Slaves

"From James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," James 1:1.

From James? What James? There's a bunch of them. And a bunch more of them when we understand that James and Jacob are exactly the same name in the old languages. This James/Jacob is a younger brother to Jesus. Well, a half-brother to be technical, same mother, different fathers. This James was not a follower before Jesus was killed. But he became a staunchest follower after Jesus's resurrection. Yeah. Jesus had a private chat with him then before going up into the clouds. So this James became leader of the Jerusalem congregation, an apostle of Jesus, even (not one of the twelve, though). But he thinks of himself as a slave. Slave to God. A slave about his master's business, the kingdom.

We recognize each other, brother or sister, as willing slaves of our Lord. And, together, we give thanks for the opportunity to serve freely listening to his kingdom directives throughout the ages.