James and the Collect
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Proper 20 The Sunday closest to September 21
Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love
things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among
things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall
abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among
things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall
abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8 King James Version (KJV)
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Friendship with the World
Ch 4. 1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Sometimes there is discernible link between the Collect for the Day and one of the Lectionary readings. Sometimes the discerned link is real, sometimes it’s fancied, forced or imagined. Either way, the collect for this morning does seem to relate to the reading from the Letter of James -- which many scholars see as not a letter in the usual sense (as the letters of Paul are truly letters), but perhaps a sermon ranging across several topics, two of which are addressed in the verses appointed to be read this morning and to both of which the collect is relevant, caring about things heavenly rather than things of this earth. Actually, the collect seems more closely linked to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount,
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt , and where thieves break through and steal : But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt , and where thieves do not break through nor steal : For where your treasure is , there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21 KJV)
which we heard every Sunday in the parish where I grew up, because it was the minister’s standard offertory sentence.
It’s too early to say much intelligently but not too early to say too much, so one additional thought. My curiosity is always piqued when the Lectionary skips over verses. In the James reading above, the verses in italics are omitted, why? As it turns out, the reason is obvious: it’s because the people in the congregation are being called adulterers and adulteresses, so leave it out even though the content of it is a strong and valid part of the message, and relates even more clearly to the collect. Nobody likes to be called names though, so omit it.
Make that two additional thoughts. In the omitted, italicized, verses of James above there’s the theological assertion, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” The same exact verse is found at 1 Peter 5:5, and some scholars think the author of the Letter of James called on 1 Peter as a source for writing down what he had to say (and citing Scripture or what will become Scripture is legitimate preaching practice). In any event, it strikes me as peculiar that the framers of the Lectionary gave us a Collect for the Day two weeks ago that specifically calls on that verse from James, when we were reading from James, and yet omitted that verse of James from the appointed readings. Here’s that collect, for Proper 18, September 9:
Proper 18 The Sunday closest to September 7
Grant us, O Lord, we pray thee, to trust in you with all our
heart; for, as thou dost alway resist the proud who
confide in their own strength, so thou dost not forsake those
who make their boast of thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
heart; for, as thou dost alway resist the proud who
confide in their own strength, so thou dost not forsake those
who make their boast of thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
It’s just me, needing to find something to pick at.
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