Faith and Works

One of the challenges of preaching the book of James, or just studying the book of James in general, is trying to make sense of the relationship of faith and works.  James has often been criticized for putting to much emphasis on living out our faith--to the point that it seems like we might earn our salvation or that our relationship with God is dependent upon our own actions.

I've been surprised, though, now that we're looking at James in more detail, just how much faith is built into the book, and how much that faith is a free gift of God.  We encountered it already in chapter 1--God is the giving God.  It's God's nature.  And then later, God has given birth to us in the word of truth.  And God has implanted that word of truth within us. It is clearly God's actions and God's initiative, and that brith we experience seems to be an ongoing process, leading us to maturity and completeness in our faith.

So what's the relationship between faith and works in James?  Between God's initiative and our response?  Perhaps it's something along these lines:  The word of truth is a free gift.  The newness of life is completely God's doing--but it is a gift, a new reality, that places a call on our lives.  That leads us forward toward that maturity and completeness.  A gift that slowly but surely changes who we are.  A gift, strangely enough, that if we don't put it into practice, if we don't utitlize it, if we don't "accept" it or "receive" it (as James describes it in 1:21) won't accomplish its purposes.  We won't become the "firstfruits of all creation" that God intends.  We won't live as examples to the rest of the world of what God's purposes for the world and for us are.

I've been thinking of it like this:  It's like winning a college scholarship randomly at some drawing you entered.  Completely unexpected and undeserved, and you can use it to go to any school you want.  But now you have a choice--do you actually use it?  Do you go to school?  If you do, it will change who you are.  You won't be the same.  It might not be easy, but it will certainly change you.  But the other option is simply to say, "Well, that's nice.  But I don't want to risk it.  I don't want to bother.  I'm really not interested." 

Unless you actually use the scholarship, it won't change who you are.  It won't transform your life.  But if   you put it into practice, you will never be the same.  A bit like faith:  we can hold onto it, or we can put it into practice and have it change us.  Obviously, this illustration has it's limits--for one, college isn't for all of us, and that's okay.  For another, sometimes college changes for the better, sometimes for the worse...but hopefully you get what I'm getting at.  May we all put our faith into practice and allow God to transform who we are.  Otherwise the gift God gives us won't be nearly as glorious as it might be.

Favorite quote of the week:  Elizabeth wore her robe to conduct the wedding of Jose' and Amber Cruz this past week, and when one of the ushers saw her, he was taken aback, and proclaimed, "You're wearing your Jedi for Jesus outfit!"  We then tried the ol' Jedi mind trick "You will come to church..."  We'll see if it works.