This weekend was a cool weekend in the life of our church. On Friday, the women’s ministry had a come n go dessert, and even though I wasn’t there, I heard it was a good time.
Then on Saturday morning, we had a church and neighborhood clean-up. It was a great time to clean up our church, as well as some of the surrounding areas. Over the next few weeks, you will be hearing about another neighborhood clean-up that we will be doing shortly.
Today, we are continuing our series on the book of James. This morning, we are going to look at by far, one of the most controversial passages in the Bible. Throughout history, this has been one of the most difficult passages to understand. In fact, over 500 years ago, this was one of the passages that split the Catholic and Protestant churches. So before we dive in, why don’t we pray and ask God to guide our time.
PRAY
If you have your bibles, you can open them to James chapter 2. We will be looking at verses 14 – 26 today. Just to recap to get everyone on the same page. James is a short letter, only 3 pages in my bible, that was written to Christians in the 1st century. The Christians he was writing to were people who were not living like Christians. There was nothing different about them from anybody else in the world around them. Christians were acted and reacting to life like everyone else.
We started off in chapter 1 looking at how we respond to trials and temptations. Then James head into how we deal with anger. And then last week, we looked at favoritism in our lives. And remember, because this is a letter, there aren’t any breaks. So when James was writing this, everything was connected. Trials and temptations are connected to anger, which is connected to favoritism, and then he connects faith with that.
Faith is an interesting topic. Most people, whether they know it or not have faith. Last night, you went to bed and you had faith that your alarm would go off. When you got in your car, you had faith that it would start and get you here. Right now, you have faith that the chair you are sitting in will hold you. Some of you are thinking, I hope mine doesn’t break. But we all have faith. Sometimes, we refer to it as wishing, hoping or believing. We believe our team will win, unless it’s the Cardinals.
Faith also comes into play when we think about religion and spirituality. One of the definitions that Webster uses for faith is “belief and trust in and loyalty to God.”
Have you ever heard the phrase “putting your faith in God?” For many people, this is what they believed they were doing when they became a Christian. And rightly so. We get this from Galatians 2:16 which says: 16yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ
Or Romans 3:28 that says: 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
If you have been to church before, have you ever heard someone say, “All you need to be a Christian is to just believe. Just believe in God. We get this from 1 John 1:9 which says: 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Makes sense right. If you have been to church for any amount of time, you have heard these things. They are good and right, biblical things to believe in. Then we have James. I don’t know about you, but the more time we are spending in James, I love what he says, because he is blunt and just says it. But he reminds me of the guy you don’t want to get stuck next to at the punch bowl at a party. He ruins everything I believe in, everything I have been taught my whole life.
This passage that we are looking at this morning, is the passage that made Martin Luther in the 1500’s say that James is a second tier book of the Bible. Because he and others have felt throughout church history that James contradicts what Paul and others say. But I think with the opinions James held, he had to be a scrapper. As we dive in, keep these other passages in Galatians, and 1 John in your head.
This is what it says in James 2, verse 14: 14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
So James starts off by asking the question, a very important question. What good is it to have faith without works? Can that faith save him? For most of my life I have been told, all you need is faith. I remember sitting in Sunday school in Jr. High and a teacher with good intentions said, all you need is faith, not like those other people who are trying to work their way to heaven.
This is the split between the Catholic and Protestant faith throughout church history. On one side, you have Catholic’s with many of them believing good works will get them to heaven. And Protestants believing all you need is faith.
So what has happened for many people is that have created this dichotomy within the church that faith and works are polar opposites, working against each other.
But the question has to be asked, and we need to ask it throughout this passage, and it is one of the most common questions I get from people: what do you do when the Bible contradicts itself? Because, just reading it, it seems that James and Paul are not in agreement.
This is what historian (C. Freeman Sleeper) said about this dilemma: “Paul’s argument is that obedience in Christ is enough to put a person right with God. For James, on the other hand, the real issue is whether making a Christian commitment is worth anything unless it changes the way in which you live.”
The important thing to keep in mind is that both Paul, the author of Romans and Galatians, and James; they both see faith as confidence in God’s saving act along with the effect of that act in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ. Neither Paul or James see faith as the mere assertion or belief in doctrine or theology.
Many people fall into this trap. Saying things like, I am right and you are wrong. At some point, for many Christians, being right became more important than actually following God and doing what he says.
I remember talking with a friend, and we saw something on TV with someone holding a sign that said, “God hates fags.” And he said, “It is easy to see why people hate Christians.” Both Paul and James would say, it doesn’t matter if you are right, if you don’t have love, if you don’t do anything to back that up, it doesn’t matter.
One author (James H. Ropes) said this, “The contrast is not so much between faith and deeds, although this stands in the background, but between dead, useless faith and living faith. Faith alone without works is as dead as a body without breath. Deeds are not something extra to be added to faith; they are a necessary part of faith. Without deeds faith is not really true faith – it is only a shadow, a shade, an impostor of true faith.”
To make his point, James again uses how Christians react to the poor and marginalized in society. He gives the example of our reaction when we see someone who is hungry and who is cold. The response he uses in the example is when someone says, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled.” Almost to say, “I wish you well as you take care of yourself. Or, you look cold, I hope you find a place to get warm. Or, man you look hungry, you should eat something.”
We do the same thing today. When a friend is going through a hard time, or is really in a valley in their spiritual journey. What is our first response, usually, as Christians? I’ll pray for you. While this is not bad, this is a great thing that we need to do for each other. But it leaves us with no responsibility, and James is saying, that is not enough. You see, James does not require Christians to do everything, but to do something. Just like in the story Mark shared earlier. So when someone is in a valley, we need to walk with them. Help them in their situation, help them to get out of the valley.
Verse 18: 18But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
I love how he ends that verse, do you want to be a foolish person? He knows he is right, he just lays that out. He just throws down.
So James begins to have a conversation within in his letter. This was a very popular way in ancient literature to make your point. This conversation could be pointing out what people might believe about faith. Almost to say, “some of you might be thinking…”
James also does something really interesting. He creates the argument, that some people had in mind. The question of whether it is possible to boil Christianity down to one or the other, faith or deeds. James is saying that is impossible, that true faith cannot exist from deeds or living out our faith.
Then he jumps into the argument of just believing in God. I spent 10 years working with students and many of them had this idea, that they could believe in God, that would get them to heaven, and then they could live however they wanted. Almost like a fire insurance, here is my ticket out of hell and into heaven. James is saying, that is not possible.
Many people think James is attacking faith. James is not attacking faith, or belief in God. He is protesting against pretending to have faith without demonstrating it in works. He does not deny the necessity of faith, he is insisting that faith must produce results.
I think it is interesting that in verse 19 he says: 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!
Almost to show us, the demons believe in God, but they aren’t in heaven. They aren’t going to spend eternity with God, they aren’t going to be a part of the kingdom of God. So we can’t just believe.
James is pointing out the people who say, “I believe in God. I am a Christian, I go to church every week. I give occasionally, not a lot, but I give. Probably more than other people. My marriage isn’t great, but it is better than that guys marriage.” These statements would not make any sense in the mind of James. He would look at these and say, you are settling, you are holding out, you are not allowing God to change you. You just have faith.
One of the most depressing verses in the Bible is found in Matthew, when Jesus is talking to his followers. He says, in Matthew 7, verse 21: 21"Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus is saying, there are people walking through life, that they think are doing okay. They think they are okay as far as eternity goes, but, there some of those people who think they are okay, will find out, they are not. Even some people who are doing things for God, going on missions trips, sharing their faith, serving at churches, but God will say to some of them, “I don’t know who you are.” Imagine that, how is that possible?
I have met many people who believe they are sinners, they believe they need God. They understand that Jesus lived, died on a cross, came back from the dead after 3 days. They go to church from time to time. They like to read and talk about spiritual things. They know the central teachings of the bible. They are nice people. They live decent lives, they might indulge a vice or two. When a conversation turns to Jesus or to what happens after you die, they sound like Christians. They say the right thing.
Yet, there is nothing distinctly Christian about their behavior. They may be decent neighbors who perform a little community service. But there is no real self-sacrifice, no costly obedience, no good deed that goes against the grain, nothing that challenges their well-designed life.
But how do you know if you are “okay?” Is there a way to know if you are okay with God? James would answer, true faith always changes the heart and the person.
Verse 21: 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"-- and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Do you realize, that James says faith without works is dead 3 times? He is hammering this, over and over.
James, speaking to Jewish Christians, so he lays down the trump card: Abraham. Abraham is one of the most revered men in the history of Israel. To make his point, he throws down Abraham, almost to say, take that. He also uses Abraham to show that true faith, the faith Abraham had reveal itself in what he did, how he followed God.
Rahab is an interesting example. Rahab was the prostitute in the book of Exodus that gave shelter to the spies as they entered the promised land. One historian (David P. Nystrom) believes James included her “because the church has refused to show hospitality to those whose outward appearance indicated that they had no ability to benefit the church.”
In verse 22, James says: You see that faith was active along with his (Abraham’s) works, and faith was completed by his works.
So James comes full circle to answer the question, what kind of faith saves? What kind of faith is alive? What does that faith look like?
This is how Mike Yaconelli answers this in his book, Dangerous Wonder: It’s the “reckless” abandon of the mother who rejects the advice of doctors and family who tell her to abort her Down’s syndrome child, who every day thereafter cares for her daughter and sees Jesus smiling each night as she surrenders in exhaustion to a very long day, only to discover in the morning just enough strength to make it through another day.
It’s the wild abandon of a dentist who gives up his lucrative practice to care for his wife with Alzheimer’s when everyone, including his children, believes he is making a terrible mistake, only to find – in the tiny instants of her partial recognition and the final squeeze of his hand as she dies – Jesus’ tears of admiration and love.
It’s the irresponsible abandon of a young woman who leaves a brilliant career in television to work in the hopelessly poor villages of Brazil, making a home for street kids who have been abandoned by their families. As she falls asleep exhausted, she hearts the gentle lullaby of Jesus’ approval.
It’s the determined abandon at a L’Arche community, a community for mentally handicapped adults. The helper who tenderly cares for a 25 year old man whose limbs sprawl haphazardly from his body, purposeless, lost, not knowing which direction to go, as though seized by some alien force. Yet, every day, 24 long hours a day, this man’s anonymous helper holds him, bathes him, becomes his arms and legs, translates the voice imprisoned inside this body. The cost is high, the demands endless, the burnout rate almost 100% after 2 years, and yet, as his helper packs his bags and says goodbye…the man cries. Somehow this impossibly wired being unscrambles the tangle of his body’s conflicting messages, breaks the code, and wills his body to produce a tear. A miracle, really. A tribute to the wild abandon of someone who has followed Jesus to this place and now hears Him say, through the tear of a His broken child, “Thank you, thank you.”
Many of us hear those stories and what others do everyday and think, I could never do that. Probably if you were to ask those people, they can’t imagine another way to live their life. It feels so normal to them, something they have to do.
We talked about this last week. Faith is in the little things. Reaching out to the person no one else reaches out to. The guy who eats alone at the office. The person everyone picks on. The person who people talk about behind their backs. Doing something for someone, just because it is Monday.
As I was thinking about it this week, one thought kept running through my mind. You get the sense from James that faith is an ongoing thing. Faith is not something that happens, but something that is happening.
Dave Ferguson in his book The big idea said this: “If you’ve been calling yourself a Christian, you should stop. Maybe not what you were expecting? It is exactly what you and the church need – forget ever being a Christian again.
If you have ever encouraged someone to become a Christian, you should never do that again. Seriously, I hope you will never again ask a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor to become a Christian.
Why you ask? Because the last thing the mission of Jesus Christ needs is more Christians.
Here is the brutal fact: 85% of the people in the United States call themselves Christians. Now, let’s pause long enough to realize that’s a whole lot of people – 247 million people, to be exact. But how are those 85% doing when it comes to accomplishing Jesus’ mission? Here is what research tells us about people in North America who call themselves Christians:
• Those who call themselves Christians are no more likely to give assistance to a homeless person on the street than non-Christians
• Those who call themselves Christians are no more likely than non-Christians to correct the mistake when a cashier gives them too much change
• A Christian is just as likely to have an elective abortion as a non-Christian
• A Christian is just as likely to look at internet porn as a non-Christian
• Christians divorce at the same rate as those who consider themselves non-Christians
• Even though there are more big churches than ever before filled with people who proudly wear the title Christian, 50% of Christian churches didn’t help one single person find salvation last year
• 9% of Christians and 8% of non-Christians give money each year to a non-profit organization
In fact, when the Barna Research Group did a survey involving 152 separate items comparing the general population with those who called themselves Christians, they found virtually no difference between the two groups. They found difference in the attitudes of Christians and non-Christians, and they found no difference in the actions of Christians and non-Christians. If the contemporary concept of a Christian is of someone who is no different than the rest of the world, is Christian really the word you want to use to describe your willingness to sacrifice everything you have to see God’s dream fulfilled? No way.
In God’s mind, you are justified the moment you believe. When you trust in Christ as Lord and Savior, your sin is put on Christ. Yet works also justify in this second sense: They prove that we are alive in Christ.
When someone says a believer is justified by faith alone, like Paul does in Romans and Galatians. We mean that the believer adds nothing – no works – in order to earn or gain God’s favor. Good works are necessary – not a condition prior to salvation but a consequence following salvation.
So the question has to be asked, how are you doing? Where are you as far as showing and living your faith? Are you still in the just believing mode? James is saying, there is so much more to this life, there is so much more that we can be a part of. James is saying that the Christian life, following God is a life of adventure, of passion, of risk, a life unlike any other. It is not just about believing and saying the right things, it is about making a difference because of those things we believe in.
Mike Yaconelli said, “The Christian life is more than finding Jesus – it is following Jesus.” That is the message of James 2. God doesn’t just want us to believe, he wants us to do something about those beliefs. He wants those beliefs to make such a difference in our life that we can’t help but act on them and make the world a better place just because we walked through it.
As band comes back up and we head into communion, hopefully you are beginning to get more of a picture of the message of James. Hopefully you are seeing the passion and action that James calls and expects Christians to have. Many people who attend church are content to sit on the sideline and not do anything about their faith, that doesn’t make any sense to James. He would not understand that mindset at all.
Communion is a time for us to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. For us to pause and think back to the passion and action that Jesus took for us, and to also remember the passion and action that Jesus calls us to everyday.
Let’s pray.
God, I pray that we would feel that passion that James feels. That we would feel the adventure and risk that he is calling us to. James gives us a vision of a life that is better than the life we are living now, a life that is very different, sometimes difficult, but one that leads us to where you want us to go. I pray that we would be people and be a church that is known as a church that acts, a church that does something. Amen.
