As the Christian church started to expend in the first century , the Apostle James , most likely the brother of Jesus , recounts an event he witnessed.
Two people came in to a worship service. One of them was wealthy, had great looking clothes on, fine jewelry, manicured, polished, put together. About the same time, a poor person arrived, dirty clothes, disheveled, hair a mess, hadn’t shaved or washed for weeks obviously. It wasn’t a very big church so everyone there could see everything that was happening.
The usher, or whoever was watching the door that day, made a big fuss over the rich person, extended the right hand of friendship, showed him to a good seat, even held the chair for him. And then told the poor person that all the seats were full so he’d have to stand in the back near the door.
Having witnessed this , James went right home, got out his pen and legal pad and wrote a little letter of protest to the ministers and elders and people of that church.
In his letter , he reminds them and consequently us that you really don’t believe something until it shapes and forms what you do and how you live. “Faith without works is dead,” he said. “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?”
James makes the point that faith lives in acts of generosity and kindness and healing and love — nourishes others, but also us, meets the needs of others but also our own deepest need.
Dr. Willy L Mafuta,
Senior Pastor,
Hopewell United Methodist Church, Hopewell, NJ 08525