I had to pull out my Bible again yesterday evening and look at Luke 10. We had such a great discussion of it, but I still felt a little unsettled. We raised many of the issues regarding "favoritism", as James refers to treating some people as less/more important. We didn't solve many of them, which, really, is just the way it goes when you try to solve problems in the real world. They are complicated.
But I feel the need to summarize the principles that we pulled from Luke 10 and from Jesus' parable.
When the teacher of the law asked, "Who is my neighbor?" he said it to justify himself. He wasn't concerned about whether Jesus was talking about refugees from Rome or the Roman soldiers patrolling the streets or the sleazy traders in the market place. [I made all those people up...don't try to place any of them in history.] He asked the question because he knew in the cool grayness of his heart he really didn't care about his neighbor.
Jesus was a master storyteller. In 5 verses he covers so many of the complexities of the issue. The priest and Levite, who would be disqualified from their important religious duties if the became unclean. The ever present bandits who could be hiding behind an olive grove ready to pounce on any bleeding heart liberal who stopped to help. The Samaritan, constant enemy of the Jews, whom he made the hero of the story.
Then, at the end, Jesus changed the question. We didn't talk about that in our discussion. The question changes from, who is my neighbor, a defense mechanism, to acted like and WAS a neighbor to the man in need.
The man got it: "The one who had mercy on him," the expert in the law said.[vs 37]
"Jesus told him, [and tells us] "Go and do likewise."
* * * * * * * *
Mercy is one of the main themes of James 2. We, who have broken the greatest commandments, 1 and 2, many times, have been shown mercy. We live in the proverbial glass house. We cannot throw stones. Mercy triumphs over judgement.
It probably was surprising to many of us how that discussion in 2:1-13 informed the rest of the chapter. Often the following section of chapter two is taken as stand alone verses which argue about which is more important, works or faith. We seemed to see the argument more about a separation between what we say and what we do. Verses 14-17 clearly introduce the section along that vein. What could be more clear than this illustration? If someone is cold and you say, "I wish you the best, be warm," what real uses is that?
Who knew faith was supposed to be useful? Isn't it about me? I know I'm saved. I have a relationship with God. I can pray for what I need. I'm going to heaven when I die.
Apparently faith is not only about our relationship with God. I think it's significant that when James quotes the greatest commandment, he skips right over #1, love the Lord your God with all your heart..... to #2, love your neighbor. James is not concerned in this letter with his brothers' relationship with God. He's concerned with the way they are living in their neighborhood. #1 should be followed by #2, but that was not the case. God chose us to give us a new birth through the word of truth, "that we might be a kind of first fruits" [1:18] a new creation, a people like Christ.
Christ loved the poor. He loved the needy. He even loved the sinner.
I have to once again go back to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. "You are my light in the neighborhood." [vs 14, kind of] When people light a lamp, they put it on a stand so it gives light to the neighborhood. We are supposed to light up the neighborhood, so that "they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." [vs. 16]
I can't close without one more thought. We live in difficult times. We don't feel safe. One of the ironies in that is that for most of history, people have not felt safe. Another is that in many, many places, people are much more "not safe" than us. But it seems to me one of the things Jesus said about the end times is very relevant to this discussion, whether this is the end times or not.
In Matthew 24 the disciples asked Jesus about the end of days. One of the statements Jesus made seems to me so relevant to our lives in this very time and world we live in. 24:12 says, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
I don't pretend to understand all that statement means, but I can see with my own eyes, and so can you, the desperate increase in wickedness causing the church to fear rather than love. I pray that is not us.
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