“Faith without works is dead!”

Meditation on James 2

Aug. 11, 2013

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      My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’, while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at my feet’, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

  You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. …

     What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

      But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? 

      Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 

     Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. (James 2, selected verses)

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     We gained a new member of our household this week.  While I was taking a walk on Sunday evening, a scruffy looking cat suddenly appeared and ran toward me.  “Meow!  Meow!” he said as two aggressive barn swallows dive-bombed his tail. 

    “Meow! Meow,” he said, rubbing my legs as I stroked his head and back, feeling his bony spine beneath his dirty fur. His green eyes blinked up at me expectantly, as if he were saying, “THERE you are!  I’ve been looking ALL over for you!”

     He followed me to the back door of my house, where I offered him some food, which he promptly gobbled down and asked for more, purring and blinking up at me again.

     My cat-loving sons came down from their rooms to visit with him on the back steps. We used to have cats when they were little. But we have had dogs since I married Jim 8 years ago. Jim’s not a cat person.

    After a while, it was time to go inside, and no, we didn’t bring the cat in.  He was missing some fur and had scars on his head and back.  He appeared to have been living outside a while, and I feared he might be a danger to our 2 indoor dogs.

    With heavy hearts we left him outside. But he stayed on the back steps all night, meowing pitifully. It rained that night, and the poor cat got soaked, but still didn’t leave to find shelter—not even in a bush. Jacob woke up at 3 and heard the cat crying.  He woke up James, saying, “We have to help him!  What can we do?”

     Now stray cats have come and gone from our yard before. But never have we had one who immediately became so attached to us --- and we so attached to him. It turns out, the cat was neutered and declawed. Once upon a time, he was somebody’s housecat.

     The next morning, when Jim got up to take out the dogs, I got up to sneak more food to the cat. He was still on the back steps, and meowed and purred when he saw me.  I opened the door and he casually strolled inside, as if to say, “I’m home! What’s for breakfast?”

    Adopting a cat wasn’t in our plans.  Driving a stray to a vet wasn’t on the calendar—especially not on the day of our bell choir recital/hymn sing.  We had enough to do that day, and we weren’t planning on spending money on shots, cat food, and a litter box.

     But we did anyway. Our hearts wouldn’t allow us to do anything else.  And we have been blessed since Melvyn the cat joined our household.

    Guess where he likes to hang out? He sleeps with James at night. But during the day, he often wanders into Jim’s office and jumps into his lap while he works on the computer.   

    Melvyn purrs and snoozes while Jim, the one who’s not a cat person, gently strokes his back. 

   

***

     During worship last Sunday, we read the first chapter of James and were urged to see trials in a different light.  We can consider them all joy, says James, if we look beyond the trials to the fulfillment of God’s purposes for us. The Lord uses trials to build in us a mature, enduring faith.  

      In our reading today in chapter two, we hear James urging us, again, to change the way we are thinking, but this time it is a warning against showing partiality to the rich in the church.

     Many scholars believe that James, who shares little about himself in his letter, may be Jesus’ half brother, the well-respected leader of the Jerusalem church in the early 40s A.D. His society, much like ours today, granted higher status and power to the wealthy and privileged.  Unfortunately, worldly attitudes seep into the Jerusalem congregation. James is distressed when people wearing fine clothes and gold rings are welcomed and offered the best seats, while the poor, who come in dirty clothes, are made to sit on the floor or told to stand. James calls this favoritism of the wealthy SIN. He questions if the church really believes in “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”

     “Listen my beloved brothers and sisters,” James writes.  “Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?  But you have dishonored the poor.”

      James exhorts the church to fulfill the “royal law”: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  He urges them to show mercy on the poor and refrain from judgment, “for judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy.”

       His teaching is reminiscent of Jesus, who said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy…” And, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

      Please don’t misunderstand James in his talk of faith and works.  He is not teaching salvation through good works. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ for our sakes. What James is saying is that acts of kindness and compassion will naturally flow from a living, active faith.

     Saying one believes is not enough to be a Christian. James writes, “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

     He holds up Abraham and Rahab as examples to us of faith in action. Abraham was willing to give up, when God required it, what he loved the most—his beloved son Isaac. And Rahab, a prostitute, demonstrated her faith when she risked her life to help God’s messengers.

     “For just as the body without the spirit is dead,” James sums up, “so faith without works is also dead.”

***

     Now, what was the point of my stray cat story? Adopting a stray is not what James is imagining, of course, when he talks about doing good works. But my story illustrates how we can suddenly be stirred to care for someone when the Lord unexpectedly brings them to our attention.  And how good works must come from a heart of compassion and love—not a feeling of obligation.  

     Our good works—acts of lovingkindness and generosity—are done for God’s pleasure and to build up heavenly treasure, as Jesus calls us to do. 

     “Do not be afraid, little flock,” Jesus says in Luke, “for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Let us pray.

     

 Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and mercy shown to us through the sacrifice of your beloved Son for our sakes.  You are so faithful to provide for our needs and to give us more than we need.  Yet we are reluctant to give from our abundance to those with great needs.  Forgive us when we have coveted the things of this world and haven’t sought to please you through acts of kindness and compassion and build up our treasure in heaven.  Forgive us, Lord, when haven’t been as generous as we could have been—when we have looked out for our own family’s needs without considering our neighbors near and far who lack clean water, nutritious food, and adequate housing.  Remove from us any worldly, prejudicial attitudes that we might carry into the church.  Keep us from showing favoritism of any kind.  Help us to love and care for all of our neighbors equally, just as you love us all the same!  We pray these things in Christ’s name.  Amen.