American shows today seem to center on our fascination of what it means to be truly rich. We just can’t get enough! From heavy duty productions like Game of Thrones to silly indulgences like Succession and Palm Royale, the story of the ruthless wealthy class exalting in their ultra-privileged lives while the poor characters scrabble and fight and long to break in to that class is told over and over again. It’s almost biblical! Actually, it is biblical.

Our passage in James today plays with similar themes of rich and poor and asks us to consider what it means to be truly rich. The book of James is considered to be the first letter written in the New Testament and he wrote in an age of great prejudice and hatred based on class, nationality, and religious distinctions. The people lived with permanent categories that divided and separated them into Gentiles or Jews, free or slave, rich or poor, and Greek or barbarian. 

James 2 (Common English Bible)

 My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. ² Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. ³ Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”; or, “Here, sit at my feet.” ⁴ Wouldn’t you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges?

⁵ My dear brothers and sisters, listen! Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith? Hasn’t God chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the wealthy make life difficult for you? Aren’t they the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name spoken over you at your baptism?

James’ letter attempts to break down these walls for the newly formed Christian community. His goal was to encourage them to see themselves as one race of believers under God. Paul echoed this sentiment in Ephesians 2:14-15 where he wrote that Jesus “made both Jews and Gentiles into one group”. 

But unity was a radical and shocking idea, much like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s was in our time. James had to break down the notion that partiality should be shown to the rich and introduce the idea that richness in faith is the greater ideal. The poor were more likely to have this richness of faith because they had more opportunities to trust God and less obstacles to overcome than the rich. Indeed, the rich young ruler who questioned Jesus about how to get into heaven learned this the hard way (Matthew 19:16-22). 

Jesus came to be poor and lived his entire life in poverty. Putting too much stock in material wealth and “gold rings” is antithetical to a faith system that values the heart over appearance (1 Samuel 16:7). God isn’t partial to the rich. Neither should we be.

As we continue along in our Lent contemplations this week, it is good to pause and ask ourselves questions.How do you define richness? Are you pursuing richness in faith?

Richness in faith comes through trust in God and adherence to God’s Word. May we linger on that today.

“A bird, a turtle, and an alligator walk onto a bar …”