Sunday 25 July 2004
St James. Apostle & MartyrReconciliation – Fr Donald Bird
James 2;22. “Be ye doers of the word, not hearers only”.
Today’s Collect (Church of Ireland Prayer Book) reminds us of our duty to reconcile and be reconciled. This has been assumed to be a quality of James. Little is known of him, apart from being, with John, a son of Zebedee. He was one of the ‘inner circle’, and a leader of the post Resurrection Church in Jerusalem. His execution is recorded in Acts 12;2. His letter in the N.T. is distinctive, and apparently so at odds with the others that it was considered suspect by the Reformers, to the extent that Calvin wanted it removed, dismissing it as an ‘epistle of straw’.
James emphasises the need to be a ‘‘doer rather than a hearer’’. This seems different to Paul’s emphasis on Faith as the point from which action starts. He does not dismiss action, 1 Cor. 13 makes sure of that. You know the passage; “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity I am become a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal”. That is proof enough of the regard he has for good works. But he insists that good on its own without Faith is not sufficient for Christian action. This needs the foundation of Faith. James starts from another angle and even goes to the extent of saying that a holy person who does not show his Faith in good works is little more than a hypocrite.
James letter is all we have to acquaint ourselves with him. The Church he led was dispersed when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in AD 70. Only those churches founded by Paul in Greece, Asia Minor and Rome remained and from them the Church grew.
Is all this just another example of splitting hairs? Theologians are supposed to be good at that. In many ways both James and Paul are saying the same thing but from different angles. There is need for both, and one without the other gives a sorry picture. There is the need to have a sure foundation for the Faith we teach and practise. That has to be passed on to subsequent generations. Our bishops are supposed to be guardians of the Catholic truth; most of them are.
Another aspect of this is sound liturgical practice. But these are not ends in themselves. When this happens there is religion without Faith. My wife Judy and I went on a day trip to Belfast yesterday, and were taken round the place on a coach. It was the first time I had been there and the sight of two communities being separated by a high wall, with religious graffiti I found disturbing to the point of being obscene. Religion without Faith can so easily become that. Religious bigotry is something we all know about. As Paul insisted, Faith has to be put into practice as love in action.
The other side is just as odd. We are all familiar with it. It comes in various forms of good works from a purely secular base. Nothing wrong in that per Se. Oxfam, Medicin sans frontieres, United Nations food and health programmes are all part of this. When such organizations have a firm Christian base with it is seen as Christian Aid or CAFOD
It is interesting to speculate how things might have developed had the Church that James led survived. I like to think that we would have had less emphasis on church order and even be spared some of the trauma of religious wars and bigotry. Who knows? The Reformers, being so keen on church order were mistaken in dismissing James’ letter. He gives an understanding which is comprehensive and which is the basis of the understanding of outreach and reconciliation which is, or should be, the driving force in a vibrant Christian community..