Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC
September 6, 2009
Twenty-third Sunday in Pentecost

Scripture Lesson:  James 2:1-10, 14-17

 "Revising Your Job Description"

"... You do well if you really fulfill the royal law
according to the scripture,
`You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'''
(James 2:8)

Prelude

Beginning this morning,

and continuing through a good portion of September,

I intend to have us work with the lectionary material

that comes to us from the Epistle of James. 

Fred Craddock, a noted scholar/teacher of preachers,

once commented:  "Christian faith grows out of

and is sustained by the conversation between

the church and its Bible." 

I'm hoping James will facilitate and inspire conversation

pertaining to what faith is real, and what faith is relevant;

I hope such ponderings will serve to strengthen our ties

(to God and to each other), as well as to embolden our

witness to the Way that is our peace and joy.

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As New Testament literature, James is typically included within a group of

documents (Hebrews, I & II Peter; I,II, III John, and Jude)

known as the General or Catholic epistles.  Our New Testament consists

of 27 books, and they can be divided into

Gospel (4),

Acts of the Apostles (1),

the Pauline Letters (13),

the General Epistles (8),

Revelation (1).

There is often a distinction drawn between New Testament letters,

written to specific people or congregations,

and an epistle, which is suited for broader appeal,

with instructional purpose that is more general in nature. 

Letters, often attributed to Paul,

are named for their destinations,

whether congregation or individual.

Epistles bear the name of people

presumed to be their authors. 

James, lodged between Hebrews and I Peter,

falls into this latter category of general epistle.

James is traditionally understood to be

the brother of the Lord, who emerged as a primary

leader of the early Christian movement,

and who was most active and influential

in the Jerusalem council, recorded for us in Acts 15

(as opposed to the James, brother of John,

one of the twelve disciples/apostles).

Two years ago, we were visited by the New Testament scholar

Luke Timothy Johnson, from Chandler School of Theology,

Emory University.  We had a wonderful time with Dr.

Johnson, who served with us as a Parry Lecturer.

I didn't know it at the time, but he is the contributor

to the New Interpreter's Bible commentary who wrote

the entry on James.  Luke Timothy Johnson argues

James is a first generation document of the Christian,

composed early in the life of the church. 

This is significant.  If the assessment is accurate,

then James was not written later, weighing in after

others had spoken; James is a contemporary,

running parallel to others who advocate/articulate

understanding of the Christian revelation.

Johnson states there are three ways in which

James speaks to every generation. 

(1) There is a clear line of distinction draw by between

life in the faith community and life in the world; and

urgent appeal to live in an "understanding of reality

as measured by God;"

 

(2) with its teaching rooted more in theo-logy rather

than Christ-ology, James is among the most ecumenical of

writings within the New Testament; James is an example that you

don't need be rigid or fixed in the faith vocabulary;

 

(3) James is uncompromisingly clear in asserting that faith

has no fertility unless it embraces and grounds itself in

the world, in something or someone other than self.

There is no gospel apart from a social location. 

Salvation is a not a "get out of jail" coupon,

stashed in a pocket for use when death comes. 

A gospel unanchored in the world,

oblivious to its waves,

has no good news to preach,

nor a relevant Christ to proclaim.  James elevates the

functionality of faith as practice, not profession.

(see Johnson chapter in NIB, Vol. XII,. p. 183-184).

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We heard some of these concerns in the morning lesson.

"Do you really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ

with your acts of favoritism?"  James is concerned with

privilege, preferential treatment, favor displayed upon some

and not others; he is sensitive to an existing breach between

rich and poor in the faith community.

He proceeds to introduce a term found nowhere else

in the New Testament:  "you do well if you really fulfill the Royal Law,

‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself;'" it is

a quoting of Leviticus 19:18, and most probably an echo of

Jesus. 

James continues working this theme of distinction,

preference, favoritism.  It is a perilous path. 

You start drawing your own judgments

between those who are different, then you commit sin. 

And if you practice a faith that keeps a people

in servitude to their poverty, in their plight of suffering or

estrangement, then such faith is dead.  No good.

Call it faith futility; worthless. 

Yet James is most hopeful: living faith is possible, indeed probable. 

An excellent name has been invoked over us, a word implanted

with us, with power to save our souls, equipping us to be doers

of the word, not merely hearers only. 

The Gospel is not designed merely to tingle our ears,

but to fully engage us:  our minds, hearts, our ears, lips, hands,

all that we are - to the extent that we live confidently

with the God whom we love and delight to serve.

This is "full gospel" properly understood,

fit for employment in this world and in any world to come.

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Well, it's Labor Day weekend,

a sign that summer is drawing to an end. 

Someone recently called it "the summer of our

discontent."  No good movies.  No good novels.

Tomatoes have been subpar.  Lots of unemployment.

Anger.  Anxiety. 

"This is the summer when nothing exciting happened.

In fact, the most exciting thing that did happen was

the eruption of angry town hall meetings all across

the country whose sole purpose was to prevent anything

from happening."

(Wall St. Journal, p. W1, Sept. 5-6, 2009)

The author said, "good riddance" to the summer of '09.

It has certainly been an eventful time for our church.

In Plymouth Church, we are in the thick of

a challenging transition. 

We are seeking to revise our operating budget. 

We have needed to make difficult decisions,

to refocus and redesign the manner

in which we staff for ministry. 

We've eliminated a staff position,

and it will change/challenge how we go about

our work.  This has been reported out over

the summer, via regular mail and Church Bell (newsletter),

so I won't dwell on it now.  I will say it is requiring us to

re-work some of our job descriptions

here in Plymouth Church. 

In Plymouth Church, every position has a job description.

Through the work of the Personnel Committee, there is a job

description template consisting of five main sections.

Section (1) includes a Title (and under title there is salary range;

delineation as to whom one reports to; and those who may fall

under the position's supervision)

Section (2) is a Summary of Position (a general overview statement)

Section (3) spells out Qualifications:  educational standards,

abilities, competencies, character, leadership skills and spiritual gifts.

Section (4) lists Principle Duties and Responsibilities (an itemized

breakdown of what you do and with whom you are expected to do it).

Section (5) delineates Position Requirements (I need a driver's

license so I can be around and about as needed; the job description

states my position is "somewhat sedentary but usually requires standing

while officiating at services and preaching;"  like all others, I need

a criminal background check. 

I noted in Carole Green's Job Description, Associate in Pastoral Care,

the position requires an ability "to cope with unpleasant environmental

settings and situations" as well as a "sensitivity to institutional rules,   

regulations, and protocols." It did not specify whether this was in

reference to the church, or other institutions into which a Pastoral Care

Associate might venture.

Everyone in the church should have a job description, and James,

our teacher this morning, can help us write such descriptions.

If you were to write your job description as a Christian, what would

you include?  We should all engage in such work.  Trying times,

testing times, call for evaluation and reassessment.  What are we doing

and why?  Who are we, and how do we understand our principle duties?

Title:  child of God, with birth by God; pay is peace and joy, satisfaction

of living for a cause and purpose that is greater than myself, but in accord

with the will of God; pay is life, and abundance, now and forever;

your immediate supervisor is Jesus, and while there are some you may shepherd,

your immediate concern is to take care of your business before presuming any

oversight of others.

Summary of Position:  to glorify God with the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart; to care for orphans and widows in their

distress, and to keep myself unstained by the world. 

Qualifications:  baptized; the invocation of an excellent name over me,

the implantation of a living word, a Holy Spirit that aligns us with God's

purpose that we be God's people, hearer and doers of the word.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities:  love God; and to embrace

what James calls this Royal Law, loving neighbor as self. 

And here it gets a little tricky.  We start getting into the details.

To avoid favoritism, to shun partiality when it comes to people with their

God given differences; to recognize God is an equal opportunity

employer, with a strong preference for elevating the poor, and for

imposing caps upon the rich. 

James is quite insistent upon this point. 

"Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be

rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom that he has

promised to those who love him?" (James 2:5)

This is not a minor theme that can be buried

as a footnote in the Christian's job description.

We find it in the teachings of Jesus (in Luke 6:20):  Blessed are the poor,

for yours is the kingdom of God.

It is the first word of blessing Jesus speaks to the disciples

in his plain preaching in Luke.   For all we know, James

was not incorporating Luke's teaching, rather Luke is giving

voice to teaching found in James.  And it is echoed in Paul's

letter to Galatians, when he recounts his understanding of the church

council that authorized his ministry with Gentiles. When

James and Cephas (Peter) and John, pillars of the Jesus movement,

recognized grace had fallen upon Paul, they extended to Paul

and Barnabbas the right hand of fellowship agreeing to

a ministry to the Gentiles. Paul then writes:

"They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor,

 which was actually what I was eager to do."  (Galatians 2:10)

It is a remarkable report Paul gives, which may be one of the

most neglected teachings in all of the New Testament.  To take the love of God,

the love of Christ, into the world, asking only one thing: 

remember the poor.

I'd guess - this is often missing from most of our job descriptions.

It's been included in many notable others:

 St. Francis,

 Martin Luther King, Jr.,

 Jane Adams,

 Dorothy Day,

 Vida Scudder.

I can help but think of Henri Nouwen, who once wrote:  "My whole I have

been surrounded by well-meaning encouragement to go ‘higher up,'

and the most-used argument was:  You can do so much good there,

for so many people. But these voices calling me to upward mobility

are completely absent from the gospel."

Upward mobility, so intriguing, so appealing,

is not a competing theme,

not a minor theme,

it is no theme of the gospel.

This is nowhere more elegantly stated than in Paul's letter to

to the Philippians: 

Let the same mind be in you

that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God as something to

be exploited,

but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness ... (Philippians 2-6).

The way of Jesus is a way of descent.

Downward mobility. Toward the poor,

the suffering, the marginal,

the dying, the tortured, the homeless ...

"toward all who ask for compassion." 

(see Nouwen, Here and Now, p. 98-101).

And compassion, again according to Nouwen, is

God's way to justice and peace in the world.

James understands this; we are God's way to

justice and peace in the world; and so he works hard,

wanting to preserve with integrity the great revelation of God's love,

that came to him through his encounter with the one he calls

"our glorious Lord Jesus Christ."

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In many UCC congregations today there is conversation taking place

concerning health care.  It certainly has been the dominant topic

of conversation for much of the summer.  I'm far from an expert

on this.  From what I see, we are going broke if we do, and we will be

broke if we don't.  Change in some form is coming - sooner or later. 

I have health insurance.  The church provides the insurance

for me, and for my family.  I haven't crunched all the numbers

but the cost of that insurance from the time I started here

has, I'm guessing, probably doubled.  The insurance enables

me and my family to access the health care system and

to obtain service.  Once it is established I have coverage,

all goes reasonable well.  I'm so grateful - both for the

insurance, and for the reasonable health that is mine,

which you cannot buy or purchase. 

I can't help but wonder what James would make of this discussion.

You can't really say for certain, but I'd wager he'd weigh in, not

on the specifics of any political plan, but on the moral

dimensions of the question.  I do think James would say:      

"No one should die because they cannot afford

health care, and no one should go broke

because they get sick."

At some basic, fundamental level, can't we design

a better system that provides for all?

James I think would say, you gotta' lot of work.

Roll up your sleeves.  You'll do well if you really

fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture.

It is in your job description.  And through the implanted

word that has the power to save your soul, you have

capacity to both believe in what you do, and do what

you believe, for the glory of God.

Amen.