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Faith is complete trust in God. It is your heart’s loyalty to God and God alone.
Faith begins when you recognize your need for God.
Faith was a powerful presence in the lives of second generation Koreans because we needed God. We needed something the world wasn’t giving – love, acceptance and a community.
But as time goes on and life’s challenges continue to come, faith gets tested. Instead of trusting God through tough times, many people start looking elsewhere for help.
That’s when faith begins to die.
This was the issue that James’ community faced.
They used to be a tight community in Jerusalem. They discovered the good news of Jesus Christ. That faith gave them life.
But persecution scattered them away from Jerusalem. They became immigrants in the diaspora.
Out in the diaspora, they were poor. They were oppressed and taken advantage of by rich and powerful people.
They were a minority with a strange faith and belief. They saw that the rich and powerful people had all the advantages in life.
Their faith became shaken.
Instead of looking to God in their difficult circumstances, they looked to the rich and powerful for some advantage.
James used this example to illustrate the issue:
For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here in a good place, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:2-4)
The world we live in honours the winners.
We show favour to those with money, position, access and resources. We try to be around them and benefit from them.
The poor are seen as the losers in life.
They have nothing to offer us.
We judge them and have negative views of them. The best they can do is stay out of the way and be invisible.
Jesus saw the poor in a different way.
Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)
In the kingdom of God, the poor are honoured. They are the inheritors of the kingdom.
That’s what Jesus said.
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20)
Is it because God loves them more?
No – it is because they are rich in faith.
Which is the key requirement to enter the kingdom of God.
The poor know that help doesn’t come from the world. The world is not kind to them.
They are more ready to hear the good news of God. Their hearts are ready to turn to God.
This is how they are rich in faith.
I experienced this richness of faith at Sioux Valley.
In Sioux Valley, the adults we met are not thinking about how much money they’ll make.
They’re grieving over the death of loved ones. They’re worried whether the youth will make it through another day.
They’re worried about the effects of drugs and addictions in their community. They’re dealing with all kinds of issues in their families.
They know they are powerless against these overwhelming forces.
Their hearts are much more open and ready for faith. They are ready to hear about a God who is for them and on their side.
An interesting thing happened to us.
As we listened to their stories and prayed for them, we were the ones who shed tears. Our hearts were broken and affected.
Their openness to faith increased ours.
Jesus knew this truth: WE NEED THE POOR FOR OUR SALVATION.
It’s not that the poor need us. We need the poor.
This is why the kingdom of God belongs to them.
At Sioux Valley, all the surface level things we’re so preoccupied with here melted away.
We got down to the raw realness of life. We tasted life.
I think they were the missionaries for us more than we were for them.
Connecting with those who suffer strips away the superficial and materialistic things.
You cannot talk about your money and how you spend it. You need to connect at a deeper human level of what they’re going through.
That brings healing to your soul. It makes you whole. It makes you richer than any amount of money can.
Jesus knew this secret of what we really need.
Faith brings healing to the community.
James was the brother of Jesus. He wasn’t one of his disciples, and didn’t follow him while he was alive.
But somehow, James retained the teachings of Jesus. He saw the implications of Jesus’ teachings for how people live.
As the community turned away from faith, he saw what that was doing to the community. He saw clearly the ethical implications of faith that is alive or dead.
That’s why his nickname was James the Just.
When faith is alive, this is the kind of community that faith creates:
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. (James 2:8)
The kingdom of God is defined by the royal rule.
Jesus expanded the definition of neighbour in the Good Samaritan parable.
Our neighbour is not those just like us.
The neighbour is the one in need. The neighbour is the poor among us. The neighbour is the stranger in our midst.
The one left on the road to die, the one discarded by the rest of society.
In the kingdom of God, no one is left behind.
When faith is alive, the community of faith is ruled by compassion, mercy and grace.
But for this to come about, our hearts need to be totally committed to God.
Jesus said this about rich people:
Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:23-24)
Is this because God loves them less?
No. It is because it is so hard for a rich person to have faith in God and place their utmost trust in God.
They trust in their own resources more than God. They live by the values of this world.
Faith is our heart’s desperate need for God. The world of wealth and power draw our hearts away from God.
Faith in God is challenged at every corner.
For people of faith, everyday is a battle for our hearts. It is warfare for the the allegiance and loyalty of our hearts.
For those of us living in a society of abundance, it is so easy to turn our hearts away from God.
Jesus said this:
No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)
There is no middle ground.
Your heart belongs to God, or it belongs to this world.
We live in this world, but we not be of it.
We must equip ourselves for battle. Every day, you must strengthen your hearts’ allegiance to God.
There are two things we must do:
1. Make Church a mandatory rhythm of your life
The world will always make demands of your time.
As a parent, I am really struggling as my kids begin to play more sports. There is no consideration whatsoever to people’s faith.
God gave the Sabbath so that we would not be enslaved to the world’s demands.
Every Sunday: make worship a fixed part of your life for yourself and your family.
Re-dedicate your life to God. Confess your sins and set your heart right with God once again.
Hear the Word of God, and let that shape you.
Worship is like a detoxification from everything you’ve absorbed in the world.
Letting worship become a casual thing is the first step to losing the battle for your heart to the world.
2. Seek out the poor and those who are marginalized
Don’t just hang out with those like you. Intentionally seek out those who are different.
Those who are poor. Those who are suffering.
It won’t just happen casually. Our society is too stratified and divided for this to happen naturally.
You have to make intentional effort to make this happen.
Block out time for you to serve or volunteer in a setting that serves the poor.
We are looking for opportunities at Willowridge community with St. Philip’s Lutheran Church.
That will open your eyes and strengthen your faith.
I have a heavy heart for the second generation of Korean-Canadian immigrants.
So many who once felt close to God have left the church. Their hearts have been drawn away from God and into the world.
I pray for them.
For those of us who still cling onto God, trying to have faith in this world that pulls us away from God, keep pressing on.
Make church and unshakeable rhythm of your life. Seek out the poor.
Your faith will come alive and your life will be filled with purpose and meaning.
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