1.  Jamie and Kim have brought their son, Micah, home at long last.  In mid-August Kim traveled to Ethiopia to bring him home.  Micah (who turned 4 in November) loves airplanes, cars, and pizza.  He also loves to laugh.  He does not like girls (we know this to not be true, but don’t tell him that I said so).  We like him a lot.

2.  Little Flower’s has changed our starting time!  In an attempt to be more family-friendly we have been experimenting with a new start time.  Our potlucks start at 5 o’clock now (still on Sunday nights), and the rest of worship begins at 6 o’clock.

3.  We have just hosted our very first Newcomer’s Tuesday for Little Flowers.  We have had a few new people join us regularly, so the leadership team decided to have a night of sharing the story and journey of Little Flowers.  It was a celebration too, so there were balloons and cake!  We look forward to more nights of story-telling!

Well.  Those are my 3 things to tell.  Thanks for reading!  (And yes, I realize that I use a lot more exclamation points than Jamie, and I’m perfectly ok with that.)

P.S.  If you’re interested in reading our bulletin for the month of May, you can click here.  Yay!

I have clearly been neglecting the Little Flowers blog over the past few months.  In my defense, I was focusing on getting my new book written (“The Cost of Community: Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom” – IVPress, Nov 2011), but since I’ve been getting back to writing in my own blog, I guess that is a weak excuse.

However, many of my posts over at the other blog are about Little Flowers, so here are a couple selections: Surviving Missional and Community: A Costly Missional Necessity.

I hope to be blogging here more often.

Yesterday Kim & I went and saw the movie “Easy A”, a teen romantic comedy about how model student, Olive Penderghast (played brilliantly by Emma Stone) earns the untrue reputation as the school slut.  Olive (like the movie itself) is inspired by the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel “The Scarlet Letter” and makes the most of the misunderstanding.  However, it brings upon her the wrath and judgment of her peers, especially the zealous Christians in the student body.  The movie was surprisingly entertaining, and not surprisingly all too quick to throw Christians under the bus with barely a smidgen of qualification.

At first, my impulse was to be frustrated with the portrayal of Christians in our culture.  While not entirely unfair, having seen almost explicit examples of similar behaviour in real life, it failed to leave any room for a more balanced look at the wider Christian community.  However, I resisted my impulse to go on the defensive.  Arguing against such stereotypes, regardless of how true they might be, is rarely productive.  Our culture needed a response, but grumpy tirades would certainly only reinforce those very stereotypes.  So what to do?

Considering these challenges, 1 Peter 2:15 came to mind:

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

As the name of this blog suggests, I am deeply convinced that one of the strongest witnesses to Christ that the world can see are lives lived according to the radical teaching and example of Jesus.  Our best defense against accusation and critique, especially where it is warranted, is to live the better alternative.  In other words, if we don’t want people to say that all Christians are judgmental and self-righteous, rather than argue against it, we must seek to live lives of humility, grace and forgiveness.  We must be living alternatives to what the world sees and expects.

However, when I read this Scripture again, something caught my eye.  My assumption has always been that the “foolish men” referred to in the text are people in the world who accuse and denigrate Christians and Christianity.  While this may very likely apply to them, I suspect Peter was referring to something more.  What immediately came to mind was Jesus’ closing words in the Sermon on the Mount:

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matt. 7:26-27)

Here we see Jesus linking not doing His will with being a fool, just as Peter points out that doing His will will silence the fool.  This parable is not to be understood as a teaching about the Christian (the wise man) versus the non-Christian (the foolish man).  Just like in the previous section of the Sermon where both sides call Jesus ‘Lord’, here both sides work for the same end, to build a house.  The foolish man is not someone who rejects Christ, but someone who seeks to claim Him as Lord without being faithful in doing so according to Jesus’ teachings.  It is like an Olympic high diver who chooses the lower diving platform or seeks to simply slip into the water from poolside, rationalizing that end is ultimately the same.  Jesus is referring those of His followers who seek the path of what Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace”.

Therefore, perhaps Peter is not talking about accusers from outside of the Body of Christ, but rather those within the community of faith who do not represent Christ by their words and/or deeds.  They sully the name of Christ and His Church, stirring in us a desire to openly reject them, to distance ourselves from them.  However, if they are indeed our sisters and brothers in Christ, we cannot deny them.  As Peter goes on to say, we must “love the brotherhood of believers” (v. 17).  Rather, it is when we obedient hear the words of Jesus and do what He says- when we do God’s will by doing good- we will silence the fools.  Perhaps they will be silenced by the gentle rebuke of our example.  Perhaps they will be silenced in that those who see the Christian community will dismiss their foolishness as aberrant in the light of our faithfulness.  Either way, the way to silence such foolishness is to live faithfully according to the teaching and example of Jesus Christ.

How might this perspective change the way you respond to critics, both within and outside the church?  How does your ideals for following Christ differ from the reality of how you live your lives?  What next step of obedience do you believe God is calling you to follow Him into?

__________________________

Chiara House will be an extension of the ministry of Little Flowers Community & YWAM Urban Ministries Winnipeg. The values of these ministries shape & define the values & practices of Chiara House. While some core members will be part of these communities, such involvement will not be required of all those participating in Chiara House.  It will not be a shelter, detox program, food bank, etc. Rather it is a group of people called to love God & their neighbours together in the context of shared life & community.

Chiara House residents will be represented in three general groups:

• Long Term Members
  Long term members will be people with a commitment to specific Rule of Life and code of conduct, willing to commit to a specific time frame and function as servant-leaders in the community house.  These members can include, but are the restricted to, member of Little Flowers Community/YWAM.  All members will be employed outside of the house.
• Transitional Members
  The house will also welcome short-term, goal-oriented transitional housing for locals facing specific challenges. These members will be drawn through relationship and/or referral from other ministries or social agencies. A clear & legal application process would be in place to screen applicants for appropriate fit in the program.
• Internship Members
  A missional formation internship, with both short & long-term options, will also be made available, through the model of a missional-monastic order. These members will be primarily focused on young single adults, such as university students, who are seeking community and missional formation while studying, working, etc. in their own context.

(A clear Rule of Life will be articulated for long-term members, with an appropriate covenant commitment for interns, and a Code of Conduct for all residents.)

The nature of the building Chiara House ends up in inevitably shape the nature of the housing, but the following is a general overview of the ideal setting for such a community. Chiara House would ideally be set in a multi-storied (3+) building. Each floor would have controlled access.

On the main level would be a more open community space for shared programs, community gatherings, worship, training, etc. Ultimately it would be set up like a “community living room”, with access to public bathrooms, a kitchen and possibly a small hospitality room for short-term guests or emergency housing.

The second floor would be broken into group community units housing 4-6 people per unit. They would share access to the living room, dining room & bathrooms (expanded to accommodate larger numbers), but would have secured individual or roommates space for sleeping. These spaces would be designed for long-term members to share life with transitional housing members (ideally 50/50).

The third floor of the building would be designed similarly to second floor model, but would be dedicated to shared life with the missional formation members, with at least one long-term member as well. They would have relationship and shared activity with the transitional housing members, but due to the shorter-term nature of their involvement, would have to apply for living in that portion of the house.

Depending on the size of the building, every (or selected or one floor) could also have traditional apartment suites designed for families, allowing the security & space for family life, while allowing families to share life with the singles in Chiara House. The option of a family unit for transitional housing is also an option to consider.

Every member would contribute equally to the room & board of the community, though some members may be given a reduction for fulfilling certain duties (i.e caretaker, etc.). The long-term members, along with the Little Flowers Community/YWAM UMW leadership, will function as the servant-leadership team of Chiara House. However, whenever possible, all members will be encouraged to participate in shared responsibility & community leadership.

The following is the exciting new vision that we are beginning to pursue at Little Flowers Community.  We need people to join us in making this happen.  If you are interested, please drop me a line at info@littleflowers.ca

__________________________

Chiara House will be an extension of the ministry of Little Flowers Community & YWAM Urban Ministries Winnipeg. The values of these ministries shape & define the values & practices of Chiara House. While some core members will be part of these communities, such involvement will not be required of all those participating in Chiara House.  It will not be a shelter, detox program, food bank, etc. Rather it is a group of people called to love God & their neighbours together in the context of shared life & community.

Chiara House residents will be represented in three general groups:

• Long Term Members
  Long term members will be people with a commitment to specific Rule of Life and code of conduct, willing to commit to a specific time frame and function as servant-leaders in the community house.  These members can include, but are the restricted to, member of Little Flowers Community/YWAM.  All members will be employed outside of the house.
• Transitional Members
  The house will also welcome short-term, goal-oriented transitional housing for locals facing specific challenges. These members will be drawn through relationship and/or referral from other ministries or social agencies. A clear & legal application process would be in place to screen applicants for appropriate fit in the program.
• Internship Members
  A missional formation internship, with both short & long-term options, will also be made available, through the model of a missional-monastic order. These members will be primarily focused on young single adults, such as university students, who are seeking community and missional formation while studying, working, etc. in their own context.

(A clear Rule of Life will be articulated for long-term members, with an appropriate covenant commitment for interns, and a Code of Conduct for all residents.)

The nature of the building Chiara House ends up in inevitably shape the nature of the housing, but the following is a general overview of the ideal setting for such a community. Chiara House would ideally be set in a multi-storied (3+) building. Each floor would have controlled access.

On the main level would be a more open community space for shared programs, community gatherings, worship, training, etc. Ultimately it would be set up like a “community living room”, with access to public bathrooms, a kitchen and possibly a small hospitality room for short-term guests or emergency housing.

The second floor would be broken into group community units housing 4-6 people per unit. They would share access to the living room, dining room & bathrooms (expanded to accommodate larger numbers), but would have secured individual or roommates space for sleeping. These spaces would be designed for long-term members to share life with transitional housing members (ideally 50/50).

The third floor of the building would be designed similarly to second floor model, but would be dedicated to shared life with the missional formation members, with at least one long-term member as well. They would have relationship and shared activity with the transitional housing members, but due to the shorter-term nature of their involvement, would have to apply for living in that portion of the house.

Depending on the size of the building, every (or selected or one floor) could also have traditional apartment suites designed for families, allowing the security & space for family life, while allowing families to share life with the singles in Chiara House. The option of a family unit for transitional housing is also an option to consider.

Every member would contribute equally to the room & board of the community, though some members may be given a reduction for fulfilling certain duties (i.e caretaker, etc.). The long-term members, along with the Little Flowers Community/YWAM UMW leadership, will function as the servant-leadership team of Chiara House. However, whenever possible, all members will be encouraged to participate in shared responsibility & community leadership.

After years of doing spiritual & missional formation with college age Christians, one of the trends that stands out is the struggle many have with communal prayer.  While I still affirm times of open group prayer, I have also noticed that many struggle with performing their prayers, while others remained silent for lack of “inspiration” or because they felt their prayers inadequate compared to the more eloquent prayers.  These and other reasons contributed to a difficult challenge in our community.

It was while we were exploring these challenges a few years ago that Christine Sine contacted me about reading an early draft of her new book “Light for the Journey: Morning & Evening Prayers for Living into God’s World”.  This collection of morning & evening prayers, laid out to cover a full week, take us through different emphases of faith in reflective and creative ways.  With her permission, we adapted the prayers for use in our community as an experiment.  Since then, they have become a fixed part of our community life, as well as for many of our personal times of private prayer.  It was and is a real gift to us.

I was excited to learn that “Light for the Journey” is now available for order through Mustard Seed Associates.  I highly recommend this resource to you and to your communities.  Born out of their own life in share community, the tested authenticity of the material is clear throughout.  Christine briefly explains each theme (from the introduction):

Sunday’s theme begins the week with the celebration of Sabbath and anticipation of God’s eternal shalom world. We rejoice in this vision of wholeness and abundance which will one day be completely fulfilled in Christ.

On Monday we focus on our restored relationship to God our Creator and the call to be stewards of God’s creation. The gospel always comes to us in the midst of the created world, which was made through Jesus Christ and is being recreated through him.

On Tuesday our focus shifts to Christ our Savior and what it means to carry his incarnational presence into our world. As Christ’s followers, we are called to live out the claims of the gospel.

Wednesday focuses on the in-dwelling Holy Spirit who equips us with the gifts and abilities to carry out the gospel call as God’s servants and proclaimers of God’s resurrection- created world.

On Thursday our reflections turn towards community and what it means to be part of God’s eternal family from every tribe and nation, rich and poor, male and female.

Friday reflects on the Cross and the wholeness achieved through repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

We conclude the week on Saturday with a focus on the kingdom of God and the clouds of witnesses who have gone before us.

Phyllis Tickle, author of “The Great Emergence”, had this to say about the book:

“In the history of Christian formation literature, it has consistently been the small volume that has conveyed the greatest worth. That principle nowhere holds more true than it does here. Like the light which its title references, this manual, in its succinctness, travels broadly and illumines perfectly. Presenting both assigned prayers for each day of the week and also rich instruction in how the Christian forms a life of prayer, Sine speaks to us gently, but authoritatively. There is, in all of this, a kind of poignancy as well. We understand that Sine is writing to us not about some theory, but out of experience and about the sure knowledge of a life of prayer fully lived. Like every wise Christian teacher before her, Christine Sine understands—and persuades us—that it is in community that Christians pray most formatively and in community that we must seek to pray.”

Head over to Mustard Seed Associates and order a copy (or 10!) today.  It is well worth it.

What are you waiting for?

This question strikes home for me.  Over the last few years I came to the realization that I was unconsciously living my life in expectation for something to happen.  I lived with an inarticulate assumption that, someday in the near future, my life would change.  Somehow, I would be living to my fullest potential, I would more faithful in my relationship with God and I would be doing that which God had created me for (but had thus far not fully figured out).  It was all just around the corner and I was waiting for it to happen.  I thought I was alone in this assumptive state, but when I started talking about it I discovered that a lot of other people live with this same expectation.   Do you?

In Mark 5, right off the heels of Jesus demonstrating His authority over nature itself, He and His disciples reach the far shore.  Here is what happened:

“When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”

It is immediately interesting to me that the text says that Jesus got out of the boat.  While we can’t be sure, it seems to be saying that only Jesus got out of the boat.  I guess it is understandable.  After all, this man in this context represented the most unclean of the unclean to devout Jews.  This was not their land, not their people, not their concern.  However, I suspect it was the threat to their safety that most kept the men in the boat.  I suspect I would have responded much the same way.  Yet Jesus gets out of the boat and brings His Kingdom with Him.

I could not help but think of the prophet Jeremiah, that rather moody and dramatic Old Testament figure who warned the people of Israel about the consequences of their unfaithfulness.  His warnings proved true, with the people being taken into captivity in Babylon, a pagan nation far from the Promised Land that was given to them in covenant with God.  I can only imagine what they might have felt: fear, confusion, anger, vengeance, despair.  After all, that very covenant with God promised them that they would be a great people, through whom all nations would be blessed.  As long as they were slaves of these godless people in this godless land, those promises would remain empty and unfulfilled.

And yet Jeremiah brought them the word of God:

“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

The stunning impact of these commands should not be lost on us.  God called them to live out the covenant promises faithfully in the midst of Babylon.  More than that, God’s blessing of them would be linked to the blessing of their captors.  How easily might they have quoted the promises of cursing their enemies in the covenant.  Rather, God was reminding them of two things: first, that their captivity was result of their own unfaithfulness, not to be minimized in the hatred of their enemies; and second, that God’s blessing of all nations through His people was far more central to His ultimate intention.  (Notice the parallel Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where He powerful subverted the expectations of the people for a militantly liberating messiah.)

As individuals and faith communities, we all too easily fall into the same assumptions.  We live as though God’s will for our life might happen in the future, when things are better.  Once we get this or that set of circumstances worked out.  Once we are out of debt or have a better job or find that significant other.  Once all the ducks land in a row, then we will passionately live our lives for God to the fullest.  This is not to say we are completely complacent now (at least not all of us), but rather we find ways to accept mediocrity.  This acceptance is further encouraged as we look around and see others living with the same level of expectation.

Yet Jesus calls to live the Kingdom of God now, even in the midst of our circumstances.  After all, if He calls His people to thrive and prosper while they are slaves of pagan oppressors, I think our excuses fall quite short.  As I recently heard the following quote (from a VERY unlikely source):

“We live as though the world were as it should be to show it what it can be”

So the questions remain:

What are you waiting for?  What are we waiting for?

When we confront the struggles & weaknesses in our lives & communities, what are we waiting for?

When we consider the future and all that is possible, what are we waiting for?

When we imagine what God will do through in and through us, what are we waiting for?

“Choose this day whom you will serve” -Joshua 24:15

In the first half of James 5, we are warned about the dangers of injustice, impatience and divided loyalty in the community of faith and in God’s Kingdom.  However, James goes on the show that, in the midst of our brokenness, redemption and love are the pervading reality.

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

Some Christians have taken this teaching to suggest that all illness can and will be healed miraculously through the prayer of the faithful.  Some even take it so far as to suggest seeing medical professionals to be a compromise of faith, thus invalidating the opportunity for God to work miraculously.  This idea is offensive, dangerous and insupportable through Scripture.  Yes, we believe that we should always pray for the sick among us, believing that God can and may miraculously heal them.  However, James is presenting neither a guarantee nor an admonition against seeing doctors.

Rather, when we read these words in contrast to the earlier challenge to be patient and long-suffering.  Not only were the early Christian communities often without the means to see healers, but their status as enemies of the Empire made it even harder for them to seek out such help.  To further highlight the problem, their unparalleled commit to serve  the needs of the poor meant that there was a much higher ratio of sick people (without means) in their communities and in their homes.  This radical hospitality is the root what later developed into hospices and then hospitals.  In the face of these challenges might have led some to withdraw from their commitment to the poor (thus James 5:1-6), becoming impatient with god and others (thus James 5:7-11) and even begin to bargain with God to free them from their circumstances (thus James 5:12).  In this light, the necessity on trusting God in the midst of such suffering an important reminder.  Our obedience must never be contingent on our circumstances.

It is important to note here how much our governments and other institutions have removed the need for Christians to practice such radical hospitality.  While we should be grateful for the benefits such changes afford those in dire need, we must never believe that this in any way diminishes our personal and grass-roots communal responsibility to those suffering injustice.  Both locally and globally, there is more than enough opportunity to embrace the radical hospitality that James takes for granted as being central to living the Christian life.  We have strayed from this central aspect of our vocation as the Church and must do all we can to recover it.

Like Jesus so often did, James links the healing of the body with the forgiveness of sin, reinforcing that God’s Kingdom, His shalom, concerns itself with the whole person (indeed, all of creation).  Therefore, while our physical circumstances do not change the obedience we are called to, neither should assume for a minute that those needs are any less important to our Father God than other more (so-called) “spiritual” concerns.  Such faithfulness is not just characteristic of the “super-elite” of His Kingdom.  After all, in this Scripture, James masterfully demonstrates this by calling the revered and honoured prophet, Elijah, “a man just like us”.  Again, he is not teaching us that, in prayer, God will do whatever we demand of Him (See Matthew 6:5-15 & James 4:1-3), but rather calls us to humble, submitted and deeply dependent faithfulness to God.

“My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

For any who would suggest that James’ teaching is a call to moral perfection beyond human means, this section should silence that.  While in no way making excuses for compromise, in the face of the challenge he has mentioned and in light of the difficult demands of radical obedience, he knows that many will wander from the truth.  Be it through deception, immaturity, rebellion or some other factor, James acknowledges that our human brokenness makes such occurrences expected.  Again avoiding the empty and hypocritical posture of judgment, he calls us to approach these wanderers with humility, grace and love.  By beginning the sentence with “my brothers”, James is affirming that these wanderers are also our sisters and brothers, whom we should pursue with the same loyalty and devotion.  It is a love that wants only the best for them, hoping to save them from the consequences of their sin, consequences that we ourselves are only spared of through grace.

The Epistle of James is a book that has much to teach us about how we are to live in faith together.  So clearly rooted in the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, to ignore or minimize the import of what it teaches us is to ignore or minimize the call of Christ to His disciples.  Being a Christian is about actively following our Lord, submitting every aspect of our lives to Him- our beliefs, convictions, attitudes, actions, priorities and purposes.  Take some time this week to read through the entirety of James, perhaps twice.  Consider what it means for you and the community of faith which you are a part of.

In the previous section of James’ letter to the scatter churches he reminds his readers that true allegiance to Christ & His Kingdom starts in the heart, not merely in external acts of obedience.  When we find ourselves divided & in conflict, it is our own hearts that are reflected.  We are to be as faithful as a lover & as devoted as a slave.  For sin is as much (if not more) about failure to do what is good than simply being bad.

“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”

It might be easy for us to look at this rebuke and distance ourselves from it, just as we so often do when reading Jesus’ rebukes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  However, we must be aware that while the dynamics of our relationship to the poor is not as directly apparent (as in the case of a land owner hiring workers), we are just as guilty of this kind of treatment of the poor whenever we participate in and/or benefit from economic or social systems that profit through the abuse & exploitation of the poor.  James, like Jesus, is speaking directly to us, pointing to the very real blood on our hands.  Jesus told us that where ever our treasure is, so there is our heart also (Matt 6:19,20).  This not only calls us to question the false treasures we hold in our hearts, but also to ask what treasure, then, would Christ have us embrace?

This kind of misplaced treasury is not only the result of greed (though it certainly is a significant source).  We are in danger if we only expect that such explicitly selfish motivations can sully the heart.  Like the two men who passed by the injured man in the story of the Good Samaritan, the reasons for making these choices can often be grounded in solid, logical & socially expected reasoning.  When we allow self-protection (be it economic, social or spiritual) to keep us from fully following the self-sacrificing example of Christ, our hearts have gone astray.

“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

For those who are victims of the kind of injustice mentioned previously, James reminds us that we are to persevere.  While we do not allow people to commit injustice without responding, the nature of that response has been transformed by Christ’s life, death & resurrection.  After all, the weapons we are called to us to battle injustice are not those of the world, but are patience, peace, grace and love (to name a few).  In a culture of immediate gratification (where loading website, delayed a matter of seconds, can make us angry), this call to patience is timely & difficult.  While we do the work of sowing seeds (good deeds), we must learn to wait for it to bear fruit in God’s season (faith).

Because the seeds we sow are meant to take root in the hearts of men, our expectations for others will be immediate and central.  Thus, the need for patience becomes especially clear.  All of us know that it is in relationship with others where our fuse is most often the shortest.  Yet we must remember Jesus teaching to withhold judgment, unless we face the same standard we hold to others and cannot possibly meet.  Before the true Judge, we are all so far into sin that relative to one another we see that we have no right or authority to cast judgment.

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Here we see Jesus final Beatitude reiterated explicitly by James.  We must not only find comfort in our suffering, but take joy in it as well, for the godly women & men before us also suffered.  And it is Christ Himself that we most identify with, humbly and unworthily joining in His suffering by His grace. Where does the comfort & joy come from?  From the promise of eternal blessings & freedom from suffering & death?  Of course, this is significantly a part of God’s promise.  Yet, in citing Job, James seems to be suggesting that even on this side of death God will comfort & bring joy to us, making us inheritors of His Kingdom.  This is not a “prosperity gospel”, as the previous verses make abundantly clear, but rather a reminder that our Father in heaven will provide for needs, forgive us our sins and give only good gifts to His children.

All too often we respond to suffering & trials in our lives with impatient complaining, selfish bickering & pointed accusations of blame against something outside ourselves, by it people or circumstances.  If we truly believe in the compassion and mercy of God, and in His promise of comfort and provision, then we must learn to abide in His sustaining presence.  We must learn to celebrate the gifts of grace, hope and love, which far out shine the temporary sufferings of the immediate.  These graces are so powerfully an example of God’s unmerited love for us that we should be inspired to extend that same love and grace and hope to each other and the world.

Here I must make a word of caution, one reinforced by my recent visit to Haiti.  For many in the world, this suffering surpasses by significant degrees the reality of suffering that most of us in the West live with.  While this truth remains true regardless of context, we must be careful that those of us with (relative) privilege, power and wealth do not dismiss (or worse, rebuke) the cries of the suffering from the truly poor & suffering.  Their cries for justice should bring to our hearts James’ rebuke to the wealthy.  It is not for us to remind them to persevere in their suffering from the comfort of our own privilege.  It is a lesson they are learning from within their own circumstance far better than we could teach them.

“Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.”

Here we see the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:33-37 (another reference to the Sermon on the Mount, further proving that it was a guiding source for the early Christian community).  In this admonition to not take oaths or swear to something, James is again reinforcing the importance of a faith proven by deeds.  For it is when our character is openly above reproach, both in our righteous behaviour and in the humility of our repentance in the face of our sin, that our word requires no oath.  After all, if we swear oaths at certain times, does it not suggest that our words should be suspect in the absence of such oaths?

This reminder is especially critical for those who are living in the midst of suffering.  When we begin to use oaths and/or use the name of God for our own ends, not only do we sully our own character, but we sully the name of God as well.  It is to God that we are to pray for what we need, trusting in His provision.  It is to use His name in vain to invoke it for any purpose not His own.  We are especially not use such oaths to bargain with God, promising Him especial obedience if only He will intervene.  Are we not His servants already & in entirety?  How arrogant is it for us to bargain with what isn’t our own!  What an insult to offer to God, in exchange for our obedience, what is already His!  Again we see the importance of guarding our tongue, as it reflects the nature of our hearts.

Throughout the book, the theme has been repeated again and again.  We are not our own, but His.  Our lives, both in the convictions of our beliefs AND the practices of our lives, must be uncompromisingly submitted to Christ alone.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

James has the ability to make the obvious truths that we ignore to smack us back to reality.  Conflict is a constant in all of our lives, as is the tendency to point fingers at people and/or circumstances outside of ourselves to lay the blame.  Here we are reminded to look back to our hearts as the true source of our conflicts- a hard, but unarguable truth.  Our selfishness fuels our desires- desire to be right, desire to have, desire for position, desire for vindication.  We must own our selfishness and submit our desire to Christ.

Rather than through fighting, James tells us we will get what we want through prayer.  Is he giving us freedom to ask for the wrong things?  Of course not, as he echoes Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (see here and here).  We are to be first and foremost submitted to His Lordship (”…may Your Kingdom come and Your will be done…”), then rely upon Him for that which we need (our daily bread, forgiveness & deliverance).  It is then that we can ask for what we need to hearts freed of selfish desire.

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:  ”God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””

What James means by “friendship with the world” is made clear in his use of the opening identifier of us as “adulterous people”.  This image of marital unfaithfulness powerfully portrays both the gravity of the sin and the nature of the relationship that has been violated.  It not only that we have defied our Lord, but we have betrayed our greatest Love.  To entertain our selfish desires, yet seek to follow Christ is no different than keeping many lovers while claiming to be faithful to our true love, our spouse.  This, again, reminds us of Jesus warning that we cannot serve two masters, but here it is that we cannot be faithful to two lovers.

As in the previous section of the letter, James calls us to humility.  How can humility serve us in our pursuit of faithfulness to God?  Because it is only in our humble and contrite acknowledgment of our sin and genuine repentance that we receive the unmerited grace that will restore us in our relationship with the true Bridegroom, Christ.  We see, then, that the practice of confession within the community of faith is not about fear and judgment, but about relational restoration to Christ and His Body.  Unless we can call sin sin, we cannot expect to receive grace.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

From humble fidelity to our lover, James moves to humble submission to our King.  You cannot be submitted to God if you are not fleeing the worldly desires and temptations.  We are to flee, not flirt, with sin.  Our lives must be consumed with the active pursuit of God and His will.  With every line, James is more clear- following Christ is an all or nothing commitment.  There is not justification for compromise.  Yes, there is grace for the humble when we sin, but that grace is not license to fraternize with the world.

In calling us to both wash our hands (external acts of purification) and purify our hearts (inner repentance), James again reminds us that faith, while born in the spirit, must produce fruit in our actions.  It requires real, action-based change.  Beyond a mere intellectual acknowledgment of wrong doing, it must produce in our hearts the aching contrition of an unfaithful lover pleading forgiveness from their faithful partner.  Blessed are those who mourn!

Consider this section as paraphrased in The Message:

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”

“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?”

Judge not lest you be judged.  Jesus words are not far from James’ & his readers minds.  Just as James begins by addressing us in familial terms, we must begin from the context of our relationship with God and the implicit relationship that brings between all of us.  God is the Father of us all, the only one loving and righteous enough to speak judgment over us.  And He chooses grace for the humble.  Apart of this, none of us merits any love.  Thus, judgment is not the right of the Christian, but rather costly grace is our ever-present responsibility.

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.”

All too often we organize our lives around plans, dreams, agendas and expectations.  While well intentioned, we more often than not try to make room for God within that.  However, unless everything else in our lives are organized secondarily to the primacy of God and His will, we are not truly submitted to God.  He becomes our servant, doling out grace and comfort and provision as we see fit.  Who is the master?  Who is the slave?  Who is the Father?  Who is the child?

To live our lives according to our desires, yet call ourselves Christians is to use God’s name in vain.  It is pure arrogance for us to take advantage of the costly grace of Christ in our lives, then choose to live as though those lives were our own.  They are not!  Our lives belong to the one who has purchased them at a price could never pay or even conceive.

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

Here we see James’ underlying message at its clearest.  That we should not do anything that is wrong should be obvious to us.  However, he clearly paints of picture of what sin is.  Sin is any failure to do the good we know must be done.  Big or small, we are made sinners by our failure to do what is right.  Even acts of evil are ultimately sin for the good they fail to be!  Following Christ is costly, demanding, active.  There is no way around it.

Faith without works is dead.