Pentecost 18 – 2024
James 3:1-12
Marian Free
In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Amen.
I wonder if I or anyone else have told you that the books of the Bible are ordered according to length – not chronologically. By that I mean that the Books of the prophets are ordered, not according to when they were written, but according to how many words there are. Like wise, Matthew is the longest of the gospels (not the first to be written) and it appears first. Paul’s letter to the Romans was probably the last that he wrote, but it comes straight after Acts and Philemon )which was written earlier) is relegated to the last among the Pauline correspondence. The so-called catholic letters – the more general letters of Peter, James and Jude are similarly ordered – James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter and then Jude.
The catholic letters appear to have been written at a later time in the development of the Christian church. They are known as “catholic” because they address general rather than specific situations and the teaching is more direct, and behaviour based rather than general and theological. Indeed, the letter of James, which we are making our way through at the moment, reads as a list of unconnected instructions, a manual for church goers. The only reference to Jesus (if ‘Lord’ refers to Jesus) is of his coming again. It would appear then, that the ‘church’ to whom the letter is written, doesn’t need to be told the story of Jesus, or to be taught theology, but rather, as the content of the letter suggests, they do need to be disciplined.
One of the difficulties faced by New Testament scholars is that what we know about a particular situation, or of an author can only be gleaned from the writing itself. There are no external, contemporary sources of any of our New Testament writings. All that we know about say the community in Rome for example, comes from the letter to the Romans. All that we know about the authors of our gospels is what the different emphases of the gospels can tell us. Letters, in particular the letters written by Paul were written to a particular group of people with their own needs and problems. Paul would have had no idea that letters, sometimes written in the heat of the moment (Galatians), would have been preserved, let alone that they would have been collected and treated as scripture!
With regard to other New Testament literature, we can assume that the author and the communities who received the writings would have expected the collective memory to be passed on and therefore had no need to be recorded. Over time though, the reason that the letter was written and the community to whom it was written became less important than the content, which was now considered to be ‘holy’ and useful for the whole believing community and not just the church for whom it was written.
At the moment we are making our way through the letter of James. There is very little we can say for certain about the sender – James. The letter reveals that he doesn’t appear to know of the apostle Paul, he is not interested in the story of Jesus and more interested in giving directions. He is almost certainly not James the brother of Jesus, because Jerusalem, where that James was based, is not mentioned. Further, Origin, writing in the beginning of the second century, knows the letter but does not refer to the author as Jesus’ brother.
It is possible to make more conjectures about the recipients. They are addressed as the Twelve Tribes of the Diaspora – an expression only used here, but whoever they are, the letter reveals that there was some tension within the community (‘conflicts and disputes’, 4:1) and that a mixture of rich and poor were members of the community. It is possible that the author felt that there was too much emphasis on faith and not enough emphasis on “doing good works”. The author says: “show me your faith apart from works and I by my works will show you my faith” (2:18).
The catholic letters are less well known, but no less influential. Phrases and themes from these letters have become a part of Christian parlance – even if we don’t know their origin. You may have recognised the phrase from this morning’s reading – “not many of you should become teachers”, and you are almost certainly familiar with the phrase: “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger,” and “religion that is pure and undefiled.” Social justice advocates particularly like the sentiment expressed in the second chapter: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” (2:14-16)
Our practice of healing prayer comes directly from the letter of James. “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.’ (5:13-15).
But perhaps the letter is best known for the passage we have read this morning about the dangers of the tongue. The author of James uses a great deal of imagery, and this chapter provides a good example. In just a few verses on the tongue there are six very different contrasts:
“a large horse controlled by a small bit (verse 3)
a large ship steered by a small rudder (verse 4)
a small tongue with large boasts (verse 5)
a small blaze versus a large forest fire (verse 5)
blessing versus cursing (verse 9–10)
fresh and brackish water (verses 11–12).”[1]
It is quite clear that that the author of this letter was well aware of the dangers of speaking without thinking, of the harm that words could cause, and that the real nature of a person was revealed by what came out of them rather than any superficial pretense.
The letter of James may not have much to tell us about the life of Jesus, or about faith in general, but it does reveal something of the emerging church and it filled with good advice – advice that can inform and influence our Christian living.
[1] Kelsie Rodenbiker. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-24-2/commentary-on-james-31-12-6
Swallowsrest 