Genuine Faith Produces Faithful Actions
Daily Scripture
James 2:14-26
14 My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? 15 Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. 16 What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? 17 In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.
18 Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. 19 It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. 20 Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? 21 What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. 23 So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous [Genesis 15:6]. What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. 24 So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? 26 As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Wesley had learned firsthand that he couldn’t earn God’s favor through good works. He followed the apostle James in saying we do good works because we have God’s grace, not in order to earn it. His sermon “The Mystery of Iniquity” said, “When St. James wrote his Epistle…. that grand pest of Christianity, a faith without works, was spread far and wide; filling the Church with a ‘wisdom from beneath,’ which was ‘earthly, sensual, devilish.’” * James and Wesley knew genuine faith leads to actions that honor God and bless others.
- James didn’t describe a good “balance” between faith and works, as though we need a 50-50 mix of the two. We need 100% of both—our “works” need to grow out of our faith in God’s grace, as a grateful response to God’s gracious acceptance of us. What are some of the actions, the works, which you have seen grow in your life as you have responded to God’s grace?
- James vividly pointed out the flaw in thinking that genuine faith meant no more than intellectual “head” knowledge. He wrote, “It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear” (verse 19). Whose example most powerfully showed you that faith includes your heart and your hands as well as your head, and drew you to that kind of faith?
Prayer
Loving Lord, you have accepted me as your child, and you have begun to reshape the way I live as I respond to your grace. Please continue your work in my life, so that my works may always bring you glory. Amen.
GPS Insights
Gwyn Thomas
Gwyn Thomas, who serves in donor relations at Resurrection, wrote today's Insights blog. A Boston native. she moved to Kansas City in 2020. Her husband Blake is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection Leawood and a provisional elder in the UMC. Her favorite pastimes include pottery, hiking, frisbee, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her two children and their large orange cat, Tuna.
Staff members of Resurrection regularly check in with our goals and expectations. Throughout the year, we are invited to review the Staff Covenant, and specifically the 5 expectations of membership, to evaluate areas we could see ourselves improving on. I know you’re all very proud of our staff, as am I, for how each person’s creative talents and unique skills play a role in making ministry possible at Resurrection. I thought you’d also be so proud to know the standards this church holds us to. One of the commitments we make as staff members is to: “fulfill and exceed the membership expectations at Resurrection.”
Every year, as I am evaluating myself, I recognize my desire to be a bit more holistic in my experience with the 5 expectations of membership: Worship, Grow, Serve, Give and Share. For me, the one that tends to fall short is serving. You could say that being a staff member in full-time ministry is a version of serving, and I would agree. You could also say that I may have some reasonable barriers to being more involved in serving (2 babies in 2 years). But really, in my heart, I tend to land on the fact that I haven’t dedicated time where my service has felt like sacrifice.
So, this year, I told myself I had no excuses. I saw the opportunity to take some leave time from work and volunteer with the School Makeover missions project and I dedicated the time to be there. I even invited a friend to join me. Not only was it a fun serving opportunity, but in the weeks and months that have followed since then when I hear about the impact we are having on our school partnerships, I can picture those hallways. I know the impact because I have seen it in person.
We can have amazing faith experiences without serving, that’s true. And we can grow in our relationship with God by coming to worship every Sunday. But I really do think serving, in any capacity, adds a component to our faith experience that adds depth to scripture and song. Mark your calendar and do some amazing serving before the year is over and invite me to join you!
(Photo shows Gwyn Thomas and Blue Springs member Billie Hardy at the School Makeover project this summer.)
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Point 19 in “The Mystery of Iniquity” at https://www.sermonindex.net/sermons/HKPCtCDL8N3ckEND.
