Reading the Epistle of James as a Mystical Text

Mysticism is simply living with the mystery of God's love. It is what the Christian life is all about!

“..... the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1.25-26 NRSV

The paraphrases are all by me.

Count it all joy,
my brothers and sisters

when you stumble into motley challenges

because you know that testing your faith

produces patience.

And let patience have its end,

so that your end may be wholeness

wanting nothing.

James 1.2-4 paraphrased

The Epistle of James nearly didn’t make it into the New Testament canon. But it did, and the hesitancy of the early church should alert us, not to the fact it may be dubious, but to the fact that its message is easily misunderstood. Martin Luther, the 16th Century German reformer, misunderstood its demand that ‘faith without works is dead’, as being contrary to his doctrine of salvation by faith and declared James to be “a right strawy epistle.” James was writing to those whom he wanted to grow deep, and it is easily misunderstood as a simple encouragement to practical Christianity, which of course it is, but it is so much more than that. It is mapping out the ground for any growth of our souls. So let’s begin.

“Count is all joy when you stumble into the motley challenges of life.” For you will and you do. This acceptance of what happens to us is sometimes called the “welcome prayer”. We welcome what happens, good or bad, and we count it all joy. And joy is another misunderstood idea. It isn’t feeling too blessed to be stressed… how selfish! … but whilst feeling all the pain and hurts of life, we have learned to know that underneath is the burning love of God which is the only source of joy. We’re all tested, and welcoming the tests teaches us patience, which in Greek is a word that could be paraphrased “staying on top”. Patience allows us to “stay on top” of the challenges, not avoiding them, still feeling them as real, but, with the essential help of the grace of God they can be transformed into moments of growth towards wholeness. As we journey towards wholeness – and holiness – let the Epistle of James be our companion. He knows what he’s talking about!

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