Mercy For All

Manuscript Template

Title:  Mercy For All

Elevator Summary:  

To people who were being pressured into responding to others on the basis of their wealth and standing, James offers the only standard which those who claim the name of Christ can use when responding to others: mercy (Jas. 2:13). We are to respond to other people in the way that God through Christ has responded to us. No other standard is acceptable for those who claim to follow the way of Jesus. Regardless of the possible benefits of judging and showing favoritism, regardless of the pressure to adopt the standards of worldly achievement within the church, the bottom line is the command to show mercy rather than judgment.

Focus Statement:  

Acknowledging Jesus as Lord means grasping His love of all—rich and poor—and submitting to His authority over all peoples equally. Serving the God who cares for the “orphans and widows” means cherishing all persons equally, regardless of temporary earthly distinctions.

Function Statement:  

God knows about every secret thought, every deed you have ever done, and yet God sent his son Jesus to the cross to die for us. If God shows us that kind of mercy, we should be showing it to everyone else. We need to live a life that reflects the gospel. Lets love those that we have nothing in common with, that we would normally not associate with, lets just love them like crazy, like God did for us.

Tweetable Phrase:  

Scripture:  James 2:1-13

Main Text:  James 2:1-13

Supporting Text:  

Matthew 7:1-6, Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 2:1-16, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 75:7, Galatians 5:13-14, Romans 13:8-10, Matthew 22:34-40, Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 9:9-13, 1 Timothy 6:16

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  

Benediction:  

 Matthew 9:9-13

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope your doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

‌And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

I want to start today with a question.

Who do you hang out with?

I have always been intrigued by the phrase “water finds it’s level”. Have you heard this before? It basically means that people of similar interests, abilities, morals, etc. tend to end up in each other’s company.

Is this true for you? Do you tend to hang out with people who are very similar to you, who believe the same things, have similar hobbies, make roughly the same amount of money as you, roughly the same age, same stage of life, etc, etc, etc?

The problem is that as we form our groups of friends, it is very easy to start to judge the people who fall outside of the characteristics of the group, those who are different than us.

Do you remember grade school? This is a huge problem. I hear stories from my kids all the time about people who leave them out for some reason or another.

If I’m honest, it was no different when I was growing up.

Remember these?

[show picture of LA Gear shoes]

These were the budget shoes of the day and what my parents bought me throughout all elementary school and middle school. I never really cared until middle school when a new shoe came out that everyone had to have.

[show picture of Nike Air shoes]

Remember Nike Air. These were the thing to have. If your shoes didn’t have a soul filled with air, you were all of a sudden out of the “cool group”. And that’s where I found myself.

BUT...they were crazy expensive compared to the LA Gear, so my parent’s weren’t super excited to just buy them for me.

BUT… in 8th grade, I had enough of people making fun of my shoes, I had enough. I felt excluded, unliked, and it was time to do something about it.

So … I made a deal with my parents and they agreed to buy me a pair of Nike Air shoes (or whatever shoes I wanted) on my birthday every year. I wanted to be part of the “cool group” enough that I trading my birthday for school shoes.

So from 8th grade through high school, every year on my birthday I got a new pair of whatever shoes I wanted.

But, I got more than a pair of shoes. I was buying into the group that I wanted to be a part of. I was changing myself to create enough similarities with the people that I wanted to be friends with so they would stop judging me and accept me into their group.

Does this bring up any memories for anyone?

Now, this may seem like stupid childish stuff, but at the risk of making enemies, I think we all still try to buy our ways into certain groups.

I know I have been guilty of it.

When I started doing triathlons, I bought a very basic $400 triathlon bike off Facebook Marketplace. The FUGI Aloha 1.0. In fact when I bought it they they didn’t even make it anymore.

[Fugi tri bike picture]

But very quickly I realized I was being excluded from the group I wanted to train with, be friends with, and compete with. This bike was not CARBON FIBER, it was ALUMINUM. It did not have a power meter. It was heavy compared to the $10-15k Cervelo, Felt, and Canyon bikes that everyone else had.

[bike check in picture]

This is what the bike check in at a triathalon looks like. 2,000 bikes all racked up. A veritable meat market of people judging each other on the bike, and by association the person they were.

Now I, not wanting to spend $10-15k, I used my $400 bike for years, completing almost a dozen 1/2 IronMan races dealing with the comments / looks / judgments from people with nicer bikes. But when I signed up for my first full distance IronMan, I couldn’t take it any more, wanted to be part of the group enough that I bit the bullet and bought the super bike. I got a deal on FaceBook marketplace so I didn’t spend the $10-15k, but it was still something far beyond what anyone would ever need.

[Picture of Cervelo P3]

And whereas this bike, got me one foot in the door, even that wasn’t good enough to be accepted into the group.

When you train for a 112 mile bicycle race, most of the training is indoors. You can’t effectively train when you have to stop every mile or so for intersections / traffic / etc.

When I started, I bought a cheap $50 spin bike of Facebook Marketplace.

[Spin bike picture]

I thought it was good enough. I could manually change the resistance with a knob, pedal a long time without stopping, and watch TV which was nice.

BUT… just like the bike, I was very quickly told that I needed a computer controlled / direct drive / smart trainer so I could put my actual bike on the trainer, virtually ride with everyone over the internet like a video game, and do structured workouts to help me get stronger and faster.

It all seemed like too much… BUT...I wanted to be part of the group. I felt left out without it, so I gave in and bought it on a day after Thanksgiving sale.

[Picture of bike on trainer]

I now had a carbon Triathlon bike with power meter, fancy bike trainer, monthly subscription to an app that could control the trainer and allow me access to the community I wanted to be a part of, and I finally met all the requirements to gaining access to the group.

I was in...it only cost me way to much to admit out loud.

WE - Tension

Have you ever done this before? Tried to buy your way into a group you felt left out of?

At the risk of making enemies...

Who had one of these?

[picture of a Stanley mug]

I’ve seen the comparisons, they’re no better than any other stainless steel vacuum mug. But for some reason, we all have to have one.

But… Maybe for you it’s not something as trivial as a Stanley mug. Maybe you feel pressure to drive certain type of car based on what the people around you drive. This was true of most of the people I knew back when I was in sales.

Maybe you feel pressure to live in a certain area of town, or have a certain type / size of house. This is true of a lot of parents that I know that moved when their kids turn school age to ensure they were in the “best” schools.

Maybe you feel pressure to do certain activities or eat at certain restaurants.

I know when we moved down here, we felt pressure to jump on the Chief’s band wagon. The sea of chief’s attire everywhere we went was unrelenting. So we gave in.

[picture of chief’s shirts]

This does raise a pretty big question though.

Where in your life have been treated differently because of some external characteristic?

AND...whereas we hate being treated differently because of superficial details...

***The problem comes in when it is not us that is treated differently, but when we get sucked into the group mentality and become the people that start treating others differently based on insignificant / external detail that have nothing to do with who they are as people.

Where have you treated others differently because of how they looked, how they talked, where they lived, who they were friends with?

That’s what James is writing about in our passage today.

Please turn with me to James 2:1-13 as we continue our series called RESOLVED.

We’re in the third week of our series where we’re walking through the entire book of James. Over the 5 chapters of this book James gives us 12 very practical teachings, pulling from Proverbs and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Our goal throughout this series is to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice as we walk through these chapters and discern what goals / next steps God wants us to RESOLVE to accomplish over 2025.

Last week we finished Chapter 1 in a sermon we titled “Feet + Hands > Head” where James calls us to be doers of the word, not just reading it to fill our heads and be information, but allow ourselves to be transformed by God’s word allowing our faith grow roots deep in our hearts, moving us to act, using our hands and feet to live out our faith in whatever manner the Holy Spirit calls us to.

This week we’re going to start chapter 2, to answer our question “How are we supposed to treat others who are different than we are?”

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

Let’s drive right in.

GOD - Text

Let’s start in James 2:1:

James 2:1–4 NIV

1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 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?

It is here that James most directly calls us out on the ways that we show favoritism and judge others. James breaks down the ways we’re guilty of unjustly treating people into three categories.

The first category James calls us out on how we think of others who are different than we are. James 2:4 reads...

James 2:4 NIV

4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

I don’t know about you, but I rarely think I have evil thoughts, BUT...

How often do we think less of people based on how they dress, what they drive, where they live?

How often do we think less of people based on their level of education, the job they have, or the amount of money they make?

How often do we think less of people because of the mistakes they have made in their past?

James is challenging us to reflect on how we think about others, how we maybe even unconsciously judge them based on external factors.

The second category James calls us out on how we speak of others who are different than we are. James 2:3 reads...

James 2:3 NIV

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,”

Again, I don’t think I am mean to anyone. I don’t speak poorly to people. BUT...

How often do we seek conversations with people who are different than us?

How often if we know a person is different, do you try to keep the conversations shorter than we would if it were a person we had common interest with?

How often do we try to get to know, understand, empathize with those who are dissimilar to us?

Whereas I am not directly mean to anyone, James is right I probably have to admit that I don’t speak to everyone equally.

The third category James calls us out on how we treat others who are different than we are. James 2:2-3 reads...

James 2:2–3 NIV

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,”

Again, I don’t think I treat anyone differently. BUT...

When asked, how often do we help those we know can repay us?

How often do we try to get out of helping those who you know can’t repay us or do the minimum we think we can get away with?

When we have to make a choice, do we give the “better” option to the person who is most like us?

Maybe a lot of this is subconscious, but James rightly challenges us to evaluate how we’re treating others, and how we’re showing favoritism.

BECAUSE...throughout this section James is pointing to the fact that favoritism is a sin.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Timothy 6:16...

1 Timothy 6:16 NIV

16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Paul is saying that the gap between any of us and God is so great that in reality there is no distinction between us and anyone we try to compare ourselves with. We may try to create differences to help us feel better about ourselves / fit in / belong, but the reality is… we are all sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God, none of us can do it alone, and we all need a savior.

God is so far above us, there should only two distinctions, God and everyone else.

Favoritism in any form is a sin, and something we need to eliminate from our lives.

BUT...James doesn’t just tell us favoritism is a sin, he gives us four very clear reasons why this is such a big deal.

The first reason James gives for eliminating favoritism among us is, favoritism is inconsistent with God’s heart.

James 2:5 NIV

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?

Throughout scripture, God is the God who defends the least of these.

Deuteronomy 10:17–19 NIV

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

God has a heart for the marginalized among us, and calls us to follow his example, taking care of those that can’t take care of themselves.

The second reason James gives for eliminating favoritism among us is, favoritism is inconsistent with how we want to be treated.

James 2:8 NIV

8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

They call this the “royal law” because consistently throughout scripture, we’re called to check our actions against this simple test. Would we be happy if someone did what we’re about to do to us?

Moses is the first to call us to this standard in Leviticus 19:18:

Leviticus 19:18 NIV

18 “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Jesus puts this standard among His top two commands in Matthew 22:34-40:

Matthew 22:34–40 NIV

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Paul includes it in his latter to Rome in Romans 13:8-10:

Romans 13:8–10 NIV

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Paul repeats to call to love your neighbor as yourself to the people of Galatia in Galatians 5:13-14:

Galatians 5:13–14 NIV

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I think this is a good test for all of us. Do we treat others in ways that we would be happy being treated? If not, we need to seriously re-evaluate how we’re treating others.

The third reason James gives for eliminating favoritism among us is, favoritism is a sin.

We’ve touched on this before, but James re-iterates in James 2:9-11:

James 2:9–11 NIV

9 But if you show favoritism, 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.

It may seem small when we do it, and minor compared to other things we could do, but showing favoritism de-values other people.

The commentator, R.D. Thompson writes

The tragedy of partiality, prejudice, and injustice is that it turns men into objects to be manipulated and forgets that these are men for whom Christ died. For such partiality to enter the Church is for the Church to lose its saving function...The church’s role in the world is redemptive, not judicial.

God does not all us to judge others, to create division, God calls us to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34).

The forth reason James gives for eliminating favoritism among us is, favoritism affects how merciful God is towards us.

James 2:12–13 NIV

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.

Jesus is very clear on this during His big teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7.

Matthew 7:1–6 NIV

1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

God has shown us so much mercy and grace, sending Christ to pay the debt of our sin, while we were still sinners. As the Church, we can’t be looking for reasons to divide people, we need to show the same love, grace, and mercy that God showed us.

YOU - Takeaway

So what has the Holy Spirit been whispering to you?

What do you need to change in the way you think of people, speak to people, and treat people?

What is God calling you to do this week?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

I think we can all learn a huge lesson on how Jesus wants us to interact with others by how He chose His 12 Disciples.

He choose as diverse a collection of people as you could.

Matthew - Tax Collector, sympathetic to the Romans and hated by everyone for mistreating his own people.

Peter - Zealot, willing to take violent action to stand up for the Jewish people and fight back against Roman oppression.

Andrew, Peter, James, and John - Fisherman, poor, oppressed, working extremely hard to survive.

Yet, Jesus not only choose a very diverse group of disciples as His closest friends, but He regularly choose to hang out with everyone that society rejected.

Matthew 9:9–13 NIV

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus calls us to do the same thing.

Acknowledging Jesus as Lord means reflecting His love of all—rich and poor—and submitting to His authority over all peoples equally. Serving the God who cares for the “orphans and widows” means cherishing all persons equally, regardless of temporary earthly distinctions.

BUT, it’s not just thinking about people equally, we are called to act as He acted for us.

God knows about every secret thought, every deed you have ever done, and yet God sent his son Jesus to the cross to die for us. If God shows us that kind of mercy, we should be showing it to everyone else.

We need to live a life that reflects the gospel.

Let’s love every person that God puts in our path, especially those that we have nothing in common with, that we would normally not associate with, let’s love them like God loved us. Unconditionally and without expectation for reciprocation.

Who is God calling you to show some love to this week that you have nothing in common with? James challenges you and me to act.

Let’s reflect God’s love to the forgotten of this community this week.

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Romans 2:1 NIV

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

This week...let’s think, speak, and treat people equally, showing no favoritism, but instead...

As a community, let’s commit to stop judging others based on categories that don’t matter, but instead loving everyone as God loved us.

Let’s all reach out to someone whom we have little in common with, follow Jesus example, and make some friendships that don’t make sense.

Quick reminder...

Chief’s watch party at my house tonight at 5 PM. Everyone is welcome. Bring a snack to share.

If you’re new, we’d love to get to know you. Please stop by the welcome desk or come find me after the service.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS