Faith & Works

ME

Have you ever had a Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich without the jelly? It’s really sad…Peanut Butter and Jelly should always go together unless you have a nut allergy of course. In that case, steer clear of the peanut butter! But I want to admit to all of you today that I have slipped up a couple of times in my life and have only eaten a peanut butter sandwich. Please extend some grace my way. But Peanut Butter and Jelly are made for each other.

It reminds me of another pairing that are meant to be…Faith & works. Do you know that the Bible clearly states that faith without works is dead? That when we don’t have genuine works flowing from our beliefs that we aren’t truly following God? It’s a pretty strong statement but it’s true.

I don’t know about you but I have found that it can be hard to apply that which I know to be true sometimes. It’s easier to philosophize a concept but much harder to implement it in my every day life. When Jesus said go into all the world and preach the good news…sometimes my functional interpretation of this scripture is to “go into all the places that I feel safe and comfortable sharing my testimony and bring the Kingdom there...” But that’s not what He meant. He meant let your life be a shining light in every place - that your light would shine before men and women no matter what they may think of you or how they might respond to you…To be bold for Jesus...

WE

I think if we are honest today, we would all admit that we struggle to some degree with living out our belief in who Jesus is and what He has called us to do.

Sometimes we’ve grown complacent in our holy huddles - us four and no more. (Why evangelize when we can theorize! Why share the good news when I feel good not sharing it.)

Sometimes we’ve grown weary in our own journey with God that we feel less than enthused to share our faith with others. (How can I impact someone else when I feel dead inside)

Sometimes we have found a greater affection for the world and what it has to offer us than what God has so graciously offered us (we idolize fame, success, wealth)

Sometimes we have found greater hope in extrabiblical books than the Bible (the Bible is a supplement to my core reading therefore I’m not focused on what the Bible says to do)

But God is calling each one of us to be a part of a community of believers who radically believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life; and who live as though that is true.

GOD

Who is James?

Jesus’ half brother

Shepherd over the Jerusalem church

What’s a Shepherd do? Looks after the sheep, fends off the wolves (who are sometimes impersonating the Shepherd)

New Living Translation Chapter 2

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

James isn’t arguing with the Apostle Paul on “how we are saved” but is addressing that the faith without works isn’t a genuine faith

New Living Translation Chapter 2

15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

The Kingdom of God isn’t just a theoretical exercise to make us more knowledgable. It is a way of living our lives where we actively seek to be people who live out our faith - who practice that which we believe in our hearts.

Hitchhiker:

The day that I was writing this message I had a really interesting experience. On my way back from lunch break I was turning into our church parking lot to keep prepping on this message and there was a lady at the corner of our lot hitchhiking who thought I was turning in the lot to give her a ride. I have a general rule that I don’t drive alone in vehicle with women of the opposite sex. It’s not a rule from the Bible just my own. But she came up to me thanking me for being willing to drive her to Chain of Lakes State Park. I said, ma’am I actually work here but let’s figure out a way we can help you. Internally I was wrestling with it though. I knew that I would probably lose an hour or so of sermon prep time. Seems selfish because it is…Thanks to all of your generous giving we were able to help her get a ride where she needed to go but I don’t say this to say that I’m a hero. In all actuality I stumbled into this opportunity and internally didn’t want to help at first but God wants to open our hearts to be move generous with our time, with out talents, and with out finances. He wants us to be people who embody what it means to follow Jesus.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

There’s a lot in these two verses.

Verse 18- It can be very challenging to move from believing something is real to living as though it’s real. Our faith is tested most when we step out and seek to live it out in real life. The beautiful product of stepping out in faith is that God is with you as you take the step and he strengthens you and refines you in the process!

Verse 19- The idea is that even the demons hold a monotheistic worldview that there is only one God but they certainly aren’t contributing to building the Kingdom of God. In fact, they are actively fighting against it!

The point here is that you can know the truth but it doesn’t make you a genuine follower of Jesus Christ.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

Faith doesn’t have oxygen to breath without good works

It’s possible that your lack of fulfillment has nothing to do with what your church is or is not doing, or with your family members, your spouse, your kids, or your friends. It’s possible that you are missing out on the joy of living a life of faith that is fully alive to the truth of the Kingdom of God.

BIG IDEA: Real faith works

This is of course a play on words.

The idea is that real faith will have works that accompany it - real faith, works.

There is something that we must do beyond thinking and accepting God as real.

What you believe matters and what you say matters - but what you do with what you believe is incredibly telling.

Did you know that Jesus said to pick up your cross and follow him? That means that your life isn’t your own. That you have to be willing to give everything up for the sake of knowing and following Him...

It some ways we’ve made Christianity palatable when in reality it’s a HUGE commitment.

Practical Example:

If you hire someone to fix a leaking pipe in your house and they convince you that they will fix it that’s great. But would your confidence fade if they just kept telling you how they could fix it, and professing they’d fix it, but never actually fixed the problem for you…They’d lose credibility (The works we do is evidence of the faith we have in Christ)

It’s not that we will do everything perfectly but it is evidence that we mean what we say

YOU

Where in your life is there a disconnect between what you believe and what you are actively doing?

Relationships

Family?

Friends?

Co-workers

Your Worship

Self?

WE