“Walking the Talk” by the Rev. Don Wahlig, September 17, 2023, North Leith PC joint worship service with Newhaven & South Leith PCs – Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18, James 1:22-25, 2:1-9, 14-17

THEME:  Love your neighbor as yourself by accepting and welcoming all into the church and reaching out to those in need everywhere.

Don’t we all hate it when someone points out that we are doing the opposite of what we say is right? There are probably a thousand examples: we advise our children and grandchildren how important it is to eat a healthy diet, and then we tuck in to an extra large piece of Millionaire’s shortbread. 

We tell our friends how deeply we care about the environment and climate change, but then they ask us why we’re drinking bottled water. We say we believe in political change, but when someone asks us who we voted for in the last bi-election – we have to admit, with a sheepish grin, we were too busy to vote. We’re all guilty of this, aren’t we? It’s embarrassing. It makes us feel like hypocrites.

That is the very same feeling we get when we read the letter of James. Tradition tells us the author is none other than James, the brother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem church. We don’t know that for sure, but we do know whoever James is, he and his congregation are familiar with Jesus and his teaching. They know his sayings. They know his parables. They know his Beatitudes and they know his behavior.

These are Jewish Christians, and they take the Jewish law seriously, just as Jesus did.  They know God’s command to care for the poor and the marginalized, the widow and the orphan, the stranger and the alien.

Maybe the most striking thing of all about this letter is the audience for whom it is written. It is directed squarely at the church. This is in-house literature. It’s meant for Christians who already know the gospel and believe it. So, the purpose here is not evangelism; it is discipleship.

James is calling the body of Christ to act like Christ.  His premise is simple: if our faith is authentic, it will necessarily produce authentic deeds of love and justice that transform the world in which we live.  The question James asks his fellow Christians is “How is your faith expressed in your daily living?” Exhibit A in this inquiry is how they treat the poor.

Evidently, in the 1st century, showing deference to the well-dressed and well-off was as common as it is today. James minces no words. He points his finger at the way the churches show partiality to the wealthy and disrespect to the poor. He calls this double-mindedness, embracing the world’s values with our actions while we give lip service to Christ’s values.  James reminds his Christian brothers and sisters what Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the Kingdom of God.” And then he draws a line in the sand: “You do well,” he says, “if you really fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  For James, that is what separates those who are only hearers of the Word, from those who are also doers of the Word.

Friends, if there is one message we in the 21^st century church need to hear and take to heart, it is precisely this: we must walk the talk. Never has that been more important than right now. It is no secret that the world is in trouble and so is the church. After the artificial boom years of the 1950s, membership and worship attendance in mainline Protestant churches like ours have been declining steadily. Over the last decade, that decline has spread to the more conservative denominations as well.

Behind this 50-year decline is a seismic shift in attitudes toward faith and the church.  Nowhere is that change more evident than in the children of the Baby Boomers, those whom we call the Millennial generation. Millennials began coming of age around the turn of the century. They are now establishing families of their own. Because of their sheer numbers, their attitudes and behavior have a significant impact on virtually every segment of society, including religion. 

No one has written more about this impact than the Harvard Sociologist, Robert Putnam. ten years ago, he and a colleague published a book called “American Grace.”  They analyze 50-years of trends in religious attitudes and affiliation in the US. Then they make some predictions about where the church might be headed as the Millennials mature.  The bad news is when it comes to organized religion, Millennials are more skeptical than any generation in memory.

The good news, however, is that as they mature and start families of their own, they are beginning to seek out supportive communities who share their values. They want help in living more meaningful and just lives as they raise their children. Even though many of them have had limited or no childhood experience with organized religion, they are beginning to explore the church. What they’re seeking above all else is authenticity. They’re looking for a church family that not only professes its faith in Jesus Christ, but lives out that faith in practice.  That means loving one another and caring for those for whom Jesus taught us to care: the needy and the marginalized.

That’s why James is one of the most helpful, practical guides to Christian discipleship today. What James demands of the churches in his day, is the same thing Millennials are looking for today – and all Christians, for that matter. They want to be part of a church that really walks the talk. The challenge for those of us in the church is that, over the years, we’ve gotten into some bad habits. It seems that our energy and creativity know no bounds when it comes to finding things to fight over. 

I’m not just talking about the big, hot-button issues. I recently came across a list of 25 silly things churches argue about. Apparently, it started out as a Twitter survey, and then it went viral. Now, I’m sure nothing like these things has ever caused a conflict here at PCL, but here are my top five from the list:

1. The appropriate length of the pastor’s beard.

2. A dispute between two deacons that culminated in an impromptu parking lot boxing match.

3. A 45-minute discussion over the best color for the new filing cabinets: black, white or brown?

4. A schism over whether or not to use dark roast or medium roast at coffee hour. People actually left the church over that.

5. Finally, a major brew-hah-hah at the annual meeting over a 10-cent discrepancy in the budget. It was finally settled more than an hour later when a young woman stood up, came forward and placed a dime on the communion table.

These are so absurd that they’re funny. But, when we fight, what folks on the outside see is a dysfunctional church family that looks way too much like the worst of their own family. Further, they see a congregation that not only doesn’t seem to love one another, but wastes time and energy on trivial things instead of what Jesus tells us matters most: reaching out to our neighbors in need.  

James calls out his congregations for falling into this very trap. So should we examine ourselves. Where do we spend most of our time and energy? Are we falling prey to ego-driven arguments when we should be engaged in love-driven ministry? It’s not like we lack folks who are in need and marginalized. 50 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, African Americans are still discriminated against more than any other racial group in the United States. Rates of incarceration, poverty and unemployment far exceed those of their white neighbors. And, according to the FBI, Blacks remain the number one target for hate crimes in the US. Within the bounds of my own Presbytery in Central PA, the KKK remains active, spewing out their message of hatred and bigotry.

At the same time, the gap between the haves and have-nots in this country has never been wider than it is right now.  42 million Americans, including 13 million children, don’t have enough food to eat. A million of them live here in New Jersey. Nationwide, Stockbridge in the North of Edinburgh was found to have the lowest level of deprivation. Stockbridge is perhaps not too dissimilar to many well-to-doo parts of Edinburgh, including Morningside, Marchmont and Bruntsfield, can be found in the least deprived 20 per cent of the country. However, as many as 11 per cent of the city’s neighborhoods fall within the most deprived 20 per cent of the country, including parts of Wester Hailes, Oxgangs and Restalrig as the most dire cases. The most deprived area in Edinburgh was found to be Great Junction Street, Leith. And the list of those in need goes on and on.

Friends, if we’re going to take James seriously when he reminds us to love our neighbor as ourselves, the place to start is by making sure we accept and love one another. That means making sure everyone truly feels welcome in the church, regardless of age, race, status, sexual orientation or religious or socio-economic background, or any other artificial division of the body of Christ. And it means reaching out to those whom Jesus called the least and the lost.  Those who are looking at us from the outside, with curious eyes and hungry spirits, are hoping and expecting we will do this, knowing that it’s what Jesus himself did. Yes, that starts with the pastors, but it’s up to all of us to accept their leadership and to follow. 

So, let me ask you, who in our congregations do we need to love more?  With whom do we need to have more patience and be more gentle? Where in our lives can we draw closer to those who are so often kept away from the table? Whoever these folks are and however we do it, when we do, we will know we are becoming the church Jesus intends us to be:  walking the talk by sharing his love.

May it be so.