Show Me Your Faith

" What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no works? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ' Go, I wish you well; keep warm and eat well', but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith, I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." [ James 2: 14-18].

There is an age-old argument in the natural world about "Nature vs. Nurture." That is, are we the way we are, because of our DNA, because of how we were born [our Nature]? Or, are we the way we are, because of the sum total of our experiences [how we were nurtured?].

There is a similar debate in the world of theology. That is, are we pleasing in God's eyes because of our innate faith alone? Or, are we pleasing to God because of what we do?

We have seen how good deeds alone, without any faith behind them, are empty. A woman follows all the rules of society, providing her children only the very best of nutrition and education, taking them to the Right Church until right after the very first moment of  their Confirmation; keeping a perfect household by following the perfect housekeeping schedule, allowing no clutter in the home and dressing her children only in the best matching outfits; and spending years in volunteer work, not out of deep faith, but merely to fill the time. But when she passes on and reaches the gates of Heaven, Jesus rebukes her sharply: " I will tell you plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me!' " ; [Matthew 7:23].   [Related posting, Clinging To Human Rules, September 4 , 2012.]

Clearly, good deeds alone, without "God in your heart", are not enough to save you.

I have known people like this! They obey the laws. They seek to follow the Rules for Success. They donate to charity. They volunteer countless hours in the community. But they do not pray or ever go to church-- and they are not even certain that there is a God. They do not "know" God. And so, therefore, He does not know them.

So-- if your good deeds alone are not sufficient, then, is your faith alone good enough? And how is this all really relevant, anyway?

Actually, this Reading, in James 2 above, strikes me as surprisingly modern. [And people say that the Bible is archaic and irrevelant!] The text here that says, "Show me your faith", reminds me of that American movie, "Jerry Mc Guire" a few years ago, in which the football star, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. says, "Show me the money!!" Only here, Jesus is saying, "Show me your faith."

" Show me your faith!" NOT feel the faith! This line is aimed directly at those who call themselves "spiritual", but do not show it by their actions. 

The example that Jesus gives is of the "spiritual", faith-filled person who has benevolent feelings towards the suffering man, but who does nothing to help him. A heart full of love, alone, will not feed the hungry, clothe the destitute or house the homeless. Jesus calls this kind of faith, without action, "dead". 

Again, Jesus asks us to show Him our faith, not solely by the warm feelings inside us, but by what we DO.

So, then-- which came first, Faith or Good Deeds? Jesus answers this in the last line of this Reading: "I show [you] my faith, by what I do". In other words, our faith must be so full and overflowing from our hearts, that we are then compelled to act.

There is a bumper sticker that used to be popular around this country: "Love is a Verb." I repeated this saying to my young son recently, and he said, "Sometimes, I want Love to be just a noun !!"

I know, sometimes it IS easier to have faith-filled hearts and to do nothing. But embodying the idea of "Love as a verb" has the capacity to change the world-- the way Jesus did!

Jesus, I pray that I may always put my Faith into action, and thereby change the world!

[Related Posting: "Five Loaves and Two Fish", July 29, 2012.]


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