Thoughts and Prayers

Read James 2:14-26

"I'd do anything for her," he sighed as he sat on a couch, thinking about asking her out. "I'd do anything for her," he groaned as he collapsed onto his bed after another day of caring for his wife. She'd forgotten his name a few years ago, as Parkinson's disease progressively stole her identity, but he still knew hers. Anyone can believe Israel's signature prayer, "God is one." At my confirmation ceremony, we all said the liturgical prayers in unison. But when they passed the offering basket, I saw some teenagers in my aisle take money out as it went by them. I looked down on them, but a couple of weeks ago I walked by a guy begging outside of Target. Meanwhile, my wife knelt down to talk to him, gave him some money, and prayed for him. So, are we saved by faith or works? The question seems absurd. Of course, we're saved by faith. But the only kind of faith that can save us is one that changes our lives. James points out that even demons have accurate beliefs about God, but they're terrified by what they know about God. The English monk Bede commented, "Faith with love is Christian, but faith without love is demonic." James proclaimed the gospel earlier in his letter, "By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (1:18). "The word of truth" is how James refers to the good news about Jesus. It sounds like Paul saying to the Thessalonians, "But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13). God chose us to be saved so that we would be sanctified. James keeps asking, "What good is it?" It's the same question a cold, hungry person asks when someone walks by and says, "I'm praying God keeps you warm and gives you something to eat." We're the only ones who are fooled when we use religious language to avoid loving our neighbors. But God wants us to have something much better: a thriving faith as we meet each other's needs. There's no wiggle room. James gives us two examples to prove his point: Abraham and Rahab. God declared both the revered father of the faith and the disreputable Canaanite prostitute to be righteous in the same way, for the same purpose. Abraham's high status didn't protect him from costly obedience and Rahab's low status didn't disqualify her from heroic obedience. Everyone else can find themselves somewhere between the two. James warns us that we deceive ourselves if we claim to know God but do not obey him the way Abraham and Rahab did. But he also tells us what real faith looks like: God calls us his friends.