Reflections

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?  Can faith save you?  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.”  James 2:14-17

Last week, my pastor gave a sermon on these verses in the Bible.  It is not so amazing that he gave a sermon, as he does so every week; but this sermon was indeed so crazy amazing that I just had to blog about it.  I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit had a hand in the writing of that sermon, as it seemed to take on a life of its own.  After all, how can such a short verse in the Bible convict me to my very core and move me to a place of such great understanding?   It also reminded me of an incident that took place just a few short weeks ago on the parking lot of Wal-Mart.

I tell this story, not to boast; as frankly, I do not bode particularly well in it.  However, I use it to illustrate the point of this verse.  One evening, as I was leaving the Dollar store (on the parking lot of Wal-Mart), I was getting into my car.  I had $6.00 in my bank account and had gone to the Dollar store to pick up a loaf of bread and some jelly to go with the peanut butter in our pantry.   It was a few days until payday and just needed a couple of things to tide us over.  I had also gotten a couple of non-food items as well.  My account was now most certainly close to $0.  I got into my car and out of nowhere, a man appeared on the driver’s side.  He was missing many teeth, filthy and I believe, genuinely homeless.  I was scared since it was getting dark and he had literally appeared out of nowhere.  He motioned to his mouth; a sign that he was hungry.  I shook my head, pulled out of my spot and drove away.  As I was driving away, I immediately began to think about this man.  He seemed sincere.  More importantly, he probably targeted me because I was wearing a cross – a sign of a Christian.  Yet, my actions did not speak of my faith.  They spoke of my fear.  I did not trust God in this circumstance.

Our church gives away food bags and I was wishing I had one in my car.   I would like to think, I would have handed him the bag.  But I didn’t have one.   I began to think of the cross that was now most certainly weighing as heavily in my heart as on my neck.  I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and that hurt.  Did I go back and give him my food?  It was bread and jelly and I had no money for more.  But how would he put a sandwich together without a knife?   And my boys would do without.  It was certainly a dilemma.  I decided I would go home and put together my own food bag.  I live a couple of miles from Wal-Mart, so I went home and made two peanut butter sandwiches, put in two bottles of water and a couple of pieces of fruit.  Then, I drove back in search of that man.  I prayed to God that if he was sincere, for there are many in Las Vegas that aren’t, that I would find the man.  I circled the parking lot twice, looking in nooks and crannies of the buildings, as well as the adjoining parking lot.  I also took a slow turn around the main drag in hopes of finding him.  Nope, he was nowhere.  I had not been gone more than 10 minutes, and yet, he had moved on to a different place.  So had I.  I now realized that my faith was sorely lacking.  I took one look at that man and judged him.  And I didn’t like the reflection I saw in myself.

I’m certain it was no small coincidence that this week our pastor talked about faith.  It was a profound sermon.  Again, I was convicted in my spirit.  In the sermon, our pastor pointed out that James asks, “Can faith save you?”  We know it can.  Yet, even demons professed Jesus to be the Messiah – but are they saved?  However, the key question in this verse is not whether professing Jesus is our Lord that will save us, but “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?”  It is here that James convicts us.  James acknowledges what Paul says regarding faith, which is that it can save you.  However, his question gives the supposition that works are a reflection of our faith as well.  James is, in essence, giving us a definition of “true faith” versus “false faith”.  After all, anyone can profess that Jesus is Lord – even the demons did it.  Professing, however, is only the first step.  We need to act in a way as the body of Christ, so that we impact the lives of others.  It must be a reflection of our belief in God.  How does this happen?  Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.”  Hmmm, what does it mean to have the fruits of the Spirit?

Once we profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts.  The fruits of the Spirit flow freely from our heart, which not only changes our lives, but the lives of those we come in contact with; we begin to make an impact.  We no longer just profess our beliefs but we begin to act upon them.  These experiences bless others with our gifts of the Holy Spirit, which in turn begins a flow of blessings; we bless others, who hopefully will see a reflection of the Holy Spirit in us.  They in turn, bless others.  Imagine throwing a rock in a lake...it creates a rippling effect.  So it is with the fruits of the Spirit.  It’s a beautiful cycle and what James speaks of; a kind of “paying it forward”.

So I guess the question now becomes, how can we act on our faith?  How can we allow the fruits of the Spirit to work so that they bless others, and so others can see a reflection of the love we have of Christ in us?  Each and every one of us is different.  I thought I was a good Christian until that day I met a stranger and realized how very short I fall.  Yet, I know God still loves me and will continue to build me up in the body of Christ.  Yes, I tripped and fell, but picked myself up and dusted myself off.  As I look in the mirror, I see a changed person; less judgmental and even more willing to step up and show others that being a Christian is more than lip service.  That's the reflection I see in my spirit – what do you see in yours?