Faith Shown by Works

Faith Shown by Works

James 2:14-18 In Romans chapter 3 the apostle Paul says that we Christians “hold that a man is justified by faith APART from the works of the law” and that “by works of the law no human being will justified in God’s sight.”  But today we hear James, the leader of the apostolic church say that “faith without works is dead”. 

Well, which is it?  Are we saved by GRACE ALONE THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE as we Lutherans and other evangelical Christians insist?  OR—are the Catholics of the East and West right when they say that we are saved by faith AND our works? 

This most important question concerning our salvation divides visible Christendom.  Evangelicals and Catholics each claim to take their position on the Word of God-- but sadly end up in very different places. 

And I say sadly because both evangelicals and catholics think that faith in Jesus is important.  Eastern and western catholics do not denigrate faith in Jesus.  Evangelicals think that good works are important and each day are engaged in countless works of mercy and charity throughout the world. 

And yet there is this division among Christians despite our Lord’s prayers that all his people would be one people united in one faith under one shepherd.  And so what then—if any-- is the solution to this problem? 

The solution is found in God’s Word to us today in the epistle lesson where, by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James explains the nature of a true and saving faith in Jesus. 

The crux of the matter is this:  is saving faith merely intellectual knowledge of the person and work of Jesus—is it empty words that we say--or is it something much, much more?  And he uses a little illustration to answer that question:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

            Does the name Dennis Rader mean anything to you?  What if I identified him as the BTK killer?  One of the most evil men who have ever lived—and yet, all those years he was terrorizing Wichita Kansas, he was a member of, and even congregational president of, Christ Lutheran Church—saying in the words of the creed:  I believe in God

While that is an extreme example, most of us, if not all of us, have had the unhappy experience of talking to someone who assures us that they are a Christian like we are-- all the while they are living a grossly immoral, unchristian life. 

They remember bible stories from Sunday School.  They know the details of Jesus’ life.  They can quote the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed right along with the rest of us. 

And it’s a little bit disconcerting isn’t it?  Because we hear them tell us that they have faith in Jesus--and yet we know something isn’t right—that what they are talking about when they talk about their “faith”-- and what we know about our own faith in Jesus-- are two very different things for they lead to two very different lives.

James solves this dilemma for us with the illustration I just read.  A Christian brother or sister stands in real need of food and clothing—the basic necessities of life.  They are met by someone claiming to be a Christian who says: “Go in peace—be warm and full”-- and yet does nor provide them the food and clothing to be filled and warmed.

James asks us:  what then do those fine-sounding words really mean?  And the answer is:  absolutely nothing.  In the same way, James says, “faith without works is dead.”   

You see dear friends in Christ, faith is more—much more—than just words—even the right words.

The confession of faith of the ancient Israelites—the forebears of the folks that James is writing to—is called the “great Shema”:  Hear O Israel, the Lord, the Lord your God is one. 

And in the verse immediately following our text today James asks his Jewish readers:  “You believe that God is one?  You do well!  But even the demons believe that and shudder!”  Faith—a true and saving faith in Jesus-- is more—much more-- than just words—even the right words.  It is more than mere knowledge. 

And for those of us who want to call ourselves the descendants of Luther and tell ourselves that we have saving faith in Jesus because we know his story-- and can mouth the right words-- and define justification-- and yet live like the unbelieving world-- are simply deceived and will never find such a thing being supported by Luther.  Instead, Luther defines a true and saving faith in Jesus like this: 

Faith is a living, busy, active, powerful thing!  It is impossible that it should not be ceaselessly doing that which is good. It does not even ask whether good works should be done; but before the question can be asked, it has done them, and it is constantly engaged in doing them…He who does not do such works, is a man without faith.

The faith that saves-- is the faith that lays hold of what Jesus Christ has done in his holy life, bloody death, and glorious resurrection.  From beginning to end, the person and work of Jesus Christ is the sole content of saving faith. 

But that one true saving faith in Jesus is never alone!  It is never just words (even the right words!  But it is always accompanied by the good works of gratitude that come forth from those who are saved so that one true saving faith in Jesus is shown in how we live our life.  James says:

Someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

            James is serious:  show me your faith apart from your works!  Can you take a true and saving faith in Jesus Christ—a genuine, heartfelt trust in the person and work of Jesus—and say:  here it is—here’s the proof I really do believe in Jesus? 

Of course not!  Because faith is finally and ultimately a matter of the heart’s trust in Jesus.  BUT—what we can most assuredly do is show forth the good works that will always accompany and demonstrate that we have a true and living faith. 

Our faith in Jesus is more than just knowledge—more than just words—more than just intellectual assent to certain dogmatical truths, it is shown in how we live our lives and how we treat others. 

            As people who truly believe in Jesus Christ, we are glad for ways to show our love for him in how we treat one another-- and our lives are guided and shaped and informed by the Ten Commandments by “loving our neighbor as ourselves”.

James calls this the “royal law” because it is the way the King loved us—laying aside his divine dignity and his royal status to serve us in love.  We love one another—because our crucified King first loved us and this Christ-like love is the evidence—for all to see-- of a true and living faith in Jesus.

            In the 25^th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus talks about what it will be like on the last day—the day of judgment.  He says that all people will be divided into two groups and those on his right will be invited into his kingdom and those on his left will depart into eternal fire. 

And the incontrovertible evidence in that judgment will be how they lived their lives.  Were they merciful to others in Jesus’ name—showing that they had received his mercy in faith?  OR—did their lack of mercy towards others reveal their faithless rejection of Jesus’ mercy to them? 

The Athanasian Creed says that on the Last Day all men will give an account of their works—and they that have done good will go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

Both Holy Scripture and the creeds and confessions of the church teach that a true and saving faith in Jesus is always accompanied by the fruits of that faith—good works.

Those whose faith is mere intellectual knowledge or mere words—those who have shown no mercy to others out of a genuine faith and love for Christ--can only expect to face a final judgment that is also without mercy.

But for all who have looked to Jesus Christ in faith and seen in him the law of God fulfilled and the punishment of God received—for all who know the judgment of the cross as the mercy of God poured out upon them—for all who have been set free from their sins to live lives of Christian love—they can be confident on that day-- that mercy will indeed triumph over judgment.  Amen.

Stand Firm!

Stand Firm!

Ephesians 6:10-20 In our sermons over the last several weeks we have heard the call of Joshua to choose who we will serve:  the one, true and living God of the universe or the false gods of the world around us and then the answer of Joshua and the people that they would serve the Lord. 

We heard the challenge of Moses that we are to teach our children the truth about God’s great, gracious works and what it means to live as God’s children and the eternal consequences for us and those we love if we fail to do so.

We have seen the greatness of God’s chosen servants and heard the commitment of God’s people.  And yet we know how all this turned out for the children of Israel:  that they did not keep their commitments—they did not follow God’s will—and in very short order their disobedience and faithlessness affected all who followed them.  The Bible says that:

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. They abandoned the Lord…

            And if we are tempted to think of them too harshly, to judge them too severely, to think that somehow their story is not our own, the Bible says that:

These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for OUR instruction, ^uon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

            And yet, standing firm is the very thing that God calls upon us to do:  to remain steadfast in our faith and constant in our commitment to worship and serve the LORD alone where so many who have come before us have fallen.  How are we to do that?  The Bible says

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

            All of us have had this experience of failing to be the people we ought to be as children of God—of missing the mark when it comes to God’s expectations for our lives.  What we learn through the lives of God’s ancient people and in the lives of the disciples is that this dilemma of desiring to be the new creation we are in Christ by faith--and falling back into what the bible calls our old self with its deceitful desires-- is not unique to you. 

You are not alone in this spiritual struggle.  It’s not just your life and your marriage and your family where there are spiritual setbacks.  Paul said of himself:  I do not understand my actions.  For I do not do what I want; I do the very thing I hate.  So it is for us!

And so then, what’s going on in our life of faith when we struggle to live out the reality of who we are as a new creation in Christ Jesus? 

What we learn in these verses is that there is a spiritual battle that rages around us—a spiritual battle that we are a part of—a spiritual battle where we must fight against evil forces that are greater and more powerful than ourselves.  Again, the Bible says:

we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil

            It has become intellectually fashionable in our day and time—even within the church—to deny the existence of a personal, evil spiritual being.  But from Genesis to Revelation the Bible is absolutely clear that the devil is real and powerful and is part of an unseen realm of other evil beings like himself.  And so then…

When you combine the evil angels-- with a world that is allied against God-- and our own flesh that’s opposed to God --you have (in the world, our flesh, and the devil) an evil, spiritual triumvirate that we are powerless against in our own strength and resources. 

And yet they have been utterly defeated by Jesus Christ—not by an act of his almighty power—but by his humble life and bloody death and glorious resurrection. 

All the way back in the Garden of Eden, when the devil and our sin ruined the world, God promised that he would send a Savior—the Seed of the Woman—who would crush Satan.  That is what Jesus did—robbing the devil of his tyranny over our lives by taking that terrible burden upon himself—ruining the devil’s accusations against us by standing guilty in our place.

Yes, the devil is real,  Yes he is powerful—but he is not greater than the One who defeated him by suffering and death on the cross and it is this risen and ascended Savior who gives spiritual gifts to his people so that we can face our own spiritual battles unafraid and unbroken and unbowed.  The Bible says:

Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

            Every one of us will face spiritual battles.  The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Many who begin in faith do not end that way. 

Each of us are combatants in an unseen, but very real war.  We cannot, and must not, give up and give in to the desires of our flesh and the temptations of the devil and the ways of the sinful world around us.  Rather, we must stand firm in our faith with the spiritual equipment the Holy Spirit gives God’s children.  The Bible says:

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

            The picture that the Holy Spirit sets before Paul’s eyes (and before our eyes of faith in these verses) is that of a Roman soldier—the greatest fighting man of the ancient world.  Roman armies defeated the Greeks and the Gauls and the Carthiginians and countless others over hundreds of years and they ruled the greatest earthly empire of the day. 

Their strength and power was the reason for the peace that existed in the ancient world.  But for all their strength and for all their weaponry and for all their fighting spirit, they were still no match for the devil and his angels.  Spiritual victories are accomplished by spiritual means.

That is why the Spirit equips us with the belt of truth.  How desperately this is needed in our world today!  We live in a place and time where little babies are called medical waste and men are called women and evil is called good.  The truth of God’s Word equips us to call these lies what they are and order our thought life according to the truth of God’s Word.

The breastplate of righteousness covers our heart with the promise that despite the wounds we suffer from the spiritual conflict that rages around us—despite the fact that we have stumbled and fallen in the heat of battle—the perfect, complete righteousness of Jesus Christ is ours by faith and avails in God’s sight for salvation. 

The shoes of Gospel readiness are given by the Spirit so that every time we are ready to retreat—every time we are ready to run as far and as fast as we can from the heat of battle--we are equipped instead to take the battle to the enemy and go where the peace of Christ is needed the most in our homes and schools and communities.

And in the heat of battle we fight on with the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation so that no matter what kind of accusations the devil makes against us we can believe that we are forgiven by Christ-- and no matter what kind of spiritual blows fall upon us we can know and that God has saved us and claimed us as his own. 

Spiritually equipped in this way we fight on with the only offensive weapon that we Christians can yield and that is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. 

Much too often you hear Christians talk about how the next election or the next law or the next Supreme Court nominee holds the key to what ails us as a nation and people.  You hear the same nonsense in the church when ecclesiastical elections come around. 

But the only way that spiritual progress can made --and the only way that spiritual victories can be won-- and the only way that hearts can be changed-- is by wielding the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God spoken to us by our heavenly Father. 

And hearing his voice over the clamor and confusion over the spiritual battle that rages around us, we cry out to him in prayer, asking God to help our brothers and sisters who are locked in the same battle as we are.  The Bible says:

Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

            The spiritual battle that rages around us—the spiritual battle in which we are combatants—also encompasses our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. 

In our world today, in this moment when we are gathered together in the safety of the Lord’s house, there are people who will face torture and slavery and rape—there are people who will be imprisoned—there are people who will die-- for no other reason than that they confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

We must never forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith but instead lift them up to the Lord in prayer, asking God to protect them and keep them strong in their faith and confession.

But as terrible as is what happens to persecuted Christians in our world, what is still worse is what happens to all of those who will die this day without saving faith in Jesus Christ.  There is nothing worse—nothing—than an eternity of separation from God in the fires of hell!

And so we pray especially for all of those who are dead in their sins and trespasses—who are deaf to the call of the Holy Spirit—who are blind to a God who loves them and has sent his Son to die for them—we pray that the same Holy Spirit who has brought us to faith through the Gospel will bring them to faith as well 

And we pray for all those faithful missionaries like Paul who serve in places where we cannot go, that the Holy Spirit would help them to speak boldly of the salvation that is only found in Jesus so that the battle for lost souls is won by their Savior.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a spiritual battle that rages around us.  Each of us are combatants in that battle.  None of us will emerge from it unscathed or unbloodied-- but we can be victorious in the victory Christ has already won for us in his death and resurrection.  We can fight on in his strength, equipped with the spiritual armor he provides!  Amen.

Let Us Teach Our Children God's Word

Let Us Teach Our Children God's Word!

Deuteronomy 6:1-15 During his earthly ministry our Lord Jesus Christ asked a question of those who followed him that I want to put before you today on this Christian Education Sunday:  “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  We understand that question don’t we? 

Health.  A home.  Work we love.  Family.  All of these are incredible blessings from God—all of them make our earthly life a joy.  But all of them come to an end—all of them, without exception.  And then eternity. 

Every blessing of an earthly life, stacked one upon another over the course of a long, long life is still nothing compared to eternity when the only thing that will matter, the only thing that will count is:  did we live with God on earth through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?  Did we trust that our sins were washed away by his blood shed on the cross?  Did we believe that death was a defeated enemy because of Christ’s resurrection?  Did we live as God’s children in the power of the Holy Spirit?

If we did, then a lifetime of earthly blessings will be magnified beyond measure in the glories of heaven!  If we did not, then every earthly blessing from the bountiful hand of the God of creation will testify against us in the eternal fires of hell.  “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  And of course, the answer is absolutely nothing!  We understand that about ourselves, don’t we?

But do we understand the same about our children?  We love our children.  It’s hard to even put into words how much we love our children.  We want the best for them.  We make sure they go to the doctor and dentist.  We try to provide good meals.  We take them to dance and music and sports.  We help them study and want them to succeed academically.  We guide them in choosing a college major and a career.  Our lives are filled to overflowing with care and concern for our children so that they can be happy and healthy and successful. 

But the question of Jesus stands:  What shall it profit your child to gain the whole world and lose their soul?  And the answer is the same for them as it is for you:  absolutely nothing.  It is just as critical for your child as it is for you to have a life with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—for that is the only thing that matters eternally.  So it has always been.

In our Old Testament lesson today we see the children of God preparing to enter the Promised Land.  The LORD saved them from slavery in Egypt.  He drowned their enemies in the waters of the Red Sea.  He guided them, protected, and provided for them.  They would enter into and possess a land that they had not earned and did not deserve.  They would eat from vines they had not planted and drink from wells they had not dug.  All of the blessings of their Savior God would be poured out upon them.  They would have it all.

But their heavenly Father knew about his children that, having it all—apart from a life with him—was the worst thing that could happen to them and he wanted to make sure that first things came first in their life.  And so how would that take place?  Having been given the world, how could he make sure that they did not lose their soul along the way? 

They would need to be taught.  They would need to be taught the story of salvation.  They would need to be taught what that story meant in how they lived their day to day lives.  That story would need to be very center of their life together in their families and that story would need to be taught for the sake of those who came after them so that they too would possess the one things needful—a life with the LORD.  The Bible says:

 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

            This is the great confession of faith of God’s people in the Old Testament.  The LORD is the One who spoke to Abraham and promised to make him a great nation and bless the world through the Messiah who would come through him and then renewed that promise again and again.  The LORD is the One who protected his people from death as they took refuge under the blood of the lamb.  The LORD is the One who delivered his people from slavery and drowned their enemies and cared for them and guided them and provided for them and protected them.

This great, gracious salvation story that is grounded in the person and work of the LORD--the one, true Savior God-- was to be held and treasured in believing hearts and be told and taught again and again.  The great, gracious salvation story was to be the very center of their lives as God’s people and the very center of their lives as families.  So it is for us.

We bring our children to the waters of Holy Baptism so that their spiritual enemies would be destroyed in those gracious waters.  And then we teach them the story of their Savior God—how he shed his blood on the cross so that we could take refuge in it from the powers of darkness and death---how he feeds us with that very sacrifice to strengthen our faith in him—how he abides with us all our days to bring us to the homeland in heaven.

Telling this great salvation story and explaining what it means begins in the home and it is the chief responsibility of parents.  To give your children everything and fail to give them the story of salvation is to fail in the only way that matters eternally.  And so we teach our children.  We tell them the story of Jesus.  It forms the very heart of our homes and our lives together in families.

That great, gracious salvation story is the reason we have a Sunday School and Christian Day School—to assist parents in their solemn responsibility to make sure that their children know their heavenly Father who loves them with an everlasting love and to show them what this Good News means for their day to day lives.  The Bible says:

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,

            When they could do nothing to save themselves—God saved them.  When they had no weapons to defeat their enemies—God destroyed them.  When they had way to support themselves—God provided for them.  Their life with God, from beginning to end—was the story of his gracious love that made them his children. 

And so then, it was BECAUSE they were the children of a gracious heavenly Father that they were called to live in such a way that their lives were a reflection of his own:  not to BECOME God’s children—but BECAUSE they were God’s children—and as God’s children, their heavenly Father had a will for their lives that was expressed in the commandments, statutes and rules he gave them.

We understand this as parents.  We have rules that govern life in our house and our children are expected to obey them.  We have values we live by that we want our children to live by too.  We have ways of doing things that we want our children to follow.  All of this—not so our little ones can become our children—but because they are our children.  So it is with us and our heavenly Father and we need to teach and model this life of obedience to our children. 

There is a great deal of confusion about this among the people of God.  On one side are those who think that their life with God as his children comes about through their obedience to his will rather than by his gracious love.  On the other side are those who mistake his gracious love as a license to live however they please.  Neither are right.

Instead, our lives as God’s children are to be lived in conformity to his will that he reveals to us in the Law.  We no longer see his expectations for our lives as some terrible, burdensome imposition.  We are children of the heavenly Father!  We delight to hear our Father’s Word!  We are blessed to do our Father’s will!  We rejoice to walk in our Father’s ways!  We stand in holy awe of our heavenly Father and we desire the same for those who come after us in our family.  The Bible says that we walk in his ways and do his will so that we

may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly

            By God’s grace the Eckert family have been Lutheran Christians since the Reformation.  Many of you can say the same thing about your Christian family.  A heritage of faith is a precious thing!

One generation after another making it their first priority that their children know and believe the one thing needful:  the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ—helped along the way by faithful pastors and teachers and fellow Christians. 

Everyone assembled here today—especially our teachers—have the same privilege and responsibility in this place and time, among this generation.

What we do in our homes and churches and Sunday Schools and Christian Day Schools in teaching the faith to our children has ramifications far, far beyond the children in our care at this moment.  It affects their children and every generation that comes after them and it affects each of them eternally.  The Bible says:

take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.  You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

            We began our meditation on God’s Word this Christian Education Sunday by hearing the voice of Jesus who asks us about ourselves and our children:  “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  He ask us to consider that question about the dangers of because it is entirely possible to do so and it is entirely possible for our children as well.

            We live in a world that is actively opposed to everything that we value and hold dear as God’s children.  We live among people who worship and serve false gods of materialism and power and selfishness and sexual immorality.  The culture and word-view and values of this time and place stand in stark contrast to everything we cherish as God’s children.

We and our children are not magically immune from the temptations to go the broad and easy road that leads to eternal life and just as there is incredible blessing from a heritage of faith—there is an incredible curse when just when Christian falls away because they take their children with them and their children with them and countless generation fall under the wrath of God.  May God forbid such a thing happening to us and those we love! 

We belong to God and so do our children for the LORD has brought us out of slavery to sin and death by the outstretched arms of his Son Jesus on the cross so that we might be his for time and eternity.

And so then, we are to stand in awe of him and serve him and trust that we live in his presence in every thing that we do and every word that we speak and we are to teach our children to do the same.  May God grant it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve