Sermons by Rev. Joel Lynn

               As we continue in our sermon series on the book of James, our passage today from James 3:1-12 is all about the power of the tongue and the need to control our words and speech. But it begins with what is at first a seemingly unrelated warning. James warns us that “Not many should desire to become teachers. For teachers will be judged more strictly.” And I think this is true both in terms of how teachers will be judged by others and how teachers will be judged by God. When one seeks to become a pastor or spiritual leader, they are immediately put into a fishbowl type situation where others are looking at them far more closely. With the average church member, people don’t have very high expectations of how they should be or act, but with teachers, the expectations are often enormous. The slightest slip up and they will be judged harshly.              I think James is t...

                      When we come across our passage today from James 2:14-26, we are almost walking into the middle of a conversation. And the issue with walking into the middle of a conversation is that you are missing everything that was said before you walked in that might give you some important context for what everyone is talking about. So, let me try and slowly build up the backstory of what James is responding to here. James begins by asking, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” And he’s asking this, presumably, because some people are saying that there is much profit from having faith, even without works. And here’s why they are probably thinking that: because a key part of the gospel message of salvation is this: you are not saved by good works. The law of God does perhaps make one worthy of heaven if one keeps it entirely. But the problem of course is t...

          Our passage from James 2:1-9 today features James scolding various churches because they have been engaging in favoritism, they have been giving preferential treatment to the wealthy people in their churches, giving them the prime places to sit, and extra attention and care. I wonder, do we still have the same issue today? After all, in some ways we have made great strides toward class equality. For example, America has always had a very different culture than say England. When America was starting, England was still defined in many ways by this elaborate class system where one was entitled to much better treatment if they were a king or queen, a prince or an earl, a noble or a knight. Nor is America a place like how India used to be when it was divided into a strict, hierarchical caste system from the Brahmins down to the untouchables. In America, class distinctions seem much more leveled, though not nonexistent. In democracy, everyone’s vote cou...