Letter 7/1

July 1, 2010
Pastor Steve Mathewson
  

Welcome to July! I pray that it is a month of great opportunities for you. One of the great opportunities and responsibilities we have as God’s people is to proclaim his salvation day after day (Psalm 96:2). We proclaim the good news of God’s salvation to the world around us. We proclaim it to each other when we gather for worship or for LIFE group meetings. We also proclaim it to ourselves as we immerse ourselves in the riches of the gospel every day.

One of the aspects of the gospel which I will proclaim this Sunday, July 4, is the matter of saving faith. Specifically, what is the relationship between saving faith and works? At first appearance, Scripture seems to contradict itself when talking about how faith and works relate to each other.

• For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. [Romans 3:28]
• You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. [James 2:24]

How do we reconcile these statements? I will explain it this Sunday, July 4, in a sermon from James 2:14-26 on “Faith: A Living, Busy, Active, Mighty Thing!” The title comes from a line in Martin Luther’s preface to his commentary on Romans.    I’d like to share a couple of quotes about faith and works from Luther’s preface. He handles the tension between faith and works so well. This is a bit ironic because he had some issues with the letter of James and even called it “a right strawy epistle” – that is, “an epistle of straw.” But the passages I’d like to quote from his preface to his Romans commentary sound like words one would write after studying the letter of James! Here, then, is what Martin Luther had to say about the relationship between faith and works:

“Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly. It does not ask whether there are good works to do, but before the question rises; it has already done them, and is always at the doing of them. He who does not these works is a faithless man. He gropes and looks about after faith and good works, and knows neither what faith is nor what good works are, though he talks and talks, with many words about faith and good works.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times. . . . Hence a man is ready and glad, without compulsion, to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, in love and praise to God, who has shown him this grace; and thus it is impossible to separate works from faith.” [Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans (Kregel), xvii]

It’s no wonder that angels long to look into these things – that is, the things associate with the gospel (see 1 Peter 1:12)! I look forward to exploring with you this matter of faith and works. In the meantime, remember to put together your next 90-day plan (July-September) for opening yourself up to the power of God’s Spirit. The tool you need is the “Raising Our Sails” booklet available at our Welcome Center.

On the personal side, our week seems a bit quieter since our son, Luke, is attending the Challenge youth conference in Columbus, Ohio with about 40 others from our high school youth group. A couple nights ago, we spend about a half hour with our son, Ben, and my brother, Kevin in a McDonalds in Gurnee. They brought a group of junior high students to Six Flags from the church in Peoria where my brother, Kevin, serves as junior high pastor. Otherwise, we’ve really enjoyed having our daughter, Anna, and her husband, Grant living with us until they find permanent jobs and housing. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we look in every night on a couple of baby possums that are living under our storage shed! Thanks again for taking time to read my weekly letter. I’ll see you on Sunday!