This sermon was given at the beginning of 2001 at All Saints Church in Palmerston North, and so some of the references are specific to that location and circumstances.
If there�s one part of the bible I�ve had serious problems with, it is this passage from James. Not long after my faith really came alive I heard someone preach on it, that faith without works is dead, and I didn�t like it one bit. It wasn�t because I had serious theological problems with what was taught, or that the preacher was not very good, but the idea of actually having to do stuff now that I was a Christian didn�t feel very comfortable. I thought that I was already there � I had become a Christian so now the trip was over. I thought that I had already made it. I was quite big on the whole saved by grace thing � we don�t need to do anything at all because God has saved us simply out of his love for us. So, any talk of faith requiring deeds to become effective was not something I particularly liked.
It clearly says that our salvation is entirely due to God, and not us. We are saved by grace, through faith, but even this faith is a gift from God and not of us. Paul specifically denies that our works produce salvation. Now if we turn back to James 2, verse 24 says that �a person is justified by what they do, and not by faith alone�. If we take this verse on its own, it seems to be contradicting what Paul is teaching. It appears to be saying that we are saved through some combination of faith and works.
But I don�t think that God has some angel acting as a sort of heavenly accountant, giving us merit points for the good things we do "ah yes, you tithed this week, that's 5 points", and demerits whenever we do bad things "a lie? That's 10 demerits", and then letting us into heaven if we have a positive balance at the end. That just doesn't seem to square up with the rest of the bible, particularly with that passage from Ephesians. So let's take a look at the context of this verse: in verses 15-16 James speaks of someone who is going through the motions of being a Christian. "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" Such a person is going through the motions of being a Christian, but is not prepared to take a course of action that shows that their faith is real. James claims that the faith of such a person is dead - it is not a true living faith in Jesus. He is not saying that it is works that save a person, but they are merely evidence of real faith. A true faith is not silent - it will speak through the actions and consequently the works of a believer. This is similar to what Jesus said:
Jesus said that we will know true believers by their fruits. Anyone could claim that they believe in God, but it is by actions that a true faith is shown.
Even Paul doesn't neglect the importance of doing works:
He makes it clear in verses 8-9 that works cannot earn us our salvation, but he still does stress in the immediately following verse that we were not created to just believe, but to show our faith through our actions. We were created to do good works for God.
So, a Christianity that is merely a mental acceptance of truth is not sufficient. If faith is purely something that tickles our intellects, then it is only an academic exercise. And Jesus did not come just so we could spend all our time speculating academically about the nature of God. He did not come so we could spend the rest of our lives in theological debates. Jesus did not spend all his time in the temple having theological arguments with the scribes and teachers of the law. What would the point be in him dying simply so we could talk about it academically? James writes in verse 19: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." An intellectual knowledge of God is not enough - the demons have that, and they are definitely not saved.
Eternal life is to know God, not to know about God. It does not say: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know about you, the only true God, and about Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." It is so that we may know God. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it in all its abundance. Jesus calls us into a relationship with God, not just a knowledge of God. And a relationship with God has a number of sides to it. As we pray, read our bibles, spend time praising and worshipping him, fellowshipping with other Christians, and doing what God wants, we grow closer to God. And of course, a strong relationship requires knowledge of other party to that relationship. For example, I could hardly have a strong friendship with someone if I didn't know anything about them, and didn't make any effort to get to know them better. If you don't know the interests of a person, what they are like, what are their goals, what are they doing, it is very hard to find common ground and have a relationship at anything other than just surface level. It is hard to trust someone that you do not know well. But as our relationship with Jesus deepens, we learn more about him. And as we read our bibles, we learn more about God, and this knowledge enriches our relationship with him. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It is difficult to love God with all our minds if we do not know anything about him. So, just as a Christianity that is purely intellectual is insufficient, a faith where we do not use our minds is also inadequate.
This is something that is quite a challenge for me. When my faith really came alive I had a quite an amazing experience with Jesus. I had been going to church for a number of years with my parents, but it didn't really seem to mean much to me until I did a Youth Alpha course, and went on the Holy Spirit weekend. That weekend I felt God speaking to me personally. I felt his amazing love for me, and so I decided to follow him. It wasn't quite a 'road to Damascus' experience, but it was the first time that I really had an experience of God. After that, my relationship with God was very big on emotional involvement and prayer, but very little on bible study and intellectual awareness of what God was really like. I was a bit suspicious of involving the mind too much in the God stuff - it was like I had segregated my life with school and normal things on one hand where I was using my mind all the time, or at least most of it. And on the other hand I had church stuff where I tried to not use my mind much at all. I didn't think too much about what I believed, or about what God was really like and how that should affect the way I lived. The little bit of God I knew, I felt like I knew really well because I was really into it. But my knowledge of God was extremely limited, and so that bit of God that I knew was only a very tiny bit. Now, however, I have changed somewhat. I now really enjoy thinking about God. I love studying theology, contemplating the character of God, the nature of the Trinity, the work of the Holy Spirit. I enjoy reading about differing views on some disputed theological points. I love studying the bible, reading commentaries, struggling to learn some Greek, and comparing different versions of the bible to see why a particular translation was used. But it can be easy to run into the opposite danger to that which I had initially. Instead of not using my mind at all where God was concerned, there is the danger of only using the mind, and treating God as if he were just some theory to be considered, as if he were just another topic to be covered at university. Instead of a faith that knows very little about God, there is a danger of a faith that is purely academic. I have to always remember that even though I find bible study and theology very interesting, it is pointless if it does not lead to a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is no good if I know all about God, but do not know God.
In one of his talks on Alpha, Nicky Gumbel tells the story of buying a new Toyota car, which of course comes complete with a manual telling you how to use the car. You could read the manual a number of times, and study the more difficult parts of it in some detail. You might buy some other books in which people give their opinions as to what the authors of the manual meant when they wrote it, and you could join a group of people meeting regularly who also love Toyota cars and study the manual together. You could learn Japanese so that you could study the manual in its original language. But all of this is absolutely no good if you never get around to actually driving the car. The point of the car manual is to enable you to drive the car. The point of reading the bible and learning about God is to have a relationship with God. A faith that is simply a mental acceptance of truth is no faith at all.
So, God is not interested in us having only a mental acceptance of truth, and I think it actually goes a step further than this. God is more interested in us showing justice and mercy, than he is interested in us having correct theology. James writes that 'faith without works is dead'. Our faith is useless if it is not backed up by our actions. John speaks of something similar in his letters as well.
He is claiming that the love of God cannot be in someone who is not merciful, just as James claims that a true faith requires deeds. But we shouldn't be showing justice and mercy just as if it was a condition of our salvation. The primary motivator must be love. It's very difficult to provide true caring help for those in need if you don't love them. And sometimes this is very hard, but fortunately as we get closer to God, and are transformed into the likeness of Christ, God pours out his love into our hearts. This love is the kind of love that does care for everyone, and does cry out for justice and mercy. 1 Jn 4:19 says "We love because he first loved us." Our desire to show justice and mercy comes because of God's love for us.
The reason that I think this is so important is that without demonstrating our faith and love we are actually in danger of becoming like the Pharisees. In general the Pharisees were pretty good people: they obeyed the law, they had good theology. Unlike the Sadducees who were another prominent Jewish group, they did believe in a spirit world and the resurrection, so their theology was probably the best of the day. They studied the scriptures diligently. But Jesus consistently condemned them for their lack of justice and mercy. Lk 11:42 says: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the former without leaving the latter undone." And in Matthew:
Jesus clearly says that justice and mercy are the more important matters of the law. This focus on justice and mercy is not just a New Testament idea either. Zec 7:9-10 says: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another.'" And in Amos:
Here God is refusing to accept the Israelites' worship and sacrifices unless it is accompanied by a real concern for justice. And I would suggest that the same thing applies here today. God does not accept our worship, or our sacrifices, unless it too is accompanied by a demonstration of mercy and justice. If Jesus came to visit us in person, I think he would be more interested in how we show mercy and justice than how good our worship team is, or how good our theology is. It is very easy to just come along to church each week, sing a few worship songs, tell God we love him, but then during the rest of the week, fail to show that we actually mean it by our actions. When we read of the suffering of the third world, or even the poverty in our own country, or the shortages in the local food banks, it is easy to turn a blind eye, or to sympathise, but not be prepared to do anything about it. It is very easy for us to neglect mercy and justice.
Around this time last year, we were having our study group at the friendship centre, and since a number of people were away over the holidays we had combined two of the Pulse groups together until the rest of the students came back. I was running the group one particular week, and I arrived early so I could pray first and take another look through my material. When I arrived at church there was a guy sitting outside the friendship centre, and so I stopped to talk to him. It turned out that he had used to go to church, but had fallen away, and was due to go to court the next week and was facing a probable prison sentence. While I was talking to him, God opened up my heart, and I had a glimpse of God's heart for that man. So I made him a cup of tea, chatted to him for a while and gave him some money before he left. I know that there may be a number of people who will take advantage of you in those circumstances, but I am really thankful to God for giving me that opportunity to show his mercy, and opening up my heart to see people more like he does. I wish I could say that is how I always act, but unfortunately I can think of a number of times where I haven't been as quick to demonstrate God's mercy and justice. I remember one day when the Salvation Army was doing their annual collection. I turned then down saying that I was a student and didn't have any money to spare, but that Sunday night, I wasted about $10 at Burger King. Another time a few years ago at Christmas my Mum suggested that for Christmas Day we should go and help out at one of the many Christmas dinners provided by various mission organisations around the city. I was quite opposed to this - it was not my idea of good way to spend Christmas. I wanted to spend Christmas at home with nice food, not surrounded by lots of noise, lots of people, and on top of that, having to serve people dinner. But, looking back on it now, I missed an awesome opportunity to show God's love and mercy. Jesus would most certainly have been at that Christmas function for the poor. He would have spoken to each of them kindly, and treated them as equals. I missed that chance, but my prayer is that God will continue to open up my heart, and to make my heart more like his.
Micah 6:8 says: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Jesus calls us to be his hands and feet - his instruments in this world. He calls us show his love, his mercy, and his justice to everyone, and not to get caught up in doing our own thing. May we be that kind of church. Amen.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? 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 well fed," 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.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-26)
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 well fed," 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.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14-26)
If there�s one part of the bible I�ve had serious problems with, it is this passage from James. Not long after my faith really came alive I heard someone preach on it, that faith without works is dead, and I didn�t like it one bit. It wasn�t because I had serious theological problems with what was taught, or that the preacher was not very good, but the idea of actually having to do stuff now that I was a Christian didn�t feel very comfortable. I thought that I was already there � I had become a Christian so now the trip was over. I thought that I had already made it. I was quite big on the whole saved by grace thing � we don�t need to do anything at all because God has saved us simply out of his love for us. So, any talk of faith requiring deeds to become effective was not something I particularly liked.
This view of course came from reading the letters of Paul:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
It clearly says that our salvation is entirely due to God, and not us. We are saved by grace, through faith, but even this faith is a gift from God and not of us. Paul specifically denies that our works produce salvation. Now if we turn back to James 2, verse 24 says that �a person is justified by what they do, and not by faith alone�. If we take this verse on its own, it seems to be contradicting what Paul is teaching. It appears to be saying that we are saved through some combination of faith and works.
But I don�t think that God has some angel acting as a sort of heavenly accountant, giving us merit points for the good things we do "ah yes, you tithed this week, that's 5 points", and demerits whenever we do bad things "a lie? That's 10 demerits", and then letting us into heaven if we have a positive balance at the end. That just doesn't seem to square up with the rest of the bible, particularly with that passage from Ephesians. So let's take a look at the context of this verse: in verses 15-16 James speaks of someone who is going through the motions of being a Christian. "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" Such a person is going through the motions of being a Christian, but is not prepared to take a course of action that shows that their faith is real. James claims that the faith of such a person is dead - it is not a true living faith in Jesus. He is not saying that it is works that save a person, but they are merely evidence of real faith. A true faith is not silent - it will speak through the actions and consequently the works of a believer. This is similar to what Jesus said:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 7:15-20)
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 7:15-20)
Jesus said that we will know true believers by their fruits. Anyone could claim that they believe in God, but it is by actions that a true faith is shown.
Even Paul doesn't neglect the importance of doing works:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:8-10)
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:8-10)
He makes it clear in verses 8-9 that works cannot earn us our salvation, but he still does stress in the immediately following verse that we were not created to just believe, but to show our faith through our actions. We were created to do good works for God.
So, a Christianity that is merely a mental acceptance of truth is not sufficient. If faith is purely something that tickles our intellects, then it is only an academic exercise. And Jesus did not come just so we could spend all our time speculating academically about the nature of God. He did not come so we could spend the rest of our lives in theological debates. Jesus did not spend all his time in the temple having theological arguments with the scribes and teachers of the law. What would the point be in him dying simply so we could talk about it academically? James writes in verse 19: "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." An intellectual knowledge of God is not enough - the demons have that, and they are definitely not saved.
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
Eternal life is to know God, not to know about God. It does not say: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know about you, the only true God, and about Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." It is so that we may know God. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it in all its abundance. Jesus calls us into a relationship with God, not just a knowledge of God. And a relationship with God has a number of sides to it. As we pray, read our bibles, spend time praising and worshipping him, fellowshipping with other Christians, and doing what God wants, we grow closer to God. And of course, a strong relationship requires knowledge of other party to that relationship. For example, I could hardly have a strong friendship with someone if I didn't know anything about them, and didn't make any effort to get to know them better. If you don't know the interests of a person, what they are like, what are their goals, what are they doing, it is very hard to find common ground and have a relationship at anything other than just surface level. It is hard to trust someone that you do not know well. But as our relationship with Jesus deepens, we learn more about him. And as we read our bibles, we learn more about God, and this knowledge enriches our relationship with him. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." It is difficult to love God with all our minds if we do not know anything about him. So, just as a Christianity that is purely intellectual is insufficient, a faith where we do not use our minds is also inadequate.
This is something that is quite a challenge for me. When my faith really came alive I had a quite an amazing experience with Jesus. I had been going to church for a number of years with my parents, but it didn't really seem to mean much to me until I did a Youth Alpha course, and went on the Holy Spirit weekend. That weekend I felt God speaking to me personally. I felt his amazing love for me, and so I decided to follow him. It wasn't quite a 'road to Damascus' experience, but it was the first time that I really had an experience of God. After that, my relationship with God was very big on emotional involvement and prayer, but very little on bible study and intellectual awareness of what God was really like. I was a bit suspicious of involving the mind too much in the God stuff - it was like I had segregated my life with school and normal things on one hand where I was using my mind all the time, or at least most of it. And on the other hand I had church stuff where I tried to not use my mind much at all. I didn't think too much about what I believed, or about what God was really like and how that should affect the way I lived. The little bit of God I knew, I felt like I knew really well because I was really into it. But my knowledge of God was extremely limited, and so that bit of God that I knew was only a very tiny bit. Now, however, I have changed somewhat. I now really enjoy thinking about God. I love studying theology, contemplating the character of God, the nature of the Trinity, the work of the Holy Spirit. I enjoy reading about differing views on some disputed theological points. I love studying the bible, reading commentaries, struggling to learn some Greek, and comparing different versions of the bible to see why a particular translation was used. But it can be easy to run into the opposite danger to that which I had initially. Instead of not using my mind at all where God was concerned, there is the danger of only using the mind, and treating God as if he were just some theory to be considered, as if he were just another topic to be covered at university. Instead of a faith that knows very little about God, there is a danger of a faith that is purely academic. I have to always remember that even though I find bible study and theology very interesting, it is pointless if it does not lead to a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is no good if I know all about God, but do not know God.
In one of his talks on Alpha, Nicky Gumbel tells the story of buying a new Toyota car, which of course comes complete with a manual telling you how to use the car. You could read the manual a number of times, and study the more difficult parts of it in some detail. You might buy some other books in which people give their opinions as to what the authors of the manual meant when they wrote it, and you could join a group of people meeting regularly who also love Toyota cars and study the manual together. You could learn Japanese so that you could study the manual in its original language. But all of this is absolutely no good if you never get around to actually driving the car. The point of the car manual is to enable you to drive the car. The point of reading the bible and learning about God is to have a relationship with God. A faith that is simply a mental acceptance of truth is no faith at all.
So, God is not interested in us having only a mental acceptance of truth, and I think it actually goes a step further than this. God is more interested in us showing justice and mercy, than he is interested in us having correct theology. James writes that 'faith without works is dead'. Our faith is useless if it is not backed up by our actions. John speaks of something similar in his letters as well.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (1 John 3:17)
He is claiming that the love of God cannot be in someone who is not merciful, just as James claims that a true faith requires deeds. But we shouldn't be showing justice and mercy just as if it was a condition of our salvation. The primary motivator must be love. It's very difficult to provide true caring help for those in need if you don't love them. And sometimes this is very hard, but fortunately as we get closer to God, and are transformed into the likeness of Christ, God pours out his love into our hearts. This love is the kind of love that does care for everyone, and does cry out for justice and mercy. 1 Jn 4:19 says "We love because he first loved us." Our desire to show justice and mercy comes because of God's love for us.
The reason that I think this is so important is that without demonstrating our faith and love we are actually in danger of becoming like the Pharisees. In general the Pharisees were pretty good people: they obeyed the law, they had good theology. Unlike the Sadducees who were another prominent Jewish group, they did believe in a spirit world and the resurrection, so their theology was probably the best of the day. They studied the scriptures diligently. But Jesus consistently condemned them for their lack of justice and mercy. Lk 11:42 says: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the former without leaving the latter undone." And in Matthew:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matt 23:23-24)
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matt 23:23-24)
Jesus clearly says that justice and mercy are the more important matters of the law. This focus on justice and mercy is not just a New Testament idea either. Zec 7:9-10 says: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another.'" And in Amos:
I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24)
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24)
Here God is refusing to accept the Israelites' worship and sacrifices unless it is accompanied by a real concern for justice. And I would suggest that the same thing applies here today. God does not accept our worship, or our sacrifices, unless it too is accompanied by a demonstration of mercy and justice. If Jesus came to visit us in person, I think he would be more interested in how we show mercy and justice than how good our worship team is, or how good our theology is. It is very easy to just come along to church each week, sing a few worship songs, tell God we love him, but then during the rest of the week, fail to show that we actually mean it by our actions. When we read of the suffering of the third world, or even the poverty in our own country, or the shortages in the local food banks, it is easy to turn a blind eye, or to sympathise, but not be prepared to do anything about it. It is very easy for us to neglect mercy and justice.
Around this time last year, we were having our study group at the friendship centre, and since a number of people were away over the holidays we had combined two of the Pulse groups together until the rest of the students came back. I was running the group one particular week, and I arrived early so I could pray first and take another look through my material. When I arrived at church there was a guy sitting outside the friendship centre, and so I stopped to talk to him. It turned out that he had used to go to church, but had fallen away, and was due to go to court the next week and was facing a probable prison sentence. While I was talking to him, God opened up my heart, and I had a glimpse of God's heart for that man. So I made him a cup of tea, chatted to him for a while and gave him some money before he left. I know that there may be a number of people who will take advantage of you in those circumstances, but I am really thankful to God for giving me that opportunity to show his mercy, and opening up my heart to see people more like he does. I wish I could say that is how I always act, but unfortunately I can think of a number of times where I haven't been as quick to demonstrate God's mercy and justice. I remember one day when the Salvation Army was doing their annual collection. I turned then down saying that I was a student and didn't have any money to spare, but that Sunday night, I wasted about $10 at Burger King. Another time a few years ago at Christmas my Mum suggested that for Christmas Day we should go and help out at one of the many Christmas dinners provided by various mission organisations around the city. I was quite opposed to this - it was not my idea of good way to spend Christmas. I wanted to spend Christmas at home with nice food, not surrounded by lots of noise, lots of people, and on top of that, having to serve people dinner. But, looking back on it now, I missed an awesome opportunity to show God's love and mercy. Jesus would most certainly have been at that Christmas function for the poor. He would have spoken to each of them kindly, and treated them as equals. I missed that chance, but my prayer is that God will continue to open up my heart, and to make my heart more like his.
Micah 6:8 says: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Jesus calls us to be his hands and feet - his instruments in this world. He calls us show his love, his mercy, and his justice to everyone, and not to get caught up in doing our own thing. May we be that kind of church. Amen.
Comments
Greetings Dave, thanks for sharing you faith.
I believe that jesus did not come to start a religion but to mediate a covenant. i believe because of the sin of Adam and Eve we were separated from God. i believe That jesus death and ressurection reconciles us to our heavenly father, and god is love. I believe that as children of God we are to reflect his image which he originally made man in. I believe the new covenant we enter with god through our lord jesus christ, promises us the holy Spirit, which writes His laws in our hearts and minds, and a process of making us a new creation is now operating in all who are obedient to christ commands
Thanks dave,
amazing coincidence - i have to give a presentation/sermon this weekend at our church and wanted to talk on the general theme of love in action or good works as the outworking of a living faith and was browsing for some illustrations when I stumbled on your blog. Seems it's a fairly well-trodden path after all. Still and all, thanks for all the hard work and the great presentation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I share your convictions.
God bless,
Tristan de Chalain