Here we are in mid-September. Vacations over. Teachers and students back to school.
And next week, our Sunday School will begin a new class for children three-years and up. This time of year is exciting: New classes, teachers and students. New things to study and learn. New books. New friends.
It would have been nice on this “back-to-school Sunday” to hear that lovely scripture from Matthew (19:14) “Let the little children come unto me.” Or that scene in Acts (8:26ff) when Philip asks the Eunuch, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replies, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Unless I have a teacher.) But NO…The Revised Common Lectionary and the Letter of James really put a bit of a damper on our back-to-school enthusiasm, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Then it talks about how important and unruly our tongues are. (The words that come out of our mouths.)
If you’re a preacher or a teacher it calls us up short. ‘Maybe makes us want to be excessively careful about what we say…After all, we teachers & preachers do use our voices to do our work, so the chances of our making mistakes, of verbally blowing it, are probably greater than for many others. . . just because of the odds—we talk a lot! .This reading may even make us wonder a little if we should be teachers. Certainly it plays into my sinful tendency towards perfectionism.
However one New Testament scholar (Mary Hinkle) suggests, and I agree, the point of what James is saying in this passage is not so much about saying the right thing or trying to be perfect. In fact James admits, “All of us make many mistakes.” The point is about making sure our actions match our words…And especially in the case of the “little ones” with whose care we are charged. These little ones—God’s Children, students young and old, are precious to God. James warns us against doing anything hypocritical as we teach them. Besides, you know children…They know immediately if what we say doesn’t match what we do! So if our parish “says” our children are important to us, then we need to be and do things that embody that for them. Or think about our Baptismal Covenant. In it we pledge “To strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” But if we welcome the rich and turn away the poor, what we’re doing doesn’t match what we’re saying in the Covenant. Or, if in one breath we praise God for the goodness and beauty of creation, and in the next say something unfavorable about another human being, who is part of that creation, we are hypocrites. And we’re not speaking the truth about God because God made all human beings in God’s likeness and image: So all human beings are created good. Who are we to demean or judge another human being whom God has made? Who are we to decide we know better than God, and so declare some things “not good?” When we say and do these things, our actions give lie to our words. And so the warning and strict judgment in the Letter of James is to all who teach, preach, pray, praise or just talk about God. Said differently, as Christians, we’ve not only got to “talk the talk” but also “walk the walk.”
Now over the centuries, some Christians have been very critical of the Letter of James. They think his intent is “Works Righteousness.” By that I mean trying to earn our way into God’s good graces by what we do and say. We’ll, if that is what James had in mind, I’d criticize him too because we are saved by God’s grace, not by our good works. But I don’t think that’s what the Letter of James is about at all. I think James is saying if we truly accept our acceptance, which God gives us as free gift, then the only way we could possibly respond is in words and acts of love.
So as we begin this new school year, I invite all of us—as teachers, parents, grandparents, preachers and friends, to offer our children the great gift of not only Talking the Talk but also of Walking the Walk…
Let us pray…
Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy, care and teaching of children: Give us calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good. And that whatever we speak to them with our lips, we may show forth to them in our lives, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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