Lent Day #36

James 2:14-18 (NET)
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and eat well," but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.

THOUGHTS:
Martin Luther didn't like James, dismissing it as "an epistle of straw" at odds with the "good news" found in the Pauline doctrine of justification by grace through faith. Compare the verses above to Ephesians 2:8-9 (CEV):

8 You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. 9 It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.

James pulls from Hebrew history and the teachings of Jesus to make the point that faith is active. It isn't merely a profession from our mind and lips. It isn't just a feeling resting in our hearts. Faith manifests itself in how we live our lives.

I admit that I am sometimes intoxicated with God's grace. My faith finds a home in this message of grace that comes out of the Gospels and Paul's letters. I struggle with judgement that isn't coated with grace. Yet I value James as an important reminder that our faith is lived out. If you have an extra half-hour this week, read all of James (it's quite short).

Remember that we cannot earn salvation with our works, but also pray about how your actions represent your faith. Is our faith alive -- moving us to act, or is it just a collection of inanimate thoughts? Jesus says those who believe do his work (AKA "God's will"). See John 14:12, (ESV):

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."

Do you live like you believe?


PRAYER:
Oh God, we know that our actions fall short, and we praise you for loving and accepting us anyway. Fill us with your love for all people, so that our faith bubbles out of us into our actions -- so that we live our faith. May we always do your will. In Jesus name we pray. AMEN.