Appearances
James 2:1-13
June 11, 2023
ENTRANCE AND DISCUSSION - - - - -
The words I say today are not predicated on what I wear, but what comes from the Word of God.
As we continue on our journey through James, seeking to become more authentic Christians, James warns us about showing partiality or favoritism. He’s pretty blunt about this. It’s as if he’s saying, ‘how can you profess to believe in Jesus when you play favorites.’
To help the people understand what he means, James gives a very vivid example in the scripture for today. And that applies to us as well.
With that in mind, let’s look at the first verses of James 2 - - -
1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,”
while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”
4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
James point is pretty clear. And it had practical significance as well. When we think about the Jewish Temple in the O.T., we make lots of assumptions, but there were some things missing or lacking. There were no chairs. Firstly, in the inner courts, the Priests were standing and working. There was no sitting. We have chairs or pews, and they’re padded for your comfort.
In the Temple where the people worshiped there were very few. There were some chairs with footstools near the front of the worship area. To offer someone a chair, with a footstool, was a high honor. To make someone sit on the floor under the footstool was a slap in the face.
It said you considered that person to be of little value. That happened often in the Temple, but now there’s a new way to worship. It was a time when all things were supposed to be equal. Where Jesus died for all the people and you shouldn’t ignore or disregard others . . . no matter who they were.
God doesn’t consider any of us of to be of little value! We all have great value in the kingdom.
In the gospel of Mark, he tells us - - - Jesus sat looking across from the treasury one day. He saw the poor widow put her two ‘mites’ in the offering. They made a distinctive sound - very different from the clanging sound of a rich man’s huge gold coins. Their method of receiving offerings was designed to allow the rich to brag, and to shame the poor, reminding them of their place or position among the people.
In Greek, James used the word “partiality” near the beginning of the sentence for a reason. He wanted to call special and emphatic attention to what he perceived to be a terrible wrong in the church.
James then goes on to tell us - - -
5 Listen, my beloved, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?
7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
When you look at others don’t judge them by what you see because you don’t know who they are or what they’ve been through. Regardless of what someone looks like, we’re all in need of Jesus. And because someone doesn’t look “normal” in your eyes, it doesn’t mean they don’t know Jesus.
How many times have we seen someone who doesn’t look like us and we’ve made a quick value determination about who and what they are? Maybe it was their hair, or lack of hair, or color of their hair. Maybe there were lots of tattoos and that bothered you. Or maybe they had too many piercings and they weren’t in places you approve of. It could have been their clothes . . . . . . whatever it was, you made a quick judgement about them. And that’s what James is getting at in the start of this passage, but it goes beyond that quick value determination, because it affected the way you also treated them.
He explained ----- favoritism is not from God. Neither our money, jobs, homes, our clothes, nothing we have, including our good looks are going to impress God. We need to understand, actually, we need to believe that God already loves us.
And it’s not because of anything we’ve done. Do you believe that friends? Do you believe that God loves you so much that He was willing to go to the cross and die for you? That’s the beauty of the grace of God.
In fact, we should be thrilled that God doesn’t play favorites. Well, this week I did good, so I have more brownie points, next week I might drop and someone might rise up in the rankings. God may not like my haircut or what I wear or the music I listen to. God doesn’t show partiality. Listen to these verses - - - -
Paul wrote - - - -
10 There will be glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows NO PARTIALITY. - Romans 2:9-12
12 For there is NO DISTINCTION between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. - Romans 10:12
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows NO PARTIALITY - Acts 10:34
That’s great news for us. And if God doesn’t show partiality, then neither should we. And when we play favorites, we’re insulting God. It doesn’t matter what color someone is, if they’re short or tall, skinny or chunky, we’re all created in God’s image. So when we reject people based on outward appearance we’re insulting God’s gift of creation.
And I might even add, that when we play favorites because someone thinks different, that’s wrong. We may not agree with them, we may not like their beliefs or stance, but can we show respect and do what we learned last week - - - -
be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
The truth is, we’re not as impartial as we would like to believe. We have our preferences and comfort zones for dealing with others. We’re more likely to connect and form relationships with those who are more like us, than those who are not. And that’s okay.
BUT, when we begin to choose who we’re willing to serve, that’s another story, and that leads us into sin. When we don’t want to associate with someone because of whatever reason we can come up with, we’re sinning. James tells us why it’s a terrible sin.
First, we appoint ourselves as judges over people. It’s not our place to judge other people. Hold one another accountable? YES!! Judge? NO!! When we judge people we’re assuming the place of God, and we’re not God. And in fact, when we judge by someone’s appearance, we’re really showing our spiritual and emotional immaturity.
Second, God has chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith. Do you remember the statement from Jesus, that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Why is that so? Because the rich often rely on their wealth to get them through various situations. The poor can’t rely on their wealth to get them through the difficult times, so oftentimes there’s a greater reliance or trust in God’s provisions.
Third, we have selfish motives behind wanting the rich and beautiful to be with us. It’s based on our egos. We want to be seen with people who look pretty or who are well known or who throw their money around. We want people to think that we’re part of that group of important people. But just knowing those people won’t do anything for you to enter the kingdom of Heaven. In fact, knowing how the poor person trusts God might do more for you.
Fourth, James reminds us to follow the “royal law” to love your neighbor as yourself. When you show partiality or favoritism, you’re not loving your neighbor. And your neighbor is all those people who are around you. Your friends, your family, your neighbors, your coworkers, the clerk in a store. Those dressed nicely and those in rags . . . each one is your neighbor.
And lastly, if we don’t show mercy to people, then mercy will not be shown to us. And friends, that is the scariest of all. When you’re judgmental and unmerciful, when you are not willing to forgive, then don’t expect God to be merciful, compassionate or forgiving of you.
Showing mercy is all about our humility. We are called to be humle before God and one another. Consider Paul’s words in Philippians 2 - - -
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
That should be our approach to all people. Those like us, and those not quite so like us.
James asked three questions to the people about the rich. All of the answers were obvious to them.
James reminded the early church that they were being persecuted and were often mistreated by the wealthy. They were exploited and oppressed. The rich dragged them into court and slandered and blasphemed the name of Christ. They had the power and ability to hurt anyone who wasn’t with them.
It’s believed that the powerful people were very wary of this new faith. That’s why James sounds incredulous when he asks them - - -
6 Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
The rich were oppressing them, dragging them into court and blaspheming the name of Jesus. They were persecuting the poor in Christ. And even as we sometimes see in our day, the rich often have more advantages than the poor person. Ultimately the poor in Christ had to trust God to provide for them.
James goes on to say that when our actions show favoritism we are breaking the LAW of God.
The Jews of James’ day looked at the LAW of God as a disjointed group of injunctions, and, because they did, they meticulously kept some and ignored others but they didn’t believe that was all that bad, because to them God’s laws were set up on sort of a plus-minus balance system.
They believed that every time they obeyed a law they got a credit and every time they disobeyed one they got a deduction and as long as they kept a credit balance they felt they were doing okay.
The Jews of James’ day also believed that some of God’s laws were more important than others. For example keeping the Sabbath was a biggie to them. They believed if you kept the Sabbath, God would reward you with extra credit. In essence, they classified God’s LAWS just like they did PEOPLE valuing some more than others.
And in our day and age many people still look at God’s laws like that. They think “I’m okay because I’ve never killed anyone. I’m not a thief. I’m not immoral. I haven’t committed adultery. So I’m a good person.” James rightly says that’s not how God’s laws work. Breaking even one shows that you’re a sinner, separated from God and deserving of His judgment.
Think of it this way - - - - How many speeding tickets does it take to ruin a perfect driving record? Just one. How many laws do you have to break to be a criminal? Just one. How many strikeouts does it take to ruin a perfect batting average? Just one.
Well, in this text James says it is the same with God’s law. You only have to break one — to be a law breaker. And we’re all law breakers! You could say that when it comes to God’s law the rule is “One strike and you’re out.”
This is because God’s law is unified. It all hangs together and is inseparable. It’s like hitting a window with a hammer. You may only hit it once, but the whole window is broken.
Well, by failing to love their neighbors as themselves the Christians of James’ day were sinning. They were guilty of breaking God’s standard for holy living. So, this text says that failing to respect others is not merely an error of judgment or a breach of etiquette. It is a violation of God’s law. Prejudice, favoritism, or partiality in any form, is a sin in God’s eyes. And our sins should then lead us to God’s throne room where we can experience God’s grace.
So James says that showing partiality is wrong because it is contrary to God’s character and also because when we do so we are breaking God’s law.
What can we take with us from James’ lesson about favoritism - - - -
When you see someone who is different from you, understand that - - - -
They are also God’s children.
We are created in God’s image.
We have the opportunity to receive God’s grace and mercy.
We ALL have access to the same God.
And we have the opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness / redemption.
We need to be reminded that there are no 2nd class citizens in God’s kingdom. All people are 1st class, because we’re God’s children.
Do you see what this is? It’s a crisp, new $100 dollar bill. How many of you want it? What if I crumple it up — who wants it now? What if I were to throw it down and step on it. Now who wants it? You know why you still want it? Because no matter what I do to it, it didn’t decrease in value — it’s still worth $100.
What I want to leave with you today is this — sometimes life has a way of crumpling you up, or throwing you down and squashing you into the dirt and making you feel worthless ... but remember this ... to God no matter what has happened, you will never lose your value in His eyes. And as Christians we should see all people in the same light.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or crisp, you are still worth the price of Jesus’ death on the cross. Let us pray. . .
