Today's media rules.  Anyone who turns on a television, goes to the movies or reads the paper knows the power the visual media has on us.  We people are more than physical; we are also spiritual.  We are meant to see through our eyes, and understand with our consciences.  People today are more prone to see with their eyes only but are devoid of conscience in what they see.  If we see with our eyes only, then any faith we might have will be based on what is seen, not what is unseen.

          "Seeing is believing," we hear, but for Christians, the opposite is true:  believing is seeing.  Faith is not dependent on the what we can see, but on what we know to be true without seeing.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is being ... certain of what we do not see." As Ravi Zacharias of Billy Graham's staff, asked, "How do you reach a generation that hears with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?" It's more apparent each day that the language of our world is visual.  If we can't see it, it didn't happen.  What does that do to faith, which trusts what is not visual?  And what if only the visual continues to dominate education, science and news?  What happens to faith?

          You may be thinking that today's message will be another diatribe against media, but it's not.  Instead, I would like us to consider what it means have a faith that shows itself in our lives.  If the world bases its reality on what it sees, then what is it seeing about God in us?  What is it seeing about Jesus in our lives?  If people around us are to see faith, they will "read" it in how we live.  And if they see no difference between Christians and non-Christians, what will they think of God?  The words of James stress the need for faith to show itself in action.

          "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead."

          We often read in this text only the need of having works to show faith, and that's good.  Faith must show itself in works.  Faith is one side of the coin, works the other.  You can't have one without the other.  Faith without works is dead.

          But if we take it a step further, we must realize that we are showing our faith, that is, we are witnessing to others of God, by what they see us do or not do.  The visual people of this world will read God in us by what they see.  And if what they see is kindness and love and generosity, then God is glorified and people may come to faith.  But if what they see is quarrelling or selfishness or jealousy or an uncaring attitude, people will turn their backs on us and on God.  They can see that anywhere, so why should they follow Christ if His people are no different from them?

          The letter of James is full of common sense.  He avoids theology and concentrates on the practical.  His linking of faith to good works has made some Christians nervous because we believe salvation is dependent on faith, not on works, and that's very true.  But you can't have one without the other.  James says that if others can't see our good works, then we don't have faith.  It's tempting to stop with faith only.  If that's all God requires, then why worry about works?  But in that thought is precisely the problem.  If you don't have works to show your faith, you don't have faith at all.  They go hand in hand.

          We're all visual people.  We like to have proof for what people tell us.  James says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?" Eliza Doolittle, in the musical "My Fair Lady", laments about her boyfriend Freddie, who is a man of much talk in their relationship, but no action.  "Words, words, I'm sick of words," she says.  Then she bursts into song, "Don't talk of stars burning above, if you're in love, show me!"

          I believe God is telling us this morning, "If you love me, show me!  Don't just say you're a Christian, show me!  Don't just belong to a church, show me!  Don't just come to church or Sunday School when it fits your schedule, show me!  Don't just talk about your faith; if you love me, show me!"

          How is your faith active in works of love?  What proof do you show of your faith?  If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  Do you worship God on Sunday in a real church or do you attend the church of St. Mattress with Pastor Pillow?  When the call comes to help, do you go or make excuses?  When you make demands on others, are you willing to help them when they need it?

          No son has ever been yelled at by his Dad for cleaning his room, and no Mom has ever been criticized for saying "I love you" to to her daughter.  No wife has ever been called a "nag" while hugging her husband, and no husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.  When we show our faith in works of love, we speak volumes.  You and I teach others of God by how we live.

          Six year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes for breakfast.  He'd seen his Mom make them before, so he found a big bowl and spoon.  He dragged a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the flour cannister, spilling it all over the floor.  He scooped some flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in the milk he didn't spill and added a fistful of sugar, leaving a white trail on the floor wherever he went.

          Brandon looked at the kitchen and felt awful.  He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.  He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all on the stove or into the garbage.  Then he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of pancake mix and when he reached to push her away, knocked the bowl to the floor.  Frantically he tried to clean up the mess, but slipped on the batter, getting his pajamas white and sticky.  And just then he saw Dad standing at the door.

          Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes.  All he'd wanted was to do something good, but he'd made a horrible mess.  He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking.  But his father didn't do that.  Instead he walked through the middle of the mess, picked up his crying son, and hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas dusty and sticky in the process.

          Imagine what Brandon learned from his Dad that day!  He saw love in action, not in mere words.  He knew he was loved no matter what.  And that's how God deals with us.  We try to do something good, but it turns into a mess.  Our marriage gets sticky or we ruin a friendship or we fail at our job or our health goes sour.  Sometimes in life we can only stand there in tears because everything has fallen apart.

          That's when God puts His arms around us - if we'll let Him.  Then He will love us and forgive us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.  He loves us through people who love us.  God loves us just as we are, but He won't leave us that way for long.  Brandon's Dad cleaned him up, and God will clean us up, too.

          Just because we might make a mess, we can't stop making pancakes.  Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then people will be glad we tried and so will we.  Meanwhile, we're showing our faith by our acts of kindness and deeds of love.

          "If you love me, show me." God says that, and so does the world.  People out there are looking for love, but, as the song goes, "in all the wrong places."  Let's show them the real thing:  God's love, love without strings, genuine love where and when it's needed.  Let's go out and get convicted of being real Christians.  Amen.

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.