Growing Deep in God’s Word

James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-171 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?  2  For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,  3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,”  4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?  5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?  6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?  7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?  8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  11 For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,  16 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?  17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

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Oh, how we were taught to hate James.  It was Luther’s epistle of straw, or so legend goes.  It is because of these very words that we were taught to treat James and these passages with contempt.

It is clear to see why the bitter aftertaste fills our mouth on these words.  It describes an ineffective faith, a faith that is inactive by what the faith does, how it is lived out.  With the eyes of the reformation and the interest in justification we are quick to dismiss these passages especially for passages in Romans and Ephesians which would proclaim what we think of as gospel, how no work is enough and it is by faith alone we are justified.

But what is it James talking about here?  Is James discussing heaven and hell?  Rather James discusses present salvation- loving our neighbor, adultery, murder, giving to the hungry.  These are not justification issues but rather sanctification issues, that is these are not issues that are dealing with our immortal soul and future but rather than the ongoing life of faith as we walk today.

This life of justification and sanctification are not to be separated into unrelated categories but held in artful and graceful balance with one another. It is like breathing in and out.  Breathing in is the gift of God, the life of the Spirit, the sustaining of our soul, the heart of our faith. But breathing in for our future calls us to breathe out for our present.  We are called to move with the Spirit that has been drawn into our life through our justification by Jesus’ act on the cross and to breathe out a life of sanctification, a life reflecting the gift given, passing on breath and Spirit into the world.

We can focus too much on our future life so that we make grace cheap, only acting enough to make a difference in the next life but not calling us to anything in particular in this life.  When we focus on this life and our works, we make grace weak and ineffective and thus trust instead on our works.  We must learn to balance our life, to trust solely on God in Christ as our atoning sacrifice that justifies us but we are also drawing the full power of this restoration of the world into our lives. Yes, perhaps a faith without works is dead but the converse may also be said: works without trust in God is dead as well.  A full faith and a full life is a life that trusts solely in God and then lives everyday as a reflection and a “thank you” for what God has done.  It is as easy as breathing in and out.

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God, we cannot stand before you by our own merit our work.  We thank you for Jesus, that through his sacrifice we are reconciled to you.  We wish to thank you for this gift with our life and works.  Give us understanding that we may work with out trusting our work and believe without neglecting the call to serve.  Help us to live this balanced life.  To you be all glory.  AMEN.

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This week’s devotion from James was written by Rev. Jay Gamelin, pastor of Jacob’s Porch, the Lutheran Campus Ministry at Ohio State University.

Psalm 84

¹How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!

²My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

⁴Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah

⁵Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

⁶As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

⁸O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

⁹Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.

¹⁰For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

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Where do you go when you need to recharge? Do you have a place to which you look forward to returning? The Psalmist’s heart cannot wait to return to God’s house and God’s presence.

In this Psalm we hear a longing prayer to return to a place more comfortable than home, more welcoming than our mother’s own kitchen, more awe inspiring than a natural park, more rejuvenating than a week away at a spa.

Why is it that when our lives get hectic we decide to take a vacation from God and church? The Psalmist (and I) would argue that’s perhaps the worst thing we could do for ourselves. In God’s presence we receive new perspective about the world around us and peace in our hearts, if only for a brief while. If you are looking for an escape that won’t cost a dime – if you are wondering where you can go to find some piece of mind – if you are going out of your mind and need a place to regroup…take Psalm 84 with you and visit the courts of the Lord. He’ll be happy to see you and you will be happy to rest there.

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Gracious God, meet us where we are and draw us into your courts. Give us the refreshment of your grace and rejuvenate us with the joy of your Spirit. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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This week’s devotion was written by the Reverend Stephanie Johnson who serves as Associate Pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church – Herndon, VA.

4I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. ⁷But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” ⁹(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

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There comes a time in all of our lives when we must face it, we must recognize that it is time. It is time to grow up and live lives of productive and true adulthood. For me I think the turning point in my life was shortly after I recovered from viral meningitis in college.  I was just floating through life, just getting by.  But the life-threatening illness really woke me up to what was in front of me, the responsibilities that I was overlooking, and the possibilities that lie ahead if I just claim it.

But how does this play out in our lives of faith? The author of Ephesians (some say Paul) writes, “4We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” This growth is found only in Christ.  Jesus Christ is the head of the body that is wholly and utterly connected, each and every part of the body grows and functions in and through its connection with the other parts of the body.  It is only through this connection that is in and through Jesus Christ that the body grows up into that which is called to be.  May we stay connected and grow in and through this body that is Christ.

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Loving God, you have knit us together into your body.  May we seek to stay connected to ALL parts of the body in order that we may grow up into that which you intend us to be together.  Amen.