On 22 May 2011, a class five tornado ripped through Joplin, MO destroying 8,000 homes, 5,000 businesses, and 18,000 vehicles. The death toll of the tornado stands at 159 people with another person killed by lightning during clean up operations the following day.
Video of the Joplin Tornado
It killed the most people of any tornado in the United States since 1947, and it is the seventh deadliest tornado in the history of this country.
When we first arrived in Joplin, it looked like any other city. We drove in around 1730, so there were a number of cars on the road carrying people home from work or out to dinner, which is what we were looking for. Ever since I had moved to Paris, TX, I had missed Chick-Fil-A, so it was in my GPS long before we reached the city. I remember several of the youth commenting on the situation, "This doesn't look that bad." I didn't respond. I had to agree that it didn't look bad at all, but I had done disaster relief before. I knew that just over the next hill could be a completely different story. It was. As we continued north on S Rangeline Rd we found the Chick-Fil-A or what was left of it. Just after the car dealership we found it along with the Home Depot and a number of other businesses destroyed in a gash of twisted metal and debris. Later we found that this shocking sight was only the beginning. We drove down 20th to Connecticut, and what we saw was complete devastation. This was the residential area. We saw houses ripped apart and thrown off their foundations. Heavy appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines were flung like child's toys from apartment complexes that looked as if bombs were planted in every room and simultaneously detonated. Whole subdivisions lay in ruins and workers labored continually to sort debris into ever-growing piles. Stunned silence filled the van as we drove through the streets. We were no longer in a city. We were in a disaster area.
James was the brother of Jesus and the leader of the the Jerusalem church. He most likely wrote the book that bears his name in the early to mid-40s before the apostolic council in Jerusalem (A.D. 48-49) since the issues of that council were not mentioned in the letter. In the second chapter of the letter, James poses a question to his readers, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14). It is a good question. Can someone say they believe Jesus is the Christ and be saved based solely on that? After all Paul says in Romans, "with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Romans 10:10b). James says that is not enough. He says that the demons believe the Jesus is the Christ. They know He is, but they will certainly not be saved from the coming wrath. Are these two fathers of the faith in disagreement over one of the essential pillars of Christianity? No, they are not because faith goes much deeper than words insincerely spoken. True faith is a matter of the heart which will flow forth in sincere words and actions. The real question is not, "Can someone say they believe Jesus is the Christ and be saved based solely on that?" The real question is, "Can someone believe that Jesus is the Christ, trust in Him for salvation, and not have that faith flow out from them in the words they speak and the things they do?" The answer is they cannot. When Paul speaks of confession in Romans, it is preceded by, "For with the heart one believes and is justified" (Romans 10:10a). True faith spawns both words and actions that back it up. When one truly believes in their heart that Jesus is their Lord, they will tell people that He is. When one truly believes that Jesus is their King, they will serve Him in their actions.
James follows his question in verse fourteen by asking another question, "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving then the things needed for the body, what good is that?" It does no good to preach the Gospel to someone who does not yet have their basic needs for survival met. Someone who is hungry, thirsty, or without shelter will not be ready to hear the things of God. That is why we went to Joplin. We went to in order to help meet those needs so that either we or someone else down the line would get the opportunity to share Jesus with them. Pray for that. Ultimately, they need Jesus more than anything, but unless our actions speak in conjunction with our words, the message will not get across! "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17).
Abraham was fully invested in propagating his family line. The fact that his lineage would continue was promised to him by God, "And he brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:5-6). Late in life God gave Abraham his first and only son, Isaac. You can imagine how confused Abraham must have been when God told him to take Isaac, the manifestation of His promise, and sacrifice him on an altar. Abraham trusted God, though. He had learned to trust Him even when it made no sense to do so. Abraham took Isaac, bound him, and had every intention of killing his son on that altar as God has instructed. His action backed up his faith.
In the same way, if we claim the name of Christ, every single word and every action should back up that faith. "But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works'" (James 2:18). This kind of separation is ridiculous. We have already looked at how you cannot have true faith without works, and apart from faith there is no work we can do to please God, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Isaiah says it a bit more graphically, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6). faith and works are inseparable. You cannot have one without the other. You either have both, or you have nothing at all. Through James, God worded the perfect connection between faith and works, "I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).
MOB Joplin Mission Trip
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