Thursday, September 13, 2018

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost (B) 2018

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: James 2:14
Theme: Faith and Deeds

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

Life always gives evidence of its existence. The fact that we are here is evidence of the Creator- the Life-giver. Similarly, living faith is always expressed in activity. And the evidence cannot be forged. If you take fresh apples and pin them on an apple that it is dead, the tree will not come to life. A healthy tree produces fruit. A dead tree produces nothing. Again, James says today, “What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”1

James is clearly teaching here about integrity: Those who talk the talk should walk the walk. The wool cannot be pulled over God’s eyes. If we stand here in God’s house and simply go through the motion of confessing our sins and then go out and act with hard-heartedness towards our neighbour then our repentance is a sham. We are hypocrites. It’s easy to pacify our consciences by piously appearing to confess before God. Our lack of genuine remorse can be hidden from others by anonymity. Seeking forgiveness from the person we have hurt is much more difficult if our heart isn’t truly convicted. So, we must ask ourselves if our practice of repentance is habitually duplicitous.

Remember, any sin against our neighbour is firstly a sin against God. The key is understanding that we must act on knowledge of the truth, not on our feelings. Let’s say I have wronged someone, but I don’t feel particularly remorseful. Immediately I think of ten things I consider more sinister that that person has committed against me. I begin to justify my lack of remorse using my own standards our fairness. An inevitably biased tit-for-tat dynamic governs my thinking. In my own mind my excuses are a sufficient defence. The fact remains, however, that I have transgressed against this person. I am under obligation to apologize and seek forgiveness.

The will of God takes precedence over my opinion. What does Christ say? “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”2 The practice of reconciliation is the exercise of our baptism. If you still don’t feel regret, pray that the Holy Spirit would give you enough maturity of faith to apologize graciously. And remember that the forgiveness you receive from Christ is valid even when it doesn’t evoke any particularly happy emotions. God’s pardon can be rejected through unbelief, but it is not invalidated by our ineptness in fully appreciating it. More on this in a minute.

Dear friends, our understanding of what Christianity means goes awry when we practice it as the human attempt to curry favour with God and thus obtain certain benefits from Him. If through the acquisition of knowledge, the observance of morality, or the practice of charity (all things which are proper fruits of faith) we seek to pull God closer to us, then we have turned Christianity on its head. We can be driven by coercion to do many things. Fear is a powerful motivator as is self-indulgence. But self-giving, self-sacrificing love cannot be motivated by fear. Fear stifles true reciprocity and thus cripples godly relationships.

The proper relationship between faith and its activity is explained comprehensively in the Lutheran confessional writings. A couple of excerpts will suffice for now. “In the preaching of penitence it is not enough to preach the law, the Word that convicts of sin. For the law works wrath; it only accuses; it only terrifies consciences. Consciences cannot find peace unless they hear the voice of God, clearly promising the forgiveness of sin. Therefore it is necessary to add the Gospel promise, that for Christ’s sake sins are forgiven and that by faith in Christ we obtain the forgiveness of sins.”3 And again, “God pronounces righteous those who believe Him from their heart and then have good fruits, which please Him because of faith and therefore are a keeping of the law.”4

Faith and good works are not pitted against each other. Christ has accomplished our salvation. We cannot achieve it, but only receive it. Only Christ suffered and died to atone for sins. Only He had the power to rise again from the dead. The Holy Spirit enables us to trust in these life-altering truths. We call this faith. The Holy Spirit then inspires us to live accordingly, serving others and modelling the humble life of our Saviour.

So, if you fear that your faith is in the doldrums, that you underappreciate all that Christ has accomplished for you and what it means; seek the increase of your faith. After hearing the Lord’s instruction on the necessity of forgiving those who come to you in repentance, “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’”5 The father of the son who Jesus freed from an evil spirit said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”6 Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”7 If your faith is bold, pray that God would prevent it from becoming arrogant. If your faith is timid, pray that God would prevent it from being cowardly. If your faith is compromised by the skepticism of the human intellect, pray that God would refine it to be like that of a child. If your faith is childish, pray that God would tutor it to maturity.

Seeking the increase of our faith necessarily entails seeking the Spirit. Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”8 But if we already have the Holy Spirit (from the time of baptism) why do we still seek Him? Because the Holy Spirit is not a personal possession. He is not an inanimate object. He dwells in believers, but they do not own Him.

Seeking the Spirit necessarily entails desiring the Word. The two are never parted. The Spirit, the Word, and faith are inseparable realities. The Spirit and the Word exist independently from us, but faith cannot exist apart from the first two.

Desiring the Word necessarily entails desiring the sacrament. Belief that Holy Communion is simply auxiliary to the well-being of our faith is a tragic misunderstanding of its meaning and purpose. It’s not simply a remembrance of the final meal Jesus had with His disciples. It’s not a religious rite intended to facilitate proper decorum. Jesus says, “This is My body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”9 He says, “…which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”10 Holy Communion nurtures and invigorates faith because it communicates to the believer Christ’s power. His body and blood are life-giving and life-sustaining. Moreover, the sacrament is a far greater gift than we could ever merit or deserve. Only when we learn to be grateful for crumbs from the Master’s table can we really understand what it means that we actually sit at the royal banquet.

Dear friends, faith can move mountains; not because you or I are anything at all, but because with Christ all things are possible. The Spirit says, “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”11

+ In nomine Jesu +

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
9 September 2018
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 James 1:14 2 Matthew 5:23-24
3 AP IV 4 i.b.i.d.
5 Luke 17:5 6 Mark 9:24
7 Luke 11:9 8 Luke 11:13
9 Luke 22:19-20 10Matthew 26:28
111 John 5:5