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#1 Pastors Points: Why Trust?
In the book of James, the author focuses on how our faith is put into action. If you've heard the phrase "faith without works is dead," that comes from our Scripture Reading for Sunday. Despite the truth that the Reformer, Martin Luther, hated this book, for we United Methodists, it resonates with our history and our theology.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, not only believed that we are called to live out the faith, but he put into place small groups of disciples who weekly met to ask the hard questions, share their burdens, and journey together. A central question all answered in these meetings was "How is it with your soul?" And they were expected to answer honestly. In other words, they bore their souls with each other and trusted each other to keep the secrets, support each other even after naming sins, and making a way for all to feel safe and grow in Christ. (Below is a small group survey that will help you to get connected to God and the Church just like the early Methodists, though not all or our small groups are as spiritually intense.)
This Sunday's scripture verses come from the second chapter of James, where the author names how there were some in the church who were showing favoritism to the rich over the poor and ends up naming that, if we just give our faith lipservice rather than actually live out the faith, we are not honoring God. Naming our biases and making the effort to apply Jesus' teaching in our lives takes a lot of work, but it is also invites us to be vulnerable to God and one another. It pushes us toward uncomfortable space and people who might make us uncomfortable, and that takes trust. Trust in God and trust in the community of faith.
Before Sunday, take some time to think about trust. How do you trust? Who do you trust? Why do you trust? God invites us to trust God and each other as we seek, serve, grow, and connect, for in doing so, we grow deeper in our faith and life.
See you Sunday!
Pastor Tim
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