Too often I have twisted the key in my car’s ignition only to hear the familiar grind of a dead battery. It usually happens on a busy Monday. The battery may be revived. It simply needs to be recharged. But a battery that is unable to start the car is a dead battery.
Faith is dead when it does not work. It is a dead faith. “… faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” James 2:17. The example used in James 2 is extending mercy to a fellow Christian in need – giving them needed food and clothing. A true and maturing faith expresses itself in practical love to others in the family of God. In the church fellowship, faith finds expression in mutual acts of genuine kindness that multiply exponentially. The love of God in Christ, flowing through our veins, produces sincere love for the brethren that is noticeable. That is the tangible work of faith.
These works of love take many forms. In general, they mean scratching where others itch. Some people need encouragement, others prayer. Some sisters need advice, others a shoulder to cry on. Some brothers need money, others need rebuke. Some need help, others simply a smile. Everyone needs to be known, noticed, and nurtured in some way. Yes, but, how can I tell what others really need? You must know them. You need to invest in them, talk to them, have them over for lunch. You take a real interest in them. You enter into their lives and begin to actively love them.
Faith so settles and stabilizes us that we can give ourselves away in the works of love- the true expression of faith. “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22).“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). The love that comes to us from God in Christ also percolates through us and is poured into the lives of others.
True Christianity makes us great lovers of all mankind. Having received everything freely and fully in Christ, we can give ourselves away in love to all mankind, especially to the household of faith (“As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” Galatians 6:10). That is the true Christian expression of a living faith – it works in love.
At times, our battery of faith can lose its power to serve. We can burn out in service, or we can be burned in acts of kindness. The battery of faith needs to be recharged. How does that happen? You plug yourself into the fellowship of those who have living faith. You re-engage in communion of the saints. You worship, you speak to God’s people, you are renewed in the presence of others with living faith. So, ladies and gentleman – start your engines!!