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If the church didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it because the church is the only institution whose reason for existing is to meet human needs, says the Rev. Bill Cotton.
Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalms 125 or 124 (UMH 846); James 2:1-10 (11-13), 14-17; Mark 7:24-37
Many of us, myself included, have avoided the little book of James because Luther once called it a bail of hay—actually a strawy epistle. He saw that too many were doing good works to prove their worth to gain a heavenly reward. In his determination to see the proper place for good works, it was not his intention that we avoid such behavior. Indeed Luther, like Wesley, would see a faith that did not issue into good works, or care for the neighbor, as false religion. Faith without works is dead. True justification, the admission and confession of sin that frees us from bondage, then issues into sanctification, or the spirit of good works offered without price. Persons who have experienced the gift of forgiveness naturally turn with thanksgiving to share love. I find it impossible to read James without being continually reminded of our need to serve and care for those who are poor, especially women and children.
The Gospel of Mark follows in this tradition as he speaks of Jesus confronted by the Syrophoenician woman who is a pushy determined Gentile. Mark reveals a Jesus who lays aside religious teaching and offers healing and mercy to the child of this uppity Gentile woman. This text reveals that true faith or religion can make an exception. (Thank God, perhaps there is hope even for me!) If one looks carefully at the book of James, there is hardly a paragraph that is not focused on human need.
Recently I was with someone who no longer goes to church, and believes that the church is a failed institution. I listened for a moment and then asked, “Can you think of even one institution of healing, education, care for the elderly, the orphans, and the mentally ill that was not started and formed by the church?” The answer is obvious. If the church should cease to exist tomorrow, someone would have to invent it again because there is no other way: Jesus as the Christ calls each generation to the task of renewal. I think James, our brother, is especially offered up to us in these troubled times as a way to see and to find our neighbors who suffer and feel lost. Indeed, faith without works is dead!
Prayer
Dear God, turn this tired old church of ours around, that we might see with fresh eyes of faith. Give to us a loving spirit that can look beyond the trouble of these times to a new day coming. Amen
The Rev. Bill Cotton of Des Moines, Iowa, is a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference. He writes Memo for Those Who Preach as a resource for both lay and ordained preachers. To receive Memo, email Rev. Cotton at revcottonhill@hotmail.com.