"James"
by Dr. Michael H. Browder

April 26, 2009

What kind of respect do you get from your brother? This is one of the questions raised by James. I must tell you that I don’t get much respect from my brother. Charlie. You can probably tell this from the nickname our family gave him: Boog. He is the youngest; I am the oldest, and my sister Diane is in between. When he was a little kid, Charlie (Boog) was the meanest little guy you ever saw. He didn’t pronounce all of his words well, and his favorite phrase was, “I hape it!” He had a really quick temper. And so, naturally, I spent most of our childhood teasing him and trying success-fully to get him to lose his temper. One time, on the day before Easter, he got so mad that he hit me with a baseball. I had to go to Easter Sunday service with a black eye. Now, looking back on it, I feel sorry that I teased him so much. (Not really. No. I do. I do.) To his credit he has grown up into a pleasant man with no temper at all. He does have the strange Browder sense of humor, though. But, most important, he has forgiven me for all the times I teased him when we were kids. What kind of respect do you get from your brother?

The Epistle, or letter, of James was written by James, the brother of Jesus. Perhaps you remember the news a couple of years ago when they thought they had found the burial box of James. In Hebrew and Aramaic, it was labeled, “Jacob (James), the son of Joseph, the brother of Joshua (Jesus).” An epigrapher pronounced the writing authentic, and scholars thought maybe we have the actual burial box of Jesus’ brother. Jesus lived in a brief period of history when Jews would put the body of the deceased in a tomb and then bury the bones a year later. That’s why Jesus was put in a tomb and not buried in the ground. At the Bible scholars’ convention in Toronto, I was able to view this burial box behind glass, and read the inscription from 6 inches away. Unfortunately, more recent investigations have shown the box’s writing to be later, and the man who discovered it seems to be a fraud. So most scholars now consider the box to be a hoax.

James may have been a stepbrother. We Protestants think, “Well, sure, Mary had other children after Jesus.” But Catholics believe that Mary was the Perpetual Virgin, too pure to have other children. Many think that Joseph was an older widower, with several children already, who wed the much younger Mary. This, they say, is why you never hear about Joseph after the beginning of the New Testament. He was well along in years, and he has already passed away.

So let’s take the worst-case scenario. James is the oldest stepbrother. We can see why he did not give Jesus much respect. Jn. 7:5 says, “[Jesus’] brothers did not believe in him.” And, on at least one occasion, Jesus once snubbed them, and rejected his relationship with them. (Mt 12:46) “Who are my mother and brothers?”

But then, in Acts, things change drastically. First we see James meeting with the Apostles. (Ac 1:14) Then, he becomes the leader of Christ’s followers. Peter reports to him. (Ac 12:17) Paul reports to him. (Gl 1:19) By Acts 15, James is the leader of the headquarters church in Jerusalem. What made such a change in James, between the Gospels and Acts?

I think the answer may be found in I Cor. 15:7 where it says that Jesus appeared to James after his resurrection. When James met his brother as the Risen Christ, James’ life was changed. (The same is true for you and me. If you have truly met Christ, your life has been changed.) James no longer called himself the brother of Jesus. (You and I would do that, wouldn’t we? We would say: “Hey, I’m Jesus’ brother!”) Instead, James called himself the slave of Jesus. (How many of you here have a brother who would willingly call himself your slave? My brother would not!) This fact gives James a lot of power and credibility as a witness to the truth of Jesus. James went on to give his life as a martyr for the sake of Jesus, his brother and Savior. James became a brother worth remembering.

What James wrote in his epistle is worth remembering too. He writes about faith. There are two very different approaches to faith in the New Testament. It is the very same thing in either case: faith, or trust in God, the Greek word pistis. But there are two different approaches: One, we might call Paul’s approach, and the other we might call James’ approach.

Paul likes to emphasize the fact that we cannot save ourselves. (Even though we act like we can.) We think, “If only I can do enough good deeds, I will be saved and go to heaven.” The Bible says that this is not true. No matter how many good deeds you do, you cannot save yourself. This misconception is what I would call: Pitfall # 1. The truth is. Only God can save us. And He only saves us when we put our complete faith and trust in Him. He saves us by His grace, and He wipes away our sin. We are saved by Grace alone, through faith alone. Solo gratia. Solo fidei. (As the ancient theologians put it.)

And then there is the problem of going too far in the other direction. People start saying, “Well, all I need is faith. All I need to do is have a good thought for God once in a while, and I am saved.” And so, believing that they have faith, they ignore the things of God, and they live their life like any other person who doesn’t really care about God. The attitude is: “I have faith, so I don’t really need to do anything.” This is what I would call: Pitfall # 2.

James really gets upset about people who have this last attitude. (And John Wesley also gets upset about it. That’s why he loves James so much.) James says, “Faith without works is dead.” In other words, any faith, which does not lead to action, is not really faith at all. And James gives us other similar words of wisdom: He says, “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” And he says, “Show me your faith without your works, (in other words, you can’t do it), and I will show you my faith by my works!”

Don’t misunderstand James. He is not saying that you can save yourself. He is strong on faith. It is James who says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” James believes in the Grace of God. But God gives us the free choice of accepting or rejecting Grace. We can trust the Lord. We can love and follow him, or we can ignore him and go our own way. James says, that when we accept Christ, we become co-workers. He uses the Greek word sunergei, (our word synergy). When we trust the Lord, and take action on our faith, God blesses our actions and uses them to His glory.

So, James says that faith leads to missions. He asks, “How can you say to someone, ‘Go and be well!’ when you know that they do not have enough to eat, and you have more than you need? You cannot be God’s person you cannot fail to act, and still have faith. James says that even when you know the right thing, and fail to do it, is a sin. Not to act, not to address the need is a sin. How often have you and I turned a deaf ear to the needs of others? How often have we ignored the poor? James is really working on us: “Can you say that you have faith?” “and do nothing!” Where’s the faith?

James reminds us that faith is also about evangelism. It is about sharing the Good News with other people: Letting them know about the Grace and the love of God. Letting them know that Christ died for them. Sharing with them how wonderful it is when you trust God with your life. We are lifting up Christ. The words of our hymns remind us of this fact.

Evangelism is about inviting people to come and share the joys of God’s family. The church is here to be a blessing to people, especially to those who are lost and hurting. And you and I have been people like that. Sometimes we have been lost and hurting. Sometimes we still are. And God has been there for us.

The United Methodist Church has set aside this month to be open house month. We want to be an inviting church. We want to be a welcoming church. We want people to know that they will be loved and blessed by God, and loved and blessed by us when they come to this place. If you are hurting today, let us know how we can be here for you. If you would like a new friend, let us know how we can be that friend. Or even better, if you can be a friend to someone else today, reach out and introduce yourself. Find someone you don’t know and hold out a caring hand. Let them know that you want to be there for them.

James says that there is a right way and a wrong way to do this friendship thing. In today’s scripture, he scolds his own congregation. He says, when someone poor and un-attractive comes in, you basically ignore them. But when someone well-to-do and attractive comes in, you faun all over them. All churches are like that to some extent. James knows us too well. We need to make sure that we reach out to those who need us the most.

Today, when church is over, don’t go straight to your friends. Look for someone you don’t know and introduce yourself. Keep a special eye out for those who are not talkative and not outgoing. Keep an eye out for those who might be down on their luck, or who just might need a friend.

And remember, most of our new visitors are not just looking for a Hello today. They came to our church because they are looking for someone that they can be friends with in the weeks and months ahead. Maybe God intends for you to be that new friend.

You can put your faith into action. And what better way to start than to reach out, and make a new friend, and share the love of Jesus Christ with another person?

James tells us to guard our tongues. He says the tongue is like a little spark that can burn down a whole forest. He is talking about gossip. Gossip has no place in the church. I know that it is so easy to be a gossip: it makes you the center of attention, when you have some information that no one else knows. But what your mamma told you still holds true: If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.

James also talks about the power of prayer. He says if anyone is sick, bring them up, and lay hands on them, and pray for them. James says, “The prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.”

Finally, James has a word for us when we experience suffering. He says, “Count it all joy when you experience suffering.” Can you imagine such a statement? We would much rather expect sympathy than joy. And James practiced what he preached. He would give his life for the sake of his brother and savior, Jesus.

O God, we are inspired by James, the brother of Jesus, and by his words. Lord, guide us to put our faith into action (not just words.) To reach out to others; to have a special heart for the poor. Teach us to guard our tongues, and not to scorch the hearts and lives of others with gossip. And Lord, teach us the power of prayer. May our faith be so deep that we can have joy even in suffering. Amen.