James
Lessons
for Life
James little letter is a great one to help us as we try to live our
lives as Christians. Many people will ask, “Now that I am a Christian, how do I
go about living my life?” James answers many of those questions by giving us
guidance on how to live out that faith that we have been given. It is for that
reason that this series of studies is entitled “Lessons for Life.”
Come along and join us as we learn some of these lessons. Do you have
questions? Do you have comments? Be sure to post them so that we can discuss
them. This is by no means the end to all the questions that we have in our
lives of faith.
James 2:1
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory. 2. For if a man wearing a gold
ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby
clothing also comes in, 3. and if you pay attention to the
one who wears fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you
say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or ‘Sit down at my feet,’ 4.
have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with
evil thoughts?”
1. As you read these words, what is
the first thing that comes to your mind? How did you take these words and place
them into your context of life
2. Take these words and place them
in our world today. Who are some people that get treated better than others?
Have you been on the receiving end of being treated better than others? What
about on the receiving end of being treated poorly because of who you are or
the situation you find yourself in your life?
3. What evil thoughts do you have
against the poor? The rich? The physically handicapped? The good looking? Those
of different “class” than you?
James 2:5
“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the
world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to
those who love him?”
4. Who are the “poor in the world”?
How do you read this verse?
5. What does it mean to be “rich in
faith and heirs of the kingdom”?
James 2:6
“But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress
you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7. Are they not
the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?”
6. Is this true today like it was in
James day? How could this be said for today?
James 2:8
“If you really fulfill the royal low according to the Scripture, ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. 9. But
if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as
transgressors.10. For whoever keeps the whole law but
fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11. For
he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do
not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”
7. Can you fulfill the law of “love
your neighbor as yourself”? How is it possible?
8. As James talks about the acts
against the Commandments, why do you think that he picks these two, the 6th
and then the 5th?
James 2:12
“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
13. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no
mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
9. Now we get to where James is
taking us. How are we to act towards others? What is to guide our thoughts and
actions?
10. What is James telling us in verse
13?
1A. The answers will vary as much with each one who is doing this
study. I would say that it could be applied in any situation: rich/poor, well
known/unknown, liked/unliked, good looking/not good looking, etc. The situation
of today could challenge us to think more deeply about the way we treat others.
Remember, that James is talking to each of us as Christians as challenging us
to live out our faith in very practical ways.
2A. Perhaps our society has turned things around today. The poor is
welcomed in while the rich are looked down upon. We will bend over backwards
for the school in the poor neighborhood but will grumbled about what goes on in
the school in rich neighborhood. We will treat the person with physical problems
with better care than the person who appears to have no physical ailments. I am
not saying that it is wrong to do some of the things we do, but examine why and
how we do them. Today, the “rich” are seen as the evil ones. We attack them at
every turn. But then we want them around to pay for the things we do. We see
the poor on the street and we help them, but why? Is it because they need help?
Or is it to make yourself feel better about all the “wealth” that you have? “See
God, I have done good things for this poor person. You must think of me as a
good person now.” That is not what James is talking about. But I digress.
3A. We all have feelings. What we do with those feelings is what James
is talking about. If I treat someone better just because of their situation in
life, I am making distinctions. I need to learn to treat all people the same,
no matter who they are or what their situation in life.
4A. The “poor in the world” is taking us into the spiritual part of our
lives. Each one of us in “poor in the world.” We are lost in our sinfulness. We
have nothing to offer to God or to anyone else. All we can give is sinfulness,
rottenness, filth and shame. We cannot make another person spiritually wealthy.
We have not given ourselves spiritual wealth.
5A. Rich in faith is to be in that relationship with Jesus Christ, the
Savior of the world. It is to admit that I am a poor, sinful being. I am a
beggar who comes to God with nothing in my hands. In fact, I do not even come
to God. I look at Him and say, “He is one of THOSE. He has it all and I have
nothing. I want nothing to do with Him.” Like a person living on the street, I
look at those who pass by with disdain because they have and I do not. I
grumble about them. I would spit upon them if I didn’t think that I could get
something from them. As they look down on me, I look down on them. They are the
bad people. Me and my fellow people of the streets are the good ones. In our
wretchedness, we band together against the rest of the people who “have” what
we don’t have. And we don’t want what they have. We only want to use them to
get something. That is how we approach God. Go to Him? In our sinfulness we
will never approach Him in humbleness and truth. We will try to use God to get
what we want. And when we don’t, we will spit upon Him. We will use His name
wretchedly. Poor in spirit, we are sinners who want nothing to do with God.
To be “rich in faith”
is to be brought into that relationship through the power of the Holy Spirit,
working in Word and Sacrament. We are taken from the streets of sin, washed
clean in the waters of Baptism, given the clothes of righteousness of Jesus
Christ, given the life in our Savior, made a child of God, and an heir of heaven.
We are heirs of the kingdom not by our right but by the love of God shown in
Jesus Christ. We have nothing to brag about. When we boast, we boast only in
the cross of Christ, not in our own worthiness. As we see this, it helps us to
realize that we are not to show favoritism to anyone – rich or poor, good
looking or not good looking, physically whole or physically challenged.
6A. In today’s world, the lines are not so clearly drawn. In a world of
social media, the “poor” are often doing their best to show that the “rich” are
the bad people. This leads to certain groups of people being demonized just
because of who they are. This happens when the police are demonized because of
the actions of one or two bad ones. Rage and anger are taken out on others just
because of the perceived injustices of the world because of what is seen as the
“right” of one over the right of the other. Where James is taking us is where
we need to be in our world today. We attack others for no reason other than we
don’t like them, we think they have what we deserve, or we just don’t like them
because of where they live, their skin color, their social status.
7A. We think we can fulfill that law. But so often we do not love
others as we wish to be loved. We draw lines in the sand and if someone is on
the other side of the line, we feel justified in not loving that person. Yet we
must realize that we were on the other side of the line in our relationship
with God. The answer to the question is actually: No, I cannot fulfill this law
of loving others as I love myself. Only in Christ is this possible. Only as He
lives in me. Only as the Holy Spirit guides me.
8A. Many feel that they keep the 6th commandment. After all,
I have not slept with another person other than my spouse. I do not go out and
have affairs. I am faithful in my life. That means I am a good person. (I will
not go into the way that Jesus shows us that we fail even in this commandment.)
Then James takes us to the 5th commandment. I think that he must
have the words of Jesus in mind, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders
will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with
his brother is liable to judgment.” (Matthew 5:22) While I might not pull
the trigger to kill another person, if I am angry with another, I am just as
guilty against the Law. James is wanting us to see that it is not our actions
that saves. We are wretched without Christ. As one who was wretched but now a
child of God, I should not show favoritism towards others. They too are ones
who need to the love of Christ, shown in how I treat them.
9A. We are to show ourselves as ones who are loved by God, washed clean
in the blood of Christ and robed in His righteousness in Baptism. When we look
on others, we are not to be their judges but their brothers/sisters in Christ.
We are not under the Law but the Gospel. We are to treat others in the same
way.
10A. Mercy triumphs over judgment. This is Gospel over Law. While the
Law condemns and damns, the Gospel cleanses and saves. That is how we are
treated by God in Christ as brothers and sisters in Christ. That is how we are to
treat others. Favoritism? It is gone in Christ. If we are showing favoritism,
then we are not living in the Gospel but the Law. And as such, we stand
condemned for our lives are not perfect but sinful. Having been taken from the
streets of wretched sinfulness, washed clean and clothed in Christ, living in
the love of God, that is how we are to treat others.
