Sunday Flyer

James' letter is the elephant in the room...

If we want to keep the status quo, Jesus is the problem.

James is a practical commentary on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

James 1:27
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

CONTEXT
Old Testament:
Genesis 38 - Judah failed the widow Tamar
Exodus 19-23 - Care for vulnerable (widows, orphans, immigrants)
Deuteronomy 26:12 - Third year tithe given to care for vulnerable
Deuteronomy 10:18 - God’s safety net
Ezekiel 22:29 - Exploitation, oppressing poor and mistreating immigrants
New Testament:
Matthew 9:9-13 Jesus eating with marginalized; "desires mercy, not sacrifice"
Matthew 23:23 Tithing, but neglecting justice and mercy
James 4:1-3 Want with wrong motives
1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Reverting to Roman Ways; Neglecting poor at the table

If our life purpose is self and wealth, Jesus is the problem.

Table fellowship was the most common and important activity in the first century world (no one ate alone). 

James 2:1-7
1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

If we want to join God's world as ministers and ambassadors, Jesus is the answer.

James 2:8-13
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

In the Greco-Roman world worship of the gods was about power and procedure. The proper response was envy, fear, and respect. Aristotle wrote that "loving god" was ridiculous. In the Bible, the relational (3-in-1) God is primarily known through relationship and acts of love. Jesus, God embodied, affirms this through the great commandment: to love God is to love neighbor and vice versa (Matthew 22:37-30; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28).

The stout Christian faith of the Guinness family led Rupert Guinness to move into the slums to serve the poor and Henry Gratten Guinness to become the Billy Graham of 19th century Ireland. ~Paul Timothy Pensley

I-Sight: Seeing all people through the eyes of Immanuel (God with us).

Communion Context
The common banquet was the most important social institution of Roman Empire. It reinforced social status, hierarchies, and imperial loyalty. Meals were less about eating, and more about keeping the status quo of power and class, while maintaining allegiance to Lord Caesar. One's class determined what house they could eat at. One's wealth and status determined how close to the center of the triclinium table one reclined. Following Jesus' example, who took the form of a slave by washing his disciple's feet at the Last Supper, the early church adopted the Roman meal structure, but broke down barriers of class and status. As Paul says in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Christians in the first century at times had trouble following Jesus as the answer too, as James writes about. Paul also exhorted Christians to turn from the corrupted ways of Rome, and return their I-Sight of eating together in mutuality and sibling love (1 Corinthians 11:17-34).

"Christ with all saints, by his love, takes upon himself our form [Phil. 2:7], fights with us against sin, death, and all evil. This enkindles in us such love that we take on his form, rely upon his righteousness, life, and blessedness. And through the interchange of his blessings and our misfortunes, we become one loaf, one bread, one body, one drink, and have all things in common. O this is a great sacrament, says St. Paul, that Christ and the church are one flesh and bone. Again through this same love, we are to be changed and to make the infirmities of all other Christians our own; we are to take upon ourselves their form and their necessity, and all the good that is within our power we are to make theirs, that they may profit from it. That is real fellowship, and that is the true significance of [communion]." 
—Martin Luther, Palm Sunday Sermon, 1519

This week, join Jesus as the answer through I-Sight and practical acts of love (see next steps below).

Table Talk

When have you experienced someone living out “pure religion” by caring for another in need? How did it impact you—and them? What does it mean to refuse the world's corruption?

What would you need to refuse in order to practice "genuine religion" and follow Jesus more fully?

What are ways you have experienced favoritism showing up on the outside—like in body language, words, or actions—in churches, friendships, or workplaces?

What about on the inside? Are there ways you’ve caught yourself showing favoritism in your thoughts, feelings, and/or actions?

Compare James 2 with Jesus’ words in Matthew 5. How do these passages together shape your view of God’s intended world?

God’s kingdom values every person as an image-bearer. What helps you move from a self-focused or success-driven mindset to one where you see others through God’s eyes?

Romans 8:29 says we’re being shaped into the image of Christ (for the sake of others). What’s one simple, tangible way you can live in Christ's love this week—in your home, school, work, or community?

(Re)Sources
FREE: BibleProject.com/Videos/James
FREE: Biblehub.com/Commentaries
FREE: ‘The Poor Will Always Be Among You’ Is a Call to Obedience, by Jared Brock
FREE: Misquoted: Persistent Poverty, by Matt Soerens, the US Director for World Relief
What Jesus Meant, by Paul T. Penley
Subversive Meals, by R. Alan Street
The Affections of Christ Jesus, by Nijay Gupta
Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman
Letters and Papers from Prison, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Desiring the Kingdom, by James K.A. Smith