Lent 1B Series: #MakingFaithMatter

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“Be doers of the word and not merely hearers…”

The one question I always ask myself when preparing a sermon is, “So what?” meaning, “What does this have to do with anything?” 

All this study and thought might be fun, in a nerdy sort of what way, interesting to dig into the layers of meaning of scripture, and apply fine points of doctrine to come up with a unique interpretation of the bible passage.

Yes, Paul is quoting Isaiah out of context. Interesting.

Yes, John is channeling Genesis at the beginning of his gospel. Sure that helps provide deeper insight.

Yes, Mary’s song is a ripped off from Hanna’s song. Curious.

But there comes a point when I have to wake up from out of my intellectual stupor, and ask where the passage hits people in their lives. I ask, “So what?”

I’m guessing that you do to. Most people wonder what faith actually looks like, what it actually does, what impact it has on people’s lives and the world.

That’s probably why you’re here. You sing songs. You pray prayers. You greet one another. You listen politely to what comes from this pulpit. And I’m guessing that in the back of your mind, you’re asking, “So what? How does this apply to me? How does this impact my life? What does this mean for me?”

Those are fair questions. Questions that Lutherans have been shy to ask, until recently. And that shyness, that hesitation, come from a fight that Martin Luther, our father in the faith from whom we get name “Lutheran,” had with this scripture passage.

“Be doers of the Word, not merely hearers.”

 Many Lutherans hate the letter of James. In fact, Martin Luther once said that the letter of James was made out of straw, only good to help light his fire.

Inflammatory language about scripture, don’t you think? Wanting to rip out a whole book from the bible to use for kindling doesn’t quite have the reverence we attach to the reading and study – let alone, the application - of scripture.

As one who has been trained in the Lutheran theological method, I always need to reach for the Tums when I see passages from James coming up in our Sunday readings.

“Be doers of the word and not merely hearers, lest you be deceived,” James sneers at us, waving his finger in our faces.

Those words stung Luther’s ears. He spent most of his formative years hunting after a God who loved him because all he heard at church was how much God demanded of him – and how God was furious with him for his failings.

All he heard, day after day, was how he wasn’t good enough, how he wasn’t doing enough, how much God was disappointed in his shabby attempts to be the good Christian he thought God wanted him to be.

But while studying Paul’s letter to the Romans, Luther read these words, “…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; they are now justified by God’s grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an atonement by his blood effective through faith.”

In other words, “stop trying so hard to get God to love you. Stop trying to work your way into heaven. God loves you and gave you Jesus. Jesus is your way into heaven.”

Luther was never the same after reading that. And neither was the church.

When Luther had to preach James’ letter where the apostle thunders at him “Be doers of the word and not merely hearers, lest you be deceived!” - Luther felt like he was back to square one. James assumed that Luther wasn’t doing enough for God. That all his studying and praying, teaching and preaching were not enough, and that he had to work even harder to prove he was the Christian he claimed to be. At least that’s the way that Luther heard it. No wonder he wanted to use the letter for kindling!

And that’s the way that many commentators and preachers hear it as well. I talked once with a pastor who said he loved this letter because to preach on it was his chance to “give it” to his congregation, and not in a good way. “To make sure they got off their butts and did something for Jesus.” I worried for his listeners.

I worried because I remember when I was in university and enduring a “get up off your butt and do something for Jesus” sermon based on this text, and thinking to myself, “I have six courses this term. I’m writing music for campus ministry, I lead a bible study, and I serve on the nominating committee for Laurier Christian Fellowship, what exactly am I not doing that you want me to do?”

And I think you might respond the same way: “I work 50 hours a week, one kid has swimming lessons while the other has piano. I’m a Stephen Minister, and I coach my kid’s soccer team. I usher at church and sometimes run the sound board. There are only so many hours in the week. What exactly am I not doing that Jesus want me to do?”

But I don’t think that’s what James was getting at. The church that James was writing to was really good at the “worship and study” piece of church life. They gathered in their holy huddles to pray and sing and study the bible. These are good things. But they didn’t know how to make the jump from worship and study to living and acting out what they learned.

James wanted them to bridge the gap between Sunday morning and Monday morning.

And I don’t hear James the way Luther did. I don’t hear James haranguing his church, because right there in the passage he says, “…anger does not produce righteousness.” I think he was trying to be gentle with this group of young believers, giving them a soft nudge out of the nest.

He knew the danger of religious people secluding themselves away from the rest of the world because he was probably standing 5 feet away from Jesus when some of the religious leaders were hassling Jesus because his disciples didn’t wash their hands before eating.

The Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.

The religious leaders weren’t worried about the “ick” factor of not washing their hands before eating. They were upset because Jesus’ disciples – this supposedly great rabbi from Galilee – ignored basic Jewish traditions.

Then Jesus reminds them and the crowd standing there that silly little traditions aren’t important, but how we live out the faith that’s inside of us. That’s what’s important. Losing sight of how God wants us to live is a consequence of being too removed from the world around us.

James was worried because he could see the same thing happening at his church. The congregation wasn’t able to see that living out the faith is just as important – perhaps even more important – than spending all their time praying and worshipping.

James was placing practical love for neighbour and care for others at the centre of their life together, because they already knew how to worship. He just wanted them to take the next step. He was asking his people for their faith to find its feet, because their faith was already strong in their hearts. He was telling his followers that faith is something you DO, not just something you believe or something you feel.

But for those who might have gotten the wrong idea, and jumped off the other end and made good works a requirement for faith, James also reminds them that everything, every act of giving, every gift received, is from God, offered freely. That’s why you do good works, because God loves you. Not get God to love you.

You do good works BECAUSE you have faith, not to receive faith. You care for others because that’s who you are. You help hurting people because that’s what you faith tells you to do.

That’s why you’ll never get a “get off your butt and do something for Jesus” sermon from me. Because it’s bad theology, and it’s not what James is saying. I think Luther was wrong in his assessment of James. I think Luther couldn’t break out of his anger over the medieval church’s judgmental demands, demands which he read into James’ letter.

While Luther confronted abuses within the church, and offered a much needed corrective against church leaders who were more interested in power and control rather than love and forgiveness, the legacy he left was that good works were looked upon with suspicion, and the full content of our faith was personal piety; prayer, bible reading, and going to church.

But we have a saviour who healed the sick and raised the dead. We follow a messiah who confronted abusive powers. We bear the name of the one who was deeply immersed in human suffering and had the temerity to believe that he could do something about it.

He did all this because he had to. He had no choice. He had no choice but to reach out to those who were in pain. He had not choice but to love those who were abandoned by the rest of the world. He had no choice but to bring life to a world that was dying.

He had no choice because that’s who is was. And that’s who we are because we have his name stamped on our foreheads, that’s who we are because we have our names written in his book of life, that’s who we are because we have been joined to his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

And because we bear the name “Christian” we have been given an opportunity, we have been given an opportunity to change the world in Jesus’ name by living out what we have been freely given.

We have been given an opportunity to be a ray of sun to those struggling in the darkness.

We have been given an opportunity to be a healing presence in our community, known for our care, and not for the financial challenges of another church body.

We have been given an opportunity to tell a different story from the story we usually hear; a story of life and abundance, a story mercy and justice, a story of peace and reconciliation, a story of love and care.

And I think we’ve taken that challenge seriously.

We are, as James puts it, keeping our religion “pure and undefiled before God,” not by cloistering ourselves away so the stain of the world leaves no blemish. But by caring for others, by growing in love, by deepening our compassion.


That’s why we’ve made a change here at First Lutheran. We’ve changed First Lutheran Church’s slogan from “Living Jesus Inside Out” to “Making Faith Matter.”

This change is to signify a renewed emphasis on the practical side of the faith, our ambition to make our presence felt more deeply in our community, to show others that the business we do in here, makes an impact in what you do out there.



So, for my time with and among you, I want us to focus on the DOING of the faith. 

I want us to get our hands dirty by having a stronger presence in the community. I want us to be known by our love as we live our faith in the workplace. I want us to be ambassadors for Christ in how we care for those who need our help. I want us to be beacons of light and agents hope at home.

I want us to be known for Making Faith Matter, in our lives and in our community.

And we’re off to an excellent start. We already have important ministries that impact others in Jesus’ name. I want us to build on the solid foundation that has been established by your hard work.

Stephen Ministry is being revived, with four people beginning their training. Stephen Ministry being the one-on-one caring ministry that helps people through challenges and crises, by being a listening ear and caring heart.

Inn From the Cold provides food and shelter for those who have no home.

Ladies’ Time Out offers women a chance to fellowship with each other.

Confirmation Class has service project requirements to put feet on the faith that the students will be confirming.

Small groups have a missional component to their gatherings, where they engage in some action that benefits others.

Youth group, which is being re-imagined, will have a strong faith-action connection, to reinforce the notion that faith is to be LIVED.

And we will be building on the strength of what we’re already doing. We will be making faith matter.

Also, those of you on social media, I want us to take over the hashtag #MakingFaithMatter, I want that hashtag to be connected with us, to celebrate the ways we are impacting our world in Jesus’ name, and to invite others into the conversation, and into our life together as we live out our faith in practical ways.

So be doers of the word and not merely hearers. Keep doing what you’re doing, and even more so. Be generous. Be compassionate. 

Let’s celebrate our successes. Let’s build on the good things that are happening. Let First Lutheran Church be known in our community for #MakingFaithMatter.

May this be so among us. Amen

Easter 6A

According to sociologist Peter C. Emberley, Canada is a nation of seekers. Religious seekers in particular. For those paying attention this will not be new, but he provides some fascinating data showing us just how religiously and spiritually diverse we Canadians are.

But while he offers particulars, he isn’t saying anything that hasn’t been noted before. Throughout history, human beings have been known to be worshipping creatures. We want to bow down to something.

We want to believe that there is something out there that is bigger than ourselves, and that we are not alone, flapping through the universe without any meaning beyond our fingertips.



A recent trip to the movie theatre or glancing through Netflix’s selection will give show you just how hard we seek the divine.

The popularity of the Noah movie, the line-ups at Heaven Is For Real, the Twilight series, or re-runs of Ghost Hunters and the various other media offerings of the supernatural and the divine, show us just how much we search for something larger than our initial comprehension.

Standing at the Spirituality and Religion section at Chapters, and reading the accounts of seeking Canadians, I feel like Paul standing at the Areopagus, as he did in today’s first reading, looking out at the vast panorama of religions and spiritualities, and feeling, suddenly, very small.

For Paul, it was one thing to preach in the villages. Sure, they had opposition. But Paul and his friends saw great crowds drop to their knees and receive the message that they preached: salvation in Jesus.

But Athens was different story. As Paul entered the city he probably asked himself if the gospel could hold its own in the sophisticated intellectual environment of the university town. He might have wondered how his message would be received in the city of Pericles and Plato. Athens was the hub of intellectual achievement and the height of philosophical and religious inquiry.

If Paul was nervous he didn’t show it. He stood up and boldly addressed this vast, religious marketplace.

“Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.”

A curious beginning. Was he making fun of them? Being sarcastic? Priming the pump? Or was he sincere?

“For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘to an unknown god.’”

Smart move by these Athenians. I guess they were hedging their bets with this “to an unknown god” stuff. They wanted to make sure they acknowledged ALL the gods, lest they suffer the wrath of a snubbed deity.

Paul must have known what he was walking into. But whether it was holy arrogance or sacred inspiration, Paul spoke the unspeakable: that a grossly unnatural act took place and revealed who God is; Jesus was raised from the dead. 

There was no precedent for this in their philosophy books. This couldn’t be explained by natural law.

But Paul spoke, not with the eloquence of the philosopher or the arguments of the scholar, though he was both. He spoke the simple truth of God: that it is Jesus who saves, and all the time, effort, energy, and resources that went into building these temples and shrines were a colossal waste.

Paul doesn’t hold back. He hits them straight on. Salvation comes from the God who brought a dead man back to life. Period.

Of course, this message sounded unbearably exclusive at Athenian sensibilities. And his message wasn’t met with anymore enthusiasm then as it does today. And for the same reasons. 

Many folks today want religion or “spirituality” on their own terms. They want to create their own faith. They want to search after God according to their own instincts and needs, their own pre-determined ideology and agenda, without the heavy hand of the institution bearing down on them.

And TOTALLY I get why they do. 



Many people have had bad experiences with church. Some have been abused, spiritually, sexually, emotionally, or in various other ways. Church was a place to sit up straight, mind your manners, and do what you’re told. It wasn’t, for them, a place of honest searching or for asking hard but important questions.



Others feel that religious boundaries restrict true expressions of faith, and want to re-draw the lines on their own terms, free from outside authority.



Still others have seen too many cheesy TV evangelists who fly around the world in private planes, milking old ladies’ out of their pension cheques to pay for air conditioned dog houses.

And others have seen churches use their authority to judge others, to bring down the hammer, to make people feel badly about simply being human, to curtail human rights, rather than set people free in Jesus’ name.

It no wonder why people stopped looking at church as the vehicle from which to search after God.

But self-styled religion, and or DIY spirituality doesn’t come without its dangers. 

When does handmade religion or “spirituality” or “faith,” become an accessory, rather a rigorous engagement with the truth or an honest search for God? 



When does a homemade spirituality merely re-affirm what people already believe, rather than transform people through the study of a tradition that others have lived and died for over generations, and how can a person grow through the challenge and support of a committed community, and offer that challenge and support to others?

Just as many folks today aren’t burdened by such probing questions, neither were the Athenians that Paul was preaching to.


“When they heard of the resurrection of the dead,” verse 32 says, “some scoffed; but others seemed mildly interested and said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ At that point Paul left them. 

Some sneered. Others said they wanted to hear more about Jesus, but not now. Maybe later. No sense of urgency. Even Paul didn’t push the issue. He just gave his message, and left.

I wonder if that’s how we hear Paul’s message about Jesus. Sometimes we scoff. Sometimes we want to hear more but life gets in the way. And maybe Paul knew something most of us don’t; that sometimes the Spirit works instantly and other times the Spirit takes a lifetime. That faith is a process of fits and starts, peaks and valleys, and ups and downs. It grows and shrinks. Expands and contracts. Faith never stands still.

Paul knew how messy life and faith could be. He trusted people’s journeys. But he never compromised the message of the faith. He knew that Jesus really did die and he really did rise from the dead, and these events took Christianity out of the realm of philosophical speculation and dropped it into flesh and blood human experience. He knew that the God who raised Jesus from the dead was the God of history. The God of life.

That why Christianity can never be simply a set of good ideas; a mere philosophical backdrop to our lives; or just a moral framework from which to relate to others. 

And more than that, Christianity can never be the end result of our seeking after God, because our searching never ends. There is always more to learn. There is always more to understand. The more we learn the more find that we don’t know. The further we travel, the longer the road extends.The higher we climb the more our feet seem grounded to the earth.

That’s because it’s the height of human arrogance to say that we have the definitive word of who God is. It’s God who has that word, and God has named that word “Jesus.” 

But do we really understand that word? Does God translate that word into something we can understand?

Sometimes. Sometimes not. That’s why we keep searching, growing, climbing, falling, scrapping our knees, hitting the ground with our noses, and rising from our graves.

Our faith can so often be of seeking, finding, and then losing again. 


But more importantly, God never stops searching after us. Indeed, God finds us. Our faith is the end result of God searching after us, and grabbing us with a love that will never be let go. When we were baptized, we were named and claimed as God own children, joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection, chosen to be God’s people TODAY and into eternity. 

That’s what we celebrate this morning as Breanna is received into the household of faith through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. This isn’t just a one day event, but the beginning of her eternal life.

This isn’t just one moment in her years, this is the moment that gives meaning to ALL her moments. 



This isn’t just the initiation rite into an institutional church, but a celebration of what God is doing in her life, and a commissioning, where her gifts will be used for the good of the church and the healing of the world. 

That God has a claim on her, and we have an obligation to support her so that she can live her life as a witness to the God of love who called her by name, and given her a future of immense possibility.

Just like each one of you here. You who have sought after God, who have asked important questions, who have wondered about the God who is known and the God who is unknown, but still carry with you the trust that, somehow, in some way, we are not alone. And that we are loved. 

And from that love you want to do wonderful things for others, and serve the world joyfully.

That when your journey is over, you want to look at your hands, calloused and bloodied from building upon what God has already started, participating in God’s ongoing creation of a loving and just world, and celebrating the gift of life that we’ve all received.

Maybe that’s what Paul was trying to tell the Athenians; that faith doesn’t come from a life time of philosophy, but from the God who relentlessly seeks after us. And a life of us seeking after God.



Perhaps Paul would tell our world that he sees just how religious we are; but Jesus was raised from the dead not to give us “religion” or “spirituality.” But to give us life, and breath and freedom and salvation.

May this be so among us. Amen.