Don’t Show Favouritism
Text: James 2:1-13
Core Idea: We must not show favouritism because our faith is in Jesus Christ our Lord of glory. Then let us strive to become a community of mercy and love knowing that this is how we honor the One who gave up everything for us.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse. It is delightful to see you. I want to welcome all of you but especially our Tugboat and Anchor friends knowing that it’s a privileged opportunity for us to worship with the whole body of Christ. Now, children and youths, I know that you may not fully understand everything that goes on here, but I firmly believe that it is good for you to be with us because you’re an important part of what makes up this community. Without you, we would be incomplete. So, I pray that you’ll come to love this church and make it your home. And the rest of us will make every effort to do the same – to get to know you and guide you with love.
Well, we are going through the book of James – looking at different ways the gospel impacts our lives. And last Sunday, we learned that authentic faith obeys the Word, transforms our speech, and propels us to move outward – compassionately serving the people in need. Today, James will highlight how the gospel changes the way we do relationships. Then with this in mind, please open your Bibles to James 2:1-13. And I’m going to invite Max to the front – and he will read the passage for us.
1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism. 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,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favouritism, 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,” also said, “You shall not murder.” 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.
Thank you, Max, for reading the passage for us. And children, I hope you enjoyed the video. I’ll actually address you more directly a little later – so, stay tuned. But for now, I’ll share under these three headings:
· THE COMMAND
· THE REASONS
· THE POWER
1) THE COMMAND
Verse 1, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.” Now, the first thing I want to clarify is that James doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to make appropriate distinctions. So, for example, if an elderly person and a younger person happen to come into our chapel at the same time and there’s only one seat left, inviting the elderly person to sit while asking the younger person to stand is not favouritism – it’s just being courteous. Then what is James saying? Well, the word “favouritism” in Greek literally means, “To receive the face.” And it basically means that you’re judging someone’s worth according to their external appearance and giving special treatment to those who you think are more important. In essence, it’s to discriminate according to their looks, body type, skin color, the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, and so on. And that’s exactly what we see in verse 2. Here, James gives a hypothetical situation where two people show up at the church – and it’s clearly obvious that one is rich and the other is poor just by looking at the way they were dressed. One was wearing a gold ring and fine clothes while the other was in filthy old clothes. Now, a ring back then wasn’t just a fashion statement – it was a symbol of power and status which meant that this man wasn’t just rich, he was also influential and honored in the community. So, when the rich man comes in, you treat him well – offering the seat of honor. He is recognized and celebrated. But when the poor man comes in, you treat him with disdain – telling him to sit on the floor by your feet. He is dishonored and humiliated.
Then James’ point is that this kind of favouritism (in fact, any hint of favouritism) should not exist in the community of believers because this kind of behavior and our faith in Christ are mutually exclusive. They don’t belong to each other. James basically says that if you’re a follower of Christ, if you’re a recipient of His amazing grace, if your heart has been transformed by His unconditional love, it actually doesn’t make sense why you would show favouritism because this goes against everything that makes up who you are in Christ. But he goes further. In verse 4, James says that if you show favouritism, it’s like you’ve become a judge with evil thoughts. If you’re not sure what that means, think of a judge who takes bribes. Now, think about that for a second. A judge is someone who promotes and protects justice. A judge should remain impartial. Then how devastating would it be to find out that the judge who’s overseeing your case just took a bribe from the other side? You would be heartbroken, helpless, and angry. And yet James tells us that when we show favouritism, we’re no different from that judge – we too are guilty of perverting justice. And if that wasn’t enough, James also adds in verse 9 that favouritism is a sin – a breaking of God’s law. This isn’t something we should take lightly.
Then let me ask you, “Is favouritism evident in your life? On what basis do you value people? And does that affect the way you treat them? Do you treat someone better because this person is wiser, wealthier, or more powerful while neglecting others who may be annoying, awkward, or less influential? Are you quick to size people up or quick to find ways to embrace them?” Brothers and sisters, God is inviting us to use this as a mirror to our hearts – to examine and realign ourselves to Him. Then I pray that you’ll do just that. Let’s take this seriously knowing that when we show favouritism, we don’t just dishonor the person, we also dishonor God. The way we treat others impacts our relationship with God. Let that truth sink in. It’s not enough to be in a good relationship with God – it should also be reflected in our relationships with others.
Now, if that’s the case, it would be important for us to ask, “How then should we treat others? If not favouritism, what would be the God-honoring way of relating to people?” James tells us in verse 12: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.” Here, James is basically saying, “Remember, that one day, you will be judged by the ultimate Judge. So, be a people of mercy for mercy will not be shown to those who weren’t merciful to others.” Now, what is mercy? When we think of the word “mercy,” we often think of being compassionate and kind to others. And even though that’s part of it, in the Bible, the definition of mercy is much richer than that – and let me use the parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate this point. It says that there was a man who was on his way to Jericho, but he was attacked by robbers who stripped him of his clothes, beat him, took everything he had, and left him half dead on the road. Now, a priest and a Levite happened to be walking down the same road but when they saw him, they did nothing to help – in fact, they went to the other side to completely avoid the situation. But when a Samaritan saw the man, he moved closer to him. He bandaged the wounds and carried the man on his own donkey to a nearby inn so that he could be taken care of. The next day, as he was leaving, he said to the innkeeper, “Here’s some money. Look after him. And anything else you spend, put it in my account and I’ll pay you back later.” Now, at that moment, Jesus asked the people, “Who was the true neighbor to that man?” And they all responded in Luke 10:37, “The one who had mercy on him.” Then according to this story, what is mercy? Mercy is to get close to those who are suffering, marginalized, forgotten, and abandoned. It’s not keeping a safe distance but entering into their pain. It’s being willing to be inconvenienced – allowing your plans to be changed. It’s being willing to sacrifice – generously offering your time, skills, and wealth to meet the needs of those who are around you. Now, I won’t spend too much time here because we’ll actually talk more about this next week – but let me end this portion with something that Martin Luther said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing and is ultimately worth nothing.” I pray that our faith won’t be dead but that it’ll be bursting with life – overflowing with mercy and love.
Now, before we move on to our second point, I want to address the children at this moment. Let me simplify everything I’ve said so far so that I can help you apply this to your lives. So, if you forget everything, just remember this: favouritism is giving special treatment to a person because of how they look, what they wear, or how they act – and James tells us that we shouldn’t do this because it breaks God’s heart. Now, let me ask you a question, “Have you ever witnessed someone being treated unfairly because they were different? Or have you been mistreated by others because of the way you looked or what you were wearing? If so, how did you feel?” It couldn’t have been good. I’m sure you felt horrible. But let me ask you this as well, “Have you ever mistreated someone because they were different?” If you’ve never done that, great. But if you did, take this moment to say sorry to God and pray that He will help you to treat others with love and respect especially in the church. Now, let me actually illustrate this with this box of crayons. As you can see, they’re all different in size and color. Some are sharp but some are dull, some have familiar names like red or blue but others have strange-sounding names like banana mania, fuzzy wuzzy, or jazzberry jam (which by the way are real crayon colors), some are new but some are used, some have wrappers that are still fresh but some have wrappers that are torn and dirty. Now, this is what we can learn from this: Even though these crayons may have many differences, they all fit very nicely in the same box. And that’s a great picture of the way our church should be as well. The people that make up our church come in all sizes and colors, and some may even have names that sound different from yours. Some are old and some are young. Some are dressed in very nice clothes while others may wear something dirty and old. But despite the differences, we must treat each other with mercy and love because God has intentionally placed all of us to be in the same box called Lighthouse. It’s not a coincidence that you’re at this church – each one of you is an important part of this community. Then it will only hurt us if we mistreat each other – after all, we’ve all been placed in the same box. Then friends, let’s love and be kind to each other because that is what God desires from you.
2) THE REASONS
Why does God command us not to show favouritism? James offers three reasons. First, because God shows no favouritism which means that as God’s children, we should follow in His steps. Verse 5, “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?” God didn’t ignore the poor, but He deliberately chose them to make them rich in faith. He intentionally brought them into His Kingdom despite their status in this world. There’s no hint of favouritism in Him but rather He’s overflowing with mercy and love. Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome.” Now, if we just look at this, we can see how awesome our God is. There’s no one like Him. Then after this lofty description, what would you expect to come next? Maybe something like this: “His palace is humongous. His wealth is magnificent. His glory fills the earth.” But no – this is what we read in the second half of that verse: “…who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deut. 10:17-18). The greatness of God is shown in the fact that He shows no favouritism and doesn’t accept bribes. He’s a just God but He’s also a merciful God who defends the fatherless and loves the foreigners. This is the kind of God we serve – and because we’re created in His image, we should strive to be like Him.
Second, because of our witness to the world. Let me explain. If you read verses 6-7, James tells us that the rich were constantly exploiting the Christians – dragging them to court and mocking the name of Jesus. Now, we have to be very careful here so that we don’t misunderstand James’ point. He’s not advocating us to mistreat the rich – “they treated us unjustly so we should do the same.” No, that’s not what he’s saying. Instead, he’s inviting us to think – “if that’s how they treated you and you suffered greatly, why would you act just like them? Don’t you see that you have a greater example to imitate?” In other words, he is challenging us to be different. He’s basically saying, “Don’t be like the world. Don’t blend in. Don’t let them influence you. Instead, imitate God. Be the salt and light of this world. Be engaged but remain distinct because only then will you show the world that Christ is better.” Brothers and sisters, we must remember that as Christians transformed by His grace, we’re called to be the pointers to God. Our attitude and interactions with people should draw them closer to God. Then may that be true in our community – that we would treat people with dignity, kindness, respect, and mercy because it would be a sign of God’s power working in our midst. Why would the world be attracted to Jesus if we as Christians are just like them?
Lastly, because favouritism is contrary to the royal law. Verses 8-11. Now, it’s called royal because it comes from Jesus who is the King of heaven. And this law says that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now, how do we love ourselves? Pretty well. We all have a strong instinct for self-preservation and self-fulfillment. We all want to be happy. We all want comfort, satisfaction, and security. We all want to be loved – to have meaningful relationships with others. We all want to have a purpose – a meaning for our lives. And we will do everything in our power to achieve that for ourselves. Then knowing this, James tells us that the standard of love we ought to have for others should be the standard of love we have for ourselves. Just as we work hard to achieve safety and security for ourselves, we must protect others from calamity and violence. Just as we desire intimate friendship, we must offer ourselves to be friends with those around us. Just as we desire our lives to count and be significant, we must pray the same for our friends and neighbors. Just as we desire to be forgiven of our mistakes and sins, we must be quick to forgive others. Just as we desire to be served, we must serve others humbly and intentionally. All this to say, we must make our self-seeking the measure of our self-giving – whatever we desire for ourselves should be the measure for which we give to others. Only then will we put an end to favouritism and demonstrate mercy and love to those around us. We fight against favouritism because it goes against the law of the Kingdom. Being merciful and loving shows that our allegiance belongs to Christ.
Then these are the three reasons why we shouldn’t show favouritism: for the sake of imitation, evangelism, and obedience. Now, if we’re honest, I don’t think there’s anyone here who would oppose the idea that we shouldn’t show favouritism. But why is favouritism still evident in our lives today? Why are we still indifferent and often inactive when it comes to pursuing justice and showing mercy? Here’s the answer: because at the core of our hearts, we’re still sinful. Then is it really possible for us to break out of this sinful pattern and become a community of mercy? The answer is yes – and that leads us to our final point.
3) THE POWER
Where do we get the power to become a community of mercy? Verse 1, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.” Now, it’s so easy to miss the point of this verse because it seems like the emphasis is on something that we shouldn’t do – don’t show favouritism. But the way this is written in the original language shows that the emphasis is actually given to this idea that Jesus Christ is glorious. In fact, in Greek, it literally says, “Show no partiality because your faith is in Jesus Christ our Lord of glory.” Now, what is glory? If we consider that the word “glory” in Hebrew literally means heaviness or weight, we can understand glory as the weightiness of one’s presence. So, for example, if we’re talking about the glory of God, it refers to the weight of all that God is – His beauty, wisdom, and power. It reveals His greatness and magnificence – showing us that He alone is perfect and beautiful in every way. All this to say, glory reveals how important you are, how much you matter, and how much of a difference you can make. Now, how did the rich man show his glory? Through what he was wearing. Then how did God show His glory? Through His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s what it means when James says that Jesus is the Lord of glory. And we also see this in Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” In other words, if we want to know the wisdom of God, the love of God, the holiness of God, we just need to look at Christ – He holds the complete glory of God.
But listen to what Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” In other words, Jesus had the ultimate glory, but He gave up His glory. Why? So that He can bring God’s glory to us. Jesus gave up His throne so that you and I can have the seat of honor. Jesus lost His noble name so that you and I can be called the children of God. Jesus became the poor man so that you and I can be rich. Jesus received unjust treatment so that you and I can receive God’s mercy. Jesus wore the crown of thorns so that you and I could be clothed with righteousness. Jesus took the penalty of our sins so that we could be set free from the chains that bind us. Jesus was rejected so that you and I could enter the glorious presence of God. Just like the good Samaritan, Jesus Christ moved closer to us, and, at the cost of His life, He saved us who were not just half dead but completely dead in our transgressions. Jesus was killed so that you and I can receive life and life to the full.
Then James is asking all of us this question, “If this is how salvation came to us, if this is how we were brought into this unbreakable relationship with God, how can we continue to show favouritism?” If we truly understand that we are the recipients of this unbelievable mercy and grace, we won’t just feel like we have to, but we’ll now want to become a community of mercy and love. But even better news is that this truth won’t just transform the desire of our hearts and give us a reason to live this way, but it will also provide us the power to accomplish this. How? When Jesus Christ died for us, sin no longer governs our lives. Sin no longer dictates what we do. Sin no longer stands in the way. We have been made free from sin – and we’re now made possible to live a life pleasing to the Lord. And as a result, we don’t size people up according to their external appearance, but we’ll begin to see them as God sees – as created in the image of God. Brothers and sisters, is this how you see one another? Do you see how every single person you see in our community is created in the very image of God which is what makes them infinitely valuable and lovable? Because of Christ, we no longer see them as distorted image bearers of God – we don’t see them for who they are now, but we begin to see them as who they can be when the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling in them. And this is how the gospel empowers us to overcome favouritism in our lives. Then let us cling to Christ. Let us immerse ourselves in the gospel day in and day out knowing that it will provide the strength we need to live as the Kingdom people.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, we must not show favouritism because our faith is in Jesus Christ our Lord of glory. Then let us strive to become a community of mercy and love knowing that this is how we honor the One who gave up everything for us
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) What are some of the motivations behind favouritism? What are some ways that favouritism shows up in our lives individually or as a church? Why is favouritism often overlooked as a sin?
2) What are some ways we can show mercy to those around us?
3) What are the reasons that James gives as to why we shouldn’t show favouritism?
4) What can help us fight against the sin of favouritism and strive to become a community of mercy and love? What will help us guard our hearts against judging people according to their external appearance but see them as God sees?