James 2.1-7
It’s been a quiet week for Calvary on the Boulevard.
Labor Day is done, and the dadgum calendar flips its pages at us with careless abandon.
Kids are back in school.
Days are getting shorter, and so are some of us.
Deciduous trees are losing their leaves, and some of us are losing our hair … which we don’t like … and what we’d like to lose is some weight, and that’s really tough.
Our choir had its first rehearsal this week, and here they are today, the first Sunday of a new season of song.
Our Designated Pastor Nominating Committee is awaiting its first list of candidates.
Soon we’ll be electing new elders and deacons, and filling out pledge cards for another year of mission and ministry at Calvary on the Boulevard.
We’ve welcomed new members in the last six months, and we’ve said farewell to others … some have moved to faraway places, and some are with the LORD, waiting under the alter, waiting for the Great Gettin’ Up Morning … time marches on.
If time teaches us anything, time teaches us humility.
Don’t take yourself so seriously.
Which reminds me, do you know why angeles can fly?
They take themselves lightly!
Time reminds us that time is valuable … we have but one life to live, and we hope and pray to live it well.
Friend of mine wrote: “If we approach life always trying to carefully avoid mistakes we will make the biggest one of all. God made each of us to cultivate a spirit of adventure. When that is squelched we die a slow death and miss out on the rarefied air of God’s provision and grace. Faith is a verb…”
Faith rolls up its sleeves and goes to work.
Faith isn’t afraid of long days and hard nights.
Faith tackles the big questions and the big issues of life.
And nothing bigger these days than money.
Money seems to be the talk of the town - and does anyone ever seem to have enough of it?
We dream of money … winning the lottery … we live in a world where everything has a price, and anything can be bought with enough money.
In politics these days, we hear a lot about the wealthy - Wall Street brokers, bankers, investment managers - the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson - massive donations to their candidates.
The influence of wealth is a big question in America right now.
And it’s is a big deal for James.
For the Apostle Paul.
For the prophets, and for Jesus.
It’s Jesus who tells us that that a person of wealth has a hard time entering the kingdom of God.
God knows how easily we fool ourselves with our eyes.
If it glitters, it has to be gold.
When I began my interim work here, Al Richards told me he’s a rock hound - a collector of rocks - he gave me a piece of fool’s gold - it sits on my desk.
A reminder - don’t be fooled by appearances.
Don’t be dazzled by glitter.
God knows that sometimes we just need to close our eyes.
Garrison Keillor tells a cute story of two friends, Bud and Bob, putting in a dock in early spring … Bud is in the ice-cold water, with hip waders; Bob is holding the other end of the dock on land.
Wouldn’t ya’ know it - an enormous fish swims right through Bud’s legs; scared the daylights outta him - he slipped and fell into the cold water, filling his waders … and with waders filled with cold water, we’re talking a serious situation.
His friend Bob asked, “Are you all right?”
Which is a dumb question to ask when your good friend is head over hells in an ice-cold Minnesota lake, flopping around with waders full of water.
Bob runs to get a branch, but by this time, Bud’s too cold to even grab on.
Bob runs into the house to call 911.
Meanwhile, the next door neighbor, Roy, who Bud has had run-ins with, again and again, over the years, comes out, walks into the water, grabs hold of him, gets him into the house, gets his clothes off and puts him to bed.
Bud is recuperating and thinking … when you almost die at the hands of your best friend, and it’s your life-long enemy who saves your life, maybe, when you’re selecting friends, competence ought to be a factor … maybe you ought to think about that a little bit, says Garrison Keillor.
There’s more to life than meets the eye … and that’s what James is getting at.
To look at people as God see us!
James writes to his community:
When a person of wealth comes your way, you fall down and make a fool of yourself … you invite them to sit in the best seat of the house.
When a poor man comes your way, you get snotty and uppity and tell the poor man he can stand by the wall, or sit on the steps by the feet of the wealthy.
And, then, just to drive home the point, James says, It’s the wealthy who make life difficult for you. They drag you into court. They have no regard for the name spoken over you in your baptism.
Remember the parable of the Rich Fool?
The rich fool surveys his fields and builds mighty barns, and says to himself, I built it.
I did it myself; it’s all mine.
No one helped me.
I owe nothing to anyone.
I’m in no one’s debt.
And I’m just going to keep on building bigger barns.
No humility.
No realization that God is the great decider on wealth.
The simple truth, the embarrassing truth:
The wealthy don’t work any harder than a man picking strawberries in the fields around Oxnard, or the woman waiting on our table at Denny’s …
The wealthy are not any smarter than anyone else.
The wealthy play a lot, too … expensive toys, expensive hobbies, and lots of travel to expensive places designed just for them and their expensive tastes.
In the language of the world, The wealthy are just damn lucky.
In the language of faith:
We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
The wealthy have a hard time telling the truth their wealth - that’s why Jesus says they have a hard time getting into the kingdom of God.
If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, there is only one thing to say: God built it, not me!
If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, they have to admit: God gave every bit of it to me - God gave me my family, my values, my strength, my health, my opportunities, people who believed in me, teachers who taught me, bankers who loaned me money when I needed it, friends who stood by me, and a whole world around me.
If the wealthy tell the truth about their wealth, the wealthy have to say: I owe all my wealth to God … I’m not smarter than anyone else … I don’t worker harder than the guy mowing my law, the woman cleaning my bathrooms, the young lady walking my dogs, or the guy parking my Ferrari at the hotel. All of these people work just as hard as I do, and are just as smart as I am, and I owe them everything, because they work for me, and I am called by God to work for them.
I have known people of wealth … many of them grow hard and cruel toward others; sure, they love their families and treat their children well - great family people, they may be, but they expect the best seat in the house … often use religion and god-talk to mask their greed and pride ... like the Pharisee in the Temple, praying lovely prayers, eloquent prayers, beautiful prayers, but with a stone-cold heart - proud of himself and contemptuous of others.
I’ve known people of wealth who dare to be Christian … tender toward others; a deep sense of humility, gratitude … they use their power to change the world, to level the playing field, give everyone a fair chance; they respect the people who work for them, honor them with good wages, fair benefits; willing to enjoy a little less so that folks can enjoy a little more … they fly like the angels, because they take themselves lightly and take God seriously!
Wealth is a big deal for James … a big deal for the Bible … because the love of money is the root of all evil
… these days, the world needs to hear the Christian gospel, loud and clear:
When it comes to people, close our eyes now and then - consider people from God’s perspective … a man wearing jeans and a stained t-shirt is just as glorious in the sight of God, and maybe even more, then a man dressed in the rags of the world, Armani suits and Gucci shoes.
Live the kingdom of God, says James.
Whatever the price.
Live for Christ.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen and Amen!
