Good Morning.
Divorce lawyers know this argument only
too well! “I love my spouse. I may have been physically unfaithful, but I
really love my spouse! Nothing can change
that!” Hmmm. In most places, despite the protests of the
one who was unfaithful, that’s enough to lead to a divorce. Sharing love with another human being is
complicated. It involves both “faith”
and “works.” The one doesn’t produce the
other, but it’s pretty tough to separate the two and maintain a successful
marriage. In fact when one spouse cheats
on another we rightly call it “unfaithfulness.”
When it comes to our relationship with
God, sometimes we try to make that same argument as the unfaithful spouse: “I love God.
I have faith in the fact that Jesus has saved me. Perhaps in my daily life I did worship
-------- (lust, greed, power, cruelty, patriotism, myself: fill in the blank), but I still have faith in
God!”
The next time someone tries to tell you
that being a Christian is easy, just tell them that they are wrong! Our salvation has been obtained for us – we
didn’t have to do a thing – but living our lives in this world in a way that
shows that we have gratefully recognized the source of our salvation, living
grateful lives that demonstrate that we love the God who has saved us: that’s not easy.
Somewhere in the first few centuries of
the Common Era, an intellectual force known as neo-Platonism had a profound
influence on Christian writers. It had a
broad ranging impact, but perhaps its most visible effect is found in the
concept of dualism. In this instance we
are speaking of the personal dualism that separates the body and the soul. The whole debate about faith and works is an
offshoot of that.
They say that Martin Luther didn’t like
the book of James because it detracted from Luther’s main thrust about God’s
grace and our faith. Brother Martin had
his reasons for criticizing the hollow works-based theology of the Roman Church. Like many a debater, he pushed hard in one
direction to the detriment of the whole position.
In the passage from James in this
morning’s readings, the writer makes clear the fact that you cannot separate
faith and works. Authentic faith cannot
be separated from the life that is faithful and filled with works that please
God. The difficulty is that we would
prefer to hide behind God’s redemptive act. We want to distort the message by
saying that if we are not saved by our own effort then we don’t really have to
make an effort to be saved. Only that
isn’t any way to love God.
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus tells the
story of the beggar named Lazarus and an unnamed rich man. When both were alive, the rich man did
nothing to help the poor beggar. When
they died, the beggar was welcomed into God’s everlasting comfort alongside of
Abraham. The rich man didn’t fare quite
so well. Upon recognizing the problem,
the rich man first begged for relief – which was denied – and then pleaded that
his living brothers be given some warning about how to live so that they didn’t
end up like him. His request was denied,
and Jesus says: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
James says: “So faith by itself, if it
has no works, is dead.” If you love
someone your love shows in the way you respond to them. In the same way, if you love God (which is
really the main ingredient in “faith”) it shows in the way you respond to God
with the faithfulness of your daily life.
Given the ways in which this world
tries to lure us into following other gods, faithfully loving God is not
easy. It’s rewarding. It’s the path to joy and peace. But it’s not easy.
Let’s pray: Almighty God, lead my feet onto Your
paths. Accept the sacrifice of my life
to the honor and glory of Your forgiving love.
When I stumble, lift me up and place me again on Your way. Help me to recognize the many ways in which
this world would lure me into snares and traps that are meant to deny Your
Lordship. Let me always see and follow
the obedient way set before us by Your Son.
In Whose name we pray. Amen.
Today’s readings are Habakkuk
2:1-4,9-20; James 2:14-26; Luke 16:19-31; Psalm 89.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
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