Eyes
James 2: 1-17
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
September 9, 2018
James holds up the mirror of God’s Word again and invites us to look into the face of faith. Today we are focusing on the eyes in James 2: 1-17. Listen for God’s Word to you this morning.
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. - James 2: 1-17
The word “pupil” comes from Latin, meaning “little-doll.” The name references the” tiny image one sees of oneself reflected in the eye of another.”
Scientifically, our pupils truly do reveal something about our inner thoughts when we look at another.
The pupil regulates the amount of light coming into the eye. Just as light and darkness cause the pupils to either contract or dilate respectively, the levels of our emotional interest do the same. All of this is involuntary; our eyes are always working on a subconscious level.
“Psychologists consider pupil dilation to be an honest cue to social interest.” If we fake our interest while engaging someone, then our pupils get smaller. Our eyes switch gears to a visual sensitivity mode causing our pupils to dilate when we get excited, when we need to detect something around us, or when we go into a fight or flight response. To really see someone and or something, we need our pupils to be wide open [1].
To spiritually see the gift and responsibility of faith, we need our teachability to be wide open.
James holds up the mirror of God’s truth for the community of faith to look into. His words are both encouraging and challenging.
James says if we are to truly recognize the face of faith which God projects to us then we need our spiritual eyes to switch gears. He encourages us to adjust our spiritual sight. The pupils of our eyes must move from being narrowed by a human point of view and become opened wide to a God point of view.
James also makes a prophetic challenge: we as Christians who profess our faith in Jesus Christ are not fully living into the ministry of Jesus Christ that God’s Word proclaims. These are hard words to say and equally challenging to hear.
The ministry of Jesus Christ proclaims that God is with us (Matthew 1:23). Jesus Christ became poor, vulnerable, and helpless – a little babe lying in a manger - for our sakes so that by his poverty and humility we might know God’s spiritual abundance today and into eternity (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Jesus’ God-given mission was to usher in God’s upside-down kingdom; lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry while bringing down oppressive authority by scattering the proud (Luke 1:50, 52-53).
Jesus’ self-giving love proclaims, “Good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight of the blind, and freedom to the oppressed” (Luke 4:18).
Jesus’ mercy announces, “Let the one who is without sin throw the first stone” (John 8:7).
Jesus mandates that we love one another as Christ has already loved us, for by doing this everyone will know that we are his disciples (John 13: 34-35).
The ministry of Jesus Christ embraces all of this because God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11). God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Not some of us, but all of us.
When we read God’s Word asking Holy Spirit to shine God’s light something incredible happens - God’s Word actually reads us. This is why God’s Word is a mirror.
If we really allow our hearts to be honest with God and ourselves then God’s Word will show us the contradictions in our faith. I call these contradictions 'growing edges;' these are the area of our faith which need to grow and mature.
James says the faith we enact is not the gospel we proclaim.
When we pass judgment making others feel less than human then we dishonor the image of God in one another (James 2: 5-6a).
When we pick up the stone of vengeance then the measure of judgment we give is the measure we will get (Leviticus 19:18b; Matthew 7:2; James 2:10).
When we refuse to forgive we fail to remember God has already forgiven the inexcusable in you and in me (Leviticus 19:18b; John 8: 10-11; James 2:11).
The truth is that all have fallen short of the glory of God.
While God alone is the one who executes judgment, our God says mercy triumphs over judgment (Psalm 75:7; James 2:13). God’s mercy and steadfast love shine brightly in the darkness through the cross.
The Law of Love in the whole of Scripture points to God’s kingdom vision which is already here and not fully here yet. God's kingdom has already come in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And yet we are still waiting for it to be fully revealed.
The vision of God’s upside-down kingdom is what we are to focus the eyes of our faith on. We are called as the body of Christ to continue Jesus’ ministry of faith, hope, love, justice, and peace.
James’ letter is not about pointing the finger at what other Christians do and say. James’ letter is about seeing the log in our own eye.
Bringing about the change, the transformation, that God desires to see in the world and all humanity begins with one word: “me.”
Say it with me: The change God desires begins with me.
We cannot put the gift of our faith into action unless we behold the Law of Love. If our convictions and conduct of faith embody anything less than loving our neighbor as self, then we miss the mark. This is why James says faith without works is dead (James 2:17).
Faith without the works of God’s merciful love is dead – it is powerless, inoperative, bankrupt.
In our Call to Worship this morning we said: Open the eyes of our hearts Lord. Open the eyes of our hearts – we want to see you!
We want to see God’s eyes of unconditional love.
We want to see the eyes of Christ’s mercy.
We want to see the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of faith gives you and me a deep longing to see God.
God’s truth is always on the move to open our spiritual eyes. God wants us to see the face of Christ in God’s Word and in the world.
I want for you to imagine the face of Jesus Christ and his unwavering faithfulness to God. Christ wants nothing more than for you and me to look for his faith in everyone we meet.
To see through the eyes of God’s love is to be on a mission to re-family all who have been marginalized by the world’s standards. To re-family means that we are to look into the eyes of the poor in spirit, the condemned, and those who are struggling to lift their voice. Look into their eyes and if you dare get close enough look for that mini-reflection of yourself shining in their pupils.
To re-family is to see our shared humanity and to work as agents of God’s love to restore unity in God’s family among our sisters and brothers. This is to see the bigger picture of God’s love for all humanity.
To see through the eyes of Christ’s mercy is to look at the cross and remember that because God said you and I deserved a second chance then we are to forgive as we have already been forgiven.
To see through the eyes of Holy Spirit’s wisdom is to deepen our commitment to join God in this holy work of reconciling the world.
This morning after the Word is proclaimed, and after the prayers are said, and after the songs are sung God will once again send us back out into this beautiful yet broken world.
This week there will someone who crosses your path and mine whom society has judged by the world’s standards. And he or she might see you or me and expect us to look down on them just like the rest of world.
When she or he looks into your face or mine, they deserve to be held in the light of God’s love. The light of world is Jesus Christ. The light shines dignity, mercy, and self-giving love. The light abides in you and in me.
May you and I take James’ words of encouragement and challenge to heart.
I pray God will nudge us when our spiritual vision is narrow and soften our hearts to look for our shared humanity- even the best of humanity - in our sisters and brothers.
I pray Jesus will open our pupils of faith to teachable moments of mercy.
And I pray Holy Spirit will deepen our commitment to see the work of faith that Christ has called us to do.
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] David Ladden, PhD., “Your Eyes Really Are the Window to Your Soul,” Psychology Today, December 31, 2015.
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