"A Faith That Stands on Two Legs"
James 1:22-25, 2:14-17
September 2, 2012 + Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Reverend Dr. David C. Brown
Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ
400 Glenwood Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37404
Most of you know that occasionally I like to take a Sunday morning congregational poll. I hope you will take part in this Sunday’s poll. I should tell you, however, that the question is one which Christians have struggled with for two thousand years. How the question is answered has divided churches, created bitter conflict, and even caused wars. Have I whetted your curiosity?
Here is the question: what do we have to do to ensure God’s love and a place in eternity? In simple words: what do we have to do on earth to get to heaven? Over the centuries Christians have given two different answers to this question. I will read the two answers and ask one you believe is correct. I read the answers and then ask for your response.
1. The only way to have the love and forgiveness of God is to profess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and believe that through him you will have eternal life.
2. The way to have the love and forgiveness of God is do your best to live a life following the teaching and example of Jesus of Nazareth.
Which of these do you believe is correct? The first answer might be called the “religion about Jesus.” The second, the “religion of Jesus.”
The religion about Jesus believes that Jesus Christ is the lens through which we catch a glimpse into divine reality. He is the mirror in which we see our truest selves. The God of the universe is revealed in a displaced child who sleeps in a manger and who is rescued by his parents from imperial violence. He performs miracles which demonstrate his unique relationship to God. The Prince of Peace rides on a donkey and goes to a cross wearing a crown of thorns. The hand that shaped the universe broke bread with friends and enemies alike, washed the feet of others, and was nailed to a Roman cross. But the grave could not hold him and three days later in a mysterious way we cannot fully understand he was raised to life, eternal life with God, a life we can share with him if we believe in him. This can only be true by faith alone and not by anything we could possibly do.
The religion of Jesus was formed and shaped by the beliefs and practices of ancient Israel. When he was asked what God wants from us he responded in words drawn from the Shema and the teaching in Leviticus “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” For Jesus this was the heart of his religious faith. This is the way to live.
Jesus himself lived a fully human life. He had a profound ability to look beyond the stereotypes and roles of society and speak to the deepest longings of the human heart. He was a realist about human evil and violence but preached and practiced non-violent love. He believed that when we love God and one another we have abundant, true life that continues beyond death. Such a love can never be destroyed.
So which should we have? The religion about Jesus or the religion of Jesus? Do we come to God by faith in the grace of God or by living a good life that is faithful to Jesus?
Could it be that both are true, that unless we have both we cannot have a faith that stands on two legs? As the writer of the Letter of James says: “Faith without works is dead.” But how do we decide what to do? We are those who have decided to follow Jesus. For us he is the way and truth and life. His life becomes our lives. Faith in Jesus means that he lives in everything we say and do. Even more than that, faith in Jesus gives us the energy and courage we need to live the life he wants for us.
So, perhaps, it comes down to this: I believe in Jesus and I follow Jesus. As the popular song puts it: “You can’t have one without the other.” That is a faith that stands on two legs both in time and in eternity.