Earlier we heard Carol read from the Letter of James. Now there are certain epistles that everyone hails as masterpieces: Paul’s Letter to the Romans, for example. Then there are those that barely made it into the New Testament: the Letter of James, for example. Martin Luther certainly did not like it because he thought it promoted justification by works and not faith. “I therefore refuse him [James] a place among the writers of the true canon of my Bible; but I would not prevent anyone placing him or raising him where he likes, for the epistle contains many excellent passages,” Luther wrote.

Contrary to Luther’s warning, I am going to go out on a limb and talk about this scripture from the Letter of James. It’s probably okay because John Wesley published at least two sermons on this epistle. The person whom this epistle is named after is James the brother of Jesus. After Jesus’ death, James became an important leader of the 1st century church in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem church was known for its adherence to Jewish religious practices such as circumcision and following dietary regulations. Even though Paul went in a different direction in his mission to the Gentiles, he held James and the Jerusalem church in high respect.

By the way, you may have read about the discovery of the James ossuary in the press over the past year. An ossuary is a burial box that the first century Jews used to deposit the bones of their family members after death. Last year, a 2,000 year-old ossuary that was inscribed with the words “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” suddenly appeared to the general public. There was a rash of newspaper and magazine articles that proclaimed that this was the archaeological find of the century, physical proof of both James and his famous brother Jesus.

This past spring, we invited Professor Jonathan Reed, a leading authority in biblical archaeology, to give us his opinion. He told us that he thought it was probably a fake. I think Jonathan has been proven correct. Since that time, the Israeli Antiquities Authority declared that the inscription on the ossuary was indeed forged. Experts say that the inscription lacked a patina, indicating that it was carved recently. The antiquities dealer who owns the ossuary, Oded Golan, was arrested after Israeli police raided his apartment and found a storage room with various items in the process of being inscribed with special instruments. The James ossuary was found sitting atop a toilet in the attic of the apartment. And if you think this story couldn’t get more ridiculous, listen to this: Mr. Golan claims that the inscription does not have a patina because his mother scrubbed the ossuary with hot water.

One thing we can count on are these words from the Letter of James: “You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20). One of the issues that the church has been dealing with since its beginning has been how we treat one another. There has always been conflict between members of faith communities because we are individuals with our own opinions and perspectives. When you read Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth and Galatia, for example, he is often addressing the divisions that have arisen within the community. It is inevitable that such disagreements will arise, oftentimes with great emotion.

So the question is not will we disagree with each other, but how do we deal with those conflicts when they arise? This passage from James instructs us to first listen to each other’s concerns with care and patience. If we try to hear what the other person is saying from their perspective, putting ourselves in their shoes before we speak, then the potential for conflict is decreased. That does not mean you must acquiesce and immediately surrender your personal opinion and perspective. That will only result in unspoken anger that will grow as you remain silent in the days and weeks to come. It is a matter of how we dialogue with each other as Christians that makes the difference.

What does that dialogue look like within a Christian community? This is the type of Christian teaching that is easier said than done. When you believe in something very strongly, it is more than holding a purely intellectual position. It is loaded with emotion because it means something for you in your life. So how to communicate that with both integrity and love is a great challenge.

You know by now that one of my favorite theologians is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who became part of the resistance against Hitler and the Nazis in World War II. In the 1930s, Hitler began to systematically take control of all aspects of daily life in Germany. That included the German Church, which became a puppet institution of the Nazi government. Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth and others formed a separate church called the Confessing Church in opposition to the Nazis. As one would expect, the members of the Confessing Church were considered to be disloyal citizens and were terrorized by the government. Pastors, religious educators, and church leaders who did not publicly proclaim their allegiance to Hitler were removed from their positions.

In 1935, the Confessing Church established its own seminary to train dissident pastors in a little town called Finkenwalde. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was selected to be the seminary’s director and teacher. Along with 23 young men, Bonhoeffer created a new community of Christians who lived out their theology in an old, converted schoolhouse. They slept, ate, worked, prayed and studied together. This was a radical move for these new pastors. Since they were publicly opposed to the Reich Church, they received no financial support or offers of employment. Their future was filled with unknowns and their lives were at risk.

Their new teacher insisted that they live out the gospel they were learning about in their new community. Bonhoeffer explained to them a distinctly Christian way to engage one another in their daily lives. He distinguished between human love and spiritual love. Human love, he says, is unable to sustain a community. It is finite and self-serving, no matter how well intentioned the person is. Spiritual love, as embodied by Jesus Christ, is the only way that a community could be held together. “Jesus Christ stands between the lover and the others he loves”, Bonhoeffer wrote. When I am engaged in a debate with another person, I try to envision Christ standing between that person and me. Only through Christ’s presence can I put aside my own presuppositions and really hear what the other person is saying. While maintaining my own personal freedom and independence, I am still able to remain in fellowship with them through Christ’s mediation.

The Finkenwalde seminary was declared illegal by the Nazi government and was shut down by the Gestapo in 1937. Although it lasted only 2 ½ years, it kept the true church of Christ alive in Germany through its training of Confessing Church pastors. I believe that it was the most influential period for Bonhoeffer’s theology. It was at Finkenwalde that the Word of God was actually experienced by the students and lived out in community with one another.

My father-in-law, Tom Trotter, is a retired pastor of this conference. He and his wife Gania started the Montclair United Methodist Church in 1956. There was nothing more than orange groves when this new church was planted there. Tom tells the story about one of the great controversies that erupted at the Montclair church in its infancy. Apparently the congregation was split over how to serve their potluck dinners: family style or buffet style. This went on and on until finally the Lay Leader came to Tom and said “If we can’t solve this problem, then we have no business trying to solve any other problem this church will face in the future.”

Congregations face lots of problems. Some of them are relatively minor, like how to serve potlucks. Others are bigger, like trying to reverse declines in membership and balancing budgets. This congregation has been talking about these kinds of issues very intensely over the last few months and it has been an emotional process. We know first hand just how hard it is to live out the wisdom in this scripture. We have to tackle these problems together, clergy and staff and laypeople alike. The only way we can do that and hold together our community is to love one another through the Christ who stands between us.

As hard as it is to actually live out this teaching, there is also good news in all of this. To have so many different people with so many different perspectives in one community is a gift from God. This is one of the things that sets the church apart from other types of communities. Our common bond is the love of God through Jesus Christ and the love of our neighbors as ourselves. This is the great commandment that Jesus says sums up all of the teachings in the Torah. This is the spiritual love that Bonhoeffer wrote about that binds us together in Christian fellowship. This is the most precious gift that we can share with each other and the world. This type of love gives us the capability to do things that would seem impossible.

Just like those young preachers at Finkenwalde, we have the opportunity to actually live out the gospel with each other, at this time in this place. We have been given the chance to not be merely hearers of the word, but doers of the word (James 1:25). This congregation possesses a deep tradition filled with wisdom and resources. Most importantly, it is filled with great people who are bound together by their love of God and love for each other. As we enter this fall season of new programs and ministries, let us pray and work for the health and growth of this beloved community called the church.

Amen

Notes:

Martin Luther, “Preface to the Epistle of St. James,” in Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings, ed. John Dillenberger (New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday, 1962), 36.

See “Ossuary Dealer’s Arrest Stirs More Controversy,” Christian Century, Vol. 120, No. 17, August 23, 2003.

Renate Wind, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Spoke in the Wheel, trans. John Bowden (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI, 1992), 99-126.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, trans. John W. Doberstein (New York: Harper Collins, 1954), 35.