplus can fill the deficit. In this way there is equality. As it is written, the one who gathered more didn’t have too much, and the one who gathered less didn’t have too little.” (CEB translation).
Psalm 111 is not one of better known poems in the Hebrew Bible, but it is a powerful reading of praise and adoration. It is a meditation on God’s works in creation and redemption. The Psalm begins with a vow to praise and then in verse two, it immediately goes to celebrate the works of God. The Psalm ends with verse 10 that we’ve read in other parts of the Bible. “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
Psalm 111: 2 is about how God’s works delight those who study God’s creation of earth. Just take a look and explore deeper into the created wonders that surround us everyday. But in our modern world we sometimes fall short of observing those wonders. We are too busy to pay attention because we are attached to the human made world. We rush from place-to-place struggling through traffic and even worse, traffic-jams.
But Psalm 111 indicates that maybe our praise to God would increase, if only we took the time to study the works of God as that part of the “fear of God” that leads us to wisdom. Perhaps people would take Global Warming more seriously instead of calling it “fake news.”
If you want to find people who are directly involved with God’s creation, then listen to the biologists, geologists and astronomers who are amazed by the incredible things they get to look at and uncover. Most scientists are not Christians, but yet they often do a better job at studying creation and understanding it than Christians do. Astronomers can study by telescope the galaxies still being created by God millions of light years away.
We are all called to be amateur students of God’s creation, studying the works of God’s universe because the Bible tells us that God takes delight in God’s cosmic creations. Why would any of us who claim to love God not take an interest in the world and universe that God created? And when we do, as Psalm 111 reminds us, we can find an ever expanding list of reasons to praise Yahweh, our God.
AMEN
