I often write of the incredible ways God has allowed me to work with Him in ministry. He presents opportunities regularly and once in a while, I just happen to be paying enough attention to notice and act on them. I share these stories not out of a desire to garner recognition for myself, but only to bring glory and honor to God. He brilliantly orchestrates these perfect situations where we can share the love of Christ — if we take advantage of the opportunity. Last week, I failed miserably and it has been eating at me ever since.
Faith in Action
Ephesians 2:10 has always been one of my favorite verses. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Breaking the verse down, we read that we are God’s handiwork — that’s an esteem builder, isn’t it? We are created to do good works — we have a purpose in life to share the love of Christ through good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.
That last part is my favorite.
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
It reminds me of the classic line from the greatest TV show of all time, “The A-Team.” At the end of the episode when the bad guys got what they had coming, the leader of the team, Hannibal Smith, would light a cigar and declare with a smug grin,
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
I love it when one of God’s plans comes together — when I finally realize what He has been working out and I can look back at all of the moving parts, pieces, and people who had to come together just so. I like to backtrack and try to figure out when the plan was first conceived. What was the catalyst? The fact is, it started before I was even born.
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:16
But sometimes, the plan doesn’t come together. All it takes to miss the opportunity is for one person involved to opt out — to decide not to participate. Last week, I was the cog in the system.
For Such a Time as This
As part of the jail ministry with which I am involved, I do one-on-one video visits as requested by inmates. These visits provide excellent opportunities to get to know the women better and to minister in a more personal way. Most of the time, I thoroughly enjoy these visits, but not last week. It was a holiday week, so I was incredibly busy and had three of these personal visits to squeeze in. I had promised to do a visit immediately after work one day, then realized it was also Thursday, the day we go to church and a day I’m already seriously crunched for time. I would be limited to about 30 minutes for the visit if I had any chance of making it to church on time.
Honestly, my heart wasn’t in it, but I had committed, so I headed straight for the jail after work. When I walked into the jail lobby, I noticed a woman standing next to the kiosk where friends and family can purchase credits for video visits and phone calls with inmates. See my post, What’s it Worth to You? to learn more about that system. She was looking at the screens while talking on her mobile phone in broken English. It was clear to me she was trying to figure out how to use the service and having a lot of difficulty.
I went to the desk and told the clerk why I was there, then took my spot at “Station 7” to wait for the inmate to connect via the video call interface. I managed to get my bad attitude in check long enough to give the inmate the attention she deserved and offer a sincere prayer for her at the end of our visit. The visit had gone a little longer than I had planned, so I knew I had to hurry home so my husband and I could head to church.
When I walked back into the lobby, I saw that same woman who had been trying to work the kiosk sitting in one of the chairs. She was the only one in the lobby and she looked sad and defeated. She knew I had just done a video visit, and she stood up. I could see she had been crying. She waved at me and asked hopefully, “Excuse me. Could you maybe help me with…?” and she motioned toward the kiosk.
I replied, trying to sound as genuinely apologetic as I could, “I’m sorry, I’m running late. I just can’t right now.”
That was a lie. I absolutely could have helped her. I chose not to. I know how to operate the system (which is why I also understand why she would have trouble — it isn’t the most user-friendly system.) It might have taken me 10 minutes to get her set up, but I didn’t. I was too busy to help her.
The look on her face broke my heart, but I chose to ignore the pangs of guilt. As I walked out, I saw out of the corner of my eye how she slumped and sat back down. I started wondering who she was there to see — her husband? a son or daughter? her best friend? Obviously, it was someone who was important to her.
As I walked quickly back to my car, I tried to justify my actions. “It’s not my responsibility to play customer service everywhere I go. Why does it always have to be me? Surely someone would help her.”
I wondered if she had overheard my conversation with the young lady I had come to visit. Had she listened while I shared about faith and God and how I prayed in the name of Jesus right before I refused to give her a few minutes of my time? Guilt prodded me and I nearly turned around to go back, but I didn’t.
Why didn’t I go back? I should have gone back. I wish I had gone back…
But I didn’t go back because I didn’t want to be late for church. That may sound like a good excuse, but in reality it’s just about the worst excuse there is. I couldn’t be Jesus to a stranger because I didn’t want to miss a single worship song declaring my love and devotion to Him.
Lame.
God had the last word. He always does.
I made it to church on time, still feeling guilty. There I sat, telling God I was sorry and even though I knew He had immediately forgiven me, it didn’t fix anything for that woman. I learned a hard lesson about regret, but just to drive it home, God spoke through Pastor Keith Comp’s sermon with stern rebuke.
The sermon that evening was based on James 2:14 – 26. As I turned to the passage, the header dug at my heart:
Faith Without Good Deeds is Dead
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, (or a little help to visit a loved one?) and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”(and you rush off to church)—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
James 2:14 – 26 (NLT)
Saved by Grace
As a Christian, I know I can never do enough good work to earn salvation — it is a gift freely given if I only accept it. One of the main points of the sermon, however, reminded me
We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works.
Another Scripture passage that was sited (one of my professed favorites) was Ephesians 2:8-10. And we’ve come full circle.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
There I sat, convicted, tears burning my eyes. I wondered how much preparation had gone into the opportunity I squandered earlier that evening. God had ordained that she and I would be there at that moment and I would have a tremendous privilege to share the love of Christ. And I didn’t.
What if I had? At the very least, she would have been blessed with a visit with her loved one. But what if there was more? Would that act of kindness have opened a door by which the Holy Spirit would move in her life? Maybe she would have even come to church that night with me. But all I have to show for the encounter is, “what if?” and, “maybe.” I’ll never know.
I prayed fervently that God would find another to make up for the opportunity I wasted and I pledged to God that next time, I wouldn’t be so selfish.
Some More Take-Aways from My Rebuke
Looking back over my notes from the sermon, there are some wonderful reminders that I have committed to live by. Perhaps these tidbits of wisdom will help you, too.
- God does not save us based on what we do, but His saving us should affect everything we do.
- We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works.
- If you are truly walking with Christ, it is transformative. It should change you.
- To put faith and trust in God is to surrender yourself — to die to yourself.
- We as Christians are all on mission to lead others to Christ. We must live out our faith and remain faithful to God as He is always faithful to us.
- Do for one what you wish you could do for many.
- “The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul.” (Charles Spurgeon)
- LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH.
And some questions to ask yourself:
- Am I being transformed into the likeness of Christ? (a process called sanctification)
- Does my faith in Christ lead to action and good deeds?
- Do people see Jesus in me?
Watch the Sermon Here
Speaker: Keith Comp, Spiritual Formation Pastor, White River Christian Church