As stated, I would have preached a little differently after 20 years of experience. The Epistle of James has some interesting history associated with it that I probably would have gotten into. I would have made a few more citations. Also I'm sure there are better illustrations. Regardless, this is what I had preached then...and it's what I preached yesterday.
INTRO TO TODAY’S SERMON
Happy Mother’s Day everyone. And happy “Ministry Sunday” as well. As you call your mothers be sure to call your ministers as well. It’s not ministry Sunday everywhere today, but we’re taking this day to celebrate the fact that God has called people into ministry and that God still calls people today…maybe even those in our midst.
A few weeks ago Julie uncovered the first sermon I ever preached. It was called “Faith and Works, Works and Faith” and was an account of the James passage we read just a bit ago. I preached it in 1989 as I did summer work for Marion First United Methodist Church and had, essentially, all summer to work on it. None of this “preaching every week” thing I have going on now. At this time I had already been called to ministry by God, at Epworth Forest Sr. High Camp back in 1987. I had just switched my college major to religion from biology and the next summer I took off for Alaska as I struggled with what this call to ministry was all about.
Marion First was a big church. We probably had about 400 or 450 in worship at that time. I don’t know. It had a high pulpit and formal music. It was a big deal that I got to preach there.
Finding the sermon was interesting. It’s a dot-matrix print-out. The digital file has long been lost on a floppy disk somewhere. But, it still sounds like me…or I still sound like it.
I ask you to imagine what a 20 year old me would look like and sound like and feel like as he got up before the congregation. More or less, this is exactly what I said then:
OPENING PRAYER
My document had “Opening Prayer” at the top of it. I guess in case I forgot. Let’s pray…
INTRODUCTION TO JAMES
As I was at Sr. High Institute this year, I told one of the ministers that I would actually get to preach a sermon on August 13th. I told him that, not only would I get to preach, but people would be listening to me, too. Because of this, I was incredibly nervous. But he told me, “Just preach the Word. Just preach the Word.” So, here’s The Word…as told through my mouth.
Some many be wondering why in the world I am preaching, essentially, on the book of James. It’s not like it’s one of Paul’s letters or one of the Gospels. It’s sort of shoved in there between Hebrews and First Peter. In fact, it’s quite different than most of the other books in the New Testament. James does not mention the Holy Spirit at all in his writing. Furthermore, the word “Christ” is only used two times in reference to our Lord and Savior.
In years past, persons have debated whether or not James should even be included in the Bible. This is what Martin Luther had to say about the Book of James:
St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are the books that show Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James’ epistle is really and epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.
And he was opposed by Johann Gottfried Herder who said: “If the epistle is ‘of straw,’ then there is within that straw a very hearty, firm, nourishing grain.”
You see, the aim of the book of James was not to investigate new theological truths. You can do that till you’re blue in the face without changing peoples’ lives. It was written to awaken sinners to the error of their ways; and to compel them to see the truth, which they had deliberately neglected or forgotten. It was written so people like us could say, “Yeah, I guess I have done a few things wrong here.” And, “Well, I guess Christianity should, sort of, make a difference in the way I live my life.”
James is pointing a finger at all of us saying, “Take a look at yourself. How has Christianity changed your life? Or has it changed it at all?” A common response to this finger-pointing might be to think that this sermon material is “good for some people, but not for me. I’m a Christian, I don’t have to listen.” But listen. Only when we’ve acted inappropriately, when we cause problems, when our works have been contrary to the will of God can James come fully alive for us. This message is for every day, and for everyone. Because, your faith, without good works, is a dead faith. It’s no faith.
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS
Let me tell you a little story of faith without works. John was on trial one day…on trial for being a Christian. Some of his neighbors, who did not like him much, had ratted to the police. And now there he was before the Judge, an accused man. If convicted of Christianity, he would surely hang. But if there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claim, they might let him go. The prosecution searched and searched for some bit of evidence in his life that might prove that John was, indeed, a Christian. They were trying to find some outward evidence to others of a claim of inner faith. They searched his life for works. John said he was a Christian and cried he was a Christian as they carried him, screaming, back to the street. He had said he was a Christian, but he lived just like any other somewhat nice person in a big town. He lived as if he wasn’t a Christian.
That’s the sad story of John. But, what about yourself? If you were on trial today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? To SAY that you have faith is only a small fraction of your commitment to God. He wants us to SHOW him our faith. He wants us to put our money where our mouth is. He would like to see some evidence in our lives that we truly believe in Him. When we have no works, we have no faith.
Well, what does Jesus say about works. He says that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. He says that only a life given away from love’s sake is worth living (the kind of life where you lay down your life for a friend). He tells of a man attacked on the way to Jerusalem who passed by the “religious” priest and the Levite, only to be helped by the lowly Samaritan; the GOOD Samaritan. He says that each time we clothe, feed, or shelter a neighbor, we have helped our Lord. And when we turn away someone who needs us, we send away the Christ. He says that the works we produce are related to our faith in him. He says that if we have faith in him we’ll produce good works. He says, more or less, that a faith without works is dead.
John Wesley, the major figure in Methodist theology, was not known for his lightheartedness when discussing religion. He holds true to form when he considers the consequences of a faith that produces no good works. He says that God:
will gradually withdraw, and leave us to the darkness of our own hearts. He will not continue to breathe into our soul, unless our soul breathes toward him again; unless our love, and prayer, and thanksgiving return to him, a sacrifice wherewith he is well pleased.
This does not mean to merely abstain from doing evil, although that’s a good start. Jesus, himself, had a soul that thirsted to do good. Our Lord went about doing good, not just staying away from bad. Are we going to follow the great example and follow in his footsteps, or are we satisfied where we are.
It does not mean just staying away from bad and it also does not mean that Christianity is merely an ascent to the Gospel as a whole. James says, “You believe the gospel? Well, good for you. Even the demons doe that much.”
Christianity is more than just a belief; it is a way of life. Does our Christianity make one bit of difference in our lives? Do we believe that Jesus is real and yet live as though he’s only a well-developed literary character? Because a faith without works is dead. It’s not real. It’s a sham. It is make believe. If you do not produce works, then you are playing at being a Christian (and you’re not playing very well.)
WORKS WITHOUT FAITH
I have said to you that a faith that does not make itself manifest in a life-style is nonexistent. But, I say to you now that a life-style that attempts to show a faith that does not exist is also nonexistent. As a faith without works is dead, works without faith are dead. Or, as Wesley (so subtly) said it,
Without faith, works are an abomination to God.
In this world, it is possible for a person to have works without faith. It is possible for a person to care ONLY about him or herself and still give generously to the cancer fund, be on the board of trustees, run for town office, and have a soft spot in their heart for children and animals. Some relatively well-meaning people have placed all of their religion in saying all the right prayers, going to church, receiving the Lord’s Supper, listening to sermons, and reading spiritual books. These people, however, have lost sight of the end of all these…the love of God and the love of their neighbor.
Let me give you an example. We’ll call him…SUPERCHRISTIAN. Superchristian flies into church early in the morning so he can set up the coffee and make it to choir on time and still practice the readings he’ll be doing. When the offering plate comes to him, he always makes sure that the whole congregation can see the huge wad of money he puts in. After the service, he rushes out so that he can set up for the Sunday School class he teaches. He’s not that bad of a teacher since he almost has the Bible memorized…ALMOST…but the kids can’t stand him as a person.
You might see him walking around town, too, and I have a picture of what he might look like. He wears fashionable shoes with tread suitable for walking on holy ground and kneepads to prevent damage to his knees during his hours and hours of public prayer. He has clean hands since he never comes into contact with social outcasts and wears a smug smile in spite of his worrying about what people think of him.
SUPERCHRISTIAN is a person that I might call “WORKFULL.” He produces lots of good works but for all of the wrong reasons and without any faith in God. If asked at the gate of Heaven what he believed in, the workfull man could say, “ALL OF IT” and then proceed through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy…. He can say what a model life he lived and had a string where he went to church 201 straight Sundays. He probably could cite three times that he served on workteams for mission projects, but he never once thought about the saving power of Jesus Christ or the glory of God. Works without faith are an abomination to God.
Producing such works without faith is not trusting in the merits of Christ, but trusting in the merits of your own work. To go around attempting to establish your own righteousness makes you unable to receive the righteousness of God. Any good deeds you do attempting to get into heaven just ain’t gonna’ work. It costs far more than a good deed daily, or the largest offering, or the best knowledge of the Gospels. It costs your life. It costs a giving up of trying to gain salvation through your own works by accepting the salvation offered through Christ.
Jesus says in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that we should not do our acts of righteousness before others, but should do them in private. Why should we be rewarded by God for being a member of the “Holier Than Thou Club” and turning Christianity into a show? We shouldn’t get rewarded…and we don’t. Our external worship is lost labor if we don’t have a heart that is devoted to God. Works without faith are dead.
CONCLUSION
There are two kinds of people in the world. There are those that need to produce a few more good works and get out of their solitary religion and there are those that need to put more of their faith into the saving power of Christ. There are those who suffer from a dead faith since they never express it, and there are those people that spend too much time trying to show a faith that is just not there.
Where do you fit into this division? Are you like poor John who claimed he was a Christian but never showed any evidence to the outside world that he was indeed one? Are you a Superchristian, trying to impress others, yourself, and perhaps God with a faith that you frankly don’t have? Or, perhaps, you need to work hard to overcome deficiencies in both areas. Where are you personally?
How do we fit in as a church community? Do you believe that we are reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the world enough? Perhaps our works have been limited to our own church and it’s time to show the world that we, as a group, are Christians. Do you believe that faith is at an acceptable level? Perhaps we spend too much time trying to solve all of the world’s problems and lose sight of the fact that we are doing it all for the glory of God.
You see…it’s possible to believe in the gospel and not show it. Just as it is possible to act like a Christian when we don’t know the first thing to believe. However, it is not good enough to have either faith or works. It’s not an “either…or” situation. You need to have both faith and works. It’s a “both…and” situation. Faith and works come in a matching set. They’re a pair. Salt AND pepper. Abbott AND Costello. FAITH AND WORKS.
Somewhere we have fallen short, whether it is our lack of faith or our lack of works. Only by having both may we have the true faith in Jesus Christ. It is through this faith that you receive the promise. HE WILL pardon all who truly repent and believe the Gospel. Christ made sure of that 2000 years ago, to help those of us who can’t help ourselves. So, as John Wesley said,
Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven.
But, make Christianity make a difference in your life and in the lives of those around you. Work on your faith and works, your work and faith.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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