MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK SERIES
F + 0 = 0
JAMES 2:14-26
#JAMESatCCC
INTRODUCTION… Math Woes (p)
How many of you here like math… enjoy math… maybe have dreams about being a math teacher? You people are strange. I dislike math and it is all math’s fault.
My dislike for math started when I was in the 3rd grade when my teacher decided to skip teaching our class fractions and I never learned them. She was ultimately fired for not teaching and not grading any papers… but for me the damage was already done and to this day I do not do fractions well.
My dislike for math continued the next year in the 4th grade, now in a new school because the other school had teachers who didn’t teach, when I was put in the gifted program and selected for the math team. The very first meeting of the math team was also my last meeting. We arrived and sat at large tables. They gave us a bright red floppy book full of math problems. We were to do the first page. Everyone else did them and got them mostly right. My page was mostly blank because I had no idea what was going on. Math made me feel stupid.
My dislike for math continued in the 6th grade when I was introduced to this thing called “integers.” Negative numbers made absolutely sense to me. I went after school to tutoring, doing flash cards with my parents, struggling through homework and ended up with a mantra… “integers are my life.” One day it did finally click and we were all so thankful.
Fast forward to my senior year… after football I was on the basketball team playing left bench, in Trigonometry, and in the running to be Valedictorian. My Trig grade dropped to a D- which would push me out of the running for Valedictorian as I was one hundredth of a point over my competitor who to this day is probably smarter than me. I quit basketball to get my math grade up. Math made me a quitter.
I don’t like math. Math is not my friend.
I don’t like math so I hope you understand how much it pains me to bring you a math equation today that is an expression of James 2:14-26. As I was reading and praying over James 2:14-26, a math equation came into my mind. It’s very troubling, but the math equation is an expression of what James teaches us.
READ James 2:14-26
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
The math equation is a two-parter that leads us to the truth that James is talking about…
F + 0 = 0
F = D
I want to take a look at each of these, but first I want to define ‘faith’ since it is the ‘F’ in both equations.
FAITH
ILLUSTRATION... Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, pages 438-439
ILLUSTRATION… Vines Complete Expository Dictionary, 1996, page 222
“Faith is the belief in or confident attitude toward God involving commitment to His will for one’s life.” That is a dictionary definition of faith... literally… I got it from a Bible dictionary. Faith can also be described as “firm conviction based on personal surrender.” I want you to notice that in that definition of faith there is a mental or will aspect of belief and confidence in God, but there is also an action part in that there is commitment and surrender to His will. Commitment is action. Surrender is action. Faith is not a belief only. Faith is not a thought only. Faith is not intent only. It starts there, but actual faith ends up in commitment and action and personal surrender to God.
“Faith is part of the Christian life from beginning to end.” Faith is the instrument by which we receive the gift of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
INVITATION TO PLACE FAITH
Maybe you are here today and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Not everyone has who attends church. It is a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ all the days of our lives in as many ways as we possibly can; turning away from our old ways. It involves verbal confession and being immersed under the water. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Accepting Jesus in faith means that you have confessed that you believe that Jesus is the promised way of God’s forgiveness and you accept His way of living as the correct way.
Accepting Jesus in faith means we turn our backs on sinful selfish ways and follow His teachings.
Accepting Jesus in faith means you surrender your will and put it under God’s Word as the direction for your life.
At the end of the service, if you believe that Jesus is the promised way of God’s salvation and was God in the Flesh Who died for your sins… but you have never been baptized… I encourage you to come forward and place faith in Jesus. Faith in action. Faith in commitment. Faith in surrender. Please decide today to follow Him.
TRANSITION
We began by reading the passage and talking about math, but took a side detour to talk about faith a little bit. Let’s get back to the math. The math equation is a two-parter that leads us to the truth that James is talking about…
F + 0 = 0
F = D
I want to take a look at each of these.
F + 0 = 0 (verses 14-19)
The first equation that expresses what James teaches us is F + 0 = 0.
In verses 14-19, James introduces the idea that faith plus nothing equals nothing. He asks us what good is it for a person to have “faith but has no deeds?” (verse 14). James then ups the ante in the same verse and asks another important question… “Can such faith save him?” We are indeed talking about faith in Jesus Christ that saves our souls. We are not talking about an acknowledgement that God exists or that what goes up must come down or that when I fall back you will catch me. We are talking about faith that Jesus is the Son of God and by believing in Him we have life in His Name (John 20:31).
James thinks of an example of a person around us who is in need and we wish them well, but don’t actually help. He says that is no good. He further uses the words “dead” and “useless.” I thought about James’ example and I see an example of a person of faith knowing that a need exists and deciding not to help. I wonder what might be a similar example?
* What good is it if we have a friend who has surgery and is hurting and we tell them we will pray for them, but don’t offer to take them home when we know they need a ride?
* What good is it if a truck has a flat tire in the church parking lot, but we sit in our office and watch instead of offering to change the tire?
* What good is it to hear a sermon about the good Samaritan and serving others and to not stop when we see someone on the highway whose hood has come up and smashed their window?
* What good is it to have a garage sale and sell $40 worth of children’s clothes when we know of a family that would benefit from having those clothes just given to them?
* What good is it to have a great bountiful-more-than-we-need harvest from our garden and to keep it all to ourselves?
ILLUSTRATION… https://chasingthewind.net/2009/08/16/faith-and-deeds/
Charles Schultz often touched on religious themes in his Peanuts cartoons. You might remember his Christmas special years ago, where Linus recited the meaning of Christmas from the book of Luke. Charles Schultz taught bible study into the 1980’s and many of his cartoons were thought to illustrate bible scripture. His illustration for our study today, the second half of James 2, shows Snoopy shivering outside in the cold. Charlie Brown says to Linus, “He looks kind of cold, doesn’t he?” And Linus says, “Maybe we’d better go over and comfort him. So they walk over to Snoopy, wearing their warm coats and mittens and hats and Charlie Brown says, “Be of good cheer, Snoopy!” Linus also says, “Yes, be of good cheer.” And then they walk on by.
James tells us very plainly that faith worthy of salvation is a faith that is active and alive. Faith is not simply a thought in our mind, but a decision in our hearts to act. Faith is an act of submission to act the way Jesus has taught us.
Jesus taught us: Compassion, Turning the Other Cheek, Speaking Truth in Love, Forgiveness, Loving our Neighbors, Being Committed to Holiness, Humble Hearts, Kind Speech, Living Rightly, Praying Often, Complete Trust in God the Father, Guarding our Hearts, Faithfulness in Marriage, Being Salt and Light, and so much more!
These types of actions must accompany the pronouncement of faith. James would say, in verse 19, that if we say we believe in Jesus, but don’t do anything about it then our faith is as good as a demon’s faith. Let that sink in a little. A demon knows God exists, but has chosen to go Satan’s way or even its own way. This may sound weird, but I want to have more character than a demon. I want to have better faith than an angel that has turned its back on God. I want to treat God better than an evil spirit. I want to have faith that leads me to salvation and that leads me to be more like Christ.
F = D (verses 20-26)
The second equation that expresses what James teaches us is F = D.
In verses 20-26, James recounts Old Testament examples of people of faith who did not simply acknowledge God, but were committed and submissive to His will by their actions. This helps us see F=D in reality. These people are paragons of faith. They are examples we should look to. James mentions Abraham whose faith and actions were together and he was declared “righteous” (verse 23). James mentions Rahab, a non-Hebrew, who not only confesses, “for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11), but by actions hid Israel’s spies and helped God’s people. Faith is deeds. Deeds is faith. We cannot have one without the other and call it Biblical faith.
James is not alone in defining faith this way, but is only teaching us the way John the Baptist and Jesus Christ already taught about faith.
In Matthew 3:7-10 it says about John the Baptist, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” What was to accompany their repentance? Fruit. Action. Change. They could not just show up and say they believed or look like they believed, but must have action with that faith otherwise it is bonfire fodder.
In Matthew 7:19-21 (and 22-23) Jesus Christ says, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” These are such sobering and scary words from the Son of God. Bearing fruit. Action. Doing God’s will should be present if faith in Jesus Christ is present.
ILLUSTRATION…http://www.romeoumc.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=37949&PID=1032404
I like the story of 19-year-old Joey Prusak from September of 2013. Joey Prusak is now a NASCAR driver, but before he got into racing, he began working at Dairy Queen at the age of 14 in Minneapolis. He became manager of a Minneapolis Dairy Queen store at age 19. One of his regular customers, who is visually impaired, dropped a $20 bill on the floor. Standing directly behind this man was another customer in line who picked up the $20 and put it in her purse. When the woman who picked up the $20 came to the counter Joey refused to serve this woman until she returned the money to its rightful owner. The woman herself refused and stormed out of the store.
So Joey took $20 out of his own pocket, found the visually impaired man outside and gave him the money he had lost. Joey did not tell anyone about the incident except a fellow employee. However, a customer saw the whole thing and emailed Dairy Queen. The email began to circulate on-line and the news spread about an honest 19-year-old with a big heart. Soon traffic at the Dairy Queen doubled with people leaving large tips and offering jobs. Even Warren Buffet, whose company owns Dairy Queen, called Joey on the phone to thank him for being a role model for all of the other employees and invited him to the annual shareholders meeting.
What is that?
Faith. Alive faith. Active faith. Fruitful faith. Just plain ‘ol Christian faith. Faith.
SUMMARY
James finishes off this second chapter of his work with a summary about all he has been talking about. He says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). I thought of a few more math equations to illustrate what James is telling us. I must really be some kind of late-blooming math genius. E=MC with the little 2 look out!
F + D = ?
Now I know that thumbs up are not usual math terms, but as I just stated, I am a math genius and us math geniuses can use thumbs up in our equations. James tells us that Faith with Deeds is what God approves.
B + D = F
Belief plus Deeds equals faith. When we talk about faith… that is what we mean!
ENCOURAGEMENT
I want to encourage you today to be growing and active and fruitful and faith-filled!
* God wants to do great things through you and love the people who are around you.
* God wants to produce fruit in you that blesses the people around you.
* God wants to say “well done good and faithful servant” when you roll up on the doorstep of Heaven.
* God wants to save you and make you more like His Son Jesus Christ.
* God wants abundant life and goodness and godliness and blessing for you and I think that all starts with genuine faith as the basis of our lives.
TAKEAWAY
If you don’t remember anything else from today please remember this:
Genuine faith in Jesus Christ bears fruit in our souls and shows itself in action.
PRAYER
