Thursday, September 24, 2026

James 4:11-16 

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? 

Boasting About Tomorrow 

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 

If you have ever worked in an office, then you are well aware of the meeting after the meeting. These days, there is probably a “Zoom after the Zoom.” 

At its best, it is the place where decisions actually get made, and work is accomplished. 

Most of the time, however, it is where people take some time to talk about other people in the meeting. Usually, it isn’t to the effect of, “wow, Jim was so insightful with his comment about the new project” or “Karen has such a way with words when she talks about her cat.” 

Unfortunately, it is usually negative. 

You’ve heard the schoolyard phrase, “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” That is only good so far as it goes, because office gossip and the kind of gossip that was sloshing around the church in James’ care was like a toxic waste spill. It ruins relationships, evaporates trust, and limits how far a group of people will be able to go together in the future. 

I think we can all agree that we don’t want those outcomes, so what do we do? According to James, the best first step is to leave the judging to the Judge-God. 

It was well known in Christian communities then as it is now, that sin was a problem in everyone. They also knew, and professed, that Jesus was the one in charge of dealing with it. As a result, their job was to love people boldly—recklessly—even, trusting that God would sort it out as needed now and ultimately later. 

You are going to have difficulty loving people in your life. That is a fact. Gossiping about them behind their back will not make them stop being difficult. If anything, it will have the opposite effect. What would happen if you prayed for them, instead? Something like, “Dear Lord, help Karen grow in her ability to share stories about cats.” -- or something. It will remove the heat of control from you and place that responsibility where it belongs. With God. 

– Pr. Jason 

Dear Jesus, help me to see people the way that you do: as beloved and worthy of grace. Amen.