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James, Chapter Five, A Translation From the Greek New Testament

It is Christmas Eve, and I am happy to present to you the fifth chapter of the epistle of James. This completes my Advent 2024 translation project. On the technical side, James uses many words and phrases not familiar to me because he writes so differently than Paul, but on the preacher side of me his use of metaphor and the rhythm of his proverbial cadence comes a little more natural.

In private meetings of anointing and prayer, I have often used v. 14. In those years, I have never contemplated how close those beautiful pastoral words are of prayer, confession, and anointing are to the warnings of hell and the condemnation of riches. Keep that in mind as you read these strong words.

I finish with the same methodology I’ve used throughout; an expansive, more libertine rendering of the material in paragraph form, followed by a regular, normal rendering that includes verse numbers, and then a brief section of my own notes and thoughts.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

James Five (Expansive)

Rich people need to get real and start weeping and wailing over what is coming to them. When your riches rot and clothes eaten by moths, then the toxic obsession with gold and silver will be evidence against them, and it will be covered in rust while bodies crackle as in a fire. This is your reward in the end. You robbed the workers who picked your crops out in the fields by withholding their wages. Now, their shouts and demands for justice have gotten the attention of the Lord of Armies.

On this earth you lived in self-indulgent luxury fattening your soul like a pig for slaughter. You denied and damned righteous people who did you no harm.

Be patient, dear family, until the coming of the Lord, like a farmer who waits and waits for the early and late rains that yields the fruit of the earth. Be patient. Prepare your hearts. The Lord comes soon. Don’t complain about each other in our family of faith or else you will be judged yourself. Can’t you see, the judge is ready to come in the door. 

The trials and tribulations of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord is an example to our faith family. Don’t we say we will be blessed if we endure? You’ve heard of Job and his patience and how at the end of his story the Lord saw everything, for he is full of compassion and pity.

It is supremely important, family, to not swear – not by heaven, not by earth, not by anything else you can think of – because it might be held against you in judgment. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Anyone in trouble needs to pray, and anyone in a good mood ought to sing about it. Anyone who gets sick ought to call the elders of the church to come pray and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. Anyone who prays in faith will save the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has committed, sins they will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other’s healing. Great power is at work in righteous people’s prayer. 

Elijah was a person just like us. He prayed asking it to not rain and it did not rain for three-and-a-half years. Then he prayed, and rain fell from the sky. The earth blossomed. 

If anyone were to wander away from the truth, then some of you in our family of faith could try to bring that person back. You should know that anyone who leads a sinner back from the wrong path saves his own self from death and covers-up a bunch of bad choices. 

James Five (Regular)

1. Come on, now, rich people, weep and wail for the miseries coming to you,

2. when your wealth rots and clothes are moth eaten,

3. your gold and silver covered in rust and its poison serves as a witness against you. Your flesh will be consumed as by fire. This is your treasure in the last days.

4. See, you withheld the wages from the workers who picked your crops in your country estates and now the cries and shouts of these farm workers have come to the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 

5. You lived in luxury upon the earth. You were self-indulgent. You fattened up your heart for the day of your own slaughter. 

6. You condemned and murdered righteous people who did not resist you.

7. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient for the coming of the Lord. Be like the farmer who waits for the precious bounty of the earth, patient until he receives the early and late rains.

8. Be patient and prepare your hearts because the coming of the Lord draws near.  

9. Brothers and sisters, you must not complain about one another, so that you might not be judged. Look! The judge stands at the door. 

10. Brothers and sisters, there is an example for you in the hardships and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of The Lord. 

11. Look, we say people are blessed if they endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and how at the end the Lord saw, for the Lord is full of compassion and pity. 

12. Above all, my brothers and sisters, you must not swear an oath by heaven or earth nor by anything else. Your yes must be yes and your no, no, in the event you fall under judgment. 

13. If anyone among you is in trouble, he or she should pray. If anyone is happy, let him sing praises. 

14. If anyone among you is sick, let him call the elders of the church to himself and they should pray and anoint him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 

15. If anyone says a prayer in faith it will save the one who is afflicted, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins they will be forgiven him. 

16. Therefore, you must confess your sins to one another and pray for one another for healing.  There is great strength in the prayer at work in a righteous person.

17. Elijah was a human just like us. He prayed sincerely for it not to rain, and it did not rain for three years and six months. 

18. He prayed again; the heavens gave rain; the earth sprouted its fruit.

19. My brothers and sisters, if anyone were to stray from the truth, then some of you could try to turn him or her back. 

20. Let it be known that one who leads back a sinner from the wrong path saves his own soul from death and will cover a multitude of mistakes. 

Notes:

1. The ‘you’ in the first seven verses is tense – not verbal tense but emotionally tense. Who is James pointing his long finger at? The textual answer is ‘among you’ (v. 2), i.e. the rich people in the congregation. James is talking to his own people, not outsiders. One can imagine how uncomfortable this situation became as the letter would have been read in worship. Why it is not so uncomfortable now is a good question.

2. That opening sentence, verse 1-3, is hard for me to get my translator’s mind around because I don’t know if James is talking about the people crackling in the fire and rotting or their wealth and riches. These are, after all, apparently people in his church. I feel like it could be both, really, because of the admonition to weep and wail. The theological implications of such a thought on a doctrine of salvation are manifold. But consider also, the eye of the needle (Luke 18:25). James is not a normal go-to for teachings about hell, but man does he do a great job of conjuring hellish imagery.  

3. In addition to the eye of the needle, James may be thinking of another of Our Lord’s teachings with the allusion to rain, the rain of the farmer and the rain of Elijah. Jesus said, ‘it rains on the just and the unjust’ (Matthew 5:45).

4. James needs an illustration of patience and he goes to Job, the ending of Job where everything is restored. I wish James wouldn’t have done that, but instead would have instead pointed to how Job remained faithful even when everything was falling to pieces around him, because that mirrors our lives. The reward for patience is not that everything will work out here and now, but in the now after. 

5. It impossible to read these lines and not think of such issues as social justice, economic inequality, racism, and oppression. I wonder what James would say regarding income gaps, minimum wage, health care insurance, and unchecked greed. I plan on preaching James in the first part of 2025, and I can tell you it is going to be challenging given the entitlement many Christians have about their right to uncaring and unmoved by the needs of others.

James, Chapter Four, A Translation from the Greek New Testament

The fourth chapter of James punches you in the face and then watches you bleed. It comes for you, hard. This, perhaps more than any other part of James, is for the contemporary church. We are guilty of everything he accuses us of: we fight amongst ourselves, we crave worldly power, we pray for more and more things rather than enlightenment, we slander each other, and we endlessly self-promote and brag about how wonderful we are and call such arrogance leadership.

In my translation I start with the ‘expansive’ rendering in which I take more liberty at meaning and intent and modern vernacular. Behind that is a ‘normal’ translation that plays it a little straighter with verse numbers. As always, I finish up with a note or two. There is only one more chapter left in this project. Be looking for it before Christmas morning.

James Four (Expansive)

What is the source of all this conflict among yourselves? You just like fighting with each other, don’t you? You want what you don’t have so you kill and yearn and still you don’t get it. You cuss and fuss and even still don’t have it because you do not ask for it. When you do ask, you don’t get it because you ask for toxic things to suit your desires. 

Adulterers! Are you so stupid you don’t know if the world is your buddy then God is your enemy? If you want to be friends with the world then consider yourself at war with God. Or, do you suppose the verse which says, ‘The Spirit that lies inside us will not share us,’ doesn’t apply to you? Yet he gives so much grace because it also says, ‘God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.’ 

Submit to God. Stand up to the devil and he will run away from you.

It is important that you get close to God – clean your hand and check your hearts you two-faced sinners – then he will come close to you. What you need to do is cry and weep like a pitiful person. Laughter should become sorrow. Joy ought to be misery. Be humble to God, and he will pick you up.

Family, do not talk ugly about one another. If anyone talks trash or judges someone in our family of faith then that person is slamming the law, like he is some kind of judge rather than one who actually follows the law. The one who gave the law is the rightful judge. He is able to save or to destroy. But who exactly are you to judge your neighbor? 

People who say things like, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to some city and set up shop for a year and earn a nice profit,’ need a reality check.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Your whole existence is like a morning fog; you can see it for a little while but then it disappears. So, say instead, ‘If the Lord wants or allows then we will do this or that.’ But not you people who boast in your accomplishments. All such bragging is evil. 

If you know the right thing to do, and don’t do that right thing, it is sin.    

James Four (Regular)

1. Where do those wars among you come from? The battles? Do they come from the enjoyment of fighting among yourself? 

2. You want what you do not have, so you murder and covet and still you are unable to get it; you fight, and wage war, and you do not have, because you do not ask.

3. You ask but you do not receive, because what you ask for is immoral, things you might consume in pleasure. 

4. Adulterers! Do you not know friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be friends of the world is considered an enemy of God. 

5. Do you think the scripture that says, ‘The Spirit that dwells among us jealously desires us’ is meaningless?  

6. But all the more he gives grace, because it also says, ‘God opposes the arrogant, but he gives grace to the humble.’ 

7. Therefore, you must submit yourself to God, and you should resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

8. You must draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Clean your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

9. Be wretched. Mourn and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning, your joy into despair. 

10. Humble yourself before God and he will elevate you.

11. Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks slander of a brother or sister or who judges a brother or sister slanders the law. He judges the law. He is not a doer of the law but its judge.

12. The lawgiver is the judge, the one able to save or destroy us. But who are you to judge a neighbor? 

13. Come on, now, those who are say things like, ‘Today and tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and we will spend a year doing business and earning profit.’ 

14. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Your life is a vapor; it is seen for a little while and then it disappears.  

15. Say instead, ‘If the Lord should will, then we will do this or that as we live.’ 

16. But no, you boast in your conceits. All such bragging is immoral. 

17. Therefore, knowing to do good and then not doing it is sin. 

Notes

1. There are a lot of imperatives. From verse 7 to 10 is just one imperative after another – should, must, ought. James is not making possible suggestions for good outcomes, he is issuing instructions. 

2. The word for ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ (kakon) makes an appearance in verse 3. I translate it there as ‘immoral.’ James is accusing the people of praying for ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ things because their motives are impure. That is why God is not granting the request. It gets slippery for me, though, because in verse 16 I translate the word ‘pornera, porneia’ which is a strong word for evil that carries with it connotations of sexual sin also as ‘immoral.’ I usually don’t like to render different Greek words as the same word in English, but in this instance, I think it works. 

3. In a big picture perspective, I think it is dangerous to dwell too much on any one of these teachings. For example, verse 9 cannot mean never be happy and don’t laugh. James is obviously dealing with a specific issue: people are more interested in living a pleasurable life aligned with the power players of the world rather than pursuing spiritual health. This pursuit has led to slander and speaking ill of each other within the church. James is calling on them to repent. The implications of this rebuke for the modern church which so often runs as fast as it can to hold favor with celebrity, politicians, and economic power brokers are many faceted. When Christ followers ridicule and mock one another as they defend their preferred political or social cause one has to wonder who they really want to be friends with – the world or God?  

4. A little exposition on the famous phrase of verse 8 about drawing near to God. The way it is written I perceive James is telling us exactly how to draw near to God in the following lines: confess your sins (wash your hands), evaluate your motives (check your hearts), come to turns with the sorrow your sins cause, and fast. In short, this is the classic recipe for internally repenting and also symbolically showing the signals or repentance. This is what it means to draw near to God.   

James, Chapter Three, A Translation From The Greek New Testament

We continue this week with my Advent 2024 project of translating the Epistle of James from the Greek New Testament. Today, James calls us out for our duplicitous use of speech — the way we use it for praise and slander. I begin with the enhanced translation, which is a little more free-flowing. Behind it, I have the rendering in a more traditional way along with verse numbers and I finish with a note or two. Be looking for Chapters four and five before Christmas morning.

[Publishing Note: I let AI choose an image for this and I was just playing around, but it was so ridiculous and disturbing I had to include it. This image is further proof AI still has a long way to go.]

James One (Expansive)

Most of you, family, will want to avoid becoming teachers because there is more responsibility and accountability. Now, everyone messes up, though. If someone can keep from messing up in the way he talks, then he or she is able to bridle and guide his body and lifestyle. We put bridles in horse’s mouths to make them obey. It allows us to lead the whole horse around. You can see how extremely large boats are driven by strong winds yet in reality their direction is decided by a very small rudder that is under the control of the pilot. He steers wherever he wants. 

It’s the same way with the tongue! It is so small yet brags large. Look at how a tiny flame sets great forests on fire. The tongue burns the whole world. It is the boss of all our wicked inclinations, polluting our body and burning us up as we spin through life from birth to Gehenna hell.  

Everything in nature – big animals, birds, reptiles, and marine life – has been at one time or another tamed by humans – But no one can tame the human tongue. It is a never-ceasing source of evil; it is filled with poison. With our tongue we bless the Lord and the Father, and we also curse the person made in the very image of the same God and from that exact same mouth flows blessing. Family, this is wrong. It is a waste. 

What kind of spring gushes out both good water and bad from its source? 

Family, it is impossible for a fig tree to grow olives, or a grape vine to yield figs, or for sweet water to come from salty. Do any of you have wisdom or intelligence? Prove it with a good life, good works, and common wisdom. 

If your heart is full of jealousy and rivalry don’t let the truth be a victim to your innuendo and lies. This is not the same wisdom that comes to us from above. Instead, it is materialistic, heathen, and demonic. Anywhere people are jealous and divided the result is disorder and stupid behaviors. 

By contrast, wisdom from above is primarily pure, it shows itself peaceable, considerate, reasonable, merciful, full of good fruit, impartial, and isn’t a sham. The fruit of righteousness is planted in peace and harvested by peacemakers. 

James One (Regular)

1. Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers knowing we will receive greater judgment. 

2. We all stumble many times. If anyone can keep from stumbling with words, such a person is able to bridle himself and his whole body. 

3. We put bridles in horse’s mouths to obey us, and by doing so we lead the horse’s whole body around. 

4. See also how very large boats are pushed by hard winds but are led about by a very small rudder under the whim of the pilots wishes.

5. And so the tongue! It is such a small thing yet boasts big things. See also how a small flame sets ablaze such a great forest. 

6. The tongue is the fire of the world. The tongue is appointed over our wicked parts, polluting the whole body and setting aflame the whole wheel of life from birth to the furnace of Gehenna. 

7. For all of nature – large animals, birds, reptiles, and marine life can and has been tamed by human beings, 

8. but no one is able to tame the human tongue. It is restless, bad, and full of deadly poison.

9. For with it we bless the Lord and the Father and with it we also curse a person who has been made in the image of God. 

10. From that same mouth flows out blessing; this is useless and ought not be, my brothers and sisters.

11. What kind of spring gushes both sweet and bitter water from its opening?

12. My brothers and sisters, it is not possible for a fig tree to grow olives or a grape vine to yield figs, or (draw) sweet water from salty.

13. Are any among you wise and understanding? He or she must show it by a good way of life, achievements, and unpretentious wisdom. 

14. But if you have bitter jealousy and divisions in your heart do not assert and lie about the truth. 

15. This is not the same wisdom coming down from above, but earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 

16. For where there are jealousies and divisions there is disorder and all kinds of worthless deeds.

17. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then it is peaceable, considerate, reasonable, merciful, full of good fruit, impartial, and without pretense. 

18. The fruit of righteousness is sown through peace to peacemakers. 

Notes

I don’t have many notes for this section, as the imagery and language is very clear. 

1. The most striking thing to me is how verse one seems disconnected to the rest of the chapter. He has this warning to teachers, but then goes off on the metaphors for the tongue. These are only loosely connected in that teaching involves the tongue, talking, but one doesn’t get the impression he means bad teaching when he speaks of salty and sweet water coming from the same source. I wish he had elaborated more on what he meant, for, as a teacher, I take the adominition seriously. 

2. The impressive taxonomy of metaphors for the tongue is a magnum opus. Bridle, rudder, fire, water, figs, grapes all make the list. It seems to me the fire metaphor has about three different thoughts inside of it as the language could mean either a small spark for a planned fire to warm or cook or a small spark to set the forest on fire, and eventually that gets to the fires of Gehenna. 

3. Verse 6 is a little hard to render. James uses the word, ‘wheel’ to refer to life. This is a very Greek way of thinking that we are on the wheel of life. He says we are set aflame by tongue from the moment we are born until we burn in Gehenna, which is a favorite synonym for hell but here might mean the trash heap near Jerusalem where also the cadavers of the poor, impoverished, and criminal were burned along with the garbage. It is an evocative image and the fodder for a discussion on another day about final states. Here I think James simply means it as, ‘our whole lifetime’ the way we would say ‘from the cradle to the grave’ and that is the way I almost translated it, but I like the word Gehenna so much . . . it is a weakness.  

James, Chapter Two, A Translation from the Greek New Testament

I continue my Advent translation of James today. I give you first the ‘Expansive’ version which has me playing a little bit more with the language. I’ve also blocked it in paragraph form. Behind that is what we might call the ‘Straight’ approach of a more restrained rendering complete with verse numberings. Following, as always are some textual notes and thoughts I have about the text.

James 2 (Expansive)

Now family, when you show favoritism, you do not have faith in the glorious Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Pretend for a moment a person comes into your gathering all decked out in fine jewelry and fancy clothes and at the same time another person comes in wearing dirty old work clothes. You spy the well-dressed person and insist, ‘Let me show you to one of the best places to sit,’ yet you tell the common person, ‘Stand in the back’ or ‘Sit on the floor.’

Is this not discrimination and evil prejudice?  

Listen up, family – God chose the poor folk of this world who are wealthy in faith as the inheritors of his kingdom, the kingdom he promised to those who love him. But you insult the poor while it is the rich who oppress you through the use of the legal system. Isn’t it these same rich folk who blaspheme your good name?

You do well if you can really follow Scripture’s royal law, ‘You should love your neighbor as yourself.’ Yet if you show favoritism, you sin just like a convicted criminal who breaks the same law. Anyone who keep he whole law and fails at this part, at favoritism, breaks all of it. The same person who said, ‘You must not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You must not murder.’ You broke the law if you murder someone but do not commit adultery.  

Be judged by the law of freedom in what you say and do. Judgment will be without mercy to the merciless. Mercy overrules judgment. 

What use is it, family, if someone suggests, ‘I have faith,’ but does no good deeds? Will faith be enough to save such a person? Do you think it could ever be allowed that a part of the family of faith not have clothing or be without food all day long? Now suppose you say to this naked and hungry person, ‘Peace be unto you. I hope you stay warm and well fed,’ and all the while you do not give him or her what they need? You are useless.

Faith that doesn’t do good things to help people is dead. 

Some people might say, ‘You have faith, and I have good deeds.’ To them I say, ‘Show me your faith without good deeds then I will show you my faith from my good deeds.’ You believe in God? That he is one? Good. The demons also believe, and they shake in their boots.  

What shallow people! Do you want to know how useless faith without good deeds is? 

When Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar was that not a good deed that justified him? Can’t you see how his faith combines with his deed, and see how his faith is made whole by his works? That is exactly how the Scriptures are fulfilled that say, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited as righteousness to him,’ and ‘He was called a friend of God.’ Peop

le are justified by works also, not only by faith. Another example – Was Rahab not justified by her good work when she sent the messengers she hid away out through another route? 

Just like a body without the spirit is dead, so faith without good deeds is dead. 

James Chapter 2 – Straight

1. My brothers and sisters, you do not have faith in our Lord Jesus, Messiah in glory, when you show favoritism. 

2. Let’s suppose a person should come into your meeting wearing golden rings and expensive clothes, but also a poor person comes in wearing dirty clothes.

3. You see the person wearing expensive clothes and say, ‘You must sit here at one of the good seats,’ and to the poor person you say, ‘you must stand over there,’ or ‘sit at my feet.’ 

4. When you do this, have you not discriminated against each other and used evil intention to judge?

5. You must hear, my beloved brothers and sisters, God chose the poor (of the world) who are rich in faith as heirs to the kingdom he promised to those who love him. 

6. Instead, though, you insult the poor, not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court. 

7. Do these same people not blaspheme the good name you have been called by?

8. If you actually fulfill the royal law of scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ then you do well. 

9. But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted as a transgressor of the same law.

10. For anyone who could keep the whole law yet then stumble at this part breaks all of it. 

11. He who said, ‘You must not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘you must not murder.’ Now, if you do not commit adultery but you murder you break the law.  

12. So, speak and act as those having been judged by the law of freedom. 

13. For judgment will be without mercy to those people not showing mercy; mercy supersedes judgment. 

14. What is the advantage, brothers and sisters, if someone should say, ‘I have faith,’ but has no works? Will that person’s faith be enough to save them?

15. Should it be that a brother or sister be naked and is without food all day? 

16. And then, suppose you say to him or her, ‘Peace be with you, be warm and well fed,’ and yet you did not give them the necessary things for life. What use are you? 

17. So, if faith does not have works, it is itself dead. 

18. Some people might say, ‘You have faith, and I have works; now show me your faith without works then I will show you my faith from my works.’

19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and they shudder. 

20. O Hollow Human, do you want to know how useless faith without works is? 

21. Was not our father Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 

22. You see that faith combines with his works and his faith is made complete by his works. 

23. Thus, the Scriptures saying, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited as righteousness to him,’ and ‘He was called a friend of God,’ were fulfilled.

24. You see, people are justified by works and not only by faith. 

25. Likewise, Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her work when, having housed the messengers she sent them out another way? 

26. Indeed, just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is dead. 

Notes:

In verse 2, the word for ‘meeting’ is synagogue. We could assume he is talking about the Jewish synagogues, or it could be the word he uses to describe Christian gatherings. I choose the latter understanding.  Verse 15 is interesting in that James himself uses both brother and sister to describe the hypothetical situation (which is probably not all that hypothetical). I point it out because whenever James use the word ‘brothers’ alone I translate it as brothers and sisters – for that is what he means as the word is in most situations gender inclusive. However, in this special situation – James uses both the femine and the masculine to paint the picture of poverty.James is very upset as the people who celebrate the rich of this world as something special. He is not, as has been argued, anti-rich or some kind of revolutionary. He simply doesn’t want people treating the rich with special favor. He would be shocked in our world where Christians assume that rich people are blessed by God and therefore are the natural leaders and who are given deferential treatment while the poor are encroached upon more and more. Entire oceans of ink have been spilt arguing whether or not James is at odds with Paul, and much of that ink originates in James 2, particularly v. 24 which argues justification (salvation) is a combination of faith and good deeds. Paul argues vociferously that we are saved only by grace through faith and that good works have nothing to do with it. Yet, Paul will clearly say we are saved to do good works – Ephesians 2:10. In my reading of Acts I think Paul and James were very much at odds with each other but that was more personality driven. James’ words her are not a replacement or an addition of Pauline teaching about justification. James is teaching us that faith must inherently produce good deeds just as a growing plant produces flowers and the weather produces rain — it is inevitable. Where there is no good deeds, there is no faith. I am not in love with his examples of Abraham on Mt. Moriah or Rahab at Jericho, nevertheless, those are the ones he went with. I’ll let you wrestle with those in your own time. 

James, Chapter One, A Translation From the Greek New Testament

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent for 2024. As is my habit, I am working through some of the Greek New Testament during this season of devotional and anticipation. In the past, I have translated texts from the lectionary that are so prevalent during Advent. This year, though, I zigged a bit. Instead of the more traditional passages, I opted to work through the Epistle of James. His writing style is far different from the evangelists or from Paul. It feels very much more like one to three line proverbs that are thematically connected together but there is very little of unity for a whole chapter.

I have given you, though, something different from my usual pattern. I have translated it twice, so to speak. Below are two different approaches, the first is Chapter One of James in what might are called a ‘straight’ approach. The second is Chapter One in with a more expansive and dynamic equivalent approach. Behind that, I have written a note or two for your consideration.

I will publish the other four chapters throughout this season.

James, Chapter One (regular approach)

1. To the twelve tribes in the diaspora, ‘Hello’ from James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Messiah. 

2. My brothers and sisters, consider it a joy whenever you might fall into any kind of trouble. 

3. For you know tests of your faith result in patience.

4. Let patience work all the way through, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking nothing. 

5. But, if anyone among you lacks wisdom, he or she must ask God, who gives to everyone freely and without belittling; it will be given to him or her. 

6. But he must ask in faith, not doubting. The person who doubts is like the surf of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. 

7. That kind of person must stop thinking that way, for the he or she will receive nothing from the Lord. 

8. Such a person is double-minded, unstable on all pathways.

9. But the brother or sister who is humble must boast in his high position.

10. Yet the rich (must boast) in his or her humility, for they shall die just like a wildflower. 

11. For the grass and the flower withers when the sun rises with the dry wind; it fades away, and the beauty of its countenance (face) is destroyed. Thus, the rich person’s journey wastes away. 

12. Blessed is the person who endures trials. A person so proven will receive the crown of life promised to those who love him. 

13. No one being tempted should say, ‘God is tempting me,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. 

14. Yet, all people are tempted, drawn away, and enticed by their own desires. 

15. The temptation conceives, gives birth to sin, and then grows up to give birth to death.

16. Make no mistake my beloved brothers and sisters, 

17. all good and perfect gifts come down from the Father of Lights, for there is no change or moving shadows. 

18. He gave birth to the word of truth in us, wishing that we be among the firstfruits of creation. 

19. Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters: every person should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. 

20. For a person’s anger does not accomplish the justice of God. 

21. Therefore cast of all filthiness and evil that remains, then, with gentleness. Welcome the word planted in you, which is the power to save your souls. 

22. Become a doer of the word, and don’t mislead yourself by being a hearer only. 

23. Because anyone who hears the word and does not do it is like someone who studies their natural face in a mirror,  

24. thoroughly examines themselves, then goes off and immediately forgets what he or she looks like.

25. Those people who peer into the complete law, the law of liberty, and persevere without having become a forgetful hearer but rather being an active doer, will be blessed in their doing. 

26. If anyone appears to be religious but does not control the tongue, they deceive their heart. Their religion is futile.

27. This is pure and undefiled religion before God the Father: to helpfully visit the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep yourselves unstained by the world.

James Chapter One (Expansive) 

The servant of God and the Lord Jesus who is Messiah, James, says, ‘Hi,’ to the twelve tribes scattered around the world. My family – think of it as a happy thing when you find yourself in trouble. You know how it goes, when your faith is tested, it pays off in patience. Allow the patience to soak in, so you can be a total person, not missing anything. 

Should someone come up short in the ability to navigate life well, they must ask God who will freely help without making you feel like a fool. He will just give it to you. But that person has to ask believing, not doubting anything. The kind of person who doubts everything is like the ups and downs of the sea, thrown around by the ever-changing winds. That kind of doubting person must stop this wrongheadedness, because Lord will not give him or her anything. Such people can’t make up their mind and is wobbly wherever they go. 

By contrast, the poor members of the family should brag about how blessed it is to be poor, and the rich in their brokenness, for they will wither like a weed; just as grass and flowers wilt in the hot sun and the dry wind, he or she fades in old age, and the beauty of her face is destroyed and so the journey of life for the wealthy crumbles. 

Happy are those who endure trials, being so hardened by this world they will receive the crown of life guaranteed to those who love him.  

Nobody going through temptation should say, ‘God tempts me.’ God is above temptation and he doesn’t tempt anybody. Though all are tempted, sucked in by the thrill of their own desires. Temptation then becomes pregnant, delivers sin, which grows up to likewise get pregnant and gives birth to death. Death is the child, sin is the parent, and the grandparent is temptation, where it all started. 

Hey family, don’t be wrong about this, because the good things, the great gifts all come drifting down from the Father above the lights in the sky for there is no changing season or moving shadows of day from him. He gave birth to the truth, to the word in us, desiring that we be among the first of creation to be born. 

My lovely family, learn this – everybody should be in a hurry to listen, slow to speak, and slower still to get angry. God’s justice doesn’t come from an angry man or woman. Get rid of all dirty living and lagging evil. Then gently welcome the implanted word inside you which is has the power to save your soul. 

Do the word. Don’t lie to yourself and end up only hearing. People who hear the world and neglect the doing of it end up like someone who sees their God-given face in the mirror and knows every part of it but then walks out of the room and immediately forgets what they look like. The people who look not into a mirror but into the complete law, the law of freedom, and who stick with it and don’t become neglectful of what is heard because they are so busy doing, will be happy in their actions. 

People who look religious but who say horrible things deceive their heart. Their religion is a waste of time. To God the Father pure religion that is righteous is to do something to help orphans and widows in need, and to keep the stink of this polluted world off you.

 Now I have a just a couple of notes.

James’ favorite device is the comparison — everything is like something or as something else – flowers, the sea, a mirror. He is always reaching for (and achieving) the perfect analogy. The words about the rich in verse 10 remind me of Psalm 103:15. James is certainly thinking of that beautiful and haunting summary of life.Likewise, in verse 9, ‘humble’ is the word that is used but it clearly means poor — of humble means — contrasted with wealth. I am baffled by the oddest synonym for God, ‘Father of Lights’ in v. 17. It seems to imply that God our Father is the giver of light and that is good, and as the giver there is no shadow or moving of the sun. It is, therefore, best understood as his constancy. He doesn’t change. This is certainly how the old hymn, ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ understands the idea. ‘Blessed’ (makarios) appears in this chapter in v. 12 and v. 25. I genuinely prefer the word ‘happy’ as I think that is the proper understanding of what the word conveys — happiness in this world rather than a blessedness in the nowafter. Verse 13 and after feels very much to me like a kind of commentary on Jesus’ trial in the wilderness by Satan. To be honest, the more I study the New Testament the more I believe that time period of Jesus’ ministry was viewed as foundational and key by the early church. Pastorally I read James with an eye toward congregational life. As such, James is confronting impatience, poor theology about blessings, tension between the rich and the poor in the Body of Christ, and people who have no evident life change in them.

This Picture, Though?

I’ve seen this photograph several times since the weekend, and I must say, it evokes so many thoughts inside of me. One of those thoughts, of course, is that the next four years are going to be very interesting.

Take a moment and study the image if you’ve not already. It was taken aboard Trump’s plane Saturday night. Pictured are, seated in order from left to right, Elon Musk, President-Elect Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, Jr. Standing behind Kennedy and Trump Jr. is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

In no particular order, are my thoughts.

They wouldn’t let Mike Johnson sit at the table because he is not rich enough.

Mike Johnson wouldn’t sit at the table because he is afraid to break bread with people of such low morals.

Why is Donald Trump Jr., holding up the fry package like a commercial? Is this actually a commercial, because if it is, great work for the ad people at McDonalds. They’re lovin’ it!

I put the over or under at four for the number of people who have paid for a girlfriend/mistress/babysitter to have an abortion.

Isn’t RFK’s big thing processed food and junk food? Did they make him eat it to prove he is part of the club?

The Old Boys Club is now back in control of things.

Does Elon Musk have a condiment addiction? I count four on the tray.

Is that wrapped, nice, silverware on that table? Is that how rich people eat McDonalds?

Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?

I can’t quite tell, but it looks like they each have two sandwiches, but none of the fry containers have any fries?

I put the over or under at three on how many of these people will be relevant in four years.

This picture proves that J.D. Vance is now the most useless person in the country.

Did Mike Johnson ever get to eat, or did he just have to watch them eat?

I haven’t seen ‘High School Lunchroom’ vibe this strong since . . . 1990.

WHAT DID THEY TALK ABOUT?

In the future, when people look up the word ‘Oligarchy’ they will show this picture.

Did Don Jr. and Elon get high after this?

In an alternate universe where Kamala Harris had won, would it be a picture of her having a bag of Doritos? And who would be in the picture with her, Beyonce? Gavin Newsom?

I believe this was after they attended the UFC Mixed Martial Arts blood sport in New York, so is this the modern ‘bread and circuses’?

In that same tone, does watching people beat each other up to the cheers of intoxicated people make the leaders of our country hungry?

Is it too soon to start talking about President Musk, because I don’t think I’ve seen Donald Trump without Musk present since the election.

Is Mike Johnson learning to use dirty language and swear profusely when he hangs out with the cool kids?

Does Elon feel under-dressed?

When I worked at the Dairy Queen, I learned how to order just perfect for me and I learned what the menu had to offer in a better way. Did Donald Trump have a similar experience when ordering his McDonalds because he worked there for 45 minutes during a photo-op?

Speaking of photo-op, is the McDonald’s here one more dig at Kamala Harris, because if it is, that is really next-level petty trolling, but also brilliant.

Who took the picture? Tulsi? ‘Hey Sweetie,’ Donald Trump said, ‘Make yourself useful and take a picture of me and the boys.’

This picture is one of the reasons so many people adore Donald Trump — he leans into the things they love, because everyone can relate to this moment in some way, shape, or form.

This feels like the beginning scene of a buddy movie from Hollywood, where, as time goes by, friction, intrigue, and hard feelings emerge. This is the peak, and it is all a bumpy road from here.

Did Mike Johnson have them say grace before they ate? Did Kennedy lead them in a Catholic prayer, or did Donald Trump, Jr., lead them in a Leonardo DiCaprio kind of prayer from ‘Catch Me If You Can’ about the mouse in the jar of cream?

Only President Trump and Kennedy have a beverage. Are the other two psychos who don’t drink while they eat?

I really, really, really, really want to know what those papers are beside Donald Trump. Really really really want to know.

One of these will betray the others. I predict it is Mike Johnson. He is the real puppet master.

I would not trade places with any of these men, but I wish them well, because they are the ones who are going to decide much of American life for the next four years and likely, beyond. May they be wise and govern well.

I don’t remember pictures like this from Trump’s first go-round. I hope he keeps them coming because they are a window into what is going on.

**Note: The AI generated suggestions for the title of the blog post are hilarious all on their own, and I ignored them because I am not a robot**

When Greenbean is Wrong, He is Wrong Bigly!

I could not have been more wrong about the election results. In fact, if someone would have taken what I wrote and bet on the exact opposite happening in every instance, well, then, that person would have made a lot of money.

There are all kinds of things I am thinking right now, but let’s start with the data points.

First, 18 million votes. That is how many fewer votes there were this cycle as opposed to four years ago. Trump got three million less than last time, and Harris got fifteen million less than Biden for years ago. That is very peculiar. There are really only three possible explanations. One, Harris didn’t have a full primary season to build support, and that cost her. That is a big possibility. A second explanation is that four years ago many states used mail-in ballots because of the pandemic. For the most part that went away this cycle. Did 18 million people just decide that since they would actually have to go vote they wouldn’t? Maybe. A third explanation is that there was a large group of democrats who refused to support Harris, and a smaller but sizable group of republicans who refused to support Trump.

I have heard some put forth conspiracy theories of tampering, especially by Russia. As with four years ago when it was the Republicans crying foul, I refuse to entertain anything that would suggest wholesale or outcome changing cheating. Our elections are safe, fair, and I trust the people who run them. The results we got are how the votes went. President Elect Trump won fair and square.

Second, these split ticket voters in the five key states are baffling. Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada all went for Trump, but all four also elected (at the time of writing this they are ahead by what looks to me secure margins) Democratic senators. That means voters split their tickets. Pennsylvania almost did, with Casey only losing by 35,000 votes. How is this possible? Who does that — who votes for Trump at the top but then a senator who has the exact opposite policies of Donald Trump? That would be like voting for Ted Cruz here in Texas and then voting for Kamala Harris for President. It is baffling. More on this thought below in my final analysis.

Third, Donald Trump won the popular vote and is the first Republican to do so since George W. Bush in 2004. This unexpected outcome will probably end up with the GOP controlling The House as well as The Senate. That means Trump will be able to ram through all he wants with only token opposition — so we can expect very quickly to see legislation and executive orders to 1) begin mass deportations of your neighbors and coworkers 2) abandon the brave Ukrainians 3)expand energy drilling even though we don’t need it 4) scale back environmental regulation to pre-Obama days 5) tax cuts for the corporations 6) tariffs on imported goods that will cripple the economy 7) crazy people in the halls of government. Let me elaborate on that crazy people business: General Flynn, a genuine nutcase, will likely be Secretary of Defense, I can see Alex Jones as Press Secretary, Elon Musk, who shouldn’t even have a security clearance, will probably end up as special adviser, and Robert Kennedy will stop funding vaccines for children and remove fluoride from the drinking water.

Further Analysis beyond the data points leads me to wonder primarily about the popular vote — something Trump has never gotten before — and those split ticket voters. One thought is that this country is a center-right country and this is simply the pendulum swinging back. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, though neither one of them are as liberal as most think they are, did embrace the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, particularly the transgendered ideology and that cost them dearly with conservative voters. Explain to me Florida, which almost passed abortion rights codifying Roe at 57% but at the same time overwhelming put Trump, who gave us the overturning of Roe and Rick Scot who is vehemently pro-life back in office? That is a hard round peg to square. The only thing I can think of is people separate abortion from governance. They assumed they could vote their own rights in (they didn’t it failed, it needed 60%) and vote against otherwise liberal ideology. This is not a liberal nation.

Some are saying it is gender or race. I do not doubt at all that some misogyny and racism are in play here, but consider — Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan all sent female senators while voting for Trump, and Arizona has elected a Latino man as their senator. So, yeah, it is baked in — but Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the popular vote. Barack Obama had huge majorities. Racism is real, and so is misogyny, but it is not a big enough factor to explain these results.

I’m leaning toward another explanation. I think America just likes watching the Donald Trump Show. He is immoral, indecent, greedy, joyless, and criminal and a majority of the American people LOVE HIM FOR IT. They love him precisely because he sleeps with everyone he wants to, says exactly what he wants to, takes exactly what he wants to, and does it all without regret, apology, or shame. He is the avatar of their sinful selves and they live vicariously through his perverseness. That is how a person votes for democratic senator to govern and do serious things, but then also votes for Trump for President because deep down you just like the entertainment value.

For two years he will have almost unchecked power. Then, the midterms and after that he is lame duck, which is miserable for presidents. It is at that time both the GOP and the Dems will begin thinking and strategizing for a new wave of leadership, now that all the old folks will be gone — Trump, Biden, McConnell, Schumer, Pelosi. And that, that could be fun.

Final Predictions 2024 General Election

This is so exciting! I love Election Day. America!

I’ve been playing around and predicting winners and losers for a very long time, probably going all the way back to Reagan V Carter when I was only eight years old. Some years I’m pretty accurate — like 2020, or 2012, or 2000. Some years, not so much, like 2016 or 2008 — and I have to tell you I am still surprised at how poorly John McCain performed at the ballot box in 2008. More on that, later, though.

Before we dive in, let me put out some standard disclaimers. Greenbean is non-partisan. I will have issues with whoever wins, and I am welcome in neither political party which suits me fine. I don’t think they’d let Jesus in, either. They definitely wouldn’t let the prophet Amos in. That I am certain of. So I have no dog in this race other than studying the situation and trying to read where the public is going. That is what I enjoy about it — the margins, the trends in suburban counties, the demographic choices and things like that. We actually learn a lot about ourselves every four years. The elections are mirrors America gazes into every four years.

A second disclaimer is that if you are not interested in this kind of thing — you probably should stop reading now and go do something more productive.

Seriously.

Okay, you’ve been warned. Here we go with three observations. First, all the momentum seems to be moving toward Vice President Harris. The Veep has had a very good couple of weeks and the numbers on early voting indicating people are, at least now, breaking her way. Second, former President Trump has had a very bad end to the campaign. He has not been able to stay on message and has lost some of the fervor he had coming out of the debate with Biden and the failed assassination attempt (Again, let me emphasize, how grateful I am it was a failed attempt! We decide things with a ballot not bullets!) Third, in my investigation of things, Trump has no real ground game working the streets and this will be a problem in swing states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

What of the polls? I don’t trust any of them, not this year. I really don’t trust them in any year. They were wildly flawed in 2016 and then pretty bad again in 2020. What I am concerned about is the pollsters all say they know they were wrong and so they have ‘corrected’ their methodology but the correction is basically to just downgrade by ratios the prevailing evidence. Usually I tend to trust aggregates of polls more than individual polls, but this year even those seem dodgy. The polls say we are in for a tight race. Maybe. It could all break and swing dramatically in one direction or another.

Here is the good news which I see in my crystal ball for Trump: He looks to win Arizona. Probably not by much, but that is the only state where every single indicator is going his way. Things would have turn hard on election day to change that. If you are a republican, then you should know that is the only good news I have for Trump.

I expect Veep to hold the blue wall, including Pennsylvania. The Keystone State is statistically a tie right now but like in baseball, the tie goes to the runner and in this case the runner is whoever won it last and that would be the Dems — statewide in 2022 and 2020. I also think Harris will win North Carolina and Georgia. She will not need either of those if she picks up the blue wall, but she will get them.

Again, let’s talk about polls again. There was a poll over the weekend out of Iowa that was so unexpected that I don’t know what to make of it. It suggested (Seltzer Poll) Harris was ahead by three points in Iowa. That is unbelievable. Iowa is heavily MAGA country. The problem with dismissing this poll is the pollster is actually usually very, very accurate and knows Iowa very well. I feel in my gut Trump will win Iowa, but that poll may signal things are not breaking his way with large volumes of voters and I think that might have an impact in places like Florida, which I think is 50/50 on going blue this year. I don’t think Texas will, but it might be very close. On a local note, I do think Allred will beat Ted Cruz. I am very curious to see if the trend toward the GOP and Trump continues in South Texas the way it has the last two cycles. If he can somehow, maybe just through sheer will and charisma, break through the same way in Georgia and Pennsylvania with the Latino population, he could pull this off.

In short, I think people who make their decision at the moment they stand in the ballot box are breaking for Harris. That is what we saw in 2008 – they broke for Obama rather than McCain. I think this year feels like 2008 not 2020 or 2016. Plus, There are viable paths to 270 for Harris even if she looses Pennsylvania, but if Trump loses Pennsylvania I can see no path for him to get to 270.

A little more on this. I feel like this could be a year when the electoral college map sees some flip flops as the parties continue to transform. What do I mean? New Hampshire could go red all the way, while say, Iowa goes blue. Nevada might go red but Tennessee goes blue. Maybe Michigan does flip, but so does North Carolina. I don’t think this map will look the same as last cycle.

So, some numbers? Harris 291 to Trumps 247 in the electoral college.
Harris wins by 10 million popular votes (I feel this might be the case even if Trump squeaks out an electoral college victory).
I think the GOP takes the Senate back but in a flip flop the Dems regain the House.

Now, if this is not how you want it to go, you should know there is a good chance I am completely wrong. But this is kind of a hobby for me so don’t hate me or unfriend me or anything. Remember, I’ll be on the outside looking in regardless of who wins — which because of Pennsylvania’s rules about when counting can start, will likely not be until Wednesday or Thursday. Maybe Friday.

Joe Shaw and Greenbean Walk Into A Cable News Show . . .

This post is on the verge of being TLDR, too long; didn’t read. Did that stop us? No way! My friend Joe Shaw and I have done this before — where we blog in a point/counter point way. This time it is about the upcoming elections. You may have heard about them. We each answered five questions independently, then read the responses of the other, and wrote a brief rebuttal.

He has posted it to his blog as well. When I get the link, I will add it here so you can bookmark it and check it regularly. Joe Shaw is one of the most interesting people alive and you should follow him regularly.

I remind my readers, all tens of them, I am very apolitical in terms of candidates. I enjoy the process, analyzing numbers, thinking about trends, and seeing what happens but I do not endorse candidates nor do I support any of them. I think that makes a pretty objective observer.

With those caveats asserted, those who dare, keep reading.

1. How do you read the polls? 

Jamie Greening: I don’t trust the polls. Not because I believe they are biased (although some certainly are) but because the sampling on those is skewed due to fewer landlines, reticence of people to answer those kinds of calls, and the increased dependence upon AI and other internet driven methodology. So, the only thing I think the polls are telling us is this is a close race. I don’t think it necessarily shows momentum one way or another, but that it is close. 

Joe Shaw: In order to correctly read the polls, you must first choose a room in your house cleanse it by reciting the necessary incantations first drafted by Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings at the annual meeting of the Bohemian Grove in 1983. Peter was dressed as an owl. Tom was dressed as Ziggy Stardust. You don’t have to go THAT far, but you can if you want to. It helps. 

After this, you must sacrifice a live pig, a live turkey, and a live chicken, then wrap the chicken inside the meat of the turkey inside the meat of the pig, wrapping each layer in strips of candied bacon, shredded pineapples, and finely chopped green onions. Cook this monstrosity in a smoker for 24 hours, then serve it to your unsuspecting family.

Record a video of this meal, and post it to YouTube. The 3rd letter of each comment taken in ascending order by post date will spell out the insights to the polls that will INCONCLUSIVELY prove who will win the election. 

This the ONLY WAY to know what the actual heck is going on this election season. There is no other way. 

JG Responds: Although I am unsure about your set up, Shaw, I agree with you in terms of perspective. There really is no way to know what is happening as so much is unprecedented and the mood of the country is hard to tell. I do feel like it might break hard one way or the other, though, as the election happens, much like Reagan in 1980 – he won in a landslide, but four weeks before the polls all had Carter winning re-election. 

JS Responds: I’m with you. I don’t trust them, either. As I hope my response above shows, I’m exasperated with them, as well, mostly because of the bias and what seems, to me at least, like cherry-picked responses. “According to polls hand-picked by our candidate’s team … OUR CANDIDATE IS WINNING!!!” It’s a faux scientific approach to marketing, which makes them about as useful as Peter Jenning’s in an Owl Costume. 

2. What surprises, if any, do you expect? 

JG: That’s a tough one. I suspect a surprise might be Wisconsin going red for Trump, but then that being offset by North Carolina going blue for Harris. I can also see a world in which one of the big red states like Texas, Ohio, or Florida go for Harris this year. I mean, it has been a while since Florida surprised us. They are due. It might be my home state of Texas, even. The Trump Campaign is spending money on airtime in Texas, which is a place they usually don’t usually spend. I think their internal polling is telling them something.  

JS: Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Kurt Cobain could descend from the skies, riding gigantic demon squirrels, shouting the lyrics to “All You Need Is Love” while assaulting the poor huddled masses below with super soakers filled with strawberry Fanta, and I would just shrug, saying, “Seems about right to me.”

The chaos of this election season has reinforced in me the Socratic Philosophy that all knowledge begins when you admit that you know nothing, except I don’t expect to know much else, moving forward, either. 

JG Responds: Strawberry Fanta sounds delicious. I always drink red Kool-Aid while watching election returns. Maybe this year I will put on a little Elvis/Lennon/Nirvana playlist to go along with it. However, I am not as cynical as you are, Shaw. I do think some things are concretely knowable. The challenge is figuring out what those things are. 

JS Responds: Don’t say things like “It has been a while since Florida surprised us,” Jamie. We will respond to that with a big #ChallengeAccepted. I agree, though. With so many people having left states like New York and California for states like Florida and Texas, I could see either flipping. That would be a huge swing. 

3. How would you strategize for each candidate? 

JG: The best strategy for Donald Trump is to focus on Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania only. He might want to consider buying a house there. I see no path forward for him to win the White House without Pennsylvania. 

Kamala Harris must whittle down the gender gap. She doesn’t have to close it much, but there is a narrow sliver of men who might be persuaded she’s okay. I actually think that is why she has mentioned owning a gun so much of late. Now look for her to do something ‘sportsy.’ 

JS: What I want is for the candidates to stop the tomfoolery and focus on policy. I’d also like to be able to dunk a basketball while riding a unicorn, and that ain’t happening, either. So, what each candidate needs to do is address their weaknesses with independent, younger voters while working to drive out their base in large numbers. 

For Trump, that means focusing on being relatable. His biggest problem with folks under 40 is he is an a-hole who doesn’t care about other people. The problem here is that being an a-hole is part of why large parts of his base love him, so he needs to balance being relatable to folks who maybe have not considered him in the past with letting his longtime supporters know he can still throw a punch when needed. To achieve this, he needs to stay away from traditional media, focusing on social media, longform podcasts, and his patented rallies. He needs to talk about politics interspersed with fun, lighthearted conversation, focusing not on his opponent’s failings, but what he plans to do once he wins (or, as he would likely call it, assuming the sale). Trump did just this, recently, when he was on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast, and rumors that he’s going to do Rogan as well tells me he sees this and is headed in the right direction. 

For Harris, her weakness is legitimacy. She didn’t get much support in the 2020 primaries, and was installed, not elected, to the candidacy she is in today. As a result, there is a perception, even among Democrats, that she shouldn’t be there, and her recent fumbling interview history feeds into that. She speaks, in her campaigns at least, like someone who is desperately trying to get in as many talking points per minute as she can. It feels to me like she’s got a team of analysts telling her to DO THIS and DON’T DO THAT; as if she’s BEING directed and not LEADING.  What she needs to do is open the floodgates and just be who she is. Answer questions honestly, addressing what her interviewers are saying rather than staying on whatever message she hopes to deliver. Drive the narrative, drive the campaign, and both her problems go away. I haven’t seen her take steps in this direction, though, and I’m not sure there’s enough time to get effective gains if she does. 

JG Responds: You might be right about Trump and the likeable factor, but my feeling is people already, after nine years in politics, four as POTUS, a lifetime of New York headlines, a cameo in Home Alone 2, a bigtime TV show – people already know Trump. That bizarre sliver of undecideds really are making up their mind about Kamala, not Trump. They are weighing her against him and I think most people feel they don’t have enough information about her. 

JS Responds: Picture a commercial. Lebron James is playing Michael Jordan in a 1v1 game. Finally, we get to decide who the GOAT is. Both men are exhausted, but neither will quit. A few plays pass in quick succession. Then, MJ pulls up for a baseline jumper. We watch the ball fly through the air, bounce off the rim, and then … Kamala Harris catches the rebound and drains a shot from the other side. MJ and LBJ turn to each other and say, “I guess we know who the GOAT is, now!” 
Then Donald Trump crushes everyone in a gigantic monster truck. 

4. What do you think will be the biggest factor? 

JG: We don’t know how the nation feels yet about the legal activity against Donald Trump. I was against it and thought it unwise. Will people – and all it takes a tiny needle change – decide a convicted felon shouldn’t be president and either refuse to vote or vote Harris or, just as possible, will they punish Democrats for what they view as a political maneuver? I think that is one big unknowable factor.

The other, as I’ve been screaming about for a while, is abortion. I am prolife, but most Americans are in favor of some abortion protection as we have seen in even very red states like Kansas. This will play a factor, not in Louisiana or Montana, but in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan. It played a big part in 2022.   

JS: Voter turnout.

JG Responds: That’s weak, Shaw. Voter turnout is always a key. If we had time for follow-ups I would ask what do you mean. Will more voter turnout, like 2020, help Harris or Trump? What about turnout in individual states. I suspect, for example, low turnout might help Harris in some places because I think some of the energy factor for Trump from 2016 and 2020 has evaporated. I mean, I don’t see many ‘Trump Trains’ anymore, just to point out an indicator. 

JS Responds: Did you see the rally in Butler? The second one, I mean. The one where he DIDN’T get shot at. It was massive and full of energy. And Trump had a rally in Manhattan not to long ago that was huge (or, as he would say, “Yuge”). I’m not usually a fan of his “look at my crowd size!” rhetoric, but … to pull that many folks in NYC says something, even for him. 

I’m suspect about the abortion issue. You can say Trump has been KNOWN for a long time and you have a point, but abortion has been argued and fought over for even longer. Yes, there was renewed, fightin’ energy on the side of abortion supporters in the wake of the Dobbs decision, but there has been almost as much fightin’ energy from the conservative side who believe Trump is being railroaded through lawfare. So I put the two at a wash. 

5. What about the House and Senate?

JG: Democrats have a tough road for the Senate, so I expect the GOP will take back the upper chamber but in a great flip-flop the Democrats will win the House with a more comfortable margin than many would suspect. And from where I set, that would make me happy because divided government is usually better governent. 

JS: Republicans need to win two competitive states to win the majority, and I think they’ve got a good chance at doing that. Tim Sheehy will overtake Jon Tester in Montana, and I think Bernie Moreno will unseat Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Dems have a shot at a Colin Allred upset over Ted Cruz in Texas, though, so it’s a no-holds barred steel cage death match to the finish for all parties involved in the Senate. 

I don’t have as much of an ear on the House as I do elsewhere, but I get the feeling it will either stay or deepen Red once all is said and done. 

My predictions overall: I see Kamala winning an extremely narrow victory but facing a Republican House and Senate. Of course, I still think there will be World War 3, soon, like I said in one of our previous posts. Because I’m just a happy guy. 

JG Responds: I am not predicting World War III. I do think there will be a growing land war in the Middle East, but that has been brewing since …. forever. At this point, I feel like Harris will win the Presidential election as well, and it will be razor thing in the margins per state, but I think she will have a large electoral college cushion. I could be very, very wrong. I confidently predicted Biden would win four years ago and nailed some of the individual states like Arizona and Georgia, but I am not as confident this year. It really could swing in either direction. 

JS Responds: You predicted Florida in 2020, too, even though I told you it would go for Trump. I know this state. It’s MY state. Or, rather, it was my state before Helene and Milton. Now, it’s just a mess. 

I honestly have no idea what will happen with the Senate or the House. Your guess is as good as mine. I do have to agree, though, that divided government is the best government. At worst, some of the more ridiculous ideas have a good chance at being shot down. At best, people of differing ideologies being forced to work together moves us toward the kind of unity we so desperately need. 

Until Trump crushes all of us with a monster truck, that is.

Luke 15 — Stories of Loss, Recovery, and Celebration

Over the last three weeks I’ve been working on Luke 15 from the Greek Text. I started down this path because we talked about the first seven verses, the first short story about the lost sheep, in our worship service Sunday. The more I studied, though, the more convinced I am that perhaps next year I will spend a month on this one chapter. There is more here than can be covered in either one blog post or a single homily.

Below is my rendering of the text. First, though,I will give you some textual notes. Second, some exegetical notes. Third, a thought or two about the big picture.

I ramble quite a bit in this post, so you may want to skip to the end and read the transition then come back to my thoughts on it. Or not.

Textual Notes

1. Verse three indicates Jesus told ‘this parable’ as if it were one yet what follows are three parables. Where our minds see three different things, I think Jesus was teaching one thing, and Luke understood it to be one parable with three different parts. The one teaching is the relationship between recovery of what is lost and the celebration that restoration demands.

2. The verb for ‘lost’ throughout these parables also carries with the it the connotation of destruction or wasted. Lost things are ruined things. Lost lives are wasted, squandered lives. A lost sheep will get killed. A lost coin will stolen or forever buried.

3. In verse 9 the forms are feminine — the woman calls her female friends and her female neighbors. She celebrates with people who will understand the importance of this recovery and the danger she had placed herself by being careless with the coin in the first place. In other words, the women intuitively understand the reason for the celebrating.

4. There are three variations on ‘slave’ or ‘servant’ in the parable of the lost child. First, the younger son refers (v. 17, 19) to his father’s hired servants, ‘misthioi’ who have so much bread to eat. Later, the father calls for his ‘doulous’, a word familiar to New Testament students as slave or servant. It is what Paul calls himself in relation to Jesus — a slave or a servant of Jesus. Either word works for a rendering because slavery didn’t mean in the ancient world exactly what it meant in the evil practice of Antebellum America. But then, the elder brother uses the term ‘paidon’ or slaveboy when he calls over the help to ask questions. Again, I am not certain what to make of it but the variation is, interesting. At least to me.

5. There is an echo of ‘rising up’ in vv. 18 and 20. It begins each sentence with ‘anastas’ which will sound familiar to you because it is also a word for resurrection, Anastasia. Not to load words with too much meaning, but there is something in here of resurrection that Jesus (and Luke) are pounding away at. Jesus is not a prodigal by any means nor a sinner, but he is a son in a far country from his home surrounded by pigs yet he will rise up and go home to his father.

6. It is more natural for us to say, ‘I have sinned against heaven and against you’ (v. 18. 21) but that is not the phraseology here. I think my wording is clunky, but it is faithful. He has sinned ‘to’ heaven and ‘before’ his father. I may be making more here than is there, but neither heaven nor the father paid the price of the son’s sin, as would say, a murder or slander. Therefore, his sin was ‘to’ heaven in the sense of location and it was ‘before’ his father in the sense of witness. It is this distinction that leads me to keep the clunky verbiage.

7. The flow of the words from the elder son in vv. 29 and 30 is choppy in the Greek New Testament. I feel this is a device used by Jesus/Luke to convey the emotion and hot heat of the elder son in his perceived neglect.

8. The elder son will not go in to the celebration feast. The father goes out to him and the text says he comforted him. The verb there is the root parakaleo, the verbal form linked to the noun Paraclete — the encourager, the comforter, the guide. If you will allow me to squint my eyes a bit, I can see the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit somewhere in this story. It is tangentially Trinitarian, and I’ll take it!

9. Throughout the last section, ‘son’ or ‘sons’ has been used exclusively, but at the (v. 31) end, the father says child, ‘teknon’ to the oldest. He is warming up to him with this statement, and I feel it is more endearing to the ears of the boy to be ‘my child’ than ‘son.’ It is at this moment, and with this word, you begin to wonder which boy was the more prodigal?

Exegetical Notes

1. The sheep lost itself, the woman lost the coin, and the child likewise took the initiative to leave. The difference between the sheep and the boy? The sheep didn’t want to be lost, it is just dumb. It is not hard to see the sheep afraid when it realizes its peril and the sheep joy (that should be a thing, I think, sheep joy) at being found. The boy was willful, and even manipulative to arrange the situation so as to get lost.

2. I believe we need to ask ourselves why, precisely, are the angels happy (v. 10) about the repentance of a sinner? What is in it for them? The only answer that I can come up with is that our wellbeing — redemption — is integral to their very existence. In other words, they must love us individually but also in general. Remember, this aside is not parable, it is actual, literal.

3. The woman’s coin is probably connected to her dowry. Most interpreters I have read come to this conclusion. There are complicated ways of illustrating how this worked, and some even suggest the coins were a headdress of some sorts. It could also be her inheritance of sort as she is portrayed as a single woman living alone with no servants to sweep for her. As interesting as these things are, I think those details are irrelevant. What is relevant is the coin is tied to her future. If it is her dowry, then the more it is the better her future standing is. If we see it this way, what has been lost here is her future, like a retirement portfolio that evaporates in one bad Wall Street day, or a burned home. Tied to all of this is fascinating aspect that all three of these stories are connected to wealth: the number of sheep in the flock, the dowry, and inheritance from a rich father.

4. We usually understand the shepherd with the lost sheep to be God, or more particular, the second person of the Godhead, Jesus. The father in the story is usually understood as God the Father, the first person of the Godhead. Notice that Jesus unabashedly chooses a female image in the role of God in the story? And would you, maybe, then, parallel that usage with the Holy Spirit — sweeping, illuminating the room, seeking, drawing?

5. The younger son rehearses his speech before his father, but never completes it. The father cuts him off. As soon as the boy admits his sin, there is no more talk of the past. It is only future actions and the preparations for celebration. I am telling you, that right there will preach long and hard.

6. The obedient ‘other’ seems to suffer from emotional neglect in these stories. The ninety-nine sheep are left alone, abandoned for the one. The nine secure coins are not celebrated. The older son may have a legitimate complaint about his father’s attitude toward him. Does this mean God doesn’t care about the obedient, but is only an adrenaline junky for the drama of discovery? That’ can’t right. The answer must be something else, and the answer is connected to verse 2. (see below)

7. The elder son misses the point. He thinks the fatted calf is for his younger brother. The calf is not for him. It is for the father. This is the father’s party, just as it was the shepherd’s party with the other shepherds and the woman’s party with the other women. The party is not for the sheep or the coin or the lost boy. The father is celebrating, the shepherd celebrates, the woman invites her besties to her impromptu backyard barbecue. It is vital that we celebrate, but it is also important to know who we are celebrating.

Big Picture Thoughts

1. Famously, in the last story, the elder son is left with a decision. We do not know if he goes in to his brother or not. It is assumed Jesus means this to be the scribes and Pharisees. The ball is in their court: will they celebrate the work of God in finding and rescuing all these lost sinners like the noble angels do. For the modern church, the challenge comes as we who have grown up in congregations and know the songs and the vernacular – will we celebrate the newness, the newcomer, the dirty, broken, and the bleating sheep?

2. We load into these stories our own family dramas but these stories are not about your painful childhood or a wayward son who sleeps around and has four children by three women, or your daughter who can’t seem to get her life straight. These stories are about the celebration. The neighbors are called. The shepherds gather. The fatted calf is butchered. Pies are made and dancing commences forthwith. I wonder what it would be like if those who opposed Christianity accused us of being too celebratory and of rejoicing too much –eating too much, drinking too much, dancing too much, laughing too much, and doing it all with the unacceptable kinds of people. That is the point of all these stories.

3. I have said it before, but I believe with everything in me Jesus told these parables sitting in Zacchaeus’ house. Four chapters down the page in Luke 19:10 Jesus utters the missio christi, ‘the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.’

4. An old teacher of mine liked to emphasize the Father sitting on the porch waiting, every day, for a sliver on the horizon of the visage of his son coming home. That, he said, is why he was able to see him from a long way off because he was on the lookout. Of course, that is one popular way to see it. Remember, the shepherd actively sought the lost sheep and the woman swept the house in what was probably a frantic search. But my old teacher honed in on the father as anxiously, patiently, knowing someday his child would come home. That was why he saw him so far away. I have another thought. You’ve read enough here, so please indulge me this. If I crawl into this as a storyteller, and Jesus is the best storyteller, I can put together another scrap of narrative juice. The elder brother, in verse 30, seems to have a working knowledge of where the younger brother has been. He describes him as spending their father’s livelihood on prostitutes. How does he know? Is it possible the father has kept tabs on the boy? He, being a wealthy man, hired someone to watch him from a distance and send reports to the family? So, the father knew when the boy was on his way home and things were not as spontaneous as it seemed. The elder brother was briefed on the unseemly behavior of his sibling. This fight they have was not a new one, but one that had been rehearsed over and over. What we see is the culmination of many heated discussions between the father and the eldest son.

5. Somewhere in these two brothers we must be shove the epic brotherly discord of the Bible: Cain and Able, Ishmael and Issac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, Aaron and Moses, and then, Israel and Judah, and now perhaps Jews and Christians, Catholic and Protestant, and dare I say Mainline and Evangelicals. Will there be celebration or will there be mortal discord until the end of time?

Luke 15 From the Greek New Testament

I have probably dwelt on this too long, so now without further delay here is my rendering of the text from the Greek New Testament.

1. All the tax collectors came close to hear him.

2. The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling, ‘This person welcomes sinners. He even eats with them.’

3. So, he told them this parable:

4. If some man among you has a hundred sheep, and he should lose one, would he not leave behind the ninety-nine in the wilderness then go out for the one that was lost until he find it?

5. And when he finds it, he puts it upon his shoulders, rejoicing.

6. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I found my lost sheep.’

7. This is what I say to you, this same kind of joy will be in heaven for one sinner who repents more so than ninety-nine righteous ones who have no need of repentance. 

8. What kind of woman who has ten valuable coins that, if she should lose one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the home while she carefully seeks until she finds it?

9. Then, when she finds it, she calls together her girlfriends and the neighborhood women saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I found the coin I lost.’ 

10. I say to you this, there is joy before the angels of God for one sinner who repents.

11. Then he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons.

12. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the property,’ and he divided to them the estate.  

13. It wasn’t many days later when the younger son collected all his things and traveled to a distant land. There, he squandered his wealth on extravagant living.

14. After he had spent everything, a severe famine spread across that land. He began to be needy. 

15. Being so far away, he hired on with a citizen of that land wo sent him into the fields to feed pigs.

16. He craved the slop the pigs ate; no one gave him anything.

17. Then he came to himself. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants abound with bread, yet I am dying in this famine.’

18. He rose up. ‘I will travel to my father. I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned to heaven and before you.

19. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.’

20. Rising up, he went to his father. While he was yet far away, his father saw him and was moved to compassion. Running, he hugged and kissed him. 

21. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned to heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him. Give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet.

23. And, you must bring the fatted calf. Kill it, then let us eat and celebrate

24. because this son of mine was dead, and he came to life. He was lost and he was found. Then they began to celebrate.    

25. But his elder son was in the field. As he neared the house, he heard music and dancing. 

26. Calling over to the slave boys he began to enquire what was going on with all this?

27. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come home. Your father killed the fatted calf because he received him back alive and well.’

28. But he was angry, and refused to go in, so his father went out; he comforted him.

29. Yet he answered his father and said, ‘Look at how many years I worked as a slave for you, and never did I disobey your commandments, and you’ve never even given me a goat so I might celebrate with my friends.

30. But this, your son, after having eaten away your very life with hookers, came home and you kill the fatted calf for him!’ 

31. Then he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me. Everything that is mine is yours.

32. We must celebrate and be happy, because your brother, who was dead has come back to life. He was lost and was found.’