The Steadfast life: Mercy over Judgment

James 2:1–13

[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? [5] Listen, my beloved brothers, 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. (ESV)

Introduction

One of my favorite traditions is setting a budget for Christmas time, pouring gasoline on said budget, lighting a match, and walking away. I love to buy gifts at Christmas. This is a real problem when shopping for my wife and or my nieces.

One year in particular we didn’t have a choice, we had to stick to the spending limits. Let’s just say we spent significantly more on one niece than we did on the other two. And if this anonymity is not enough to keep me from getting in trouble as it is, were they to somehow here this sermon, I really wouldn’t want them to hear this - Rachel looked at me when we were done shopping and said “I wonder who your favorite is?”. I do not have a favorite. There is one niece who reminds me a lot of another awesome person - me. But she isn’t my favorite just because I spent 3 times as much on her that year.

Please join me in prayer that they would not hear this message, especially as Rachel and I are traveling this week to see them.

This morning as we walk through our passage James will unpack for us a sin many of us might think either is not a big deal or that we don’t struggle with it at all. Just as with our series on the ten commands though, we will find with the help of the Spirit, great conviction and life giving hope in living a steadfast life. James’ message to his readers was pretty straight forward.

If you are of the Faith, do not show partiality but mercy instead.

Our Big Idea this morning is this,

The Big Idea: The steadfast life, springs from and is marked by, mercy.

I. An example of worthless religion vs. 1-4

Vs. 1-4

[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?

At first glance you might read the book of James and get a feeling that he is sort of all over the place. In chapter one we were learning about the God who gives wisdom without reproach…the God who is the source of ever perfect gift and now we are talking about favoritism.

But at a closer look you see chapter one, verse 27 and it helps us make sense of where we are heading.

See, James is writing to the dispersion it says in chapter 1 verse 1. He is writing to the scattered Jewish Christians who are living in the midst of persecution and poverty. He is writing to suffering Christians and encouraging them to remain steadfast. This is key for at least two reasons that are helpful. One, it helps us understand the tone and layout of our passage. Two, it takes away the idea that we might be exempt from the intensity with which James words are written. In other words, we cannot come to this scripture and say “well if James knew what I was going through, he would lighten up.” No, believer, if you are in the midst of trial this letter is tailored to your circumstance.

So in chapter one vs. 27 James wrote of worthless religion which he contrasts with pure and undefiled religion. It’s here now in the verse part of chapter two that we are seeing an example of worthless religion pointed out. James sees this problem in the early church and we can be sure that it is a problem in the church at large today. It may have a different way of showing up but nonetheless, we have the same capacity for it as we will see today.

So the example we are given is the sin of partiality. What is that? Well google defines it as an unfair bias or favoritism. In the simplest of terms though, and in the context of the passage, it is judging someone based on their appearance and then giving them either preference or the lack there of. Just like most sin, this particular attitude can show it self in countless ways and here James is merely showing one of those ways and how it is counter to the truth of the gospel.

That leads us to this question then. Why do we have this tendency? What is it that would compel us to show favoritism? Well, deep down we know why right? We show favor to the “man with the gold ring” because we want to be the man with the gold ring.

Surely we have all felt this. Have you ever reached out to a celebrity online, and they actually respond? Oh man that’s a good feeling right? We can all relate to fanboy ism or fangirl ism.

-show meme here-

For me, there are folks on YouTube that I subscribe to. I watch their content and interact with it and man when they respond to a comment or reply to a message it feels amazing. One time I even went to Billy’s office and Dan’s office to tell them about an interaction I was having, like an actual conversation.

Why? What is so special about that person? One of the guys in particular was a graphic designer I have worked with and He himself would say “I am just a dude - a husband and father - not more important than anyone else”. We know they are just people. But they are famous. They are known.

Ah. And there it is. Even the most home body motivated introvert, the person who gravitates towards solitude and or isolation (solitude’s evil twin) - even that person wants to be known.

It is now that we understand the mirror analogy James used in chapter one. We struggle with this because we forget who we are. Beloved, we are fully known and fully loved by the king of the universe! What’s more, is He calls us sons and daughters, fellow heirs with Christ of a kingdom that will know no end. What is a gold ring to Him but a pebble in the pavement of His sidewalk?

We can read James and it can come off as intense or harsh, but look at the heart of James. He is pleading with his readers as I plead with you now to see the life giving truth of the Gospel in this text. See, it’s easy to read something like “be doers and not just hearers” and gain a sense that God is the task master after all. All the times we have heard Billy and Michael say “I am not asking you to ‘do more’” and here comes the book of James to flip that on its head.

Rather, James - remember that he is writing to the suffering church - is saying remember who you are. As you hold the faith, he says in verse 1, he doesn’t say “as you hear the faith, or as you claim to have the faith; no, he is essentially saying as you live out the faith given to you by the Glorious Christ remember who you are and live that way. Hear the word and know that under the law of Jesus, the law of liberty you have free to obey Him and that is where life is found.

James wants us to wake from our spiritual amnesia and remember that in Christ we have been given the finest clothes!

Romans 13:14 [14] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (ESV)

In Romans 13 Paul writes “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”.

We are clothed in His righteousness. Every Christian in this room is a rags to riches story like no earthly idea could compare. And when we forget that, we will see the proverbial man with the gold ring and give him favor over the vagabond; we become Judges with evil thoughts. Friend we become like Satan Himself.

With that in mind, James expands his argument by exposing secondly:

II. The (anti-Gospel) flaw in their (our) thinking 5-11

Vs. 5-11

[5] Listen, my beloved brothers, 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.

Firstly, in calling out this sin, James provides the ground for his argument in the teachings of Jesus. He says, essentially, ‘you know that Christ taught this way, so why do you choose the opposite?’ He rightly points them to Christ.

We know this teaching as well. There are more than these few but let me move through these quickly for time’s sake.

1 Corinthians 1:28–29 [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 8:9 [9] For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (ESV)

The steadfast life springs from and is marked by mercy.

So James is saying, when you sin in this way you are no better than the oppressor. Oh and speaking of that: James goes on to argue that it was the rich and powerful unbelievers of their time who would blaspheme the name of Jesus and abuse the court system to take advantage of the poor.

So is Jesus anti wealthy-people? Is it wrong to be wealthy? Well simply put: no.

Why then is there this bent toward the poor? Is that not contradictory here? It isn’t and I will explain why with a story.

As many of you are aware on March 30th I received notice from the company I worked for that my position was eliminated effective immediately. My wife and I both felt utterly shell-shocked and were struck with a bit of panic. As the primary income of the house hold there was a fear that set in for sure. It was quickly dissipated by the peace of God and its not even the main point of this story - but God showered us with kindness during this season and has increased our faith. It’s been wild to see.

In the middle of the hunt for a job I was offered a position as a videographer for a construction company in Arizona. The offer was fully remote and they thought I was so special they tripled my income. It was very clearly a scam.

Before I knew for sure though. To my shame I built a hypothetical budget and did the math on how quickly we could be completely out of debt, followed by how quickly we could have 6 months of expenses just set aside, and finally to add to my sin mountain I went to bhphotovideo.com and loaded up over 10k worth of camera gear and imagined how quickly I could obtain all it. In mere moments I turned into the rich young fool that Jesus spoke of in his parable. I literally said out loud, “I don’t know what I would worry about”.

God, in His grace and mercy, has used this season in our lives to bring about so many changes in our hearts but of the countless lessons garnered was this understanding of why Jesus uses the lowly as an illustration for the Gospel. It comes down to need.

Matthew 5:3 [3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And

Luke 5:30–32 [30] And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” [31] And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [32] I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (ESV)

The poor in spirit, are the ones who see their need for Jesus. Folks, its just our nature to associate security with money. We use terms like safety net. But Jesus words in that parable I participated in Luke 12:20 should give us all pause.

Luke 12:20 [20] But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ (ESV)

No Christ is not anti wealthy-people. But Jesus is perfect and knows our hearts. Christ and James both know that less than few of us will feel tempted to seek out poverty but more than many of us would seek out wealth.

But, to come back to our passage, It isn’t really even about a dollar amount, but rather the attitudes we have towards others.

It’s like James built in to his letter a defense to a response so many of us have when a sin is called out. We go to our own sin rating system don’t we? Like lust is a big sin, cheating on a spouse is massive and obvious but because the immediate consequences feel less grave we won’t guard our hearts against gossip or slander with near the same level of ferocity.

And so it is with favoritism. We might find ourselves saying, well I am not showing partiality, I am simply trying to love my neighbor well. To that James says, well friend you are required to love all of your neighbors.

Sam Allberry tells the story of playing a quick game of indoor soccer with his brother when they were kids. He kicked the ball right past his brother straight into and through the goal that was the glass french doors on the back of their house. Here is what He writes about that

Imagine how this would have played as a defense: Look, the ball only hit one part of the window. And look at how much of the window isn’t broken … The fact was that the window was broken. It didn’t matter where it was broken, or in how many places the impact was made; what was significant was that it was broken. _ Sam Allberry

The law is not a buffet that we get to pick and choose from. It is also not what justifies us, otherwise we would all be condemned because none of us can fulfill it. So James wrote to his readers and the truth is relevant to us; that we cannot try to use the law as some sort of justification for something we want to get away with.

Only Christ fulfilled the law and so now we are judged by the law that sets us free; the law of liberty. So this brings us to point 3: the way of Mercy.

III. The way of Mercy 12-13

Vs. 12-13

[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. (ESV)

James concludes this section with a bold statement and warning. And we have to question here, what is the law of liberty?

Well,

John Piper said of the Holiness of God:

If you have no fruit of holiness in your life then, “you have no warrant to think you are His.”_John Piper T4G

James gives us a similar warning here concerning mercy. He is essentially saying, if you show no mercy you act as one who has not been given mercy. And remember verse 1? He is reminding them of who they are as the Hold the faith in Jesus the Lord of Glory. Jesus gave very similar stark warnings. In Matthew 6: 14 He says your Father will not forgive you if you refuse to forgive others. In Matthew 18 we read this parable.

Matthew 18:23–35 [23] “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [24] When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [25] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26] So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ [27] And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ [29] So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ [30] He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31] When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32] Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ [34] And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [35] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (ESV)

So what is the law of liberty then?

This is the law of freedom in Christ. See Christ said if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.

John 8:36

[36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (ESV)

And while we don’t have time this morning to unpack the fullness of the law of liberty, a concise understanding of it is this. God gave the law and set the standard of perfection. To be reconciled to God was to uphold that law without failure. Only Christ has done that. So we are set free from following the law perfectly because Christ followed it perfectly on our behalf.

See, Christ lived a sinless life. He fulfilled the law that we couldn’t and then some. He is perfect in every way. He was accused on your behalf. He was beaten on your behalf. He was humiliated on your behalf. He was tortured on your behalf.

Oh that we would categorize and rate our sins no longer! What sin do you think is so small that he was not murdered for it on your behalf?! He breathed his last - experienced death on your behalf. On the third day He rose, conquering satan, sin, and death; He appeared to many and ascended into heaven to mediate to the Father on your behalf and has Given us His Spirit as a seal of every promise He has made that has come to pass and will come to pass. Friends that is the scandalous law of liberty; that your salvation is not contingent upon your obedience. Your obedience is evidence of your salvation.

So to speak and act as one who is under the law of liberty is to live as one who knows they have been shown unending grace and immeasurable depths of mercy.

The steadfast life springs from and is marked by mercy.

I saw this posted this week and thought it was helpful.

A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself. _ A.W. Tozer

When we see the poor, burnout, ragamuffin as it were - we see the analog of our spiritual status before Christ.

James is calling us to see people as Christ would see them. The external appearance of a person never amounts to the intrinsic value they have as image bearers of God.

See when Christ was set toward Calvary He didn’t put on the fine robe and the gold ring. He removed his robe and got down on his hands and knees to serve; to wash the filth and grime off of the feet of each of His disciples, including the one who would betray him.

The steadfast life springs from and is marked by mercy.

Conclusion

As we wrap up this morning I want bring some application to our context. I know that for many of us that hear this example James gives and we might think, “well no, if the poor person walked in here we would seek them out and welcome them in”. I agree, I think for the most part God has really made Coram Deo a very welcoming place.

So maybe it’s not the “man with the gold ring” that leads you to show partiality. Maybe it’s the “man or woman that seems like me”. Its good to have friends and it’s beautiful to find brothers and sisters we share commonalities with. But maybe this morning is a good time to ask ourselves. Am I giving preference to the people I enjoy hanging out with over the people I know God is calling me to?

Friendship is a gift from God but not at the expense of the mission of God. This is why on the back of our volunteer name tags we have these 3 prompts:

An Alone person in our gathering is an emergency Friends can wait Introduce newcomers to someone else

At our sending church in Missouri, our lead pastor had a real knack for the most awkward introductions ever. He would walk up and say to the new person, This is Michael, He would follow that with some random fact about me and then he would literally walk away. The last time He did this was with another person who was incredibly introverted. So there we were, two introverts just standing there in the silence nodding our heads.

Jon was one of the first people to come visit Rachel and I after moving. Him and his wife were such incredible blessings to us and I hope we were half as much of a blessing to them.

Let’s step out of our comfort zones. Let’s let mercy lead the way and show favoritism to no one but Christ.

Application Questions

What person or person group would cause my heart toward becoming a “judge with evil thoughts”? Who is someone I have been either actively or passively avoiding that you know God is calling you to friend and or minister to? What are ways I want to be known more by mankind than by the God who loves me? Who do I need to show mercy to this week?