In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“Ours is an esoteric faith,” I lie to myself, “a mystical faith, a faith of my mind and intellect.” And what matters to me is the actions of my mind. I give time to pray, to exercise my mental faculties, and to thoughts on spiritual topics. I see a man suffering and I send “positive thoughts,” I see a people suffering and I “say a prayer.” “What more can I do?” I ask myself as I get on with my safe life away from the trauma of the world.
And the words of the Apostle James convict me.
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
James 2:14–17
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But this is not only the words of one apostle, this is the teaching of the New Testament. Today, in part of his Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel (6:20–49) the Lord tells us, “As you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” And this Golden Rule is found in many religions and philosophical systems, so the Lord goes on to describe exactly how his disciples—how you and me!—are to apply it. Christianity does not mean, “Love those who love you, do good to those who do good to you, lend to those who will repay,” which would be the Golden Rule for life according to the standards in this world—Christ’s disciples are called to, “love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”
And my spiritualised faith is shattered and in ruins. “Good thoughts,” do not meet the standard nor do “mere prayers” make the criteria of a disciple: this is madness according to the world but for us is the path to life. I must, therefore, change: I must repent. I must leave behind my intellectualised faith and serve others since the Lord gives his blessings not only to the righteous but also to people like me, “for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for us to be worthy of the name Christian we must be as Christ who demonstrates to us the mercy of God—who died for me and who died for you that we may rise together with him. Let us then serve others and give them blessings for curses, love for hatred, life for death. Let us live according to the principle of God, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” expecting nothing in return, “and [our] reward will be great, and [we] will be sons of the Most High.”
To our incarnate, crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, you are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.
— Second Corinthians 6:16–18, 7:1
The Lord said, “As you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
— Luke 6:31–36