Doing the Word

Doing the Word

James 1:22-25, 2:14-18

            Many of us are familiar with Martin Luther’s revelation concerning salvation.  He tried all manner of penance, and found no relief from his feeling of overwhelming sinfulness.  Then  he read in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, “The just shall live by faith,” and was completely changed.  He had found the assurance for which he had been searching. 

Fewer of us may be aware that Luther’s reliance on penance for salvation was due not solely to his vocation (Roman Catholic priest).  Life with an over-strict father who was never satisfied with anything young Martin did also played a part.  Without the example of parental love he found it difficult to accept the concept of a loving heavenly Father.  I mention this because it illustrates that how we approach the Bible (with the goal of understanding what God has to say to us) is controlled largely by our background.  What we find in Scripture is influenced, to a great extent by what we bring to the table.  Luther, for example, wanted to tear the Epistle of James right out of the Bible.  Luther referred to it as “the epistle of straw” because it disagreed with his views on faith and works.

            James had a more balanced take on the relationship between faith and works.  He understood that faith comes first, and that we are indeed saved by faith in God.  He also realized that doing nothing to demonstrate that faith limits our effectiveness as Christians.  He urged his readers to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only.”  In fact, James gets a little irritated about faith without works.

            “So!” he says.  “What happens if a brother or sister shows up on your doorstep without enough to eat, or without proper clothing for protection from the weather?  Do you say, ‘Peace be with you, I hope you can find a way to get warm and be fed?’  What kind of nonsense is that?  Faith without works is no faith at all.  It’s dead faith.”  Can you hear James’s disapproval as he puts these ineffectual Christians in their place?

            James knew, as Christ knew before him, that hearing the word was not enough.  Jesus’ teaching is full of admonishments to act in accordance with the law God had given the Israelites so many centuries before.  If you need proof, read the Ten Commandments.  None of them say, “You shall believe,” or “You shall not think.”  Every one says “You shall,” or “You shall not.”  The commandments speak about ways of behaving, not about ways of believing.  The Israelites were called to act in accordance with God’s providence toward them.  God said, in effect, “Look at all I have done for you!  Go and do the same to the people you meet.”

William Booth, the English Methodist minister who founded the Salvation Army, said that some people were “so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly use.”  Like the apostle James almost two centuries before him, Booth deplored anyone who went by the name Christian yet refused to help those who needed assistance.  Like James he could not tolerate dead faith.

            Thomas More, a sixteenth-century lawyer and scholar at the court of Henry VIII, said, “The things good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for.”  More understood that it isn’t enough to sit in the station and wait for the train to take us to heaven.  It is necessary for us to get on that train and help it move up the tracks by shoveling our share of the coal.

            We are all familiar with the saying “God helps those who help themselves.”  In our lives as Christians we can only help ourselves by helping others.  We show our love for God by loving our neighbor, and we demonstrate our love for our neighbor by what we do to help that neighbor.  As an old Russian proverb says, “Pray, but row for shore.”