The Harvest of Righteousness

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

B Lectionary 25 – 20 September 2015

Text: James 3:13-18 (Mark 9:30-37)

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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If you plant cabbage seeds, you will get ____.

If you plant watermelon seeds, you will get ____.

If you plant corn, you’ll get ____.

I’m no farmer, but these are some very basic things that I do know about growing plants, and basic agricultural examples about planting seeds and then seeing what comes up are pretty common in the Bible. That makes sense – their culture was much more agrarian than ours is here in the suburbs of DFW.

I know some of you know about farming, and others of us know very little, but even those of us who know very little about farming can figure out what James means when he says that “a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” If you want righteousness, James says, then plant in peace.

This statement comes at the end of the six verses from James 3 that we just heard, verses that are all about the contrast between those who are wise and understanding, and those who dwell in envy and selfish ambition. James has apparently heard reports that the people to whom he is writing are consistently boastful, and saying that they better than everyone else – and he calls them out on it, saying that such attitudes are “earthly, unspiritual, [and] devilish.” In other words – such attitudes are not helpful in the work that God has given us to do.

Some of you know that I love watching the shows “Project Runway” and “Top Chef” – reality-type competition shows about fashion design and cooking, respectively. One reason that I enjoy these programs is because they are interesting studies in human behavior. It never fails that over the course of a season, one or more of the participants grows arrogant and full of themselves, throwing other participants under the bus, and competing with a fierceness that allows for very little human kindness.

Almost always, this arrogance leads them into trouble. In one older season of “Top Chef” that I watched again recently, there are several of the chefs who think they are It – they are God’s gift to cooking. In one episode, their arrogance distracts them from their work, and one of them ends up being sent home. This kind of thing happens time and time again.

Conversely, the participants who walk in humility, the ones who show themselves willing to learn and to grow, the ones who go about their tasks with confidence and yet also a heart for helping others – these are the ones who proceed the furthest along in the competition. These are the ones who thrive. It sounds counter-intuitive – you would think that the most arrogant and cut-throat among them would win, but again and again, the boastful ones, the prideful ones, the ones who think they have everything all figured out – they are the ones who get themselves in trouble.

It is reminiscent of the conversation between Jesus and his disciples that we hear in today’s Gospel reading. They are traveling along, and as they walk, the disciples are arguing among themselves about who is the greatest among them. After they reach their destination, Jesus asks them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” They’re silent, maybe because they know they’ve been caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.

Whatever the case, Jesus turns their argument upside down by saying that whomever wants to be first must be the servants of all. To Jesus, greatness isn’t about puffing ourselves up and making ourselves better than everyone else. Greatness is in how we serve others and how we welcome others.

Which takes us back beautifully to James. He says that “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy,” and so wisdom from above is shown not in our ability to blow everybody else out of the water. Wisdom from above is shown in our ability to be peaceable. Wisdom from above is shown in our ability to yield. Wisdom from above is shown when we are merciful and loving to all – not just those that we like the best.

Today we are beginning a Bible Study called “Being the Body of Christ” – it’s all about part of 1 Corinthians 12. Today’s lesson will cover what it is to be gifted by the Holy Spirit – not only what are the gifts that we have from the Spirit, but what is the purpose of these gifts? There are many different gifts, Paul says, but all of these gifts are activated in us by the Spirit, and they are given to us so that we may show love for one another. Professor James Bryce at Luther Seminary says this: “The gifts of God have an immediate and very practical purpose – they intend and point to a fullness of life exercised in a disciplined love and care for the neighbor.”[1]

We each have gifts – we have them in different measure, certainly – but we each have gifts. And we are called to use these gifts not for our own advancement or glory, but for the benefit and the care of others in God’s name. Using our gifts for the benefit and care of others is the harvest of righteousness, and that is the way in which we live in greatness.

Let us live greatly. Let us love greatly.

Amen.

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[1] Commentary on James 3 for Lectionary 25 found at workingpreacher.org

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