Phinehas

Num 25:6-18         12/15/2017

A plague struck the Israelites because certain Israelite men had become involved with Midianite and Moabite women, who induced them to worship other gods and eat food sacrificed to those gods. Phinehas, the son of the high priest Eleazer, killed one of the princes of the tribe of Simeon and the Midianite woman that he had taken. This act was credited with ending the plague.

We talk about the contemplative versus the active life of religious. We talk about faith versus works.

And then we watch someone take an extraordinary step on faith and we marvel. And we say, “That person really believes in God!”, or “That person really loves God!”, or “That is a person of great faith”.

It’s interesting and strange that we all recognize the reality when we see it. When someone acts, we don’t argue about the virtues of a contemplative versus an active life. We no longer ponder about faith without works – and what that might mean.

Do something.

Five talents; two talents; a single talent; a single moment – write a blog that no one reads. Help an elderly woman across a snowy road. Bless a lonely neighbor with a meal and fellowship.

Sin means “without” – privation. The absence of good. Less than the possibility of the moment. The only way to avoid it is to do something.

The only way to avoid sin is to do something.

So get active. Take an intelligent risk on faith. There is no sin greater than wasted potential. There is no possibility of faith without action.

“So also faith of itself, it if does not have works, is dead.” James 2:17