Sermon: Love Triumphs Over Judgment (James 2)

You know who Martin Luther is, right? Not Martin Luther King, Jr., but Martin Luther… The man who nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg chapel in 1517, starting a reformation that forever changed Christianity...  The man after whom the Lutheran church got its name...

He was no fan of the book of James.

You may recall that it was Martin Luther who said that we are saved by faith alone, not by works. This was a radical idea for his time, and was a correction to the abusive practice of priests offering forgiveness to church members by selling indulgences or requiring them to perform other tasks in order to obtain forgiveness. Luther based his idea of “saved by faith”, in part, on the book of Ephesians, which says that we are saved by grace through faith.

But as we just heard, in the book of James it says that faith without works is dead. This strikes a balance to what it says in Ephesians, but Luther found it offensive. He even called the book of James “an epistle of straw.”

Luther also disliked the book of James because the works James talks about are specifically works that benefit the poor. Despite the many good things Luther did, Luther was no friend to the poor. Maybe he felt he had to pick his battles, and with his already radical ideas, he didn’t want to further upset the authorities. But when the peasants were being oppressed, and they launched a rebellion in protest, Luther showed them no compassion.  He had very little compassion for the poor. Instead, he sided with the authorities - those with wealth and power.

So that’s another reason why Luther hated the book of James.

However, the call to care for the poor is certainly not unique to the book of James. I’ve mentioned many times before how the plight of the poor was a primary concern of the ancient prophets. In fact, God called prophets in times when the poor were left behind by economic policy. When only the kings and ruling elites benefitted from a nation’s prosperity, and the poor were oppressed, the prophets proclaimed God’s judgment. But when the poor were included, and were able to benefit from fair and just economic policies… well, in those times, God didn’t call any prophets. There was no need.

And of course, Jesus also spoke about helping the poor. He talked about caring for the least of these, and he pronounced God’s blessings specifically on those who were left out of the blessings of the world.

After 2,000 years of Christianity, one would think we would have found a way to follow the call of the prophets, follow the call of Jesus, follow the call of James, to care for the poor. And yet, even today, justice and opportunity are denied to the poor. Like Martin Luther, many today still defend economic policies that favor the rich and deny justice to the poor. Many today look down upon the poor, the homeless, the struggling workers living paycheck to paycheck, and those who are unable to work. “Let them fend for themselves.” “Let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.”

Never mind that they have no bootstraps - or boots, for that matter.

How important is caring for the poor in the book of James?

The book of James has a chiastic structure. That means that the main point comes not at the beginning or at the end, but at the center. In this case, the center comes at the first half of chapter two, and the first half of chapter two is all about not making distinctions between rich & poor. What comes before this is a leadup to the main point, and what comes after is further explanation and application of the point.

Leading up to chapter 2, the focus is on giving. “Every generous act of giving is from God.” In other words, God’s nature is to be generous, and those who give and show generosity are allowing God to be present in them and through them.

“Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers.” (1:22). The rulers like to talk about equality, about community, about generosity, but they do so little.

Then, in chapter two, the heart of the matter. James writes: “Do you, with your acts of favoritism, really believe in Jesus?”

Ouch. This statement is to the point and brutal. If you favor the rich, if you neglect the poor, then it doesn’t matter what words come out of your mouth. It doesn’t matter how much you say you are a Christian.

Your actions betray you. You have made distinctions, favoring some people over others. You have shown preference to the rich. You drag the poor into court. You have neglected to care for the poor as Christ instructed you. You pretend to have faith, but your lack of action shows that your faith is dead.

In verse 19, James goes so far as to say that even demons believe. Demons believe, demons have faith - and they shudder, because faith by itself is not enough.

Goodness gracious, no wonder Martin Luther didn’t like the book of James!

Help the poor. Let your actions match the words you speak, the faith you proclaim.

Let me throw some church words at you. The first is orthodoxy. Orthodoxy has been a main concern of the church over the centuries. Orthodoxy means “sound doctrine.” In other words, having the right beliefs.

A lot of churches today are concerned with orthodoxy. They have lengthy, detailed statements of faith, and they expect all their members to agree with and abide by their statement of faith.

But a growing number of Christians are discovering that orthodoxy by itself is not enough. In addition to orthodoxy, Christians must also focus on orthopraxy.

Orthopraxy is correct conduct. Instead of having the right beliefs, orthopraxy means having the right actions and behavior.

In our current reformation, there is a renewed interest in orthopraxy. More people are realizing it’s not enough to just say that you believe, say that you are a Christian; one must also show by one’s actions and behavior that they are a Christian.

Orthodoxy and orthopraxy are big words, but it makes sense, right? Don’t just believe in Jesus, but also act the way Jesus would want you to act. Don’t just say the right words; back those words up with how you behave.

And although church history has tended to emphasize one or the other, they really belong together. Because to truly believe in Jesus, you will follow as best you can the way of Jesus. You will devote yourself to Jesus and the things Jesus stood for, the things he lived and died for. You will commit yourself to living in the kingdom of God.

According to James, the way of Jesus is the way of perfect love.  Of course, none of us can love perfectly. Martin Luther did not love all people perfectly. Modern rulers do not love all people perfectly. You and I do not love all people perfectly. For this reason, all of us do depend on grace for salvation, as Martin Luther said.

But as James points out, it’s still important to do our best to show love. Showing love through our actions is important. We are still called to do the best we can, to grow in love every day, to show acts of love to our neighbor.

Love, James wrote, is more important than judgment. Love triumphs over judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Anytime we find ourselves judging, criticizing, complaining, or discriminating against another, we are neglecting love. Anytime we justify our privilege over another, anytime we rationalize our way out of working for equality, we are neglecting love.

What James is saying, we know instinctively. We know it in our hearts, without even having to be told. Because when we think about the people whose faith we most admire, it’s usually not those who can eloquently express their theological ideas, systematically or not. It’s not those who boast of their faith on street corners or on twitter.

It’s those who actually do good works. It’s those who actually perform acts of love. We see them doing acts of love, acts of goodness, and we think, “What great faith they have.”

James would say the demons stand on street corners and boast on twitter. The demons may even go to church. But only those who truly have faith are out there, feeding the poor, defending the rights of the oppressed, working for equality, fighting against racism, speaking out against all forms of hateful rhetoric, and defending the victims of hateful rhetoric: immigrants, Muslims, the LGBT community. Only those who truly have faith are out there, putting love into action.

I want to tell you about Victoria Pratt, a judge in New Jersey. She gave a TED talk about her experience as a judge, in which she said that her job is to render judgments about whether a crime has been committed; but it’s not her job to render judgments on people. “People would be satisfied with the judge’s ruling, even if the judge ruled against them, if they perceive that they were treated fairly, and with dignity and respect.”

She said that when she was moved to criminal court - the courtroom that had the reputation for being the worst courtroom in the state of New Jersey - she carried this philosophy with her. The people who stood before her were drug addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, mentally ill homeless persons… many of whom showed up in court over and over again.

They had bad attitudes and troubled lives. Even the officers and lawyers felt like they were punished because they had to work there; one lawyer even called them “the scum of the earth.” These were the people he was representing!

Could Judge Pratt render judgments on crimes without rendering judgments on people here?

She described a 60 year-old who appeared in her courtroom, handcuffed, obviously dealing with drug withdrawal. She asked him: “How long have you been addicted?”

“30 years.”

“Do you have any kids?”

“Yes, I have a 32 year-old son.”

“So you’ve never had the opportunity to be a father to your son because of your addiction…”

He started crying.

She told him: “Go home, come back in 2 weeks, and we’ll give you some assistance for your addiction.”

Two weeks later (“surprisingly,” she said) he showed up in court. “Judge, I came back to court because you showed me more love than I had for myself.”

And in her TED Talk, Judge Pratt said: “My God, he heard love from the bench?”

People in her courtroom leave wanting to turn their lives around, because of the respect & dignity & love shown to them. In that courtroom, they are seen as human beings, not as “the scum of the earth.” That is mercy triumph-ing over judgment. Love, triumphing over judgment.

Unfortunately, we are tending to do just the opposite, even when we’re not in a courtroom. We are judging people, poor people, as if they are criminals, as if they are scum, when they are simply trying to do their best in a system that is still rigged against the poor, a world that is hostile toward the poor.

They are struggling for equality, struggling to survive… and they are being judged for their efforts. Did you see the judgmental reactions this week when Fox News tried to shame actor Geoffrey Owens by posting a photo of him bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s? A man working hard to support his acting career by bagging groceries deserves praise, not shame and judgment. And fortunately much of the reaction he received since that initial post has been positive.

Because when we are at our best, we show love and encouragement, not shame. We show support, especially to those who are working hard to make ends meet; support and love to those who are struggling.

Just like the peasants Martin Luther was so hostile toward, peasants who were treated unfairly, who had absolutely no way to pull themselves up by their bootstraps because society gave them no boots, and then were judged and condemned by Martin Luther for trying.

It’s not easy to show perfect love. We will make mistakes, and we will fail, and we will need to ask for forgiveness. But showing love is what it’s all about. Putting love into action. Caring for the poor. Working for justice on behalf of all those who have been oppressed.

Thank God we have our church. Our church is our training ground. It’s where we learn to love. It’s where we practice love.

We’re going to be starting our stewardship campaign, and I rejoice in the opportunity to make a pledge to support the ministry of this congregation for another year. Because through the ministry of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I learn to put my love into action, to truly love my neighbor as myself, and to demonstrate that actions and behavior do matter. It makes me a better person, and helps make our community and our world better, too.

"On God's Side" (James 2:1-5, 14-17)

The stock market has been a little wobbly lately. Over the past five or six years, we’ve had a pretty good run. But about two weeks ago, traders started getting nervous. Stocks dove. Some say this is just the beginning of a down cycle, which isn’t exactly a cause for alarm, but something that just happens every six or seven years.

Nevertheless, it’s big news. It’s big news, because it involves big money.

The truth is, for those with big money, times are good. Incomes are up 15% over the past twenty years. History has shown that even when the stock market takes a tumble, it’s just a momentary speed bump on the path to greater wealth.

But for those without big money, things are not so good.

Middle class incomes have not risen at all. Paychecks have actually shrunk for most Americans. The only people who have actually seen their incomes go up are the extremely wealthy.

In other words, on this Labor Day weekend, those who actually do most of the labor in this country are not able to benefit from the fruits of their labor.

My father – now retired – was a hard-working blue collar employee of the U.S. Postal Service. With the income he earned, he and my mom were able to buy a nice home, the home in which I and my sisters were raised, the home in which my father, 40 years later, still lives in.

A lot of people my age and younger, in similar jobs today, or even some in white collar careers, have all but given up on the dream of owning their own home. And of course, we’re better off than many others. Despite the rising stock market of the past six years and the rising wealth of those at the top, poverty remains high in this country. Poverty rates are higher now than they were six years ago. The wealth that was supposed to trickle down, hasn’t.

In the U.S. today, the top one-tenth percent owns as much as the bottom 90 percent. Our economic policy supports this. And among corporations, the biggest, most profitable among them pay little or no taxes.

Today, the corporate income tax rate is 35%. That sounds like a lot. However, Fortune 500 companies have found ways to pay less. Many pay zero or less than zero … many of the biggest, most profitable companies actually have a negative tax rate, meaning they receive more in subsidies and tax breaks from the government than they pay.

Over the past five years, GE earned $27 billion in profits; meanwhile the company received $3 billion in tax refunds, for an effective tax rate of -11%.

Tenet Healthcare earned $854 million in profits, yet had a tax rate of -6%. How much are you currently paying for health insurance? Given the profit that health insurance companies are making, do you think it’s right that – instead of paying their fair share of taxes – the government pays them?

PG&E has an effective tax rate of -17%, thanks to almost $2 billion in tax breaks from the government. (Where do you sign up for that? I want a tax rate of -17%!)

Priceline.com pays no taxes. Priceline CEO Darren Huston makes 300 times the salary of the average Priceline employee. McDonald’s CEO Donald Thompson’s salary equals the salary of 644 McDonald’s employees.

And these are the same companies that lobby congress, saying they can’t afford an increase in minimum wage.

I bring this up not because it’s a political issue, but because it’s a biblical issue. It was a biblical issue long before it ever became an issue in American politics.

I bring this up because of what today’s scripture, from the book of James, says: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

I bring this up because James is not alone. Jesus and the prophets all cried out for an end to the oppression of the poor, an end to gross inequality. In fact, in ancient times, the times of the prophets, it was during times of great economic inequality that God called the prophets. Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel, and all the rest, were prophets in times of great economic inequality.

When the rich were very rich and the poor were left behind, that’s when God’s prophets were active.

But when the poor were not left behind, when they were cared for, when the gap between rich and poor shrank – there still was a gap, but it wasn’t as big – in those times, the prophets were silent. In those times, God didn’t see the need to call prophets to speak to the people.

The prophets were only active when the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Biblically speaking, this issue is HUGE.

In the gospel according to Luke, when Jesus began his ministry, the first thing he said was: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”

If Jesus was starting out in ministry today, he’d be holding a sign that says “#PoorLivesMatter.” (And probably one that says “#BlackLivesMatter.”)

By the way, that doesn’t mean that rich lives don’t matter. The people today who are proclaiming “Black Lives Matter” aren’t saying that other lives don’t matter. But God’s focus is on freeing those who are oppressed, whether it’s slavery, economic oppression, or racism. When the Hebrews cried out for help, cried out to be saved from Pharaoh, they were basically saying, “Look at us, God! Our lives matter!”

God didn’t respond, “Well, Egyptian lives matter, too.” But God did focus on helping those who were oppressed, and seeing that they had the same opportunities, the same freedom, the same prosperity, as those oppressed them.

Equality was a defining characteristic of the early church. When people came together for worship, to gather at the Lord’s Table, they put aside their differences. Rich and poor dined together, something that never happened in ancient society.

When the Corinthians forgot this, and the rich started having their own meals, eating separately from the poorer members of the church, this infuriated the apostle Paul. He wrote to them and said, “I do not commend you, because when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you… When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry while another becomes drunk. What!... Do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!”

Paul then adds, “For this is what I received from the Lord, that which I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is broken for you…’ And he took the cup also, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink of it, in remembrance of me.’”

And then Paul says, “So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another…”

So at this central meal – the Lord’s Supper – equality is essential.

There are some who say we live in a Christian nation. That’s not true; we live in a nation where all people of all faiths are free to practice their religion.

But if this were a Christian nation, we would ensure that no person goes hungry.

If this were a Christian nation, we would make sure that every person has a seat at the table.

If this were a Christian nation, CEOs would not be making 600 times the pay of their company’s employees, while claiming that they can’t afford a raise in minimum wage.

If this were a Christian nation, those CEOs and the companies they run would contribute their fair share to the running of the government, instead of leaving the burden of paying taxes to the poor and working classes.

This is not a Christian nation. This is actually a nation that worships money. As Pope Francis said recently, “Man is not in charge today. Money is in charge. Money rules.”

It’s important to remember that God fought against the Egyptians on behalf of the poor, oppressed Hebrews. God called Moses, a wealthy prince of Egypt, and then a fairly well-off member of the house of Jethro, to lead his people out of Egypt. God works through rich and poor alike, but because the poor have special vulnerability, God is at work lifting the poor up and casting down those who rich.

U2 is one of the most successful rock bands ever. The members of the band, of course, enjoy all the fame and the wealth that comes from being famous rock stars.

Bono, the lead singer of U2 – a man who has sold millions of songs and made millions of dollars – is also a man of faith, a man who recognizes that the wealthy have a special responsibility to the poor, a responsibility placed on them by God.

In 2006, Bono spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, which means he was a rich man speaking to other rich men and women. This is what he said:

“Whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives. Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone. I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.”

Gracious God, we thank you for making one human family of all the peoples of the earth and for creating all the wonderful diversity of cultures.

Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship and show us your presence in those who differ most from us.

From the bondage of racism that denies the humanity of every human being and the prejudices within us that deny the dignity of those who are oppressed, Lord set us free:

From racism that blinds oppressors to the destruction caused by the spirit and practice of racial injustice, Christ set us free:

From the racism that will not recognize the work of your Spirit in other cultures: Lord set us free:

Forgive those of us who have been silent and apathetic in the face of racial intolerance and bigotry, both overt and subtle, public and private.

And take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts.

Break down the walls that separate us.

And help us to find that unity that is the fruit of righteousness and will enable us to become your beloved community.

Empower us to speak boldly for justice and truth and help us to deal with one another without hatred or bitterness, working together with mutual forbearance and respect.

And work through our struggles and confusion to accomplish your purposes.

O God of unconditional love, you who show no partiality in respect to people or nations, we have heard your good news of great joy for all the people, including and especially for those who are poor and oppressed.

We hear that good news, and in hearing, believe.

We know that your sanctuary is a house of worship for all people, with no regard for the color of our skin.

As we worship you, knit us into a people, a seamless garment of many colors.

May we celebrate our unity, made whole in our diversity.

Forgive us for our inability to let our “old selves” die to the world.

We acknowledge that we participate in structures that are inherently racist, and yet we so often do nothing to remedy it.

Show us we fail when we judge others according to the color of their flesh.

God, you are rich in mercy. You love us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace save us and restore us to wholeness. You strengthen us with the power of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith.

Amen.

The Connection Between Labor & Faith (James 2:14-18, 26)

By now you’ve heard the story. One week ago today, two firefighters—Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones—died while fighting the massive Station Fire in the mountains north of Los Angeles.

On Saturday, those names meant nothing to most of the millions of people living in Los Angeles County. To their family and friends, of course, they were known; known as friendly, selfless men who put their families first, according to the reports. But now, the whole county knows their names, and even many beyond the county. This past week, both Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein offered tributes to them.

It happened while they were searching for an escape route for the hundred or so inmates of Camp 16. At Camp 16, inmates were trained in wilderness protection, and were called upon to fill sandbags in winter and fight fires in summer. They also cleared hiking and running trails.

When the fire drew near to Camp 16, Hall and Quinones were out searching for an escape route. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but their truck went off the road and tumbled down the mountainside, and was overrun by flames.

I understand that, some time later, Margo’s cousin was among those who found the charred remains.

All the inmates and correction officers from Camp 16 survived and are accounted for. Hall and Quinones are being hailed as heroes; one official was quoted as saying that, without their efforts, more lives could have been lost.

Hall was married and the father or two grown sons. Quinones was also married, and was expecting his first child to be born within the next few weeks.

This story grabs our attention for several reasons. One is certainly the fact that it makes us sad. To know, for example, that Quinones’ child will be born just weeks after his or her father died in the flames—one can’t help but be moved emotionally upon hearing that.

This story grabs our attention for another reason, one that is more positive. It inspires us. These men dedicated and sacrificed their lives to what they believed in—namely, protecting lives. They didn’t sit back in the face of danger and say, “someone should do something.” They realized that, if something was going to be done, it was up to them. And they did it.

It’s kind of what we all aspire to, isn’t it? To be so committed to what we believe in, that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to follow through on that commitment…. quite often we hear of people who shirk their responsibility. Coworkers. Neighbors. The government. This story captures our attention, because it’s the story of two men who did not back away from their responsibility, not even when it was dangerous or risky.

I was talking with someone recently who told me that he wanted more for his life than he currently had. He wasn’t really living the life he wanted, he said; he wasn’t finding any fulfillment in his life. He said he was thinking of making a change.

I think that, like him, there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with their lives. They’re not sure what the meaning or the purpose of their lives is. Those two firefighters—they had a purpose. Their lives had meaning. And we are inspired by that.


This past Tuesday I went home from church early. I had to. Ginger’s gone back to school, her classes have started, but Ethan’s and Tristan’s have not. So I needed to do some work from home.

I sat down at the table to continue working on the sermon I had started writing in my office that morning. the boys, along with three neighbor kids, were in the living room, getting ready to watch a movie.

The movie started. It was The Incredibles. I couldn’t help but be distracted by the movie’s opening scenes. Bob Parr, a.k.a. “Mr. Incredible,” is forced to give up his superhero identity and life a normal life. He works in a tiny cubicle in a large insurance company, spending his days, for the most part, shuffling paperwork.

This does not suit Bob at all. He believes that his purpose is to do great things—super things—for the good of society … and shuffling through insurance claims is not it. He’s only half awake most of the time, living his life without really being alive, only half aware of everything going on around him, including in his own family.

Bob’s problem, I realized, is that what he was doing didn’t match what he believed. And he was miserable because of it. Of course, as the movie progresses, he is able to align what he believes with what he does. Works and faith come back together, and his life has meaning once again.

Well. The debate between works and faith has been one of the great debates of Christian history. On the one hand, you have Paul and his famous teaching about “justification by grace through faith.” According to Paul, it is not works, but “grace through faith,” that saves a person, that provides wholeness and gives life meaning.

On the other hand, there’s James, who says that faith without works is dead. Belief is not enough, says James; you must have action. You can’t just talk the talk; you’ve gotta walk the walk. There is no salvation, no meaning, no wholeness, without works.

So who’s right?

Well, they both are. The conflict arises because there has been a common misunderstanding of what James and Paul meant—particularly Paul. To quote what it says in The First Paul, a new book by bible scholars Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, “When [Paul] spoke of justification by grace through faith, he was not thinking about how we get to heaven, but about the transformation of ourselves and of the world in this life here below. Moreover, when he contrasted faith and works, he was not thinking of faith-without-works—which cannot exist because faith always includes works—but about works-without-faith, which, unfortunately, exists all to often.”

“Works-without-faith” exist when people go through the motions. They exist when rituals are performed that have no meaning. They exist when works are performed not to honor God or to express faith, but to justify oneself, to make oneself appear good in the eyes of others.

These kinds of works are what Paul was speaking against. It’s the same thing Jesus spoke against when he criticized those who performed all the rituals and sacrifices of worship without humbling themselves or allowing their acts of worship to have any meaning. They pray on the street corners so that everyone can see how righteous they are. They’re meticulous about following through the various rituals of worship and holy living, from washing and fasting to circumcision and tithing. At best, they see such acts as an end to themselves, rather than as a means to greater meaning in their lives. At worst, they perform such acts hypocritically, to “prove” to others how good and holy they are.

The works themselves are not bad. Only when they become “works-without-faith.” Because works cannot exist without faith … just as faith cannot exist without works. A life in which works and faith are not aligned is a life that lacks integrity and wholeness. Paul and James are really arguing two sides of the same coin. Faith cannot exist apart from works. Works cannot exist apart from faith.


For some years now, National Public Radio has had a series called “This I Believe,” in which people write and share short essays on their most deeply held beliefs. The essays have been read over the air and compiled in books. They’ve been written by celebrities and well-known public leaders as well as by ordinary Americans: waitresses, bus drivers, high school students.

In every single one of these essays—and there are a lot of them—the authors talk about how their basic beliefs have shaped or transformed their lives. None of them say, “this is my most cherished belief, but it hasn’t affected my life all that much.” That would be ridiculous. It would be absurd. There is no faith, no deeply held beliefs, without a changed life. What you believe is how you live. If you’re not living it, then you don’t really believe it. Faith, as Borg and Crossan point out, is a “total lifestyle commitment.”

Tomorrow is Labor Day. What if we spent at least part of the day examining how much our labor reflects our faith? Is the work you do affected at all by the faith you claim? Can someone watching you as you do your day-to-day activities see the difference that faith has made in your life? Can you see the difference yourself?

Faith without works is dead. Can the person who checks you out at the grocery store see your faith by the way you treat him or her? What does your faith tell you is the right way to treat others? Is that how you treat your co-workers?

Faith is a total lifestyle commitment. Is the amount of money you give to the church consistent with how important you believe the church is in your life and in the world? Is the amount of time you dedicate to the church, to worshiping God and serving others, in line with your most deeply held beliefs?

Faith without works is dead. You say that God is the Father of all; do you treat every person as your brother or sister? You say that Christ invites the world to gather at his table; do you, as part of the body of Christ, extend that invitation on Christ’s behalf? You say you believe; have you allowed your faith to change your life?

To live by what you believe—that is a key component to a life of satisfaction, a life of abundance, a life of wholeness. To live with integrity, so that faith and works are united—that is key to a life of meaning and purpose. To actually do what your faith says you should do—that will bring you and those around you happiness and joy.

I’ve mentioned this before, but in the book Unbinding the Gospel, Martha Grace Reese writes about the time she asked a group of pastors: “What difference does being a Christian make in your life?” … and not one of them could think of an answer.

Let’s not be like that. Let’s let our faith make a difference in how we live. Let’s let what we believe, and what we do, be in sync, so that the world will see and know what a difference Christ makes in our lives.

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Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan, The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church’s Conservative Icon. HarperCollins, 2009.

Martha Grace Reese, Unbinding the Gospel. Chalice Press, 2006.