James 5:1-6 - You can make a difference!

Scripture: James 5:1-6

Summary: Rich people, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted. You kept your laborers back by fraud. You have murdered the righteous one.

Thoughts: Wow! This writer doesn't hold back his condemnation of the rich! Now before I get carried away, I should say that I don't believe that all rich people are guilty of what this writer is accusing them of. However, we also need to remember that to most of the world we are rich. I'm saying "we" because I'm assuming that most of the readers of this blog are, like me, comfortably middle class. But compared to the majority of people on this world, we are rich.  Do you have a car? Do you have enough food to eat and a safe, comfortable place to stay at night?  Then you, like me, are rich. So when I read this scripture and try to tell myself that he is not writing about me, I have to think again. Because certainly some of the things I buy are made by laborers who are not making a living wage.  Most of the coffee for sale today is harvested by people who are not given a fair wage. Many of our clothes and shoes are made by people or children in sweat shops. Much of our meat comes from animals who are raised in horrible conditions. But what can we do about any of this? Well, we can buy fair trade coffee. We can buy local vegetables and fruits. We can buy free range eggs and meat which comes from local producers. For these and other ways you can make a difference, check out Cool People Care. Because there are thousands of ways that we can make a difference, one thing at a time.

Prayer: God help me to remember that I am your hands and feet. That I can make a difference to the world in which I live. Amen.

James 2:1-7 - Favoritism

Scripture: James 2:1-7

Summary: If you show favorites, do you really believe in Jesus Christ? Do you treat a person who is dressed nicely better than the person in dirty clothes? Hasn't God chosen the poor to be heirs of the kingdom?

Thought: How do we explain God's preference for the poor? How can a loving God, who loves each of us more than we can imagine, show preference for some? Perhaps it would help if we look at God like a parent with two children, one of them handicapped. The parent might spend more time or money on the handicapped child than on the other. This does not mean that the parent loves the handicapped child any more or any less. Only that this child needs more attention than the other. Maybe in a similar way, God takes more time for the poor than for the rich. Can we learn a lesson from the way that God invests more in the poor? Can we learn to treat the poor with as much love and deference as we treat the rich? Can we overcome out tendency to 'play favorites,' not only toward the rich but toward those who look and act like us?

Prayer: Help me to act more like a child of God, treating all that I encounter with the love and respect that they deserve as fellow children of God. Amen.

James 1:9-11 - Busy-ness

Scripture: James 1:9-11

Summary: The lowly believer will be raised up and the rich brought low, for the rich will wither away.

Thoughts: When I first read this, I think perhaps this is good, since I never have any extra money! But why does this writer say that the rich will wither away? Perhaps the answer may be found in the last line, "in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away." I have discovered that when I have weeks with no real sabbath, that I begin to wither. Since I work for a local church, although I enjoy Sunday morning worship, Sunday is not a sabbath day for me. I often help lead worship, I teach Sunday school, I have meetings, and I lead Youth Fellowship that night. Sunday is at least a 12 hour day for me. So if I don't consistently take another day during the week to take care of myself, to spend time with God, I start to wither away. My response to people is often not as grace filled as I would like for it to be. So I wonder if this writer is not saying that the rich people are too busy and not taking time for God. Even though I am not rich, there is a lesson for me in this scripture. Take time out of your busy-ness to eat dinner with your family, to read a good book, and to spend time with God.

Prayer: Help me God to schedule free time in to my week and to use some of that time to listen for you. Amen.