Religion Re-Envisioned: James 1:17-27 - 14th Sunday after Pentecost

¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
  ¹⁹You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
  ²²But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
  ²⁶If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (NRSV)

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Martin Luther famously described the New Testament book of James as “the Epistle of Straw”—because so much emphasis is placed on good works and righteous living, with very little written about the saving work of Jesus Christ.

But what I love about the book of James, despite its name, is that it keeps us firmly grounded on exactly what faithfulness to God looks like. Faithfulness is more than just a matter of the heart; it is also a matter of action. What you see on the outside reflects what’s on the inside. But sometimes, looks can be deceiving…

In today’s Gospel, Jesus and his disciples are under fire from the religious leaders because they do not practice a traditional hand-washing ritual before eating. From the leaders’ point of view, they were not only defiling themselves, but they were also defiling the entire community—and blaspheming God.

But Jesus said of them, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” I guess cleanliness is not necessarily close to godliness…

By all outward appearances, the religious leaders criticizing Jesus were very religious. They adhered to their religious practices and traditions to perfection.

But James writes, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Simply put, to be truly religious is to care for society’s most vulnerable persons. To be religious is to be a person of love.

This is definition of religion doesn’t exactly fit into what we have traditionally understood it to be. I think of religion as a defined set of beliefs, rituals, morals, and traditions which relate to matters of one’s ultimate concern.

We live in a time when fewer and fewer people are identifying as religious—and organized religion is rapidly losing its influence over American society because many people want nothing to do with it. For people of faith like you and me, this is a deeply troubling trend.

You may remember the past as a time when people were generally more “religious.” You may remember praying in the public schools. You may remember when churches were full because the local congregation was central in people’s lives. Businesses were closed on Sundays; television and movies weren’t full of violence, cursing, and filth. It would seem, at least theoretically, that we would have a less chaotic and more functional society if people were more religious. We would certainly be more comfortable and our congregations more prosperous.

Yet, James and Jesus teach us that faithfulness to God’s kingdom has nothing to do with making other people religious as we ourselves are religious. The focus should not be on what other people do—as much as their actions may offend or even disturb you. Doing this turns our religion into a fight against those who are most different from ourselves. Your focus should be the cross, because when you see the face staring back at you in the mirror, your worth to God is defined in the life Jesus gave. Jesus doesn’t love people based on how religious they are—or aren’t.

Orphans and widows don’t need your religion. Your beliefs, rituals, and traditions will offer little relief to their distress. They need you; they need us. The best that you have to offer is yourself as a person who cares. Love is not about changing someone else’s religion, but meeting real needs with compassion.

The Christian faith—or religion (if you want to call it that) is relational—a tie that binds us in love to God and to each other. This is why the fundamental requirement of the Christian religion is loving your neighbor as yourself. You love God through the neighbor—recognizing that God will also love you through the neighbor. When love is truly genuine, Jesus is truly present. And transformation happens.

As much as we may want others to embrace our religion, that helps us—not them. If we could make others religious like we ourselves are religious, our world might be more peaceful and less chaotic. But that is not reality. It is foolish to expect others to happily conform to standards, beliefs, and practices, because we think they should.

But love of neighbor and compassion toward those in need—this is how we practice our religion in a way that is meaningful for us while being transformative for the world. This is how your faith becomes a gift to the neighbor, even if they do not embrace it themselves. When we love one another, we are living together as God intends. Even though we will likely see fewer and fewer people calling themselves religious, the world’s need for genuine, Christian love will only increase—so we pray for Jesus to increase in us the determination to live out that love, and graciously offer ourselves and our gifts to heal the neighbor—and change the world.