Opening sentence. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, comes down from the Father of lights, who gave us birth by the word of truth. James 1:17, 18
Collect. Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and constantly give more than either we desire or deserve. Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
Reading. James 1:17-27. The book of James was written early in the churches’ history and while not containing grand theological ideas does bring into prominence many of the teachings of Jesus that have an ethical flavour. This is not surprising as the author has long been thought to be the half brother of Jesus. The teaching of James is designed to guide the church in its daily life. The book is addressed to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, so it is to those who in a sense have lost direct contact with the leadership group in Jerusalem. It is a call to action for the Christians who are away from the core centre of the church.
One of the consistent themes in James is that God is both good and generous. God does not give gifts that are designed to tempt or lead believers astray. That is what lies behind the idea of a “perfect gift”, they are gifts which lead to honourable outcomes which glorify God. James’s reference to God as the father of lights (the sun and the moon) reminds his readers that God is the great Creator and brings light to every situation, unlike the sun which often is overshadowed and for at least half the time leaves the world in darkness. The light and the goodness of God shine on his people at all times. It is in this light that we are equipped to serve God as was his intended purpose. James notes that we are given life through the word of truth. We find what James means by that as we read Acts 15 for it is there through the wisdom of James that he links the coming of the Spirit with the prophetic words from the Scriptures, a coming which equips both Jews and Gentiles for God’s service apart from the Law. James is reaching back to the very beginning of creation, reminding the church that God created humanity to be holy, set apart for God as the stewards who would order the creation as God had planned. The church is at the forefront of the task to bring God’s plan to fruition.
James then immediately sets down just what actions in life become necessary; slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to anger. In every aspect of life we are to keep ourselves under God’s control. Rather than following our own desires we are to always be obedient to the guidance of God. We do this best when we pay attention to the word which has the power to accomplish all that we need to do. The key phrase for James is be “doers of the word” not simply “hearers”. As Jesus Christ has taken us from darkness to light we are to live in the light and our actions must show how that change has taken effect.
Prayer. Most Holy Lord, you have promised that Jesus Christ will have all things placed under his authority and that your justice and mercy will prevail throughout the whole creation. May this knowledge give us full assurance to face all of life with a confidence founded in Jesus Christ alone. Help us to trust in his work and use his gifts and strength to overcome all the trials and tribulations that we face. Today we pray for all those whose lives are burdened with troubles. May they find relief through the victory of Jesus. For those who are sick, may they receive healing from your gracious hand and may all those who are going astray hear again your call to love and serve you alone. Above all we ask that you grant us the strength and power to be people of action in your name and for your sake, This we ask through Jesus before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord of all. Amen
Reading. Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. Before we think about the words of Jesus to the Pharisees and then to the crowd we must understand that unlike our standards of good and bad, sinful or morally acceptable; Jewish society had three classifications holy or sacred, clean and then unclean. Holy or sacred things could be contaminated by coming into contact with unclean things. Holy things, those things set apart for sacred purpose could be made common when used for common purposes. However clean things could become holy when used for sacred purpose and similarly clean things could become unclean through coming into contact with what was already unclean. Broadly speaking holy things should never come into contact with unclean things for they have nothing in common. The ordinary things of life could be either clean or unclean, thus money given to the poor would be considered clean while money used to cheat and defraud others would be considered unclean. This might seem quite complex to us but the people in the time of Jesus would have quite readily understood these fundamental principles.
The challenge the Pharisees posed to Jesus about washing had nothing to do with hygiene but was about ceremonial purity. As Mark explains, a devout Jew would not only wash his hands after being in the market but would also wash the food he bought, thus making both the food and the hands clean. Jesus used the words from Isaiah to show that they washed in order to be ritually clean in order to fulfil the Elder’s Tradition and not because their hearts were set on being ritually clean in order to please God. Jesus reminded the crowd that to fulfil the dietary laws in order to please the Pharisees did nothing. The action that really counted was when a person’s heart was set on pleasing God. For us the heart is thought of as the seat of the emotions but for those of Jesus time the heart was the seat of the will. Those whose heart was set on God where those whose will determined how they responded to any given situation. It was not enough to love and respect the tradition one had to first love and respect God and do everything possible to please him.
Jesus’ challenge to the Jews is just as pertinent to us today as Christians. Worship prayer and bible study must all be done not to please ourselves or make us feel good,nor done to impress others, all these things are done in order to please God, to draw closer to him as he desires.
Prayer. Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and constantly give more than either we desire or deserve. Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and give us those good things which we are unworthy to ask or receive except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. (From Uniting in Worship)
Holy Lord, it is only through Jesus that we may even dare to presume to approach you for you alone are holy. Nevertheless in your great love for us through Jesus Christ we come with confidence asking once again for your mercy and grace. Lord as we seek to serve you grant that we may always look at each other through your eyes which gaze on the heart. May we never dare to judge each other but through your grace, love and forgive, that we may in our life together be truly your family. May your love so touch us all that we may be the bearers of love and hope to a waiting world. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen
Collect. Loving God, wellspring of grace, save us from making petty rules, rather than rejoicing in the life which comes from you; help us to take in your truth and walk with Christ our Wisdom, in whose name we pray.Amen.
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