"Defining Faith"
James 2:1-10; 14-17
Fall is in the air. We've had the temperature drop, experienced a bit of rain, and the leaves are starting to turn color. Over the last week, I've even worn a jacket in the mornings when coming to work. Those of us who love football also know when fall happens because that is when football season begins.
As a young boy, I remember always playing football with other kids in my neighborhood in the fall. Some of us were lucky enough to have team jerseys; a few even had plastic shoulder pads. We would dress up, choose someone's leaf-covered front yard, split into teams, and play football. When I was by myself, I would often take a football and work on kicking it as high as I could in my front yard. I wanted to be the next Ray Guy, one of my heroes growing up who was a famous punter for the former Oakland Raiders.
It is certainly interesting to watch football games in person or on TV. But I often find myself fascinated with the fans, some of whom dress up in their team's colors, even putting on face paint and silly costumes. These fans talk about having faith in their team, no matter what. Having faith in your football team means believing in them and rooting for them no matter what happens, watching every game, knowing who is on the team roster, and either attending every game, home and away, in person or watching every televised broadcast.
I am a fan of the Buffalo Bills football team and enjoy watching the game of football. Just for the heck of it, I typed the phrase "Faith in the Buffalo Bills" in my AI Meta window to see what kind of response it would generate. Here's what Artificial Intelligence said. "The Buffalo Bills have certainly given their fans plenty of reasons to have faith! Recently, they had a strong performance against the Miami Dolphins, winning 31-10, with cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram making a standout contribution with two interceptions. The team has shown resilience and depth, with players stepping up when needed, like Ingram did in this game. This kind of determination and teamwork keeps the Bills' fans believing and excited for the season ahead."
I believe the Bills will be good this year. But you won't see me in blue and red face paint anytime soon or jumping from a roof onto a plastic table to break it in half. Some faithful Bills fans actually do this before a game begins to bring luck to their beloved team. My faith lies in another team- the Trinity of the Creator, our sustainer, the Holy Spirit, and our Redeemer and Messiah, Jesus Christ. Faith in that team is more profound than faith in a sports team.
How do we define faith in Team Trinity? (as I beat this sports analogy into the ground?) How is faith in a sports team different than faith in our God?
According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, in the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or the doctrines or teachings of religion." Faith has multiple definitions, including "something that is believed especially with strong conviction," "complete trust," "belief and trust in and loyalty to God," as well as "a firm belief in something for which there is no proof.
Hebrews 11:1 seems to echo the idea of believing in something for which there is no proof: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." We believe in God, a conviction—a firmly held opinion that the Creator exists, even though there is no "Proof" of God's existence.
That said, I see proof of the existence of a Creator of all things, especially as the James Webb telescope continues exploring our universe and as we learn more about the planets and moons in our own solar system. As our understanding of space expands, creation reflects the Creator. Yet, I still cannot prove God exists through a picture of a star nebula. It is just something I have faith in and believe in; therefore, I have an assurance that, somehow, due to what scripture tells me about this Creator, my life matters to the God of the universe, as do the lives of the ones I love and the church I serve. That knowledge assures me, even amid stressful times in my life.
That is a definition of my faith. So, I will give you a question to ponder in your head and, at some time, in silence to answer: Consider how you would define your faith in God. What do you believe about the Creator of all things concerning your life? (Silence)
Belief in something or in someone generally translates into some definitive action. For the avid Bills fan who has faith in their team, perhaps breaking a table before a game is an action to show faith in them. What about the person who has faith in God? What definitive actions demonstrate that belief?
This brings us to our passage from the book of James. James gives us two actions demonstrating one's faith in this morning's passage. In verses 1-10, he tells us that we who have faith in Christ Jesus cannot show partiality, especially when it comes to those who are rich and those who are not. If we let the wealthy persons in church sit in the front row and tell the poor ones to stand in the back, then we are not demonstrating faith in Christ. We are, in fact acting in the opposite of faith, choosing one person as more worthy than another.
James quotes Jesus in verse eight, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31). He even elevates the status of Jesus' teaching, calling it a "royal law." This commandment from our Messiah directs us to look for commonality rather than partiality, for inclusion rather than distinction, despite any societal differences we may initially see.
There was an issue regarding partiality in the early church during the writing of James' letter, which most scholars place between 57 and 90 AD. Wealthier patrons of congregations were given preferential treatment—seats near the front of the sanctuary. According to Paul, at the church in Corinth, wealthy patrons were eating all of the communion elements prior to the working poor arriving, leaving them nothing. Partiality and societal standing were alive and well at early church gatherings.
Seating arrangements often reflected the social hierarchies of the time in the early church and were well established by the 5th century. Wealthier individuals were typically given more prominent places in the church, such as the front rows, while the poorer members were placed towards the back, often standing behind a lower fence. This practice reflected the societal norms of the time of the Roman Empire. If you have ever seen the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon, about the Life of 12th-century St. Francis of Assisi, you'll see an illustration of this seating arrangement during a worship service in the film. It wasn't until the rumblings of the protestant reformation of the 1500s that who got to sit where in churches began to change. ( Although that is not a problem these days—plenty of seats in the first pew today!).
James wants us to see one another as neighbors despite societal differences or status. Living without partiality is one way we demonstrate our faith in Christ Jesus. Throughout this letter, James echoes God's preference for the impoverished and pointedly calls out those with wealth in chapter five.
"Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like a fire. You have laid up treasure for the last day. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. " (James 5:1-5) There is no getting around it in James. Societal distinctions and favoritism based on wealth are sinful.
Last Sunday evening, my wife Paula and I visited one of our favorite restaurants downtown, Macaroni's Ristorante, for her birthday. The food is inexpensive and yummy. We ended up sharing an entree and finishing our meal by splitting a piece of Martino's famous lemon ricotta cheesecake with raspberry sauce, which meant we had no leftovers to take home. We ended up driving two cars to dinner due to complicated reasons. As I approached my vehicle parked at Lithia Square, I noticed a young guy holding a sign that said, "Anything." He looked like he was having a rough time and had a sad face. He looked up to the sky as he held the sign before him. My first response as I walked by was, "Sorry, I don't have any leftovers from dinner," which is often true when I encounter someone downtown in need. It has become an automatic response, unfortunately.
Walking to my car, the Spirit woke me from my “automatic response slumber”. It dawned on me that I actually had something I could give. You may remember a few weeks ago, I was going to restart my old practice of having water and small snacks to give out to folks who were hungry, following Jesus' command, "You give them something to eat." (Mark 6:37) I had small bottles of water and packs of cookies in my car in the compartment between the front seats. So I went in, got a couple of items, looked the man in the face, and said, "Here's something. God bless you." He silently nodded in thanks and smiled. Stopping and seeing the other as a fellow neighbor, making no distinction between human beings, takes conscious effort. This is one of two actions that demonstrate our faith.
The second question to ponder in silence is, when have you shown no partiality in the last week? When have you reached out to another human being who may be quite different societally but no different in God's eyes? (Silence)
The second action to demonstrate our faith is through what James calls "Works." We show our faith through works of justice, mercy, compassion, and love. Once again, James illustrates faithful works in how one treats the impoverished, saying, "If a person is poorly clothed or in lack of daily food, and you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and fed, without giving them anything, how does that show your faith?" (James 2:15-16) James completes this section with one of the more often-used portions of scripture, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2:17)
In addition to believing in something we cannot prove and turning away from partiality, James concludes this section on faith by saying that if we aren't demonstrating our faith through works, our faith is no longer alive.
The third question to ponder for yourself in silence is this- In the last week, when has your faith been alive? When has it reached out to someone in need? When has it shown God's love and compassion and mercy and justice? (Silence)
One theologian I read for this week's passage suggested James' statement, "Faith without works is dead," is like the saying, "The proof is in the pudding." The actual phrase is, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." This idiom dates to the early 1600s. In this context, proof refers to the act of tasting, and unfortunately, pudding in those days was not dessert but some sausage dish. Sausage pudding? Ewww! This saying means that the actual value of something can only be judged through direct experience with it. The idea was that you couldn't tell if the pudding was really pudding until you actually tasted it. Similarly, for the person of faith, the proof of our faith is in demonstrating that faith through works. The proof of the faith is in the working.
This morning's last question for you to ponder: How is your faith pudding? That is, in this last week, how has your faith been demonstrated through what you do and say? (Silence)
Closing Prayer
