Dead Faith
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
September 7, 2003
James 2:1-17
I. INTRODUCTION
Tonight we start a mini sermon series on James. Despite it’s prominence in the lectionary and in the estimation of many, we don’t know a whole lot about it. Including its author.
A. James
The epistle identifies its author as “James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ” and offers no further description. Tradition has long held that it was written by James, the brother of Jesus. Now, right away, we wind up in controversy, because although the scriptures mention that Jesus has “brothers and sisters” among whom a James is listed, traditional Catholic and Orthodox teaching held that Mary remained a perpetual virgin and therefore, at best, James could be Jesus’ step-brother through Joseph by a previous marriage. In addition, traditional interpretation of the word “brother” is that it can mean “kinsman” as it is often used to mean in the Old Testament. However, one scholar makes a strong case that when the scripture says “brother” it means “brother” or “half brother”
Jesus’ brother James is not described in the gospels as being a disciple of Jesus. In fact, his family is often portrayed as not understanding what he was up to, or at least, indifference. However, by the book of Acts and Paul’s letters, James, called “the Brother of the Lord” is a leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was also known as “James the Just” or “James the Righteous” for his devotion to the Law and his piety. And he is known to have been martyred some time in the 60’s, according to tradition, by being thrown off the parapet of the temple.
Interest in James has surged recently due to a remarkable finding in Israel. A collector came into possession of an ossuary, a bone box, used to store for burial the bones of those who had died and laid in tombs. The ossuary in question had an enigmatic inscription on the side in Aramaic: Ya’akov bar Yosef akhui d’Yeshua, “James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Could this be the burial box of the Biblical James? Sadly, the latest evidence from the Israeli Antiquities Authority points toward the inscription as a forgery. But the whole incident has drawn more attention on this oft-ignored figure, the author of the Epistle we read today.
B. James as Author
Of course, James—or Jacob—which is the Hebrew version of his name, was as common a name then as it is today. There is more than one John in the Bible, there could just as easily be more than one James. That and the fact that the Greek of James is very polished, not likely written by the son and brother of a Galilean carpenter. But, there are a couple of tantalizing clues. Throughout his letter, James quotes Jesus’ teaching a lot. It’s something Paul never does. And in many ways, James’ letter reads like an exposition of the sermon on the Mount, developing the themes of Jesus’ core teachings. It is written like one who either knew Jesus during his ministry, or became extremely well versed in his teachings after. If this Epistle wasn’t written by Jesus’ brother, it ought to have been.
And so like much else with regard to Scripture, it matters a fair sight less who wrote it, than what it has to teach us, and what value the Church has given to it.
II. THE TEXT
And what does that text say? Quite a bit:
James 2:14 ¶ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?
Martin Luther hated this Epistle. He called it ‘an epistle of straw.’ He had developed an entire theology of salvation by grace through faith, and not by works of the law, and here comes James who says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” The clear implied answer to James’ question is ‘no’. That drove Luther nuts.
Luther much preferred Paul, who said in Galatians, “yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 2:16) But Paul was talking to Gentiles who were trying to act like Jews, adopting the food laws, circumcision, special days. He was trying to convince them that those things were not necessary that if they were, then God would not be acting through grace. It’s entirely possible that Luther was reading too much into Paul.
But here we are: Protestants. Our whole identity, the whole reason we launched the Reformation—indeed the rallying cry of the Reformation, if you will, is “by grace through faith, not on account of works of the law.” And here comes James, quietly saying, “Ahem” and giving us a different message. Or is he?
III. WHAT FAITH ISN’T
Can faith save you? We have to look at what we mean by faith when we ask that question.
A. Belief
Is faith belief? Sometimes you hear faith defined as “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Indeed, that is one of the definitions in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. “Firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Does that make you feel just a little bit uncomfortable? I mean, is that all faith is? Is that all we’re doing here? We’re a gathering of people who like to believe in something we cannot prove? Maybe us all meeting together in one building wasn’t our idea. Maybe they’re trying to keep all of us nutcases in one place.
I think faith has to be more than that. The disciples didn’t have faith because they had no proof—they had proof! The resurrected Christ standing in their midst! Paul had proof—a powerful encounter with the risen Christ. I suspect that some of us here in this room have had proof—powerful experiences of God in our lives. Often times, this proof comes to us in very human form: in the love we get from others.
So, I don’t think that it’s all belief without proof. That just sounds silly. And to tell you the truth, I don’t think faith has much to do with belief at all. Don’t get me wrong, I am expecting you to believe the things I say up here, and there are essential parts of the Christian proclamation that we ought to believe in, but I am talking about the faith that saves.
Is faith really just belief? Is life basically a theology test, and if we say we believe the right things we get saved? I don’t know about you, but that sounds kind of fishy to me. In fact, that kind of sounds like works-righteousness only instead of the list of ten things you have to do to be saved, there’s a list of ten things you have to believe to be saved.
B. Trust
No, my friends. Life is more than signing on the dotted line. The faith that Christ calls us to is trust. When someone is faithful, they are trustworthy. If we say to one another “I have faith in you” we mean “I trust you.” We don’t mean “I believe you exist” or even that we believe certain things about a person. We are making a statement of trust.
This is the faith that Paul is talking about. Faith of Christ who has already saved you. All we need to is to trust in that. It’s like that game where you fall backward into the arms of another person. You have to trust that person. It’s as though Christ is standing behind us. All we have to know is trust in him to catch us when we fall.
IV. WHAT FAITH IS
Faith is trust in God.
A. Origins of Faith
Last week, we talked about the origins of faith, about a faith that comes from within, not from without. We talked about Wesley’s experience of the new birth as his inner transformation, his beginnings of faith from within. It’s important to note here that we can come to faith through a variety of ways. Some will have an intense experience of new birth, others will come to their sense of assurance through a long gradual process. The beginnings are not really important. What James is challenging us with is a question: what does it mean to have faith? Can faith save us?
B. Fruits of Faith and a Common Mistake
1. Faith is the Beginning
There is a mistake that many Christians make. They spend a lot of time getting people to “come to faith”. And once a person is brought into the faith, they move on to the next person. But this outlook, which often assumes that faith and belief are the same, also makes the mistake of thinking that coming to faith is the end of the process. It is the beginning.
2. The Way
In fact, the earliest name for Christianity, and the one found in the New Testament is “The Way.” The way. A road. A path. A journey. Faith is not static—it moves. Forward.
Perhaps there were some people who misunderstood that even in the first century. Perhaps there were some people who had heard Paul talk about salvation by grace through faith and thought to themselves, “Well I’ve got faith—I’m all set.” Perhaps it was to people like this—people like us—that James wrote his brilliant and even somewhat sarcastic epistle:
James 2:14-17 ¶ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Coming to faith is only the beginning of the road. It has to go somewhere. It has to lead along the Way. Faith is not a belief system, it is a way of life. When the song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love” it doesn’t mean that Christians are known because they are fond of people. It means they will know the Christians because they are the ones actively loving people—taking care of them. It has to be concerned with the poor. With working for justice. Reaching out to the widow and the orphan and the stranger; the single mom, the crack baby, and the immigrant.
If we proclaim a Christ who healed the sick, but we ourselves do nothing to help others to come to wholeness, what is the good of that?
If we proclaim a Christ who is the Prince of Peace, but do nothing to work for peace in our world, what is the good of that?
If we proclaim Christ crucified, an innocent falsely convicted and executed, but do nothing to work for justice in our world, what is the good of that?
If we proclaim a Christ who ate with sinners and tax collectors, but continue to build walls that divide us from the less desirable elements and move out into the gated communities abandoning the inner cities—what is the good of that?
If we proclaim a Christ that reaches out to the outcast and the defenseless, to the marginalized, the alien and the strangers, and we do nothing to speak up for immigrants who are being rounded up in the name of security, what is the good of that?
If we proclaim all these things, but don’t actually act as though such things have changed our lives and have the power to change our world, I ask you, what is the good of that?
James is reminding us what is at the heart of our faith—witnessing. Witnessing through love, service, charity, compassion, justice. Witnessing through action. We are not a club of people who believe in things without proof. Nor are we a community of people who are fond of each other—we are a community of people who love, and love requires action. If you don’t believe me, try getting into a romantic relationship and refusing to do anything. Tell your significant other: “Hey, I love you in here.” See how that works. Love is action.
We are a community that comes together to remind itself of its mission: to prepare the way of the Lord. To live into the Kingdom of God by our works. We don’t expect to be saved by our works—we already have been saved! We do our works because we have been saved already.
C. Diversity of Theology
And we don’t all have to agree on all points to be able to love like that. We can disagree even on serious matters. Just the other day, Mike Godzwa, one of the Assemblies of God chaplains who works with Chi Alpha, and I were having a heated theological argument: he actually believes that the New York Yankees are good and the Boston Red Sox are evil, whereas I view it completely in reverse. We’re never going to agree on that. And likely there are a good many theological issues that we won’t agree on either.
John Wesley said, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not live alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences. These remaining as they are, they may forward one another in love and in good works.”
V. CONCLUSION
God is not concerned with our theologies—he is concerned with our living out our faith. God has given us the gift of eternal life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has given us nothing less than new life—the crucified one is alive and no longer dead. The least we can do, the least we can do, is to respond with a faith that is alive.
