The New Testament readings from the Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer for the next several weeks come from the Book of James. There were several men named James mentioned throughout the New Testament, such as James the son of Zebedee and brother of John, James the son of Alphaeus, and James the brother, step-brother, or cousin of Jesus and later leader of the church in Jerusalem. It is this latter James who is traditionally thought to be the author of the Epistle of James. Our New Testament reading this week comes from the first chapter of James. There is much that we can learn from his epistle to help us with our daily Christian life. Let's see what we can take in today.
As our Scripture opens, James tells us that God gives us, His children, good gifts, and that He brings good into our lives (vs. 17). We might wonder at that, as many of us have gone through some rather difficult times in our lives. When we look at some things that happen in our life, such as serious illness, financial struggles, problems with our children or spouse, etc., we wonder how this is “good”. “Good” isn’t always the same as “pleasant”. Sometimes what is good for us isn’t always pleasant. We think of some nasty tasting medicine or a painful medical procedure. Or think back to your parents telling you to eat some vegetable you really hated by saying “it is good for you”. Discipline and punishment can be good for us, increasing our faith (Hebrews 12:11; Revelation 3:19). We grow through hardship in ways we cannot grow through pleasant circumstances.
The Lord does, though, bring what we all would consider good things into our lives, too. He blesses us daily with gifts such as what we see all around us each day - the bright sunshine, the gentle rain, the beautiful flowers, our pets and the little animals that scamper around our neighborhoods, our vision and hearing, etc. These all come from the Lord as His gifts to us. What do we need today? Ask God. He is the Father of Light, and every good and perfect gift comes directly from His hand.
As we continue in our Scripture James urges us to put away the filthy behavior of the world, and instead receive God’s Word into our lives (vs. 21). As believers, we have inherited the spiritual wealth of God’s Kingdom, yet so many are subsisting on the garbage of the world! They are controlled by all sorts of vices, choosing to live off the refuse of the world. We have God’s Word of truth and the Holy Spirit at our disposal. We have no excuse for groveling in the dirt of sin when the power of God is there for us. Don’t act like a beggar in the garbage heap when we have God’s riches at our disposal.
Another important lesson that James seeks to teach us is to be a doer of the Word, and not just only a hearer (vs. 22-25). Every day before we head out to start our day we usually look in the mirror to see if we look alright. Is our hair nicely brushed? Is our face clean? Are our clothes straight? If we see anything off, we correct it. At least I hope we do! Why look in a mirror if we don’t plan to change what is wrong? This should be the same attitude we have when we read God’s Word. We should look closely and act on what we read. If we hear God’s Word without taking action we fool only ourselves. Instead, as Christians we should examine ourselves in light of God’s Word, and obey His instructions.
Unfortunately there are some believers who are more obedient to their car’s GPS than they are to obey God’s Word, even being willing to drive into a pond or a building because the system told them that was the right move! We need a heart that is ready and willing to follow Jesus! Like the great old-time hymn says: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!”
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