Lectionary Reflection — 02 September 2018
17-18 Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There’s nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.
19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God — the free life! — even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.
Other readings: Deuteronomy 4.1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23
It can be argued that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy — Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises — aren’t just great “comic book” movies but great movies in general.2 Close to the end of Batman Begins, Batman (Christian Bale) rescues Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) and a child from an encroaching mob by carrying them to the roof of a nearby building. As Batman turns to leave, Rachel calls out, “Wait! You could die. At least tell me your name.” Batman pauses and turns to face her. “It’s not who I am underneath,” he replies, “but what I do that defines me.” This is a call back to an earlier conversation Rachel had with Bruce Wayne, Batman’s secret identity. With a puzzled look on her face, Rachel asks, “ … Bruce?” just as Batman leaps from the roof into the frenzied mob below.
“Faith alone” is one of the battle cries of the Protestant Reformation.3 For those of us who don’t know, the Reformation was a reaction — a protest — to what was seen as extremes within the Roman Catholic church of the 16th century. For a lot of people, that protest continues even today. The primary reason for this continued protest is because it’s a misunderstanding, not only of Roman Catholicism, but of the role “good works” plays in salvation.
Yes.
You read that correctly.
Our actions are an important part of salvation. But let me flesh this out by first saying what I’m not...saying.
I am not saying that we are saved apart from the Grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Scripture is quite clear that we’re rescued “by faith” (e.g., Galatians 2.16, Ephesians 2.8).
What I am saying, however, is what James says above — don’t let God’s Word “go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear.” Every judgment scene described in the New Testament shows that justice is administered to people based on their actions (emphasis added):
For the Human One is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he’ll repay each one for what that person has done.
We all must appear before Christ in court so that each person can be paid back for the things they’ve done while in the body, whether they were good or bad.
“Look!” Jesus said. “I’m coming soon. My reward is with me, to repay all people as their actions deserve.”
In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote:
5 You’re storing up wrath for yourself because of your stubbornness and your heart that refuses to change. God’s just judgment will be revealed on the day of wrath. 6 “God will repay everyone based on their works.” 7 On the one hand, God will give eternal life to those who look for glory, honor, and immortality based on their patient good work. 8 But on the other hand, there will be wrath and anger for those who obey wickedness instead of the truth because they are acting out of selfishness and disobedience. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 11 God does not have favorites.
And lastly, when Jesus was teaching his disciples, he said:
31-33 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he’ll sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me — you did it to me.’
41-43 “Then he’ll turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
44 “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’
45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me — you failed to do it to me.’
In each of these examples, and quite contrary to what the Reformed would have us believe, we see that people are not “justified by faith alone.” No. “God will give eternal life to [people] … based on their patient good work” (Romans 2.7).
But was is that “good work”? What does that look like? James tells us, “Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” Or as Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25.35-36; CEB).
So, before we start thinking that we’re some spiritual superstar because we can quote Bible passages or recite the Hail Mary from memory or repeat the Westminster Confession without looking it up, let’s remember what James said above: that kind of spirituality is nothing but “hot air and only hot air.” Our crucifixes around our necks or Christian t-shirts or Study Bibles don’t establish us as followers of Jesus, to paraphrase Batman.
It’s what we do that defines us.
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
~~~
1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
2. Heath Ledger won an Academy Award (posthumously) and a slew of other awards for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. All three films currently have a rating of over 8/10 on IMDb and over 90% by Google ratings.
3. Or Sola Fide. One of the five solea (“alones”) that summarizes the Protestant Reformation. The other four are: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone).
4. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
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