From the
Letter of James, chapter 5, verse 13, “Are any among you suffering? They should
pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.”
In the
name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
On the Sundays in September, we have been
reading from the Letter of James, that most practical of letters in the New
Testament. Allow me to recite some of the section headings which the editor of
our translation has given us: Faith and Wisdom, Poverty and Riches, Trial and
Temptation, Hearing and Doing the Word, Warning against Partiality, Faith
without Works is dead, Taming the Tongue, Warning against Judging Another,
Warning to Rich Oppressors, Patience in Suffering, and, lastly, the Prayer of
Faith, the section in which we find today’s reading.
If we had this letter alone, it would
serve very well as a summary and guide to Christian living, to a faithful,
loving way of life. Rather than restrict myself to the few verses of today’s
reading, I would like to go through the letter,
and comment on a few of the sections, and show how today’s reading
summarizes the entire letter.
James writes, “My brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy.” Nothing but
joy! Because trials strengthen endurance and faith. Suffering and joy are never
far from each other in this letter, as they are never far from each other in
life. In today’s reading, suffering and cheerfulness are placed side by side. Trials
are tests of faith, and opportunities for prayer. The trials are not only our
own of course; we face not only our own trials, but the trials of others. In
this time of open and obvious suffering on our own streets, and in the world,
the trials of others are constantly on display. They give us plenty of
opportunities for prayer, and for good works too, as James points out.
James extends this combination of trials
and joy when he writes, “Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one
has stood the test and will receive the crown of life.” Temptation is a
blessing? We may not think so when perhaps we are regretting some embarrassing
episode in which we did not behave as well as we might have! But we have the
word of James that there is a blessing in it, when we endure. That is, when we
don’t give up on ourselves or God when we imagine that we have not got through
some trial, some temptation, in a way that we think we should have. Temptation
is a blessing when we see it for what it is. It is better to see it before
rather than after, of course, but even afterwards the case is not hopeless, as
James makes clear in today’s reading when he writes, “The prayer of faith will
save…and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.”
“But be doers of the word, and not merely
hearers who deceive themselves.” This is James’s great theme, of course. Just
as suffering entails joy, so faith entails works. The terms have meaning in
relation to each other. James has arranged his teaching around these pairs. And
James clearly defines what it is to be doers of the word: “to care for orphans
and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” We
don’t restrict ourselves to widows and orphans, of course; they are only the
beginning of the work that we are called to do. But work we must.
James adds warnings against favoritism,
which our translator calls partiality. He contrasts it with true belief in
Jesus Christ. Favoritism here is bias toward the rich, toward the important, at
the expense of the poor, the unimportant. This is a violation of what James
calls the royal law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no
partiality, no favoritism in this law. In our own society, we are drenched in a
constant downpour of praise, admiration, and envy of celebrity and wealth. In
this deluge of nonsense, we hardly have time to notice the ordinary, the
not-famous, the not-important, the poor. But to love our neighbor is, at least,
to regard all persons equally, without favoritism, with equal attention. This
is how God regards us, with equal attention. God does not rank people according
to their wealth or their importance. “They will wither away,” as James writes
near the beginning of his letter.
And now a few words about my favorite
section of the letter, ‘Taming the Tongue.’ “How great a forest is set ablaze
by a small fire!” writes James. “And the tongue is a fire!...With it we
bless…and with it we curse…My brothers and sisters,” writes James, “this ought
not to be so!” Indeed, it ought not. James wants us to cultivate “gentleness
born of wisdom…[which is] pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of
mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” We do this
by submitting to God. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near
to God, and he will draw near to you.” We submit to God, we draw near to him in
prayer. Prayer is the technique, if I dare call it that, by which we cultivate
gentleness, control our tongues, and learn to love our neighbors as ourselves,
without partiality. When we pray, we place ourselves near to God, and when we
pray, he draws near to us. That nearness makes it possible for us to practice
the virtues which James is commending to us.
Before James reaches his concluding verses
about prayer, however, he adds a few more admonitions. “Do not speak evil
against one another.” He reminds us of the transitoriness of life when he
writes, “For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
He goes on to add some rather sharp remarks about the rich who exploit laborers
and the righteous. These sharp remarks are not irrelevant today, even in our
own society. But James does not dwell on them. He returns to his admonitions
and encouragements, advocating patience and anticipation of the coming of the
Lord.
And so James concludes as he begins, “Are
any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing
songs of praise.” Prayer and praise, patient acceptance of trials, and hopeful
anticipation, are the features of Christian life, both of the individual and of
the community, the Church. In today’s reading, there is a strong emphasis on
community prayer, for the sick, and for anyone who has committed sins. “The
prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective,” says James. It can heal, it
can forgive, it can lead through suffering, into joy, and find blessing in
temptation.
“Are any
among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs
of praise.”
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
