Reading: James 3:1-12
James was not a book loved by Luther. He called it an epistle of straw. In Luther’s context that was probably a good call. God’s people did not need to hear James as loudly as they needed to hear Paul. Today though, almost 500 years after the reformation, James seems to need a much larger voice.
Modern scholars will often place James within the Jewish wisdom tradition (i.e. Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes). As Jewish Christian wisdom its emphasis is on wise acts which are revealed by the law. Paul’s emphasis was on Grace and Faith. James wanted to talk about Faithfulness-what Grace and Faith looked like in space and time. In a current documentary/movement, Call+Response, a Dr. Cornell West is featured or quoted. I would not endorse everything he says, but the tag line “Justice is what love looks like in public” gets at the idea we are talking about. Grace and faith and love are great concepts, but they have to be incarnated. Jesus incarnated them for us. And we incarnate them for our neighbor. James is what faith looks like in time.
And today’s reading, like Proverbs, touches on so many areas. It reminds us of truths that we need reminded of. That is part of the reason of the post title and my view that James needs a larger voice. Our culture, the US, largely believes that God is Love – one big all embracing warm fuzzy. We believe that God is love, but don’t remember what that looks like in time and space. We have faith, but don’t have faithfulness. James is relevant.
It is probably ironic for this to be on a blog by a parson, but the core of today’s reading is about the difficulty in controlling words, especially for a teacher. A teacher is held to a higher standard by God. We have more responsibility. And that tongue is tough to control. Blogs and websites and twitter and every other modern form of communication makes it even tougher. The distance between mind and tongue has been greatly reduced – and the potential audience for those firey remarks made all the more large and permanent. Nothing juicy on the internet ever dies. If you are living the faith, being watchful of what is said is necessary. James says blessings and curses come from the same mouth…this should not be so. Faith in action tames the tongue.
