"My Old Man": A Reflection on the Second Reading for September 9th, 2018: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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James 2:1-5 

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

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The first line of this passage struck me immediately because in this version, it is posed as a question, with a note of incredulity. “How on earth is it possible to believe in the Lord Jesus and act the way you're acting?” Exactly! If you are doing all the religious things but dismiss another person because of the way they act or dress, you are not acting like you believe in Jesus.

To come to love and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we must come to know Him, not just know ‘about’ Him, but also really know Him. Because when we know Him, we will change. It’s impossible not to. When we truly know Him, we will love Him and when we truly love Him, we will obey Him. And what does He tell us to do? “Love the Lord God with your whole heart and mind and soul and love your neighbour as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39) That’s the foundation — and from there we build a relationship with the Trinity and the world of man. It is natural for we humans to judge and compare and measure our worth and the worth of others by outward appearances, or what someone else says about them, or a dozen other things. I do it every day. It happens immediately — as soon as I meet someone — and when there is a negative reaction, I pray for discernment. Is this a red flag, or am I being judgemental?

There’s a woman in my church who sits in the front pew as if it were a lounge chair, with her feet up and one arm resting on the back of the pew. It bothers me. Another man is always going up to the music leader and giving them pointers. That bothers me. I’ve come to know that both suffer from mental illness. That changes my feelings toward them. When the things people do irritate me, I have a tendency to revert back to my former self — what the Scriptures call our “old man”. Why can’t everyone be like me and do it right? But why am I so critical of others? Because I want to be perfect and I’m so far from perfection. I am harder on myself than I am on anyone else, and every flaw I see in me, I see in others. Mea Culpa.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, help me to see others as You see them. Help them to see me as You see me. Help me to see myself as You see me. Amen.

Judy Savoy

"To come to love and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we must come to know Him, not just know ‘about’ Him, but also really know Him. Because when we know Him, we will change." - Judy Savoy (Ora Reflections)

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