Got Milk? A Parable

Martha went to the grocery store and bought some milk.  She brought it home and gave it to Mom saying, “I bought some milk.”

Mom said, “Why?” 

Martha replies, “Because milk is healthy and we should have milk in the house.” 

Mom says, “Everyone who lives in this house is lactose intolerant.”

Martha protests, “But everyone says that milk is good for you.”

Mom says, “Yes, of course it is.  But it is important not just to do a good thing, but to know why you are doing it.  If you had thought about the why, perhaps you would have gotten soy milk instead.”

Martha complains, “I tried to do something good, and you turn it into a failure.”

Mom says, “All effort is a waste of time without first identifying the problem.”

Faith without works is dead.  No one is arguing this point.  This is as clear as the nose on your face, particularly my face with my near proboscis.  James is arguing for works, this is true.  Go get the milk.  But James is not ignoring the facts that the refrigerator is empty and that milk is particularly nutritious.  James assumes that we have already identified these indicatives.  I’ve quoted from Acts 15 before, but notice verse 21.  The law has been preached everywhere since the old days.  People know that.  What was missing was the “why” from the formula.  Jesus gave the why.  Jesus provided the indicatives.  Jesus explained to us that the purpose of the law was to point out just how dire our situation is.  We are dead from sin.  We are dead people walking.  That is the problem that we have to identify.

Next, Jesus tells us what he has done to fix the problem.  Because Jesus did what He did, we now have a reason for doing good works.  Jesus provides the milk.  If you intellectually assert that we need milk to survive, but don’t go get the milk, you will still die.  That is because you have just demonstrated that you truly do not believe that you are about to die.  You do not believe the indicatives.  The object of belief is always an indicative.  Works are the necessary consequence of belief.  There is no category of antinomian believers.  Those people are dead.  They didn’t go get the milk.

The point is this: James is not preaching a revival of works.  James is not preaching that works have any value towards your salvation.  James is saying that works are a necessary byproduct of Christian faith, without which you will surely die.  Got milk?

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