Chaplain Mel
Baars
September 9,
2012
James
2:1-10, 14-17
“But none too much..”
We
all know how this works, particularly in the military. Special people get
special treatment. In our community, it’s not gold rings and fine clothes, but
it’s a bird or a star or two which garners the special treatment. When a person of that kind of stature
appears on the scene, we do the scramble dance. We are at their beck and call
with our “Yes Sirs” and “Yes Ma’ams.” No request is too much. The question is not if we will jump, but just how high.
This is how we train, starting from our first experiences in basic training.
The rank structure exists for good reasons. I want to be clear, I am not
proposing an all out rebellion against it.
It
is actually the second part of James’ point which applies to us. He says, “but
if a poor person in dirty clothes walks in, and if you take notice of the one
wearing the fine clothes saying, ‘Have a seat here, please,’ while to the one
who is poor you say, ‘Stand there,’ or ‘Sit at my feet,’ have you not made
distinctions among yourselves.” Respect is not just for the ones who have the
stars on their chests. They may be the ones who get the seat at the head of the
table. We stand at attention when they enter the room. This is our protocol,
and it is important. Yet, that does not preclude us from extending respect to
all the rest, even the ones with hardly any rank at all.
Respect
of the office is paramount to doing our business, but it’s not what James is
referring to here. Instead, he is talking about how we treat one another. The
idea that no matter who comes to us for help, we respond generously because he
or she is first and foremost our neighbor. We see them for their humanity and
not for their wealth, or in our case, their rank. As much as we know this, too
often we forget. When we amass, even a modicum of power or influence, it’s easy
for it to go to our heads. We task someone “under” us to do the dirty work,
just this once because we are too busy with more important work. But then one
time turns into two or three, and the snowball continues. We walk into a room,
looking past all the lower enlisted, figuring out with whom we can rub our
elbows. Just this once, we say to ourselves. We have to think of our careers
and our next promotion board. One thing leads to the next, little compromises
and moments of neglect, and sooner or later, we have lost sight of respect and
love altogether.
Just
a glance at James and it’s obvious that he isn’t in the business of sugar coating.
He asks his audience a simple, albeit, excruciatingly uncomfortable question.
“Do you people really believe in Jesus?” After assessing the landscape and
observing their behavior patterns, particularly their treatment of the poor and
powerless, James has come to a pretty dismal conclusion. Though they say they
believe, they don’t act like it. They don’t live as if their belief in Jesus
makes any real difference in their lives.
James’
question is as pertinent to us as it was to them. Assessing the way that we
behave, examining our actions, would James ask us the same question? Do we really believe in Jesus? Do we live our
lives as if our belief in Jesus makes a difference? I guess a better question
might be this: How should a believer live? James answers this question by
reminding his audience that we are accountable for all of our actions and, in
some cases, our inaction. We may follow some laws really well, never murdering
or committing adultery, but if we forget to love to our neighbors, if we judge
others mercilessly, then we have, in effect, broken all of the laws. It’s not a
game of picking and choosing. We are accountable for what we have done and left
undone, and because we are human beings, it’s a safe bet that we have fallen
short somewhere.
James
spends quite a few verses of this chapter talking about the poor, which is
rather appropriate for us as we are living in one of the poorest countries in
the world where about 42% of the population in Afghanistan live on less than $1
a day.[1]
It is hard to know where to begin in a place with these kinds of statistics,
but all of us have more opportunities than we may realize to respect our
neighbors, even here within the walls of our camp. Whether it’s at the dining
facility, when we are served our food or find ourselves standing in line next
to a local contractor, or just walking by the latrines and acknowledging those
individuals whose job it is to clean up after us, it all begins with our
willingness to see. Once we see the humanity of another person, once we realize
that this is our neighbor, too, we may find more strength to act, and
subsequently, to live like the believers of Jesus that we claim to be.
James
makes some pretty controversial conclusions in his letter about faith and
works, or more pointedly that “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Some of the reformers, in particular Martin Luther, didn’t think James was an
authentic apostle. Some would have liked for him to be thrown out of the Bible
completely because this chapter has continued to fuel a debate over whether
faith or works grants a person salvation, a debate still unsettled throughout
the church to this day. As a good Presbyterian, I must say first and foremost,
it is God who saves us, and not ourselves. But, James asks an important question, “What good is it if someone
claims to have faith but has no deeds?”
“Can such a faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without
clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them,
‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical
needs, what good is it?”
What
good is that kind of faith? James reminds us that faith is about more than what
we say. It is not about our lip service, but it is about our discipleship.
Faith is about how we live and love and serve God and God’s many diverse
children. True faith moves us both to our
knees in prayer and thanks and then out into the world to become witnesses of
God’s good news. When we live our lives as if our belief in Jesus actually
makes a difference, then we endeavor to follow that great commandment, to love
our neighbor as ourselves. We attempt to see all people as neighbors, no matter
what rings or rank that they wear. And though we fail to do this completely, we
also don’t ever give up.
In
1895, British Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called If. Though originally published over a hundred years ago,
it is a favorite among many, including myself and my late grandfather who first
taught it to me when I was in the sixth grade. It has influenced many notable
personalities, including our own General Petraeus who publicly cited this poem
as one of his sources of strength, particularly during hearings on Iraq.[2]
In one of its stanzas Kipling says this:
“If
you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
'
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if
neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If
all men count with you, but none too much.”
Perhaps
he took a page straight out of James when he said—“If all men count with you,
but none too much.” Though this is not an easy thing to do, we are still called
to try, to do our best to love and serve our neighbors, remembering that God is
present with us, giving us the strength we need to reach out again and again
and again, even when it hurts. The poverty in our world is surely vast. And,
it’s not just material, but also it is an emptiness of the heart. We all suffer
from this kind of hunger. We are all desperate for ways to be fulfilled.
God
has promised to give us what we need, to make us whole again, and to wipe all
the tears from our eyes. So, write this promise down. Remember it well, for it
is trustworthy and true.[3]
Go out into the world in peace and with courage. Honor all people as you go.
Live your life as if Jesus has made all the difference-- because, in the end,
he has. Amen
[1]
"Afghanistan:
Food still unaffordable for millions". IRIN. 12
March 2009. Archived from
the original on 27 August 2010. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83417. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
[2]
"Crocker,
Petraeus Address Report on Iraq 'Progress'". The
Washington Post. 12 September 2007. http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/crocker_petraeus_news_conference_091207.html. Retrieved 06 September 2012.
[3]
Paraphrase Revelations 21:4-5
No comments:
Post a Comment