Are you partial?
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
rich vs poor clothes...
In ancient times, some people “wore” their wealth.
The most pompous wore a ring on most of their fingers and several rings on some fingers.
Jesus described a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen.
“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.
Jesus contrasted the clothes of those who wore fine clothes with those of John the Baptist
“But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces!
Everyone notices those who sparkle with jewels and strut in costly garments
My family was fairly poor growing up, and I rarely had name brand things.
I didn’t know names like Gucci, Michael Kors,
I still have to ask Jeslyn if a brand is a nice one when we go to the thrift store or TJ Max
However, everyone recognizes real jewelry: diamonds, Gold, pearls are all things that speak of wealth.
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
Showing favoritism is not referring to the respect that the Bible commands us to show leaders or the aged.
‘You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.
The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
God expects us to give honor to whom honor is due
Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
Favoritism
Favoritism
The verse in our passage that warns about favoritism is talking about showing special favor to people because they are:
Rich
Influential
or Popular
Favoritism is showing bias, partiality, or prejudice
This is a common sin
We tend to favor people because of their looks, abilities, race, tribe, wealth, influence, education, or position
Sometimes it is unconscious
but we are called to overcome our natural prejudice to show others supernatural love
Unlike God, we judge and are tempted to respond to people because of their outward appearance or circumstances.
James chapter 2 gives us five reasons we must avoid showing favoritism
Those who show favoritism disobey Scripture by acting like corrupt judges (1-4)
Favoring the rich over the poor is unwise, because God has chosen the poor to inherit the kingdom (5)
Favoring the rich is foolish since the rich often exploit and persecute poor believers (6-7)
Showing favoritism is a sin- it breaks the royal law (8-11)
To receive mercy from God, we must show mercy to others, without favoritism (12-13)
We will be covering the first three today:
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Judges with Evil Motives
Judges with Evil Motives
Our verses here are giving us a contrast by giving an example:
Into a church come two people.
One wearing a gold ring and fine clothes.
and the other is a poor person in plain clothes.
In our hypothetical situation, the host ushers the rich person to the front and seats him in one of the best chairs.
Meanwhile someone points to a seat on the floor for the poor man.
No doubt there were awkward situations in the early church.
How did it feel for a slave and a master to sit beside each other in a house church?
But the Church of Jesus Christ must be a place where we do not favor one believer over another.
For in the presence of God Almighty, earthly status is like the dust of the earth, and nothing to brag about
This section concludes by saying that those who show favoritism are acting like judges, which the Word of God condemns.
Scripture commands us not to show partiality.
‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
These also are sayings of the wise.
To show partiality in judgment is not good.
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
This is why the first reason why we must avoid favoritism is that it elevates a person to the place of a corrupt Judge
Jesus ministered to both wealthy leaders and common beggars.
He gave living water to a Samaritan woman at the well
He touched lepers
He allowed a promiscuous woman to wash His feet with her tears
He forgave sinners and ate with tax collectors
He was as courteous to the criminal beside Him on the cross as He was to Governor Pilate
Jesus was not swayed by outward appearance
He looked at people’s hearts
Even His enemies saw that He was impartial in His treatment of others
And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.
Let us follow the example of our Master, and avoid showing favoritism.
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
God Chooses the poor
God Chooses the poor
Favoring the rich over the poor is unwise, because God has chosen the poor to inherit the Kingdom
The second reason to avoid favoritism is because God invites the poor into His kingdom
God treats all equally
He Shows no partiality
For there is no partiality with God.
God offers the gift of salvation to “whoever believes in Him.”
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Our verse does not mean that God closes the door to the rich.
God welcomes a rich master like Philemon, the same as He welcomes a slave like Onesimus
However, the call to follow Christ demands that Jesus becomes the Lord of our hearts
Like the rich young ruler, many who are wealthy walk away from jesus, rather than exalt Him over their possessions
Luke 18:18–27 (NASB95)
A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
“You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!
“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
God still loves the rich an poor alike.
However, our verse does not imply that all poor people follow Christ
Some of the worst sinners are poor sinners.
Some poor people covet as much as the rich covet
God does not want any to perish
rich or poor
God wants everyone to repent
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
In Jesus’ earthly ministry, the common people received Jesus gladly
“David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.
So many common people received Jesus that it looked like the whole world had gone after Him
So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”
A wise man once said:
“God must love the common people- He made so many of them!”
Why do so many common and poor people crown Jesus as Lord and King?
Through the Gospel,
God welcomes the poor, when no one else welcomes them
Through the Gospel,
God values those whom the world regards as worthless
Through the Gospel,
God chooses the poor, because they so often choose Him
God welcomes those who are “poor in Spirit”
trusting in God, rather than themselves
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
It is easier to find a poor person who trusts in God than it is to find a rich person who trusts in God.
And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The book of James later reminds us that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Riches tend to increase pride.
The more we have, the more proud we may become
Remember the rich fool
And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.
“And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
And Nebuchadnezzar
“All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king.
“Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.
“The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’
“While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,
and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’
“Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
“At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
Since the poor have less of which to be proud, they often have more humility
and thus receive more grace
So let us be careful when God blesses us
The more God blessed Israel, the less they felt their need for Him
And the more God blesses us, the greater the danger of trusting ourselves.
Too often, the more we are full of blessings, the more we are full of ourselves
Yet all that we have comes from God, so let us not boast
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
With whatever God blesses
-whether wealth, position, power, influence, education, good looks, health, intelligence, or abilities-
Let us be poor in spirit, magnifying God rather than self and depending on His Grace
And let us not favor the rich over the poor.
For God invites everyone,
and He chooses all who choose Him.
But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
The Rich oppress the poor
The Rich oppress the poor
Favoring the rich is foolish since the rich often exploit and persecute poor believers
At the time that this was written, wealthy unbelievers often exploited and persecuted believers
These same rich sinners slandered the name of Christ, to whom Christians belong
In every age and in every country, there are times when the rich misuse the poor.
Sometimes religion is involved, but greed is always present.
Later in James, we get a warning to the rich that God will judge them for stealing the wages of the poor.
Many of these poor victims were believers
They had fled from Jerusalem at the persecution of Stephen
Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
For 3 decades these believers wandered, day by day accepting whatever work and wages they could find.
It was easy for the rich to exploit these poor Christians because they had no human protection or support group.
Unbelieving Jews hated them.
Local citizens rejected the Christians because they would not attend the pagan feasts
So the local and national governments seldom defended believers.
Politicians tend to respond to the voices of those with influence and power.
Since it is so often the rich who persecute the poor,
we should not favor the rich over the poor
What could be more unrighteous than to exalt the rich class over the poor class?”
Shall we honor those who represent a group that dishonors or Lord?
Altar Call:
Altar Call:
Maybe you are sitting here and you realize that while you might not consider yourself rich, you relate to the plight of the rich man.
You find yourself discontent with what you have
or the idea of losing your earthly possessions gives you anxiety because your are not finding your security in God
and you are allowing yourself to identify yourself with the things you have
rather than how God sees you
It might be time to repent, and ask for God’s help
to remind yourself of how God sees you
And to pray the dangerous prayer:
Lord, teach me to become dependent on you
That prayer is dangerous because it means that God will put you in a situation that you cannot handle without him.
Maybe you are sitting here and you realize that you are guilty of showing favoritism
Maybe you have judged someone by their appearance or the color of their skin.
Maybe you have missed out on God honoring friendships because of your prejudices.
Now is the time to repent, and ask for God’s help
to remind yourself of how God sees those around you
And to pray:
Lord, teach me to see others the way you see them
and make a commitment to change
Through Heaven’s Eyes
A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design
And the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain's mighty face
Does it think it's more important than the stones that form the base?
So, how can you see what your life is worth or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life
Look at your life through Heaven's eyes
A lake of gold in the desert sand is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy, is greater than the richest king
If a man lose everything he owns, has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning of a new and brighter birth?
So how do you measure the worth of a man in wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained, or how much he gave?
The answer will come, the answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through Heaven's eyes
And that's why we share all we have with you, though there's little to be found
When all you've got is nothing, there's a lot to go around
No life can escape being blown about by the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps
You must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance
So how do you judge what a man is worth by what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on Earth
Look through heaven's eyes
Look at your life, look at your life
Look at your life through Heaven's eyes