6th Sunday after Epiphany Year B Sermon

When I was excitedly explaining to my non-Christian friend, how cool James’ letter is with each chapter having a different approach to convey its message. My friend pointed out that this was the way lawyers conducted their brief in a courtroom.
And when you look at it – this is what James has done! He has shown them that they are guilty of not asking God for wisdom and so they are guilty of not carrying out the works of faith by imaging Jesus and God in these main areas.
But unlike a prosecuting lawyer James after explaining where they have failed to image Jesus, James has then shown grace by giving them examples of how they can do better in their works of faith. And now he wraps up his brief by pointing out a couple of the main points of contention and finishes not with condemnation but with a beautiful acclamation of the grace we have received.