Courage for Community -- A Message for September 26, 2021

 

James 5:13-20

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 

remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

            When I was a little girl, my siblings were taught to memorize two prayers at home.

Before breakfast, lunch and dinner, we prayed:

Thank you God this day, for food and rest and play.

Each night before bed, we prayed:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

Guide me through the starry night.

And, wake me up with the morning light.

These were my first poems we memorized and these were my first prayers to our God.  Easy to remember, short and sweet.  – We thanked God for our meals and we asked God to watch over us while we slept.

            Along the way, I learned other prayers. At church we were taught the Lord’s Prayer. I remember memorizing the 23^rd Psalm because an open, illustrated Bible with its words was kept in our Sunday school room.  I memorized the UCC Statement of Faith because we said it every Sunday. When I was a freshly minted minister, my first church said the Apostle’s Creed every week, so I memorized the words of the creed.

              One of the reason we memorize prayers, and we memorize creeds, and we memorize hymns is that these words stick with us. When we are totally stressed out, sitting at the hospital bedside of someone we love, and our brains feel so broken we don’t know what to think, we can pray the Lord’s Prayer…we can pray the 23^rd Psalm….we can pray the Apostle’s Creed over and over again. These memorized words comfort us in the midst of our trials. They comfort us when all seems lost. No matter what happens in our lives, God is with us. God’s Holy Spirit is constantly present to support us, guide us, and comfort us.

            In our reading from St. James’ letter this morning, we are reminded to pray.  We pray when we are in trouble. We pray songs of pray when we are happy. When we are sick, we ask the people of our church to pray for us. When we have wronged each other, we are called to confess, ask for forgiveness, and pray for each other. When friends from church wander away from their faith, we are called upon to pray for them and pray that the spark of faith will be ignited in their hearts again.

            There is a famous story about Dwight L. Moody and his prayer life.  Rev. Moody was a famous evangelist and pastor.  He founded the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, our own Ralien’s alma mater.  Rev. Moody talked about his prayers, and how he prayed each day for 100 of his friends to become believers and become Christians.  Over the years as Rev. Moody prayed, more and more of his 100 non-believing friends became followers of Jesus. And, at the end of Rev. Moody’s life, 96 of the 100 were Christians. The last 4, it is claimed, gave their life over to God at Rev. Moody’s funeral service.  So, because of the prayers and the work of God’s Holy Spirit, 100 people who once were not believers became Christians.

            So, not only are we called upon to pray for ourselves and the members of our church family, we are called to pray for everyone: our Christian and non- Christian friends, people in our community, people in our country, people throughout the world.  We pray for missionaries and Christians facing persecution. We pray for victims of natural and man-made disasters. We pray for hungry people and homeless people and widowed people and orphan people. We pray.

            Sometimes, we feel like we don’t know how to pray. Or, we know how to pray in private, but not with an audience. One of the parts of being a minister that sometimes makes me giggle is that people act like I am a “praying professional.” Yet, I know the people I h learned my faith from, and who made perhaps the largest influence on me as a Christian were not ministers. They weren’t trained in seminaries and hadn’t taken holy orders. They were just regular people, regular Christians, who did a good job living out their faith and talking to others about our shared beliefs.  My childhood Sunday school teachers, my parents, the ladies who filled the offering cups before worship when I was a kid, the faithful volunteers at my home church’s food pantry – these are the people who taught me how to be a Christian and taught me how to pray.

            And, despite our worries sometimes that makes us insecure to pray out loud in the presence of others, there are not rules about how to pray. Prayer is a conversation with God. Prayer comes in many forms. The most important part of prayer is our sincerity, not our words, not the formula. Prayer is a conversation with God: We pause and listen for God. We rejoice and thank God for the many ways God works in the world and works in our lives. We ask God to help us and help others. And, then we yield or wait for God to answer us.  Sometimes, God doesn’t give us what we want; God is not a genie who must fulfill our wishes. But, God listens to us and support us when we struggle.  God hears our prayers.

            The letter of James is chock full of advice for a church. James was concerned with how Christians worked together in community. James wanted us to be caring and supportive of each other, to work through disagreements in a healthy manner, to not be envious or boastful. James knew all Christians would face trials, and we need each other to help us through those trials. And, we need God to help us through those trials.

            That is where prayer comes in. We can always pray for each other. Sometimes, prayer is the only thing we can figure out to do to help.

            I hope we all start each day with pray and end each evening with prayer, and pepper prayer throughout our days. Prayer is a gift for us – we can talk to God whenever we want and whenever we need God.

            Let us do so in love. Amen. 

First in Caring -- A Message for September 19, 2021

 

Scripture Reading                        James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 

Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Come near to God and he will come near to you. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Send us your Holy Spirit, O God, so that your Word will shed light on the path ahead. Help us understand the way we should follow. May your wisdom bear fruit in us so that we may bear your light into the world around us.  Amen.

The tenth commandment in the ancient 10 Commandments says:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

We shall not covet anything that belongs to our neighbor.  We should not yearn to possess or have anything that belongs to our neighbor or another person.

            As James writes in his letter:

“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

This kernel of truth, this advice from our Christian and Jewish forbearers, this advice from our God, is pretty much the opposite advice that the rest of the world constantly gives us.  Both the 10 commandments and St. James advise us not to covet or envy or yearn to possess what others have; much of what we are told by the world is to strive to have bigger and better and that we should “want” what our neighbors have and more…

            We are inundated with encouragement form the secular world to not only envy and covet what other people have, we are advised to rush out and buy what they have.  We must keep up with the Jones’es. We are told to work out or diet or have plastic surgery to look the way they look, or how an idealized and perfect person looks. We are told to buy a fancier car, and a bigger home, and all the trendiest furniture as soon as it is available.  In one quick scroll through facebook, I saw advertisements for yogurt, meal kits, jeans, hair dye, and lottery tickets (so I can win money to buy more stuff).  We are constantly bombarded with encouragements to envy, and those encouragements are then supposed to propel and motivate us to buy and spend.  We apparently aren’t perfect enough as we are, and must therefore acquire the things we need to reach perfection.

            But James said: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

            I don’t know if advertisers are consciously encouraging evil practices, but often-times, evil results from their encouragement.  Definitely insecurity and self-loathing results from their work.  And, I suspect instances of crime are motivated by their work – if we interviewed young people caught shoplifting or selling drugs, part of their motivation may lie in the desire  to have the things they are encouraged to want but are financially out of reach for them.

            It is difficult for us to break-free from the temptations of the world. It is difficult for us to tamper down our envy. It is difficult for us to free ourselves from unhealthy ambitions that encourage us to use other people to get what we want.

            But, when we work to follow Christ, and live as God’s people, we are freed from the need to listen to the unhelpful demands of the world. We don’t need to buy into the advertisements that encourage our insecurities. We don’t need to buy all of the products they command us to buy.  We don’t need their fancy yogurt and hair dye. We don’t need any of it.

            Instead, our faith teaches us that the true wisdom that comes from heaven calls upon us to be pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.  God doesn’t encourage us to be envious or selfishly ambitious.  God calls upon us to be other-focused, not me-focused.

            As Christians, we are encouraged to live lives that are based on God’s wisdom and God’s teachings. We are called to work to get along with other people….not to be envious of them…not to climb over them to get but we want…but to work to be in healthy relationships with other people. We are called to be gentle and reasonable. We are called to be merciful towards people who don’t have enough of what they need – to forgive people their debts, to share our extras with people who don’t have enough, to support the work of organizations like the Daily Bread Food Pantry who strive to help feed the hungry and care for the victims of floods.

            True wisdom come from God, not from the media, not from marketers, not from people who get something out of us spending money on their products. God cares about how we treat each other. God doesn’t want us to be jealous and envious of what others have; jealousy and envy are negative emotions, not positive actions. We must work to resist the pull of the world that is working against us being in heathy and harmonious relationships with each other. Instead, we must seek to be peaceful, forgiving, gracious and full of mercy. May we be so. Amen. 

A Message from Trinity for Septembr 17, 2021

 

Greetings Trinity Family, 

I pray that everyone in our extended church family is doing well. It is starting to feel like autumnal weather is upon us.  I hope you are all staying safe and experiencing God’s beauty in creation!

You no longer need to RSVP for our in-person worship service on Sunday morning at 10:15. Please join us! 

RALLY DAY—THIS SUNDAY!!

Our back-to-Sunday-school celebration will be on September 19. This year, we are adding to our offerings. Our Pre-K through 5^th grade students will continue to go to Sunday School after the children’s sermon on Sunday mornings. Our older kids, 6^th grade and older, will have their “Pre-Confirmation” class on Sunday mornings from 9:15 to 10 am. Everyone is invited to our Sunday morning class which focuses on the intersection between our Christian faith and current world events. Our class will continue on Zoom from 8:30 to 9:15 am.

GIFT CARDS FOR FLOOD VICTIMS

The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry is working to support the families whose homes were damaged in the flooding caused by Hurricane Ida. Many people have been left homeless as a result of the devastating floods that ravaged our area several weeks ago. In an effort to help those that have been affected, the Daily Bread is collecting $25 gift cards for Target, Walmart and local restaurants.  They are asking that we write notes of encouragement to go with the gift cards. Please do not seal them. The gift cards can be dropped off at the church or placed in the offering plate.

Thank you for your generosity!

TRINITY SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING TO APPROVE SOUND SYSTEM UPGRADES

As we have moved through the pandemic, we have worked to adjust our worship services and spaces.  We entered the world of live-streaming and now have our Sunday morning services both in-person and live on Facebook.  Our sanctuary's sound system is aging.  It was cutting-edge twenty years ago when it was installed, but doesn't have some of the features we now need to have both in-person and streaming services.  

Therefore, Trinity's Consistory is calling for a special meeting immediately after worship on September 26, 2021.  

 At the meeting we will review, discuss and vote on whether to have Audiobahn, Inc. upgrade our system. The Consistory proposes using a portion of our memorial fund to pay for these upgrades.

SKIPPACK DAYS – We need your help!

We will be having our Skippack Days event this year with Flea Market spaces, outdoor food, and parking. Due to Covid, there will NOT be anything indoors. If it rains, we will cancel.

Please drop off your items for the Church’s Flea Market by Sunday, September 26.  They can be placed on the stage in the Education Building. If you know of anyone who might like to have a Flea Market space, please contact Janet Crossgrove, 610-584-0843. Our youth will have a booth and will raise money for the work of the Daily Bread Community Food Pantry.

We need your help to manage the parking, set up the flea market, help with our food preparations, and help our youth with their stand. We need flea market volunteers starting at 6 am. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you are able to volunteer!

WE NEED FLEA MARKET SORTERS TO VOLUNTEER ON FRIDAY THE 24 AT 9 AM AND THURSDAY THE 30 AT 9 AM.

UPCOMING MEMORIAL SERVCIES

Sadly, we have lost members of our community during the time of pandemic shut-downs. Their memorial services were delayed until we began meeting in-person again.

We will have a memorial service in honor of Nancy Wessel on Saturday, September 25 at 9:30 am in our sanctuary. Nancy was not a Sunday morning attendee of Trinity, but she was a member of our Lunch Bunch Bible Study for many years.

On Saturday, October 9, we will have a memorial service for Marge Brown at 10 am. Marge was a long-time member of Trinity and was involved in many committees and activities here.

OCTOBER’S FIRST FRIDAY – OCTOBER 1!

Please join us in Skippack for our First Friday gathering on October 1.  If you are able to help share information with our neighbors about our church, we will gather at 5:30. We will probably set up our table on the lawn of the Copper Partridge. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you are able to help.

THE PRAYER COURSE

We have begun working our way through The Prayer Course on Tuesday evenings. The course is a journey through The Lord’s Prayer.  The sessions are designed to help us expand our prayer life and learn new prayer practices.  The course is held on Tuesday evenings at 7 pm and about an hour. The course was created by 24-7 Prayer International. Learn more about their work at https://www.24-7prayer.com/ We meet on Zoom and everyone is invited to participate. Please let Pastor Amelie know if you would like to join us.

REOPENING COMMITTEE

We are now singing hymns in worship!!

The decision was made to continue to wear masks during our in-person services, until the children have the opportunity to be vaccinated.. We’re still taking temps, distancing, and having sanitizer available. Thank you to everyone for their concern and diligence during this time.

Hopefully it won’t be much longer before all restrictions are lifted and everyone is vaccinated.

LUNCH BUNCH MEETS WEEKLY!

Lunch Bunch is our Tuesday afternoon Bible Study.  Everyone is invited to join us on Tuesdays at 12 pm.  Please bring your own lunch. (In the past, we had a potluck lunch, but for now each person will bring their own food.)  Lunch Bunch typically studies the portion of the Bible that will be the focus of our worship service on the upcoming Sunday. 

NEED TECH-Y VOLUNTEERS

We are looking for volunteers who are willing to learn how to live-stream the worship services.  If you are willing, please let Bill Vogl or Pastor Amelie know and we will show you how to do it.  There are a few steps involved, but most computer users will be able to easily learn the process.

GIVING TO TRINITY

Although things are not fully back to normal, Trinity’s expenses have continued throughout the pandemic.  We know that everyone’s work-life has been disrupted during this time and we don’t expect everyone to be able to contribute to the church in the amount you were able to contribute in the past.  If you have the means to contribute to the church, you may drop off your offerings during the Sunday Morning service, at the church office, or you may mail it to our address: Trinity Christian UCC; 2009 Church Road, PO Box 538, Skippack, PA 19474

DON’T GIVE UP MOVEMENT

Our Outreach committee is inviting everyone in our congregation to join us in sharing messages from the “Don’t Give Up” movement.  This outreach was started to encourage people who are considering suicide to not give up.  We have yard signs, postcards, stickers, and business cards with messages that say things like “You are Enough” and “Your Mistakes Don’t Define You.” These messages are especially important right now as many people are struggling with their mental and emotional health after the many months of our pandemic.  Please pick up yard signs at church and other signs to promote this message of love for our neighbors.  Here is more about the movement:  https://www.dontgiveupsigns.com/

DAILY BREAD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY

We continue to collect food and toiletry items for the Daily Bread Food Pantry.  They can be left at the doors of the church.

The Daily Bread's Current needs change every few weeks. This is their latest list of needs:

Juice & juice boxes –shelf stable, Cereal for kids, Chips, Creamed cooking soups, Diced tomatoes, Canned peas, Men’s & Women’s razors*, Men’s & Women’s shaving cream*, Laundry soap*, Men’s & Women’s deodorant*

And any other items you wish to donate would be greatly appreciated. Please, no adult diapers!

            *These items can’t be purchased with SNAP (food stamps).

WORSHIP SERVICES

We now have in-person worship services in our sanctuary.  We are still checking temperatures, maintain social distance guidelines and wearing masks.

We are no longer offering a ZOOM worship service.

On Sunday mornings, you are also invited to join us on Facebook:

Join us for our Sunday morning hymn sing at 9:45 am live-streamed from the Trinity Christian UCC Skippack facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

10:15 Facebook livestream Worship.  You can find us at our "Trinity Christian UCC Skippack" facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/TrinityUCCSkippack

SUNDAY BIBLE STUDY

We have a Sunday morning Bible Study on ZOOM at 8:30 am.  This is a new meeting time. Here is the link to log in:

Amelie Sell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Trinity's Wired Word Discussion Group
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76933813590?pwd=Nzc0MkthZFBkdmVNTGYycjVtRXkwUT09

Meeting ID: 769 3381 3590
Password: 7qLSWw

TRINITY BLOG

Trinity now has a blog where I am posting notes to the congregation and the text of my sermons.  If you would like to read these notes and messages, you can find them at: www.trinityskippack.blogspot.com

I will see you in worship on Sunday!

Many blessings!!

Pastor Amelie

Taming the Tongue & Schadenfreude -- A Message for September 12, 2021

 

James 3:1-12

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 

Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 

but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 

Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 

My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer for Understanding

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

            Schadenfreude is a German word we have adopted into English.   We haven’t come up with an English equivalent, and the German word suffices. Schadenfreude is the experience of pleasure that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures or humiliation of another person. Examples of Schadenfreude include Flyers fans cheering when the Goalie of the New York Rangers is injured during a hockey game; the satisfaction you feel after you are initially jealous of a friend going on a dream vacation and then you find out it rained the whole time she was there; or the sick joy you feel when you find out the supervisor who laid you off got laid off themselves.

            Schadenfreude is pretty yucky.

            The book of Proverbs mentions an emotion similar to Schadenfreude. In Proverbs 24:17-18, we are told: “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.

            Psychologists understand that feeling Schadenfreude is normal and common. We may not be able to avoid feeling Schadenfreude. But, in today’s reading from our scriptures, we are reminded by James the Apostle that despite feeling negative emotions, we must work to guard our words and to not say out-loud the unhelpful thoughts that pop into our heads.  Just because we may think unkind thoughts doesn’t mean we should say them out loud.

            The tongue is a small part of the body, James wrote, but it makes great boasts.   It can “create a world of evil among the parts of the body.”  We can praise and worship God with our words and our voices. But, we can also use our words to hurt other people. The phrase “Sticks and stone may break my bones but words can never hurt me” is not true. I suspect everyone in this room and everyone out in facebook land can recall times in our lives when harsh or cruel words said by other people did indeed hurt us.

            This week at our Lunch Bunch Bible Study, Bob shared a story he heard at a workplace conference. The speaker shared that her boss had a quote by radio host Bernard Meltzer behind his desk. The quote says:

Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. It the answer is no maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.

As we talked about this statement at Bible study, we could all recall times in our lives when we regret we did not follow this rule of thumb….are the words we are about to say true, kind, necessary, or helpful?  Not only have we been guilty of saying words that hurt other people, the hurtful words said to us linger.

            Friends, we are living through a wild and strange moment in history. None of us have lived through a pandemic until now. And, in the middle of the pandemic we had a presidential election, ended the war in Afghanistan with a lot of uncertainty, and had protests about racism in every state in our nation.  Our news media and facebook pages are full of conflicting messages and contradictory ideas about how we should respond to the news and the virus. People’s tempers have flared and people have said and posted things that hurt other people’s feelings. 

            In the midst of this, we remain the people of Christ. We are God’s people. And, as God’s people, we are called to work to let cool heads prevail. We are called to watch our words, to watch our mouths. We are called to remember to be loving to our neighbors, even the neighbors to whom we disagree. We can work to keep control over our tongue and make every effort to keep our words true, kind, necessary and helpful.

            Our work as Christians is not always easy. We are called to rise above our unhelpful human instincts. We are called to have self-control even when others around us don’t seem to be exercising self-control themselves.

            We are in this together. Let’s work to follow Christ and to encourage each other as we all strive to follow Jesus.

            May it be so. Amen.

Be Opened -- A Message for September 5, 2021

 

James 2:1-17

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 

Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 

If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 

have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 

But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 

Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 

For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 

because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 

If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

            Every year, I read my way through the Bible at least once.  I am ahead of schedule and will probably be finishing up the book of Revelation this week.   Many of the events and situations that occurred during Bible times need historical and cultural context – you know, we can understand what we read when we learn about marriage traditions in the first century or how they planted crops in the Middle East two thousand years ago. We often have to do some background reading or studying to put scriptural events and references in context.

            But, this morning’s reading from James’ letter to the church is different. We could write this same letter to churches in the 21^st century. One of our sinful behaviors is something the people in the first century also did. We judge people. We make choices about how we treat people. And, we often treat people better if they look like they have more money. This was true in the 1^st century, this was true in the 10^th century, this was true in the 18^th century, and this is true in the 21^st century. We make negative assumptions about people when they look poor.  And, we want to associate with people who look like they have more money.

            In his letter, James emphasized the greatest commandment – we should Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And, we should ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  James reminded us that we shouldn’t show favoritism. We should treat everyone with love and respect. We shouldn’t elevate people higher than others because they have more money or because they are pretty or because their ancestors started our church or because they have a cool car….you know, all of the little things we think of as we judge people…..we shouldn’t judge….we shouldn’t treat people differently than each other….we should love our neighbor as ourselves, no matter who our “neighbor” is and what they have.

            James then gets into the crux of the issue – “Faith without works is dead.” We have heard this phrase bantered about our whole lives. If we claim to have faith in God and claim to have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we must align our actions to our faith. It is essential that if we believe, we have to act like we believe.

            One of my favorite quotes about our faith comes from St. Theresa of Avalia. She wrote:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Jesus is not here on earth among us right now, as far as we know. So, we are Jesus’ living examples on earth. People are looking to us as representatives of Jesus. Therefore, we have to treat others as we think Jesus would treat them. We must treat others with kindness and respect. We shouldn’t elevate others are special or treat others as less-than. We must treat others with sympathy and compassion, and support people who are struggling.

            So, although our work as Christians is not easy, and our faith calls us to work against our most selfish instincts, we must strive to live our faith and put our faith in action. May we do so in love. Amen.