Devotion • September 19
Today’s Scripture Reading
James 3:13–4:12
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? (NRSV)
Reflection
Of course I judge my neighbors. Don’t you?
Just to the north of us, we have Inflatable Family, so named for their bevy of blow-up Christmas decorations that include three wise men, baby Jesus in a manger, one-eyed Despicable Me Minions, and a larger-than-life Santa in a sled on their roof, bobbling in the wind.
South of us, we have Perfect Family, whose parents (both) go to every child’s baseball game and musical recital and whose kids always smile and say “Please” and “Thank you.”
Finally, across the street, we have Green Family, composters who keep a weed-free yard and who are the ones ComEd refers to in letters when comparing our energy usage to our “efficient” neighbors.
Obviously in today’s reading, James makes clear my neighborly approach is all wrong.
“What is wisdom?” James initially asks and gives us the simple answer that “wisdom is as wisdom does.” Good works show wisdom, James says, and are pure, gentle, and full of mercy, without trace of the hypocrisy that exists everywhere in our earthly world. James says not to worry how much money is in a rich neighbor’s pockets or envy what trophies a colleague receives. We only need to worry about the love we give and receive and the peace that flows from our actions.
As we struggle to do right, we should not harshly judge others — or ourselves. God is the “one lawgiver and judge”; we are solely dependent on God for grace. “So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?”
Not me.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for showing me that wisdom requires humility, authenticity, grace, and acts. Please keep me from making earthly judgments on the Inflatables, the Perfects, the Greens, and other neighbors. Amen.
Written by Phil Calian, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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