29 May 2012

Faith and Works: Two Sides of the Same Coin


The following article will appear in the June-July issue of my congregation's newsletter, The Hope Lutheran:

We Lutherans are good about talking about how we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But what about our good works? Do we Lutherans talk at all about how to live our life and how to do good works? Let’s see.
In 1520 Martin Luther wrote a book called The Freedom of the Christian. He made two statements that, at first glance, seem to contradict each other. Luther said,
·       A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none,” and
·       A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” (Luther’s Works, vol. 31, p. 344)
What exactly did Luther mean? Since the Bible shaped Luther and his teaching, he was saying only what God says in His written Word. Even the Bible seems to give us some “dueling verses.” On the one hand, we read St. Paul when he says, “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Then, on the other hand, we read St. James, who says, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
Well, which is it? Are we justified by faith alone, or are we justified by our works and our faith? Are we free lords, or dutiful servants? The answer is a good, firm, solid Lutheran “Yes!” Let me explain.
In Ephesians 2:8-10, St. Paul shows us how faith and works are really like to sides of the same coin—that coin being life with God. In part 1 of this well known passage Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God saved us purely and solely by His grace revealed in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. As St. Paul said earlier in Ephesians 2, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Now, a corpse cannot give itself CPR, can it? Of course not! But God saved us—made us alive—by His grace, that is, by His goodness in Christ Jesus, His Son. And we receive that gift of new life and forgiveness by faith alone. In other words, we may not see visible proof of our new spiritual life, given by God Himself, but we can trust Him that we have it. As St. Paul says elsewhere, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
After extolling God’s grace that saves us, St. Paul goes on to part 2 of this well known passage. Here he talks about living in good works: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Now that we are alive in Christ Jesus, we live to do good works, and we do good works as we live all of life. Now that Christ’s blood covers and cloaks our sin, God sees everything we do as “good”—everything from getting up in the morning to going to work or school to helping a friend in need. Now that God makes us completely pure and holy in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, we are free to do good works.
The catch, however, is that we do not need to do our good works for God. He doesn’t want or need them for Himself. Instead, we get to do our good works for our neighbor. Gustaf Wingren, a 20th century Swedish Lutheran theologian, said it this way: “God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does” (Luther on Vocation, p. 10).
You see, God already gives us everything by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. He does not need us to “give Him” our good works. Instead, God wants us to give our good works to our neighbor. Bishop Wingren explained the difference well. First, he explained what faith is all about:
Faith receives a gift which is not to be “used” toward something else; it is simply a gift, a promise of participation in Christ’s eternal kingdom. Faith is joy at a gift which man received without becoming as good as he hoped (the gospel is for sinners). When he also receives God’s commandment, he heeds it, not that he may thereby become a better person—that would still be bondage to the law—but simply because God commands it. Such “single” obedience is the work of the Holy Spirit (Luther on Vocation, p. 200).
Simply stated, faith only receives the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ as a free gift. The good news is this: we don’t need to do anything—anything!—to acquire or keep God’s gift of spiritual life.
Bishop Wingren then explained good works. Again, we don’t need to do our good works “for God” or “for Jesus.” Instead, we get to do them for our neighbor. Here’s what Wingren said:
The man of faith knows that in God he has enough for eternity. Therefore he can desist from great, systematic efforts toward being holy. He can attend to that which needs righting in relation to other people’s need, in the context of his life. It is of no moment to him whether or not his actions look spiritual. He does not act in order to strengthen his religious life, but rather for the sake of his neighbor. (Luther on Vocation, p. 201-202)
So, when we think about our faith and our good works—yes, Lutherans teach both!—we remember that they belong together like two sides of the same coin. First, God makes us pure, perfect, and completely holy in the blood of Jesus Christ. In our Baptism, God washed us clean for all eternity. When we hear the Gospel proclaimed in sermons, Bible classes or Holy Absolution, God keeps us pure and perfect in His forgiveness. And as often as we eat and drink Christ’s Body and Blood, Jesus Himself strengthens us on His own perfect life. So, in Christ each of us really is “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This new, pure, perfect, holy life that God freely gives us shows itself as we serve our neighbor. And our neighbor can be as close as our spouse, our child, or our parent, or as unknown as the child who benefits from our donation to the United Way. Good works are not necessarily “fancy works” or “works that get praised” at church or in society. Good works serve the need of our neighbor. Our good works can include feeding a homeless person, or they can simply involve clearing the table after dinner or changing a dirty diaper. Going to work in the morning and doing our job to the best of our ability is just as much a good work as giving to a charity. You see, God delights in all shapes and sizes of good works. But He does not create us for good works so that we can stroke our own egos. Instead, He “reprograms us,” if you will, to do good works for our neighbor’s benefit.
So, we can rejoice in our faith in Christ Jesus and in our good works. They go together like two sides of the same coin—the “coin” of new life with God in Christ Jesus. The hymn says it so well,
Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone
      And rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
      With love and hope increasing.
For faith alone can justify;
Works serve our neighbor and supply
            The proof that faith is living. (LSB 555:9)

26 May 2012

KFUO Open House - 5/29/2012

You're invited to an open house on Tuesday May 29 2012 anytime between 10: am and 2: pm. We are celebrating our 85th anniversary of broadcasting from our current location at 85 Founders lane in Clayton, Mo. The KFUO air studio is the longest continually operating broadcast studio in the world.


"With Intrepid Hearts"

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison talks with seminary student Chris Chandler at the conclusion of today's (5/23) chapel service at The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod's International Center in St. Louis.

03 May 2012

And Kudos...

...to all who have been listening and continue listening to "The Morning Show" on KFUO Radio (AM 850 in greater St. Louis, or kfuo.org worldwide), Monday-Friday, 7:00-9:00 a.m. (Central Time).

It truly is an honor and joy to serve as host of the show. It's a great delight to help you start your day with:
  • the Word of God and prayer - "Morning Prayer" segment,
  • catechetical thoughts - "Feeding the Faith" segment,
  • quick trips through the Church's history - "On This Day" segment,
  • news and views from around the Church - "Around the LCMS" segment,
  • and different topics in the "Open Lines" segment.
By the way, please call in or email (kfuo@kfuo.org), and join the conversation. No need to be shy.

Thank you for letting us help you "Sanctify your day with the Word of God and prayer"!


Delightful Hearing

Thank you, Pr. Weedon, for the kudos on KFUO's "Morning Show," and especially for your insight into today's reading from Luke 10!

I do have to wonder if it wasn't the hearing of this text that largely sparked the insight. After all, when we read the text on a page, we do tend to break things up, by sentence or verse or paragraph or according to editorial headings. But when we actually hear the text read aloud, the mind - with the aid of the Holy Spirit, of course (cf. John 16:13) - seems to make these insightful connections. St. Paul said it well: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17).

And that's what makes it so delightful to put the Church's prayer life out on the airwaves to be heard.

Here's Pr. Weedon's post in full:

One of the delightful things...

...about the morning commute into St. Louis is that at 7 a.m. each morning, KFUO (850 AM) returns to the airwaves, and I get to pray Matins with my dear friend, Pastor Randy Asburry.  This morning as he read the NT reading in Treasury (from Luke 10), I heard something I'd always missed before.  You see, one of the dangers of using a lectionary is that stories take on a life of their own and you forget that they nestle right next to OTHER stories.  So I certainly know very well the pericopes dealing with the Good Samaritan, and Jesus' visit to the home of Martha and Mary.  But I plum forgot that thy literally are next-door neighbors!

So, think of it:  the Good Samaritan story ends with Jesus wringing from the lawyer the very word that is at the heart of Torah:  mercy.  And he tells him:  "Go and do likewise."  Go, show mercy.  Go, have compassion.  Go, be of service and use to another.

And THEN, we see Martha being all good Samaritanish, serving and working in the kitchen, fixing a meal for our Lord and his followers.  And yet when she dares to criticize Mary and urge the Lord to tell her to get busy with the serving, Jesus stops her dead in her tracks.  The result of Martha's busyness was that she was fretting and worked up about lots of stuff.  Mary, on the other hand, has chosen the better part, the better portion, the chief goodie.  Jesus refuses to let anyone take it from her.

The life of action or the contemplative life?  Well, our Lord desires for us both.  But he's utterly clear which MUST have the priority.  His Word and the hearing of His Word and its preaching.  That's the best, and we must never allow anyone to deprive us of it with urging to be busy.  For we can ONLY "go and do likewise" when we have first sat at the Feet of the Good Samaritan and let Him through His Word spoken and sacramentally enacted bind up our wounds, anoint us, and heal us.

Anywho, kudos to KFUO for allowing us to kick off each day with the joys of hearing the Word together, singing God's praises together, and asking His blessing upon the new day He has seen fit to give us.  "O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise!"