A note on life from the brother of Jesus (Part 2)

As noted recently, from time to time over the next several weeks on this site 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.

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James 1:5-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV):

⁵ If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. ⁶ But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; ^{7, 8} for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Everyone needs "wisdom" for the journey taken through life. 

This is especially true for those who suffer. 

Wisdom turns out to be even more essential for those who suffer unfairly. 

If you read ahead in the letter of James (cheating like this is encouraged!), you'll see that the readers of this letter endured painful injustices, primarily perpetrated by the minority rich against the majority poor in the same communities.  The rich and powerful exerted their influence in such a way that suffering and unfair economic practices/realities resulted.  James possesses enough wisdom himself to realize just how important wisdom, sometimes "other worldly" wisdom really can be. 

Knowledge coupled with experience and common sense about action forms the heart of wisdom.  Among suffering poor, few commodities are as important as robust, time-tested wisdom.  James counsels his readers that this sort of wisdom comes from God and is sustained by faith or trust. 

James urges his readers to seek this special, practical wisdom from God. This is true implicitly for these early readers who considered God the source of all wisdom and truth.  The Hebrew conception of wisdom involved enlightenment flowing from truth that could be counted on to define right actions, even under pressure, when facing grave difficulty.  God is in the business of dispensing wisdom to genuine seekers freely, without any sense of imposition or bother whatsoever.

People shackled by poverty need wisdom to negotiate a life with numerous imposed limits.  Poor folks need extra measures of insight, good judgment and decision making strategies to make it through a life lived at the margins of society.  Sourcing wisdom, James maintains, means turning to God for "other-worldly" wisdom.

The only requirement for receiving the wisdom that God freely gives is faith.  But a special sort of faith:  faith that never doubts.

Ouch! 

"Faith that never doubts" seems a tall order. 

But consider, a doubting faith in a context of trouble, suffering and oppression soon feels like being caught in a storm at sea.  Doubt creates a storm in the soul and spirit.  Doubt throws a person off, around, back, up and down!  Doubt in the face of great stress can seem like a gale force wind that only adds more difficulty, danger and risk to already confusing dilemmas and circumstances. 

The fact is, in the midst of trouble--trouble that reaches deep down into a person's life to spread darkness and despair, trouble that makes a wreck out of life--we don't need more instability.  There is enough of that in the present circumstances we face! 

Doubters cannot gain stability in the midst of trial.

Beyond this, the harsh reality is that doubters don't receive any help or support from God.  Strong statement.  Why is this true?

Doubt forces any thought of God to the edges of a life.  God won't force wisdom on anyone.  For God and for God's wisdom to arrive in a troubled life, God must be placed at the center, not along the edges.

Doubt causes suffering people to lose focus.  When focus departs, vision can be bifurcated and footing is lost in the storm.  Instability piles on top of fear and all is lost.

Over the next few installments of this reflection I intend to point out how many of my extremely poor friends embrace the counsel of James.  Their lives, like the lives of those who first read these words from the brother of Jesus, are defined by a "surround" of poverty and oppression.  Those who keep the faith, those who battle on, inspire me because I've noticed they never, ever, ever doubt as they seek the wisdom they need to survive in the harshness of deep, unforgiving poverty. 

The faith I observe among the poor and the marginalized on the streets of Dallas, Texas inspires a hopefulness about what good thing is just ahead.  The poor who possess faith always seem to expect better of the future. 

Where doubt has a way of overwhelming me with instability, undoubting faith sustains them.
 



A note on life from the brother of Jesus

While the content of this site is informed by my faith, I seldom leap headlong into Bible study here.  There are good reasons for my typical approach.  But, for some time now I've felt compelled to unpack the content of one short section of the New Testament, the letter of James. 

Why James? 

For starters, I consider it one of the least understood portions of the Bible.  For centuries the church both turned to James and, in some notable cases, away from James when grappling with issues of salvation, discipleship and good works.  Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, referred to the short letter as a "right straw epistle," regarding its content as contrary to his the Apostle Paul's theology of salvation by faith and by faith alone apart from works of law.  Luther believed that James did not deserve a place in the canon of scripture because of its undo emphasis on good works.

In the faith tradition of my youth, leaders used James to argue about essential works and acts of faith that were required for any and all who wanted a place in the kingdom of God.  I grew up listening to debates about baptism and other religious actions that were considered essential works and not to be disregarded by any movement toward "faith alone." 

None of this has anything to do with the message James shares with some of the earliest Christian communities. 

James, the brother of Jesus, writes to some of the first disciples who followed his brother.  These communities of early Jewish Christians lived in a Judean social context that shaped what James communicated.  His message focuses on the particular day-to-day social and economic realities of  the immediate context of his readers, as well as the deep Hebrew understanding of justice and equity as essential, required elements in any authentic walk with God. 

James is concerned with the suffering of his community, particularly that pain caused by economic and social injustice at work in the world and in the experience of himself and his readers.  James establishes a clear connection between deep spirituality and a struggle for justice--economic and social. James points out that the struggle for justice occurs even inside the church. 

What will follow is a non-technical narrative interpretation of this important piece of Christian literature written in response to what James and his community observed.

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James 1:1-4
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Salutation

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Clearly, James writes as a follower of his very own brother, Jesus.  He positions himself, not as a sibling, but as a "servant" of the Christ.  This is especially significant since he writes to Jewish people ("the twelve tribes"), such as himself, who have chosen to follow Jesus as the promised Messiah.  The image of "dispersion" suggests a scattered reality and an alienated community experiencing discomfort and difficulty, even possibly the homelessness of an alien people in a land of uncertainty.

Faith and Wisdom

² My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; ⁴ and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

The community to which James addresses his remarks knows suffering firsthand.  No doubt some were beginning to suffer due to their new faith/religious alignment.  The fact that James leads with his subject indicates that suffering is a pressing issue for his readers.  Apparently, pain and difficulty have become a part of normal life for these readers.  The pain tested those who experienced it.  No doubt, some were tempted to give up, to turn back, or to be resigned to the systems and the powers responsible for the "trials." 

James reframes suffering by pointing out the benefits  or the positive results of going through hard times, no matter who or what the cause--"trials of any kind."  Suffering should give way only to  joy.  This seems a strange claim, but I expect we've all seen this played out in life again and again.  The joy is rooted in the effect of suffering:  faith is tested, endurance is produced.  When allowed to engage fully, endurance leads to maturity.  Life fills up and is complete or whole.  The bottom line:  this understanding of suffering positions the one who suffers in a place of total abundance where nothing is lacking, even in the press of discrimination and poverty.

How often, working in the inner city, I've witnessed this kind of faith take root and flourish.  The suffering is beyond real for the impoverished.  Still, I've never witnessed such joy, a joy that grows from undeniable endurance, perseverance and character.  The result can be seen in the life of the poorest exhibiting the truth and power of a life that "has it all."  The joy leads to sharing.  The testing leads to amazing strength.  The endurance shocks me whenever I see it. 

Recently, I attended a WorkPaths graduation ceremony.  Eighteen men received certificates of completion in a 13-week, construction trades training program.  So far, nine of these graduates have found jobs.  Here we have very poor men and families, many just out of prison living with a stent in prison on their resumes.  Men who've made mistakes.  Men who've been unfairly treated and brushed aside as useless. 

But as the ceremony progressed, I felt a rallying of spirit and I witnessed spontaneous outbursts of joy and hope.  I saw evidence of endurance and character.  Pressed down, but not defeated.  Oppressed but refusing to give up. 

Injustice creates systems and circumstance filled with unfairness, discrimination, marginalization and despair. 

Faith results in courageous action.

This is where James begins, but it's only the beginning and not nearly the whole story!

From Greek to Justice. . .

I'm not sure exactly when we first met, but I have always been impressed by the intelligence and scholarly acumen of Dr. Carroll Osburn. The man knows as much about the Greek New Testament, its era and beyond into the 2nd and 3rd centuries, as anyone alive. For thirty years he taught Greek to students involved in seminary and graduate education. He has lectured around the world.

Almost 5 years ago now, Carroll took a huge turn in his life. He left the classroom at Abilene Christian University and its College of Biblical Studies to begin working with the Caris Foundation. Involved in many scholarly projects, Carroll volunteered for three decades as a Greek translation consultant to Bible translators working among pre-literate people in Guatemala, the headwaters of the Amazon, and on Native American reservations. While his new assignment leaves room for teaching (he is spending the summer at St. Andrews University), he works most of the year on relief and justice projects in Africa.

What is really interesting is how his careful reading of the New Testament has led him into work among the poorest of the poor in Third World nations.

Recently, I read one of his scholarly papers published in Ex Auditu, the annual journal of North Park Symposium on Theological Interpretation of Scripture, titled "James, Sirach, and the Poor" (Vol. 22, 2006, pp. 113-132).

The essay begins in a highly technical manner, but closes with surprising reflections about faith and the pursuit of justice. I intend to post some of the essay over the next several days to stimulate our thinking.

Here's the first of it:

". . .the reading of James must move beyond those matters obviously intended for early readers. Here one transitions to. . .understanding the text to create a textual world into which readers may enter, along with all they know and experience in their own contemporary context.

". . .Clearly, James is convinced that genuine religion requires social concern and that one's social involvement in the present is just as vital as one's personal religious beliefs and practices. . . .The matter of justice for the poor, once a lively classroom topic, has now taken on new and vital meaning. This opportunity to reinvent myself professionally also became the opportunity for self-redefinition personally, very much along the lines James presents. . . .

"Over the past three years significant involvement in African villages and slums introduced me to societal systems and structural injustice to the poor and became a stimulus as well to reassess Christianity in this light. Matters now occupy my attention which formerly were left to others. Corrupt governments, tribal conflicts, unequal distribution of wealth, suppression of intellectual and political freedom, and militarism are but a few of the many societal systems reflecting injustice with which I work daily in Africa. Structural injustice takes other forms. Perhaps one in four people in the world lack sufficient resources (land, funds, and education) to participate in the global economy, resulting in a growing inequality between rich and poor and unhealthy materialism and consumerism. Industrialized nations impose trade barriers on goods from lesser developed countries that help create poverty. Huge loans to developing countries have resulted in a severe debt crisis. Health care and education are often curtailed in order to repay such debts. . . . Such matters cannot but affect self-redefinition, and they certainly bring new questions to one's textual world."

Reactions? More from Carroll Osburn in coming posts.

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