Sept. 6: Rod and Serpent

What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James:2:14-17)

In the national health care debate, both those supporting an affordable public option and those opposing expanding the government’s role in health care have cited Christian values in service of their claims. The book of James, from which the next series of New Testament lectionary readings comes, speaks to questions concerning what is the right role of Christians and Churches toward those in extreme need of aid.

The passage for this week, James 2:1-17, is one of the core texts from the works vrs. faith debate. Of the four figures in the NT called “James,” the author is believed to have been the brother of Jesus, a leader of the Jerusalem church who was martyred in the 60s AD. After James’ death the book of James was sent in letter form to Diaspora churches in approximately the 80s or 90s. Thus the goal of the letter was to provide leadership and affirmation of core values to churches outside of Jerusalem.

The letter is written in a rhetorical style using exhortations and the imperative tense on topics of moral instruction. Thus it can be described as following in the tradition of Hebrew wisdom literature, for example Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Jesus’s sayings in Mark and Luke (NOAB 389). James’ exhortation of his audience not to differentiate between the poor and rich, using concrete, direct images, resonates with Jesus’s narratives showing social expectations reversed, such as the Sermon on the Mount:

For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your synagogue, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take more 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? (James 2:2-4).

In this particular passage, James makes a direct appeal to Jewish law to justify his strong social justice message against class prejudice: You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Here James is referencing social legislation in the Torah, in particular Leviticus 19:18. This is arguably the passage Jesus quotes in Gospel narratives: You shall not . . . bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Thus the book of James demonstrates how core values proclaimed by the church in Jerusalem carried on Jesus and the apostles’ Jewish heritage.

Nora Becker describes passages from other NT books that reference James in a helpful commentary here. She references James extending the mission of the early Church beyond the immediate community:

‘Brothers, listen to me, Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God’ (Acts 15:12-14, 19).

The book of James was condemned by Martin Luther as an “epistle of straw,” for ostensibly departing from Paul’s claim that justification, or being in the right relationship with God, comes from faith alone (NOAB 387). Bob Chochola makes the argument that faith vs. works is a false dichotomy here. Chochola writes,

“James would ask, “What good is it? If you say you have faith, but don’t show it by your actions?” This is a good question indeed. What comes through loud and clear in the Book of James is that action indeed puts your money where your mouth is. He attacks the notion that being a Christian is simply a matter of accepting a few spiritual truths without experiencing any real change in behavior or thinking.”

In national health care debate, the question of how to demonstrate one’s faith through actions has strongly shaped discourse in religious communities. On one hand, politicians and constituents who oppose increased government spending in the field of health care and the current bill use religious rhetoric to support their position. For example, a site called “Christian Active Media” lists a polemic article by Peter Fleckenstein. It is a representative summary of arguments against health care reform, the sound bites of which can be heard in Town Hall coverage. Among them:

“Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient’s health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.”

The writer rails against expansion of government in the Offices of the Surgeon General, including “Public Health Services, Minority Health, Women’s Health.” The kind of rhetoric used to oppose sex education in public schools is also used to oppose health care services in schools: “PG 994 School Based Health Clinics will be integrated into the school environment. Say Government Brainwash!”

On the other side of the aisle, Steven Waldman of Beliefnet.com argues explicitly that Obama’s efforts to lead health care reform should be “less Christian.” By this term he means that the value emphasized most should be justice, not compassion.

Waldman argues that appealing to altruism alone won’t build the consensus needed to cover the 40 million uninsured Americans. In particular, he calls attention to the insurance industry excluding would-be customers due to “pre-existing conditions,” documented elsewhere here and here.

Waldman recommends emphasizing justice rather than compassion alone as a value motivating reform:

--A system is immoral if it allows (or encourages) insurance companies to turn you away exactly when you need help most. (Thanks to exclusions for "pre-existing conditions.") That's unfair.
--A system is immoral if it allows (and incentivizes) insurance companies to write policies full of fine print that leaves shocked patients with devastating bills. That's dishonest.
--A system is immoral if it means that losing one's job means not only losing income but the ability to take your child to the doctor. That's cruel.

Finally, an affiliate of Jewish News describes communication between the Obama administration and Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders regarding the values informing the push for health reform here.

Ezra Klein is a Jewish blogger I admire with the Washington Post who covers health care reform extensively.

If readers would like to share which arguments on this topic they find most effective and why, please feel free to comment. Other lectionary passages for this week are Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 or Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 125 or Psalm 146; and Mark 7:24-37.

Rod and Serpent graphic credit.

--Elizabeth Fels