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BOTH THIS AND THAT
Sunday Worship Sermon
SEPTEMBER 6, 2009 - “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?”
(James 2:14-18)
In Romans 3:23-25a, Paul states, “They are now justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.” Martin Luther summarized Paul’s words this way: “we are justified by grace alone through faith.” And in words that may be more plain to us this morning, “I am saved when I confess to God my sins and ask for His forgiveness and when I state my belief that Jesus did die for me on the cross.”
In today’s reading, James says in verse 17, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Over the centuries, there have been debates over whether or not this statement meant that Paul and James disagreed: that Paul was saying we’re saved by God’s grace alone and that James was saying works too are required for one to be saved. But I believe Paul and James are really just emphasizing two different things. I believe James would agree with Paul that God’s grace alone is responsible for us being saved - that trying to earn our own way to heaven won’t get us there.
But, James also wants to ensure we don’t cheapen God’s grace, that we don’t cheapen the unbelievable sacrifice God made for us when Jesus died on the cross. Works are the natural response of the thankful person to God’s great sacrifice. How can we say, “I believe Christ died for me,” and then do nothing in response? Works are nothing more than loving God and our fellow human beings by our thoughts, words, and actions in response to God’s love for us. James says to us this morning, if you are not willing to do any works, do you really believe? We can’t earn our way into heaven through our own works but that doesn’t mean that works aren’t important as a loving response back to God for the love that God first showed us.
In ancient times there was a group of philosophers called the Stoics. Their followers believed that one achieved a meaningful life by striving for complete serenity in all things. Showing emotion, responding to a person in need, righting an injustice: these things got in the way of achieving serenity and so they were avoided. The ancient Jews were different. They believed in practical help. This is our tradition, these are our roots: to give help, to do works. Jesus was anything but a Stoic. He did works: he taught, he performed miracles, he preached, he healed; he sought out sinners and persons on the fringes of society to bring them the good news; he suffered and died on the cross. Jesus did many, many works for us.
Here’s why works are so important. If we don’t put our faith in action we run the risk of backsliding to the point where our faith really is dead, and at that point we are in peril. Can a believer undo the promise of salvation? We can if we turn our backs on God. Each time we say no to serving God, isn’t that a small turning away from him? And don’t we know that one small turn away usually leads to another and another and another.
This is Labor Day weekend. Labor Day honors all Americans who worked and continue to work to make this country a great nation. I don’t know about you, but I tend to think mostly about the “little guy or gal” when I celebrate Labor Day. My dad was a wood shop and machine shop teacher in High School. He worked with industries and community leaders to build the first vocational technical high school in York County to prepare youth and adults to work in the skilled trades. He was very good with his hands, and although I don’t have those gifts, I have great respect for those who do. Many of you have those roots; many of you know what I’m talking about better than I do.
But my dad had another gift too, a gift that made all his other God-given gifts truly matter. He was a man of service. He served his country as a Marine fighting in the Pacific in WWII. He served as a Boy Scout Leader. He served as a Sunday School teacher. He served as a High School teacher and community leader. He didn’t squander his God-given gifts, using them to build up only himself for only his personal gain. He served others. To this day I remember with pride all those times when a young adult would walk up to my dad in the mall or out on the street, and say, “Remember me, I was one of your students.” People do that when they know someone has made a difference in their lives; when someone has been a servant to them. This week my daughter Karyn shared with me that she might be called this year to substitute teach at the Milton Hershey School, in Hershey, PA. I reminded her of what she already knew: that her grandfather was a teacher at Milton Hershey when he died. She never met him in person, but still through his legacy he has inspired her to a life of service as well.
You have stories like this also – of a family member, friend, or acquaintance that has inspired you by using their God-given gifts to serve you. You and I have gifts God has given us. God gave us those gifts not to build up ourselves but to be shared in service to others. God created us to be a community. I need you to share your gifts with me so I can be whole. You need me to share my gifts so you can be whole. We remember Adam, the first man. Genesis 2: 18 reads, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper to be his partner.’” Then God created Eve. God created Adam and Eve as partners; one was not superior to the other – they needed each other to make it in this world and so do we.
Last week I stopped by Salem’s cemetery. I went all the way up to the top at the back of the old section, looked down over the graves of all the saints, and then up at the mountain in the distance. Vernon had just cut the grass and trimmed around each gravesite. It was lovely and peaceful. Each of us will be there someday, or in some other final resting place. And when we are hopefully from time to time, someone we knew in this life will come to visit. When they come, what will be their memories of us? What will be the legacy we leave behind? Don’t we want to be remembered as someone who made a difference in the lives of others?
James asks this morning, “What good is it my brothers and sisters if you say you have faith but not works?” You see, Christ died for more than just winning our eternal life for us – he also died so that we might live fully and completely right now. The only way we can do that is to turn to our brother and sister and serve them, and receive their service to us. I believe that’s what James is trying to tell us this morning about both: faith and works.
Amen.
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