Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35
At the center of our readings today is the age-old teaching that has been misunderstood since the time of the reformation – the controversy between faith and works. Paul, in his letter to the Romans states clearly, “. . . we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Contrast this with the letter of James and his insistence that “faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) and one can be left with a bit of confusion. Even Martin Luther was a bit confused on this point which impelled him to eliminate the Letter of James from the New Testament. His followers knew he was wrong on this point and include James in the New Testament Canon.
Since the time of the reformation Catholics have been accused of trying to work their way into heaven. While this has never been officially taught by the Church there have always been those Catholics who have tried to keep track of the amount of work they have done in the hopes that they will earn their way to heaven by their own merits. To have this type of faith would be wrong as we cannot earn and we certainly do not deserve God’s mercy.
On the other hand the teaching of “faith without works” has been distorted to the point that many fundamentalist Christians live as though all you have to do is believe. This has led to a distortion in which some people genuinely believe they can do anything they want to in this world, even to the point of committing serious sin, and still expect to get to heaven because they believe in Jesus.
Both of these attitudes are distortions of what Paul and James are trying to teach us. To understand what appears to be a contradiction between Paul and James one needs to recognize that their teachings begin at different times in the Christian life. Paul begins at the very beginning. He insists that no one can ever earn the forgiveness of God. The initial step must come from the free grace of God; a person can only accept the forgiveness which God offers through Jesus Christ. This is the first step of Christian faith.
James begins much later with the Christian life, the one who claims to be already forgiven and in a new relationship with God. Having been chosen by God, and saved and made holy by the baptismal graces, the Christian becomes a new creature. Having been justified, we must now show this through our works.
The fact is that no one can be saved by works; but equally no one can be saved without producing works. The best analogy is that of human love. When we are loved we know that he does not deserve to be loved. And so we know we must spend our lives trying to be worthy of that love. We do things for those who love us and in the process our love grows stronger.
The same is true for our Christian faith. We know we are loved by God, even though we do not deserve it. And so we are compelled to do things in the name of God to prove our worthiness. In the simple act of doing God’s work, our love for God grows stronger and we recognize more deeply God’s love for us.
It is for this reason that Jesus has commanded us to complete His work here on earth. His job was finished when he suffered and died on the cross, and rose from the dead. He has now commissioned us to continue his work. We do this first and foremost through our corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; give shelter to the homeless; visit the sick; ransom the captive; bury the dead. And in our spiritual works of mercy: instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish the sinner; bear wrongs patiently; forgive offences willingly; comfort the afflicted; pray for the living and the dead. These works are performed in our world and in the words of Jesus when people see us doing these things they will give glory to God.
Each Christian community also has the task of doing God’s work for the sake of its own members and the surrounding community. We at the Church of the Nativity are known for the many ways that people give of their time and talent to build up our parish. In order to continue this work we need each one of you to give of your time and talent in some way. In the ends of the pews you will find our annual Time and Talent survey. You also should have received a copy of this in the mail. If you have not yet completed a survey we ask you take the time right now to please do so. For our record keeping it is helpful for each individual adult in the household to complete a survey. Also, if you simply wish to continue in a ministry we do ask that you mark this accordingly as we do purge our records each year.
Please take some time right now to complete this survey. I ask you also to look at the entire survey, even if you are not intending to share your gifts in a particular area. This will help you to see and appreciate the many things that we are doing in our parish. If you have already completed a survey we invite you to spend the time praying for the works of our parish.
God loves us and has saved us through the death and resurrection of his Son. Believing this is the first step of faith. Living as though we believe this, Christ calls us to action as we do his work and help to make disciples of all nations.
