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James 1:17-27
Proper 17B
I suspect that many of this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s proclaimers consider ourselves reasonably self-sufficient. At least some of us were raised in solid homes and received better-than-average formal educations. Many of us have good jobs that support comfortable lifestyles. Since we have worked hard to get where we are, we naturally see our current station…
James 5:7-10
Advent 3A
This is a season of the year that we don’t generally link to patience. Children are chomping at the bit to open their presents. Some of us are impatient for holiday visits from family members and friends who live at a distance from us. A few of us may even feel impatient to be done…
James 5:13-20
Proper 21B
Difficult people, things and circumstances exist over which even the most skilled and powerful people have virtually no control. But God graciously gives God’s adopted sons and daughters at least some control over how we respond to those difficulties. James 5:13-20 at least implies that the apostle understood that as well as anyone. After all,…
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Proper 20B
The scope of this Sunday’s Lectionary Epistle makes the lesson somewhat awkward. It, after all, spans parts of at least five paragraphs and two subject headings in most English Bible translations. This lesson also simply omits most translations’ second half of verse 8. That awkwardness will leave at least some of us searching hard to…
James 3:1-12
Proper 19B
Even some casual sports fans are at least somewhat aware of the controversy that continues to surround the use of what are called performance-enhancing drugs. People have accused numerous athletes of taking drugs like steroids to improve their performance. Studies suggest that the use of anabolic steroids, for instance, increase lean muscle mass and strength. …
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Proper 18B
In God’s Politics Jim Wallis describes an experiment a seminarian once conducted. He cut every text about the poor out of an old Bible. It took him, Wallis reports, “a very long time.” “When,” concludes Wallis, “the zealous seminarian was done with all his editorial cuts, that old Bible would hardly hold together, it was…
James 1:17-27
Proper 17B
Those who dare to preach and teach James must be theologically disciplined. Its interpretation is, after all, perhaps more than that of any other epistle, if not any New Testament book, especially vulnerable to moralizing. Even a quick scan of contemporary sermons and writings reveals not just a love for the book, but also a…
James 5:7-10
Advent 3A
You can parachute right down onto James 5:7 if you want to and pretend nothing else is going on here but . . . good luck. Truth is, starting a reading at verse 7 here is like walking into a room where, unbeknownst to you, a horrible fight had just been taking place between two…
James 5:13-20
Proper 21B
Comments and Observations If I were to preach on this text, the sermon might be titled “The Prodigal Project.” I would basically skip the first 6 verses and focus on verses 19 and 20. I would adopt that preaching strategy, not because those first verses are irrelevant, but because those last two are so painfully…
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