An Elevated Expectation

Greeting

Reading

Introduction

Transition

Text - The Audience

As we have been working our way through the book of James, I have not yet taught us to sit with the original audience of the scripture. In week one I reminded us that the Bible was written for us, but it was not written to us.

The original audience matters.

So deeply does it matter, that we should not make application of the scriptures without fully understanding what it meant to that audience, and what was the reason for writing these things to this audience?

So let’s go back to verse one and see who James is writing to.

James 1:1 NIV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

James is writing to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations, which simply means he is writing to Jewish Christians.

Now, you may not know it, but I just said a mouthful with those two words; Jewish Christians.

In the early church, to be a Jewish Christian was like having dual allegiance. On one hand, you are born into the culture and the customs of Judaism. But on the other hand, you have to distance yourself from the core of their religion; the Jewish Law. Why? Because as a Christian you believe that Jesus has fulfilled the law, and so the keeping of the law is no longer relevant.

However, if you’ve ever had a parent of a different faith than yours, you know that it can be extremely difficult.

Catholic Culture

I want to tread carefully here, and I want to give you all description of my experiences with one particular faith, and that is Catholicism.

Not too long ago, I saw down with a man who was considering joining our church. He had been considering joining a Christian church, but there was something holding him back.

Not for context, this man was a big Mexican dude. Very fit. He was in the gym a lot, and you could tell that he prioritized his fitness. He was also a former Marine. And finally, he had a lot of ink on him. Not that ink makes everyone look tougher, but for some people it does.

All to say, this was not a guy that I would go picking a fight with. I am his friend and I want it to stay that way.

But as we sat together discussing the Christian faith we started to discuss baptism. And this is where I sensed a deep tension.

Here is this grown man, Marine, married with two children, and a total gym bro; and he said, “my Mom would kill me if I got baptized.”

I didn’t in any way lose the healthy fear I had of this man, but I will say it was like seeing a crack in his armor.

[Transition]

Now, I just give you that example to illustrate how these tensions between faith, family and culture can collide together and bring us to a surprising conclusion.

James the Just

Now picking up in scripture, James is going to teach a group of Jewish Christians how they are to live justly, when everything that they grew up with taught them to discriminate.

[Transition]

Wait, hold on a minute… Pastor Josh, are you saying that that Jews in Jesus’ time discriminated against other people?

To that, I would say, yes!

Consider how much Jesus had to reinterpret the law to the Jews.

Although I don’t have time to give you every example, let me give you a few.

Jesus called out the Jews hate towards Samaritans though his story of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus called out the Jewish handling of judgment when he rescued the woman caught in the act of adultery.

Jesus called out the religious for how they treated the poor through the story of the woman with two mites.

Jesus called the religious leaders dead on the inside when he said that they were like white washed sepulchers.

[Transition]

I could go on and go, but what James is going to teach the Jewish believers here is much like the emphasis of Jesus’ ministry on earth. You are missing the big idea!

And even though they have stepped out of Judaism and into Christianity, some of those prejudices don’t go away too easily.

Bad habits die slowly…

Application

So the first thing that James tells them regarding doing what is right is, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. “

The Message translation offers us this interpretation of James’ words, “My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith.”

The action for us is to not show favoritism to people.

As fathers, one of the moments we dread is having to have “the talk” with our boys.

You guys know what I’m talking about?

They use to call it, Talking about the Birds and the Bees.

I remember that when it was time for me to talk to Jaden I didn’t want to. Why?

Because I wanted him to stay a boy forever! I felt like this would force him to grow up a bit, and I wanted him to remain as my little boy.

But I’ll pull back the curtain on one thing that I said, and it was actually the very first thing we talked about, and that was how do we treat other people.

I’ll ever forget talk one being all about treating everyone kindly.

EVERYONE.

The ones you like, and the ones you don’t like.

The ones you agree with, and the ones you don’t agree with.

The ones that like you and even the ones that don’t like you.

You treat everyone with kindness, and that means not showing favoritism to anyone.

As a father I felt like that was the foundation for everything. If he could get that right, he could get a lot of things right!

Proverbs 19:22 NASB What is desirable in a man is his kindness.

Fathers and all the men in this room. We’re living in a great spiritual moment in our country, and there is a return to strong masculinity.

I don’t have time to go into the weeds, but I’ll fly at a high level…

There as a movement that started emasculate manhood and slapping this label to “toxic masculinity” to any strong male. This statement used flippantly has caused a lot of harm to men in our nation. Beyond that, the portrayal of men and husbands in many of the television shows we watched painted the man or husband as absent, careless, or lazy and without authority. Recently, men began to push back against this caricature of men, as they should… and then the label swung to toxic masculinity.

And I’ll end that thought with this… toxic is toxic.

But masculinity is not toxic.

God calls men to strong, Biblical manhood, that centers our life on God’s word, protects the ones we love, and to provide for our family.

I like to say it this way - God calls men to be the Priest, Provider, and the Protector of his home.

[Transition]

And in that, we do it all through kindness.

We don’t treat the man in need any different than we treat the man who is wealthy.

The old you would do that, but the new you doesn’t.

You are not that guy anymore. You are saved. You are changed. And you do not discriminate against another person based on their appearance, but you see them as image bearers of God, just as you are.

Call

Scriptural Review

James 2:1–13 NIV

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 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. 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,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 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? 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? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 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. 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. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:1-13 NASB

1My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, 3and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright 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,” 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? 5Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: did God not choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you have been called?8If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all. 11For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. 13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:1-13 The Message

1-4My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?5-7Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—“Christian”—used in your baptisms?8-11You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.12-13Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.