Inseparable! – August 29, 2021

Isaiah 58:6-9, James 2:14-26
August 29, 2021

If he were reading this passage today from James, Martin Luther would be getting nervous!  That’s because Luther believed, above all else, that we are saved by Grace through Faith.  And he thought James was placing too much emphasis here on doing “Good works.”  You may remember that Luther called James, “An epistle of straw!”

Well, Paul believed the same thing!  He wrote that “We are saved by Grace though faith.”  But!  I’m sure Paul would have said some of the same things James said here!  And perhaps even more!  As I’ve said many times, Paul’s writings are full of wonderful words about how we live our lives; words about encouraging and upbuilding and edifying each other.  He would be quick to say that our faith is lived out in good works!  He wasn’t there, but I’m sure he heard about what Jesus told his disciples in the upper room.  He said, “They will know you are mine by the way you love.”  And perhaps he was there when Jesus was teaching the crowds, and said, “You shall be known by the fruit you produce.”

Those are all words about how we live our faith.  But Luther was right to be nervous.  Because over the years, there have been far too many people who have taken James the wrong way.  Over the years, too many people have believed that we are supposed to “work our way into heaven.”  We call that “Works righteousness.”  In other words, we are saved, we are made righteous, by the way we live our lives, and by the good works that we do.

It doesn’t ever say that in the Bible.  In fact, it’s the other way around!  I heard this quote years ago – way back at the beginning of my ministry, 40 years ago.  And I may actually have made this up.  I can’t remember.  But it has stuck with me ever since.  The quote is, “Good works are a response to Grace, not a means of obtaining it.”  Let me say that again.  “Good works are a response to Grace, not a means of obtaining it.”

That comes right from Paul – and from James!  But too many people have seen good works as that “means” to salvation.  “If you’re good enough, you make it.”  I’ve even heard some people say, “When we die, our sins are weighed against our good deeds, and if our good deeds outweigh our sins, we get to go to heaven.  If not, well… you know.”

Again, there’s no place in the Bible that says that.  (If that were true, and more people believed it, maybe there wouldn’t be so much evil in this world!)  But the Bible is very clear that’s not the case. We are saved by Grace, the “unmerited favor” of God.  That’s what Grace means.  As Paul told the Ephesians, and us, “Through Grace we are saved by faith.  It is not of our doing.” (Ephesians 2:8)

You see, there are two problems with “works righteousness.”  The first is, no one is “good enough.”  Paul wrote this to the Romans.  And he was quoting Psalm 53. He wrote, “No one is righteous.  No not one.”  And from that he concluded “By the works of the Law, no human being will be justified.”  No one is good enough!

The second problem with “works righteousness” is that, if it were the case, there would be no need for God!  A mindless computer could keep track of the balance between our sins and good works.  It could digitally tally up the scores!  And if that were the case, it is only us who are left to justify ourselves, or not.  There’s no need for an atonement.  And saddest thing of all is that there’s no need for a relationship with our gracious, loving, and forgiving God!  And that’s the whole point!  That’s what God wants for us in the first place!

Now, I’ve said all that today because I wanted you to hear it again clearly.  But then I want to take you back to James.  I want us to hear again his statement that “Faith without works is dead.”  For the title of this sermon, I’ve simply used the word “Inseparable.”  And that comes from James’ statement here.

He asks us, “What does it profit if a man has faith, but not works?”  What good is it?  “Can his faith save him?” he asks.  Now, that doesn’t mean “Is his faith good enough to save him?”  It means, that, if he has no good works, he should question whether or not he has faith!  Do you get that?  If a person’s faith doesn’t show, maybe they don’t have it!  That’s what James is saying.

Some say it’s “either or.”  “I’m not a person of faith, but I try to do good things.”  or “I am a person of faith, I don’t have to prove it to anyone by doing good things.”  James answers that one!  He says, “Some will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’  And I say, ‘Show me your faith apart from your works.’”  How am I going to know?  “But I, by my works will show you my faith.”  Isn’t that a great statement?  “I, by my works, will show you my faith!”  Do we, by our works, show our faith?  The two are not mutually exclusive.  They are inseparable!

But this isn’t easy, is it?  Last week Kari talked about “Monday faith.”  You know, we’re all “spiritual” on Sunday, when we’re with our fellow believers.  As I’ve often said, “It’s always easier to be the people of God, when we’re with the people of God.”  And that’s another good reason to be together!  That’s another good reason we come to church!  “It’s always easier to be the people of God, when we’re with the people of God.”  But then Monday comes, and the hard work begins, and we often fail.  As she said, and I agree, we need to live the faith on Monday that we say we have on Sunday!  But that’s the hard part, isn’t it!

Our faith and our good works are inseparable.  “Inseparable” would be a great title for a song, wouldn’t it?  Somebody needs to write that song!  In the meantime, the one we sang this morning, “The Altar and the Door,” is right along those lines!

Contemporary music may or may not be your “thing.”  But I hope you heard the words of that song!  Casting Crowns has some of the most amazing music and lyrics I’ve ever heard – in any genre!  And that one is so wonderful – and so challenging.  The words are in your bulletins.  Take a look.  And listen again to this line in particular.  The singer asks, “Jesus how can I be sure I will not lose my ‘follow through’ between the altar and the door.”  Maybe circle those words in your bulletin, and then take it home and put it up on your refrigerator!  “Jesus how can I be sure I will not lose my ‘follow through’ between the altar and the door.”

It’s not easy living our faith!  But it is the way people will know we have faith!  And the sad fact is that too many people just don’t bother.  They don’t think their faith needs to have any impact on how they live.  It’s too hard to do, any way!  And so they end up living two separate lives, their life of faith, and the rest of their lives.  And it usually doesn’t work!  Faith and works, our faith and the way we live our lives, are meant to be inseparable!

Are they for you?

Prayer

Eternal God, help us to have the strength we need to live our faith every day.  Help us to have a greater sense of your presence with us.  And help us to look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith, and to see him more clearly.  For this we pray in his name, Amen.