INTRO.- ILL.- Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the United States since March 27, 1944).
Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894. Cans of Coke first appeared in 1955.
Which do you like best: Coke or Pepsi? I read that as far as the actual product of Coke versus Pepsi cola that Coke has always out-sold Pepsi.
ILL.- The Model T Ford, brought out in 1908, had sales of 10,607 the first year. In four years, sales jumped to 168,304, and in four more, to 730,041. In 1919, Ford bought out the minority stockholders for nearly $106 million. They had invested $33,100.
During Model T’s lifetime, 1908-1927, production added up to 15,458,781 cars—more than the total for all other cars for those years. It has been called the “most widely-used vehicle in human history.”
Which automobile company do you prefer: GM or Ford?
ILL.- Remember actor Tom Selleck when he played in the TV series, “Magnum P.I.” (1980-88)? That was a good show and series.
Which actor do you like best: Brad Pitt or Tom Selleck? I suspect that might depend on a person’s age. I like them both but prefer Tom Selleck.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all tend to show favoritism in life. Of course, some of our favoritism is a matter of choosing what is right over what is wrong in life. And that’s not bad! We must make judgments about the world with the Word and take our stand on the Word!
However, when it comes to showing favoritism among people in our daily relationships, that’s not good. We tend to do that, but it’s not right. We should treat all alike, but we don’t.
PROP.- God tells us why we are not to show favoritism in this world.
1- God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith
2- God has given the royal law to be observed
3- God has determined mercy to be triumphant
I. GOD HAS CHOSEN THE POOR TO BE RICH IN FAITH
2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Suppose a man comes into your meeting. I wish more people would come into our meetings, that is, the Lord’s Day worship! (rich, poor and otherwise!)
We all need to do what we can to get more people into the church with the idea of helping them come to know Christ and grow in faith.
How do we get them? I still believe that we are the key. Buildings and programs are not the key. They may help but people are the real key. Jesus called His people to reach people.
We don’t have a right to keep Jesus to ourselves. If we truly believe that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no man comes to the Father except through Him, THEN WE NEED TO SPREAD THAT GOOD NEWS! How do we do it? Any way we can.
ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody was once criticized for his evangelistic methods to which he replied, “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.” Any method is better than no method and NO METHOD is what most people have.
What’s your method? Mine is to talk to people every chance I get about the Lord and the church. When the door is open we must through it and speak for the Lord. We must speak. We must pray. We must ask. We must invite. We must live the faith and the power to talk will come.
2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Do we ever get both rich and poor people in our churches? Sure we do and how we treat them shows a lot about our faith. And since God loves all men and wants all men to be saved, this should tell us something. Now it’s true that we might cater to some people more than others, or hit it off with some more than others, but we do our best to treat them all alike.
ILL.- A few examples. I remember preaching in one church when a new family visited the church and it was obvious that they were poor folks or didn’t have much. As far as I know, everyone treated them just fine, BUT THEY NEVER CAME BACK.
Could it be that they sensed that something wasn’t right? Only God knows.
In another church we had two guys show up. Almost everyone in our town knew them and knew they were gay. They came two Sundays in a row and then quit. Even though I don’t believe in the gay lifestyle I welcomed them and tried very hard not to make them feel uncomfortable. AND I DID NOT PREACH ABOUT THE GAY ISSUE.
When people visit the church for the first time we need to make a good “first” impression and go out of our way to meet them and greet them. I go to them and say, “My name is Steve Shepherd and I’m the preacher. What’s your name?”
Sometimes I will even ask why they came, that is, if someone invited them. BUT WE MUST TREAT ALL PEOPLE ALIKE AND WITH RESPECT.
5 Listen, my dear brothers: 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 those who love him? Is James saying that all poor people will go to heaven? No, but he is saying that they are more like to possess faith or will more likely come to the faith in Christ than the rich person.
Matthew 16:26 “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Riches or wealth often come between a person and God. Most wealthy folks choose riches over God. They don’t need God because they have money and material things. Whereas poor folks have little so they are quicker to see their need for the Lord! They know that only the Lord can take care of them since they can’t take care of their own lives. GOD, MAKE US ALL POOR! God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith or have the ability to be rich in faith.
II. GOD HAS GIVEN THE ROYAL LAW TO BE OBSERVED
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
The law should be observed.
ILL.- I have read that these are some laws in the state of AR, that is, they are old laws that are apparently still on the books.
In Fayetteville:
- Dogs may not bark after 6 PM.
- It is illegal to kill "any living creature".
- It is unlawful to walk one’s cow down Main Street after 1:00 PM on Sunday.
In Little Rock:
- No person shall sound the horn on a vehicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 P.M. -Little Rock City Code Sec. 18-54
- Flirtation between men and women on the streets of Little Rock may result in a 30-day jail term.
True or not, the law must be observed! The important thing is that the law of all laws, THE ROYAL LAW, must be observed.
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
Who is your neighbor? It’s your neighbor next door. Of course, it could be anybody, anywhere. The big law, the royal law, the law of all laws is that we must love others as we would love ourselves. And how do you love yourself? Pretty good. You take pretty good care of yourself and you do the same with others.
ILL.- It’s like our neighbor, Mrs. Robinson, who lives across the street. One day I was visiting with her and she said to me, “Somebody trimmed bushes last year and they need it again.”
It took me a minute but I got the message.
It’s like our neighbors Bill and Cathy who live next door to us. She called one Sunday evening before church started and said, “My husband has fallen in the floor and I need some help getting him up and back into his wheelchair. Could you help me?” Bill has Parkinson’s disease.
I said, “Well, it’s almost time for church. I don’t know if I have time and well, my back isn’t what it used to be....” NO, I SAID, “I’ll be right over!” And the two of us got him back into his wheelchair.
How do you love your neighbor? Anyway you can. You treat people with loving respect and loving kindness. And doing this will make a different in your own life and their life as well.
Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Galatians 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. Showing favoritism, and/or being exclusive toward some is not observing the royal law of love. And the law must be observed.
III. GOD HAS DETERMINED MERCY TO BE TRIUMPHANT
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
Mercy, mercy! God give us mercy! We want mercy and we need to realize that we must also show mercy!
ILL. -The Captain called the Sergeant in. "Sarge, I just got a telegram that Private Jones’ mother died yesterday. Better go tell him and send him in to see me."
So the Sergeant calls for his morning formation and lines up all the troops. "Listen up, men," says the Sergeant. "Johnson, report to the mess hall for KP. Smith, report to Personnel to sign some papers. The rest of you men report to the Motor Pool for maintenance.” “Oh, by the way, Jones, your mother died, report to the commander."
Later that day the Captain called the Sergeant into his office. "Hey, Sarge, that was a pretty cold way to inform Jones his mother died. Couldn’t you be a bit more tactful, next time?" "Yes, sir," answered the Sarge.
A few months later, the Captain called the Sergeant in again with, "Sarge, I just got a telegram that Private McGrath’s mother died. You’d better go tell him and send him in to see me. This time be more tactful." So the Sergeant calls for his morning formation. "Ok, men, fall in and listen up." "Everybody with a mother, take two steps forward." "Not so fast, McGrath!"
As we know, that’s not a good way to demonstrate mercy. How do we do it then? We watch our words. We weigh our words before we speak. And we show that we care! That’s mercy in action.
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Ephesians 2:1-5 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
God, who is rich in mercy. It’s a good thing or no one could be saved and go to heaven.
ILL.- Shortly after Queen Victoria came to the throne of England, the Lord Chamberlain presented to her several documents that required her signature. Among them was a paper pertaining to a man who had committed a crime, and who had been sentenced to death. The queen’s signature was needed for his execution to be carried out.
“And must I become a party to his death?” asked the eighteen-year-old queen. “I fear it is so, unless Your Majesty desires to exercise her royal prerogative of mercy!” To her delight, she was informed that she had the power to pardon the condemned man.
“As an expression of the spirit in which I desire to rule, I will exercise my royal prerogative!” she said. She wrote the word pardoned on the document and the prisoner was set free.
Brothers and sisters, there are many people who need to be set free and they won’t be unless we learn to demonstrate mercy! God desires mercy, not sacrifice. He desires that we demonstrate mercy toward others. If we don’t, He won’t.
CONCLUSION------------------------
Don’t show favoritism. The message is clear. God loves all people just the same. Red, yellow, black, and white. All are precious in His sight.
God wants all men to be saved and many won’t if we show favoritism.
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
