A Sermon on James 2: 1-10, 14-17

By Donald M. Tuttle

First Christian Church, Corpus Christi, TX   

Preached September 10, 2000

You won’t find it written up in the Journal of the American Medical Association, but there is a virus afoot in our land. It has been around a long time, but it may have reached epidemic proportions in the last quarter century. What is it?

Sociologist and evangelist Tony Campolo calls it "affluenza." "Affluenza" is an obsession with wealth. It is that seemingly uncontrollable desire for more that pervades our culture.

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin testify to affluenza in their book "Your Money or Your Life." For example, they pointed out that in 1967 only 44 percent of college freshman thought "being financially well-off" was an essential in life. But twenty years later, a full 76 percent thought so. They have been infected. But they are not alone. Dominguez and Robin also point out that Americans spend an average of six hours a week shopping. Compare that to the 40 minutes a week we spend playing with our children. We’re infected—and we even know it. When presented with the statement: "We buy and consume far more than we need," 82 percent of Americans agreed. Clearly affluenza is alive and well. Of course, affluenza is not harmless. It has consequences. One of the consequences is the way it shapes our view of others. When we are infected by it, we tend to look with great favor on those with wealth.

Brad was a golfing buddy during my seminary days. He was a great guy to be around, a lot of fun and a good golfer. But Brad was obsessed with wealth. His bookshelf at home was a virtual library of books on the rich and famous. He read almost nothing except the biographies and autobiographies of those who had "made it big." But his obsession also came through in conversation. Brad managed an electronics store and he did it well. But more important to him was the opportunity it gave him to meet some of the city’s wealthier citizens. Conversation with him was peppered with references to the head coaches at the University of Kentucky or the owners of the region’s great horse farms. These were not peers with whom he shared great friendship. They were idols. He wanted to be like them, to run in their circles, to experience their power. By taking good care of them, he created the opportunity. Few of us have Brad’s opportunities, but there remains in most of our culture a favorable disposition toward the wealthy. They are, we are told, living the American dream and anyone who wants to live the dream is drawn toward them, to even curry their favor. Of course, there is a parallel reality to our favorable disposition toward the wealthy. It is an unfavorable attitude toward the poor. A few years ago, Bruce Hornsby pictured this sentiment in the song: "The Way It Is?"

Standing in line, marking time,

waiting on the welfare dime, cause they can’t buy a job. A man in a silk suit hurries by and catches the poor old lady’s eye, and just for fun he says: "Get a job."

While few would be so cruel, the view of the man is not uncommon. Those affected by affluenza are repulsed by poverty. That’s why words like "lazy," "ignorant" and "dirty" so often get attached to the poor. The objective reality of not having enough to live on gets tainted with words of judgment. Affluenza can lead us to view the "have nots" as inferior, even morally unacceptable. Unfortunately, Christians are not immune to affluenza. We breathe deeply the air of culture and with it its values. And the same view of rich and poor can infect the church.

A few years ago a big church in Dallas was to welcome the 10,000th member. There was much fanfare leading up to the event—announcements in the newsletter, press releases to the news media, on and on. So who was the 10,000th member?

Not the little old lady who came forward to join that Sunday. She was listed as 10,001. The place of honor was left for a plant--a place kicker from the Dallas Cowboys. Why? For the same reason that every Billy Graham crusade and every "Hour of Power" telecast trots out some rich and famous Christian to give their testimony. It works; it draws a crowd. These people know that people are enamored with the affluent, that they will be impressed with how God has "blessed them," so they say--as one critic put it--"Come to the church, hobnob with the great, and bask in their glory!"

Of course, if the rich are blessed the other side of the coin says that the poor are not. A few years ago, Robert Schuller was asked how he could justify the millions and millions of dollars spent on building his glass cathedral. His response was that if he spent that money on the poor rather than on trying to reach the rich for Christ, when all the money was gone all he would have is more wretched poor. It seemed never to cross his mind that his ministry might lift them out of poverty. His assumption seemed to be that the poor are the poor are the poor, and they are always to be that way.

Clearly affluenza affects the relationships that we have with others. But is there a cure?

James certainly thought so. James had apparently heard that those within the church were making distinctions between rich and poor. He pictures it as ushers leading the rich to seats of honor and while shuttling aside the poor. His response is strong. He launches into a diatribe condemning such behavior. But his point is not all condemnation. At its heart James reminds them of the fundamental tenant of how we are to treat one another: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Now for many of us, that simple statement might seem like a cliché--something our momma’s taught us in second grade. But James recognizes that no one can use the rich nor ignore the poor if they are seeking to fulfill this simple rule. To do so would say that they wish to be used or ignored. And no one wishes to be treated that way. Loving one’s neighbor means treating them as you wish to be treated. Of course, the point that James makes had been made before. Jesus made it. After Jesus had affirmed that loving one’s neighbor as one loves themselves was at the heart of God’s ethic, he defined "neighbor." He told the story of a man who while traveling was beset by thieves. Robbed and beaten, the man would have died except for the fact that a Samaritan came along. In that day, Jews and Samaritans hated one another. But that didn’t keep the Samaritan from going to the man in the ditch, binding up his wounds, carrying him to the nearest inn and paying for his room while he recovered. Jesus’ point was that no matter what differences existed between them, the Samaritan was willing to treat the man in the ditch as he would want to be treated. He loved this neighbor as he would want to be loved. This law of love remains at the heart of the Christian life.

Not long ago the people of a small community in Bradford Ohio, lived out this ethic. Within the town’s borders lived a 75-year-old man named Billy. He survived by living in an abandoned trailer built out of an old bed from a pickup truck. The people there felt a responsibility for Billy, so they raised $1500 to build him a home. It is a small place, two rooms, furnished. But its enough. For the first-time in two years, Billy has running water, reliable heat, a comfortable bed and a bathroom with walls. Why did they do it? Was it to get Billy out of sight and mind? No. They hoped that if ever they were in such need, people would do it for them.

That was the attitude a Dayton, Ohio, woman expressed. On one cold winter night, she was watching the TV news when the story of a homeless family was broadcast. The father had lost his job and the man, his wife and three children were living in the city’s homeless shelter. Seeing their plight, the woman, who was retired and living comfortably in her average-sized home, called the shelter and offered to share her home with the family. Why did she do it? Was it for the publicity? No. She wouldn’t even let them use her name. It was because she hoped that if she ever found herself in such a plight, someone would take her in. Affluenza is a horrible disease. It is easy to catch and hard to cure. But there is a cure. One of my high school teachers put it this way. She said that be they a duke or a ditchdigger, you don’t look up your nose at one nor down your nose at the other. You look at them straight in the eye and treat them the way you would want to be treated. That’s what Jesus urged. That’s what James exhorted. And that is what we as the people of God have to offer the culture around us. Amen.