A note on life from the brother of Jesus (Part 5)

As noted recently on this page, from time to time over the next several weeks I intend to "dig into" the letter that James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to first century Christians. 

Thought to be among the earliest, extant Christian writings, the brief letter addresses the challenges facing Jewish believers located primarily in the area around Jerusalem.  Clearly, these early devotees of Jesus experienced suffering, systemic economic oppression and some forms of persecution--possibly because of their opinions about the identity of Jesus and certainly due to the social and status implications of those strongly held opinions and life perspectives. These ideas, drawing on the social context and economic constructs, may lead us to read this familiar material in quite a new way. 

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James 1:19-21
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

¹⁹ You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹ Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

It turns out that self-control doesn't come all that easy.  Have you noticed?

Mix in a measure or two be feeling disrespected, powerless or taken advantage of and you have  a recipe for civil unrest both personal and communal.

At times, oppressed persons who seek to resist and to improve their life prospects through organized, community action can turn their frustrations on their friends.  All too often those who suffer lose patience, seek to gain control where they have a chance to do so.  For the community James addresses the necessary message was clear:  don't get angry.  Listen.  Not so fast on the analysis and criticism.  Prove your solidarity by the manner of your communications with each other, as well as to those outside, even your oppressors.

The person who, in the face of suffering and mistreatment and dispute, can listen first and intentionally--resisting the natural temptation to get out ahead of an argument--that person will almost always deliver powerful, positive impact and needed perspective in any relationship. 

The default position of effective community leaders involves a fundamental commitment to listen first and foremost.  The commitment to really hear others changes everything.  If I am eager or "quick" to listen--that is, I come to every encounter already "there" in terms of my decision to hear another person out, I can more easily become a factor in promoting understanding and defusing counter-productive tension and conflict. 

Being "slow to speak," not feeling the need to be heard first or foremost, disarms enemies and softens critics who possibly make assumptions about you that are unfounded.  A determination to listen carefully while refraining from "having your say," is a powerful tool in repairing or building trust and genuine communication. 

This skill-set is essential in overcoming misunderstandings so that genuine community can be realized, and even organized to stand against the threats that come from the outside and from those in power. 

In the same way, a commitment to be just as "slow to anger" as we are quick to listen, changes everything about a confrontational context.  Let anger be the last resort, and make sure that its genesis emerges from injustice or some real harm to another and not just a defensive tact to guard your own self-interest in a dispute or relationship. Anger channeled in surprising non-violent resistance against harm and unjust structures and circumstances changes things over the long haul for the better. 

All of us have experienced the deep emotions of "righteous indignation."  The trouble is we often rush there before listening, which leads us to anger prematurely and without clear understanding.  My claim to be "angry about those things that anger God," seems foolhardy in calm retrospect!  Most importantly, all the anger that I can muster does not lead to an experience of God's righteousness or justice.  God brings those things to pass in cooperation with a faithful, organized community, not because of my unchecked rage.  God is God and I am not!  Understanding my anger as an extension of God's values and God's anger is not a sustainable notion intellectually, spiritually or emotionally.  In fact such assumptions are downright dangerous.

I need to lay my anger down as I pick up the pain of my community and work for change.

At the same time, the witness of the oppressed and marginalized must not be compromised by lives that are "sordid."  The word here literally means "filthy" or impure.  When used of clothing, it often means "shabby."  Clearly, a moral stain on a life compromises one's ability to command an audience or move an argument in the right direction. 

Furthermore, community builders who seek respect from those they lead must set aside all wickedness, a word that carries with it connotations of hateful feelings, trouble and worry or anxiety.

Instead of such responses to oppression or the stress of unfair poverty, James urges us to practice meekness or humility and teach-ability as we welcome the truth of God and our better selves.  As we invite a higher power to join us in our struggles, we will find the salvation of our very lives.   The victory that we seek over the forces that oppress will be empowered by this word from beyond our lives that promises to give us the very life we seek.

Much to ponder as community workers.

50 Million of us are poor by definition!

The number of Americans living in poverty has spiked to levels not seen since the mid-1960s, classing 20 per cent of the country’s children as poor.

It comes at a time when government spending cuts of $85 billion have kicked in after feuding Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a better plan for addressing the national deficit.

The cuts will directly affect 50 million Americans living below the poverty income line and reduce their chances of finding work and a better life.

To read the entire report click here.

Poverty pictured. . .

"Knowing" God

The Old Testament is clear regarding the close relationship between God and the neighbor.  This relationship is a distinguishing characteristic of the God the Bible.  To despise one's neighbor (Prov. 14:21), to exploit the humble and the poor worker, and to delay the payment of wages, is to offend God. . .(Deut. 24:14-15; Exod. 22:21-23).  This explains why "a man who sneers at the poor insults his maker: (Prov. 17:5).

Inversely, to know, that is to say, to love Yahweh, is to do justice to the poor and oppressed.  When Jeremiah proclaimed the New Covenant, after asserting that Yahweh would inscribe the law in the hearts of human beings, Jeremiah said:  "No longer need they teach one another to know the Lord; all of them, high and low alike, shall know me (31:34).  But Jeremiah advises us exactly on what knowing God entails:  "Shame on the man who builds his house by unjust means, and completes its roof-chambers by fraud, making his countrymen work without payment, giving them no wage for their labor!  Shame on the man who says, 'I will build a spacious house with airy roof-chambers, let windows in it, panel it with cedar, and paint it with vermilion'! If your cedar is more splendid, does that prove you are a king?  Think of your father:  he ate and drank, dealt justly and fairly; all went well with him.  He dispensed justice to the cause of the lowly and poor; did this not show he knew me? says the Lord" (22:13-16). Where there is justice and righteousness, there is knowledge of Yahweh; when these are lacking, it is absent. . . .To know Yahweh, which in Biblical language is equivalent to saying to love Yahweh, is to establish just relationships among persons, it is to recognize the rights of the poor.  . . .When justice does not exist, God is not known; God is absent (pages 110-111).

A Theology of Liberation

Gustavo Gutierrez







Poverty costs

A number of readers who respond to my posts here sound as if they really understand poverty and the people who endure it.  A list of the more common phrases offered up here by these "experts" include "personal responsibility," "hard work," "hand outs," etc., etc., etc. What so many of these friends don't comprehend is the emotional, spiritual, psychological aspects of living in poverty, particularly over an extended period of time.  Easy solutions focused on behavioral modification of various sorts remain inadequate.  Real solutions will involve a comprehensive approach to attacking the root causes of poverty and its accompanying malaise. 

With this in mind, consider the challenging words of  Charles Blow: 

Them That’s Not Shall Lose
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: June 24, 2011
The New York Times

“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”

James Baldwin penned that line more than 50 years ago, but it seems particularly prescient today, if in a different manner than its original intent.

Baldwin was referring to the poor being consistently overcharged for inferior goods. But I’ve always considered that sentence in the context of the extreme psychological toll of poverty, for it is in that way that I, too, know well how expensive it is to be poor.

I know the feel of thick calluses on the bottom of shoeless feet. I know the bite of the cold breeze that slithers through a drafty house. I know the weight of constant worry over not having enough to fill a belly or fight an illness.

It is in that context that I am forced to assume that if Washington politicians ever knew the sting of poverty then they have long since vanquished the memory. How else to qualify their positions? In fact, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly half of all members of Congress are millionaires, and between 2008 and 2009, when most Americans were feeling the brunt of the recession, the personal wealth of members of Congress collectively increased by more than 16 percent. Must be nice.

Poverty is brutal, consuming and unforgiving. It strikes at the soul.

You defend yourself with hope, hard work and, for some, a helping hand. But these weapons grow dull in an economy on the verge of atrophy, in a job market tilting ever more toward the top and in a political environment that would sacrifice the weak to the wealthy.

On Thursday, the Pew Research Center released a poll that showed how disillusioned low-income people have become. Those making less than $30,000 were the most likely to expect to be laid off or be asked to take a pay cut. Furthermore, they were the most likely to say that they had trouble getting or paying for medical care and paying the rent or mortgage.

But at least those numbers include people with incomes. A vast subset is chronically unemployed and desperately searching for work. According to the Consumer Reports Employment Index, “In 23 of the past 24 months, lower-income Americans have lost more jobs than they have gained.” It continues, “Meanwhile, more affluent Americans seem to be gaining more jobs than they are losing.”

And the current election-cycle obsession to balance the books with a pound of flesh, which is being pushed by pitiless Republicans and accommodated by pitiful Democrats, will only multiply the pain.

Until more politicians understand — or remember — what it means to be poor in this country, we are destined to fail the least among us, and all of us will pay a heavy price for that failure.