Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Today's reading from the book of James so troubled Martin Luther that he argued against James being in the Bible. (The Reformation included a debate about what books were legitimately a part of the Bible and what had slipped in inappropriately. A quick comparison of a Catholic Bible and one in Presbyterian church will reveal the outcome of this debate.) Martin Luther, who championed the notion of "salvation by grace through faith" and not by works, didn't like the way James highlighted works.



The tension between faith and works may be one of the more difficult to keep in balance for a lot of Christians. Is being a Christian primarily about what you believe or about what you do? Luther worried that a focus on works made people think they had earned or merited salvation, undermining his and most of Protestantism's understanding of God's love freely given in Jesus. But Christians have often done horrible damage to the reputation of the faith by their failure to live in ways even remotely resembling what Jesus taught. The stereotyped depiction of Christians as hypocrites arises directly from this.



Not surprisingly, I've always loved my tradition's attempt to deal with this tension. For Calvin, the Christian life grows out of a profound sense of gratitude. The more one realizes the stunningly abundant grace and love so freely given, the more one wants to say "Thank you," with his or her life.



There's a scene at the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan that captures this perfectly. The former Private Ryan, now a grandfather, walks with his family through one of the many military cemeteries that dot France. Among the neat rows and rows of white crosses and stars of David, Ryan finds the grave of the captain who died saving his life, and he falls down beside it weeping. When his wife seeks to comfort him he says to her, "Tell me I've lived a good life. Tell me I've live a good life." He knew that his "Thank you" could never fully repay the debt of gratitude he owed.



If we experiened "salvation" as profoundly as Private Ryan had experienced his, perhaps we would be as motivated as he had been to "live a good life."



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