Faith Without Works is Dead
A Labor Day Sermon for September 6, 2009
Scripture: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; James 2:1-10, 14-17
Last week we began looking at the book of James, famous for its doctrine of faith and works, proclaiming that faith without works is dead. This was different than Luther and Paul’s emphasis on “salvation by faith alone.” Today’s reading is unrelenting in the way it goes after the question of what it means to live as a person of God, what God requires. James chastises those who show favoritism and make distinctions between the rich and the poor. He focuses on the kind of partiality that excludes or marginalizes people based on their outward appearance. It’s interesting that the Greek word for favoritism is a word that means literally “to lift up your face.” We show favoritism to a person by literally lifting up our face, lifting our eyes, lifting our cheeks, lifting our smile, expressions that look interested in and welcoming of the other. I’ve certainly seen that happen in public places, where the person with the unattractive clothing, hairstyle, grooming is ignored by others looking at the floor or away—giving the air of don’t bother me. I’ve seen how expressions change when a smart looking, well-dressed person enters.
In Proverbs verse 2 we are told that there is a common humanity between the rich and the poor, because ‘the Lord is the maker of them all.’ In verse 8 the author warns of sowing injustice and goes on to say that those who share their bread with the poor in generosity will be blessed; the last couplet continues in the same vein of warning not to rob the poor or crush the afflicted at the gate—a place where legal matters were decided. The last verse gives the reason for all this is that the Lord is an advocate for the poor and will destroy those that destroy or despoil the poor.
Because this is Labor Day weekend, a national holiday in this country, I want to focus on workers in the USA, many of whom are poor. I will talk more about the nonworking poor, including my experience with homeless people in a later sermon. In years gone by, we would not write about the workers and the poor in the same paragraph; however, with the demise of unions plus the high rate of unemployment in this time of national crisis, many workers and former workers would be included in the poverty statistics. So on this Labor Sunday lets take a few moments to think about workers and work places and how we as people of faith can follow James command to act out our faith by good works. My main resource is UCC’s Justice and Witness ministries, who have had a whole campaign for some time entitled Jesus was a Low-Wage Worker. You will find more information on this on our bulletin board in Sherwood Hall if you are interested, and of course on the website at ucc.org.
A job should lift everyone out of poverty, not keep them there. But in the U.S. today, fully one-quarter of all jobs pay poverty-level wages. Women and people of color are more likely to hold these jobs than white males. All workers are made in God's image and deserve living wages. Some of these low wage jobs are unnecessarily dangerous, so much so that in the U.S. someone dies from an occupational illness or injury every eight minutes. Nearly 80% of low-wage workers have no paid sick days, so you can imagine what happens if they or their child becomes sick! Besides not having sick leave, these jobs have very few benefits such as health insurance, a pension or retirement plan. They often have inconvenient hours or may be part time. Most of these jobs do not lead to opportunities for advancement.
Just this past week in the NY Times, there was an article on how often Low Wage Workers are cheated, denied proper overtime pay, as well as being paid less than the minimum wage. This study that was based on a survey of workers in NY, LA, and Chicago revealed that 68% of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous week. Workers that were injured on the job were pressured by their employers not to file for worker’s compensation to pay for medical care and loss of wages. In fact only 8% filed for compensation. 26 % were paid less than minimum wage in the week before they were interviewed and 76% of those who worked overtime were not paid the proper amount of overtime. Well I could go on with more facts and statistics about the injustice towards workers but let’s look at how all this fits with our James reading.
James talks about how we are all to love our neighbor as ourself, calling it the royal law. He says if we know about someone who lacks daily food or clothing and we only say “Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill,” but do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” If there are no works, there is no real faith. As both Proverbs and James say, God makes all people equally valuable, and we are not to play favoritism in our hospitality and love. Of course sometimes we don’t even have any idea of who is suffering and who is doing okay.
What can we do? It’s especially hard now with so much unemployment to increase wages. Workers need jobs. If all they can find are poverty level jobs they have to take it. Now even those workers who use to be well paid are willing to take low paid work, better than unemployment or no income at all. Besides continuing to advocate and legislate for higher minimum wages, we can also speak up for the right of all workers to form and join unions that have done so much for so many. To quote the UCC brochure, “God gave us the Sabbath but unions brought us the weekend, the 8 hour day, paid vacations and holidays, health insurance and pensions.”
Let me share a story with you about what one man did back in the 50’s.1 Sandor Teszler had come to the US from Hungary after escaping from a concentration camp with his family in the early part of World War II. Trained as a textile worker, he made his way to Spartenburg, SC, which has long been a center of the textile industry. In the 1950's, he noticed an intensity of racist rhetoric and the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan. He recognized the danger in all this due to his earlier experiences in Europe, and he was unwilling to ignore it for the sake of business. He decided to find the place where there were the most intense racial tensions, and he went there to build a new factory, hiring blacks and whites without regard to their race. Both communities were uneasy and suspicious about his intentions; however the money was good so the workers came.
In the end, Sandor hired 16 new employees: 8 white and 8 black. In the mill, there was one bathroom, one set of showers, one water fountain. After initial introductions and a tour of the plant were complete, one white worker boldly asked, "Is this gonna be some kind of integrated plant?" Mr. Teszler replied, "You are being paid twice as much as any other textile worker in the area. You can work with us here in the way we work, or you can go somewhere else. Any other questions?" There were none, and all 16 employees stayed. The plant grew in production and more employees came and stayed in spite of their initial unease. Because of Sandor Teszler’s courage and vision, an entire industry was integrated.
James says do not play favoritism; he says we should not make a distinction in welcoming between rich and poor, between black and white, between young and old, gay and straight, first world and third world, free and imprisoned, sick and healthy, naked and clothed, hungry and fed. In the end, these are all false dichotomies, for we are all children of God. If we profess that we are followers of Jesus and then fail to warmly welcome all people and care for those in need, James would say, ‘So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (v. 17) What are you called to do for your works? Maybe it’s to advocate and stand in solidarity with the low-wage workers who are seeking to improve both their wages and working conditions. Maybe it’s to care for the homeless and encourage and support the unemployed. If lots of us, especially those who profess faith, do this kind of work, then poverty-wage jobs can be changed into living-wage jobs and if not the next Labor Day, one day soon we really will have something to celebrate. Let us pray and work towards abundance for all, a more fair distribution of resources, and a faith that is shown through action as well as words. Amen
1 From an online sermon by Rev. Dr. Trace Hawthorn
Scripture: Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; James 2:1-10, 14-17
Last week we began looking at the book of James, famous for its doctrine of faith and works, proclaiming that faith without works is dead. This was different than Luther and Paul’s emphasis on “salvation by faith alone.” Today’s reading is unrelenting in the way it goes after the question of what it means to live as a person of God, what God requires. James chastises those who show favoritism and make distinctions between the rich and the poor. He focuses on the kind of partiality that excludes or marginalizes people based on their outward appearance. It’s interesting that the Greek word for favoritism is a word that means literally “to lift up your face.” We show favoritism to a person by literally lifting up our face, lifting our eyes, lifting our cheeks, lifting our smile, expressions that look interested in and welcoming of the other. I’ve certainly seen that happen in public places, where the person with the unattractive clothing, hairstyle, grooming is ignored by others looking at the floor or away—giving the air of don’t bother me. I’ve seen how expressions change when a smart looking, well-dressed person enters.
In Proverbs verse 2 we are told that there is a common humanity between the rich and the poor, because ‘the Lord is the maker of them all.’ In verse 8 the author warns of sowing injustice and goes on to say that those who share their bread with the poor in generosity will be blessed; the last couplet continues in the same vein of warning not to rob the poor or crush the afflicted at the gate—a place where legal matters were decided. The last verse gives the reason for all this is that the Lord is an advocate for the poor and will destroy those that destroy or despoil the poor.
Because this is Labor Day weekend, a national holiday in this country, I want to focus on workers in the USA, many of whom are poor. I will talk more about the nonworking poor, including my experience with homeless people in a later sermon. In years gone by, we would not write about the workers and the poor in the same paragraph; however, with the demise of unions plus the high rate of unemployment in this time of national crisis, many workers and former workers would be included in the poverty statistics. So on this Labor Sunday lets take a few moments to think about workers and work places and how we as people of faith can follow James command to act out our faith by good works. My main resource is UCC’s Justice and Witness ministries, who have had a whole campaign for some time entitled Jesus was a Low-Wage Worker. You will find more information on this on our bulletin board in Sherwood Hall if you are interested, and of course on the website at ucc.org.
A job should lift everyone out of poverty, not keep them there. But in the U.S. today, fully one-quarter of all jobs pay poverty-level wages. Women and people of color are more likely to hold these jobs than white males. All workers are made in God's image and deserve living wages. Some of these low wage jobs are unnecessarily dangerous, so much so that in the U.S. someone dies from an occupational illness or injury every eight minutes. Nearly 80% of low-wage workers have no paid sick days, so you can imagine what happens if they or their child becomes sick! Besides not having sick leave, these jobs have very few benefits such as health insurance, a pension or retirement plan. They often have inconvenient hours or may be part time. Most of these jobs do not lead to opportunities for advancement.
Just this past week in the NY Times, there was an article on how often Low Wage Workers are cheated, denied proper overtime pay, as well as being paid less than the minimum wage. This study that was based on a survey of workers in NY, LA, and Chicago revealed that 68% of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous week. Workers that were injured on the job were pressured by their employers not to file for worker’s compensation to pay for medical care and loss of wages. In fact only 8% filed for compensation. 26 % were paid less than minimum wage in the week before they were interviewed and 76% of those who worked overtime were not paid the proper amount of overtime. Well I could go on with more facts and statistics about the injustice towards workers but let’s look at how all this fits with our James reading.
James talks about how we are all to love our neighbor as ourself, calling it the royal law. He says if we know about someone who lacks daily food or clothing and we only say “Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill,” but do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” If there are no works, there is no real faith. As both Proverbs and James say, God makes all people equally valuable, and we are not to play favoritism in our hospitality and love. Of course sometimes we don’t even have any idea of who is suffering and who is doing okay.
What can we do? It’s especially hard now with so much unemployment to increase wages. Workers need jobs. If all they can find are poverty level jobs they have to take it. Now even those workers who use to be well paid are willing to take low paid work, better than unemployment or no income at all. Besides continuing to advocate and legislate for higher minimum wages, we can also speak up for the right of all workers to form and join unions that have done so much for so many. To quote the UCC brochure, “God gave us the Sabbath but unions brought us the weekend, the 8 hour day, paid vacations and holidays, health insurance and pensions.”
Let me share a story with you about what one man did back in the 50’s.1 Sandor Teszler had come to the US from Hungary after escaping from a concentration camp with his family in the early part of World War II. Trained as a textile worker, he made his way to Spartenburg, SC, which has long been a center of the textile industry. In the 1950's, he noticed an intensity of racist rhetoric and the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan. He recognized the danger in all this due to his earlier experiences in Europe, and he was unwilling to ignore it for the sake of business. He decided to find the place where there were the most intense racial tensions, and he went there to build a new factory, hiring blacks and whites without regard to their race. Both communities were uneasy and suspicious about his intentions; however the money was good so the workers came.
In the end, Sandor hired 16 new employees: 8 white and 8 black. In the mill, there was one bathroom, one set of showers, one water fountain. After initial introductions and a tour of the plant were complete, one white worker boldly asked, "Is this gonna be some kind of integrated plant?" Mr. Teszler replied, "You are being paid twice as much as any other textile worker in the area. You can work with us here in the way we work, or you can go somewhere else. Any other questions?" There were none, and all 16 employees stayed. The plant grew in production and more employees came and stayed in spite of their initial unease. Because of Sandor Teszler’s courage and vision, an entire industry was integrated.
James says do not play favoritism; he says we should not make a distinction in welcoming between rich and poor, between black and white, between young and old, gay and straight, first world and third world, free and imprisoned, sick and healthy, naked and clothed, hungry and fed. In the end, these are all false dichotomies, for we are all children of God. If we profess that we are followers of Jesus and then fail to warmly welcome all people and care for those in need, James would say, ‘So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (v. 17) What are you called to do for your works? Maybe it’s to advocate and stand in solidarity with the low-wage workers who are seeking to improve both their wages and working conditions. Maybe it’s to care for the homeless and encourage and support the unemployed. If lots of us, especially those who profess faith, do this kind of work, then poverty-wage jobs can be changed into living-wage jobs and if not the next Labor Day, one day soon we really will have something to celebrate. Let us pray and work towards abundance for all, a more fair distribution of resources, and a faith that is shown through action as well as words. Amen
1 From an online sermon by Rev. Dr. Trace Hawthorn
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:00 PM
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