Works without Faith

"WHAT GOOD is it, my BROTHERS, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith SAVE him? If a brother or sister is POORLY clothed and lacking in daily food, and ONE of you says to them, “Go in PEACE, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, WHAT GOOD is that? So also FAITH by itself, if it does not have works, IS DEAD." (James 2:14-26)

Jesus carved a trail to Heaven as He traveled from Bethlehem to Calvary, leaving glimpses of the salvation He would earn for us through His own suffering. Satan fell from heaven like lightning with every demon that the Christ and His apostles cast out, with every illness they healed, with every sin they forgave, with every person they baptized, and with every word they preached. Jesus left us a clear path to follow to Heaven through Word and Sacrament given to us by a new army of pastors.

As you and I follow that path left by our Lord, we, too, are called to leave a trace of the love of God in the good things that we do for one another. Our good works don't earn us a seat in heaven; they don’t even make the path easier to follow. Our heavenly seat is waiting for us, already bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus, and our path to it was never promised to be easy because the world is, after all, still corrupted by sin.

We are commanded to love one another (John 13:34). There's no getting around that. But God’s love is so wonderful that we ought to want to share it in some way. Heaven is so fantastic that we ought to want our sinful world to be like it. So, we punish the wicked, we feed the hungry, we give shelter to the homeless, we help out a neighbor whose basement is flooded, we hold the hand of a friend who is ill, and we try to be patient with our children and loved ones. We try to do good, not to be like God, but to show the world what God is like. Not perfectly, no, and not as often as we should and not without some grumbling and expectation of something in return, but still, we share the love of God as best we can. 

Those works do not bring our faith to life, but they are the result of our living faith born of a baptism into a living God.

Suggested verse to repeat if it's a difficult day is from John 13:34

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

"Just as I have loved you, -------> 5 count inhale

love one another." -------> 5 count exhale

The Work of the Poor

"Therefore, my BELOVED brothers, BE steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the WORK of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Henry Ossawa Tanner
The Thankful Poor, 1894

Feelings of worthlessness creep in when we're unable to contribute to society in any "gainful" way, or the way to which we've become accustom, or to our family's bank accounts that our medical bills keep draining. Whether the result of old age, illness, or injury, when our earthly work ends, our identity is often lost in endless hours of introspection and loneliness. And when our existence becomes far harder work than the 10hr days we used to put in, the feelings of worthlessness multiply exponentially.

At the risk of piling more guilt on that guilt, such feelings worthlessness and lack of identity are sinfully selfish. Anytime we try to determine our worth by anything apart from the sacrifice of Christ, we are setting ourselves up for tears of frustration and disappointment. Work is important, it's done to glorify God and help our neighbors, and whether we labor to support our families or just to catch our next breath, it is never in vain. But our worth is not determined by it.

God has determined our worth for us regardless of our earthly abilities or the lack thereof. Think of that one, smallest little thing you are still able to do to the glory of God and for the good of someone else, and forget it for a second. It's not about you. It's not about your work. It's about Him and His work. You are a child of God.

Suggested verse to repeat is from Psalm 92:4b

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

"At the works of Your hands, -------> 5 count inhale

I sing for joy." -------> 5 count exhale

For more on work, click here.

On Giving Thanks

Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving Dinner

Giving thanks is not a requirement. It's a free response to something wonderful, something worth appreciating, something we're grateful for. (Hence the "giving" part). Jesus gave His life for you. He expects nothing in return. As for me and my house? Today, we're letting our thanks be enough while we enjoy our salvation.

No, I'm not toasting my health. Not exactly, but even without that or family or wealth enough for a turkey or whatever our situations, we each have the love of God. Everything after that is, well, gravy.

Suggested verse to repeat on this Day of Thanksgiving is Psalm 9:1a

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

"I will give thanks to the Lord -------> 5 count inhale

with my whole heart." -------> 5 count exhale

Ha!

The Work of Heaven and Earth

“I therefore, a prisoner for the LORD, urge you TO walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the BonD of PeacE.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Jean Francois Millet
The Angelus, 1857

Before I got sick, I had some fabulous plans to work as a deaconess for the church in all sorts of ways. Today, I can't work period. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. And it's heartbreaking. So much for a missionary trip to Sudan. I couldn't even make it to my brother's wedding in Michigan. It took me a long time to realize that work, wonderful as it is, is not God's only work.

God asks us through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to act "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." We can try to do this each day in all that we do: at work and at home. While working for the food that perishes, we can work because of the food that endures to eternal life, the food that Jesus worked for. We can be kind to each other. We can be patient. We can be humble and forgiving—not perfectly—but we can try. We can do the work of the Lord, working or not.

EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, including but not limited to earning our perishable earthly bread, is in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for us, whether it’s going to work, standing in line at the post office, staying in touch with friends, sitting through church instead of sleeping in, or picking up that Sunday shift for our coworker whose little girl came down with the flu and missing church altogether.

So, we act purposefully to that end as best we can no matter what it is that we do, "...serving the LORD with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me..." (Acts 20:19a)

Suggested verse to repeat if its a difficult day is from Psalm 145:14a

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

“The LORD upholds -------> 5 count inhale

all who are falling.” -------> 5 count exhale

More than Conquerors

"WHO shall separate us from the LOVE of CHRIST? Shall TRIBULATION, or DISTRESS, or PERSECUTION, or FAMINE, or NAKEDNESS, or DANGER, or SWORD? NO! In all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through HIM who LOVeD us." (Romans 8:35, 37)

Claude Monet
Landscape Painting

I thought was was doing all right a few months ago. I'd been sick for about five years, and I hadn't died yet. I was still breathing, which I thought was pretty darn impressive, all things considered. Of course, I was so bitterly depressed I couldn't see straight. But I was breathing. Isn't that what mattered?

We do more with our suffering than simply “get through it.” We learn from it. We grow. Our character is often strengthened by it, as is our resolve. We help others, we bring them to Christ. And we participate in Christ's suffering.

And we are even more than that. We are more than conquerors, more than just too stubborn to die, more than our existence, more than God's soldiers, more than teachers and models of how to suffer in Jesus' name: we are God's children. We are loved.

That's why it's so important for those of us who are chronically ill or constantly in pain to consciously do more than simply exist---because we are so much more than that. So, let's do something great today that has nothing to do with survival, something that shows we are more than conquerors. I think I'll paint a picture. I am certainly no Monet, so the greatness will have to be in the doing and not the product, but that's okay, too.

Suggested verse to repeat if it's a difficult day is from Romans 8:37

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

“We are more than conquerors -------> 5 count inhale

through Him who loved us.” -------> 5 count exhale