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Skipping back, as promised!! And in reasonable time, although not the 1-2 days originally promised; but as we all know, "life is what happens while we make other plans..." LOL But anyway, I'm here, and you're there, so it's all good...
Raise your hands if you're familiar with playing, "Rock/Paper/Scissors"... my hand is raised!! My kids mostly played it at the pool to see who needed to jump in first. Other times, it may decide who goes first in a game, who gets "shotgun", etc... The application to our message here is that while something always wins over something else in the game; James is making it abundantly clear that mercy always wins over favoritism and judgement*.
Let's read together --
James 2:1-13
New International Version
Favoritism Forbidden 2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old 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? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: 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? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] 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. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”[b] also said, “You shall not murder.”[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 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.
It's a natural human instinct/intuition to move towards and/or embrace, things or people who will help us "win" at life. Conversely, it's instinctual to move away from and/or reject things or people who we feel will not help us or may even be a liability toward our perceived "success" in life.
This passage provides a strong warning against those instincts in favor of what was revealed at the end of Chapter One as the true, pure, complete religion God's love requires of us. Here, we are shown what to be careful of and have an awareness of in our hearts if we are going to be capable of properly executing these demands. God doesn't need to play games to determine what wins, in His book, as mentioned above (2x) mercy triumphs over judgement. That's the rules, folks!! No way around it if we're going to obey God. Conversely, judgement actually undermines mercy. It prevents it from ever happening in favor of our sinful nature and resulting favoritism shown for one person, or people above another. Rich vs poor in this passage, but it can apply to numerous others. (more on that later)
For now, we'll follow James' lead and talk about money. There are 3 major points to observe here --
Jesus, as the revelation of God's glory, stands in prophetic opposition to any and all false gods.
Verse 6 of our passage reminds us that it's the rich who are typically exploitive and abusive to the poor. (cf. Matt. 5:3)
We tend to allow money and its perceived power to shape our sense of belonging and worth. Those of you on career ladders know just what is meant here. Pastor Matt shared briefly here about a friend who had been at the same company for decades, and when he changed jobs, none of his former co-workers stayed in touch. This proves the error in allowing money to determine either our sense of belonging or our self-worth. It reveals it as a false god that neither delivers on nor is capable of delivering on its promises*.
Look down at verse 8 with me for this next part --
James references Jesus' command, originally put forth by God the Father in Leviticus, as "The Royal Law". This was language the Jews and others of that day understood. What they understood about it was that it wasn't dependent on an average person or committee, but only on the King. The command, as we know, is to love God first and then our neighbors. This is important because without loving God first, we are not capable of loving our neighbors adequately. We have to allow The Royal Law to supplant our natural tendencies or we cannot/will not change our ways to those of love. Around this point in the message, Pastor Matt asked for hands raised for Avengers fans. He then referenced the battle in Tony Stark's office between the Hulk and Loki. The Hulk tosses Loki around calling him a "small god".
In Leviticus 19:15-18, God spoke of justice for all, not showing favor in either direction, no slander, no endangerment of life, no hate. We are to rebuke others frankly so we don't share in their guilt. We are not to seek revenge, but love your neighbor as yourself. He then "sealed the deal" by reminding them, "I am the Lord."
We see throughout the Gospels that Jesus lived in obedience to the Father. Because of this, we also see repeated passages where the Disciples and Religious Leaders were discussing things with Jesus and wanted to know which commandment was most important. Jesus' answer was the same every time. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
The fact is, favoritism is inherently dehumanizing. It literally undermines God's redemption of man as it puts our judgement and decisions on people rather than allowing God's will and love to guide us. Just as it is impossible to love both God and money, it is impossible to show favoritism and love others as ourselves. At the same time, we cannot reflect the glory, mercy, and redemptive nature of God while acting in judgement and showing favoritism. We have to remember that we, as believers in God, are recipients of His love and mercy and in turn, ambassadors of His love and mercy to those around us.
There is a quote here by George Stulak (sp??) that speaks of favoritism preventing us, as the Church, from being a fellowship that refreshes, strengthens, and heals.
It was indicated above that favoritism and judgement can rear their ugly heads in other areas than just money/power. Here are a few examples --
Manipulation/fear -- We may use favoritism and/or judgement to use others to our advantage. Pastor Matt was very transparent here and shared a story of his early days in ministry when he approached a fellow Pastor with a bigger following in the hopes of getting his own name and work better publicized. In a moment of preaching to others, the Holy Spirit convicted him of his own weakness and he repented of it and fixed the situation.
Sexism -- Not necessarily overt and obvious, but those little "digs" or Male/Female jokes that get shared?? (guilty on that one)
Racism/Beauty -- Who do we gravitate towards the most naturally?? Who are our influences?? Think about the Advertising Execs on Madison Avenue. Beauty sells, doesn't it??
Think about your behavior as you walk through the foyer or common areas in your Church. Do you "shop" for the "right" people, the "in-crowd", or are you the one willing to greet a new person and offer comfort to someone who's hurting?? Are our Churches the "oases for healing" in the desert of this world as they should be?? If not, I would recommend a prayerful change of direction... -- God Bless!!
Music -- I don't officially know, but here's a couple anyway -- and again, I don't own any rights to it...
(I know, nothing like the "oldies" on the second one, right?? Rob and I were just listening to it yesterday) :D
Footnotes --
Speaking of favoritism, I have 2 things to share here. One being that I attended a certain Church for nearly 11 yrs when my kids were growing up where only "certain people" were allowed in the front 3 rows so as "not to block the Spirit of God". I'm sorry, but MY God is bigger than that... (I was only there for so long because much of the actual teaching from the pulpit was really good) Secondly, that story I'm sure you've all seen comes to mind. You know the one that's been circling the internet for years now about the new Pastor of the Church showing up in rags in order to test the Congregation... Yep...
Allowing our jobs to define our lives is a dangerous thing on multiple levels. Not only can it not bring complete happiness, unless you're the rare exception of an Artist or someone else creative who works for themselves. The point is, we all need other things that help shape our lives, because the job/career may not last. This is where faith in God can help because He's Eternal. (if you look back a ways, there are other messages on here that speak to some of the other "false gods" that may lurk in our lives.
This is the video of the "Homeless Pastor" No rights...
I had the privilege of seeing Ami around 25 yrs ago. She has a song on this tape that speaks to our message today. It's called "Ichabod/The City Church". Literally every song she writes is AMAZING!!
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