Good Works are Good Things (James 2:1-10, 14-18)

            Today’s epistle reading from James is really almost two separate readings.  The first is from verses 1-10, where it talks about the sin of particularity.  The sin of showing favoritism, or looking down on certain people who would come into your church because they aren’t dressed properly, or have purple hair, or whatever.  The other starts at verse 14, which talks about the relationship between faith and good works.  The first portion is something worth talking about, but for the sake of time, today we are going to focus on the second.

            As you might have seen in your bulletins, the theme for today’s sermon is “Good Works are Good Things.”  This might seem like an obvious thing, but that’s not always the case.  Since the days of Martin Luther himself, the church that bears his name has been accused of rejecting good works.  Even today, the Lutheran church gets charged with saying that what you do, how you live your life, doesn’t matter.  But that’s just not true.  That charge from others, or that wrong understanding among people within our church, comes from a wrong understanding of what we mean, of what Scripture means, when we speak of salvation by faith alone.

The Armor of God

I love this time of year.  Not so much because of the weather or because kids are back in school or because of anything like that.  I love it because it’s now football season.  Now, baseball is my first love, and I enjoy getting out to play golf or tennis.  But there’s something about football that other sports just don’t have.  I think it’s the equipment.

In high school, when we’d have a road game during baseball season, the only thing you really needed to make sure you personally brought with you was your cap and glove.  To get ready to play you pretty much put on a pair of pants tighter than you wore to school, changed your shoes and walked out there.  Football games though…those were something different.  Getting ready for the game was almost like a ritual.  You’d make sure each piece of equipment was accounted for.  You took the time to make sure each kneepad, each thigh-pad, each hip-pad were properly in place.  You’d lace up your cleats, slide those shoulder pads over your head, tightly strap them on, then pull that helmet down over your head and hear that click that told you your chinstrap was in place and you were ready to roll.

In baseball you go out to take on the opposition protected by nothing but a glove, your own reflexes, and maybe a cup.  But not always.  And you don’t think twice about doing it.  But you wouldn’t dream of going out to face the opposition in football without being properly equipped, properly armored against the attacks they’re going to throw against you.

So often we try to approach our lives of faith like a baseball game.  We step out onto the field to face the opposition equipped with our wits, some broken-in routines and responses and a “let’s get ‘em” attitude.  Only problem is, our enemies aren’t prepared to play nice.

Wives, Husbands, and Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33)

Today’s Epistle text is something of a mixed blessing for a preacher.  On the one hand, this text is loaded with things to preach on.  It’s a text despite how it might at first look has something to say to everyone, regardless of their current situation in life when it comes to marriage.  And when you consider the current public discourse about marriage, and the way marriage is so often described and portrayed, it might be one of the most relevant passages of Scripture.  Because arguably more than any other passage, Ephesians 5 shows us what God created and defined marriage to be.  Lots of good stuff here.

But this is also a text that isn’t all that popular in the current social discourse.  And I bet you can guess why.  It’s because so often people can’t get past those first two words.  Wives, submit.  Boom, right there, two words in and roughly half the population gets upset.

I can understand why.  For one thing, the word “submit” has pretty negative connotations these days.  It tends to carry an implication of inferiority.  Submission tends to become entwined with the idea of subjugation.  And in general the idea of submitting just doesn’t fit in with the prevailing cultural idea of being in control of your own life.

This verse also isn’t overly popular these days because it has so often been grossly misapplied and misused.  So let’s go ahead and address first what this passage is not saying to wives, or would-be wives.  “Wives, submit to your husbands,” does not mean that you’re supposed to be a doormat.  It does not mean that you are expected to be your husband’s sandwich wench, there to serve his every beck and call.  It does not mean that wives are expected to be the silent partner, meek wallflowers standing behind their husbands and speaking only when spoken to.  And it absolutely does not mean that wives are in any way the lesser or inferior partner. 

“Wives, submit to your husbands,” should never be understood as “Wives, you are lesser than your husbands.”  If the husband is the head, consider the wife the heart.  Think 1 Cor. 12, when in describing the church Paul writes, “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”  Different organs, different roles, but neither rightly can exist or function without the other.  Are you all with me so far?