loving Jesus in loving others
In the last half of this second chapter, James repeats three times, “Faith without works is dead.” Interestingly, he tackles the reality from different perspectives at different levels. It seems to create sandwich of ideas; practical–intellectual--intellectual–practical. Our faith needs to make sense! First of all, he speaks to love in the practical social realm.
How does your faith make a difference to others? What does your own “faith-in-action” look like? If you are not sure how to answer that, think over the last year and reflect on the situations where your actions were a result of conviction and belief about how you could best love others and God. Would the people you interacted with recognize something of Jesus in you?
In referring to His coming in glory for final judgment, Jesus talks of separating righteous from unrighteous as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep, the ones He gathers in, are the ones who offered practical help to practical needs: hunger, thirst, loneliness, poverty, illness, imprisonment. When we help meet the needs of people, we connect with Christ. In ministering to others, we minister to Jesus.
I love how Mother Theresa explains this when she says, “Each one of us is merely a small instrument. When you look at the inner workings of electrical things, often you see small and big wires, new and old, cheap and expensive lined up. Until the current passes through them there will be no light. That wire is you and me. The current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, produce the light of the world. Or we can refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread….Whatever you do, even if you help somebody cross the road, you do it to Jesus. Even giving somebody a glass of water, you do it to Jesus….Strive to be the demonstration of God in the midst of your community.”[1]
Is your faith making sense—on the basis of what you do—to those in your sphere of influence? Are you looking for opportunities to love God by loving others? Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Whatever we do, we do it to Jesus.
Read and Pray: Matt.25:31-46, Prov. 3:27, Psalm 19:14
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