Sunday, February 6, 2011

Covenant Service: Saving Faith Works

Covenant Service
Saving Faith Works

On 25 December, 1747, and on many occasions after that, John Wesley strongly urged the Methodists to renew their covenant with God. His first formal covenant service was held on 11 August 1755, and every year since, Methodist people everywhere renew their covenant with God.
Essentially, what we say in our covenant, is plain and simply:

Lord, I surrender my life to you and to your will.

This morning, as part of our ongoing series working through the book of James called Living Life God's Way, we are going to explore what it means to be in covenant with our God.

As part of our service we will recite the Apostles Creed, which is our statement of belief.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary……
I believe in the Holy Spirit……

Both our covenant and the Apostles Creed are easy to say…….. in other words, anyone can say them. In fact as I repeated the Apostles Creed this week I realised that the devil himself can say the creed with absolute integrity:
            he believes that God is the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth…… he believes it, because he knows it! He knows God the Father, he knows God the Son, he knows God the Holy Spirit, and he knows and believes all those things we say about each of them. He knows (therefore believes) that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, he knows there will be a resurrection of the dead and a Day of judgement….. and so on and so on.

John Wesley was fond of reminding people that many of us have a belief (faith) that is no better than the devil's belief in God.
' Do you believe in Jesus? ' he would ask, and heads would nod…… and he would say ' good….. the demons do as well. '

Do you believe in Jesus?

You can see that our belief, our faith, must go further than just believing, if it is to be a faith, a belief that will save us. The devil's belief/faith will not save him, and neither will ours if it does not go beyond the type of belief the devil has. Surely, we all want saving faith!
As we continue our journey through James, we find ourselves today in James 2: 14 - 26 and in this reading we find what saving faith looks like.

 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.  25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Faith without Deeds Is Dead. Is your faith alive or dead? Saving faith in a person leads to that person doing good deeds, it works. That is how you know your faith goes beyond the faith of the devil. His faith, his belief does not lead to good works……. does yours?
Someone has said: Saving Faith Works

Paul the apostle puts it beautifully in Ephesians chapter 2 when he says that it is by God's grace that we are saved by faith in order to do the good works that he has already prepared for us to do.
Saving Faith Works

So, as God's covenant people, and as Methodist people renewing our covenant today, what are the works we do……… not in order to be saved, but rather because we are saved?

Let us listen to our reading from Matthew's Gospel, 25:31-40

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.    34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’   40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Here we see that amazing Kingdom principle, that if you want to do something for Jesus, you just need to go out and do something for the least among us, here in Alberton.

Do you want to do something for Jesus?
Your answer is either yes, or no.
What is your answer?
If it is yes then go on to the streets of Alberton and find a hungry person to feed, a thirsty person to give a drink of water to, find a person who needs clothes and give him clothing, visit a sick person, reach out to a prisoner, welcome a stranger.
Jesus says in as much as you do these things for the least among us out on the streets of Alberton, you do it for me.
Do you want to do something for Jesus?

These aren't new ideas that Jesus came up with. 500 years before Christ God said to his covenant people through the prophet Isaiah (58:1 to 9): get rid of injustice, share your food with the hungry, provide the wanderer with shelter, give clothes to those who need them.

God's covenanted people are expected by God to behave like people who are covenanted to God.
James wrote to a church that was good at saying the right things, but not good at doing the right things.
John Wesley was similarly raised up to reform the church of his day and call people back to holiness before the Lord. Methodism was/is a holiness movement called to spread Scriptural holiness throughout the land and the covenant service was designed very specifically to remind people of, and call people back to, holy living.

Hopefully today we stand in that tradition when we repeat the words of our covenant: 

I no longer want to control my life, but surrender it to You, Lord,

with these words we are saying: Not my will any more Lord, but your will be done in my life.


Put me to whatever purpose You choose,

bearing in mind that throughout Scripture, God makes it clear that his purpose for you and for me is that we be servants to the world around us, particularly to the least among us.


Link my life to whoever You will, for whatever purpose;

this reminds us that when we accept Jesus, we accept his friends as well. Who are his friends: the oppressed, the hungry, thirsty, the naked, the poor, the stranger, the sick, the prisoner.


Send me to whatever task You have in mind for me;

this is saying I will do what ever you want me to do and in looking at the verses that we have read this morning and in looking at the rest of Scriptures, God constantly makes it quite clear what he has in mind for you and for me.


If suffering be Your purpose for me, I accept it;

these words are a reminder that the born-again Christian life is dangerous. Reaching out to the poor or welcoming strangers might leave you beaten up, robbed and left for dead. It is very dangerous to live the Jesus way…… but we should already know that, shouldn't we? The Jesus way got Jesus a cross and suffering and death…….. and of course, glory. Not for nothing does Jesus on another occasion insist that those who want to become his disciples first count the cost. The born-again Christian life is costly, and as this part of our covenant reminds us, it will often bring us great suffering!


May my life be used by You or not used, if You so decide;
May it be filled with meaningful purpose, or,
if You prefer it, have no apparent purpose;
Let it be filled with many useful material things,
Or, if You so plan it, be emptied of material benefit.

These words call us to humility.




With all my heart I yield everything to Your control.

Everything…… my money, my job, my gifts, talents, abilities, my future, my life.



And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I am Yours and You belong to me.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have now made here on Earth,
let it be confirmed and recorded in Heaven.
Amen.


James wrote to a church that wasn't too keen on doing their Christian faith. They were happy to say it, but not happy to do it.

The Methodist covenant service is a call to us to recommit ourselves, or perhaps commit ourselves for the first time, to doing the will and the word of God, what ever the cost may be, knowing, and encouraged by the fact that
we can do all things in Jesus who strengthens us.

May the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, strengthen, help and equip us to not only make this covenant, but to keep it.

Amen.