For this second week in Lend, we continue A Sanctified Art‘s Lenten series Everything [in] Between from by looking at the favorite Lutheran topic of the tension between faith & works. In the story of Mary and Martha, Mary seems to exemplify faith by sitting and learning at Jesus’ feet, while Martha spends her time engaging in good works of hospitality. Yet as followers of Jesus, we are called to both action and reflection. We are gathered in worship and sent out to live out our faith in service to our neighbors, in Jesus’ name.
Today’s Scripture readings are Ephesians 2:4-10, James 2:14-18, and Luke 10:38-42. Here’s the livestream and sermon podcast audio from Christ the King.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
Did you hear the tension in our Scripture readings today? One of the beautiful things about the Bible is that as you read, especially if you read from different books, you can sometimes hear the different Biblical writers wrestling with each other, debating, almost arguing about their different experiences of God and what faith looks like.
It’s frustrating sometimes when we want clear, straightforward answers from the Bible, but I think God intentionally inspired different people with different experiences to shape our Scripture.
Each Sunday in Lent, we’re juxtaposing two words, two apparent opposites, and looking for where God is active in between. So today, our two words are faith and works. Over the last few thousand years, different church traditions have empathized one over the other, almost like a pendulum swinging back and forth between them.
Listen to just two verses from our Scripture readings today:
Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
James 2:17 – “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Do you see the tension?
One verse says faith is a gift from God. Whether or not God saves you has nothing to do with how you act, whether or not you give money, go on a mission trip, read in church, even go to worship. Salvation is a gift from God. Period.
And then the other verse says faith without works is dead. If you say you have faith but don’t do good works, if you don’t do the things, what is the good of that? There’s no life there.
How do we reconcile the tension? What matters? Faith or works?
If you have any kind of a Lutheran background, you have a pretty good idea which side our tradition falls on. The idea of being saved by grace is at the heart of our Lutheran understanding of faith. Much of the error Martin Luther was trying to reform in the church was an over-emphasis on works, pushing back against any hint that we could earn our way to heaven. When the church went so far as to say doing good works can help make up for sins and since giving money is a good work, then giving money can help you find favor with God, Luther vehemently pointed out that nothing we do can ever deserve God’s forgiveness. Our salvation comes through God’s grace alone.
That remains our position as a church, and by the way, pretty much all Christians including Roman Catholics agree on that core issue. We are saved by God’s grace active through faith.
Just over 25 years ago, the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church approved the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” (the JDDJ). Other groups including the World Methodist Council, the Anglican Communion, and the World Communion of Reformed Churches have since signed on. That might not sound like a big deal, but it essentially resolves the main issue Lutherans and Catholics have been arguing about for 500 years, this question of faith and works.
I’m going to get a little technical here and read you a few lines from the JDDJ:
“Through Christ alone we are justified, when we receive this salvation in faith. Faith is itself God’s gift through the Holy Spirit who works through word and sacrament in the community of believers and who, at the same time, leads believers into that renewal of life which God will bring to completion in eternal life.” (¶16)
And then a few paragraphs later: “We confess together that sinners are justified by faith in the saving action of God in Christ. By the action of the Holy Spirit in baptism, they are granted the gift of salvation, which lays the basis for the whole Christian life. They place their trust in God’s gracious promise by justifying faith, which includes hope in God and love for him. Such a faith is active in love and thus the Christian cannot and should not remain without works. But whatever in the justified precedes or follows the free gift of faith is neither the basis of justification nor merits it.” (¶25)
Ok, I promise I’m done with quoting technical theological documents. I’m pretty sure I was taught in seminary never to do that in a sermon. But this is the center of our faith, right? We are saved by God’s grace. God always acts first. God comes to us to save us. And then, we live out our faith in good works. We do the things God tells us to do.
Today’s story of Mary and Martha summarizes the conflict. So often, we read this story as if these two sisters personify the different sides of faith and works.
Martha is the one who does the good works. She has many tasks to do, and they’re good tasks, right? Luke says Martha welcomed Jesus into her house, so we assume she’s providing the meal, making sure everything’s clean. Children’s Bible’s always seem to show Martha with a broom.
Her gift is hospitality. And that’s important, right? We need that today in the church. We have a funeral coming up in next week, and what a gift it is to have people willing to clean up the building, serve the food, provide hospitality. That’s vital work!
Meanwhile, Mary is sitting at Jesus feet and listening to what he’s teaching. That’s the role of a disciple. Typically in that culture, only the men can sit at the rabbi’s feet to learn, but Jesus welcomes her, he includes her.
As a church, that’s what we’re doing right now, coming together to sit and learn about Jesus. Everything we do as followers of Jesus is grounded in knowing Jesus’ teachings, listening to our Lord.
When Martha complains about all the work to be done, Jesus tells her “Mary has chosen the better part.” And we’re back to that foundational theological truth: Salvation does not depend on good works. Our faith is about a relationship with God, not what we do.
In the devotion for this story (from A Sanctified Art‘s Lent Devotional), Mindy Sharp makes a connection I’ve never noticed before: She points out that this story follows in Luke immediately after Jesus tells the story we heard last week about a good Samaritan, a story calling us as his disciples to “go and do likewise” loving our neighbors in tangible ways.
Clearly, Jesus is not saying to avoid doing any work. He’s just said we’re supposed to go do things, help our neighbors in need!
So if we’re reading today’s story and thinking Martha is wrong for her labor, we’re missing the point. This is not about one or the other being more worthy. Both are valuable. Both are necessary.
And as followers of Jesus, as people of faith, we need both. Jesus calls us to both. The Christian life is found in between faith and works, including both.
This season of Lent calls us to tend to our faith, to take some extra time in these few weeks to pay attention to what Jesus says, read the Bible, pray more intentionally. We have extra opportunities to worship, as we seek to align our wills with God’s will, to allow God to form us as disciples.
And our worship is meant to make an impact on how we live. Worship forms us as disciples. Knowing God’s love for us frees us to reflect that love to others. Living faith leads to action.
Luke doesn’t tell us the rest of Mary’s story, but I think it’s safe to say she can only stay sitting there learning for so long.
I saw someone post the other day, “If Christianity is just accepting Jesus and going to heaven one day, Jesus sure wasted a lot of time talking about the kind of people we’re supposed to become on earth.” It’s a both/and, not an either/or.
We gather week after week in worship in order to be sent out. In this life, worship is a gas station, a place to refuel so we can continue in the world, doing God’s work.
As we’ll sing, “Fill us up, [and] send us out, Lord.” (God of Justice, by Tim Hughes) Listening to Jesus is the reason we pack food, and give to the food pantry and serve meals at the homeless shelter. Listening to Jesus is the reason we make Stone Soup. Listening to Jesus is the reason we make quilts and send kids to camp and give to disaster relief and provide childcare. Listening to Jesus is the reason we wash coffee cups and set up tables food for fellowship.
Thank you for showing up this morning to listen to Jesus, to hear the promise of God’s saving love for you. And thank you for all you do to live out that faith, to love our neighbors in Jesus’ name. Amen