Respect of Persons: A Meditation on James 2 for the Season of Pentecost

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring,

 in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing,

and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place;

and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

 Are ye not then partial in yourselves,

and are become judges of evil thoughts?

Hearken, my beloved brethren,

Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith,

and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

But ye have despised the poor.

Do not rich men oppress you,

and draw you before the judgment seats?

Do not they blaspheme that worthy name

 by the which ye are called?

 

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture,

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin,

and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law,

and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill.

Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill,

 thou art become a transgressor of the law.

So speak ye, and so do,

as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

 For he shall have judgment without mercy,

that hath shewed no mercy;

and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

 

It may come as a surprise that our modern cults of celebrity were well known in the ancient world.  St. James wrote not long after the death and resurrection of Jesus, before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and was most likely the half brother of Jesus (born of Joseph and a previously deceased wife, rather than Mary the Mother of Jesus.)  Regardless of how St. James may have regarded his younger half-brother before the events of Calvary, he became a leading Apostle after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, ultimately martyred in Jerusalem by the same religious authorities who murdered Jesus.  St. James knew what it meant to live the faith in persecution and tribulation, and he also knew first-hand how vapid, unreliable, and treacherous people of worldly prestige could be.  People of rank, privilege, education, and power had manipulated courts, mobs, traitors, and foreign powers to torture and execute Jesus, and they would do the same to Jesus’ followers for centuries to come.

 

And yet, the lure of power, wealth, and influence still holds a strange attraction to Christians. For the unbelieving world who have no internal conviction of enduring or transcended good, nor of the judgement they must eventually face before the throne of their Creator when they die, it may not be surprising that they court the powerful, the beautiful, the wealthy, and the influential.  For those whose hope is only in this world, the pursuit of money and power is a natural if twisted inclination, drawing them into the presence of those who have it, even as they try to find ways to take it for themselves, or borrow the glory of others.  But for the Christian who knows better, why the attraction to the rich and powerful of this age?  For the Church of Jesus Christ, endowed with every eternal gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation won through His shed blood, with grace upon grace to raise us up into the restored image of our God and Savior by the omnipotent power of His Holy Spirit, what possible value can the baubles of this world offer?  What can Christians possibly think they can add to the Eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ, through the affluence of celebrities?

 

There is, I think, the rub.  Christians while still at war in this world against their own sinful flesh, their own corrupted minds, and the daily assaults of the devil, still wrestle with unbelief—specifically, unbelief that the Word and Work of Jesus Christ is enough to do what God has sent it into the world to do.  Every day, Christians still wake up and try to figure out what they can add to the Gospel, how they can help God in the work of saving themselves and in saving the whole world.  It is an arrogance born of unbelief, a hubris projected from personal insecurity, knowing deep down that if any of this soul saving Gospel is dependent on us, we are lost beyond hope.  Somewhere deep down in the heart of the Christian, there is still a war going on between faith and unbelief, as the Holy Spirit continues day by day to conform every baptized believer into the image of their Savior.  This is a battle we never quite finish in this world until we lay our sinful flesh in the dust, and the Word of Jesus finishes its promised work to raise us up to eternal life, purged of all our sinful inclinations and unbelief, forever.  Thus in this world, true faith is never found without repentance, and Gospel is never present without Law.

 

So the inclination of Christians over the centuries and in our own day, to somehow borrow or even take the prestige of the educated, the powerful, the influential, and the rich, really isn’t such a mystery after all.  Nor is it a mystery why St. James pens such a strong admonition to Christians to repent of such idolatry and unbelief, knowing that a transgressor of the Law in one point, is guilty of the Law as a whole.  While there may be broad ranges of horror which people work out according to their unbelief, it is still unbelief which separates us from God and from His life-giving grace in Jesus Christ.  The call to Christians for repentance is essential to a living faith, as our wrestling against sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil isn’t over until we leave this broken world behind.  And yet, the comfort of that Gospel Word is that Jesus has accomplished all things necessary for our victory over all the forces of darkness, and that He as the Author of our Faith, is also the Finisher or fulfiller of our Faith.  There is nothing we can add to His saving Word or Work, but to live in faith and repentance which flow from His Word and Spirit, and to live forgiven and free in His fellowship forever.

 

This is the heart which flows with mercy and love for the neighbor, because it has already received mercy and love from Jesus, and has no fear of the final judgment.  If today your heart is troubled about that Last Day because you have not believed the Word of the Lord, return to it again, and hear His Spirit speak to you the forgiveness, life, and salvation won for you by Jesus Christ alone.  Hear again the peace and mercy He speaks to you from His Cross, that the shadows of unbelief might be driven away, and that your heart might overflow with His love and mercy to all around you.  Let go of the false hope you have in your own works to save you, or in the works of celebrities to somehow improve the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Rest again in the saving Work and Word of Jesus, that He might raise you up to fulfill the promise of your faith in works of love and mercy to everyone He sends you to, and to accomplish His good works through you which He has designed from before the foundation of the world.  For our victory in this war between faith and unbelief is not assured by our own works or passion, but by the very Word which gives us renewed life in this world, a saving faith never found without repentance and good works, and eternal life in the world to come.  Amen.