Wednesday Preverb – 28August2024 – James 1:17-27

 

From Home Office …

• Ordinary Time: James   

 

From the TRANSCRIPT …

 

We are profoundly transformed by the relationships in our lives. The people closest to us shape who we are and who we become. Imagine the impact of being in a close relationship with the Creator of the universe.

God promises to draw close to us as we draw close to him. This divine relationship is at the heart of our transformation. Jesus’ incarnation is the ultimate proof of God’s desire to be near us, to walk with us, and to transform us.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be challenging to live out our faith. But the book of James provides us with timeless wisdom, guiding us on how to truly follow Christ.

James, the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church, wrote to Messianic Jews facing persecution. His message, influenced by Proverbs and the Sermon on the Mount, is a source of wisdom for us today. It can be captured in three essential teachings

James teaches us to speak with love. Words have power – they can heal or hurt, build up or tear down. As followers of Christ, we are called and empowered by the Spirit to speak life and love into every situation.

James also emphasizes showing compassion to the poor and marginalized. True religion, he says, is to care for those in need. Our faith is made visible through our actions of compassion and service.

And most importantly, James calls us to orient our lives around the way of Jesus. ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.’” (James 4:7-8)

As we humble ourselves and seek the presence of God, we discover his strength and guidance graciously bestowed upon us. Our journey of honoring him finds its foundation in the depth of his love for and desire to be in relationship with us.”

So, as we go about our daily lives, let’s remember James’ wisdom: speak with love, care for the poor, and yield to the Spirit’s guidance. In doing so, we reflect Christ’s light to the world.

Let’s embrace the transformative power of relationships, becoming the dawn that breaks through the darkness, bringing hope, love, and peace to everyone we encounter.

 

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 
James 4:7-10

Amen.

From Bible Project … 

• An Overview of the Book of James

 

 

James 1:1-16  NKJV

James 1:1-16  ESV

1James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,  To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:  Greetings.     Profiting from Trials 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,   3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a] patience.   4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be  [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.      5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.   6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.     7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;  8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.     The Perspective of Rich and Poor 9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,  10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.    11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes.   So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.    Loving God Under Trials 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.   13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.    14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.   15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.    16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.    17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.    18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.         Qualities Needed in Trials 19 [c]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;    20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Doers — Not Hearers Only 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and  [d] overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.   22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.    23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;    24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.    25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.         26 If anyone [e]among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.    27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Footnotes James 1:3  endurance or perseverance  James 1:4  mature  James 1:19  NU Know this or This you know  James 1:21  abundance  James 1:26  NU omits among you

1 James, a servant[a] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,  To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  Greetings.  Testing of Your Faith        2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness  have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.       9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass[c] he will pass away.  11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[d]  18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.       Hearing and Doing the Word     19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.    21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.   26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Footnotes James 1:1  For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface  James 1:2  Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 16, 19  James 1:10  Or a wild flower  James 1:17  Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning

 

But every good and every perfect gift comes from God the Father in heaven … OR every gift from God is good and perfect.  (Barclay: There is nothing which comes from God which is not good.) 

We expect no true goodness from our own fallen natures and from those who would entice us.  Of course, the ultimate goodness of any gift must be measured on an eternal scale. Something that may seem to be only good (such as winning money in a lottery) may in fact be turned to our destruction.

God’s goodness is constant. There is no variation with Him. Instead of shadows, God is the Father of lights (“the Father of the lights”).   The sun and stars never stop giving light, even when we can’t see them.  Even so, there is never a shadow with God. When night comes, the darkness isn’t the fault of the sun; it shines as brightly as before.

What he is stressing is the unchangeableness of God. To do so he uses two astronomical terms. The word he uses for changeableness is parallage, and the word for the turn of the shadow is trope.  Both these words have to do with the variation which the heavenly bodies show.  Variability is characteristic of all created things. God is the creator of the lights of heaven — the sun, the moon, the stars.  The lights change but he who created them never changes.  

 

 

Further, his purpose is altogether gracious.  The word of truth is the gospel; and by the sending of that gospel it is God’s purpose that man should be reborn into a new life.  The shadows are ended and the certain word of truth has come.   

That rebirth is a rebirth into the family and the possession of God.  In the ancient world it was the law that all first-fruits were sacred to God. They were offered in grateful sacrifice to God because they belonged to him.  So, when we are reborn by the true word of the gospel, we become the property of God, even as the first-fruits of the harvest did.  

James insists that, so far from ever tempting man, God’s gifts are invariably good.  In all the chances and changes of a changing world they never vary.  And God’s supreme object is to re-create life through the truth of the gospel, so that men should know that they belong by right to him.

 

We can learn to be slow to wrath by first learning to be swift to hear and slow to speak.  Much of our anger and wrath comes from being self-centered and not others-centered.  Swift to hear is a way to be others-centered.  Slow to speak is a way to be others-centered.

Nature taught us the same … by giving us two ears, but one tongue.

we must take special care to be slow to wrath, because our wrath almost always simply defends or promotes our own agenda, not accomplish the righteousness of God.

 

 

WHEN TO BE QUICK AND WHEN TO BE SLOW … Jas. 1:19-20. 

There are few wise men who have not been impressed by the dangers of being too quick to speak and too unwilling to listen. A most interesting list could be compiled of the things in which it is well to be quick and the things in which it is well to be slow. In the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers we read: “There are four characters in scholars.

• • Quick to hear and quick to forget; his gain is cancelled by his loss.   
  • Slow to hear and slow to forget; his loss is cancelled by his gain.   
  • Quick to hear and slow to forget; he is wise.   
  • Slow to hear and quick to forget; this is an evil lot.”   

Ovid bids men to be slow to punish, but swift to reward. Philo bids a man to be swift to benefit others, and slow to harm them. 

In particular the wise men were impressed by the necessity of being slow to speak.  Rabbi Simeon said, “All my days I have grown up among the wise, and have not found aught good for a man but silence … Whoso multiplies words occasions sin.”  Jesus, the son of Sirach, writes, “Be swift to hear the word that thou mayest understand…If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbour; if not, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, lest thou be surprised in an unskilful word, and be confounded” (Sir.5:11-12). 

Proverbs is full of the perils of too hasty speech.

• • Prov.10:19  “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent”. 
  • Prov.13:3  “He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin”. 
  • Prov.17:28  “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise”. 
  • Prov.29:20  “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him”.

the really good man will be much more anxious to listen to God than arrogantly, garrulously and stridently to shout his own opinions.  Many of us would do well to listen more and to speak less.

It is James’ advice that we should also be slow to anger. He is probably meeting the arguments of some that there is a place for the blazing anger of rebuke. That is undoubtedly true; the world would be a poorer place without those who blazed against the abuses and the tyrannies of sin. But too often this is made an excuse for petulant and self-centred irritation.

The teacher will be tempted to be angry with the slow and backward and still more with the lazy scholar. But, except on the rarest occasions, he will achieve more by encouragement than by the lash of the tongue. The preacher will be tempted to anger.  But “don’t scold” is always good advice to him; he loses his power whenever he does not make it clear by every word and gesture that he loves his people.  When anger gives the impression in the pulpit of dislike or contempt it will not convert the souls of men. The parent will be tempted to anger.  But a parent’s anger is much more likely to produce a still more stubborn resistance than it is to control and direct. The accent of love always has more power than the accent of anger; and when anger becomes constant irritability, petulant annoyance, carping nagging, it always does more harm than good.

To be slow to speak, slow to anger, quick to listen is always good policy for life.

 

 

Doers — Not Hearers Only

 

This has in mind an impure manner of living.  we are to lay aside all impurity, putting them far from us.

In contrast to an impure manner of living, we should receive the implanted word of God (doing it with meekness, a teachable heart).  The purity of God’s word can preserve us even in an impure age.

“The first thing, then, is receive.  it is the door through which God’s grace enters to us. We are not saved by what we give to God, but by what God gives to us, and we receive from him.”

Here James alluded to the spiritual power of the word of God. When it is implanted in the human heart, it is able to save your souls. The word of God carries the power of God.

 

THE TEACHABLE SPIRIT … Jas. 1:21. 

James uses a series of vivid words and pictures.

He tells his readers to strip themselves of all vice and filthiness. The word he uses for strip is the word used for stripping off one’s clothes. He bids his hearers get rid of all defilement as a man strips off soiled garments or as a snake sloughs off its skin.

Both the words he uses for defilement are vivid. The word we have translated filthiness is ruparia; and it can be used for the filth which soils clothes or soils the body. But it has one very interesting connection. It is a derivative of rupos (GSN4509) and, when rupos is used in a medical sense, it means wax in the ear. It is just possible that it still retains that meaning here; and that James is telling his readers to get rid of everything which would stop their ears to the true word of God.  When wax gathers in the ear, it can make a man deaf; and a man’s sins can make him deaf to God.  Further, James talks of the excrescence (perisseia) of vice.  He thinks of vice as tangled undergrowth or a cancerous growth which must be cut away.  

He bids them receive the inborn word in gentleness. The word for inborn is emphutos, and is capable of two general meanings.  

1. 1. It can mean inborn in the sense of innate as opposed to acquired.  If James uses it in that way he is thinking of much the same thing as Paul was thinking of when he spoke of the Gentiles doing the works of the law by nature because they have a kind of law in their hearts (Rom.2:14-15); it is the same picture as the Old Testament picture of the law “very near you; it is in your mouth, and in your heart” (Deut.30:14). It is practically equal to our word conscience.  If this is its meaning here, James is saying that there is an instinctive knowledge of good and evil in a man’s heart whose guidance we should at all times obey.  
   2. It can mean inborn in the sense of implanted, as a seed is planted in the ground. In 4 Ezra 9: 31 we read of God saying: “Behold, I sow my law in you, and you shall be glorified in it for ever.” If James is using the word in this sense, the idea may well go back to the Parable of the Sower (Matt.13:1-8), which tells how the seed of the word is sown into the hearts of men. Through his prophets and his preachers, and above all through Jesus Christ, God sows his truth into the hearts of men and the man who is wise will receive it and welcome it.

It may well be that we are not required to make a choice between these two meanings. It may well be that James is implying that knowledge of the true word of God comes to us from two sources, from the depths of our own being, and from the Spirit of God and the teaching of Christ and the preaching of men.  From inside and from outside come voices telling us the right way; and the wise man will listen and obey.   

He will receive the word with gentleness. Gentleness is an attempt to translate the untranslatable word prautes.  This is a great Greek word which has no precise English equivalent.  Aristotle defined it as the mean between excessive anger and excessive angerlessness;  it is the quality of the man whose feelings and emotions are under perfect control.  Andronicus Rhodius, commenting on Aristotle, writes, “Prautes is moderation in regard to anger … You might define prautes as serenity and the power, not to be led away by emotion, but to control emotion as right reason dictates.” The Platonic definitions say that prautes is the regulation of the movement of the soul caused by anger.  It is the temperament (krasis) of a soul in which everything is mixed in the right proportions.   

No one can ever find one English word to translate what is a one word summary of the truly teachable spirit. The teachable spirit is docile and tractable, and therefore humble enough to learn.  The teachable spirit is without resentment and without anger and is, therefore, able to face the truth, even when it hurts and condemns. The teachable spirit is not blinded by its own overmastering prejudices but is clear-eyed to the truth. The teachable spirit is not seduced by laziness but is so self-controlled that it can willingly and faithfully accept the discipline of learning.   Prautes describes the perfect conquest and control of everything in a man’s nature which would be a hindrance to his seeing, learning and obeying the truth.  

 

 

We must receive God’s word as doers, not merely hearers.  To take comfort in the fact you have heard God’s word when you haven’t done it is to deceive yourself.

It was common in the ancient world for people to hear a teacher. If you followed the teacher and tried to live what he said, you were called a disciple of that teacher. We may say that Jesus is looking for disciples: doers, not mere hearers.

Jesus used this same point to conclude His great Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27)

“I fear we have many such in all congregations; admiring hearers, affectionate hearers, attached hearers, but all the while unblest hearers, because they are not doers of the word.” (Spurgeon)

The person who only hears God’s word without doing it has the same sense and stability as a man who looks into a mirror and immediately forgets what he saw.  The information he received did not do any good in his life.

Observing his natural face: The ancient Greek word translated observing has the idea of a careful scrutiny. B y application, James had in mind people who give a careful scrutiny of God’s word; they may be regarded as Bible experts but it still doesn’t result in doing.

“The glass of the Word is not like our ordinary looking-glass, which merely shows us our external features; but, according to the Greek of our text, the man sees in it ‘the face of his birth’; that is, the face of his nature.  He that reads and hears the Word may see not only his actions there, but his motives, his desires, his inward condition.” (Spurgeon).

Understanding this power of the Word of God, the preacher is responsible for working hard to not hinder this power. “Certain preachers dream that it is their business to paint pretty pictures: but it is not so.  We are not to design and sketch, but simply to give the reflection of truth.  We are to hold up the mirror to nature in a moral and spiritual sense, and let men see themselves therein. We have not even to make the mirror, but only to hold it up. The thoughts of God, and not our own thoughts, are to be set before our hearers’ minds; and these discover a man to himself. The Word of the Lord is a revealer of secrets: it shows a man his life, his thoughts, his heart, his inmost self.” (Spurgeon)

A healthy person looks in the mirror to do something, not just to admire the image.  Even so, a healthy Christian looks into God’s Word to do something about it, not just to store up facts that he will not put to use by being a doer of the word.

 

“The doctrines of God, faithfully preached, are such a mirror; he who hears cannot help discovering his own character, and being affected with his own deformity; he sorrows, and purposes amendment; but when the preaching is over, the mirror is removed …  he soon forgets what manner of man he was … he reasons himself out of the necessity of repentance and amendment of life, and thus deceives his soul.” (Clarke)

 

HEARING AND DOING … Jas. 1:22-24

Again James presents us with two of the vivid pictures of which he is such a master. 

• First of all, he speaks of the man who goes to the church meeting and listens to the reading and expounding of the word, and who thinks that that listening has made him a Christian.  He has shut his eyes to the fact that what is read and heard in Church must then be lived out. It is still possible to identify Church attendance and Bible reading with Christianity but this is to take ourselves less than half the way; the really important thing is to turn that to which we have listened into action.
• Second, James says such a man is like one who looks in a mirror–ancient mirrors were made, not of glass, but of highly polished metal — sees the smuts which disfigure his face and the dishevelment of his hair, and goes away and forgets what he looks like, and so omits to do anything about it. In his listening to the true word a man has revealed to him that which he is and that which he ought to be. He sees what is wrong and what must be done to put it right; but, if he is only a hearer, he remains just as he is, and all his hearing has gone for nothing.

James does well to remind us that what is heard in the holy place must be lived in the market place–or there is no point in hearing at all.

 

 

 

 

THE TRUE LAW … Jas. 1:25

This is the kind of passage in James which Luther so much disliked. He disliked the idea of law altogether, for with Paul he would have said, “Christ is the end of the law” (Rom.10:4). “James,” said Luther, “drives us to law and works.”  And yet beyond all doubt there is a sense in which James is right.  There is an ethical law which the Christian must seek to put into action.  That law is to be found first in the Ten Commandments and then in the teaching of Jesus.  

James calls that law two things.

1. 1.  He calls it the perfect law. There are three reasons why the law is perfect. (a) It is God’s law, given and revealed by him. The way of life which Jesus laid down for his followers is in accordance with the will of God. (b) It is perfect in that it cannot be bettered. The Christian law is the law of love; and the demand of love can never be satisfied. We know well, when we love some one, that even though we gave them all the world and served them for a lifetime, we still could not satisfy or deserve their love. (c) But there is still another sense in which the Christian law is perfect. The Greek word is teleios (GSN5046) which nearly always describes perfection towards some given end. Now, if a man obeys the law of Christ, he will fulfil the purpose for which God sent him into the world; he will be the person he ought to be and will make the contribution to the world he ought to make. He will be perfect in the sense that he will, by obeying the law of God, realize his God-given destiny.
   2.  He calls it the law of liberty; that is, the law in the keeping of which a man finds his true liberty. All the great men have agreed that it is only in obeying the law of God that a man becomes truly free. “To obey God,” said Seneca, “is liberty.” “The wise man alone is free,” said the Stoics, “and every foolish man is a slave.” Philo said “All who are under the tyranny of anger or desire or any other passion are altogether slaves; all who live with the law are free.” So long as a man has to obey his own passions and emotions and desires, he is nothing less than a slave. It is when he accepts the will of God that he becomes really free–for then he is free to be what he ought to be. His service is perfect freedom and in doing his will is our peace.

 

26 If anyone [e]among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.   

27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.   

 

James just explained that real religion is not shown by hearing the word, but by doing it.  One way to do God’s word is to bridle the tongue.

The New Testament never uses this ancient Greek word for “religious”in a positive sense (Acts 17:22, 25:19, 26:5; Colossians 2:23).   James used it here of someone who is religious, but is not really right with God, and this is evident because he does not bridle his tongue.

Your walk with God is useless if it does not translate into the way you live and the way you treat others. Many are deceived in their own heart regarding the reality of their walk with God.

i. “This seems to reflect upon the hypocritical Jews, whose religion consisted so much in external observances, and keeping themselves from ceremonial defilements, when yet they were sullied with so many moral ones, Matthew 23:23; John 18:28; devoured widows’ houses.” (Poole)

in God’s sight a pure, unsoiled religion expresses itself in acts of charity and in chastity – the two features of early Christian ethics which impressed the contemporary world.”

There is a great deal of pure and undefiled religion in the sight of man that is not pure and undefiled religion before God.

A real walk with God shows itself in simple, practical ways.  It helps the needy and keeps itself unstained by the world’s corruption.

The true embodiment of the principles of religion is to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep unspotted from the world.  Charity and purity are the two great garments of Christianity.”

“True religion does not merely give something for the relief of the distressed, but it visits them, it takes the oversight of them, it takes them under its care; so episkeptesthai means. It goes to their houses, and speaks to their hearts; it relieves their wants, sympathizes with them in their distresses, instructs them in divine things, and recommends them to God. And all this it does for the Lord’s sake. This is the religion of Christ.” (Clarke).

Unspotted from the world: The idea is not that a Christians retreat from the world; instead they interact with orphans and widows in their trouble and others such in their need.  The Christian ideal is not to retreat from the world; they are in the world, they are not of it; and remain unspotted from the world.

Lot is an example of a man who was spotted by the world.  He started living towards Sodom, disregarding the spiritual climate of the area because of the prosperity of the area.  Eventually he moved to the wicked city and became a part of the city’s leadership. The end result was that Lot lost everything – and was saved as only by the skin of his teeth.

 

TRUE WORSHIP … Jas. 1:26-27.  

If anyone thinks that he is a worshipper of God and yet does not bridle his tongue, his worship is an empty thing. This is pure and undefiled worship, as God the Father sees it, to visit the orphans and the widows, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.  

We must be careful to understand what James is saying here. The Revised Standard Version translates the phrases at the beginning of Jas. 1:27: “Religion that is pure and undefiled is…..” The word translated religion is threskeia, and its meaning is not so much religion as worship in the sense of the outward expression of religion in ritual and liturgy and ceremony.  What James is saying is, “The finest ritual and the finest liturgy you can offer to God is service of the poor and personal purity.”   To him real worship did not lie in elaborate vestments or in magnificent music or in a carefully wrought service; it lay in the practical service of mankind and in the purity of one’s own personal life.    It is perfectly possible for a Church to be so taken up with the beauty of its buildings and the splendour of its liturgy that it has neither the time nor the money for practical Christian service; and that is what James is condemning.    

In fact James is condemning only what the prophets had condemned long ago.

• • “God,” said the Psalmist, “is a father of the fatherless, and protector of widows” (Ps.68:5). 
  • It was Zechariah’s complaint that the people pulled away their shoulders and made their hearts as adamant as stone at the demand to execute true justice, to show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, to oppress not the widow, the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, and not to entertain evil thoughts against another within the heart (Zech.7:6-10). 
  • It was Micah’s complaint that all ritual sacrifices were useless, if a man did not do justice and love kindness and walk humbly before God (Mic.6:6-8).

All through history men have tried to make ritual and liturgy a substitute for sacrifice and service.    They have made religion splendid within the Church at the expense of neglecting it outside the Church.  This is by no means to say that it is wrong to seek to offer the noblest and the most splendid worship within God’s house; but it is to say that all such worship is empty and idle unless it sends a man out to love God by loving his fellow-men and to walk more purely in the tempting ways of the world.   

 

 

©2018 David Guzik – No distribution beyond personal use without permission

 

From WILLIAM BARCLAY’S COMMENTARY …