James 2:1-13
Mike Flynn (Vicar)
It has always struck me as odd that God favours the poor. The theme is there right through the Bible. Paul to the Corinthians reminding them that not many of them were considered wise or wealthy or socially acceptable by normal standards when God called them to trust in Jesus. Jesus' teaching that we are to become like children to enter the Kingdom of God and blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God (Luke 6). The Old Testament is a stand out with its emphasis everywhere on caring for the struggler, or, as Isaiah puts it (Isa 58), we are not to turn our backs on our own flesh. So, Lord, why the bias?
This part of James has helped me to understand that it is not that God is biased towards the poor, it is we who are too often biased against them. God treats each fairly and with respect and that is what we are to do. The royal law (Jas 2:8), the law of the King is the standard and though wealth does have its glory, so does faith (Jas 2:5) which the poor have more opportunity to grow in than the self-reliant. In fact, the riches of faith have a far greater impact on our lives than money because the grace of renewed character, lives living out faith, hope and love make even the poorest life astonishingly rich in the things that money cannot buy. These are the things that make life worth living.
2:1-4
James writes of two types of glory, the glory of Jesus Christ (1,5,13) and the glory of wealth. His point in this passage is that we use one glory or the other to assess people.
Q: Our country is proud of its egalitarian habits yet how does our culture defer to the wealthy, famous and powerful?
Q: The Bible also teaches that honour is due to those to whom honour is due (Romans 13:7). How does this differ from favouring the wealthy, famous and powerful?
Q: Why are we judges and what are our evil thoughts if we show favouritism towards the rich? (4)
Q: Why does the glory of Christ put the poor on the same standing as the rich in the church?
James is about to go onto some harsh words about wealthy people and there are more harsh words to come from 4:13 to 5:6.
Q: Does he mean that it is wrong to be wealthy and right to be poor? (see also: 1Timothy 6:17-19 and Luke 16:1-14)
Q: What does this passage teach us about how to welcome people into our worship services?
Q: How does money answer everything (Ecclesiastes 10:19) in church circles today?
2:5-7
James does not romanticise poverty or excuse the opportunity to abuse of power that riches can bring. In his day it was a legal procedure for a lender to seize a debtor in the streets and, literally, drag them into court (Matthew 18:1-35 illustrates this legal right as well as some of the teachings of Jesus about how we view the poor and the rich), but James points out that God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith and heirs of his kingdom.
Q: What is the evidence for this choice of God in Biblical and church history?
Q: What are some of the wealth of the kingdom, the riches of faith, which any believer can have now and which cannot be purchased?
Q: If this world is not the final world what should be our attitude to the things we gain in this world?
2:8-13
James is making the point that if we break one part of the moral code of the Old Testament law then we are guilty of breaking all of it. If we fail the Royal Law (that is, the Law of the King and his Kingdom – see: Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:29 or Mark 12:33, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14) to love our neighbours as ourselves, because we are showing favour to the wealthy, then there may be no mercy for us if we have not been merciful to others in turn (13).
Q: What do you think James mean by the law of liberty in verse 12?
Q: How has mercy triumphed over judgement in Christ’s kingdom?
Q: Why is it we are we judged by the standards we use to assess others? (13, see also: Matthew 6:12, 7:1-5).
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