Month: September 2024

Prayer for Finding Grace Through Humility

by Steve Harsh, posted in prayer

O Gracious and mighty God, we your faithful children are here again to worship and praise you.  It is so good to sing your praises, even if some of us are off key.  We are so grateful that we are here again to keep the Sabbath holy, unlike those sinners who slept in or are out on the golf course! 

What’s that, Lord?  Oh, no, I didn’t mean to judge anyone else.  I know you don’t want us to do that.  But you did tell us not to hide our lamp under a bushel, remember?  You said we are the light of the world.  That seems like something we should be pretty proud of.  Yes, I remember the story Jesus told about the bragging Pharisee who was glad he was not like the tax collector sitting next to him.

Yes, we know that verse from Micah that says we should walk humbly with you, but that’s hard to do.  Our society doesn’t reward the introvert or the wall flower.  We want leaders in business and government who are courageous and daring.  But in your kingdom we get a much different message that your followers are to be humble servants!  Jesus even taught that the meek shall inherit the earth! 

We don’t see much evidence of that happening anytime soon!  But all around us, Holy One, we see life experiences that teach us humility if we take the time to notice.  When we see a breathtaking sunset or gaze into the vastness of the universe we realize how small we are in a cosmic perspective.  When we’re sick and dependent on others to care for us, we are humbled.  Or when we are greeted by the unconditional love of a beloved pet, or when we hold a newborn infant in our arms and feel the miracle of a new life right there in our hands – there are no words to express the awe and wonder we experience.

And, oh, when we honestly reflect up our own lives – all the times we have failed to live up to our own expectations, let alone yours, we are brought to our knees in total humility.  And from there, with truly humble hearts we are ready to give thanks for your amazing grace and for the gift of your beloved son, Jesus, who lived the life of a humble servant and calls us to do the same.  In his name we offer our hearts and prayers as we join our voices in the prayer he taught us to pray…

Northwest United Methodist Church, Columbus, Ohio, September 22, 2024

Faith: Alive or Dead?

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith Development, Lectionary Texts

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food 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? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” James 2:14-17

The epistle lesson for this coming Sunday is the familiar “Faith without works is dead” passage from James 2. How often when I pass by a person begging for money on the street do I feel guilty and worry that my faith is dead or dying? Thanks, James. There must be more value to these verses than humbling me if I am dwelling in a glass house of self-righteousness.

But maybe that’s all these verses need to do. Causing you or me to stop and look in the mirror is really quite an important thing for a spiritual encounter to do. To pause from our busy lives for a bit of self-examination is much more helpful than the far more common way this passage is used, namely to put others down by pointing out the hypocrisy of their holier-than-thou rhetoric and lack of empathy or meaningful service to meet the real needs of their neighbors.

One of the bishops I served under had a memorable way of keeping us clergy humble. He was fond of saying that things always worked out well when he was appointing clergy to serve in the churches under his supervision. He said the numbers always came out even because there “are always as many perfect churches as there are perfect pastors.”

James employs a similar tactic earlier in chapter 2. In verses 8-10 we find these words: “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”

Does that mean God doesn’t grade on the curve? That nothing but a perfect score is good enough to live up to God’s standards? No, who could ever stand before such a God? Such a God would never send a Messiah to save us from ourselves. Such a Messiah would never welcome lepers, tax collectors, and all manner of societal outcasts into God’s beloved community.

James is simply warning us that our faith journey is a marathon, not a sprint. James is alerting us to the danger of thinking we’ve got it all figured out or that our work is ever done. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a long way to go to love my enemies or to turn the other cheek. This side of heaven there will always be more neighbors to love, more poor who are with us always. God’s love is eternal and so are the tasks of discipleship for those who have decided to follow Jesus.