Weekly Update – 8th September

Throughout September one of the Bible readings each week comes from the book of James which is a letter written by an early leader of the Christian church to the far flung 12 tribes of Israel. It’s a short book – only 5 chapters, that appears towards the end of the New Testament, so it’s easy to overlook! However, it contains a wealth of useful and practical advice for followers of Jesus then and now. It was thought to have been written by James, a leader of the new church in Jerusalem and Jesus’s brother, who didn’t believe until after Jesus’s resurrection, sometime between Paul’s first 2 missionary journeys – so fairly early on. The main focus of his letter is about putting faith into action, living out your faith. He champions the rights of the poor, criticizes snobs and bigots (don’t judge by appearances!0, and urges us to control our tongues! He was criticized for not being ‘Christian’ enough with this emphasis on action but James never says that actions are a substitute for faith; he says that if our faith doesn’t result in practical, loving deeds then its not real. That’s quite a challenge to live up to – can we take it on?

Church tradition has it that James was known as “Old Camel Knees” because he spent so much time in prayer that his knees were heavily calloused!

The passage below illustrates his no-nonsense approach

Taken from The Message)

James 5: 13-15

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick/ Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of Jesus. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven – healed inside and out.

Fiona