The Letter of James

HOW TO FACE TRIALS  Read James 1:1-4

   The letter of James opens with a general greeting to the "twelve tribes" of the diaspora [probably congregations of Hebrew Christians scattered abroad]. James follows it immediately with a challenge regarding the trials they are encountering. Face such tests of your powers of endurance with courage and joy [he says], since they are needed to build the whole man.

DON'T BLAME GOD FOR IT  Read 1:5-18

   If you feel the need for spiritual wisdom, don't hesitate to ask God for it. But ask in faith, in the conviction that you will get it. God can't mold stability out of double-minded men.

   If you feel tempted, see that you don't blame God for it. Blame your own evil desires, for God tempts no man. God is good; he is the great Giver, and his integrity is as unvarying as his universe. By his word he gave us birth to be a kind of initial demonstration — a pilot model — of his own creation in Christ Jesus.

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BE DOERS AND NOT HEARERS ONLY  Read 1:19-27

   Welcome that implanted word meekly, brethren, for it is able to save your souls. Become doers of God's word and not hearers only, for this is the true law of freedom. Don't try to impress people with your religiosity. Do you know what real religion is? It is cleaning up your own personal lives, and helping the victims of society out of their difficulties. A good place to start is to visit widows and orphans, people who have experienced great loss.

GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY  Read 2:1-4

   Brethren, you cannot hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and discriminate between persons. If you fawn over an important visitor to your place of worship because of his affluence, and then snub some poorly dressed worshiper, you cut straight across the teachings of the gospel.

NEITHER MUST YOU SHOW PARTIALITY  Read 2:5-13

   God chose the world's poor to be rich in faith and the heirs of his kingdom. Rich men, on the other hand, will as likely as not blaspheme the name of Jesus and throw their weight around by dragging you into court.

   Love your neighbor, whoever he is, and show mercy without partiality in your speech and actions. By the code of Moses, to break one law is to break them all; but in the law of freedom, God's mercy exults over his judgment.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD  Read 2:14-26

   So, then: Are you merciful yourself? Suppose some brother or sister is in need of life's basic necessities, and you patronize them with pious platitudes — is this faith? I tell you, faith without works is dead. Anyone can believe in God — even the demons do that, and shudder. But good works are to faith what the spirit is to the body — as the examples of Abraham and Rahab show us.

THE POWER OF THE HUMAN TONGUE  Read 3:1-8

   Teaching is a grave responsibility; not everyone should attempt it, for it inevitably involves the risk of error. The human tongue

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is a small organ, but so is the rudder of a ship that turns it about in the teeth of a gale. The tongue is like a match that sets a forest afire. The fire of the tongue is kindled in hell and is loaded with deadly poison that defiles the whole body. Mankind has been able to subdue every living creature, but not the human tongue.

IS IT RIGHT TO BLESS AND CURSE? Read 3:9-12

   We use the same tongue to bless God and to curse men who are made in God's image. Is this right? Does a spring bubble with fresh and brackish water at the same time? Does a fig tree yield olives, or a vine, figs?

THERE IS A WISDOM FROM ABOVE  Read 3:13-18

   If you wish to be wise, set a guard upon your lips and establish a pattern of Christian conduct. It is human nature to be contentious and to create an uproar over jealous rivalries, but in the wisdom that is from above there is fairness and purity and straightforwardness and sincerity and peacemaking: these are the fruit of righteousness.

THE CAUSE OF ALL YOUR STRIFE  Read 4:1-4

   Do you know what causes all your quarreling and infighting? It is your ingrained pleasure-seeking. You cannot get everything you want, and this makes you wild. You have not, because you ask not, and because when you do pray, you pray selfishly. Don't you realize that if you set out to make everybody in the world your friend, you will end up as an enemy of God?

GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE  Read 4:5-10

   The Holy Spirit yearns for you — our God is a jealous God. And although he sets himself against arrogant men, he gives more grace to the lowly in heart. Don't be afraid to admit that you are sinners and to place yourselves in subjection to the Lord. The closer you come to God, the closer he will come to you. Cleanse the hand and sanctify the heart, and give evidence of some humility and contrition. As for the devil — resist him, and he will disappear fast enough.

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WHAT IS YOUR LIFE ANYWAY?  Read 4:11-17

   Be prudent in the way you refer to each other and never try to interpret the law against a brother; that is God's prerogative. You are to observe the law, not to judge it.

   In your commercial traveling, don't count too much on the "foreseeable future." What is your life, anyway? A puff of smoke on the horizon — no more. Far better to say "if the Lord wills it", I shall carry out this plan. And let me add that once a person knows the right thing to do, and fails to do it, to him it is sin.

THE PLUTOCRATS AND THEIR REWARD  Read 5:1-6

   All you plutocrats can take a good look at what is in store for you. Your wealth will rot and rust away, and your fine wardrobes will be riddled by moths. God has heard the cry of the toilers whom you have swindled and bilked out of their just wages. He knows the truth about your self-indulgence and your oppressive ways.

THE GREAT HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN  Read 5:7-11

   As for you Christian brethren, you need bear up only a little longer, for the time of our Lord's return has drawn nigh; in fact, the judge stands at the door. So emulate the patience of Job: take what comes and don't murmur, remembering that the Lord is compassionate.

THE BLESSINGS OF PRAYER AND PRAISE  Read 5:12-15

   Avoid the use of oaths at all times; if you mean yes, say yes; if you mean no, say no, and so avoid hypocrisy. When you feel merry, praise the Lord; when things are rough, pray; if one of you is sickly, let him send for the church elders for anointing and prayer. I tell you, the prayer of faith shall restore him to health and the Lord shall raise him up.

DON'T HESITATE; ADMIT YOUR FAULTS  Read 5:16-20

   Confess your misdeeds one to another and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The operative prayer of a righteous

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person has great strength. Consider the marvelous example of Elijah (1 Kings 17, 18). Finally, brethren, don't neglect the one who has fallen into error by the wayside, for the reclaiming of sinners is a wonderful work.

   You can have a wonderful time in James, the earthiest of all the New Testament letters. You can, that is, if you avoid the common mistake so many make in assuming that James' teaching cuts across that of Paul and other New Testament writers. This very point could be the basis of a fruitful class discussion in which the meaning of both "faith" and "works" would be clarified.

   God does not pour all believers out of a single mold. Goethe wrote, "Nature seems to have made everything with a view to individuality," and so it is with Christians. James makes one emphasis, Paul another, Luke another, John another. The Spirit of God uses them all.

   If we were really to put James into modern colloquial English, parts of the letter would probably prove too embarrassing to be read in some churches. James hits hard. He has no time for speculation or pious cant. He preaches like an old-fashioned Methodist, and like an old-fashioned Methodist he warms the heart.

   There is not much theological structure to the letter, but that does not imply superficiality; quite the contrary. The way to understand and appreciate James is to apply him to one's own conscience and life. God did not intend this book as a bludgeon with which to threaten others, but rather as a sword to pierce our own inner being to the quick.

   James should be studied in more than one translation. Don't hurry through the chapters. Note the similarity between James' teaching and that of his brother, our Lord Jesus Christ (1:22, 3:12, 3:18, 4:4, 5:12). Face frankly the issues that James raises in your Bible discussion group. Let this letter convict and it will bless.

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