Worship September 11, 2021

Let us worship!

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time on and forevermore.

                                                                      Psalm 121

A prayer to center you

God of all things,

of memory and of hope,

of the past, the present, and the future, 

You who makes the world turn,

You who holds us in the palm of their hand, 

You who made the stars, the sun, and the moon,

You who knows the number of our days

As your children we stray from you.

As your children we are flawed and broken, lost and wondering.

Call us back to you. 

Help us to put our trust in you

and find our hope in you.

Lead us to brighter days and more faithful acts.

Amen

Holy Scripture, Book of James,

CHAPTER 2, VERSE 14 THROUGH 17

Faith without Works Is Dead

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.

Reflection:

I have never considered myself a great theologian.  I love Scripture.  I love to sit in the Word and let it speak to me.  I love Jesus.  I love to study the words he left behind to guide us and lead us.  But I have never really had any pension for getting lost in theologian discussion.  Even in Seminary I did not love reading the great works of Calvin, Luther, or Milton.  Jonathan Edwards and Soren Kierkegaard have a lot to add to theological thought, but they do not hold my attention and make a memorable mark in my memory.  Karl Barth moved theology forward in a way that I greatly respect.   C.S. Lewis is a wonderful and profound writer, but if we were to throw down on a conversation about their contributions, I would forfeit out right!  I made it through my theology classes because I had to, but it is not the part that I enjoyed, and defiantly was the reason I went into ministry.

While in Seminary a very kind and well-meaning professor suggested to me that maybe my heart (and ministry) belonged in the field of practical application.  I could not argue.  That is where my heart (and my spiritual gifts are located).  It has taken me some time to come to peace with that—to feel validated in my ministry despite my disdain for all conversations of ideological theology.  But you know what, it is okay!  There is a place for the practical implications of ministry, and it is much needed.  This letter of James reminds of the need for practical ministries. 

“What good is it, my friends, if you say you have faith but do not have works?”

You can sit around all day and discuss the differences between Calvin, Luther, Wesley and Knox.  You can know each small deference between transubstantiation and consubstantiation.  Knowing the Roberts Rules of Order backwards and forwards can be helpful when in a bind, but if you never but your faith into action, what good are those discussion?  What use is that knowledge.

I know for many a frustration with the Christian church is the way members can sanctimoniously walking to worship on Sunday and discuss the sacrifices of Christ to just walk out and turn a blind eye to the injustices that surround them.  I understand the frustration of how “good Christians” gather together with pomp and circumstance on Sunday morning just to walk out the doors and return to a secular life.  It cannot be denied that there are many who talk the talk but never begin to walk the walk.  It happens too often, with too many people and too many congregations.  Faith without works show a shallow and incomplete calling. 

This week as I have heard the stories of what happened twenty years ago in New York City I have heard again and again the stories of faith put into action.  The firefighter who went into a burning building to save people, who but their own life at risk to save the neighbor they have never meet.  The pentagon employee who carried another worker on her back to get her out of the building just to turn around and rescue 5 other coworkers and who would have gone back to save more if the rescue workers hadn’t stopped her.  This same woman almost died on the way the hospital for treatment.  Faith in action, sacrificial love displayed for strangers.  What good is faith without works?  It is nothing.

As we remember back on September 11, 2001, there were so many people who helped.  Doctors, nurses, emergency responders, firemen and even everyday people did all that they could to help in those moments, hours, and days of devastation.  They did not get stuck in the theology of why this horrible thing happened.  Their faith and kindness lead them to jump into action.  A beautiful display of sacrificial love, of faith moved to action.

So many lost their lives that day.  That day changed many people and left all those who remember it forever shaped by the events.  This year as reports have looked back on the events, I am so glad they have focused on the selfless acts of good people.  I am glad that they have shown a light on those who gave of themselves to help the stranger.  It is a nice reminder that those people exist.  And it is a reminder that we should develop a life of giving.

Whole hearted faithfulness to our God will always ask of us to show whole hearted faithfulness to the least of those among us, to the orphans and widows, the naked and hungry, the hurting and sick, the wounded and the broken, the stranger and friend alike.  Faith without action is dead.  Faith is meant to be lived and breathed through our love of neighbor.  Faith should be more than words and discussion, faith should make a difference within us and through us.  Faith in Christ Jesus should move us to love our neighbor as ourselves in real and tangible ways with actions and works.

Let us go out into the world loving our neighbor through word and deed as Christ calls us to. 

Thinking it through…

When you think of the events of 9/11 what do you remember?

In the stories you have heard about that day, is there one that stands out to you that involves helpers?

Do you think that throughout this pandemic people have responded with the same helpful spirit?  Why or why not?

 

Word in action

Reach out to someone in need this week and put your faith into action!  What good is it my friends if you say you have faith but do not have works?

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ' Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping ."

--Mr. Rogers

Prayer of sending

Holy God,

Too often we turn from those in need.

We make excuses for ourselves.

Help us to turn our faith into works.

Help us to be vessels of your love and action here on earth.

Help us to form within us a faith that is alive and bold and useful.

Help us to meet the bodily needs of those around us, to feed the hungry, to cloth the poor and to love those who are hurting.

Help us to be your children and to act in a way that reflects your love.

Amen

Going out.

Go out into the world, renewed and revived by the word of God.

and in all that you do, may the love of Christ Jesus uphold you,

the peace of God sustain you and may the Holy Spirit guide you each step of the way

Let all God’s people say: AMEN