Tag Archives: Faith and Works

Moving Mountains

Living in the Spirit

September 3, 2021

Scripture Reading:
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 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. –James :14-17

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’ –Matthew 17:18-21

I am sure I have written about this before, but it is one of my greatest Aha moments, so forgive me for repeating myself. The first chapter of the Books of Acts is the equivalent of a modern church council meeting. I see it as the point at which the Disciples, recovering from the shock of the death and resurrection of Jesus, realized they had work to do. Having lost a member, Judas, they selected someone to take his place. The lot fell on Matthias. My Aha moment was what happened in chapter 2, the Holy Spirit arrived. Christ-followers are sent forth to move the mountains of brokenness, division, and injustice in the world—the moment the Disciples recognized that responsibility is when they realized that God was with them.

In times like these, we need to refresh our faith and get about the business of bringing wholeness, oneness, and justice to our world of woe. Fires are burning out of control on the USA’s west coast, while a hurricane of grand proportions ripped up through Louisiana, turned northeast, and devastated the east coast. In both instances, the descriptor I heard most was these calamities were made worse by climate change. Yet, climate change is the mountain we refuse to tackle because it is inconvenient to our lifestyles and our source of wealth.

The list is long, and the mountains are high. We faced a broken health care system while tackling a stubborn worldwide pandemic. One hundred and forty million USA residents live in poverty or are one health care crisis away from financial disaster. Terrorists are spawned from our out-of-balanced world. God is not a magic wand. God created us and equipped us to love one another and live in harmony. We did not get in this mess overnight and will not repair it quickly, but we have all we need to restore our souls and world.

Prayer: Heal our souls so that we answer your call to be movers of the mountains of brokenness, division, and injustice. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Faith and Works

Lent
March 10, 2017

Scripture Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. –Romans 4:13-15

In their book The First Paul, Borg and Crossan indicate it is not possible to have faith without works. It is possible to have works without faith. Why do we do what we do? The answer to the question matters. The what-is-in-it-for-me discourse requires the establishment of some sort of tit for tat arrangement.  God’s call to love our neighbors reflects gifts freely received and freely given.

I once thought our public welfare programs largely served to stifle anarchy. While they were begun During the Great Depression, they were expanded following the riots occurring primarily in inner-cities throughout the country during the 1960’s. Some of the initial programs were very good, designed to help disadvantaged even oppressed citizens move from poverty to self-sufficiency. The War on Poverty quickly turned into structures to prohibit fraud, waste, and abuse. I use to note at the time we fought a war in Vietnam that was never declared and the War on Poverty that was declared but never fought. Both demanded great works neither was necessarily graced by faith.

The history of God is one that welcomes free expression of our love for God. Would you want to be loved by someone forced to love you? Is that even possible? God wants us to love God and out of the abundance of that shared love work toward a world where all know love.

Prayer: Lord we have willing hands and feet to help you in any way we can to make your Kingdom a reality for all your children. Show us the way. Amen.

*The First Paul by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Harper One, 2009.

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.