Bible Comes Alive

Examples of 'Faith Working Through Love'

"We imitate the one we adore."
x

Bible Lecturer William H. Willimon demonstrated why he is considered one of the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. He made the Bible live for us in relating powerful examples of faith.

Dean of Chapel at Duke University, the Rev. Dr. William H. Willimon delivered the three Bible Lectures at the Annual Meeting this year. The first lesson was on the scriptural theme of the meeting: "The only thing that counts is faith working through love."

Beneath a beautiful banner bearing those words, Willimon spoke about this message from the fifth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. He first related a story to us, told by Josephus, of a Jewish woman and her four sons who refused to break the Law of the Torah and offer incense at the altar of Caesar Augustus. The Romans beat her sons, one by one, covered their bodies with oil and turned them into flaming infernos. The woman stood by crying and pleading; however, surprisingly to us, her cries and pleas were to her sons, not to their persecutors. She begged her sons not to give in to the demands of the Romans, but to hold steadfast to the Law.

Then came the good and devout Jew Paul, who seemed to be saying that keeping the Law of the Torah was not what mattered. What did matter, Paul maintained, was faith working through love. Willimon reminded us also that we don’t even have to be that good at living these words, because it is not so much the size of our faith, but rather the size of God’s faith in us, that really counts.

The second Bible lecture was on the Parable of the Talents, from the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. In summing up this parable, Willimon said that the Kingdom of God is like a professional businessman who leaves his business in the hands of his inexperienced and inept servants. The world is not in our hands because we are so proficient at managing it, nor is it in our hands by our choice. We, lacking in any real proficiency, are invited by God to manage his Kingdom here on earth, further confirming that what matters most is God’s faith in us.

During his final lecture, Willimon drew our attention to a lesson in the Bible where he believes that faith working through love comes up unexpectedly. He referred to the story in the tenth chapter of Mark, where a man recites all of the ways in which he has been a good Jew, following the Torah to the letter, and then asks Jesus what he would need to do further to inherit eternal life. Jesus loved this man in spite of his smugness, so much that he invited the man to give everything up and follow him. The man could not bring himself to do that, but Jesus still loved the man.

Augustine said that we imitate the one we adore. We adore Jesus and he gave up everything for us. Now what matters is how well we imitate him, with faith working through love.

The Rev. Giovan Venable King pastors the Hyde Park Congregational Church, Los Angeles, California. She edits the Cal-West Congregationalist, serves on the Advisory Board of The Congregationalist,and was named to the NACCC Credentials Committee at the 48th NACCC Annual Meeting.