Needing to struggle

In reading today’s letter from James’ this morning, I realized that I need to be careful when hearing scripture that I fully track with, fully agree with.

This is one of those bits of the bible that I can really get behind, I could see it printed on t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc.

In fact, it is later in this chapter where we hear the famous quote, “faith without works is dead.”

To me, faith should be an active faith.

Faith should include works.

Faith should be as much as feeding the hungry as it is being fed at the altar.

Faith should be as much about giving the thirsty something to drink as it is about drinking from the common cup.

Faith should be about giving the naked clothes to wear as much as it is about clothing ourselves in the righteousness of our own belief.

Visiting the prisoner as much as visiting this church to ask forgiveness for our sins.

Welcoming the stranger as we do each other.

Were we not commanded to do these things?

Did not Jesus say that along with loving God and loving each other, we were to perform these works?

It’s all right there in one gospel or another.

Feed the hungry, lift up the poor, go make disciples of all peoples.

Do.

The.

Work.

And when we do the work we are acting out of a sense of faithfulness and showing it

We do this not to prove our faith, or to act as the hypocrites did by wailing and gnashing our teeth when we are in front of our fellow believers but doing no such thing when we are alone.

We do this not because we are commanded to do good works.

We do the work because we are faithful.

Because we are faithful we do good works and we do good works because we are faithful.

Because when we do the works we are given to do we meet folks on a very human level; on a level where we know and fully realize that we are siblings in Christ.

Because what is faith alone if not just aspiration?

If not only hope without expectation of experience?

If we aspire to end poverty then it is up to us to work to end it.

Will prayers alone bring riches to those who are in need?

Certainly, we are to pray for the end of poverty and we do so rather regularly.

Yet even Jesus said the poor will always be with us so how much work should we perform to eradicate poverty?

But Jesus was referring to Deuteronomy when he said that and Jesus knew scripture and he knew his audience.

He knew they would be aware of the rest of the passage which reads: “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

Open your hand to the poor and needy.

Do not just pray.

Do not just have faith that those most in need will be lifted up, do the work necessary to open your hand to the poor and needy so that they are lifted up.

And still.

I need to be careful when I read a bit of scripture that I fully agree with so wholeheartedly and I most need to be careful that I do not favor that passage over another passage which might seemingly contradict each other.

Because, I am not an apologist.

I do not think that the bible is one coherent story without contradiction.

There are contradictions on the bible; there are multiple tellings of the same story.

There are two creation stories in Genesis.

There are two claims as to who killed Goliath, David or Elhanan.

We need to struggle over these points.

We need to struggle over scripture.

So, when scripture comes so easy to me, when it is so easily understood by me or perhaps suited to my own biases, that sets off warning bells.

Why am I deriving clarity here from reading this passage and not so much when I try to understand the Exodus.

And, especially when it comes to the faith and works that James proscribes, there are parts of the bible where my beliefs are somewhat afield from the mainstream.

You see, most people, most scholars, most Biblicists, most Protestants for that matter, believe not in works and faith but in something called justification by faith.

That is, if you believe, you will realize salvation.

Just believe and you’re good.

In fact, this is where the bible seemingly contradicts itself, because James is arguing that faith without works is dead.

Yet Paul would argue otherwise.

Here he writes in Romans:

But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.

Now, at first glance, this might seem a bit too easy.

You mean to say, Paul, that if I just believe, or worse, just profess to believe, I will be justified before God?

That faith alone, no matter what good deeds I do or neglect to do, is reason enough for my salvation?

I mean, I’m not complaining dear Paul about this idea, I’m just seeking clarity.

I can spend my days on the seashore counting pelicans and as long as I am faithful, I will be redeemed?

Not a bad deal.

But again, how do we reconcile that which James said with what Paul is stating?

Because this is all scripture; both of these readings are in the bible and they are in there for some reason.

It is not always easy to understand why though.

~pause~

James brought up showing partiality at the beginning of this morning’s epistle reading.

He gave us the example of a rich man entering into a place of worship and at the same time, so too entered a poor person in dirty clothes.

There might be something enticing about that rich man, perhaps he was rich and famous!

Perhaps he might stay and pledge and do great things for the church.

Perhaps he is shown favoritism and given a special spot to sit in but the poor man, while given a seat, is not given a special seat.

He is not fawned over like the rich man is.

After all, how much help could the poor man bring, how much physical, material wealth might he bring to the church.

Sometimes, through the lens of our biased, world-weary eyes it is easier to love those who might make our lives easier and we neglect to see that is the entirety of humanity we must love and not just the easy ones that are easy to love.

Now, James’s point here is not showing bias towards human beings and he gives his reasoning, but I want to borrow from his point of view without disagreeing with it.

I just want to borrow it a little bit.

Because when we read scripture, there are passages that are easier to love, that we agree with from the outset.

James’ thoughts on faith and works are like manna to me.

They feed me.

I am nourished and energized by the prospect of getting out there and performing those works.

And yet Paul says those works are unnecessary, or not necessary for salvation.

And that leaves me hungry.

Yes, I believe, but is that enough?

Why, Paul, do I want more?

I need to struggle with this question.

I need to struggle so that I might understand.

Because I see a lot of people professing faith, but they are still showing partiality.

They are still spitting words of hate; they are still encouraging division between God’s people.

Is that faith?

Can I be faithful and hate some portion of humanity?

Can I be faithful and help to destroy Creation?

That is my struggle and after struggling and mulling things over, I think I was taking on Paul’s writings incorrectly.

I was partial to James because his words struck me as true, but I did not need to show partiality.

Both Paul and James are right.

Both the man with wealth and the man with little had riches to share.

You see, when we are faithful, we are faithful to God’s word, we are faithful to all that we are commanded to do.

When we are faithful we do not preach division and discord but love, only love.

When we are faithful, we lift up the poor, feed the hungry, heal the sick, visit the prisoner and so on.

Because we are faithful, our works can be nothing but Godly and when we fall short, we are forgiven through faith by a God who loves us and pursues us eternally.

There is beauty in faith and there is beauty in good works and both are inseparable, both are correct.

Yes, there are contradictions in scripture and it is up to us to struggle with them.

What story was the storyteller trying to portray in Second Samuel when they wrote about Elhanan besting Goliath?

What story was the storyteller trying to tell when they wrote in First Samuel that David killed Goliath with but a sling and a rock?

Yet in those contradictions, there is a story inspired by God and written by humans.

The struggle is seeking where and how they coalesce and if they do not, where and how they disagree.

This is not supposed to be easy.

Instead, our reading of scripture must be the reading of a living document that continues to inspire us as our understanding of it evolves from youthfulness to, well, let’s call it less youthfulness; from first reading to last.

There is excitement there, there is hopefulness in opening the bible and finding new inspiration and performing good works.

Works performed as part of our faithfulness and because of our faith, we perform good works.

Amen.