St. James and Works: a Sacrament of Faith?

I still remember as a teenager first coming across St. James’ rather cranky assertion that faith without works is dead and wrestled with that.  Did not St. Paul write that faith is what saves and that “not a result from works”?  (My understanding is a bit more exact and adamant now that God saves “by grace through faith.” Eph. 2:8, 9)

It took me a while to digest St. James.  Calvin’s dictum that faith alone saves but faith that saves is not alone was helpful.

But it was not until this week that I came across another enlightening take of St. James from Dr. Benjamin Bernier of Providence Reformed Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi:

James tells us that Faith without works is dead. Faith and works, theory and practice, the sacred and the profane, are not separate spheres as it is commonly presumed. They relate to each other as the body to the spirit, in such an intrinsic way that we may characterize their relationship as sacramental.

As we know from our catechism and The Offices of Instruction, a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward invisible grace.

So, I would like to propose to you that the relationship between faith and works is sacramental in nature.

Works are the outward and visible expression of an inner, invisible body of belief, which defines both the inner character of our souls and the profile of our whole lives.

Accordingly, faith and works are inseparable. They are like the fruit to the tree, different aspects of the same thing, the truth, and the love of God in faith and practice.

It had not occurred to me before that good works are a sacrament of faith.  But it makes sense.  And we know from St. Paul that faith is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:8)  Perhaps works out of true faith, like the traditional sacraments, are also gifts of God and manifestations of invisible Truth.  At least that is food for thought on this Eve of the Feast of St. James, the brother of our Lord and the likely author of that difficult Epistle.

And on this Feast of St. James, may God bless you both with faith and with good works flowing out of your faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

By the way, the rest of Fr. Benjamin’s sermon may be found here and on YouTube.