2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
You all know that the subject of prejudice is one that I speak about often. It is not just because I am a member of a minority group that I do this. More importantly, it is because we all need to understand how prejudice gets started and how it is kept alive in an effort to eradicate this blight on our lives. Obviously, James saw and experienced prejudice in his life. The Lord, Who in my humble opinion hates this kind of thought and action, inspired James to write about it in the second chapter of his Biblical book. In JAS 2: 1, he says, “My brothers, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, you must never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance.” He goes on to give the example of people’s tendency to show more respect for a rich man wearing fine clothes and a golden ring than for a poor man in ragged clothes. Immediately, I had to think of Jesus Christ, Himself a man who never appeared anywhere as a rich man with power and prestige. If I may interject an editorial comment, I think Jesus Christ is the richest man of all, rich in ways that really matter, not in material things. But Christ never wore his wealth on his sleeve, the way so many worldly people do.
JAS 2: 4 really lays this issue on the line. “Then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives.” Upon reflection, this brought to mind so many materially wealthy people I know who judge a person’s worth based on material achievements. Has their wealth brought them the peace that goes beyond human understanding? I think not. Those of you who have been reading my messages for awhile will remember the comments I made about how our culture elevates doctors in prestige while not valuing janitors or garbage collectors. Yet, where would we be without the work all three of these occupations do? My own father was a physician, yet he was a human with foibles just like all the rest of us. I have a friend who is a janitor who is one of the most Godly people I know. Judging someone by the work he does is a form of prejudice. So, how should we look at our fellow human beings?
JAS 2: 5, “Listen, my dear brothers! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the Kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.” The bottom line is that we should leave the judging up to the Lord. That’s his job. Yet, He gave us the ability to perceive the fruits produced by a person’s faith. Our Lord made His attitude clear in MT 25: 40 when He said, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for Me.” We weren’t given that ability to perceive to judge a person, but we were given it to learn by seeing what happens to another as a result of the spiritual fruit he either produces or refuses to produce. It is so that we can learn with the help of the Holy Spirit what is good and what isn’t.
JAS 2: 8 asks us to do something that doesn’t come natural for us, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s not always easy to do, most especially if we harbor hidden prejudicial feelings with which we are not in touch or when the neighbor looks and/or acts in a way repugnant to us. James, our parent-apostle, again speaks plainly when, in JAS 2: 9- 10, he says, “But if you treat people according to outward appearance, you are guilty of sin, and the Law condemns you as a lawbreaker. Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all.” Whew! The implications of that when we think about it are huge! For our sake, I’m glad we have ten commandments, because the traditional Jews who must deal with 613 laws find it impossible to obey them all at the same time. I was very interested in a lesson I was given by a respected theologian who explained the that one commandment we break whenever we break any commandment is, “Thou shalt not covet.” Think about that and you are very likely to see his point.
James goes on to give us sage direction in our everyday conduct in JAS 2: 12-13. “Speak and act as people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. For God will not show mercy when He judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgment.” I love those words, “the law that sets us free,” because I believe them so implicitly. We are set free when we obey the Lord’s commands, even when it is difficult for us to do that. That is how we arrive at the peace that goes beyond human understanding that comes directly from Him. That peace is His way of letting us know we are doing what pleases God. It’s a blessing I would wish everyone could know in his life. JN 8: 31-32, “If you will obey My teaching, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” Christ said to those who believe. This issue mattered enough to our Lord that he illustrated it in the parable of the unforgiving servant [MT 18: 21-35]. I hope you will read that and put it together which James’ assertions, so that you can see not only the message for us, but how God reveals Himself to us through it.
PRAYER: O Lord, through James, our parent-apostle, You reveal Your desire for us to break down man-made barriers erected by foolish and cruel prejudice. You want us to understand that prejudice of often a product of ignorance which leads to fear of the unknown. We are all Your children, no matter what our education, material wealth, what we do for a living, gender, or any other criteria society uses for measuring our value. What really matters is the spiritual fruit we produce by our willingness to be Your obedient servants. It is our Lord’s right to judge and not ours. Instead, You ask us to learn from what You allow us to perceive. We acknowledge that You want us to pattern our lives after that of Your Son. We must understand Your commandments and the connections between them, so that we will consciously choose to avoid breaking them. That is our responsibility to respond to Your ultimate and supreme sovereignty. We accept that responsibility freely, in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear Ones, the Lord directs me to discuss what James has to say about faith and actions in my next message. While James is a strict parent-apostle, the words he conveys were given to him by God. For that reason, we don’t have to worry that his strictness is not tempered with love and compassion. The latter is God’s nature, and it blesses us everyday of our lives in Christ. We are loved and guided with patience and justice by our Lord. That is a great comfort to me, and I hope it is to you too. Peter and I send you our love as well.
Grace, Peace, and Love To You,
Lynn