Living Faith

Introduction

James 2:14–18 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 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? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Psalm 19:14 BCP1928:P

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in thy sight, * O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Faith and Works - In Conflict?

What is the right relationship between faith and deeds?

Are we saved by works? No - Galatians 5:6

Galatians 5:6 ESV

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

But then, what is faith? Is it just a head knowledge or an acknowledgment with the lips? No - Mt 7:21

Matthew 7:21 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Faith, therefore, is the combination of knowing and acknowledging Jesus as Lord and doing the will of the Father

What, then, is the will of the Father? The Summary of the Law - Mt 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So the will of the Father is that we should love God above all else, and love our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves.

So… what is love? Is it just emotional feelings, good-will towards our fellow people? No - 1 Jn 3:17-18

1 John 3:17–18 ESV

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Therefore, loving God and neighbor is responding with compassionate action to the needs of our brothers and sisters.

This is doing the will of the Father, which confirms our right to say to Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord.’

This is ‘faith working through love’ which counts for everything in Christ Jesus.

Seeing Sts. Paul and James as in-harmony rather than in-tension

Why did I break this down so much?

In understanding the plan and means of salvation, Christians have sometimes seen St. James and St. Paul as somehow being in conflict with one another.

Salvation by “grace through faith alone” has been held as “in tension” with “faith without works is dead” as if one qualifies or completes the other.

The reality is that both St. Paul and St. James affirm the importance of good works in the life of a believer

Romans 7:4 ESV

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

Titus 3:14 ESV

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

James 2:14 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

The confusion comes when we try to apply what St. James is saying about evidences of a living faith to what St. Paul teaches about the means of receiving a living faith.

St. James is not saying that good works delivers a person from sin into the Kingdom of God, because he isn’t primarily talking about how a person receives living faith

Having said this, I will note that the same argument St. James makes regarding empty well-wishing is applicable to the plan of salvation:

it is not enough that God means and wants for us to be saved, he has to take action, because without him we are spiritually destitute, without proper clothing and dying for lack of true food and true drink

As Christians, we believe that God has acted through the incarnation, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As Anglicans, we believe that faithful participation in the Sacraments are the means by which humans have access to receive Salvation “by grace through faith.”

Therefore, participation in the Sacraments is an act of faithful obedience to Christ which has the result of granting access to the gift of Salvation

The provision of the Sacraments amount to God giving us his best clothes and abundantly satisfying our need for daily food

St. James is primarily speaking about what a Christian does with the living faith they have received.

The Evidence of Living Faith

The consistent witness of the New Testament is that living things bear fruit

Horticultural and agricultural metaphors dominate Christ’s core messages about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like and how it is received

Parable of the Sower

I Am the Vine

If a grain of wheat falls in the earth and it dies, it bears much fruit

You will know a tree by its fruit

The evidence of a living and active faith in the Christian is a change from bearing the diseased fruits of lawlessness, which poison and kill, to the sustaining and sweet fruits of merciful works, compassionate love of neighbor, and ready obedience to voice of the Spirit

This change may be radical and immediate, or it may be gradual over the course of a life

Either is to be celebrated, neither is to be shamed or dismissed, because both are gifts from God for the liberation of souls otherwise burdened by sin and condemned to death with their bodies

Fruits on trees do not grow by happenstance, but by response to stimuli and natural processes

Likewise, Christians do not bear fruit by happenstance, but in response to the prompting of the Spirit

Just as a healthy tree produces fruit at the appointed time in response to chemical and physical changes, the healthy Christian produces the fruits of the faith in response to the soft and gentle voice of the Spirit

On the other hand, just as a diseased or dying tree fails to yield fruit because it is unable to respond to the chemical and physical processes, the one without a living faith does not produce the works of the Spirit, because the prompting of the Spirit is either not heard or is ignored.

The Doing of Good Works

Seeing that the doing of good works is not the means of salvation but the evidence that we have the faith we confess, how does this change our lives going forward?

First off, we find that there are attitudes and views that we must reject.

Any viewpoint that would lead to a lack of compassion towards humanity generally, which would catch our Christian brothers and sisters particularly, is incompatible with a living faith.

Compassion for those suffering under the effects of sin is different from affirmation and acceptance of the sin itself

Any view of salvation that divorces faith and obedience to God in doing good deeds is invalidated by the witness of St. James and St. Paul as well as the teachings of Our Lord.

Any interpretation of Scripture that seeks to excuse Christian duty towards the poor and socially marginalized must be rejected.

Second, we see that there are attitudes that accord with the mind of Christ

Showing hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, regardless of nationality, economic status, or even particular sin struggles

Seeking opportunities to do good, both as witness to the faith we profess and as encouragement and invitation for those who see us to likewise do good

Being joyful in doing good, so that our good deeds are not tainted by selfishness

Joy in service puts to death self-serving pride and is one difference between the virtue of humility and the punishment of humiliation

Finally, we do good works.

Primarily, St. James has what have traditionally been called works of mercy in view:

Clothing the naked

Feeding the hungry

Giving water to the thirsty

Giving shelter to those without sanctuary

Visiting the sick, the afflicted, and the prisoner

In Lee County, there are opportunities to participate in many of these works of mercy.

Personally, I am involved in two ministries to the sick and afflicted

Volunteer Chaplaincy at East Alabama Medical Center

Mercy Medical Ministries

Neither need special theological training

Both are actively seeking volunteers, and I would be delighted to help anyone get started with either (or both!)

As with gifts, God calls us to certain works and deeds which he prepares us for individually

St. James’s admonition is that we respond to the needs presented to us compassionately and practically, not just wishing well and leaving those in need to their own devices

It is true that there are many needs around us, and it is impossible for us to meet all of them. St. James sets the bar at meeting the material needs for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

While this is wider in scope than just our parish community, it definitely starts here

On this note, I want to praise all of you, because in the years I have been part of this community of love I cannot think of a time when someone was in need and our parish community did not seek to meet it

As a church we have provided meals and diapers to families who have recently had children, to the sick, help and support to those moving house, and we have given monetarily to those in need through the discretionary fund

Speaking of the discretionary fund, this is a practical way to give of your generosity in participation with the work of the Church to care for those in need.

If you are interested in giving to this work, you can do so by putting cash in the alms box, giving online through the Tithe.ly app and selecting “Priest’s Discretionary Fund,” or by designating an offering in the plate for the Discretionary Fund

May we be a Church that is able to confidently say that we can show our faith by our works. Amen.