Lovelessness

Our Lord of Glory & Undeserved Favor

9.19.21 [James 2:1-18] River of Life (17th Sunday after Pentecost)

There are so many problems that plague us in this world. And many of the problems that plague the world also are very present within the church. Stubbornness, carelessness, and anger affect and infect people inside and outside of the church. But there is something about today’s problem—what James describes as favoritism—that leads people inside and outside to miss the mark.

Some will say that discrimination is among the greatest ills that plagues our modern society. Discrimination, we’re told, makes it impossible for some people to succeed—even to survive. Discrimination holds good people down and allows bad people to get ahead. Discrimination robs people of their sense of dignity and purpose. Discrimination chokes out hope.

If you cannot see discrimination as the great problem, then you are part of the problem, they say. Your inactivity & silence is oppression.

Few among us want to be labelled “oppressors”. So we may ask: What can we do? How can we combat this? Join the fight against discrimination. Be an ally. Use your voice, your dollar, your power to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake.

Fair enough! some say and join the movement. So they lift their voices. They lay out their capital. They leverage their power—all in an effort to eliminate discrimination. But a natural question arises. How will we know when discrimination has been eliminated? We’ll know we’ve won the fight when there is equity for all.

That’s when the other side will ask Is equity for all even possible? How can everyone enjoy the same privileges and benefits when some of those things cannot be shared?

This issue of discrimination is especially powerful and polarizing in our day and age. How is a Christian to approach this matter? Do we agree with those who say: Discrimination is a big deal and we must do everything in our power to fight it and provide equity for all? Or do we side with those who say: Equity is impossible. So live your life, help out where you can, and the free market will sort the rest of it out?

The answer is neither. Because for Christians the solution to discrimination isn’t equity. It’s love. It’s about seeing others as God sees them—and us. It’s about treating others as God has treated us.

(James 2:1) My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. James is frank when addressing the problem of favoritism. He even puts flesh and bones on the matter of favoritism as he describes a hypothetical situation inside the body of believers. (James 2:2-3) Imagine a well-dressed, well-connected man comes into your congregation. How will you respond? Won’t it be very different than how you’d respond to a complete stranger who is poor? Why is that?

It’s important we recognize a few things about this situation that James describes. It’s instinctive, communal, and pragmatic.

Giving the rich man the good seat and making the poor man sit on the floor is instinctive. The church doesn’t convene and make a decision. This is the natural tendency of the leaders inside the church.

It’s communal, too. No one seems to have a problem with this practice. The rich man expects this kind of treatment. The poor man doesn’t put up a fight. Why not? Because this is how the rest of society treats both of them. The rest of the worshippers go along with it, too.

Finally, it’s pragmatic. James was writing to persecuted Christians. They’ve abandoned their possessions. Fled their homes. Uprooted their families. They are feeling vulnerable & threatened. A rich man seems like a God-send to them. So they treat him like a blessing. They give him the good seat. They roll out whatever red carpet they can muster. This man might have the means, the connections, the influence, and the power to protect and prosper the fledgling church. But the poor man—what can he do for them? They don’t kick him out, but they certainly don’t treat him like a blessing.

Aren’t we tempted the same, today? As a modern mission church, we face softer threats than these people. But don’t we sometimes feel vulnerable? Isn’t it natural to get excited when you see a young family with well-behaved kids who love to sing and know how to sit still for a whole sermon? Don’t we go out of our way to make sure they really enjoyed their time and that they come back? Sometimes treat potential WELS transfers like we’ve got a trophy fish on the line and we just have to reel them in without scaring them off.

Aren’t we tempted to treat the man with the substance problems or the mother with the unruly kids with just a little bit less joy? We don’t tell them to hit the bricks or anything, but we don’t go out of our way to make them feel comfortable. Deep down, we must admit we don’t see them as quite the same blessing as the other family.

Favoritism rears its ugly head in how we invest our time and our energy, too. It isn’t favoritism to have close friends or trusted confidantes. It is favoritism to avoid engaging with someone new or encouraging someone you already know that you struggle to get along with. Favoritism produces lies, slander, and gossip.

Remember: favoritism is instinctive, communal, & pragmatic. It always makes perfect sense to us, to others, and to the bottom-line.

But favoritism is unacceptable to God. (James 2:6) You have dishonored the poor (James 2:5) that God has chosen. (James 2:4) You have discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts. Favoritism violates the most basic of God’s tenets: (James 2:8) Love your neighbor as yourself. And if you are showing favoritism, you are a lawbreaker—no different than a murderer or an adulterer.

We may wonder why those are the two commands that James highlights. Could it be that those were considered high crimes? Maybe. But each of those sins is birthed by lovelessness. When you no longer love someone, it isn’t long before you begin to hate them and perhaps even consider murder. When you no longer love your spouse, it isn’t long before you’re unfaithful to your wedding vows.

Regardless of why James picks those two, his point is clear. (James 2:10) Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking it all. This may sound harsh or unfair. Shouldn’t I get credit for all the commands I kept! my sinful nature argues. But if you are headed down a flight of stairs, and you miss the seventh step and stumble down the rest, does your body say to you: It’s no big deal! Great job on the first six steps! Do onlookers clap because you didn’t trip on the first half-dozen? Of course not. You are ashamed and you suffer because to slip up—even if it’s just once—causes harm and suffering. God’s Law is more interconnected than a flight of stairs. To break one is to break them all and to (James 2:11) become a lawbreaker. This is why there is no room for favoritism among believers.

God’s love for us has never been based on what can be seen in us. God doesn’t just look at externals—as you and I do. God sees us entirely. Inside out. He saw the wicked actions we were sure went unnoticed. He is familiar with every hateful, spiteful, and egotistical thought that has ever crossed our minds. None of us deserve God’s favor. (Eph. 2:1-3) All of us deserve God’s wrath. How can we continue to play favorites, when we know we were all by nature enemies of God? How can we discriminate against anyone, when we know we all deserve eternal condemnation?

James rebukes favoritism and says it has no place among those who have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. How can we show favoritism, an unhealthy focus on temporal earthly glory, when we know how our Lord views and used his glory?

Jesus never played favorites. He lived like the Good Samaritan—going out of his way to help, heal, and restore those who had been broken by this world. You can see what Jesus thought of temporal, earthly glory by what he did. Look at his deeds and you cannot miss his undeserved love. That was one of the reasons he baffled the spiritual leaders of his day. (Jn. 4:4-26) Jesus sat down and had a long theological conversations with a Samaritan woman. (Mk. 10:13-15) He took time out of his busy schedule to bless little children. (Lk. 7:36-50) He let a notoriously sinful woman wash and kiss his feet. (Lk. 19:1-10) In Jericho, he invited himself to the house of the town pariah, Zacchaeus. In a very real sense, Jesus was no respecter of a person’s glory. He did not care who you were, where you were from, what you had done. Jesus came for (Lk. 19:10) the lost. The sick. The sinful.

At the same time, he was never dismissive or spiteful towards the powerful, the connected, or the respected. (Lk. 7:36-50) When one of the Pharisees invited him over for dinner, he joined them, too. Even though he knew they were really just looking for a reason to accuse him. (Mt. 8:5-13) Jesus healed the servant of the Roman centurion in Capernaum and (Mk. 5:21-24) Jairus’ daughter. (Jn. 3:1-21) He spent time instructing Israel’s teacher, Nicodemus. (Jn 18:28-40) He even witnessed to Pontius Pilate, knowing that it would not spare him crucifixion. Jesus loved them too. Jesus never called in any favors from any of those individuals. He never served them so they would owe him later. Jesus never fixated on temporal, earthly glory, he did not dismiss those who had a measure of it. He loved them too.

So Jesus lived the perfect life that rich people only pretended to have achieved. He died the death that poor people feared most. This was Christ’s glory—the cross. On the cross, the Lord of glory died a shameful death. On the cross, the Maker of all things became stripped of all things. They took away his clothes, his dignity, and his health. They spit in his face. They insulted him. They mocked him. The world didn’t just discriminate against Jesus—they despised him and put him to death in the most disgraceful, painful way they knew how.

And he let it happen. Not because he was powerless, but because he was full of undeserved love. Jesus conscientiously chose to die because in so doing, he was conscientiously choosing your salvation.

Jesus chose the weakness of wearing a crown of thorns so that we might receive the eternal crown of life. Christ chose to be numbered among sinners and die a lowly death on Calvary, so that we might be numbered among the saints and have eternal life with him in paradise. The Son of God drank the cup of wrath so that we might receive God’s everlasting favor. God chose the foolishness of the cross to redeem foolish sinners, like you and me.

That is why there is no room for favoritism in the Church. The world detests favoritism because it is unfair. It obstructs equity on earth. God and his Church despise favoritism because it undermines the way things work in God’s kingdom. It obstructs eternity in heaven.

So what shall we do to combat favoritism in our midst? How do we root out discrimination in our hearts and minds?

First we confess our sin. Second we run to the cross. Only after experiencing the undeserved favor and love of God can we participate in showing grace and mercy to many.

Finally, we must strive to put this favor into practice. (James 2:17) Faith without deeds is dead, James warns, because living faith is productive. Believers aren’t perfect. But they aim to put what they know to be true about Jesus and his glory into practice in their own lives. And what a blessed opportunity we have been given! This world despises favoritism—because it hurts people and damages their lives. They are attuned to seeing diversity and rejoicing over those who love those who are not like them. What a witness we can offer in this regard! Of course, we won’t love others as the world tells us to. They think tolerance is love. They think championing sin is optimal. We can do one better. We can recognize where someone has fallen short—and love them anyway. We can take the time to really get to know them and their struggles and then point them to the Savior who takes away their sin and guilt and shame.

In order to love like that, we are going to have to be active. We are going to have to make the first move. Take the first step. Energetically seek out people who are not coming to us. People who may be hard to talk to, hard to get along with, and hard to love and speak tenderly to them, help and be a friend to them in every bodily and spiritual need, to pray for them and to love them—not because it makes you feel good, not because it is instinctive or personally beneficial—but because we know the favor and love of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes all the difference. Amen.