Life in Community

Have you ever felt like you don’t belong? Maybe it was in a context of school, or the neighborhood kids, or in an entirely new place you moved to. Likely, we all have at various times in our lives. I’ll never forget, not long after Pastor Cindy and I moved to Kentucky in 2011, one of our neighbors asked us where we were from. After telling them, we heard something to the effect of - Yeah, we’re not from around here either, we are from such and such county. We didn’t think much of it in the moment, but when we looked up where that county was a little later that day, it was only a little over 50 miles away. You see, counties are quite small in Kentucky and people take great pride in where they were from. We were certainly the outsiders and quickly realized it would take some time to truly feel like we belonged.

Belonging can be such a fickle and painful process in life. As the popular researcher and writer Brené Brown describes in her book, Braving the Wilderness, she struggled to fit in after moving to New Orleans in the late 60s. In Brown’s case, her name created quite a bit of controversy itself, as she tried to understand the largely segregated world of the south that she found herself in as a young child:

Experiences of not belonging are the time markers of my life, and they started early. I attended pre-K and kindergarten at Paul Habans Elementary on the west bank of New Orleans. It was 1969, and as wonderful as the city was and still is, it was a place suffocated by racism. Schools had only become officially desegregated the year I started. I didn’t know or understand much about what was happening, I was too young; but I knew that my mom was outspoken and tenacious…

We had moved there from Texas, and that had been hard for me…Homeroom lists were used to determine everything—from attendance records to birthday party invitations. One day my mom’s room-mother partner waved the list in front of my mom’s face and said, “Look at all of the black kids on here! Look at these names! They’re all named Casandra!” Huh, my mom thought. Maybe this explained why I was being left out of so many of my white friends’ parties.

My mom goes by her middle name, but her first name is Casandra. My full name on that homeroom list? Casandra Brené Brown. If you’re African American and reading this, you know exactly why white families weren’t inviting me over. It’s the same reason a group of African American graduate students gave me a card at the end of the semester that said, “OK.

You really are Brené Brown.” They had signed up for my course on women’s issues and almost fell out of their chairs when I walked to my desk at the front of the classroom on the first day of class. One student said, “You are not Casandra Brené Brown?” Yes, ma’am…The black families were welcoming to me—but their shock was noticeable when I walked through the door. One of my friends told me I was the first white person who had ever been inside their house.

Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, Random House Publishing Group.

We all want to belong somewhere. In fact, there is a basic human desire of belonging. However, here is where I want to challenge us this morning, and where I believe God wants to challenge us this morning. The church should be the first and easiest place for people to feel like they belong, but sadly, that is often not the case. I have heard way to many stories over the years of people hurt by the church. Now there are certainly a variety of reasons for this, but we are called to be a place where everyone belongs - everyone feels welcome - and we are to go out of our way to do so, just like Jesus did during his earthly ministry.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to James chapter 5.

James 5 NIV

1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 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. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. 7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as 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. 12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. 13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Now I want to read this same passage from The Message version, as there is some plain language that I think will help us grasp some of these concepts:

James 5 The Message

1 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. 2 Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. 3 Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment. 4 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. 5 You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. 6 In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it. 7 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. 8 Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time. 9 Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner. 10 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. 11 What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail. 12 And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you. 13 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. 14 Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. 15 Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 16 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. 17 Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. 18 Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. 19 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back 20 and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

Warning to the Rich

As this chapter starts, we again see this idea of the rich being corrupt. Before we go any further, I want to make sure we understand the context of this. First, the adjective corrupt appears in our translations, but did not appear in the Greek. Our study guide for this series tells us this is because first-century readers would have already understood that the rich were corrupt based on their historical, cultural, and religious contexts. As we’ve discussed in previous messages in our study of James, the rich had historically oppressed the poor by not giving them their appropriate wages. The Old Testament prophets Amos, Micah, and Isaiah all call out the rich for their oppression of the poor. Therefore, the corruption was a long-standing practice.

Culturally, Jews and early Christians believed that there was just enough of every-thing—food, water, health, fertility, etc.—for everyone to have what they needed. Therefore, since the rich had more than they needed, that must mean they had taken from others who did not have enough. Religiously, the rich had also compromised themselves with the Syrian empire in the two hundred years before Christ’s birth in order to gain economic advantage. The poor rebelled against the Syrians in the Maccabean Revolt of the 160s BC. They set up the Hasmonean Dynasty, which ruled Palestine for eighty years before the Romans took over.

Prompt payment of wages was a big deal in that day as many people were “hand to mouth” - the daily wages were buying the thing they needed to survive that day. When these were witheld, it was certainly a form of oppression.

We see James echo this warning to the rich again in this context. Let’s look at some of these messages from the prophets:

Micah 6:8 NIV

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Isaiah 1:17 NIV

17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah 10:1–2 NIV

1 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

When we look at The Message version of verse 1, we see the word arrogant and the suggestion to take some lessons in lament. The focus seems to be on greed and piling up wealth for themselves versus having an attitude of serving others and giving out of their excess to others who need it.

Let me say this, money in and of itself is not bad. The problem becomes what happens to so many people who have money. It starts to control them, it starts to turn them inward which leads to selfishness. It leads to a disregard of the will of God, which ties back to the royal law we have mentioned several times throughout our study of James - “love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s not universal, but there is certainly a trend throughout history and in our society today when it comes to money and power. James is condemning the rich for selfishly using their resources on themselves and failing to do anything to serve or help others. In fact, we see things being turned on their head, as the corrupt rich people who were so used to coming out on top of legal battles, would find themselves in the opposite position when they find themselves standing before God as judge.

Here’s the big problem with money and power - it doesn’t last forever. Have you ever noticed when you got a raise that you were excited but it seemed like you didn’t have any more money each month? We tend to spend what we have. We see James alluding to Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus advises us not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, but instead to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. The problem isn’t the money, it is when we have the wrong focus and motive and they don’t line up with being a follower of Jesus Christ. Money provides false hope because we are not keeping our focus on the hope that comes from Jesus Christ.

Patience in Suffering - The Need for Patient Endurance

We then see James transition to the idea of patience, particularly in suffering. It’s a bit of an abrupt change from the warning he gives to the corrupt rich, but he transitions to the thought that Christians need to be patient because the appearing of the Lord is near. This next part is probably the toughest of this passage, we must not grumble against each other, because we will stand before the judge who is yet to come.

For the Jews, the last days begin with the appearance of the Messiah. Therefore, the readers of James considered themselves to be living in the last days, which is why James urges the poor to be patient—because judgment would soon come for their oppressors.

James uses the idea of the preparation of the farmer to compare with Christians waiting for the coming of Christ. The farmer prepares the soil, plants the seed, waits for the sun and the rains to grow the crop, and finally comes the harvest. If you know anything about farming, you know that the farmer doesn’t plant the seed and then just kick back and relax waiting for the harvest. Instead, he does everything he can to help grow that crop - he continues to work. This is similar to what Christians should do. Yes, we are awaiting Christ’s coming Kingdom, but we are also not to just sit back and wait, we are to get to work loving others and serving others and do everything we can to help grow God’s Kingdom in the here and now.

Job is mentioned because he is the prominent example in Jewish literature of someone who was patient in suffering. He was the parade example of patience. If you haven’t read the story of Job, I would encourage you to do that. He was “blameless and upright” wealthy man, who endured the many trials of Satan that God gave permission to Satan to put him through. But here was the thing. God trusted that Job was authentic and real in his faith and that he would remain faithful no matter what. Satan, on the other hand, didn’t think Job would do so. Can you imagine God trusting your faith in Him so much that he would allow Satan to come at you like he did Job? What a compliment!

We see Job’s friends come to comfort and assume that this is all happening because of some hidden sin. Even his wife urges him to curse God so that this would all stop. But Job refused. He continues to call on God, lamenting what is happening, but never losing faith. In the end God restored the things he lost, but what perseverance and trust to have in God. It is awe inspiring.

While we may not ever go through trials like Job, we are promised that we will have trouble in this world because of Jesus Christ. As followers of Christ, we are called to live in counter-cultural ways that are contrary to the world around us - ways that don’t look to take advantage of others and are not looking for power, but ways that serve the least of these and do so from a willing and obedient heart. We also are not to grumble while serving, or else it starts to look less and less like we are living in these counter-cultural ways of the here and now aspect of God’s Kingdom.

Prayer Offered in Faith

The third theme in this chapter is that the prayers of God’s people, who’s hearts are truly right with him and whose desires are not selfish and are focused on the needs and good of others is a powerful weapon to be reckoned with.

Just as Job is the example of patience, Elijah is the example of a person who prayed and got tangible results. We find these stories in the Old Testament, but they also appear in the apocryphal books and in the oral tradition of the rabbis. Olive oil had many uses in Jewish tradition, from anointing someone to be king, to preparing food, to being used as a medicine. So James is encouraging both prayer and medical attention when confronting illness in the community.

In both James and in Jesus’s ministry we see the apparently widespread understanding that a person’s spiritual condition and physical condition are interrelated (see Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5). The Jews believed in the holistic nature of a person. While the Greeks divided the person into body and spirit or body, soul, and spirit (See 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and 2 Corinthians 7:1 for examples in Paul’s letters), the Jews understood that one could not separate the body out into different parts. Therefore, what was happening to the spirit was also happening to the body. The modern understanding and treatment of disease is quite different from what we see here in the first century. In James’ times, healing was not the getting rid of disease, but the bringing of understanding and meaning to a situation - making sense of the world for the better. The objective was to restore the person to the community, not just back to health and vitality. Forgiveness of sins was an important part of this restoration process as a result. This is also important for understanding James’s insistence that what one truly believes will come out in one’s actions.

I think the problem lies in the fact that we all would say we believe in prayer, but I am not sure we actually always pray that way. Do we really believe that God will answer our prayers prayed in faith? Elijah is a great example for us. He didn’t pray once, in fact he continually prayed, thus he knew that when he prayed in faith and with the right motives God would hear and answer. I think often times, we only pray like this when something is going wrong or we have a desperate need when in fact we should be praying with this kind of expectation all of the time. While there is no one size fits all prayer, we are to pray directly to the source of help and ask those around us in the body to pray with us. When we come together in prayer as a body it is a powerful weapon that we do not use enough today and we need to learn to use more. Many people look to other things to find answers when the answer can only come from God alone. When our desires are in line with God’s, he is more than willing to answer our prayers prayed in faith.

As we wrap up this morning, I want to highlight some take-aways for us to remember from James 5:

What God gives us in earthly resources we are expected to use for the benefit of others—not to squander in pampering ourselves.

God wants social and economic justice for all people. God will eventually judge and punish those who use their power, wealth, and influence to oppress others.

Christians are to wait patiently and endure the circumstances of persecution or hardship without complaining about other Christians.

Christians should create a loving and caring community so that those who are feeling bad or depressed can admit it and have people pray with them; so that those who are happy can sing and rejoice without feeling guilty; and so that those who are sick can find healing and wholeness.

There is nothing wrong with asking God in prayer for what we need. God hears and answers the petition prayers of people who are living Christlike lives.

Sometimes Christians wander from the truth, and when they do, we should go after them and help them to come back to the truth.

When people come back to God, they have been saved from spiritual death—which is not a minor issue! When wandering Christians are corrected, the reputation of the church is protected.