Can faith without deeds save you? (v. 14b)
I've recently been involved in a facebook discussion began by my brother-in-law Dave (Pastor at an ELCA church near Houston) and several of his clergy friends whom I have never met. He started it by jabbing out the recent Jon Stewart quote on Methodism.
If you missed it, the Daily Show episode on Chelsea Clinton's wedding included a remark that Methodism was "like the University of Phoenix of religions....just pay your money and hit 'submit'". Dave thought that was hilarious. But the truth is that lack of standards is hardly unique to the UMC in Protestant circles.
John Wesley taught triune grace - and the 3rd facet of God's grace in our lives is "sanctifying grace" - that grace that makes us holy - that gives us the power to be who God created us to be. It is the grace of deeds, of works.
We all have parts of scripture that mean more to us than others. I have a strained relationship with Paul and the letter to the Hebrews makes me squirm. I have participated in, and witnessed, many feats of "preaching gymnastics." One of my favorites is the ways in which we have come to interpret "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven."
It's also interesting to watch and see whether a Lutheran Pastor will preach on the Epistle lesson whenever this verse from James shows up in the lectionary....Luther's sola fide is hard to work into James.
Are we the University of Phoenix?
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I think that is why Luther didn't like James. According to the LSB, Luther referred to it as "an epistle of straw" because it only mentions Jesus twice.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, can't i just pay my dues and be part of the club?
I had heard the "Epistle of Straw" thing before - but this is the first time I've heard some reasoning behind it. I ran a search on James and several other epistles and discovered how big the difference is in references to Christ.
ReplyDeleteI still like James. And I think the lack of direct references to Christ is more of an excuse on why not to like the book...the books of Esther and Ruth don't mention God much and are still a part of the canon, and bring new understanding to our faith. "Lord" and "God" are NEVER mentioned in Song of Solomon (directly), and the OT History books are also short on those references.