James 1: 19 – 21

You must understand this, my beloved:  let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;  for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.  Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

Reflection

When I was writing for Families on Faith Adventures at Home for the URC during COVID, we wrote a session on the book of James entitled “A Handbook for Life”, describing it as a letter with advice on how to live a Christian life in society. It is incredible how the advice, given so many centuries ago, remains so valid for us today. James was the brother of Jesus but only came to faith in later years. But obviously something of Jesus’s character and teaching rubbed off on James while they were growing up together. His adult life saw him spending so much time on his knees in prayer that he apparently picked up the nickname Camel-knees!

I once asked my parents how their marriage had lasted so long – mum died just months before their diamond anniversary – and they responded with another James-ism “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger”. Even after the harshest disagreement, they deliberately made up before bedtime.

It is natural to want to lash out with our words, get in first, make our feelings known. So often, though. if we just wait, listen and try to understand, our anger can fade away as we begin to discover the reasons behind whatever is annoying us. Maybe the person in question has a different world view affected by culture or upbringing, neurodiversity, life experiences or circumstances which underlie the issue. When we stop and listen, we might begin to grasp the big picture.

That’s not to say that anger is never justified, that we should never express it or act upon it – after all, Jesus himself spoke and acted with anger towards the exploitative or corrupt. But the Fruits of the Spirit include patience and self-control, not short fuses and explosive tempers. As expressed in The Message paraphrase of the Bible: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. It is only in this way that we begin to share God’s grace.
 
Prayer

Lord, there is so much that makes me angry:
Children’s rights ignored,
Food poverty and homelessness,
The hostile environment for refugees,
Pollution and needless climate change,
 
My neighbour cutting their grass early Saturday morning,
Children chattering in church.
Slow service in the café.
Teach me, Lord, to know when my anger is justified
And when, instead, I need to stop;
To think, listen, care;
To practise patience and self control;
To share your grace. Amen

James 1: 12 – 16
Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.  No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it;  then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved.

Reflection
I must confess that I don’t feel particularly blessed when I’m faced with a second donut, looking all lonely in the bottom of the box! That, my friends, is a temptation I cannot resist. And then my guilt is felt as my Fitbit records a few more steps, by way of flagellation. I have not stood the test and will therefore not ‘receive the crown of life’. Damn you, tasty, jam-filled donut covered in sprinkles!
I am relieved to discover that this text is less about external temptations like donuts (pick your own!), and more about leaving behind the idea that God tempts or tests us.

We know that there are so many things that might seduce and overwhelm us: drugs, alcohol, sex, possessions, money, food, the dopamine hit – and on; and we know that things can escalate, literally leading to death, for some.
This might be your lived-experience or you may have watched loved-ones spiral out of control, unable to help.

Perhaps the greatest and worst temptation is to believe that God tests us with all kinds of struggles and calamity, so as to prove our faith. It is a lie. God tempts no one. We might, however, discover more of God’s love as we encounter and work through life’s inevitable joys and pains.

But by far the most devastating temptation anyone can present us with, is to believe that God doesn’t like us.

My friends, if or when we hear anything close to this, from others or from church – do not be deceived! This amounts to spiritual abuse, because it is the very opposite of God’s ways and purposes for us and can destroy the lives of those who come to believe it.

I am privileged to be working alongside many who have been led to believe, by the church or society, that they are unloved or unloveable – even by God.
I can share one thing:

‘Do not be deceived’, says God. ‘You are beloved’.

Prayer
Holy God,
may we not be deceived,
by world news,
personal struggles,
injustice or ‘othering’,
to in any way believe that you are testing us
or that your love is limited.

Holy Christ,
may we catch a glimpse today,
of something or someone,
who declares
‘you are beloved’.
 
Holy Spirit,
you dwell with us
in the fullness of love.
So be it. Amen

The Epistle of James

Dear Friends,

I hope the reflections on difficult times I put together over the last two weeks have stimulated thought as we ponder how to navigate the times in which we live.  It’s been good to hear so many responses from you.

We now turn to the Epistle of James.  James is known as a general epistle – ie not sent to a particular congregation –  and one of the 21 epistles in the New Testament. It was written originally in Greek.  James 1:1 identifies the author as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” who is writing to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad”. Traditionally, the epistle is attributed to James the brother of Jesus, and the audience is considered generally to be Jewish Christians, who were dispersed outside Israel.

Framing his letter within an overall theme of patient perseverance during trials and temptations, James writes in order to encourage his readers to live consistently with what they have learned in Christ. He condemns various sins, including pride, hypocrisy, favouritism, and slander. He encourages and implores believers to live humbly by godly, rather than worldly, wisdom; he encourages prayer in all situations.

Martin Luther considered the epistle to be among the disputed books because his teaching of salvation only by faith is somewhat undermined by James’ theology.  Luther sidelined it to an appendix, although he cited it in his Large Catechism.  Of course, Luther’s views were a propaganda gift to Catholics who felt it rather undermined his views on the supremacy of Scripture!

The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience.  Many find James a gripping read and a powerful corrective to theologies which underplay the importance of how we live and behave in our Christian discipleship.

Happy reading!

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
 

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
    on that very day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
   who executes justice for the oppressed;
    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
    the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
    he upholds the orphan and the widow,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign for ever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Reflection

Over the last two weeks we’ve thought about the various facets of our fast changing contemporary society  with mass movements of people, untrustworthy sources of news, financial upheaval coupled with increasing job insecurity.  No wonder that people turn to politicians with easy answers which pit us against each other as a distraction from those who cause the problems in the first place! People vote in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons; and the Church has, over the centuries, had to cope with all sorts of governments of all sorts of ideologies.

Our distinctive contribution as Christians, however, is rather more basic.  Our Psalmist today warns us not to put our trust in mortal rulers who will, like us, one day head for the grave.  Instead, we are told to trust in God. I think this is the basis behind Jesus’ admonition to Pilate that His Kingdom is not of this world; not that we should divorce ourselves from a world heading to Hell but that, as Paul VI once wrote, every political ideology no matter how close it might be portrayed to Christian values, has within itself the seeds of its own destruction unless it is an articulation of Jesus’ good news.  

As the Psalmist notes God sets  prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, lifts the oppressed, loves the righteous watches over strangers, and upholds the rights of those on the edge.  These other worldly values are ones we might wish to see in our politicians and we can rejoice when their policies seem to come close to these things.  We always remember, however, not to place our trust in mortals “in whom there is no help” but instead trust only in God, our rock and redeemer.  

Such trust is the only sure way to navigate the difficult times in which we live and reject the siren voices that tempt us to despair.

Prayer

God, our guide,
calm our anxieties,
strengthen our resolve,
and increase our trust in You,
that we may no longer put our trust in mortals,
who offer nothing but division and discord,
that we may proclaim and welcome
Your coming Kingdom,
Amen.  

Philippians 3:17 – 21

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.  For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

Reflection

When the Church becomes too close to the realms and regimes, ideas and ideologies of the State, corruption sets in.  

In Henry VIII’s England, Parliament declared him “Head of the Church” and went on to regulate worship and seize Church land against resistance that ultimately came to little.  In 1930s Germany the “German Christians” won power in church elections and sought to accommodate Christianity with Nazism.  Those who tried to stay faithful to the Gospel adopted the Barmann Declaration which proclaimed the Church’s freedom in Jesus Christ who is Lord of every area of life.  As God’s Word, Jesus determines the Church’s order, ministry, and relationship to the state; the Church was not to be a mere State agency.  It was heady stuff but allowed faithful Christians to organise and avoid Nazi corruption. This declaration inspired contemporary Orthodox theologians to condemn the “Russian World” teaching prevalent in some sections of Russian Orthodoxy.  This teaching includes ideas such as the nations of Ukraine and Belarus are not legitimate (and should be seen as extensions of Russia), that the Church is the soul of the nation and so intimately bound up with it, and subordinates Christian faith to national interests.

Attempts to blur the boundaries between our earthly and heavenly citizenship always end badly – whether that’s the upheaval of the Reformation era, Nazi attempts to subjugate the Church, or Russian attempts to baptise imperial ideology.  Paul reminds us, in an age where Roman citizenship was prized and valuable, that the only citizenship we should care about is that of Heaven.   

Henry Tudor is mere dust in his grand grave, the German Christians did not succeed in their demonic despotism and, one day, Kirill and his perversion of Orthodoxy will stand condemned as will all attempts to make the Church a useful idiot.  Above it all stands Christ, the Lord who calls us to follow him rejecting all that corrupts the Gospel and offering us hope and guidance in difficult times. 

Prayer

God our Guide,
remind us always of our true heavenly citizenship,
that the values of Your coming Kingdom,
will help us be better citizens of our earthly realms,
and more faithful disciples.  Amen.

Thursday 17 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 10 – My Kingdom is Not of This World

St Luke 4: 1 – 13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.  The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.”’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”,

and

“On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

Sadly the Church, unlike Jesus,  hasn’t resisted temptation.  It’s understandable really.  An emperor came along winning a battle through, he bizarrely believed, Christ’s help and suddenly Christianity was decriminalised.  People came in droves seeking baptism to curry favour with the new regime.  The emperor cast his lot with this new religion to replace Rome’s old tired gods.  But there was a heavy price for this partnership; the emperor meddled in Church affairs; the Church found it had to guard its tongue.

Some may look back at Constantine’s patronage of the Church as a good thing, ensuring our survival down the centuries.  Our privileged place at the heart of European civilisation means that, at least, our culture is influenced by the Gospel.  Others may look at the compromises which blunted our message as ecclesiastical mouths were stuffed with gold, prophets silenced, and power concentrated in the families who ended up running both Church and state.  

Even now we seek to try to cling on to the trappings of power and influence.  The Church continues to be tempted to support politicians who use us; Mr Trump in America, Mde Le Pen in France, Mr Orbán in Hungary.  One suspects the Jesus revealed in the Gospels would have harsh things to say about both our political leaders and the compromises we make with them.

What, I wonder, would our history have been if we’d declined Constantine’s offer?  What if we’d wished him well but kept on with the simple task of proclaiming the Gospel.  What if we’d founded small communities which sought nothing more than to worship God through working for the greater good?  What if we’d rejected power?  Of course this is where we are now – or if not quite there approaching it at speed.  

The Faustian pact with the State has not given us what was dreamt of; only from the edge can we see, critique, and tend the world as Jesus does.

Prayer

Table-turning God,
guard us when we are tempted to accept power and glory in Your name,
remind us that the devil’s tools will not build the Kingdom,
You do not bless battles,
and the last and least need Your love, protection, and care,
Amen.