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7 October. James chapters 1-5
Today we move from the Old to the New Testament. This is going to be difficult, because all its books are so richly packed with history, stories, or religious teaching, that I cannot do justice to the whole of even one chapter, let alone several, in a few hundred words. So I will be very selective in which passages I comment on.
The choice by those who put this reading plan together of James as the first of its books to read is interesting, as Paul’s letters are usually thought to be earlier. There are a few things that make this letter distinctive: it makes no reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which are central to Christian thought; it is clearly addressed to Jewish rather than Gentile readers, with frequent references to characters from the Old Testament; and while exhorting the reader to have faith in Jesus, it stresses the importance of ‘doing the Word’ (that is, putting into practice the religious and ethical teaching that we receive), and the role of ‘works’ (ethically correct actions) in salvation, whereas Paul’s several letters insist that however good our ‘works’ it is faith in Jesus alone that saves us. But it is good to have a balance of those views in our approach to Christian living.
Out of James’s many practical teachings, all of them with vivid illustrations, I will take that of speech (James 3:1-12). He compares the mouth to a spring, which may be brackish or fresh water, but not both; even a small amount of salt in it will make the clean water undrinkable. He also compares it to trees that can only produce one kind of fruit. So it is that we cannot expect anyone whose words are ever harmful – cursing or judging others, or boasting (4:13-17) – to be a blessing to others. All our speech must be good and wholesome if we are to be effective disciples of Christ.