I must admit that this book of James has completely "wrecked shop on my heart" (thank you for that apt phrase, recent Matt Chandler sermon). Along with many other followers of Christ who desire to have sound theology, along with a recent small group study of Galatians where faith alone, not works, is consistently emphasized as the foundation for salvation, this book at first rereading was a little off-putting. There are more times lately where I feel as though I've never really read the Bible, for all my 26 years of professed Christianity. Pair that with the fact that my well-meaning sister-in-law gave me the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker for Christmas, and I am a mess.
I so enjoy using my linear-leaning mind to arrange the word of God into 17 syllables groupings, in an attempt to break the routine into which my mind usually falls when reading the Bible. All of this has given me a newfound appreciation for Scripture meditation. But if I'm honest, I just don't know where to start when it comes to doing and works. Allow me to list my meager attempts: I have donated some handmade rag quilts and burp cloths to the local pregnancy assistance center, but obviously this doesn't even scratch the surface of what James is trying to get across. I've also recently begun to buy groceries for our local food bank in grocery store runs for our own family, but again, this leaves me feeling completely empty-handed when it comes to good works as evidence of my wholehearted love for Jesus and his people. It truly is pitiful, I know, but it's just where I am. (This is the point where any of you that have read this blog more than once can start leaving comments--specifically how you and/or your family serve your community, and show our Savior's love to "the least of these.") So, while I continue to pray about how all this will flesh out for me and my family, here is the first chapter of James, in haiku format.
Note, if you have not read this blog before, what follows is an amalgamation of many different English translations of the Bible, arranged so as to fit into 17 syllable stanzas at a time. There is more to the living, breathing Word of God than what can be found here alone though, so I beg you to read through each chapter with me in your own Bible. My prayerful aim in this whole endeavor is that this unusual formatting of Scripture into haikus will jar our brains in a way that will help us hear what the word says, instead of doing what I normally do: spacing out and even skipping over familiar verses as soon as I recognize them. (I mean, have I never really understood James 1:23 before or what?!) Instead, I pray for myself, and for you, that we will be "one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres
in it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, for
this man will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25) I also pray that the Holy Spirit of God will speak right into your life, wherever you are, through this chapter of James, covering over any errors I have made. Praise God for this practical epistle!
Verse 1
A servant of God
And of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the scattered tribes
2
Consider it a
Great joy whenever you face
Various trials
3
Because you know that
The testing of your faith will
Produce endurance
4
And endurance must
Do its full work that you may
Be perfect, complete
4-5
Then you'll lack nothing;
But if any of you lacks
Wisdom, let him ask
5 (continued)
For God gives to all
Generously, and He'll not
Rebuke for asking
6
One must ask in faith
And not doubt, for the doubter
Is tossed by the wind
7
Such a man should not
Expect that he will receive
Anything from God
8
He is a double-
Minded man, unstable in
All he undertakes
9
But the brother of
Humble means should rejoice in
His exaltation
10
The rich man should boast
In his having been humbled;
He will fade away
11
The sun rises with
Scorching heat; the grass withers,
Beauty perishes
11 (continued)
So too the rich man
Will fade away in the midst
Of all his pursuits
12
Blessed is the man
Who perseveres in trial
He will stand the test
12 (continued)
He will receive the
Crown of life that God promised
To those who love Him
13
When undergoing
A trial, no one should say,
"God is tempting me"
13 (continued)
For God cannot be
Tempted by evil, and He
Himself tempts no one
14
But every man is
Tempted when he is enticed
By his own desires
15
Desire conceived gives
Birth to sin, and sin fully
Grown gives birth to death
16-17
Do not be deceived;
Every good and perfect gift
Comes down from above
17 (continued)
From God the Father
Of lights there is no change or
Shadow of turning
18
In the exercise
Of His will He gave us life
Through the word of truth
18 (continued)
So that we might be
A kind of first fruits among
All He created
19
Know this: Everyone
Must be quick to hear, slow to
Speak, slow to anger
20
For human anger
Does not produce the righteous
Life that God desires
21
So rid yourselves of
All moral filthiness and
Rampant wickedness
22
Humbly receive the
Word planted in you, which is
Able to save you
22 (continued)
Be doers of the
Word, and not merely hearers
Deceiving yourselves
23
For if anyone
Is a hearer of the word
And not a doer,
23 (continued)
He is like a man
Who looks intently at his
Face in a mirror
24
And after looking,
He goes away and at once
Forgets what he's like
25
Look intently at
The perfect law of freedom
And abide by it
25 (continued)
Be no hearer who
Forgets, but a doer who
Acts, blessed in his work
26
A man should not think
Himself religious and yet
Not control his tongue
26 (continued)
This man fools himself,
And deceives his own heart; this
Religion is vain
27
Pure and undefiled
Religion before our God
And Father is this:
27 (continued)
To visit orphans
And distressed widows, keeping
Unstained by the world
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