Summer Night James 2:1-13
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good evening everyone, it’s good to be here with you tonight. My name is Zach Honnen. I am the student and young adult Director at The River Church Grand Blanc.
I’m excited to continue our series through James. We are in week number three
And if you have Bibles with you tonight, please open up to James chapter 2 starting with verse 1 going to verse 13
While you turn there, I’d like to ask you a question…
Dodgeball Story/Intro transaction:
How many of us when we were in middle school or high school played this game called dodgeball??
OK, a decent amount of us
Not typically when you played dodgeball, you usually have team captains…
Explain team captains/personal experience
My experience with dodgeball in middle school was I was not the team captain but if you’re not
I was actually one of the last people who would get picked
See the only rule with team captains was if someone picked a guy you picked a guy if someone picked a girl you picked a girl
Now I was not the first person picked, nor the second nor the third I was usually the last or close to it picked
To see in middle school I was much shorter, carrying the same amount of weight
Team captains often looked for someone dressed in Adidas Nike under Armour
With matching outfits or athletic looking clothes
Often times captains would use these things to indicate whether someone would be a good teammate for dodgeball
Now I grew up in a more middle class lower class family so I had Goodwill tennis shoes, a bright orange tank top with a bright orange and gray shorts
I did not look like a good teammate. I look like a good target.
I wasn’t the most athletic. I wasn’t the most gifted and I was usually passed over in this game.
And at first, this didn't bother me until I started moving towards high school and realized I was overlooked
I felt like people thought of me as less than not worth their time…
People assumed a lot about me just because I didn't have the nicer clothes and maybe didn't look as athletic
And we get a dodgeball game you're trying to win and you have to make decision decisions and I'm not trying to throw a pity party for little Zach
Closing of illustration/ Demonstration of partiality
But I think this demonstrates What we're gonna look at in our text tonight…
Which is partiality…
And in the Greek Partiality is Define as a denoted fixed position.
Meaning, based upon the look, Wealth or Status of a person, we come to a Concrete conclusion of who they are And where we think they belong…
This is what we call the “sin of partiality”
But before we go any further, let's pray
Prayer:
Prayer:
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?
James opens up talking to believers saying my brothers which also means sisters in the Faith
Show no partiality
Do not make a distinction between people
Treating some people as better or worse than others
Now we can look at this passage and we might think this was a problem in the early church. It’s not a problem today.
It doesn’t happen today we might think these things But that’s not true…
It does happen today,
Story about the mentor his pastor asked for partiality
There was a mentor of mine who worked at a church and the pastor came to him and said hey go talk to that family and as he was about to go do it
The pastor said they’re big givers. Be sure you’re kind… And in that moment, my mentor said to his pastor and said I can’t do that now
I would’ve been happy to talk to them and welcome them and encourage them to come to these events
But now I can’t because it would be sin To treat them better because of wealth…
end mentor illustration
And shortly after that, I meant to left that church… And these things don’t just happen to other people they happen in our own hearts in our own life…
If a wealthy or famous influencer walked into this room right now they would be treated much differently than if a homeless man
Forest rank on the side of the road versus a homeless man or a woman… Who are you gonna stop and take a picture with and who are you gonna pretend is not there?
Would you invite the poor homeless man to come sit with you in a good spot join your conversation
Or would you hope that they don't even look at you that you can avoid an awkward conversation?
Is our default Care or is our default Comfort?
We often admire, and are curious about the lives of the rich and of the wealthy
There are podcasts that are built on a young man asking a Richtch man how he got wealthy
But I see very few talking to the poor man on the street the poor woman on the street…
Pause…
As a young adult group as a church Who are we???
Do we treat people as equal on the level ground of the foot of the cross?
Or do we make distinctions?
And maybe our distinctions aren't based off of wealth or status but they're based off of our interests…
I invite this person in because he looks like he grew up the same way I did
But the person over there that looks nothing like me. We have nothing in common. I'm not even gonna try to get to know them….
Do we make distinctions among ourselves based Where someone grew up or even location of church, they go to…
The River operates as one church with many locations…
BUT Is that how we operate???
Are we one church with many locations or do we show partiality do we show favoritism???
I'm sure for many of us You might be thinking
“oh no I love everybody, but this is my crew. These are the people I love”
But I want to ask you does your personal comfort keep you from inviting others into the life of the church?
It is easier to say we love and welcome everybody. It's harder to live it out…
And I want to clarify, our passage is not saying it's wrong to have close friends…
Jesus privately had his close friends that he trusted a lot too…
But publicly, he brought forward the outcast he brought forward the new and distant person
Is this true in our lives?
The lonely, new Young adult illustration:
Many times I’ve seen young adults come into our groups Over the years…
I've seen brand new young adults… Coming in on time… I welcome them, but they know that I'm paid to welcome them so they don't consider that welcome…
They come in 15 minutes Before Worship, they sit down in a chair… No one invites them into their conversation…
They might get a casual hey what's your name and then quickly get out of the conversation but no one invites them in…
Then after the message and worship, they stay for 10 minutes after…
And everyone is so busy with their friends, their people even their locations that they don't even look to the Person sitting alone…
So they leave feeling unseen, unloved unwelcome… Because he was not invited in to the life of the church…
end Lonely new young adult Illustration:
We might as well have asked them to sit in the corner be quiet and leave quiet…
Do we make distinctions among ourselves?
4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Partiality, excluding, or judging others based upon their wealth, their status or any other bias that you can think of is sinful
It's not uncommon for partiality to breed and to grow within religious communities, especially within the church…
Go ahead to Luke chapter 10 Starting in verse 30…
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
I want to stop there a priest and a Levi both very religious groups left this man for dead…
Neither Mann considered him both looked the other way and avoided the inconvenience…
But a Samaritan stopped to help, and there was tension between the Jews and the Samaritans
Samaritans were Jewish people who had married into other people groups
The Jews looked at them as half breed worse than a Greek…
But this Samaritan, who was hated by the man, most likely who was beat and bloody, chose to show compassion and mercy upon him\
Even though if their roles were reversed, he probably would not have received that same compassion and mercy
34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
And this is what James is talking about… As a church, we are not meant to be partial to have evil thoughts and judge And play favorites?
This man showed no partiality to the man who would've shown him partiality
When we are in church or at Growth community, And we feel our flesh wanting to play favorites
We need to remember that Jesus didn't play favorites with us…
Jesus has shown the whole world mercy by living the life that we could not live and dying the death that we deserved
Suffering the cross that we may have the opportunity to be saved…
Jesus sees the value of the Rich and poor… Do we?
Jesus went from heaven and earth to reach the outcast
All we have to do is walk across the room…
Pause
And what we find when we walk across the room is that God often opens our eyes to see people the way He sees them.
The person we were tempted to avoid may be the very person God uses to grow our faith, soften our heart, and remind us of His mercy.
Because when we stop judging from a distance and start moving toward people with compassion, we begin to see what James is showing us here:
the people we overlook are often the people God has chosen to display His grace.
We see this in verse five…
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?
James is pointing out those who have need physically
are the ones who more often realize they need spiritually…
Often times people will turn to God when there's a zero in their bank account…
When they can't do it on their own anymore, when they surrender and turn to God and rely on Faith…
And this is not to say that the Rich don't have Faith, but this is saying it's more natural for someone who is in need who is unseen to see their need for God
When we only gravitate to the people that we think you can give something to us… Whether it be socially or financially… We often miss out on those who can give to us spiritually…
Do we allow our own biased to keep you from the people God wants to use to sanctify us???
This is something God has shown me in my own life:
Story about brother-in-law at bachelor party:
A couple months ago I had a bachelor party before I got married
Sidenote, my beautiful wife Sarah is right there love her…
But at my bachelorette trip, we were camping and just hanging out and at the bonfire I asked everybody how they came to know the Lord
And everyone began to share and then finally, my future brother-in-law, Matt shared historical
That little backstory Matt is marrying my older sister who loves theater. She met him in theater.
And I do not love Theater… I have not been the biggest supporter of Theater…
And truthfully, Matt and I just don't have a lot in common. He's not someone who I really wanted to get to know when he first started coming around.
But he began to share his testimony…
Send rebellion rejection running away from God
And I just sat there, looking at how God had used his life how God had rescued him
And because of that, the Faith that he was filled with… And since then, I've seen how God has used him in my life to make me a better brother to make me a better Christ follower
Conclusion of brother-in-law, Story…
And I almost missed it because he wasn't my cup of tea… Because he didn't fit the mold of who I think my friends should be….
And the person that we pushed to the side …Might be the very people God wants to use in our lives.
But too often we miss that because we dishonored people and ignore the new comer…
Verse 6…
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?
Often times the people we put on a pedestal are the ones that will step on us later… Are the ones who dishonor the Lord…
And I want to be clear this passage isn’t saying if you make a certain dollar amount a year you are automatically evil…
It is not evil or wrong to have money. It is evil and wrong for money to have you…
What James is getting at is this…
But a person who can’t afford a cell phone to even call a lawyer isn’t going to be suing you Can you give them a hot cup of coffee…
A person who only survives by the provision of the Lord isn’t going to be blaspheming his name…
Now, at this point, we are seven verses in and we're talking about partiality still… You might be thinking, and even some of James's audience might be thinking
Partiality is such a small thing to make such a big deal out of
There are much bigger sins that we should be worried about James
And he response to these internal thoughts that we have…
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.
You cannot love your neighbor as yourself and show partiality in the same moment
Many of us look at the sin of partiality like it's just a little sin…
You know it's kind of small sometimes it's annoying. It makes a little bit of a mess, but it's not that bad…
But I'm here to remind you that all sin leads to death…
And because of our sin, we are guilty under the law of the Lord… Not of James not of the church, but of GOD
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.
If you live a perfect life, but fail in one point, you become what? Imperfect…
Flawed…
If you tell one lie, You become a liar… How many murders does it take to become a murderer 5… small Pause… NO 1
To break the law in one point makes you a law breaker…
Each and every one of us is a sinner… is a lawbreaker, according to God’s law…
According to Ephesians 2. 1
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Pause…
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
But God… being rich in what???
Mercy…
The only one who has a right to refuse mercy has chosen to extend it
and we who are sinful. who are lawbrakeres have no excuse
James 2:12 through 13
12 So speak and so act
And I’m gonna pause There…
So speak and act…
Both words and action together
Not just talking a good game on social media or trying to quietly live like a Christian and Hoping someone will somehow hear the gospel through your actions Alone…
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.
So what's being said here??? We are to act as those who have been forgiven…
We no longer fear judgment day… We no longer fear condemnation… But we rejoice in the mercy and Grace we have received…
We are to speak and act as those who have been forgiven a great debt…
we are to live as those who have been given mercy, so we give mercy to others…
Mercy triumph over judgment… For those who have repented and believed in Jesus as their savior, the mercy of God has triumph over the judgment of God
God in his mercy sent Jesus to live and die and rise again for our sins…
Since we've been given such a great mercy and grace, should we not extend that same mercy and grace to others?
Not in order to earn salvation, but because of salvation,
When we see someone walk in the room that is in need that can do nothing for us.
We must extend them mercy and Grace
not ignoring them and Not walking to the side, like the priest and the Levit.…
And if you're in this room, and you don't extend a mercy, to others…
If you can't extend Mercy, you don't want to extend mercy you don't care to extend mercy… I believe you're still under judgment…
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
And Luke 747 it says this
…But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
If you're unable, and don't care to show mercy to others, I don't believe you've received mercy from the Lord
But I want you to I don't want you to leave this room and just try to be nicer to people…
Tonight, my hope is you will realize you do not have a saving relationship with Jesus and you will turn to him…
You will repent and believe in him tonight…
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
this is how we receive that mercy we saw in Ephs
And mercy will triumph over judgment
Not just in terms of our salvation
But in our life today……
It may not be easy. It may be hard… sanctification is still a thing we are still growing as believers.
But we as a young adult group we as a church should be the most welcoming and kind people in the world…
We don’t allow Partiality, We don't have silent internal judgment… we don’t play Favorites
But we welcome people in to the life of the church, no matter who they are…
Is that us? Are we the most welcoming place on earth???
the most loving and merciful place on earth???
Or do we see people come to young adults and leave young adults?
Come to gathering and leave gathering
And they leave feeling like the last person picked on dodgeball
They leave questioning whether they were wanted… Wondering what's so wrong with them that they couldn't join in on the conversation…
The SIN of partiality Isn’t small… It can have an eternal consequence on someone's life…
Will we choose our comfort or will we choose care?
Will we walk across the room or Walk around the side?
Let’s Pray…
