Our New Testament epistle reading this week begins with James encouraging disciples to draw near to God as a means of avoiding evil. If we draw near to God, James says, God draws near to us as well. And since no evil can thrive in God’s presence, being near to him seems the best way to ensure evil is kept away. Let’s look at the first few verses,
Therefore, subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. — James 4:7-8a
In 1971, a surprisingly popular musical began off-Broadway and transferred five years later to Broadway. It ran for 2,124 performances off-Broadway and 527 on Broadway, becoming one of the biggest theatrical successes of all time.
Appearing in the midst of the Jesus Movement, Godspell brought Jesus and his teachings from Matthew’s Gospel to millions of Americans during that decade and had global impact as well.
The third song from the score, Day By Day, reinforces that admonition from James to draw closer to God, As the lyrics show us, this should be a continuous mindset, not a singular event:
Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day
James seems to be warning about complacency. We expect God to stay close to us without us putting forth any effort on our part to sustain the relationship. We expect every day to happen without recognizing the frailty of our own existence. Our tomorrows are not guaranteed, even though we act like we know we will see another sunrise.
In Islam, Muslims will frequently say the phrase, Inshallah, when referring to a future event. It means if God wills, or God willing, and is required according to the Quran:
And never say of anything, “I will definitely do this tomorrow,” 24 without adding, “if Allah so wills!” But if you forget, then remember your Lord, and say, “I trust my Lord will guide me to what is more right than this.” — Surah 18:23-24
Although Islam views God as having a different character and nature than in Christianity, the word Allah is the Arabic word for God and is used by Arab Christians in the region in their prayers and Bible reading. James, writing a half-millennium before Mohammed’s followers established the Quran, advocated the use of a similar approach in describing our plans for future events.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there, and carry on business and make a profit,” 14 you who do not know what will happen tomorrow, what your life will be like. For you are a smoky vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
In our complacency toward God and the guaranteed future we expect, we grow accustomed to the blessings we accrue along the way. James warns about our tendency to become self-absorbed in our riches and forget about God.
You may be thinking you’re not rich, but wealth is a relative perspective. We compare ourselves to others who have more, and if we have less than them, we think of ourselves as poor. Obesity among the poor is much more frequent here. Poor people in other countries can’t imagine having that problem and could only wish they might ever have enough food to get it.
James warns against the pride that can develop within us from success and reminds us of the need to remain humble.
Come now, you rich people, weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your wealth has rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived self-indulgently on the earth and have lived luxuriously. — James 5:1-3
Workers in biblical times were paid daily and usually relied on that payment to buy food for their families that evening. It was a tough existence, and many wealthy people were oblivious to it. Some others deliberately underpaid their workers, knowing the workers did not have the means or understanding to take any legal action against them.
Even today, many farmers hire migrant workers to pick their crops and pay them each evening after work. It is day-to-day employment, and the farmer doesn’t know who will show up the next day for work, so he pays them daily. Many short-term construction projects are similar, hence the ready supply of day-laborers outside Home Depot in many cities.
I had heard of some farmers in Southern California who would call immigration authorities (INS at the time, the former name for ICE), to raid their own fields and deport the workers so they wouldn’t have to pay them. Yes, these types of people really exist. And they existed in biblical times; James mentions in verse 4.
He encourages us all to draw closer to God continuously, so that we don’t become like those sorts of people and encourages them as well to draw close to God so their hearts can be changed.
We see a guiding prayer in the Book of Proverbs to keep our moral rudder aligned, so we don’t veer off course toward the sins associated with wealth or those with poverty.
Keep falsehood and a lying word far from me; do not give me poverty or wealth; provide me with food only for my need. 9 Or else I will be satisfied and will deny him and say “Who is Yahweh?” Or I will be poor and will steal and profane the name of my God. — Pro 30:8–9
This is the same idea that Jesus offers in the prayer he gave us: give us this day our daily bread. Not our weekly or monthly food allotment. Not a lump sum payment for life. Rather, it is a daily portion of God’s grace that keeps us coming back to him for more, day by day.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. Austin