When we first moved into our house we quickly discovered that one of the six giant oak trees in our yard had “oak wilt.” This is a deadly disease to oaks and can easily spread to other oak trees. We had no choice but to cut this tree down so its disease wouldn’t spread to the other oaks in our yard and possibly the rest of the neighborhood. There was also the danger of it falling on our house.
When we had the tree cut down the arborists cut a 5 foot trench around where the tree had stood. When you looked down you could see the network of roots of this once ginormous oak tree. The roots were tightly bundled and spread out for several feet. In fact, an oak tree’s roots can extend out in as many feet as the tree is tall. Our tree was about 50 feet tall, but luckily its roots didn’t extend that far. Due to its extensive root system, an oak tree can survive for centuries. But to ensure the health of the tree it first needs to have healthy roots.
Similarly, James is challenging this group of early Christians to reflect upon whether or not God’s word is deeply rooted or planted in each of them. The implanted word being what Jesus says about us and about others. The implanted word being Jesus himself, as Jesus is God’s word that became flesh. James wants those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ to reflect just how deeply rooted they are in Christ. Those who are deeply rooted are stronger in their faith like a mighty oak tree that stands tall. But unlike an oak tree, the strength of one’s faith in Christ isn’t seen in height, but in actions. In other words, how has their faith in Jesus Christ changed the way they live? Primarily in how they interact with others.
To have all of what Jesus said and did as recorded in scripture planted deep within us we need to first be better listeners. That’s a hard thing to do in our noisy world. We are easily distracted, even when we want to focus.
My Doctor of Ministry program is about contemplation and making space to listen to God. I have to admit this does not come naturally to me. I get antsy pretty easily. When I was first trying to decide if I was going to do a Doctor of Ministry program I read the description of this particular cohort and my first thought was this is so not me. Quiet, solitude and stillness are what I think of when I think of contemplation and I’m really bad at all of the above. But I ended up applying to this program because I knew I needed a refresher on spending time with God.
Since beginning this program I’ve become a better listener. First, a better listener to God, and when that happens we become better listeners period. We hear others and even our own thoughts more clearly. There’s definitely more room for improvement for me personally when it comes to listening to God, but I’ve appreciated the times when I’m intentional about finding a quiet space, even if it’s for 10 minutes to listen to a passage of scripture as it’s read aloud (from an app like the Bible app) and then I take time to quietly reflect on what that passage says about the character of God. I get so much out of scripture when I take time to listen to it several times instead of quickly skimming through the words.
I love this quote by Christian author, Jan Johnson: “Experienced contemplatives of the past and present tell us that God, through contemplation, enlarges our heart to such an extent that we care not only about those we know, but also about those we don’t. In God’s presence, we come to care about the world God so loves, we come away from contemplation equipped with a heart for bringing justice and mercy to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the needy, the sick, and prisoners, even though we never met them.”
My professor, Tom Schwanda gave us a great definition of contemplation: “Gazing towards God.” As Jan Johnson stated when we are intentional about being in God’s presence, when we are intentional about turning towards God, our hearts are enlarged because we see God better. And when we see God better, we can’t help but see others more clearly. Especially those who are hungry, thirsty, lonely, sick and/or needy.
When we turn towards God we are also humbled. A trait that James places importance upon. We are humbled by how grand and unlimited God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. And it is in Jesus Christ that we are humbled.
Humility is important as it prevents us from thinking so much of ourselves that we overlook the orphans and widows in our midst. When we are too busy to make time and space to turn towards God, we begin to think we can get by without God just fine. We then miss out on who God sees – the very people God calls us to serve. People who we tend to avoid or ignore all together.
James reminds us that God is the father to the fatherless.
It was a patriarchal society in James’s day. If a wife lost her husband, she and her children lost everything because the vast majority of women could not own property and had no other means of wealth in their name. It was all under the name of a woman’s father, husband or brother. When women and children lost the male figure that provided for them they were in danger of poverty and destitution. James wanted this church, and our church, to remember that God who is our Father in heaven is father to the fatherless. Who today is considered the “fatherless?” Whose voices are not being heard so much so that they’re crying out to be heard? Even if it’s in ways we may not agree with, why are they crying out to be heard?
For a few decades churches across denominational lines have either identified themselves as being all about social justice or concentrating on discipleship such as helping people to cultivate a deep prayer life, relationships with each other through small groups. What many churches are coming to question today is why this has to be an either/or. We need to be both and this passage from James supports this.
We need to spend time to make sure God’s word is not just planted, but cultivated and deeply rooted within us. To spend time not just reading, but reflecting on God’s word. To spend time in prayer on our own and with one another. I’m making another plug for the “Being with Jesus” sermon series this fall and all of us taking the challenge of reading the gospels together between September 8th and the beginning of Advent in November. To be immersed in God’s Word is to be fueled by Jesus Christ himself, so that we can be the church Christ has called us to be.
It is the Holy Spirit who roots within us the “who” of who Jesus Christ is and what he did and continues to do for all of us. It is then that we will have what it takes to love each other well and care for the fatherless among us. This is because we are loving others out of the love Christ has for all of us. Something that is not found in us, but found only in Jesus Christ.
When we live deeply rooted in Jesus Christ we can be sure we are becoming the people Christ has called us to be.
