Introduction:
A. I read a story about what happened at a church one Sunday morning.
1. As the congregation began to arrive they found a dirty, old vagrant lying beside the church’s front door.
2. Some looked at him and said how awful that someone looking like that is lying outside our beautiful church.
3. Others said that the preacher should make him move off the property, after all, we don’t want to encourage the rifraff to camp out outside our church.
4. Some stared and others ignored him as they passed by and entered the church.
5. But not a single person offered to help him or ask him to come in.
6. As everyone sat in the auditorium and the time arrived for the service to begin, the door to the preacher’s office opened in walked the vagrant they had seen just a moment ago.
7. As the vagrant removed his hat and coat the congregation realized it was the preacher.
8. He stepped to the podium and said, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in…” (Mt. 25:42-43)
B. As we move from the first chapter of James into the second, we see that James builds on the theme of being doers of the Word of God.
1. James tackles one of the great challenges for us as humans and that is the challenge of NOT showing favoritism.
2. The problems of prejudice and respect of persons is a problem that has to be faced afresh by every generation.
3. In James’ day the problem was between rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, Roman and barbarian.
4. Today it is between rich and poor, management and labor, educated and uneducated, white and black, American and foreign, godly and ungodly.
5. The problem is still here, and each of us has to face it…even in the church.
C. So, let’s move through this passage from James seeing how he tackles the issue, so that we can be the kind of people and church with which God is pleased.
1. First of all, we notice…
I. The Spiritual Problem – Our Human Tendency To Show Favoritism
A. James begins, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” (2:1)
1. He really lathers that intro before he gets to his point, doesn’t he.
2. He begins warmly “My Brothers,” then he qualifies it saying, “as believers in our GLORIOUS Lord Jesus Christ.” Christ is indeed “glorious,” wouldn’t you agree?
3. The fact that we should not show favoritism has a direct relationship to the fact that we are brothers and believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!
4. Showing favoritism or prejudice runs counter to the character of Christ.
5. Though he was glorious, He humbled himself and identified himself with the poor and oppressed.
B. If I asked you this question, how would you respond? “Are you a Christian Snob?”
1. All of us would probably respond, “Of course not!”
2. But if we are honest with ourselves, then we have to admit that we have to fight against the tendency to judge others in very unspiritual ways.
3. Most of us walk around with an unpublished list in our minds of those who are desirable and those who are undesirable. Let’s be honest here!
4. We have a tendency to judge people by their wealth – how are they dressed, what kind of car do they drive? Where do they live and work?
5. We have a tendency to judge people by their education – did they finish high school and college? Do they sound smart and sophisticated?
6. We have a tendency to judge people by their looks – are they old or young? Good looking or ugly? Heavy or thin? What is their nationality or the color of their skin?
7. We also have a tendency to judge people by their family situation – are they married or divorced? How many times? What about the kids – what kind of shape are they in?
C. James wrote to tell us that these kind of judgments are sinful. (Verse 9)
1. The word translated “favoritism” comes from two words – “to receive” and “face.”
2. “To receive by face” is to evaluate a person on the basis of surface characteristics.
D. James then illustrates the problem with a common occurrence.
1. He gives us a hypothetical situation – “suppose two visitors come to worship one Sunday.”
2. The first is a poor man. (Show Slide.) Meet Joe Poor Man. He comes in a shabby old suit and dirty hat. He hasn’t shaved in days and reeks with body odor and alcohol.
a. How are we as a congregation going to treat him? Will we warmly welcome him? Will we try to really help him?
3. The second visitor that morning is named Bill. (Show Slide) Why, you recognize Bill don’t you? He just happens to be one of the richest men in the world.
a. Try to imagine how it would feel to have Bill Gates attend our church. How would we treat him? It would be hard not to fall all over ourselves in our response to him. Right?
4. But the truth of the matter is – both visitors are just men with souls; equally loved by God.
5. Our goal should be to try to treat both men with the same love of God. Wouldn’t you agree?
6. A similar version of this story happened one Sunday in Bel Aire Presbyterian Church.
a. Then Governor Ronald Reagan and Nancy often attended the congregation and usually sat in the same seats – just off the center about two-thirds of the way back.
b. On a particular Sunday, the Governor and his wife were running a little late, and two college students had occupied their seats.
c. An usher came down the aisle and asked the students to take different seats off to the side.
d. The students moved, and Ron and Nancy Reagan were brought in and seated.
e. To his credit, the pastor of that congregation immediately got up from his place on the platform and walked over to the college students and apologized saying, “As long as I’m working with this church what just happened to you will never happen again!” (Quoted in David Jeremiah, Turning Toward Integrity, Victor Books, 1993, p. 64)
7. But, sadly and sinfully, favoritism like that happens far too often in the church.
E. But this should not be for many reasons that James is about to give us.
1. The church must be the one place in the world where the things which serve to classify and separate people must not be allowed.
2. The church must be a place where all people are equally loved and valued.
3. The church is not a place to worship people, but to worship Almighty God.
F. Behind the battle lines in WWI, rest houses were operated which were designed to serve as places of fellowship for all soldiers – whether officers or enlisted men.
1. Over the entrance of such houses were posted these words: “Abandon all rank, ye who enter here.”
2. So must it be in the church! Amen!
II. Next, James points out a Spiritual Reality – God has Chosen the Poor to be Rich
A. This is God’s Sovereign choice and principle. God’s ways turn everything upside down!
1. James wrote in verse 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?”
2. Back in chapter one I skipped a few verses and said that I would address them in this lesson.
3. Look at verses 9 and 10, “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position.”
4. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1, and let’s look at how Paul words this same principle. Look at verses 26-29: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
5. Therefore, the brother in humble circumstances (i.e., the Christian who is poor with regard to worldly treasure) is to take pride in his high position (i.e., he share in the spiritual treasure which is God’s free gift to him).
a. The poor man may be prone to view himself as a failure whose very being is without value. But in Christ the same man sees himself very differently and comes to have a new sense of self-worth. He is important to God and has every privilege which belongs to children of God.
6. On the other hand, the rich man is to rejoice in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. In other words, he learns that his material riches are not able to buy spiritual security.
a. He recognizes that his right relationship to God is available only in Christ.
b. He, therefore, obeys the same commandments unto salvation which the poor man obeys.
7. Now let me clarify, that God loves the rich man too. There is nothing wrong with having wealth, but has the Bible warns, it can hinder spiritual progress and salvation.
B. James then asks a series of questions to try to wake them up to reality.
1. Why in the world would they want to cater to the rich and insult the poor?
2. Is it not the rich who are exploiting them? Most of the early Christians were likely among the poor who were being exploited by the rich.
3. Are the rich ones not the ones who were dragging them into court? In that day, if you owed a man a debt and were not repaying it, he would meet you on the street and literally drag you into court. Why cater to people who are dragging you into court?
4. He asks one more question: Are the rich not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? The rich in most cultures are more likely to be the ones who are hostile to the people of God.
5. So, James makes his point with forceful emphasis – the people of God are not to be guilty of the sin of partiality. That runs completely counter to God’s ways and choices.
III. James points toward the Spiritual Solution – Keep The Royal Law
A. Don’t you just love the “royal law” found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself?”
1. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus put it this way, “In everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt. 5:12)
2. The solution for us is to keep in mind how we want to be treated. Do we want to be treated with favoritism or prejudice? Of, course not.
3. We want to be loved and valued regardless of anything. If that is how we want to be treated then that is how we must treat every one else.
B. James makes a very sobering observation when he declares that if you show favoritism, you sin and are a lawbreaker.
1. He brings up a couple of what we would consider “big” sins. Murder and Adultery.
2. He says that whoever stumbles at one point is guilty of breaking the whole law.
3. In other words, I should not be proud of the fact that I have not committed adultery even though I have murdered someone.
4. Imagine someone saying that, “I’m not so bad, yes I murdered a guy in cold blood, but at least I’m not an adulterer.”
5. Similarly, we should not be proud of the fact that we are not adulterers or murderers, but are a people who show prejudice and favoritism.
6. A failure to love others appropriately is just as serious a sin in God’s sight as murder and adultery.
IV. Finally, James ends with a Spiritual Reminder – Mercy Received Demands Mercy Offered
A. We will all face the judgment of God, and we will be judged by the law that gives freedom.
1. We must always keep in the back of our mind that mercy triumphs over judgment.
2. I know that I don’t want judgment without mercy. Do you? When I mess up, like I often do, I want people to be understanding and forgiving.
3. I know that I need the mercy and grace of God to be saved.
4. Therefore, I need to extend the mercy and grace that I have received to others.
5. Our actions and our speech need to be controlled and directed by mercy.
6. Oh, how that would transform our interactions with others!
7. That would certainly help in our homes. And that will make such a difference in our relationships in the church.
8. And when it comes to the stranger, or the downtrodden, we need to be thinking, “There goes I but for the grace of God.” Mercy triumphs over judgment.
9. Any person who ultimately wants to please God must live a life characterized by mercy.
Conclusion:
A. We serve an impartial God, but we live in a color and class-conscious world.
1. We must be like our God and different from our world! Amen!
2. To prejudge anyone or show preferential treatment for any reason is a disgrace to Christ.
B. In the movie Seabiscuit, millionaire Charles Howard (automobile mogul) hired Tom Smith, a broken-down unemployed cowboy, to be the trainer of his new horse racing enterprise.
1. Howard noticed Smith working with a seemingly worn-out horse with a broken leg.
2. When questioned about wasting time on the horse, Smith replied, “You don’t throw away a life because it’s banged up a bit.” Thank goodness God has that attitude!
3. Every one of us is “banged up a bit,” one way or another. We all need love, grace and help!
C. I want to challenge us to be a church where everyone is loved and valued equally.
1. I want to challenge everyone of us to be busy living the royal law.
2. Think for a minute about who you are closest to in this church. Being close to people is good.
3. But, when was the last time you reached out to include someone new into your circle?
4. What have you done lately to make new people feel a part of our fellowship?
5. And are you reaching out to people who are different from you? Are you moving outside your comfort zone?
D. There are so many things that make a church healthy and growing, but one of the most important things is a fellowship that is devoted to developing relationships.
1. Churches that are open, welcoming, and caring are more likely to be growing.
2. Churches that are closed, snobbish and uncaring, are going to die. I think that is pretty obvious.
E. Let’s be sure we are putting God’s Word into Action
1. Let’s not just be hearers. Let’s be doers of God’s Word.
2. God will help us to have a faith that works, and a love that is impartial.
(Main points borrowed from sermon by John Huffman, Jr., Newport Beach, CA)
