Sermon 10-11-12

James the Less

What scripture do we use to begin tonight?  We will talk about James the Less - and it would be very nice if we could open up our Bibles to a passage of scripture where James stands up and says something.  It would be great if we could get some idea of his personality and faith from some interaction with Jesus - but we can't.  The Bible doesn't record a single word spoken by James the Less.  The Bible doesn't contain one story where he is the hero, or even highlighted as a major player.  We could believe that he never did anything - and that would be sufficient reason to skip over him entirely.

But during the next few weeks we will examine the lives of  the very ordinary men Jesus chose as disciples.  None of them had a doctorate in anything.  Most were poor laborers with calloused hands and difficult lives.  We will take every scrap of information that history records about these men and we will learn how they lived out their faith.

We know the way Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water, but standing terrified in the boat behind him were 11 other men.  We are probably a lot more like those others than we are like Peter.  We can say that we are too shy or introverted and ignore the lessons Peter's life teaches us - but after these next few sermons we hope you won't have any excuse not to dig deeper into your faith.

James the less.

James was called by Jesus to be one of the twelve disciples.  This was an honor that only 11 other men had.  But, he had the unfortunate problem of having the same name as someone else and he was a little bit younger, shorter, or both.

And when we read the letter that the other James wrote to the early church, we are inspired and moved by his words.  They are some of the most forceful and inspiring words given after Jesus' resurrection.  And I imagine that James the Less felt a little hidden by the shadow of James - you know, the great one.

- 1 Timothy 4:12
- James 1:2-9

Here's what we know about James the Less.  He was probably related to Jesus.  His father, Cleopas, was probably Mary's brother.  When the Bible talks about "the other Mary" it is often talking about James Mother.  She would have been Mary's sister-in-law and she was a constant and devout follower of Jesus.  And that would make James the Less, Jesus' cousin.  Probably Jesus' younger cousin - or shorter cousin.

When I first arrived in Ukraine I was a little overwhelmed by all of the Maryannas and Olyas in our group.  And it was amusing when Erica Oliveira came and people had such a hard time keeping the two separated.

And in Jesus' day, people didn't regularly have last names.  People were known by their father's name or by the town they come from or by some defining feature.  Which Jesus?  Jesus of Nazareth.  Which Simon? Simon from the political group known as the Zealots.  Which James?  James the Less.  

A name is very important.  Hearing your own name is one of the most comforting things to the human soul.  When I lived in South Korea people couldn't pronounce my name.  They called me Michaer.  I absolutely couldn't live with the idea that I never heard my name.  I remember Dale telling me about how many hours he spent practicing saying Olya, so he could say his beloved's name correctly.  Names are so important.

Names define who we are and what we will accomplish. and I can't imagine that James the Less was able to live without a little bit of an inferiority complex.
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Growing up my sister was simply perfect.  She was just talented at everything.  She had perfect pitch and could sing any song.  She had perfect rhythm and could pick up any instrument and play it well.  She liked school and did well in school.

I grew up in my sister's shadow.  Every teacher that I had in school had already had my sister and assumed that I would be just like her.  I was given an instrument to play and it was assumed that I would like to play that instrument.  I hated playing musical instruments.  I never really had an ear for music.  I wasn't good in school and didn't make good marks.  It wasn't until I went to University and was able to make my own mark that I was able to live outside of the shadow of my sister.

And I imagine that James the Less always felt a little bit ... well ... less that the other James.  He always lived in the Shadow of the other James who was in the group.
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But we know a bit more about James the Less.  We know that they started calling him James son of Alpheous (perhaps the region where Cleopas is from) and that when that got confusing, they began to call him James the Just, James the brother (cousin) of Jesus, until they all started calling him Bishop James.

The man who was always in the shadow of another, went on to become Bishop of Jerusalem in the decades following Jesus' resurrection.
  
If he had been content to be saddened by something as minor as a title, he would have never risen to greatness.

We are more than our limitations.

Young, old, rich, poor, it is human nature that we label things.  We are a society and we create tiers of influence.  This isn't wrong.  But, we are not limited by these things.  When you get your first job - and you work for a month without any pay and everyone is mean to you and you have to do all the jobs that no one else wants to do - you must live into the lesson of James the Less.  You must do that job to the very best of your ability.
 
You must scrub the floors and serve tea and coffee, and do all the jobs that no one else wants to do - and when you do all of these things without complaint - people will notice your good work.  This is the way that we serve Christ, by serving others in the most humble ways.
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Mother Teresa is known throughout the world for her great acts of service, spiritual presence, and devotion to Christ.
 
She had many titles to choose from - Mother Teresa, signaling her position as head of a religious order.  Nobel leaureate.  Others called her a living saint.  Dying lepers called her Jesus in human form.

And how did Mother Teresa refer to herself?  When this incredible woman of faith, this woman who changed the world and gave a new face to the Catholic church - this woman who gave away everything and inspires generations of believers to give up everything in service to God.  How did she refer to herself?

God's littlest.  She refered to her own small stature and her own small faith.

And in the darkest corners of Mother Teresa's soul, there were cobwebs of doubt and confusion.  She constantly struggled with issues of faith - she sometimes was even unsure if God was real.  But, in the end, over and over again she returned to God's greatness and resumed her position as God's littlest.

As people of faith, we must constantly remind ourselves of our own small stature and small faith.  The word Christian was used to mock the first followers - it meant, "Little Christ" and it wasn't a compliment.  Perhaps we would all benefit by putting the words "the Less" after our names.

Perhaps, like James, we would be reminded of how Big our God is when we are reminded of how small we are.  Because it is in our littleness that God's greatness is revealed.

There is a lot of debate about who wrote the Book of James in the Bible - and some people really believe it was James the Less.  To me, it is important only that it is written by one of the twelve disciples.  It was written by one of the twelve, and then re-written by a Greek disciple of the author some decades later.

But, the author begins the letter with these words of explanation, "James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Whether this book was written by James the Great, or James the Less - the most important title that either could find for their lives is "slave."

You are a supremely talented group of young people.  Some day you will run this country.  You will make this country better, stronger, and more independent.  You will change the course of history.  You will run companies, manage businesses, teach at universities, and sit on important committees.  And I pray that for all of your life the most important title you ever find will be "slave."

Amen.  

Faith, hope, and charity

I was attending one Sunday school class in the states via Skype a few weeks ago.  It was a bit awkward, because they asked me to be there, but the teacher had prepared a lesson and I didn't want to push him aside.  So I sat in my living room in front of my computer and listened to the lesson on 1 Corinthians 13.

My problem with people who watch church on TV is that they miss the element of community.  I'm sure that if I knew this teacher personally, I would have enjoyed his lesson much more.

I remember from my days with the Curtis Trogdon Wesley Class, that as each teacher took his or her turn, that different people had different skills as a teacher.  Everyone had different faults.  Some spoke too slowly, others prepared poorly, still others (present company included!!!) couldn't remember the roving, rotating schedule and were often surprised into the pulpit and asked to lecture on Leviticus on more than one occasion.

I never heard a bad lesson.

One of my mentors told me once, "If you love your church and your church loves you - you can't preach a bad sermon."  I can't imagine the horror and pain of standing in front of a church that hates you.

And I was very bored by this man's lesson.  I'm sure he's a nice man.  I'm sure that his Sunday School class just loves him dearly and they all loved his lesson.  But, his highlight was on the final verses and his translation had "Faith, Hope, and Charity..."  and I had never heard this translation before.  Love is the greatest of these.  It felt so strange to hear that "charity" was the greatest of the three - because to my mind, "charity" wasn't even on the list.

Because, for me, switching from love to charity really changes the meaning of the text.  And I know that it is complicated because English only has one word for love - but it is simple because English only has one word for love.

And now that I translate from time to time, I understand was an extraordinary and fascinating challenge translating the Bible must have been.  English is such a weak language with so few really great words and so many missing concepts.  Isn't that a strange thought?  We always assume that everything can be expressed in our mother tongue, but in reality each language has it's own weaknesses and faults.

Like, in the Beatitudes, the beginning phrase (blessed are) turns each one into an ironic greeting.  In Ukrainian they are understood as originally spoken - but not in English.  And we aren't even touching on the gigantic cultural differences that separate us from the words of Jesus.  Think about how a firm Calvanist might translate many passages and how an Armenian might translate them differently.  When we read the word "Hell" in the New Testament, Jesus often isn't speaking about the physical place we think of.

And I will be charitable (as it is the greatest of the three!) and concede that Bible translators work in teams of extremely gifted and brilliant people.  I'm not saying they are making mistakes.  I'm not speaking against the authenticity of the Bible.  But, isn't it interesting to think that how we understand the Bible is shaped by our very language and culture.

I am reminded again how easy it is for our language and culture to shape the Gospel instead of allowing the Gospel to shape our language and culture.

The Gospel.
It means Good News.  But, it is a word used in relation to the word Eklesia - a word which has become synonymous with our word "church."  But Eklesia meant "the called out ones."  When a news crier would walk up and down the streets crying out the news, those who gathered around to hear would be called "Eklesia" and if he pronounced Good News it would be called Gospel.

And today we call the people who reside inside the large building (or the large building itself!) the "church."  Not the called out ones, but the gathered and tamed ones who once heard the Good News and responded.  And we have too often reduced the "Good News" into a three minute salvation pitch.

And how different would the Gospel sound to fresh eats without the baggage of a different culture and language.  How fresh and new would this old faith sound without our old buildings and notions.

But, I'll try to remain charitable, it's the most import component of our faith.