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by The Rev. Cathy Scott
James 2:14-26 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)Faith without Works Is Dead14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[a] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. The Christian life is a life lived in loving service of others. The deacon stands at the sanctuary door for a reason. The dismissal words of the deacon, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord" are meant to invite parishioners to leave the comfort and peace of the sanctuary in order to serve God’s poor and forgotten and marginalized. The deacon ushers us out of our comfort and in to the kingdom – to find and serve Jesus in others. How do you “love and serve the Lord" except through loving and serving others. Jesus is found in the tired grandmother who fries hamburgers at McDonald’s because she desperately needs the money for her rent. Jesus is in the prisoner who stole from the Dollar General store. Jesus cleans tables, cooks at a restaurant, walks the streets and alleys, and shivers in the cold because he has no home. Walk from this sanctuary and be a living sanctuary for others this Lent. Talk with Deacon Cathy about putting your faith into action by serving others. God's Kingdom is a Kin-dom where we are truly all brothers and sisters. Your brother is homeless. Your sister doesn’t have enough food to feed her children. This Lent, fast from your own desires and feast in service to God’s children.
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