To Believe is To Do

Gospel: John 14: 7-14

In the course of time we have come to understand belief as an intellectual activity that assents to certain propositions as being true.  We equate belief with making some profession of faith verbally, reciting a formulaic creed or oath that is somehow an attestation of the fact that we believe these things to be true and definitive for us.  Such, however, is not the understanding of belief that Jesus and the larger tradition from which he hails regards as authentic belief.

For Jesus, belief is expressed not in words but in deeds.  "Those who believe in me will do the works I do." Jesus proposed no creed, no profession of faith.  He did, however, time and again propose for us a way of living, a way of believing that is expressed in deeds of loving service and mercy to others.  For deeds are a commitment of the entire person, not just the mind but the body and heart as well.  

An act of true faith and belief will be found in the deeds Jesus performed that we seek to do: healing others, delivering them from what possesses them in unhealthy ways. It is found in giving food and drink to the hungry and thirsty; visiting and caring for the sick and imprisoned; providing clothing to the naked; welcoming the stranger and outcast.  It is in deeds of mercy, poverty of spirit, purity of heart, meekness; it is striving for justice, peacemaking, and loving even those who persecute us.