Who Do You Labor For?

Good morning church. I am grateful to be here worshiping with you on this holiday weekend and because of this, today we are pausing our Series “Closing Statements” , but don’t worry, Pastor Ryan will be back next week to continue it.  Before I begin, would you pray with me? “Oh gracious and loving God, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.  For you are our strength and redeemer. Amen”

Today's scripture that pastor Steve read probably stepped on a few of our toes.  I know it did mine!  But, I must say,  it is also one of the things I love about the epistle of James.  He certainly gets straight to the point and sometimes that directness might sting…just a bit! Yet, I think his candor offers us a chance to reflect on our own behavior in our lives, and how sometimes (Actually, MOST of the time) we should be reflecting and evaluating our behavior of how we are living out our lives as followers of Christ.

And now,  here we go… reflection time!

Let’s  be honest for a moment.  How many of you have experienced a time in your life in which you might have received favoritism or felt favored?  I mean, I would say that it felt good.  It warmed us up and stroked that ego. Made us feel like we belonged and maybe, we even felt admired! I dare say we have all experienced something like this a few times in our lives and probably enjoyed it.

When I was a freshman in high school my biology teacher, for some reason, chose me as his errand runner.  It was our first block and he was a coach, so he had many other things that he was trying to take care of in the morning and he chose me to help. I was probably out of the class more than I was in the class.  I guess, I might have been seen as the Teacher’s Pet and I felt rather cool  walking around the halls of our high school while everyone else was in class…and even better, I was a freshman!  The  “Favor” he gave me felt good. 

So, let us fast forward to my freshman year in college. As I sat in my biology class, I  realized that I knew NOTHING!  I was as lost as last year’s Easter egg! And it hit me, while I was running around as the “favored” student in my high school biology class- I missed out on the learning! I missed out on the work, the relationships and the growth that came from being a part of the class.  I separated myself and through my favored role as the student helper, I fell behind.  It made me stumble. It held me back. And, I labored for the wrong thing… You see, the work and the relationships we build through “the work” are what matter. When we choose popularity and privilege over love and relationship, we miss out. We don’t get the opportunity to grow, love and learn. We don't get to experience real, authentic relationships. When we allow ourselves to be swept up in the world of favor and popularity, we miss out on the relationships and growth God desires for us to experience.

As we reflect more on the words from James, I think we must ask ourselves some questions, what do we focus on, what are the things we favor, what are the things we invest our time into….WHAT do we work for?  What do we labor for?

James asks us, “ 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, “‘stand out there” or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” 

What is he saying to us today? I mean, if I am honest, this really stomps all over my feet…not just my toes! I think he is asking us to evaluate how we love people and how we may lift up the worldly things and images we are surrounded by.  I suppose it also tells us that even in the time in which James was writing this letter to the early Christians, people still allowed themselves to become swept up by wealth and power. And, they, like us today, are trying to figure out how to live in this world but also work to “live on earth as it is in heaven”. 

As I was driving home one day I heard a song lyric that spoke to me. It says, “We're half awake in a fake empire”.    I thought, “Yes!  We are!” We are half awake in a fake empire. Many times what we choose to focus our time and efforts on are not the things that truly matter. It’s easy to become swept away to our daily wants and desires and forget what really matters.  In essence, as Christians our end goal is to labor in love. We are called to love like Christ.   Yet, we have to live within the dissonance of being Christ followers, and  also living  here on earth. We must learn to live in a world so consumed by the greatness of things, while working to share the greatness of Jesus Christ through our love and actions! 

And, don't get me wrong. I like my heated seats in my car on a cold winter morning, and my nice morning coffee… and all the other things that make our lives easier. Yes, those things are nice- but it doesn’t matter. It's not what we're working towards and working for…and as Christians that's what we are called to do-  to bring the real empire here on earth, the kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.

We are reminded in James that “the first will be last and the last will be first”.  We are reminded that God does not fall for favor.  We - every single one of us- have been created in the image of God and are loved by God- equally.  There is nothing we can do to gain favor.  When the disciples argued over who was the greatest, Jesus again and again would cease the discussion and offer a story. Jesus teaches humility.  Jesus teaches service.  Jesus teaches love…over and over and over. And yet, here we are… still learning, still wrestling with ourselves and the world. 

Our pride,ego, and opinions continue to get in our way.  When I was in seminary I had a Field Education supervisor who was a wonderful mentor.   One afternoon when our group was sharing some of their field experiences, I began sharing how I was invited to serve at a feeding event that would be covered by the media, because someone special would be there serving.  I was struggling with going because I felt like it was a propaganda stunt and this person and I had what you might say “philosophical” differences. My supervisor looked at me and said, “Rebecca, when I was working in the Civil Rights movement, they told us we must sit at the table with those we may see as our enemy.  You go and sit at the table.”   I went.  And it was a great experience.  We served.  We served together.  Our differences didn’t matter because we were serving and loving others. We became less and God became greater! Isn’t that how it is supposed to be?  When we put others and their needs above our personal differences, Leaving our personal opinions, our political affiliations, our personal theologies behind to become one in how we love others like Jesus?

This reminded me of a fascinating story  about Daryl Davis, a jazz musician.  He had grown up in a segregated America after living his early childhood in Europe and because of that experience he was confused by the racism in America.  As he got older he played jazz in a night club and there he began a “friendship” , I suppose you would call it, with a Klansman.  You see, Daryl was an African American.  He would sit at the table with this klansman and talk… they talked about music and the world. Daryl recalled that he would sit with a few other Klansman after his music set- and a few of the men would leave to go to the other side of the room, but a few others stayed.  There they would engage in conversation.  Learning about one another and slowly chiseling away at the assumptions and prejudice that they carried. At one point Daryl asked his friend if he could help him arrange a meeting with the Grand Dragon of the Klan in maryland.  He wanted to interview him.  And he did… and this began a long road of education, understanding and compassion with many Klamsman.  Actually, I believe Daryl has helped over 200 klansmen leave the organization.  He showed that when we sit together and learn from each other… and allow our humanity to override all those societal misunderstandings and prejudices, we can look to one another as fellow beloved children of God.  Now, I must say it probably wasn't easy and it took a great deal of courage and strength… but what Daryl did was break down walls.  He broke down HUMAN created separation and favoritism. He sat at the table and listened- even when it was REALLY hard. Through his willingness to listen and engage with people who had extreme views about the color of his skin, he helped these men see the wrongness of their views. Through relationships and love-he broke their hardened hearts!

There are no VIP passes in Heaven. It’s all inclusive! You see, in God's kingdom, we are all the favored ones and our Creator desires for each of us to love one another  like God, because there is nothing that makes anyone better or more  deserving of this love. Jesus reminds us of this

Over and over again, Jesus teaches love, mercy, and grace through his stories, his parables. The  Prodigal Son, when the wayward son is welcomed back home by his father with open arms, and the Good Samaritan- who stopped and cared for a stranger when so many others passed by,  are just a few examples. He shows us how to love those who are cast out or ignored by society. He reminds us of our worth as children of God. Friday, my  family and I were at a local restaurant and we saw a picture of a sign  that read, “There are NO unimportant people.” We had to get a picture of it to share! Now, isn’t that a sign? (Add picture)

During the life of Jesus here on earth-we see how every person IS  favored and God's world is equal. We are loved the same by God- The same!  I don't know about you, but I find that comforting and also something worth working towards… And as James tells us that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, something that is written multiple times throughout scripture. Our purpose as Christians is to do the challenging, hard work of loving like Jesus. 

In the end, we are asked to love one another as God loves us. And James reminds us that our faith spurs us to action. Our faith in Christ changes our hearts and minds… Jesus did not say it would be easy and it wasn’t easy for him either- and he gave his life for this love- for us! So, Let us do the work! Let us do the hard, challenging work of being Jesus to a broken and hurting world. Let us be the hands and heart of Christ.  Let us labor in love and change our world.