November 3, 2010 – James 4-5

Lot’s in here.  Are you a lover of the world?  You cannot serve both God and mammon.  Here, we have gone over material things and living our lives for them before, but I don’t know if it has been put like this before.  In looking at what enmity means, it is a complete divide or separation.  The footnotes make note that having any material things is not what this is condemning, but the love of them or the focus of our life to get them is going to completely separate ourselves from God.  

Are you a judge or a doer of the Law?  I have to work very hard to not judge people.  It is one of the things I struggle with the most.  I don’t know if I have ever thought about it in this way.  When you judge, you are putting yourself in a new position.  You do not become a doer anymore.  A judge cannot be a doer also because the judge must be above the action.  There is a conflict if the judge is also part of the action because of the attachments and emotions that come from being a doer.  We are not qualified to judge because we are made for the doing.  I do catch myself more (which is one of the reasons I know I do it too much) and really try to focus on thinking about where they are at, why they may be doing what they are doing, understanding that I cannot know their mind set or their culpability, and then trying to reflect on my own actions and trying to learn from the situation.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and in my job I am in a position to really see people that many people can judge very harshly.  I hear a lot that “I would never do that” or “I can’t believe anyone would do that”.  It is easy to think and say this, but we are not made for this job.  There is one judge, and it is not me, thank God. 

Do we make our own plans?  I have the benefit of being married, so I get told what my future plans are.  That isn’t entirely true, but we do need to realize that the future is out of our control and in the control of someone who knows what’s best for us.  Let us always end all our plans for the future with “let your will be done Lord”.  We may be surprised how things turn out and also how we aren’t worried as much anymore. 

Ch5v14 – points very clearly to the Sacrament of Anointing of the sick.  And also that it is to be done by a priest (presbyter). 

V16 speaks of confessing our sins to one another, not some notion that we can confess our sins to God alone in prayer and be forgiven. 

V20 an act, done by a person, can cover a multitude of sins.  This is contradictory to the idea of faith alone and the idea that we are only saved by believing in Christ.  This verse says that there is some action I can do (bring somebody back to the faith) that will cover a multitude of sins.  It is God’s mercy and grace that allows this and it is His grace that we receive from the action, but it is my action that opens that door.  I am interested in what everyone’s take is on that verse.