Opposites

 

It has become one of the greatest, silliest, most misunderstood arguments in theological history. Faith and Works. "What must I do to be saved?" The words have flown across the debte lines from Calvanists to Wesleyans and back for centuries. Do I just need faith? Is it enought to just believe? Does there need to be evidence to what we believe? If so, why? Excellent questions. We going ear lobe deep into scripture. We are going to tackle the quandry setup up by people like Martin Luther pitting The Apostle Paul against James. Is one church father correct and the other wrong? If so, then why are they both in this canon of scripture together? Or, are they both trying to say the same thing? 

This is our task for Sunday February 25. We want to know how to understand the role of faith and works together in our lives. Lets jump in and see where James is taking us. 

Some might choose to think of faith and works (or deeds, as the NIV chooses to word it) as opposities. But, what really are opposites and is that a good word to use here in describing the relationship between these two words, faith and works? Its one of those times where we need to look at the definition of a word and our friends at Merriam Webster are here to help us.

Are these two words truly opposites of each other? Or, do they go together and compliment each other as we seek to follow Christ? We will see some scripture references ahead and some life illustrations that should enlighten us to see what exactly we are to do is this faith & works dilemma .

It will either muddy the waters or help clear up the situation, but i also included this classic 1980s song from Bruce Hornsby and The Range called "The Way It Is" into the service today. James does an interesting thing here in that he puts the very subject matter right into an everyday life situation and basically asks his audience "What would you do?" It is a very common problem and has been with mankind from its earliest time. The poor. The sick, Those who are going without in this world. maybe living on the street. Bruce Hornsby's song sets the stage beautifully and exactly where we want to be for this message. Some theological minds wants to pit faith and works against each other as if they are opposites. Lets take a quick look at each word and see exactly what we are dealing with before we go further. 

Alright, now lets see what goes with Deeds or Works...

I'm expecting there is going to be a mile of definition here. It is a very common word. It ties itself in with many details of everyday human existence. Is there a detail about "work" somewhere in the definition that brings us into contact with something like faith? Is there a place where there might be a cross roads? I don't expect to make the words synonyms of each other, where they might be interchangeable for each other. But there has to be something there that helps them work together in everyday usage. what might we find... We had to dive way down to the eleventh line of definition see to see that Noah Webster, a largely religious man in his time, included a line of definition here, simple but pointed, that does the trick for us. 

Webster's sentence structure usage brings us back to the argument at large. Is salvation by works? Is salvation by faith? Do the two items go together and do we need to treat them as complementary items to see what James is trying to say? What is James trying to say? Lets put what he says with something similar that the Apostle Paul is saying from his letter to the Ephesians and see if we come to an understanding. Lets looks again at James' words for us this morning from the 2nd chapter.

and now Paul from the letter to the Ephesians speaking about being "Alive in Christ".

Are you hearing similar sentiments?
Where some minds have gone to a place of division over these two writers, I think it's rather easy to see that they are trying to communicate ideas that go together. Paul is making ti clear that our lives begin with Christ when we put our faith in Jesus. God in his grace reaches down and bring us into his family, making us his children. If that was the end of the conversation, Paul would have stopped there and moved into what we know to be chapter 3. I think there is a pertinent question that needs to be asked and answered there. What were we saved for? Is there a purpose to all this? Or, do we just sit back down in our pews and wait for the end of time? And, Paul gives us that explanation in verse 10. We were saved for the purpose of doing good things so that we could glorify God in all we are doing. 

So, what is it James is trying to get across to his audience?
Well, if we have been put here to do good works, to glorify God in all we are doing, here is a very common every day situation and what can be done about it? If we say we believe in God, as James has put the matter to his readers very pointedly by challenging them to have more to their faith than simple demons who also know and believe that God exists, then what can we do? Look to our works. What is it we are doing that speaks for our faith? Paul says clearly that we were saved by faith, through grace and that for the purpose of doing good works and glorifying God. James is putting his readers in the midst of a very common situation and saying "You have faith? Show me what you would do here?" Could you leave some poor, hurting person on the street in the midst of their hard times, or do you reach out and help? Do you try to share the love of God with them? or, do we coarsely say "Get a job." "Hey, you can't go in there. Black skin folks aren't welcome here." Or, pass over someone who needs a hand when they find themselves in hard times? 

Faith and works. They go together. Some people can't see peas and carrots being in the same bowl together. Some can't mix certain foods or colors in their clothing, or people together in the same room. But, God can. With God, all things are possible. Faith and works go in the same sentence. And we need to be able to share them to show that God is truly in our lives. 

Blessings

Jeremy