The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 9

Seeing Beyond "the" Poor
James 2:1-17

Both the readings from Proverbs and from James speak about “the poor.”

Proverbs gives the instruction: Do not rob the poor. And stresses that the only advantage of being rich is that it provides the potential for generosity. And generosity, in turn, brings blessing.

James, writing to the Christian community says: Do not despise or dishonor the poor. The poor are rich in faith and will inherit the kingdom.

Somewhere along the way within my life in the church I was taught not to use language like “the” poor. Before you roll your eyes at one more rule from the PC language police, hear me out. I think it’s a point worth considering.

Both the Book of Common Prayers and the Bible are full of this sort of usage, but to use language like “the poor” takes individual human beings and lumps them in an anonymous group with just a single identifying characteristic, usually a negative one. It implies that the only thing that defines a particular person is that he or she is poor. Individual children of God lose their personal identity and become part of a group known only for being poor. It is better to say something like “a woman or person who is poor.” Then she is a woman first, who happens to be poor… among other things.

We do the same thing when we talk about “the elderly,” or “the disabled,” or even “the rich.”

In James, at least in our current English translation, the language usage is mixed. Sometimes he speaks of “the poor;” sometimes he speaks of people who are poor. Regardless of language usage, one point I think James is trying to make, is that poverty does not define a person. That’s good to remember.

But later on in this passage, James uses the language of brothers and sisters. When James is trying to rally the Christians to whom he is writing to provide for the bodily needs of another human being who may be naked or hungry, James says, “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?”

Brothers and sisters. When you feel related to someone else, when you acknowledge a relationship with another human being, usually that makes a difference in how you view and treat them. Assuming you feel a positive relationship, that tends to promote compassion, caring.

We’ve had quite a few funerals at St. John’s lately. The funerals got me thinking about relationships.

Just recently we had two funerals for two very different people. And they were very different services. But both were “good”. So, from a clergy standpoint, what makes for a “good” funeral? When they manifest relationships. Not necessarily quantity, but quality. Both lives, in their own ways, were rich in relationships.

And speaking of relationships, today is our annual fall ministry fair. Food and fellowship are a celebration of relationships, the relationships we share as members of this parish community. Be mindful of relationships. Especially those beyond family and chosen friends.

Be mindful of your relationships.  Within the parish. Within the world. Whether or not you feel close, be aware of your relatedness to others.

If we can remember that we are all related in Christ, poverty will not vanish, but “the poor” will disappear and we will see “a brother in Christ" who is in need whom I can help.