Rev. Keith Morgan

We have been talking these last few weeks about the Practices of Faith. It is important to have beliefs, it is important to profess our faith in Christ, it is important to discuss and understand what it is we believe, but what sets us apart from the rest of the world, what gives us our unique identity is how we act, how we “practice” what we believe. Last week, Rev. Emonia pointed out that the practices we have been discussing are contained in the vows that we made at the time we joined the church. In other words, we have been reminding you of the things you promised to do when you joined the church: the practice of community learning, the practice of giving, the practice of prayer, the practice of presence and, today, we are going to discuss the practice of service. All of these five practices give us guidelines of how we are to live as Christians. If we strive to follow these practices we will find a fulfillment and abundance that we have never found before.

Today we are talking about the practice of service. The scripture that we read says that Faith without works is dead.

Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a make-believe country in which only ducks live. "One Sunday morning all the ducks came into the church, waddled down the aisle and into the pews, and squatted. Then the duck minister took his place behind the pulpit, opened the duck Bible and read, 'Ducks! You have wings, and with wings you can fly like eagles. You can soar into the sky! Use your wings!' All the ducks yelled 'Amen!' and they all waddled home."

Possibly some of you can identify with the ducks in the story. You have heard sermon after sermon, understood and even affirmed the truths as they were spoken. But you have never, or seldom, acted upon what you have heard.

James 2:14-26 contains a vigorous call for believers to put their faith to work. Rather than a phony Christianity that only evidences itself in mere words, James summons his readers to experience the reality of genuine faith, faith that is attended by action. There will be no room for a religion that is mere mental acceptance of the truth. Come on, ducks, use your wings. No waddling allowed!

This is the most controversial and misunderstood passage in the book of James. Many folks misunderstand it and try to use this passage to prove you have to work your way to heaven. It’s important that you get what I’m going to talk about today. The entire New Testament, and especially Paul, teaches that we are saved by faith alone. "By grace, through faith." James comes along and says, “It’s not just faith but faith and works.” What is he talking about? James or Paul…which one is right?…Martin Luther wanted to try to take James out of the canon of scripture because of how some in the church misunderstood this teaching on works. So, is James right or Paul?

They are both right. They are talking about different things. Paul was fighting the problem of legalism -- the problem of: "I’ve got to keep all the Jewish laws and regulations to be a Christian." Paul is talking to that group.
James is not fighting legalism but laxity -- those that say "It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you believe."
They are fighting two different enemies. They use the word "works" in different ways. When Paul uses the word "works" he’s talking about Jewish laws like circumcision. When James uses it, he’s talking about the Christian lifestyle -- acts of love. It’s totally different. Paul focuses on the root of salvation -- what happens to me internally. James focuses on the fruit of salvation -- what happens on the outside. Jesus said, "By their fruits you will know them." Paul is talking about, “How to know you’re a Christian.” James is talking about, “How to show you’re a Christian.” Paul is talking about how to become a believer. James talks about, how to behave like a believer. It is not a contradiction.
It’s summed up in Eph. 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our own way of life.”

There are three prepositions in this passage -- "by grace", "through faith", "for good works". If you get those out of order, you’re in trouble. If you think you’re saved by works, for faith you’re in trouble. But he’s saying we’re saved by grace through faith. We’re saved just by accepting God’s gift. But how do I show I am a believer?
Real faith is not just something you say, something you talk about. There are a lot of people who claim to be Christians. George Gallup says that 50 million Americans say "I’m born again," but do you see anything in their lifestyle? Today we tend to label people as Christians if they make the slightest sound of being a believer. It’s more than just talk that is involved in real faith. Jesus said, "Not everybody who says to me `Lord, Lord’ is going to enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Not everybody with a Christian bumper sticker is a believer.

James is saying that real faith is not just something you say. Do you know anybody that claims to be a Christian but you don’t see any evidence in their life? That’s a phony faith.

What good is it if you see someone in need and you say, "I feel for you!" It’s more than just words. It’s more than just feelings. If, after church, you’re getting into you car and you happen to slam your fingers in your car door, and you’re standing there in agony with blood on your fingers, and I walk up and say, "I really feel for you!" -- is that any help?

Real faith is more than just sympathy and feeling and emotion. You get assistance. You do something about it. You act on it. Faith gets involved with people.

I can’t meet everybody’s needs but I can meet somebody’s. If I don’t feel like helping others, I don’t have a sick faith, I have a dead faith. James is laying it on the line. He says, “Do you want real faith? It’s more than just something you say and it’s more than just something you feel.”

For some people, faith is an intellectual trip -- a matter to be studied, debated, talked over and discussed. James imagines this intellectual objector… some guy who says, "You’re into faith, I’m into works. That’s cool. Different strokes for different folks. Let’s debate it. You’ve got your thing, I’ve got mine. To each his own. Stimulate me mentally but don’t ask me to make any commitment."

Real faith is visible. You can see it. It’s apparent. If you claim to be a Christian, people will be able to see it. Faith is odorless, weightless, and invisible so anybody can claim to have it. How do you know for sure? James says, “Show me.” If you claim to be a Christian I have a right to ask you to prove it by looking at your lifestyle.

James would have made a good Missourian: the Show Me state. James is saying, “You say you’re a Christian? Show me. Let me see if your actions back up your words.” If I say, "I believe my health is very important. Personal health is a high priority in my life." You ask, "Do you eat right?" No. "Do you exercise? Do you get your proper rest? Do you take vitamins? Do you ever go for a check up?" No. It doesn’t matter what I say. What counts are my actions. Real faith is more than just something you think. You can point it out and see it in people’s lives. Show me.
2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.” Not overnight. But they start becoming new.

If you grab onto a 220 volt wire you’re going to know it. I don’t see how somebody as big as God can enter your life and it not change you. James says flat out that if it doesn’t change you there’s a question whether God’s really in your life. What can I see in my life that proves it? Real faith always produces change. Real faith is not just something you say. It’s not just something you feel. It’s not just something you think.

Then there are people who have strong beliefs in God and the Bible, and about Christ. They can recite creeds to you and catechisms and talk about doctrines of the Trinity, and quote Bible verses. James says, "big deal!" Just saying I believe in God is not enough to get you to heaven. A recent article reported the results of a survey in Southern California: "Many in Orange County believe but don’t practice." The survey asked people all over Orange County about their faith and they found a high degree of belief. "Sure, I’m a believer. I’m a Christian." Do you attend church? “No,” or “not regularly.” Do you donate your time? “No.” Do you tithe? “No.” James would say that’s a phony belief. You’re just conning yourself. A lot of people are doing that.

If it’s not just something you say or think or feel or believe, what is real faith?

In the next couple of verses James gives two illustrations that say real faith is something you do. Faith is active. It’s not passive.

James uses two illustrations of two very different people, Abraham and Rahab -- exact opposite extremes. Abraham is a man. Rahab is a woman. Abraham is Jewish. Rahab is a Gentile. Abraham is a patriarch. Rahab is a prostitute. Abraham is a somebody. Rahab is a nobody. Abraham is a major character in the Bible. Rahab is a minor character. He uses these illustrations to say, it doesn’t matter who you are as long as you’ve got the one thing they had in common -- their faith in God. Their faith in God led them to an action.

The story of Abraham. It’s the ultimate test where God asked Abraham to give up his own son. This has nothing to do with salvation. Abraham was already a believer. He’s saying that this just shows how you believe. Abraham obeyed God. It was immediate. He followed Him. He took his son up. He did all those faith steps. He cut the wood, built the altar and was ready to sacrifice his own son. Abraham was about to sacrifice him and God says, “Stop. Do not kill him.” His works showed his faith. He held nothing back from God.

The story of Rahab is in Joshua 2. It’s the story how a prostitute helped a couple of Jewish spies when they were coming into Jericho. Rahab ends up in the family line of Jesus. She risks her life to save the spies.

Our faith is not determined by what we do, it is demonstrated by what we do. In 1860 there was a famous tightrope walker named George Blondin who, for a publicity stunt, decided he would walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. On the appointed day they stretched a tightrope from one side of Niagara Falls to the other. He got out there and there were crowds lining both the Canadian and American side. Thousands of people showed up to see this unbelievable feat. Blondin walked up to the edge of the tightrope, put one foot on the tightrope and put another foot out and began to walk across -- inch-by-inch, step-by-step. He got out in the middle and everybody knew that if he’d make one mistake in balance he’d fall off the rope and into the Falls and obviously be killed. Blondin got to the other side and the crowd went wild, shouting and cheering. Blondin said, "I’m going to do it again." He got to the other side and the crowds went crazy. Blondin said, "I’m going to do it again but this time I’m going to push a wheel barrow full of dirt." He pushes the wheelbarrow across. He got to the other side. He did this nine or ten times. On about the tenth time, he pushed the wheelbarrow right in front of a tourist who said, "I believe you could do that all day." “Really?” Blondin asked as he dumped out the dirt, "Get in."

In a very real sense that’s what God says to you. Talk is cheap. Put your money where your mouth is. "I believe in Jesus!" Prove it. Our faith is demonstrated by our actions.

A couple of questions:

In the light of what James says, am I really a Christian? What changes can I point to in my life? Is my lifestyle any different at all from unbelievers? Can I point to any activities in my life that demonstrate my faith in a loving and caring God? Do I practice service as a part of my life in Christ? So many people think it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you believe. James says that’s not true. He’s not saying you work your way to heaven. He’s not saying works deliver salvation. He’s saying they demonstrate it. He’s saying that if your faith doesn’t work, what good is it?