That's all true, remember James is talking to people who have been Christians for a while. They should have known better. They were mistreating the poor but that's the way of the world and God expects a miracle, for the miracle that was bestowed on the faithful. It need not be dramatic but when you receive mercy, you have an obligation to be merciful. It's not some stoic admonition to do something heroic but to act in simple compassion, the people he was writing to had forgotten that lesson. Can you imagine what Abraham must have gone through, preparing a fire that would consume his son after waiting so long for the promise to be fulfilled. It's an unpleasant truth, we are called to sacrifice, that one shakes me to my core. He had a knife and would have ended his son and burned him to ashes. Why is puzzling but the angel stopped him because it was then obvious he feared God, willing to sacrifice even the child of promise. It starts to make sense when God spared not his own son on our behalf. Jesus prayed, is there any other way, and sweat blood over it, he was there for hours.
All James was asking them to do was to follow the royal law, love your neighbor as yourself. In comparison he wasn't asking them that much. But don't you think it cost them something? I mean it's just something to think about, imagine how that society thought of treating slaves and the poor as equals, let alone as being superior. Just something to think about.
Grace and peace,
Mark
In 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 has Paul speaking of the zeal of giving of the Corinthians whereby the order Paul has set prior in 1 Corinthians 16 was for all churches to set aside from the bounty collected a portion for the support of the saints in the ministry so that there would be no special collection for that and thus avoiding the image of covetousness.
He went on to remind them that the giving is between the giver and God and not for the church's knowledge of whom is giving or not; hence tithing has been ceased as a practice because God's unspeakable gift mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:15 is that God will always provide for what He wants the church to run on.
So by giving to the poor to meet the immediate needs of the poor, specifically those poor that are about to perish from starvation or from the elements, the church will always have left over just what God has provided for it to run on in ministering to others.
So in one respect, there is no sacrifice when a church runs on faith that God has already provided for the church which also has to include the immediate needs of the poor after church service.
Most churches have members tithes and make pledges of giving, although the church will never know the unspeakable gift of God providing for the churches, for a pastor to preach from the pulpit that God will provide for them while the church pays by the tithes and pledges of giving his salary, expense, and even a retirement plan or pension, the poor would have a hard time seeing that pastor's faith.
And yet the givers want the church to keep a records for their tax deductions for charitable giving; and although it is not a sin for believers to have a record of their giving for tax deductions, but like Jesus says, they did it before men to be seen by men and they already had their rewards.
Matthew 6:1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
It goes back to giving anonymously as a cheerful giver that the church seems to have fallen out of practice of, so as to be relying on God to raise up cheerful givers. They look to the congregation to provide by obeying to tithe and to keep their pledges of giving, and although their faith in God to provide for the church is dead, they are still saved.
I remember one time my former church was going to use the legacies account designated for the building account to remodel the old sanctuary into better Sunday school rooms by putting it in interest bearing account, and I heard the word Ichabod. I looked it up and it meant, "The glory of the Lord has left". As time went by, as they drew interests over the years, they had to draw from that account to pay because giving has dropped in the church. Years went by even further until they never had the amount they needed to remodel the old sanctuary but used it for putting in an elevator for old and handicap people to go from the main floor of the old sanctuary where it meets the new sanctuary second balcony level to the main floor of the new sanctuary and then to the basement here the kitchen is for receptions and recreation for youth group. That legacy account designated for that new building fund never was used for that purpose even though those that had passed away designated it for that.
Looking back now, I understand why I heard that as it must have been from the Lord as Ichabod was Him telling me that the glory of the Lord providing for the church has left. I don't know if my former church will ever get back to knowing God's unspeakable gift, but they still tithe and give pledges of giving.
They are still saved by the way, but well... there are certain areas in all churches as in His disciples that needs pruning for growth to bear more fruit as Jesus said in John 15:1-2
I think the danger is resting in our laurels that we know all that we need to know and yet we don't since we are not perfect yet and we will not be until He brings us Home. With all the apostasy going about in these latter days and seeing how much the Lord had pulled me out of, I could doubt myself as abiding in Him as I should but then He reminds me to trust in Him to perfect that which concerns me.
I believe the only sacrifice we are to have is being ready to leave our treasures and possessions down here with our loved ones when the Bridegroom comes and I rely on the Lord to help me with that too.
See Luke 14:15-33 for more detail about the cost of discipleship is leaving our life behind for the King's Supper above. Even then, that is not a sacrifice, thanks to Jesus Christ; those who fear it might be a snare can pray for His help to escape the snares of the cares of this life today Luke 21:33-36