You Can Listen to the Full Sermon Here:-
http://www.nec.org.au/index.php/listen-to-a-sermon-series/practical-faith/
Message
James 2:1-13
"Don't Play Favourites"
Everyone wants to feel loved.
Corporate leaders and the lowest paid workers.
White collar, blue collar and unemployed.
The oldest members of society through to the youngest.
It doesn’t matter who you are, or what stage of life you are in, there are few exceptions. Everybody wants to feel loved.
The problem is that people do not always feel loved.
Sometimes people feel rejected.
Other times people feel unwelcomed.
Some are shown very clearly that they are not part of the “in” crowd
Others find themselves in places where it is clear that they do not belong.
Why does it happen? Because we find it so easy to stereotype people.
An obviously irate judge who was glaring down from his bench at the prospective juror. "And just why is it", he asked, "that you don’t want to serve on this jury?" The man replied, "Well, Judge, I’m biased. One look at that man convinced me that he is guilty." The judged frowned and replied, "That man is not the defendant, that is his lawyer”.
There are certain professions that are easy make fun of aren’t there – but I wonder how honest hard working lawyers feel about all the lawyer jokes that fly around. It is so easy to stereotype.
Car salesman are always out to rip you off.
Wharfies are thieves who always steal from the shipping containers.
Blondes are always dumb.
We label, we characterise, we discriminate, we make assumptions. All on the basis of external looks, or their place in life, or their profession, or their ethnic background. It is such a natural thing that sometimes we don’t even give it a second thought. But what does the Scripture think of such behaviour?
A message on James 2:1-13
“Don’t Play Favourites”
Read
The command is pretty simple isn’t it?
Don’t show favouritism.
And James gives us a very visual description as to how it all works.
He starts off by demonstrating.
Favouritism in Action (verses 1-4)
You see James knows people. And he knows that sinful behaviour flourishes in the most unexpected ways:-
Sometimes we can fall into it without really being aware it is present.
Sometimes we have practises which are ungodly, but unchallenged.
Sometimes a habit is so ingrained we don’t even realise how bad it is.
It isn’t until someone else points the finger that we fully come to our senses. That is what James is doing … he is pointing the finger. In fact he doesn’t just point the finger
James tells a story designed to show how deep seated favouritism is.
It is a story of contrasts a story of what happened one morning at church. There were two new visitors that day. One pulled up in a brand new Ferrari 599GTB. He was in his mid-thirties and obviously in good shape. He wasn’t wearing a suit but you could tell he was wearing expensive clothes – the Rolex watch on his wrist made it clear that he was successful.
As a group of people gathered around to admire his car and welcome him another visitor walked down the driveway. He smelt really bad. His clothes were dirty and torn. He really had let himself go. The usher at the door decided it was best that he sit in the foyer – he will still be able to see and hear the service but his smell won’t put us off. Besides we want him as far from the collection bag as possible.
As his chair is being set up the guy who owned the Ferrari has been warmly greeted by a dozen people – they’re all more than willing to get to know him. The other visitor went home unnoticed.
That is the story. And it is a story which is designed to hurt – why does it hurt? Because deep down we know there is a certain measure of truth in it.
It is easy to be willing to speak to certain people.
It is also easy to not be so willing to speak to others.
Indeed …
If we are honest with ourselves we must admit that we are quick to discriminate.
In the Greek the word “favouritism” literally means “receive the face”. That is what we do when we discriminate – we only look at the face value of issues – we don’t look deeper.
So some actions of the community are deemed worse than others.
And some people in the community are given less focus than others.
We can make judgements on all sorts of surface features, without looking deeper.
We try and excuse our guilt by saying “everyone does it” – but the reality is that not everyone does it. Jesus didn’t. When Jesus looked at us He didn’t discriminate on the basis of what He saw.
Read through the Gospels and you will see that Jesus mixed with all sorts of people from every aspect and place in society.
Jesus was comfortable, and gave time, to each individual.
He didn’t pre-judge.
He didn’t care what others thought.
And it was obvious to everyone.
There is a very powerful story in Matthew’s gospel which shows that this is the case.
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Matthew 22:15-17
Remember the Pharisees were Jesus’ enemies. Even though they were trying to corner Hi into giving an answer they were sincere with the compliment. Jesus does not judge on the basis of what He sees. He doesn’t play favourites. The reason Jesus doesn’t play favourites is because of the truth found in the next part of our passage.
Jesus does not play favourites because
God Does Not Play Favourites (verses 5-7)
Now, at first, it looks like God plays favourites. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised to those who love Him?
That looks like favouritism. But it isn’t.
The text doesn’t say, “God chose the poor”.
The text clearly says “God’s chose the poor in the eyes of the world.
Jesus identified these people as those who are poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3).
God does not have a soft-spot for the poor, but He does have a soft spot for those who are poor in spirit.
The poor in spirit are those who come before the Lord recognising they have empty hands.
No works are good enough.
No faith is strong enough.
No life is worthy enough.
We have a spiritual account before God and it says “spiritually bankrupt”. We are at the total mercy of the grace of Jesus.
God has a soft spot for those who are poor in this way. Indeed it is these sorts of people for whom He sent His own Son. And it was His Son who saw the potential in the lives of such people.
Think about the apostle Peter.
• impetuous and doubting.
• lacked patience.
• denied Jesus.
Yet used mightily by the Lord.
Think about the Samaritan woman at the well.
• has had seven husbands.
• shunned by her own society.
Yet she became the one Jesus used to spread the message of salvation to that area.
That is how God works isn’t it.
God chooses the most unlikely people and He enables them to be used mightily for the cause of the kingdom.
He chose a stuttering, exiled murderer called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt.
He chose David the smallest and youngest of Jesse’s sons to be the greatest king.
He chose Mary the poor fiancée of a carpenter to bear the very Son of God in her womb.
He chose 12 men – they included fishermen, terrorists, tax collectors, a betrayer and a denier – He chose them to start the church that would bring His message to the world.
He chose us. Who are we? Who am I? To be given such riches.
God doesn’t play favourites and neither should we. Because the real value of a person is not what they wear, or how they live, or which class in society they belong to. The real value of a person can only be measured in terms of a relationship – our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
And no matter what people are like.
And no matter how prejudice we might be.
The fact remains that none of us deserved to be brought into the family of God.
Therefore all of us deserve to have a chance to come into a relationship with Jesus.
So who are we to stop that chance by showing favouritism to the ones we think best deserve it?
Which brings us to the last significant truth
Playing Favourites is a Sin (verses 8-13).
The problem with playing favourites is that it sends out the wrong message about Christianity and what Christianity stands for.
Mahatma Gandhi is a world-renowned Hindu leader. During his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that the teachings of Jesus gave the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One Sunday he decided to attend a church service to talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. However, when he the church, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. In his autobiography he wrote:- “If Christians have caste differences also I might as well remain a Hindu”.
What a terrible tragedy. Imagine what could have happened if Ghandi had become a Christian. That usher’s prejudice not only betrayed Jesus but also turned a person away from trusting Him as Saviour.
That is why this is not just a small issue which we can wipe of as being irrelevant.
We know that we prejudge people on the basis of their looks.
We know that we put people into boxes and categorise them.
It’s wrong. Not only is it wrong, it is a sin. We cannot hide behind the excuse that “everyone else is doing it” – the Scriptures identify favouritism as a sin, therefore we need to change our behaviour.
Our primary objective is not to show favouritism – our primary objective is to show love.
James focuses our attention onto the royal law. The royal law which comes to us from king Jesus who said:- Love the Lord your God with all your heart … and love your neighbour as yourself.
The defining mark of Christianity ought to be our indiscriminate love for one another.
Not just saying that we love people for all sorts of backgrounds.
But living it out in a very practical way.
And it starts here … today … with one another.
If we cannot be people who accept one another on the basis of nothing else except of common unity in Christ. If we carry around prejudices and avoid certain people because we think they are too difficult. If we do not genuinely accept and genuinely include.
If we cannot do that then we will never be able to get alongside those who God brings on our path who come from outside our comfort zone.
And that would be a tragedy … because we would be missing out on the blessing of showing people just how much God loves them.
But we don’t want to be such people … do we.
We want to be a church which continually open and continually welcoming and continually focussed on those who are not here. As we pray for this God is going to bring new people to our church.
What if that person is the next Mahatma Ghandi?
What if our attitude is the one by which they gauge all of Christianity?
Would such a person find discrimination to the point where they walk away saying, “I might as well stay like I am”? Or will they see the loving embrace of Jesus in action?
Don’t show favouritism. Instead be the one who helps others see gracious love of Jesus.
Prayer
