What Cost Mercy?
(James 2: 1-17)
My friend Richard Kennedy was fond of saying that the milk of human kindness was not to be found in the Smith County courthouse. Richard, like me, had at one time been an assistant district attorney for the same elected prosecutor who operated under the belief that if a defendant wanted mercy, they should seek it from the judge or jury. Showing mercy or compassion was not to be found in our job description. It was a sign of weakness.
I had been hired based upon my reputation for being an effective prosecutor who knew how to try cases to a successful conclusion, as in, obtaining guilty convictions on those whom I prosecuted. I won’t deny it, I enjoyed trying cases, especially trying defendants who needed to feel the full weight of the State of Texas, but what the elected prosecutor in Smith County didn’t realize was that I could be compassionate and capable of showing mercy, even to a criminal, God forbid. After a while, they had become suspicious of my “leanings” and were watching me closely. I think the case that broke the camel’s back was a probation revocation hearing on a young black male, a member of a disenfranchised portion of our population, who had tested positive for drugs, and we were moving to adjudicate his guilt exposing him to up to ten years in prison. His initial charge was a very minor possession of crack cocaine, a personal use amount, and he had been placed on deferred adjudication probation for ten years. The lawyers in Tyler referred to this as a “slow plea to prison” as it was inevitable that the probationer would violate any one of the many conditions of his or her probation and then off to prison they would go where they rightfully belonged. It was a trap. In any event, I was feeling somewhat merciful that day and told the probationer’s attorney that I wasn’t up to sending another young black male to prison and would therefore argue for his remaining on probation. Not only did this take the defense attorney by surprise but it also shocked his client who realistically knew that if we didn’t get him now, we’d get him later, so he offered to plead true in exchange for two or three years in prison. When we were unable to reach an agreement, the judge wanted to know what the problem was on a “no-brainer” revocation. When we explained the situation to the judge he was dumbfounded and stated: “Let me get this straight. The State is opposed to revoking the defendant’s probation and the defense is moving to revoke the probation and sending his client to prison?” Correct, your honor. Somewhat amused, the judge stated he would follow the State’s recommendation and continue the defendant on probation with a stern warning not to mess this unusual act of prosecutorial mercy up. Well, there were spies in the courtroom and by the time I got back upstairs I could tell by the yelling coming out of the elected prosecutor’s office that he didn’t agree with the exercise of my prosecutorial discretion. I hope Jesus remembers this act of mercy when I appear before the seat of judgment.
And it’s showing favoritism to people whom you think can help you and not showing mercy and compassion to the helpless that James is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning. He starts out by stating: My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. He was reminding them that Christ was the savior of all people regardless of their status or position in society. He tells them to imagine two people coming into their meeting, showing up for church one morning, and one has a gold ring and is dressed in fine clothes, while the other is poor and dressed in filthy rags. And then suppose you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”, or “Here, sit at my feet.” He asks: Wouldn’t you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges? James is pointing out the perils of prejudging someone based upon their appearances, as in, this wealthy guy can really help out our bottom line, whereas this poor person will only be a drain on our resources, he or she brings nothing to the table. Fortunately, I can say that in the eight plus years that I have been here I haven’t witnessed such behavior, in fact, when an apparently disadvantaged person does grace us on Sunday mornings members of the congregation go out of their way to make them feel very welcome. James reminds them that God has chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith and asks: Hasn’t God chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? He then chastises them for dishonoring the poor and showing favor to the wealthy who, ironically, have made their lives difficult by dragging them into court and insulting the good name spoken over them at their baptism. He tells them that they would do well to fulfill the royal law found in scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself” quoting Leviticus 19: 18. He tells them that when they show favoritism, they are committing a sin, and by that same law they are exposed as a lawbreaker. He reminds them that anyone who tries to keep all of the Law but fails at one point is guilty of failing to keep all of it. It’s a heavy burden and truly impossible to maintain, one where you could get your probation revoked if not shown mercy.
He then gets to his point when he says: In every way, then, speak and act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. There will be no mercy in judgment for anyone who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy overrules judgment. He asks his readers what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Rhetorically he asks: Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone can it? He then tells them to imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat, and what if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? He asks: What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.
As I read this portion of James’ letter, I reflected back upon some of the churches Teresa and I attended during our married life. These churches were filled with good people, well-intentioned people, people who could quote scripture forward and backwards but weren’t actively engaged in helping disadvantaged brothers and sisters out, as if extending mercy would cost them something. Now, in all fairness, I wasn’t engaged in any church-related missionary work either at the time. I showed up every Sunday, taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, and worshipped right alongside everyone else hoping our service ended early enough to beat the Methodists to the cafeteria. I think what James is asking us to do is to take a hard look at our Christian value system and ask if it honors the poor, if it urges the uselessness of beliefs that do not express themselves in everyday behaviors and provides tangible examples of genuine faith. James is emphasizing a faith that changes lives, especially in the practices of hospitality on behalf of those in need, as in actively loving your neighbor as yourself.
When James asks what good it is if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it, he’s clearly asking if faith without action profits in salvation, and he’s also asking whether faith without action has any profit in the world for the poor and vulnerable. The answer to both is an unambiguous no. Faith, quite simply, is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. And John Wesley, the founder of our denomination, said: The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection. Faith and action are inseparable, and you cannot have one without the other.
In closing out this part of his letter, James presents three principles of faith. First, commitment is an essential part of faith. You cannot be a Christian simply by affirming the right doctrines or agreeing with Biblical facts. You must commit your mind and heart to Christ. Second, right actions are the natural by-products of true faith. A genuine Christian will have a changed life. And third, faith without good deeds doesn’t do anybody any good—it’s useless.
As Christians we are saved by God’s free gift through faith, not by our futile attempts at keeping the law. However, as Christians, we are required to obey Christ. God’s grace does not cancel our duty to obey him; it gives our obedience a new basis, a tangible reason for being. It’s true faith that transforms our conduct as well as our thoughts. If our lives remain unchanged and we expect that mindlessly doing the same thing from Sunday to Sunday is what God wants from us, then we don’t truly believe the truth we claim to believe. Granted, we cannot earn our salvation by serving and obeying God. Our salvation is an unmerited gift from God based upon faith, but such actions of service and mercy show that our commitment to God is real. Our deeds of loving service are not a substitute for, but rather a verification of, our faith in Christ, and that mercy we extend in his name costs us nothing.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving Father, open our eyes so that we may see glimpses of truth that you have for us, place in our hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set us free from bondage to the law. And with that freedom, that freedom from futilely trying to keep the law and ignoring all else, open our ears so that we may hear the voices of truth that you speak to us. And move us by your Spirit to speak out and proclaim your truth everywhere seeking justice and for the oppressed and opposing the unjust who seek to oppress them. Open our hearts so that we may show your love, joy, grace, forgiveness, and mercy to all of your lost and wanting children everywhere showing no favoritism to anyone. Illumine us, Spirit divine. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.