Scripture Promises, Faith Saves, Works Prove (James 2:22-23)

 

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost [Ordinary 24]

September 15, 2024

James 2:22-23

Scripture Promises, Faith Saves, Works Prove

Once upon a time, the phrase “faith without works is dead” could have you burnt at the stake. You could be agreeing with it, or you could be contending against it – either way, it got people’s backs up. Because of this line, Martin Luther famously denounced the entire book of the letter of St James as “an epistle of straw”; having spent the first part of his life trying to earn God’s favour by crawling up cathedral steps on his knees, he later decided it was more helpful to realise that God loved him. (More helpful for both his soul and his knees.)

That era of Christian history we call the Reformation was defined by the debate over how we are made right with God. Or, to use the language of St James, how one can be a “friend of God”. It was an era of slogans. The great Reformer slogan grab-bag consisted of what is called the five solas (the Latin word for “alone”, or “only”): we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the scriptures alone, all to the glory of God alone.

Slogans are great for what they are, but they are only that: slogans. There is a depth to be plumbed; a solid object to which the sketch of the slogan points towards. Faith is what saves, yes, and this is the promise of scripture – but works prove it. Reflecting on the so-called epistle of straw, we can come up with another slogan: scriptures promise, faith saves, works prove.

Defining Terms

Abraham had heard the promise of God, a promise of patient and generous love. His trust, or faith, in this love, saved him. Or, as it is put so wonderfully here, Abraham’s trust defined him as a “friend of God”. The “fulfilment”, or proof, came about by what Abraham did in response. What the scriptures promised about salvation by faith was proved by his works.

How Shall We Then Live

Pure coincidence in the lectionary readings has encouraged us to read the letter of St James alongside the book of Proverbs. It is a happy coincidence; just as St James encourages us to make our faith public by what we do, the wisdom of the proverbs is out in public, too. The voice of wisdom is announced in the public square; the market place; out on the main thoroughfares. Look to the scriptures, and dig out the promises of God. Plant them deep in your heart, and trust them. Then, go and prove it by your works. Wisdom is developed by trusting the promises of scripture and fulfilling them in our lives. Yes, there is the risk of choosing the foolish option by accident. But our faith in the promise of God in the scriptures gives us the courage to take that risk. Our God is the God of the resurrection, and this works itself out all the time in God’s encouragement to us to keep going.

Our works also prove to ourselves that we are a friend of God. Sometimes the life of Christian faith is walking on clouds of joy; we also sometimes trudge through the dark valley of doubt. Spending time at the end of every day, sitting with God and looking at the day that has been, we discover that we have proved by our works the promise of scripture that we are a friend of God. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth proclaims his handiwork”: proof of our friendship with God can be found even just by paying attention to the world around us.

Works also prove to others in the church that we, as a church body, are friends of God. Looking around at what we do as a parish, we can see that through our works we are proving the promise of scripture as true. The scriptures promise God’s love to us, and we believe it to be true. Out of that generosity we have been dedicating ourselves to works of charity in the pantry and weekly lunches. Many of us sitting here in the pews spend many hours in the week working away quietly at keeping the lights on, the grounds clean, the sanctuary pristine, our worship beautiful and our hospitality peerless. Our loving response to God’s love for us finds it voice in every corner of our work; and there are even more frontiers we are yet to pioneer.

Elsewhere in scripture we are told to encourage one another, to build one another up. When you perform works that prove the promise of scripture, that has a flow-on effect to every other member of this church body; it is an encouragement to one another to perform works of love, an encouragement to dive even deeper into the work to which God has called us. “Outdo one another in showing honour.” Every time one of us performs a work of love, the bar is raised for the whole church. We have proved to ourselves that we can do yet even more. The scriptures promise that God gives us the grace necessary to do yet even more; we trust this to be true.

Works prove the truth of scripture to the world as well. You have probably heard the old saying “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” It’s a good saying, and there is a similar one just as good: “Preach the gospel. At all times, if necessary. Use words.” Our new slogan is scriptures promise, faith saves, works prove. Faith produces works, fulfilling the words of scripture. They all go together; show and tell.

The scriptures promise that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, Jesus Christ, so that all who believe in him may have eternal life. Scriptures promise, faith saves, works prove. This is our job as the church: to be living proof of God’s promise of love.