JAMES 1:19-27: WEDNESDAY'S EPISTLE FOR YOUR REFLECTION
Manuel Tuazon
For: Wednesday, February 14, 1996
Memorial: St. Cyril, Religious & Missionary and St. Methodius, Bishop &
Missionary
From: James 1:19-27
Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Only
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[19] Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear,
slow to speak, slow to anger, [20] for the anger of man does not work
the righteousness of God. [21] Therefore put away all filthiness and
rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word,
which is able to save your souls.
[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. [23] For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; [24]
for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was
like. [25] But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he
shall be blessed in his doing.
[26] If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue
but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain. [27] Religion
that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit
the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
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Commentary:
19-27. In the previous verse the sacred writer referred to the
effectiveness of "the word of truth". Now he makes the point that
although the Gospel has this effectiveness, it is not enough just to
hear it: we need to listen to it with docility (verses 19-21) and put
it into practice (verses 22-27). Further on he will emphasize this
connection between faith and works (cf. 2:14-26).
19-20. These counsels occur frequently in the wisdom books of the Old
Testament (cf., e.g., Proverbs 1:5; 10:19; Sirach 5:12-13; 20:5-8). To
put doctrine into practice one needs to listen to it with a good
disposition (verse 21). The letter will have more to say about
prudence in speech (cf. 1:26; and especially 3:1ff).
"The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God": a Hebrew
expression meaning that someone who gives way to anger is not acting
justly in God's eyes.
Anger is one of the "capital" sins (one of the "seven deadly sins"),
capital because they lead to many other sins; anger leads particularly
to the evil desire for vengeance. Speaking of the effects of anger St.
Gregory the Great explains that it clouds one's judgment when making
decisions, makes it difficult to get on with others, causes discord and
makes it difficult to see where the truth lies. Moreover, "it deprives
one of righteousness, as it is written, `The anger of man does not work
the righteousness of God' (James 1:20) because when one's mind is not
at peace, one's critical faculty is impaired and one judges to be right
whatever one's anger suggests" ("Moralia", 5, 45). This sin is avoided
by the practice of the virtue of patience, of which St. James spoke a
few verses earlier (cf. 1:2-4; also 5:7-11).
21. "First he calls", St. Bede comments, "for the cleansing of mind and
body from vice, so that those who receive the word of salvation can
live in a worthy manner. A person who does not first turn his back on
evil cannot do good" ("Super Iac. Expositio, ad loc".).
To listen docilely to the word of God one needs to try to keep evil
inclinations at bay. Otherwise, pride--deceiving itself with all sorts
of false reasons--rebels against the word of God (which it sees as a
continuous reproach for a habit of sin it is unwilling to give up).
22-25. Sacred Scripture frequently exhorts us to put the word of God
into practice: "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do
them will be like a man who built his house upon the sand" (Matthew
7:26; cf., e.g., Ezekiel 33:10-11; Matthew 12:50; Romans 2:13; James
2:14-26).
The comparison of the man looking into the mirror is a very good one:
the word of God is frustrated unless it leads to examination of
conscience and a firm resolution to mend one's ways. Those who are
doers of the word will be "blessed"; our Lord says the same thing when
He describes as blessed those who "hear the word of God and keep it"
(Luke 11:28).
St. James' counsels in this passage are a clear call for the
consistency a Christian must seek at all times. Pope John Paul II
comments: "These are very serious, very severe statements; a Christian
should always be genuine, should never be content with words alone.
The mission he has received is a delicate one: he should be leaven in
society, light of the world, salt of the earth. As time goes by, the
Christian becomes more and more aware of his commitment, and the
difficulties it entails: he discovers he has to swim against the tide,
he has to bear witness to truths which are absolute, yet invisible; he
has to lose his earthly life in order to gain eternity; he needs to
feel responsible not just for himself but also for his neighbor--for
whom he should light the way, and edify and save. However, he realizes
that he is not alone in all this [...]. The Christian knows that not
only did Jesus Christ, the Word of God, become man to reveal saving
truth and redeem mankind; He has also chosen to stay with us on earth,
mysteriously renewing the sacrifice of the Cross by means of the
Eucharist and becoming spiritual food for the soul and accompanying it
on its journey through life" ("Homily", 1 September 1979).
25. "The perfect law, the law of freedom": that is, the good news
brought by Christ, who has made us children of God (cf. John 1:12; 1
John 3:1ff) and set us free from every kind of servitude, both that of
the Old Law (cf., e.g., Galatians 2:4 and 4:21ff...) and subjection to
the devil, to sin and to death.
It can also be regarded as a law of freedom because when man obeys it
he is expressing his freedom to the fullest degree (cf. John 8:31ff),
and he is happy in this life and will be blessed in the next (cf.,
e.g., Psalm 1:1ff; 119:1ff). Thus, when a person sins and turns his
back on this law, he becomes not a free man but a slave: "Such a person
may show that he has acted according to his preferences," [Blessed]
Monsignor Escriva explains, "but he does not speak with the voice of
true freedom, because he has become a slave of his decision and he has
decided for the worst, for the absence of God, where there is no
freedom to be found.
"I tell you once again: I accept no slavery other than that of God's
love. This is because, as I have told you on other occasions, religion
is the greatest rebellion of men, who refuse to live like animals, who
are dissatisfied and restless until they know their Creator and are on
intimate terms with Him. I want you to be rebels, free and unfettered,
because I want you--it is Christ who wants us!--to be children of God.
Slavery or divine sonship, this is the dilemma we face. Children of
God or slaves to pride, to sensuality, to the fretful selfishness which
seems to afflict so many souls" ("Friends of God", 37-38).
26-27. St. James now gives some examples of what doing "the word of
truth" (verse 18), that is, the Gospel, means--controlling one's
tongue, being charitable and not letting oneself be stained by the
world.
The Old Testament often refers to widows and orphans as deserving of
special attention (cf. Psalm 68:5; 146:9; Deuteronomy 27:19), and the
first Christians made arrangements for the care of widows in the early
communities (cf. Acts 6:1ff; 9:39; 1 Timothy 5:3ff). Concern for
widows and orphans is included in the works of mercy ("by which the
temporal or spiritual wants of our neighbor are relieved" ("St. Pius X
Catechism", 943), which our Lord will take into account at the Last
Judgment (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).
"World" here has the pejorative meaning of "enemy of God and of
Christians" (cf. also 4:4; and other passages of Scripture, e.g., John
1:10; 7:7; 16:8-11; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Peter 2:20); one needs to be
constantly on the alert to avoid contamination...
"God and the Father": this is the literal meaning of the Greek. In New
Testament Greek the term "God" when preceded by the definite article
normally means not the divine nature but the person of the Father. In
this case by adding the words "and the Father" St. James does not mean
another, distinct Divine Person: he is simply making explicit the
meaning of the term "the God". It could also be translated by the
paraphrase "before Him who is God and Father".
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentary
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland. Printed in Hungary.
"Nihil Obstat": Stephen J. Greene, "Censor Deputatus".
"Imprimi Potest": J. O'Carroll, Diocesan Administrator, 15 October
1987.
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
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