God’s Work; Our Hands (Revisited)
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
While Mary Rogers is taking some much deserved R&R in Minnesota, I offered to provide a couple devotions in her absence. I’ve written a few before so I knew it would be an enriching activity; one I believe many of you might enjoy as well! [nudge…nudge] But it wasn’t until I actually sat down to reflect and pray about it that I noticed I had written on this exact topic four years ago! Wow! Time certainly does fly!
My next epiphany was that, though the “texts” of the scripture lessons for this weekend are different than those I had referenced back then, the “guidance” provided to us is quite similar, and extremely relevant to the theme of “God’s Work…Our Hands.”
As Pastor Zach reminded us last weekend, we Lutherans take pride standing on our theological cornerstone of “freed by God’s grace aside from any good works”. After all, it is the one aspect that always gives me comfort in this world of selfish desires to be “in control”. However, we cannot forget how grace and works are like cause-and-effect.
Last weekend, the apostle James described the attributes of a truly religious person. He didn’t mention spreading the gospel, regular church attendance, or even having a personal prayer life. Instead he commanded us to take care of the orphans, the widows, the poor, the less fortunate, the oppressed, the neglected, and all people marginalized by a society focused on earthly wealth and power.
This weekend, James continues to urge us to resist our prejudicial tendencies and systems of discrimination and favoritism. Helping others should not be based on anticipated reciprocity, neither from the persons we help nor from our God. We are simply to act as extensions (hands) of God in this world.
However, this is not to diminish the importance of prayer and church attendance. Through prayer, we learn to listen to God. Through regular church attendance, we strengthen and support others, blending our varied skills and talents into an effective body of Christ. And through Christ, our debts have already been paid. We labor not in hope of gain but as a response of praise for what we’ve been given.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Thanks be to God!
David Krueger