Apostles Anglican Church
Fr. John A. Roop

The Epistle of St. James. Christian Living 101
Chapter 4: The Passions

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you: Look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants, and purify our disordered affections, that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent, BCP 2019, p. 606).

Introduction

I taught high school for twenty-six years. In that time I saw many changes in the profession and in the students, not all of them for the good.

Early on I learned that students cheat. There was a television show several years ago, a medical drama, House M.D., in which the very caustic and cynical lead doctor Gregory House, had reached this conclusion and stated it often: “Everybody lies.” I reached a similar conclusion about students: Every student will cheat — under the right amount of pressure, with stakes very high, every student will cheat. So, I learned not to be terribly surprised or disappointed when it happened. That remained constant over the years. But something significant did change: the students’ response when confronted with their cheating.

In my early years of teaching, when I detected cheating and confronted a student with it, the typical response was admission, shame, penitence, and a commitment to amendment of life: essentially everything priests look for in a good confession. But somewhere and somewhen that response changed to lying, to a bold denial of cheating in spite of all the evidence: no admission, no shame, no penitence, just a denial of the obvious facts — just a lie. And that brings us back to Dr. House: Everybody lies.

I thought a lot about that while I was teaching, and, as you see, I’m still thinking about it. Here’s a question that I have long pondered: Is a person who tells a lie a liar? On the surface the answer seems clear almost by definition: if liars are those who tell lies, then those who tell lies are liars. But that answer fails both the laws of logic and the “laws” of common use of language. Most all of us have told lies in the past, and we might well do in the future if we are caught off guard in a sticky situation and have to answer quickly without proper thought. Someone you find rather unpleasant asks if he can meet with you on Tuesday and caught off guard you reply, “Oh, I’m sorry, my schedule is really packed that day,” when you know that you actually have a very light day. What you really mean — the truth is — you don’t have time for that particular person on that particular day. You don’t want to hurt the person and you don’t want to meet with him. You don’t have time to formulate a properly truthful answer, so you answer with a lie — a “small one” you might say, an “innocent” one, but a lie nonetheless. You know it’s a lie because of the pricking of your conscience later. So, does telling that lie make you a liar?

I want to let you off the hook, mainly because I want to let myself off the hook! I don’t think telling that lie necessarily makes you a liar, because lying is not for you an habitual action, not your first and preferred recourse when asked a question. I don’t think you are a liar in large part because your conscience bothers you after the fact.

Now, imagine someone who has no regard for the truth, only for what benefits him in any particular situation. If the truth works, fine. If not, a good lie will do equally well. Truth or lie is entirely a matter of indifference, entirely a matter of personal convenience. There is never any stirring of the conscience when telling a lie. That person has become and is a liar.

Let’s consider another example: anger. Most of us experience anger from time to time, and most of us regret angry outbursts almost immediately afterward. We might even have thoughts like, “That’s not like me! Why did I do that? I wish I had that moment to do over again.” And then we try to make things right, if we can. But have you ever met a truly angry person, one whose every response seems poised on the edge of anger, one who seems to delight in and feed off of anger, one who is never remorseful for angry outbursts? That is a different situation entirely; there is a vast difference between someone being angry and someone being an angry person. I think we could make a similar distinction with most sinful behavior. In doing so we are making a classical Christian distinction between sin and passion. If virtue is a cultivated habit of righteousness, then passion is a cultivated habit of sin; both virtue and passion are ways of being that have become second nature.

How does sin become passion? The Church Fathers — especially the ascetical Fathers of the Eastern Church — have identified the progression from temptation to sin to passion. I find this teaching very helpful both for my own struggle and for pastoral care. Some of the language used by the Fathers is naturally a bit foreign, so I have simplified and modernized it a bit. Here are the stages in the progression:

ASSAULT

INTERACTION/ENGAGEMENT

CONSENT

SIN

CAPTIVITY

PASSION

Let me illustrate this process with someone I’ll call Sam. This is a generalization of the process, but it is how the Fathers tell us the passions develops.

After some bad choice and outcomes, Sam finds himself in serious financial difficulty. No one else knows it; he is very secretive about it, even though there are people who could and would help him.

Sam’s place of business keeps fairly large amounts of cash around between bank deposits, and Sam has access to it. One day he realizes that it might be possible to steal small amounts of it weekly to ease his financial difficulties. This thought, this temptation, does not originate with Sam; he is being assaultedby the evil one. That is, I think, a very valuable insight. Temptations are assaults. You are not responsible for being tempted, only for how you then handle the temptation. How should Sam handle the assault/temptation? According to the Fathers, there are two things Sam should do: first, let go of the thought — just let it come, recognize it for what it is, and then let it go — and second, confess the thought/temptation to a spiritual director or a trusted spiritual friend. The thought is not a sin, but, if held in secret it may grow to be one. Temptation grows more powerful when it is allowed to linger and when it is allowed to hide, when it is kept secret. This is one of the important benefits of sacramental confession: not only to confess sin, but to disclose temptation before it ever become sin.

Unfortunately, Sam takes neither of these actions. Instead, he begins to interact/engage with the temptation. I wonder if I could get away with it? Would the risk be worth the benefit? How, exactly, would I do it? At this point, there is still an internal battle going on: Should I or shouldn’t I? Sam’s conscience is still interceding on his behalf, still convicting him ahead of time. But, continued interaction gives power to the temptation; it can justify and stoke desire for the sin. That’s what happens with Sam, and it doesn’t stop there.

Sooner or later, Sam reaches a point of consent. Having thought long about it, he decides that if the conditions are ever “just right” and the opportunity presents itself he will steal just a little to make certain his plan actually works. Sam has lost the battle at this point; he has sinned in thought (in his heart) if not yet in deed. Now, here’s the problem: the enemy is behind all this, orchestrating it. You can be certain that he will make sure that the conditions will be just right and the opportunity does present itself. And that is exactly what happens. Sam steals some money and the theft is not discovered.

Next week the assault happens again. This time the process of interaction/engagement is truncated. Sam has already wrestled with his conscience and very little further reflection is needed before he moves directly to consent. Again, he steals some money and again the theft is undiscovered.

As the weeks go by, there is less interaction with the temptation when it arises. Soon enough that step is eliminated entirely and Sam moves directly from assault to sin. There is no need to engage or consent each time; that has now been done once for all. At this point the Fathers say that Sam is in captivityto the sin. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, Sam will take advantage of it.

But there is one more stage in the process. Sam stops waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Sam seeks to create the opportunities. There is no longer any resistance to the sin but rather an active seeking it out. This is what the Father refer to as passion. A passion is a cultivated habit of sin that has become second nature. We are passive before it, not only unable to resist but not even interested in resisting.

You might be thinking that this sounds very much like a process of addiction, and you would be right. Passion is an addiction to sin, and one that you are essentially helpless to overcome without intervention — in the case of sin, without divine intervention.

The Fathers identified eight deadly thoughts or seven deadly sins that can easily turn to passions; understood broadly, they are foundational for most of the passions: pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.

Back to Gregory House and his conviction that everyone lies. Maybe so, but not everyone is a liar; not everyone is enslaved by that passion. Most people become angry from time to time, but not everyone is subject to the passion of anger. Most students will cheat, but not all students are cheaters.

How can we protect ourselves from becoming enslaved to the passions?

Practice the “ordinary” spiritual disciplines of worship, daily prayer and Scripture, fasting, alms-giving, service until they become second nature.

Cultivate the virtues: the classical virtues (justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance), the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love), and the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).

Embrace the sacraments: Eucharist with self-examination beforehand as The Exhortation commends and confession.

Guard the thoughts; watch what we see and hear and ponder.

Recognize the assaults of the enemy for what they are and take swift action against them.

Why all this talk about the passions? It was an issue for James and his churches, just as it is still an issue for us and our churches. Even the philosophers of James’s day recognized the passions and struggled against them. The Stoics, against whom St. Paul argued in the marketplaces and at the Areopagus in Athens, identified four passions:

λυπη/lupē (distress which leads to depression)

φοβος/phobos (irrational fear)

επιθυμια/epithumia (lust)

ηδονη/hēdonē (delight/pleasure/craving)

It is hēdonē (delight/pleasure/craving) that James addresses in Chapter 4.

James 4:1-6 The Passions/ηδονη (passionate craving)

James 4:1–6 (ESV): 4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

I don’t know how literally to take James here. Is this hyperbolic language — just for emphasis — or is it a description of the state of the churches to which he is writing: quarrels, fights, murder? Perhaps he is again alluding to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:21–22 (ESV): 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

If you have quarrels and fighting you are committing murder in your hearts. Perhaps that is what James means. Or, perhaps we should take him more literally. James has raised the issue of disregard for the poor several times already. If that disregard and lack of care leads to death of a poor man through starvation, illness, lack of shelter, then the rich in the church would be guilty of a passive sort of murder. That is a serious matter to consider: if I am so consumed with satisfying my own desires that I fail to meet the basic needs of a brother, am I a thief (robbing my brother of his rightful claim on my excess resources) or perhaps even a murderer (if I destroy him in body or spirit)?

We have a prayer in the BCP 2019 that is both right and troublesome, a prayer for the discouraged and downcast:

O God, almighty and merciful, you heal the broken-hearted, and turn the sadness of the sorrowful to joy: Let your fatherly goodness be upon all whom you have made. Remember in pity all those who are this day destitute, homeless, elderly, infirm, or forgotten. Bless the multitude of your poor. Lift up those who are cast down. Mightily befriend innocent sufferers, and sanctify to them the endurance of their wrongs. Cheer with hope all who are discouraged and downcast, and by your heavenly grace preserve from falling those whose poverty tempts them to sin. Through they be troubled on every side, suffer them not to be distressed; though they are perplexed, save them from despair. Grant this, O Lord, for the love of him who for our sakes became poor, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen (BCP 2019, pp. 663-664).

The troubling aspect of this prayer is that it seems to put the onus of caring for the poor — and others — entirely upon God when James seems to place the burden on us:

James 2:14–17 (ESV): 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The passion of hēdonē is the root of the problems James address: unbridled desire, covetousness. Notice the different progressions that James mentions. We covet but are unable to satisfy our desires so we fight and quarrel and murder. What we don’t do is ask. But, even if we did ask we would not receive because God refuses to indulge our lusts. The fundamental problem is our friendship with the world.

As I was preparing this lesson — this exact part of this lesson on the passions — a friend and Orthodox priest posted a quote from St. Isaac the Syrian (c. 613 – c. 700) on Facebook. It could have been written by St. James or written as a commentary on the Epistle:

“The world” is the general name for all the passions. When we wish to call the passions by a common name, we call them the world. But when we wish to distinguish them by their special names, we call them the passions. The passions are the following: love of riches, desire for possessions, bodily pleasure from which comes sexual passion, love of honor which gives rise to envy, lust for power, arrogance and pride of position, the craving to adorn oneself with luxurious clothes and vain ornaments, the itch for human glory which is a source of rancor and resentment, and physical fear. Where these passions cease to be active, there the world is dead…. Someone has said of the Saints that while alive they were dead; for though living in the flesh they did not live for the flesh. See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world, and how far you are dead to it.

There is an Orthodox zine (a self-published, small circulation magazine) titled “Death To The World.” That title captures what James is writing about: putting to death that which is worldly in us — the passions — that we may be alive to Christ (see also Gal 6:14). But know that death to the world is a costly act of resistance.

James 4:5-10 Submit and Resist

James 4:5–10 (ESV): 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James hones in on another of the great passions in this passage: pride. In the classic Christian tradition, pride is identified as the greatest of the sins, because it lies at the root of so many others. How would you describe/define pride?

Pride is the elevation of oneself above all else; it is essentially worship of the self. Pride is the negation of the first and great commandment to love God with all one’s heart and soul and mind and strength, and also a negation of the second commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Pride also precludes repentance and in doing so cuts one off from God’s mercy. The prideful man can see nothing wrong in himself, no need to repent and be forgiven. It is difficult for a proud man to be saved because he will not admit that he needs saving. That is why James is so insistent here:

Draw near to God. Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts. Recognize your wretchedness; weep and mourn. Humble yourself before the Lord.

Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Pius X, composed a Litany of Humility to battle the passion of pride. I commend it to you, though I find it very challenging to pray truly:

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! Meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.

Now, James — ever practical — give two examples of pride: judgment and presumption.

James 4:11-17 Judgment and Presumption

James 4:11–12 (ESV): 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Where evil is spoken against a brother, pride is present and active. The one who speaks evil has become a false judge by elevating himself above the Law which commands us to love our brother. It is a de facto attempt to usurp the authority of God alone to judge, and that is pride. Here is a personal rule that I try — and often fail — to observe: I strive never to be an accuser of a brother before God, but always an advocate of a brother before God. If a brother is in the wrong, I do not accuse him or ask God to judge him, but instead I ask God to have mercy on him and to turn his heart if that is needed. Satan accuses the brothers before God (see Rev 12:9-12); I refuse — God being my helper — to do Satan’s work for him.

Pride also manifests in presumption.

James 4:13–17 (ESV): 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Pride presumes that one is in control of one’s own life. Pride says, “As I will.” Humility says, “If the Lord wills.” Planning is not wrong; it is not sin. Planning apart from God, planning that does not recognize the sovereignty of God is sin; it is arrogance and boasting. This teaching of James sounds very Jesus-like too, doesn’t it? Think of the Parable of the Rich Fool (see Luke12:13-21):

Luke 12:19–20 (ESV): 9 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

And James end this passage with a sobering spiritual rule-of-thumb: if you know what is right and you don’t do it, that is sin. That is why, in the Confession in Morning and Evening Prayer we acknowledge:

We have left undone those thing which we ought to have done…(BCP 2019, p. 12).

We know what is right, and too often we do not do it. To say that in confession, and to mean it, is one more way of resisting the passion of pride, which brings us back around again to James, who gets the final word:

James 4:6–8 (ESV): “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.