Talk Less; Do More

This Sunday, I will preach from James chapter 2 and explore what the author of James meant when he wrote, "Faith without works is dead." 

Martin Luther was adamantly opposed to the inclusion of the Book of James in the Protestant version of the Bible. He was triggered by what he perceived as an emphasis on "works righteousness," the idea that one can earn one's way into heaven.  

To be fair, the Catholic church at the time was actually selling "indulgences," to people with the money to pay so that they could buy their forgiveness.  That was eventually done away with, but in Luther's day, it was still happening.  

You can understand why he was leery of anything in the Bible that promoted works, even if it was in the same passage as faith. 

Luther lost that argument, however.  James was included in the Biblical canon for Protestants, and the rest is history.  

So what did the author of James mean when he said that merely talking about faith wasn't enough, and that you needed to show you had faith by the things you did?  

James presents a logical argument about how our expressions of faith need to have hands and feet attached to them, or they are meaningless. 

James states that while some say they have faith, he was intent on showing his faith by doing everything he could to act with justice and mercy.  The theme for this part of the epistle might very well be: "Talk less, do more." 

Mother Theresa once wrote: 

Faith in action is love, and love in action is service. By transforming that faith into living acts of love, we put ourselves in contact with God Himself, with Jesus our Lord.

Mother Theresa believed that we encounter Christ in those we serve. This means that when we refrain from aiding those in need or refusing to put our faith into action, we miss opportunities to experience Jesus in others. 

I spent a lot of time on the road this summer, and I was struck by the sheer number of billboards with Christian messages.  

While a few of them were innocuous advertisements for churches in the area, most of them contained inflammatory messages declaring God's judgment on sinners, declarations about how Democrats are evil, and a host of other cheerless statements. 

It's hard for me to see these kinds of billboards as a Christian and a pastor because I know that they make my job even harder.  

How do I convince people who have either given up on the Church or have been wounded by it to give it another try when these are the impressions they are continually given about it?

I also considered the cost of these billboards, which aren't cheap to rent. All that money is wasted on what amounts to a self-indulgent act, a declaration that a line in the sand is being drawn somehow. 

All of it smacked to me of what James was talking about. Far too many Christians seem to be merely speaking about their faith (often not in helpful ways) rather than showing their faith by fulfilling what James called "the royal law," and Jesus called "the greatest commandment:" to love God and love everybody. 

Let's seek to do better.  May we all find ways to live out our faith that emulate Jesus' teachings and actions.  May we not merely speak about our faith but also show our faith through our actions.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and forever. Amen.