Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

We’re so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together to worship and make much of Jesus in this place and in our hearts.

If you’re visiting with us, we pray that you wouldn’t so much be left with an impression of us–our music, our preaching, our kids ministry–but that you’d be left with an impression of King Jesus, the One on whom our eyes are fixed, whose eyes are fixed on you in love.

He is the One who, if you don’t know Him, wants you to know Him, wants to change your eternity forever.

To bring you into everlasting life with the One for whom you were created.

That is our prayer.

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

We’re so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together to worship and make much of Jesus in this place and in our hearts.

If you’re visiting with us, we pray that you wouldn’t so much be left with an impression of us–our music, our preaching, our kids ministry–but that you’d be left with an impression of King Jesus, the One on whom our eyes are fixed, whose eyes are fixed on you in love.

He is the One who, if you don’t know Him, wants you to know Him, wants to change your eternity forever.

To bring you into everlasting life with the One for whom you were created.

That is our prayer.

So over these past weeks we’ve been working our way through the book of James as we look at How Faith Works on the Concrete.

That is the title of the sermon series we’ve been going through.

You see, it’s one thing to understand faith in your head, and even your heart, but James takes it a step further.

He says that faith that works makes its way from your head, to your heart, out to your hands.

It works on the concrete.

This gospel we preach–the life-changing news of what Jesus has done for sinners like you and me–gives us a new ‘walk’.

It calls us to move different.

So we’re looking through how it does that; How Faith Works on the Concrete.

Last week we started in chapter 2:1-5, where James calls out the sin of partiality as incompatible with the gospel of grace.

As people, our sinful default is to value people based upon outer status; based upon what they can do for us.

We are partial people by default.

But now that we belong to Jesus, we are called to live in light of the Lord’s valuation of people.

Pastor D told us that faith works on the concrete when we measure the value of people not by their status but by God’s just scale.

We’re going to close out that theme today, picking up in verse 5 and working through verse 13.

Would you join me in a word of prayer?

Amen.

The Title of today’s sermon is

When Mercy Molds Me

If you have your Bible, open up to the book of James, chapter two.

We’re going to start in verse 5, and hopefully make it through verse 13.

Please follow along as I read.

This is the word of the Lord.

The sin in particular that James is addressing is that of partiality.

Of favoritism.

None of us has ever felt that, right?

Never experieinced someone giving you less prioirty over another because of their perceived value?

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH.

In the assembly of the Christians.

Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor.

Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others.

And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others.

Sit at my feet.

A place of humiliation and servitude.

When Mercy Molds Me

As we’re working through today’s text, the big idea is as follows:

Faith works on the concrete when we quit playing ourselves and live as recipients of mercy.

Hopefully, we will paint a picure as to how our partiality leads us to a need of mercy, which will then mold us to be merciful.

Let’s get to it.

Let’s get into this text.

Our value system is whack

The sin in particular that James is addressing is that of partiality.

Of favoritism.

None of us has ever felt that, right?

Never experieinced someone giving you less prioirty over another because of their perceived value?

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH.

In the assembly of the Christians.

Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor.

Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others.

And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others.

Sit at my feet.

A place of humiliation and servitude.

Here’s how James responds to the church showing this kind of partiality:

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH.

In the assembly of the Christians.

Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor.

Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others.

And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others.

Sit at my feet.

A place of humiliation and servitude.

First of all, James is taken aback because the Christians expose themselves in their partiality to align themselves more with the world than with God.

All throughout Scriptures, God shows a special care and concern for those in the world that are most vulnerable.

Those for whom the world doesn’t care or value, He specifically cares for and demands that His people do the same.

But more than His care for the poor, though, He often shows an especial GRACE in electing those whom the world has cast aside and marginalized to be His own.

In His wisdom, He delights in a special way to save, redeem, and bring into His family those that the word has forgotten or devalued.

God has especially chosen the poor, struggling, vulnerable to be rich in faith.

The underdogs, as Pastor D said last week.

His coming kingdom is a reversal of all the sin and brokenness in the world for those that receive Him, and He has chosen to give riches of faith to those who have especially felt the effects of sin, brokenness, and injustice in the world.

To receive this, though, they still must receive Jesus’ grace–it’s not every poor person without exception who is rich in faith–yet, God often grants rich, repentant faith to those whom the world has turned its back on.

We know this from Scripture, right?

1 Corinthinas 1:26-27

So James is saying, church, OUR VALUE SYSTEM IS WHACK!

First and foremost, it’s whack because you’re devaluing those that the Father has especially set His sights upon.

Those whom He shows a special care, concern and grace for.

When we show partiality to those that “have something to offer us” and “grow our status”, we’re aligning ourselves not with the Savior but with society.

It’s an affront to God’s character and goodness.

When we devalue people whom God values, we devalue God.

V. 6 “You have dishonored the poor man.”

You have dishonored the one that God has given richness of faith.

It’s a sin against God to show favoritism and greater value towards those the world says has value.

Secondly, James says, OUR PARTIALITY DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE PRAGMATICALLY! James is real, ‘on the concrete’, here.

Look: Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court?

Don’t they dishonor the honorable name by which you were called – the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father?

James says, “why do you seek honor from those that OPPRESS you and OPPOSE your God?”

When we think about it, it seems stupid.

Like it doesn’t make any sense at all.

Our value system is whack.