Sermons

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Sunday 10 September at 10am

Simon Cowling
Readings: James 2. 1-17; Mark 7. 24-37

I want to begin my sermon this morning with some general remarks about the Letter of James, to follow on with some reflections on the passage from James chapter 2 which we heard just now and to end with a comment about how we might all benefit from reading this short letter on a regular basis.

The Letter of James, it's probably true to say, is not one of the better known books of the New Testament; indeed at various times some Christians have shown real unease about its content. Martin Luther, one of the driving forces behind the Reformation in 16th century Germany, described James as 'a letter of straw'. He doubted that the letter could possibly have any authority for Christians and placed it right at the end of his translation of the New Testament. Luther's principle objection to the Letter of James arose out of two verses in the letter, one of which ends today's reading: 'faith, if it is alone and includes no actions, .. is dead'. For Luther, this idea that the faith of an individual Christian must be judged in the light of what he or she does as well as by what he or she believes was highly problematic. It appeared to endanger, possibly even undermine, an understanding of the Gospel which Luther held passionately, that it is only by faith in Christ that we can be put into a right relationship with God. Luther believed that the Church of his day had lost sight of this truth, and that Christians were being taught that they could earn God's grace almost mechanically, by performing good actions, or good works as they were known. James' talk about the absolute need for faith to include actions was, you can perhaps see, unhelpful for Luther's theology.

Well I've no wish to caricature Luther's view of the Letter of James, but for someone who had such a high view of scripture he was, I think, picking and choosing his scripture a bit. In any case, my reading of what James is saying in chapter 2.17 is not that God's grace can be earned by actions, rather that there's not much point in your faith if the way you act doesn't match up. There are similarities between what James is saying here and the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: 'let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.' (Matthew 5.16). Good actions are not a substitute for our faith or something that can somehow create faith; rather they flow out from, are a natural consequence of our faith and speak of the depth of our commitment to our heavenly Father.

James' remarks about prejudice, which precede what he has to say about faith and action in today's reading, constitute something of a case study. He begins by reminding all who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that judging by outward appearances is wrong - it is in effect a denial of the Gospel. He then gives the specific example of two men at a meeting - one sporting gold and fine clothes, the other merely rags. If, says James, you seat the first man in the best seat and the second on the floor by your feet then you are guilty of creating distinctions that have no basis in the faith which you claim for yourselves and which you proclaim to others. I am sure you can think of contemporary examples of prejudice based on appearance. As a white middle class male you might think that I am immune from such prejudice. I thought so too, until at dusk one evening the experience of two young women crossing North Park Avenue to avoid passing me on the pavement forced me to acknowledge that others might not necessarily see me as I see myself. More seriously, we had the incident last month in which two men were removed, at the behest of fellow passengers, from a plane flying from Malaga to Manchester. They came under suspicion, amongst other reasons, because they were speaking, and I quote one of the passengers, 'a language that sounded like Arabic' - presumably that passenger had a working knowledge of the language - and because they were wearing coats, which could have been used for hiding bombs. I am aware of the understandable anxieties for air passengers at the moment; nevertheless I think James' example of the rich man and the poor man speaks eloquently two thousand years later to a society in which we continue to react to others, all too often, by their outward appearance.

If a text can be said to suffer from an inferiority complex, then I think the Letter of James probably does. This short letter does not have what you might call the star quality of some of Paul's letters: there's no grappling with complex theological issues, no moral agonising, no great purple passages. For that reason James has, in the words of one theologian, had only a 'superficial hearing' in the Church. Yet from the point of view of the individual Christian living life in community, James is as helpful a text as you could wish for, a pretty comprehensive ethical guide for those who have accepted Christ. He speaks of the need to keep material prosperity in perspective, of the dangers of temptation and speaking too soon; he warns against prejudice, as we have heard, and against quarrelling and boasting; and his letter ends with a heartfelt call for patience and an encouragement for the mutual confession of sins and for prayer for each other. The Letter of James is not necessarily the book one would use first to bring people to Christ; but for those of us within the household of faith, a regular reading of this letter will keep us honest, preventing us from too much introspection and complacency, ensuring that, with God's grace and guidance, we practise what we preach.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay