Partiality is sin (James 2:1-13)

Introduction

For the last three years an Australian TV show has flooded the homes of families with little children. The show is about a family of four, but they are no ordinary family. They are a family of Dogs, the Heeler Family. The TV Show, Bluey, has become a favorite in our own home. And not just for our two girls, but even for Darcy and I. In the first season, there is an episode of the show called Kids. As the episode begins, while on the way to the grocery store, the two girls, Bluey and Bingo, ask the dad, Bandit, who is his favorite. While they go into the store the kids suggest they play a game while grocery shopping. While playing the game, Kids, Bluey acts as the mom while Bingo and Bandit are the kids. And Bluey plays favorites with the two. Bandit takes this opportunity to teach Bluey a lesson, that favorites with children is a bad thing. And while a bit of a strange way to teach a lesson, it works because it's a television show.

The episode proves to us that playing favorites only adds and advances bad behavior too. And while we all laugh, we fail to see how often we ourselves play favorites. And how often this playing of favorites is rooted in evil judgment and not the righteousness of Christ. But thankful for us, James today like a good physician labors to expose our hearts.

For the last 2 weeks we have begun to study through the book of James. A letter written by the half-brother of our Lord, Jesus. A letter written to early believers who have been scattered from their homes because of persecution. But in writing to these believers, the aim has been pointing them towards not just hearing the word of God, but in doing it. In allowing their faith moved towards completeness, wholeness. But what does that look like? Well for starters it shows in the way we live and interact with others, being others oriented. This started with the call to care for orphans in widows as we saw last week in James 1:26-27, but we pick it back up this morning as we turn the chapter and consider the warning against favoritism. Let us then hear the word of the LORD from James 2:1-13 which can be fold in the Red Pew Bible in front of you on page #1199….

Here is what I think the main idea of James 2:1-13 is, and therefore what the main idea of the sermon is: We cannot wholly love the Lord of glory apart from loving our neighbor without discrimination. We are going to unfold this in 3 parts: (1) glory, (2) love, and (3) judgment.

Glory

James chapter 2, verse 1….

While James 1:26-27 is in one sense continued here in this next chapter, the clear vocative address of brothers, this implying both brothers and sisters as the ESV footnote points out, is a clear marker that a shift in focus has taken place as well. For while both the call to a pure religion is rooted in visiting, that is caring for orphans and widows in their affliction, that this issue of favoritsm is an issue not just of pure religion, but law and judgment as we will see as we go this morning.

But what is immediately clear here from the start of this passage is the command for us as Christians. A command that as we hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to show no partiality. Another way to understand partiality is that of making distinctions between or showing favoritism. These things aren’t to be practiced among believers.

A particular example and situation is then given in verses 2-4 of the types of distinction that is being warned against. We read there in verses 2-4….

As different people entered these assemblies, these small house churches, there was often little space for the groups to gather. But the temptation was for those in the gathering to make distinctions in the instructions for where guests to sit as they joined. Distinctions based on favoritism of preferring the rich over the poor. To prefer those of wealth with their gold rings and fine clothing over those with shabby clothing and maybe even had a bit of dirt covering them, maybe even a smell.

The illustration that James gives is that they would tell the rich to have the good seat. This potentially being the comfy chair, the place of honor next to them, or whatever. Men, this essentially would be saying that the rich get our beloved recliners to sit in while they are there. Or the comfy chairs with extra cushioning. The poor on the other hand were told simply to stand or sit at the feet of others. The lowly seat, uncushioned or poor cushioned chair type. This is how favoritism was being warned against in the hearts of these early believers, these early Christians.

But this issue is not something that was just a problem for them. It is a problem for us today too. The temptation is for favoritism to enter our churches in a variety of different levels. Favoritism can enter the church today in the same manner of the rich being shown favoritism while the poor are disregarded. One danger of this is for us as elders to be tempted to be persuaded to shepherd people differently based on how much they give. Brothers and sisters, this is one reason that I will labor to guard at all costs to not know how much people give. Because I don’t want to know and be tempted towards favoritism within this church. I want to labor to shepherd the flock of God here before me. I want to exercise oversight over the flock as I follow the great Shepherd. And this is a warning to my fellow elders and any potential future elders. We do not shepherd in favoritism. We do not handle situations differently based on how much someone gives or not. That is ungodly. It is evil.

The warning against favoritism isn’t just for us as elders though, it's for you as church members and regular attenders too. The warning here is for you to not show favoritism to others in your actions and reactions based on who they are. Maybe your temptation towards favoritism isn’t so much tied to the distinctions between the rich and the poor, but maybe it shows up in how you respond to those of different generations. Favoritism can be played by preferring those of the same age in the same situation as me over those who are older or younger than me. It can show up in how we interact with those of a different generation.

Favoritism can also show up in drawing closer to those we tightly align with theologically. Various camps of the church can show favoritism with those that most closely align with me over those that disagree. Brothers and sisters, friends of Land O’ Lakes Bible Church, make no mistake, we should agree and affirm together as a church body our core doctrinal statement. But the things that we do not draw out and make specific within that doctrinal statement, guess what, as passionate as we might be on certain of those doctrines, they are non-essential. They should not prevent us from joining together as one body and loving one another well!

These are some of the various ways that favoritism can creep up into our church body if we are not careful. And therefore we must be on guard against it! For as James has already taught us here in verse 4, if we are making distinction in showing favoritism, we are acting as judges with evil thoughts. Evil thoughts that go against the LORD, our God. Verse 5….

We become evil judges in showing favoritism because our judgment goes against God and his plans. It goes against the very ones that God has chosen to make rich in faith, faith in his beloved Son Jesus. The very ones that God has chosen to become heirs of his kingdom. Is this not what we have seen before?

James 1:9-11

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

God has chosen in his sovereign plans to overturn one’s earthly poverty and make them rich by their faith in Christ Jesus. This is not to say that every poor person will become a Christian and become heirs of the kingdom. This is not to say that every rich person will perish and fail to become a Christian. This is to say that this is the overall plan and what we find as the more common norm of faith. For the rich are normally caught up in their love of earthly treasures while the poor have nothing to cling to in this world Again, there are a thousand situations where even I can recall that this is flipped. Where even the poor are so pursuing riches of this world that they are blinded from truth, while the rich are those who have been gifted and willing to give all they have for others sake. But the point here is that in showing favoritism here as was happening amongst these early Christians, their distinction was evil, because it was against the very ones God was making rich in faith and heirs of his kingdom because of their love for him.

Not that they had first loved God, but a love as a result of the love that God had already shown them in Christ.

Maybe you are here this morning and you are not yet a believer, a Christian. You might even think or be wrestling with this question of if we aren’t to show favoritism, doesn’t God in saying that Christ is the only way? That his chosen people are only those who hold to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I think you have a fair question, friend. But you miss that God in his judgment, is not evil, but just. For in God choosing only those who hold to the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he chooses those who humble themselves and acknowledge their guilt before him and come and cling to the only Savior, the only Rescuer, Jesus. For we all have sinned, we all have fallen short of the glory of God. We all deserve the judgment of God against our sin and rebellion against him. And yet, because of his love and his grace to us in Christ, there is a way of rescue. By believing in this Jesus he sent. This is not partial, there is no favoritism. All who acknowledge their sin and humble themselves by coming to Jesus will be saved. But all who reject remain guilty as they were. The invitation requires only that we come. So friend, see your need to come to Jesus today and believe.

This of course is opposed to us as mankind. For by showing favoritism and partiality, we are unjust. But not only unjust, but foolish. Verses 6-7….

The very ones we are tempted to show favoritism to are the very ones who are doing us harm and dishonor the name by which we have been called, the name of Christ. The temptation might be that if we woo the rich and show them honor, it will somehow benefit us or even gospel ministry to make us sound more religious. The problem though, they actually harm it and hinder it. In the day this was written, the rich were the ones oppressing and taking the believers to court. They were the ones causing their trials and suffering.

In our context, the temptation is that the rich will be the ones who demand to dictate everything that happens in the church. And when they are offended, they threaten to leave if we do not cater to them. And we are tempted to fall to their demands while hindering the gospel and its advancement. Let us see the folly of favoritism and flee from it.

We flee from the danger and snare of favoritism by reorienting our eyes away from this false glory of setting our eyes on the glory of man and earthly riches and turning them to the glory of the Lord of glory, Jesus himself. Back to verse 1…..

Jesus is the Lord of glory, and only when our eyes remain on him and his glory, his beauty, his lack of favoritism, his love and his good and right judgment can we ensure that we show no partiality as we hold the faith. For as we look to Jesus, we begin to understand his call for us to love God and love one another. We turn now to consider the call to love our neighbor.

Love

Verse 8….

The royal law of God for us in Christ is to love him and then to love our neighbor as ourself. This is what King Jesus himself has told us is the great commandment and one like it. Therefore we must beware the dangers of favoritism and how they fail to fulfill the royal law and keep us from being spiritually whole and complete and perfect. Verses 9-11….

In showing favoritism we are guilty as transgressors in breaking the royal law and failing to hold it. Though we may keep much of the law, our failure to love our neighbor as ourself without partiality leaves us guilty as breaking it all.

For it is no different from saying that we have not committed adultery while murdering. Both fail to love our neighbor. To be guilty of one of these is to fail to love our neighbor as self. And the same is true then if we show love to neighbor only if they are rich while failing to love our neighbor if they are poor. Or whatever scenario we want to throw in here.

We must stop loving as the world loves, loving only those who align with us, agree with us, look like us, benefit us. The world says that it is all loving and all inclusive. That is until you don’t agree with it. Or you don’t match exactly like they think we should.

But Christ, Christ loved by laying down his life for us on the cross of Calvary. He shed his blood as the overflow of his love for us. And this same kind of love is what we are called to in laboring to fulfill the royal law of love as Scripture has commanded us to love our neighbor as self. Beloved, let us be a people who love without favoritism.

But there is one last part to urge us against showing favoritism, point #3.

Judgment

Verse 12….

James again here turns to the law, but now he refers to the law of liberty. The use here of another law is not to say there are different laws, but one law that has been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus.

But here in James referencing the law of liberty, he is referring to the law that has set us free from the bondage of sin and death. The law that set us free to live. And that is a law that has come by the grace and mercy of God to us in Christ.

Returning to what we mentioned earlier, we have all fallen short of God’s glory. We have all rebelled against God as our creator, as our King, as our God. And because of that we deserve death. And yet, God has poured out his mercy and grace on us in Christ. Our only need is to come and believe as we have stated.

But if this is the way that we have received Christ, the way in which we have been saved, then why are we so tempted to judge with evil thoughts? Thoughts contrary to the law of liberty that has come to us in Jesus, the Lord of glory? Why are we tempted to show favoritism when Christ has not played favorites?

Let us behold the love of God that has come to us in Christ by his grace. For what love could remember no wrongs we have done? Omniscient, all knowing, he counts not their sum. A love that sent his only begotten Son to leave his side, come down from heaven, take on the frailty of our human flesh, to live and suffer and die in order to rescue us. It is this mercy that has triumphed over the judgment that we deserve, because Christ took our place on the cross. Christian, this is the love that we have received, and therefore because of this mercy, we too are to show mercy to others.

But let us beware, that the failure to show this mercy to others is a sure sign of unbelief. Verse 13….

The one who fails to show mercy remains under judgment. For they have failed to taste the true mercy of Christ. Friend, if that is you this morning, may this sharp warning awaken your heart and your soul to see the true mercy that God extends to us in Jesus. May it awaken you from lethargy and favoritism and evil judgment and to turn from your ways and set your eyes on the glory of Christ!

Conclusion

As we have heard the strong warnings against showing favoritism, let us see the foolishness of it. Let us see that favoritism ends badly. Let us learn the lesson like Bluey learned in the episode, Kids. Favoritism fails to hold to the royal law of love and fails to live under the law of liberty. Favoritism presses against the plans of God and the advancement of his kingdom. Favoritism is evil. And the reason we show favoritism is that we are fixated on the wrong glory, the glory of ourselves and the things of this world. Beloved, let us set our eyes on the Lord of glory and his goodness and mercy and love to us and let us follow him. Let us go and love others as he has loved us. Let us love without distinction to all we encounter! Let’s pray….