by Frank Luke
FCF: Even the converted sometimes show partiality. This has no place in the life of a Christian.
Big Idea: When we play favorites, we are showing ourselves to be conformed to the world instead of transformed by Christ.
Audience: Harvey Assembly of God
Text: James 2:1-13
Scripture Introduction
Today’s message comes from a little book in the New Testament with a lot of rubber meets the road Christianity. This book has more straight out instructions on practical Christian living per verse than any other. The book is James. It is written by the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus first began His ministry, James did not believe He was the Messiah. However, after the resurrection, Jesus made a special appearance to James, and James converted. He became the leader of the church in Jerusalem and presided over the first church council where they decided what to do about the Gentile problem—Do gentiles have to become Jews before they become Christians? James led the group saying “No. Christ has not called them to be burdened by the Torah.”
The Letter of James was one of the first books written for the New Testament. James writes not to criticize his readers but to bring them to repentance. Unlike Paul, James writes not to an individual church but to all churches. A call to unity in the church. Stand together against pressure from without and gossip from within. He wrote to a church under economic and social pressure to conform to unbelievers but little to no physical persecution. That would come later. As James would attest were he alive today.
James was martyred by Annas the Younger, one of the chief Sadducees. This was the son of the chief priest who condemned Jesus to death. Something of a rematch you might say. Like his father, Annas thought he had won, but it was James who won. He said, “I cannot refuse to die for He who lives for me.” James was afterwards thrown from the roof of the temple. The fall did not kill him, and his last act before he was struck with a club was to pray, “I entreat thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Striving to be like Jesus even to the last.
Sermon Introduction
As you turn to James 2, think about some recent court cases. A federal court ruled a teacher must take down a banner in his room that has the national motto: In God we trust. A few years ago, Judge Roy Moore had to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments because they were from the Bible.
It seems like every week we hear of cases where Christians are ruled against not on the merits of the case but on the fact they are Christian. I know some atheists who have said to me, “If only Christians believe it, it must be wrong.” They weren’t even talking about our doctrines. They were talking about our ethical decisions and morals. They would agree that adultery and murder are wrong, but they believe they can back up such prohibitions from other sources. But their reasons don’t deal with the individual but with the community. The individual means nothing to them except as it contributes to the community. It is wrong to murder because it weakens the community. It is wrong to commit adultery because it shows you are untrustworthy (and thus a danger to the community). Though if both parties agree to an “open marriage,” they have no issue.
So why not favoritism? They really can’t answer that question. They feel it is wrong but can give no coherent reason. The Christian’s reason comes from God. Murder and adultery are wrong because they strike at a being created in the image of God. Murder and adultery mar God’s creation. So does favoritism. Hard to believe, but it does. And now, James 2:1-13. [read it]
Point 1. Jesus plays no favorites
(1) The attitude of favoritism is alien to Christ. God does not play favorites, and Jesus is God incarnate. Commitment to Christ means that we are striving to become like him and must shed attitudes that He would not have. If He played favorites, how many of us would have been saved?
Point 2. James’ Example
(2-4) The picture in James’ first example is that of a church court. These two believers have a dispute, a problem, between them. The first lacks nothing. He enters the court with a gold ring and shining clothes. These are not simply homespun robes. These are bleached white and nice. His opponent enters in filthy clothes. They are all he has to wear when working or sleeping.
The church court pays special attention to the one. He is given a place to sit and the other is told to stand or sit on the floor. This is not a fair trial. Jewish law said that both parties were to sit at the same level or stand. The clothes are held to the same standard. To prevent favoritism from the judge, the parties were to dress alike. Either the wealthy man was to provide garments for the poor man or was to wear filthy clothes himself.
This wasn’t done in the church court. They let the divisions stand. They caved to economic differences and made themselves no better than the Romans. They showed favoritism. They worked with evil motives and have become unjust and partial. This is not the church that Christ called!
Point 3. Not On Merit
(5-7) James bases his arguments in the most secure foundation possible: the words of Jesus. He alludes to Luke 6:20 where He says, ‘And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’ God shows a special interest in the poor in the Old Testament. It is the responsibility of the people of the community to help them. One of the three foundations on which the world rests is alms giving. These poor are poor only in the eyes of the world. They are rich in faith. Naturally, this is not all poor people. It is only those who have faith, only those who love Him.
The problem is that the church is judging like the unsaved do! They are not judging like God who looks into a person’s heart. They are judging based on outside characteristics. They do not see the rich faith of the poor man. They stop looking once they see his shabby clothes. These actions insult the poor—the very ones that God has chosen as His heirs.
The rich man may have great faith also, but that is the whole point of the Jewish law making them dress the same. Once the outer differences were minimized, the case could be weighed on merits.
Outside the church, it is the wealthy who oppress believers. What is more, in secular courts of James’ day, the rich often drug Christians in because they knew that the judge would be against the Christians. In a final slap against God, Christians doing this slandered the name which they believed on. It could be that in the secular courts, the rich man would argue that the Christian was “a follower of the accursed Galilean, therefore, he cannot be right.” Yet the Christians are becoming like these persecutors in their own assemblies. What Paul warned against in Romans is happening—the Christians are being conformed to the world instead of being transformed.
Point 4. The Royal Law
(8-11) James appeals to Scripture to back his argument. He first cites what was often called the Royal Law, Lev 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But why is it the called the royal law?
While some believe that it is because this law is the principle to sum up all duties to neighbors (Mk. 12:31), it is more likely that the title refers to its being Jesus’ summary of duties and therefore the law of the King. After all, James does call it the ‘law,’ not ‘commandment’ (which would fit better if a single summary commandment were the issue) is used, and the kingdom is mentioned in 2:6. It is, then, the King’s law that is being kept or broken. One is indeed doing right not to break it.
Favoritism does not love one’s neighbor as oneself. In fact, it is not loving one’s neighbor at all. Therefore to show favoritism or partiality is to break the law of the kingdom and to stand before Christ the King as a lawbreaker. This is a serious situation indeed.
‘But,’ you may be thinking, ‘partiality should hardly be seen as so serious a sin. I’ve kept all the other commandments of Jesus, so being a little partial is no big deal.’ However, James notes that it only takes the breaking of one law to constitute the person a criminal. As an example he quotes from the Ten Commandments, Ex. 20:13–14, deliberately citing first adultery and second murder.
A person who is perfectly faithful to his wife but murders is a criminal, even though he only broke one commandment. The same God gave both commands. The choice of commandments is deliberate. By showing favoritism to the wealthy and denying justice to the poor, the church may deprive the poor man of his living, thus in effect killing him. That may also be the way the rich kill the righteous poor in 5:4–6. The Old Testament penalty for either murder or adultery was death. Execution is just as severe whether one is put to death for one crime or for many.
Point 5. The Need for Mercy
(12–13) Concluding appeal. One should, then, speak and act as a person going to be judged according to the law that gives freedom. Speaking and acting cover all of a person’s behavior. No aspect of life will be exempt from judgment. Even actions that involve only yourself are included in God’s standard. James says the standard will be the law of the kingdom, which is the Old Testament as interpreted by Jesus, and Jesus’ own teaching. (In James’s day the New Testament had not yet been compiled.) This is not a burdensome standard, but a law that sets us free to serve God. That freedom is like a fence around a pasture. The cows can do what they want within those boundaries. Yet in his teaching Jesus makes it clear that freedom is not license to do anything we wish. It is freedom within boundaries. All will stand before him and answer for their obedience or lack of it (Mt. 7:15–23; Lk. 6:43–45).
Two proverbs, Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful and Mercy triumphs over judgment, perhaps a couple of unrecorded sayings coming from Jesus himself as James so often quotes his brother, close the section and make a bridge to the next. The OT clearly teaches that God is a God of mercy (Dt. 4:31) and that he commands his people to act in the same way (Mi. 6:8; Zc. 7:9). It is also possible that James is applying Jesus’ words to new situations. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy’ (Mt. 5:7). He also said, ‘In the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’ (Mt. 7:2). Whether James is quoting or applying, his words are clearly in line with Jesus’ teachings. Therefore in not being merciful to the poor, the church people are heaping up strict judgment for themselves. Since they are not showing mercy in the worldly sphere, they will not receive mercy in the eternal sphere. That mercy triumphs over judgment is also the teaching of Jesus (Mt. 6:14–15; 18:21–35). By showing mercy to others now (which means exhibiting the character of God), they will discover that their own judgment has been reduced. Their cause is not hopeless nor is there any need for them to pile up their own judgment.
Conclusion.
Playing favorites is against God’s Law and against the character of Jesus whose every action in life fulfilled the Law. When we play favorites, we put ourselves in the place of God and that is a sin. When we do this, we are not exhibiting the love of Christ, which is our standard. Our actions are those of Him, or we do wrong. It isn’t easy. Our fallen nature makes it easier to go back to the old ways. But Christians are called to make the hard choices. Just as Jesus made the hardest choice of all for us; He carried the cross and died for our sins, not His own. While some might die for a righteous man, He died for sinners. He showed no favorites.
And then, we continue to sin by playing favorites. We judge not on merit but on a person’s social standing. Jesus calls us to do better. It’s easy to not murder. It’s easy to not commit adultery. But to judge a person on their merit and not their net worth? That’s hard. But have Christ’s attitude and be transformed because He has renewed your mind.
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Please visit Frank Luke’s Blog where this sermon is also posted.
Very nicely done. Thank you Mr. Luke.