In the same way, faith by itself, if its not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-18 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 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? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if its not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. I recently got into a conversation with some teenagers about their RE lessons in school. I loved my O & A level RE courses even though I had to sacrifice my Thursday afternoon sports sessions to take RE as there was no room for it on the syllabus. However, I think that I would have enjoyed the RE courses of today as much if not more than the one of my school years. I must admit that I learnt things 25 years ago which I still use today, much of a message on Naboth's Vineyard and the Ministry of Elijah and the message of Amos and Hosea I remember form my days as a student of Mr Morgan at Dynevor School in Swansea. However, to get back to my conversation with the RE students of today. They told me how their course wasn't just about Christianity and study of the Bible but their course including the traditions and teachings of some of the world's other religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Many Christians were concerned when the Religious Education syllabus changed to include religions other than Christianity. However, ever though we has Christians hold onto the teachings of the Old and New Testament and to a faith in God and his son Jesus Christ we do live in a multi cultural world and its' good to understand the traditions of all the people who make up our community. I did however ask the young people whether hearing the teachings of other religions had affected their thinking as Christians. I was very impressed with their replies. They pointed out that they felt that "the other religions seem to have to work to gain favour from their God. Don't we just have to believe in Christ?" It is a great observation on the young Christian's part and a discerning question. Christianity is the only religion that does not require us to rely on our own selves, in order to be saved. Instead, we rely on the power of Christ to save us; we rely on faith in Christ only. For it is by faith that we are saved, not our works. Now you might say, "hang on Kev, I have faith and faith alone, then God and I are on good terms, and I go to Heaven." Some will even take the faith piece and use it as a license to go on and live life as they please. It makes faith into a "fire" insurance policy against an eternity apart from God. But James said it all in verse 17 above. Faith without works is dead. So we have to understand that we are not doing works to earning favour, in order to gain acceptance from God. Rather, we do works out of our gratitude for what Christ did for us on the cross. See the difference? Other religions believe their works earn gratitude from their God. Christians do works out of our gratitude to God. So finally as I thought about this conversation and read the above passage, I asked myself: Can people around you see your faith through your works? Or do they only see a dead faith? I challenge you to ask yourselves the same question. Father, thank you so much for what you have done for us. Thank you for being a loving God. Help us to be more grateful for all you have done for us and show us how to express our gratitude in a way that may impact those around us. In Christ's name. Amen.