“Draw near to God, and [God] will draw near to you.” These words from the Letter of James
suggest our actions will make a difference in our relationship with God. This shouldn't surprise us since a few
weeks ago we heard James' opinion that faith without works is dead. Yet, on the
other hand, James makes it clear that faith in God guides our lives. I believe he understands this faith as
something he calls “wisdom from above.”
This sort of wisdom leads to good works and to peaceable, compassionate
behavior.
James writes, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works
are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”
The prophet, Jeremiah, faced attacks and rejection from the people
to whom God had sent him. His wisdom consisted of holding fast to the truth God
has revealed to him. And this was
the truth he prophesied: that evil
deeds came because the people of Judah had given precedence to the cultic
practices of worship in the Temple over obedience to the Law which came from
God through Moses. The Law was a gift to guide them into the way of wisdom, but
it was easier for them to depend on making appropriate sacrifices at the
Temple.
Their sin was to ignore the righteous behavior God desired—what
James called “wisdom from above”—and substitute what one might call, “wisdom
from below.” This “wisdom from
below” follows the cultural norms of the society in which one finds one's
self. If it opposes acts of righteousness,
compassion and peace, it becomes “evil.” Jeremiah feared for his life at the hands
of those he condemned for their evil deeds.
James may not have feared for his life, but he feared for the
community which is being torn apart by behaviors which not only violated the
Ten Commandments God gave on Mt. Sinai, but also the law of love taught by
Jesus. The “wisdom from below” in
James's view comes from a mindset of putting yourself first: he wrote, “. . .
you covet something and you cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and
conflicts.” To live as a person
who seeks “the wisdom from above” means living with a servant's attitude. James
advises—even demands—that we become humble before the Holy One: “Submit
yourselves therefore to God.”
But even when we have not been able to live as people filled with
“wisdom from above,” even when we have been lax in our efforts to draw near
Jesus, he can reach out to us as he did to his disciples that day when he
discovered they had been arguing about who would be the greatest. His reaching out to us defines God's
love and grace toward us. Our wisdom, by our own efforts, could best be
described as “partial” or “incomplete.”
Jesus taught those arguing disciples—and he teaches us—that our wisdom
can mature, becoming more complete, when we seek what the world considers
unimportant—serving others and welcoming (and caring for) the most vulnerable
people in the name of Jesus.
No
one was more vulnerable in Jesus' time than children, who had no power or
status in society. “Drawing near
to God” meant then (and means now) responding to Jesus' teaching about our
relationship with God: “Whoever
welcomes one such child [someone with no status or power] in my name welcomes
me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not be but the one who sent me.”
Think back over this past week. Think back to yesterday. How have you [and I must answer this as well] served another
in the name of Jesus? How have you
welcomed—or cared for—someone who could not give you something is return? In doing these things, in responding to
God's grace to us, are we drawing closer to the Holy One? James would say we are. What do you
say?
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