Mtr Kelli Joyce

“If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Dear friends in Christ,

The relationship between faith and works was one of the central questions of the Reformation, and Christians continue to wrestle with the question to this day. This passage from James was upsetting to many of the reformers, especially Martin Luther, who was deeply committed to the idea that we are saved by faith alone.

I think part of why we’ve struggled so much to understand the relationship between faith and works is that we often act like it’s possible for them to be separated. James is not saying that people who truly believe and trust in God still need to make sure they earn enough divine brownie points or else they won’t get into heaven. He’s saying that the way we live our lives, not the things we say with our mouths, reveal what we truly have faith in.

As Christians, we are not free to live however we please. The faith that we profess is one that has implications for how we will live in the world, and if we are not working to meet the bodily needs of others - food for the hungry, healing for the sick, release for prisoners, clothing for those who lack it - it shows our words proclaiming our faith to be hollow.

In the first chapter of Isaiah, God says “I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. ...your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” God spoke similarly to the prophet Amos, saying “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

We cannot work our way to right relationship with God by coming to church, or making offerings, or making music, or keeping feasts. What God desires more than all those things is our true faith - our trust, no longer placed in ourselves. That kind of faith is evidenced by actions that work to protect those whom society despises, the meeting of the bodily needs of the poor, and a commitment to seek justice rather than the status quo.

We are saved by grace, through faith, not because we are good. And, if we claim to have faith in God but don’t live like it, we need to take a good long look at ourselves.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli