Opening sentence. What good is it if we say we have faith but do not have works? Faith without works is dead. James 2:14, 17
Collect. Let us pray (to our just and merciful God): Lord our God, in you mercy and justice meet. With unparalleled love you have saved us from death and drawn us into the circle of your life. Open our eyes to the wonders this life sets before us, that we may serve you, free from fear, and address you as God our Father. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reading. James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17 In the first chapter James had addressed his letter to the 12 tribes of the dispersion. In other words to the scattered believers who are away from the city of Jerusalem. The Jews had previously been scattered across the whole region and of course many still lived in what had been the Persian city of Babylon. These were from the people who did not return to the Promised Land when it became possible to do so. The belief in Jesus as the Messiah spread across the region firstly within the Jewish community and it is to this scattered group that James addresses. Jerusalem was a city guided by the acceptable responses to God and so reminders of religious practises would have been ever present. (For example, people taking gifts and sacrifices to the temple and also appropriate ways of greeting and responding to people.) For believers living in Pagan cities a different set of standards would have applied and so godly reminders would have been absent. James is offering them wise advice regarding the daily practises of their faith and how they should behave.
Here in this chapter James is reminding them of three significant pointers. Firstly he recalls the equality that Jesus’ sacrifice demanded of them for “all have fallen short’ and so no one stands before God as a blameless person. Every believer enters the family of God only by the merits that Jesus’ death imparts. Earthly wealth or status has no part to play in our acceptance by God. Showing partiality reveals a judgement about others which has no credibility in God’s sight. Furthermore we are called not to judge by Jesus himself. (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6: 37 & John 7:24)
James then reminds the believers that it is impossible to satisfy the requirements of God by obeying the Law. Indeed no one can fully keep the Law, only Jesus can make us acceptable to God and that transaction is given as a free gift.
However that free gift must not make us complacent as James rightly goes on to remind us: Faith without works is dead! The faith that God supplies will give us a change of heart and also a change to the way we live. The idea that the Christian faith is an inward and private devotion would not have fitted with James’s understanding. Through Jesus Christ, God had great compassion on us and so a proper response is for us to also have compassion on those with whom we live and work.
Prayer. Holy Lord through Jesus Christ you have changed our hearts and placed within us your Holy Spirit of peace. Withhold from us any mistrust or controversy that might divide us. Work in us a true desire for unity and reconciliation so that we may rejoice in the diversity of our gifts and tastes and look to your business with a single and undivided mind. Through your unity and peace may we be ready to welcome all who in your Name might come at your call to work with us. Grant that we may truly be one body in Christ. Amen.
Reading. Mark 7:24-37. Jesus has moved into a completely different region, a non Jewish country. After the busy schedule that Mark has described he is looking to a short time of refreshment away from the crowds who have followed him and placed so many demands on him. It is a reminder to us of his humanness and also a reminder that relentless efforts cannot be sustained.
Though Jesus is now in a foreign country, news of his ministry has gone before him and in her anxiety a mother brings her need to Jesus. That she, a woman, would present herself to a Jewish rabbi and beg at his feet shows how dire her need was. At first Jesus seems to show her nothing but contempt and that is probably just as the mother would have expected. Male Jews often considered women unworthy of respect and so refrained from speaking to any woman in public. However his attitude did not deter her and she persisted in her request. Her very insightful observation shows that she had great confidence that Jesus could and indeed would grant her request. This demonstrates a high level of trust and faith. It was the faith that she had that kept her engaged in her quest. Jesus responds to the faith she has displayed and at his command the demon is expelled and the daughter is made whole. In this recollection Mark has demonstrated the power and the compassion of Jesus as he responds to the woman’s need. It also reminds us that the power of Jesus is not in any way confined; wherever he is he can act with authority. It is also a reminder to trust that Jesus can and does respond to our personal approaches to him. It was the woman’s faith that kept her trusting in Jesus to act on behalf of her daughter. However, Jesus’ attitude to the situation might surprise us, it might even offend us but it should remind us that Jesus did not come to be at our beck and call but to do the will of his Father. We should never presume to know the perfect will and mind of God that is for Jesus alone.
As is usual Mark hardly draws breath before he has Jesus on the move again. This time Jesus is back in Jewish territory and those who followed Jesus bring him a deaf man with a speech impediment. With deep sensitivity Jesus draws the man away from the crowd and deals with him personally and in private. For those who have never heard a sound and lived a lifetime in silence, to receive the gift of hearing would be a profound change. The excitement of a crowd and the hubbub that followed from Jesus’ act of healing would have been hard for a deaf person to bear. Jesus treats the man with dignity and so leads him away to heal him in private. Mark’s description of this healing is quite detailed. Despite the described rituals it is the command of Jesus that effects the healing of the man: Be Open. We do not know the significance of the sign that Mark recalls, maybe it is that deafness and impediments of speech reminded Jesus if the imperfections that had flourished in the once perfect, (good) creation. Jesus orders that the healing not be broadcast about but the command falls on deaf ears! Perhaps Mark is hinting that as usual the commands of Jesus are often overlooked. Nevertheless the final response of the crowd is that Jesus, “has done everything well!”
Prayer. O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your coming, sent your messenger to prepare the way before you: grant that we being ministers and stewards of your mysteries may in the same way be ready to prepare and make ready your way so that in our age and generation the lost may find you and the saved be more secure through you. Equipped us to serve you so that at your coming again we may be found acceptable people in your sight, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. (Adapted from Book of Common Prayer, 1662)
There are many times Lord, when we long to reach out with your love, when our hearts should burn with the fire of your passion for your whole creation, yet our timidity holds us back. Forgive us Lord and empower us to act faithfully in your Name. Grant that we look upon all people, made in your image, worthy of honour and deep respect as they struggle on in the joys and sorrows of human life. You are a faithful God and are present to them all. We pray for those we know have great needs to day; those who are sick, those who are bereaved, those who find that life is failing to enthuse or excite them. Take each one in your hand today and do not let them fall. Care for them as you care for each sparrow, each lily in the field, cherish them on their way and may they know of your presence and so find encouragement. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Collect. God of the outcast, through Christ, you offer healing to all; lead us to share your love with others, that our faith may be seen in the life we live, for the sake of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
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