James 2:1-17     NT p. 213 or 1508

[1] My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?

[2] For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,

[3] and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet,"

[4] have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

[5] Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

[6] But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?

[7] Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

[8] You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

[9] But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

[10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

[11] For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

[12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

[13] For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

[14] What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?

[15] If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,

[16] and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

[17] So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

INTRODUCTION:

Arguing a case in court, two lawyers began calling each other names.

Of them roared, "You're a loop-brained shyster."

The other one shouted, "And you're an ambulance-chasing cockroach."

Rapping for order, the judge said, "Now that you two fellows have introduced each other to this court, may we proceed with the case." (1)

My parents were wrong. Absolutely wrong. Do you remember the old ditty they taught us as kids: "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Well, it's wrong. Words do hurt.

Just think about the ramifications of a Dear John letter. Those words are devastating. Or think about the termination notice, a pink slip or getting downsized or outsourced, however you want to put it. Those words hurt deeply.

And how about the words of a doctor breaking the news to you about cancer. Or the words of a lawyer presenting you with divorce papers. And what about the words of malicious gossip. They take on a life of their own and seem to stick around forever.

Words hurt. Especially when someone calls you names. I don't have to list them do I? You can hear the list of names you were called echoing in your own head. Sometimes, the names others gave us, caused us to be an outcast or to be excluded.

I don't have to tell you what it felt like, do I? We've all been there. We've all been excluded or unwanted at times. It may have only been a sibling wanting us to leave them alone.

But it could have been a group or a club that we wanted to be a part of, or a teacher who had her favorites, or it may have been a boss who just totally ignored us. We've all been there. We've all felt excluded.

Those feelings don't even scratch the surface of the hurt that racial and ethnic prejudice causes.

That's the issue James is talking about in this passage. And he kind of gets in our face about it right out of the shoot. "My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?"

James tackles the issue of bias and favoritism in the church head on. And he questions the reader's commitment and faith.

And in an eloquent way, James tells us to BE BEYOND BIAS, GLORY IN GOD'S GRACE, and that MERCY MATTERS MOST.

I. BE BEYOND BIAS:

A. James teaches us to BE BEYOND BIAS. He calls us to be like Christ and not judge one another by our outward appearance. He encourages us to let worldly bias go by us.

That's hard to do. For whatever reason, we like to lump people together. We like to classify and label people and put them in little groups. We use terms like "trailer trash," "druggie," "thug," "wet back," "liberal," "conservative," "blue collar," "white collar," "rich" and "poor." We've even done it with our faith and look down our noses at the other denominations. I've been guilty of that. I know it. But as the title says, "If we're looking down our nose, we're looking in the wrong direction."

You see, as I read Scripture, I can really only find two kinds people. The lost and the saved. The sinners and the saints. The only difference between the two is their relationship with God through Jesus.

Sinners are simply those folks who are still lost. Those folks who are Living Outside Salvation's Touch. And a Saint is simply a sinner who has been found and brought into a grace filled, forgiven relationship with Jesus.

The only thing different about us is our relationship with God and the status of our sin. Sinners haven't accepted what Christ did for us on the cross. Saints have. As a consequence, those who have experienced God's forgiveness through Jesus, should BE BEYOND BIAS.

B. My pastor taught me a valuable lesson when I first started out in ministry. He was almost as excited about my call as I was. And Bob tried to include me in everything that would help me grow and a fledgling preacher. He invited me to a District clergy training event for the that our Church was hosting.

Our District Superintendent had even written a letter inviting me. In the letter he wrote, "Come casual." So I did. I showed up from the farm in blue jeans and a flannel shirt. The DS didn't say come preacher casual, which back then men sport coats and slacks instead of suit and tie. He just said, "Come casual."

I was just starting out and wanted to make a good impression. And boy, was I embarrassed. That's when Bob took me aside.

Now, I grew up in a home where, in my step father's eyes, I could do no right. No matter what I did it was wrong. If I got all "A"s and a "B" I got yelled at for getting a "B." If I got all "C's and a "D" I got yelled at for getting a "D". If I failed I got yelled at. If I got on the honor roll I was told I wasn't good enough. As a consequence I was expecting to get chewed out for showing up in blue jeans.

Instead, Bob took me aside and told me not to be embarrassed. He told me that God doesn't look on the outside but that God looks on inside. At the heart. And you know what? That's exactly how those preacher's treated me.

But Bob even went a step further. He took off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves to look more casual and help me fit it. That was when I really came to realize and understand that God is completely impartial.

And God calls us to be the same. Both in and out of the Church. James knew that. That's why he is so in your face about saying BE BEYOND BIAS.

II. GLORY IN GOD'S GRACE:

A. He also says, GLORY IN GOD'S GRACE. James doesn't use exactly those words. He's a little more negative about it in his approach. But that's what I interpret this passage to be about. It's not about glorying in the riches and joys of this world and pandering to those who are rich while ignoring those who are poor.

It's about glorying in the Richness and Graciousness of God's Mercy. It's about realizing that we are all exactly alike in our need for Christ.

B. There was a very large prosperous downtown church which had three mission churches under its care. On the first Sunday of the New Year all the members of the mission churches came to the city church for a combined communion service.

In the mission churches, which were located in the slums of the city were some outstanding cases of conversions: thieves, burglars, and so on. But they all knelt side by side at the Communion rail.

On one such occasion the pastor saw a former burglar kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England. The judge had been the one who sent him to jail where he had served seven years. After his release this burglar had been converted and become a Christian worker. Yet, as they knelt there, the judge and the former convict, neither one seemed to be aware of the other.

After the service, the judge was walking home with the pastor and said to the pastor, "Did you notice who was kneeling beside me at the communion rail this morning?"

The pastor replied, "Yes, but I didn't know that you noticed."

They walked along in silence for a few minutes, and then the judge said "What a miracle of grace."

The pastor nodded in agreement, "Yes, what a marvelous miracle of grace."

Then the judge asked, "But to whom do YOU refer?"

And the pastor said, "Why, to the conversion of that convict, of course."

The judge chuckled and said, "But I wasn't referring to him. I was thinking of myself."

The pastor was surprised and replied, "Yourself? I don't understand."

To which the judge replied, "It did not cost that burglar much to get converted when he came out of jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him. But when he saw Jesus as his Savior, he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help.

But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, go to church, take communion and so on. I went through Oxford, took my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge.

Pastor, nothing but the grace of God could have caused ME to admit that I was a sinner on a level with that burglar. It took much more grace to forgive me for all my pride and self-deception, to get me to admit that I was no better in the eyes of God than that convict that I had sent to prison."

That's the Grace Of God that we are called to glory in. And when we take time to GLORY IN GOD'S GRACE, we don't have the inclination to show partiality because we look at each other through the eyes of our Savior. We don't judge we show mercy.