Time after Pentecost (Lectionary 25)
September 20, 2009
Show a Good Life
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Why do we Fight?
Last Sunday I asked the Adult Bible Class, “What do you want to talk about this year?”
And immediately a hand shot up. And a person said, “Maybe this is showing my ignorance, but I would like to know more about Muslims, Christians and Jews. We all come from Abraham, don’t we? Then why are we fighting one another in the name of God?”
And I empathize with that remark. It doesn’t make much sense, does it, that people with the same God and people who come from the same human family should end up fighting with each other to the point of murder.
Maybe that happens in the world of politics. Or among the mobs and mafias. But it certainly should not happen in the church of Jesus Christ.
Violent Zeal in the Church
We are in the book of James this day. The James who most likely was not a disciple of Jesus, one of the twelve (as in “James and John the son of Zebedee”), but who rather was a brother of Jesus (a biological brother) who later became THE leader in the church of Jerusalem, the number one leader.
And if this is the case, then that puts James smack dab in the very middle of those tumultuous years in Jerusalem right before the Jewish revolt in 70 A.D. In other words, there were different Jewish factions who were fighting with each other over how to rid themselves of their Roman overlords.
And among them were a bunch of Zealots. Pious people who were so “zealous” for the Law of Moses that they were willing to use force if necessary to drive the Romans out and use the sword and daggers to kill other Jews if they aided and abetted Romans—like a zealous priest named Phinehas did back in the days of Moses.
Or like Judas Maccabeus did 160 years before Jesus. Judas Maccabeus. Now there’s a name for you. Judas “the hammer.” That’s what Maccabeus means. “The hammer.” What a title for a priest! It sounds more like a name for a World Wide Wrestler. Those were their role models: Phinehas and Judas Maccabeus.
And quite possibly this “zealous” attitude spilled over into the church. That there were conflicts and disputes among Christians (including disputes over how to get rid of Roman overlords) that led to violence and bloodshed.
A Sign of a Sick Heart
A Sign of a Sick Heart
And so, James had to lay down the law. “These conflicts and disputes among you,” he says, “where do they come from? They come from the bitter envy and the selfish ambition in your hearts. You want something. And you do not have it. So you commit murder to get it.”
And that pretty well sums it up, now doesn’t it? All the violence we see around the world today. You want something. And you do not have it. And so you hurt someone else to get it.
Maybe that’s the way Serena thinks she can win in Wimbledon when her own foot gets in the way. Or maybe that’s the way the radical right think that they can win the pro-life debate. Let’s see. Let’s stop abortion by killing the abortion doctors. That makes a lot of sense, now doesn’t it? For a pro-lifer to stop abortions by killing a doctor.
That happened in a Lutheran congregation back in May, you might remember. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed on a Sunday while he was ushering at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, one of our congregations.
Maybe that is an earthly wisdom, unspiritual and devilish. But it is certainly not God’s wisdom. That is not God’s way. “God’s judgment is merciless to those who show no mercy.” That’s what we heard James say two weeks ago in chapter one.
God’s Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
And yet, in the very next breath we heard Saint James say, “God’s mercy triumphs over judgment.” God sent his son to die upon the cross to endure God’s own merciless judgment on those who show no mercy.
And in the very process God holds before our eyes another model. Not the “Zealot model” of a Phinehas or a Judas Maccabeus or a Serena or a Joe Wilson, but rather the “cruciformed model” of the Christ, who is everything that we are not. Saint James’s sevenfold list. Saint James “perfect” sevenfold list: “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. It’s like the seeds are harvested from his death and resurrection. And by the Holy Spirit those same seeds—the things that Jesus are—are planted in us. And God is “jealous.” God is “zealous” for us to have the Spirit of Christ to dwell in us.
God Effects a Change of Heart
And so God calls us to repentance and to a total change of heart. “Submit yourself to the Lord. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
Peace in this world of ours does not come as the result of fighting and killing. Killing did not free anyone from Roman rule. The Jewish people quickly discovered that in 70 A.D. Their killing only led to their own misery and defeat.
Rather peace comes from above…from God…and it is given as a special promise to those who surrender to God’s wisdom from above.
To welcome such a God is to be both humbled and exalted. It humbles us because it gives us no coercive power over others. And yet, it exalts us. Because it gives us no need to put down anybody else, but rather causes us to glory in Christ’s rule.
Peace for the Polarized
We live in a polarized world where people are getting pushed farther and farther apart. Just think of the difference it would make, if rather than the shouting, the fighting and arguing, the bitter and frustrating competition, there was a community of people who dared to take the risk of making peace.
And practiced kindness. And was open-minded to opinions different than their own, showing mercy. And did not claw over others for their own advantage. Or discriminate. Or hide in hypocrisy. Wouldn’t that be “good news” for the world?
This is the “good life.” This is the “good life,” Saint James says. Done with gentleness. Born of wisdom. A wisdom that can only come from God.
© 2009 Pastor Paul jastter