James 2:14-26 - Church clothes/Work clothes

In Fall of 1974 our family moved from Aurora, CO to Kansas City, KS. I was 9 years old. My father had been called to pastor Fairview Baptist Church which was a little smaller than our church at that time.

As a small church there were very few children with the exception of a retired missionary couple Louie and Elsie Snyder who had served New Tribes Mission in the jungles of Brazil. Louie and Elsie were not children, but the had 5 grandchildren who came to church with their parents. 1 of these 5 was only 1 year younger than me; Jimmy and I became quite close very quickly. Jimmy went to a Christian school and I went to the public school so the weekends were about the only time we saw each other.

More Sunday’s than not while Jimmy’s mom was still playing the after service music and my parents were still greeting people at the door, we would decide if he wanted to come to our house or I wanted to go to his house for the afternoon. Our moms did not seem to be concerned if there was enough pot roast for one more mouth, but they were concerned with our attire for the afternoon. The first attempt to dissuade us from an afternoon together was “you don’t have any play clothes.”

Back then in our conservative tradition, church clothes and play clothes were kept in 2 different drawers. Over the years the line between church clothes and work/play clothes has become a little more blurry.

I actually consider this a good thing because it indicates that Sunday and Monday are both days when the Lord’s will should be done.

Transition: Today’s text forces us to think about the question of how much our worship looks like our work and how much our work looks like our worship.

Some people think they are totally unrelated and others think they are inseparable. How about you? How closely will your attitude and behavior tomorrow at this time look like your heart right now?

faith that isn’t Transforming Faith (James 2:14-17)

· back in 1:19 James’ readers were instructed to be swift to hear. This hearing truth was pictured as soaking to the roots and establishing a lasting faith. Then the lasting faith was described last week as living out the royal law and this week as changing situations around us.

I have never jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. As a matter of fact, the only time I jumped out of any aircraft was as a kid when I jumped out of a helicopter to the runway where it was parked. But some of you may have done this for fun and others may have done so at the command of a Sergeant while serving in our military.

This leads me to a question: When does a parachute become a good parachute, when it is packed or when it is pulled? When it is pulled it is proven that it was good when it was packed.

Faith Described

save (v.14) doesn’t mean save from hell. Cf. the prayer of faith will save (James 5:15), it means prove to be sufficient. A proper parachute may save your life or save your legs from breaking, but it won’t save your soul.

Just because you say it, doesn’t make it so. There are many people who call themselves spiritual or religious, even many who are sitting in churches or watching preachers online, but they will find out what they think is their “parachute” is nothing more than a fuzzy blanket.

Join me in an exercise. On your handout make 3 columns. Label the first column drink and list 3 liquids you would enjoy drinking, on the middle column list 3 liquids you would never drink, Finally, in the right column list 3 liquids you might pour into your fuel tank.

Is there anything that appears in all 3 columns?

Call up a volunteer child. Water is liquid, but not all liquid accomplishes the same purpose. Likewise, just because you call your beliefs religion or faith, doesn’t mean it will bring about the desired results either in this life or the after life.

My friends, it has been true since James wrote it 2,000 years ago and it is true today. Not all religion is equal and not all paths lead to God. Some are delicious, some are distractions, and some are disastrous!

3. James only gives one example of faith that accomplishes nothing (a wish without follow thru), then he focuses on genuine faith that transforms situations.

4. He starts by describing the difference between worthwhile and worthless faith, then he defines what it is about transforming faith that make it different from false faith, then he gives extreme examples of this worthwhile faith.

Application

Vv.15-16 addresses denying immediate needs, not income redistribution veiled as equity.

The Robin Hood motive wants to forcefully take from the 1% because they possess more than they could possibly consume. The James motive is to willingly provide for the desperate because they need it for survival. Modern talks of reparations center on “fairness” not “survival”

I have shaken the hands of the homeless of Chicago at the Pacific Garden Mission where frostbite and gangrene have mortified fingers so that there is no longer circulation.

I saw a news story this week where Chicago residents are upset that there was not money to keep a school open, but there is money to use that building as an emergency shelter. I am not qualified to comment on Chicago budget priorities, but I do know that education opportunities are not a matter of life and death on the same level as physical shelter from sub-zero temperatures.

Transition: So if not all faith is Transforming Faith, How do we discern Transforming Faith?

Transforming Faith bears under Examination (James 2:18-20)

Faith Defined

Someone is an indefinite pronoun. It may or may not even be a real person who would ever make this claim. James is arguing against the hypothetical. This is a rhetorical term like the “royal we” or imaginary “they” who always say things but can never be identified.

Is demonic belief actually faith? Belief that impacts your “heart” but not your hands is no more useful than Satan and his demons.

When our head impacts our heart and our heart moves our hands, it reveals that our head has been transformed. Because the human head is inherently selfish.

Illustration

The works that James is describing are not so-called sacraments. The works that we would think of that might merit eternal life would be church attendance, donations or volunteer service.

The works that James is describing are works that love family and neighbors, no matter how dingy their clothes are or how desperate their needs may be.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV:2016

8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

3. Good works start in the family, but don’t end there!

Luke 10:29 ESV:2016

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10:36 ESV:2016

36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Luke 10:29 ESV:2016

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Application

faith without works secures eternal life but is useless to meet the practical needs of others, to experience blessings for one’s self in this life, or to [increase] eternal rewards.[i]

The thief on the cross had a faith that got him into paradise, but it didn’t do anybody else any good and it didn’t provide extra crowns to lay before the throne.

Transition: Once we realize that not all religious ideas transform our thoughts into actionable deeds, James provides 2 displays of people who had real, transforming faith. One is admirable and within the Jewish family, One is likely to be despised from outside the Jewish family.

Transforming Faith Acts (James 2:21-26)

Faith Displayed

Abraham gave

Perfect – starts from the end and works back, “proof is in the pudding”.

2 days ago I tried making Caramel Drink for Ann using my tried and true recipe. I started with the 8 pumps of Torani sugar-free syrup, added the 2 Nyquil cups of Sweet Irish Cream creamer, put the Veranda blend K-cup in the machine. When the machine was done I filled the Stanley knockoff mug with ice and topped with extra creamy whipped topping, finally drizzling with Torani Caramel.

Yesterday morning I saw the mostly-full mug next to the sink. When I poured out the watery mix I noticed about ½” of coffee grounds in the bottom of the mug. Only then did Ann indicate the “coffee” tasted horrible.

Apparently the water did not flow THROUGH the grounds so that it was transformed into bitter water. The K-cup clogged so that the grounds got in the cup. The exact recipe was followed, but the grounds did not transform the water. Only when we got to the end did we discover that there was a problem in the process.

By starting at the end it asks, How do we make sense out of a faith that would sacrifice a promised son? NOT starting with Faith that would foretell such a hard request.

Yesterday was our 35th anniversary. We have faced challenges that were never predicted. Cancer, Surgeries, Behavior and attitudes of our children, job loss, etc. We have weathered the storm because of our love commitment that was in place. 35 years ago neither one of us considered “will I still love him if… We last because of the nature of our covenant, not because of the terms of our vows.

2. This work perfect is not a virtue quality, it is a word that is in view of the end.

3. In Gn 22, 30 years after his initial faith for which God counted him righteous, Abraham offered up Isaac his son on the altar (Gn 22:1; Heb 11:19). You see(second person singular) corrects the objector’s contention that faith cannot be seen in works. Abraham’s faith is unmistakably visible. [ii]

4. James was calling attention to two ways of justification: by faith before God, and by works before people. While one is justified (declared righteous) before God by faith alone, one is justified (demonstrates his godliness) before people by his or her works.[iii]

Matthew 5:16 ESV:2016

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Rahab received

if she had not acted on that faith, she would have perished when Jericho was destroyed. Instead, she activated the faith she had, hid the spies, was spared, and experienced God’s blessings among the Jewish people.[iv]

We don’t know much about Rahab other than both Old and New Testaments describe her occupation. We don’t know if this continued as her occupation after the events of Joshua 2.

All we know is that Rahab acted on belief in a way that spared her life in that situation.

Application

Possessing a Transforming faith, what James calls a useful or living faith, sometimes displays as actions that give and sometimes as actions that receive, but both confess that God is at work.

Conclusion:

This week I got a good hamburger at Wendy’s, but going to Wendy’s didn’t make me a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger! Likewise, singing Christian songs and hearing (even understanding) a sermon doesn’t make you a Christian or guarantee that your beliefs are transforming faith.

Faith -> Action: Don’t reverse the arrow!!

I have yard work clothes that used to be “church” clothes, and I have some church clothes that used to be business-casual work clothes, but I don’t have any “church” clothes that used to be yard work clothes.

Is this a good fire extinguisher? Will it perform as intended when put to the test? We will never know for sure until one pulls the pin and squeezes the handle. Then the charge cannot be undone, and one’s trust in the new charge will involve faith.

When is the best time to obtain a parachute or fire extinguisher?

[i] Hart, John F. 2014. “James.” In The Moody Bible Commentary, edited by Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham, 1952. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ibid. [iv] Ibid.