Book of James: 2:1-13 Discrimination
Notes
Transcript
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? 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? 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?
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. 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. 12 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.
It seems royalty has turned up! Into the car park a chauffeur and driver in his Bentley. Dressed in an Armani Suit and Oxford shoes. There is an aura and presence about this Italian-looking man and suave and wearing a signet ring. And into the Church he comes and we give him a great Oldfield welcome, honoured that such a man would even think to visit here.
Unnoticed another man walks in afterwards, whilst everyone’s attention is fixed on this special visitor, and sits off to the side, dressed only in clothes that can be called dirty and old.
Is this what James witnessed that he wrote about it in this letter? Could it ever be said of us?
I do not really know but I suspect that we would be more enamoured with the rich guy than with the apparently poor one. I don’t know whether we really have any best seats in the house type thing but I would hope that we would treat both with dignity.
I’ll come back to this in a moment but this passage did get me to think about our appearance and how we perceive others see us.
It is a very big thing these days but I am talking about how we look. Take a good look at yourself. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of selfies to check on. Are we comfortable about our bodies and how we appear to ourselves let alone anyone else? There is that awkward stage as teenagers when we do not feel comfortable. It may be worse for girls than boys. I really do not know. But I do know that everywhere you look you see perfect bodies in the media, Instagram, Tiktok, snapchat, YouTube and so on.
But there is a big thing about it this week, have you heard? That many of these influencers, as they are called, have been photoshopping and video-editing themselves to remove flaws, to appear tanned, to trim themselves with all the latest photo-editing tools. And so, they are really a fake. But they look real enough. But it is not the real authentic them.
You know that there is no one perfect, right? Either in body or in life-choices. We have to accept the bodies we are in. The desire for beauty, the lust of the eyes, can lead down places you should never tread and get attention that is unwanted. I really want to get this over to you all. How you appear is not the most important thing about you. If so, I really am in trouble.
I’ve had this stomach since I was about 25. It expands and shrinks but this is my basic shape. I could go on a diet and probably should but this is me. Perhaps, for health, we should be more careful but this should not be something that takes over our lives. But is this how you should judge yourself or others? We have gone too far about our outward show. We should not be depressed and down about these things. God’s perspective of these things, as you would expect, is different to ours:
How about these verses from
Isaiah 3:16–26 (NKJV)
16 Moreover the Lord says:
“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
And walk with outstretched necks
And wanton eyes,
Walking and mincing as they go,
Making a jingling with their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
And the Lord will uncover their secret parts.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery:
The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents;
19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;
20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;
The perfume boxes, the charms,
21 and the rings;
The nose jewels,
22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses,
23 and the mirrors;
The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
24 And so it shall be:
Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;
Instead of a sash, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, baldness;
Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
...
And she being desolate shall sit on the ground.
Pride can come with beautifying oneself and for the women of Jerusalem this did not turn out so well.
As for judging by appearances. We all do it. There’s even a famous example of this by a very wise man who was a prophet:
1 Samuel 16:1–13 (NKJV)
1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”...
4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. ...Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
Did you notice that part in there: 1 Sam 16:7 “7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.””
We are told earlier:
1 Samuel 13:14 (NKJV)
14 ...The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people...”
And told about in the New Testament
Acts 13:22 (NKJV)
22 ...He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
Notice that God notices the heart but we look at the outside. It reminds me of what Jesus said:
Matthew 23:25 “25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.”
God sees the heart and so Peter tells us
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
Again, God sees the heart but we cannot. We have to reserve judging on the outward appearance. All is not what it seems. Those who are poor in the world could be those who are rich towards God.
Indeed, is this not what verse 5 of our passage says?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
It is too easy to dishonour someone who is poor. I think that is what the God TV channels do. They dishonour the faith of those who are poor by making out it is our right as Christians to be rich with this world’s goods and have your best life now. But that is not what the chapter on faith says, is it?
Hebrews 11:35b-39 (NKJV)
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.
Who here wants to claim the promise of destitution or homelessness? Is this their best life now? What rubbish! The prosperity teachers have a lot to answer for especially that of fleecing the poor and vulnerable. But what about you and I? Are we quick to make assessments of others before knowing them simply of the basis of looks?
We have to be very careful, then, not to judge ourselves or others simply on outward appearance. If we were poor would we want people judging who we are by what we wear? Are we more clever, morally superior if we are richer or have a particular taste in fashion? Of course, this does not mean we are to wear whatever we like. But it is our character that is more important.
What is going on in our heart is more important than clothes or jewellery or other accessories like cars and houses. What of all the beautiful people and influencers? How will that help when you are dead and face to face with God and facing Hell as your eternal home? It will be full of people like these. Being rich or poor is not what makes us right with God.
Today, we discriminate against the rich as if they are the reason for all oppression. This is a Marxist idea that has no place in the Church or Christianity, as is the idea that everyone is either an oppressor or a victim. We have to remember who is the richest Person of all. And that is God. And we all have personal responsibility whatever our so-called status or class. So, let us not discriminate or show partiality to either the rich or to the homeless. The poor and the rich are both our neighbours.
Jesus was rich who made Himself poor so that we could be rich. This same Jesus who had nowhere to lay His head. What does that mean? It means, that at times He was homeless, and the riches He was talking about? Paul answers this by saying we have every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3).
And it would seem that those who are the have nots are more open to spiritual things and to God and to the Gospel for they have to rely upon God for their needs.
And so, what is required of us? We are told in verse 8: to love our neighbour as ourselves. We know the first part of that, right? To love God with all our soul, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength. We heard this last week.
By showing favour more to one person than another is to break this command. God sees and will judge us according how we judged others. As Christians we still have a judgement to come and we should live in full expectation of it. Everything will be judged. Loss and gain of reward is the result. What of our works will last?
But let us not think that showing partiality is something to be taken lightly for James equates it with murder and adultery. You wouldn’t break the law here and so you shouldn’t with discrimination.
We have to be careful how we judge. Make sure it is with mercy for it is God who was rich in mercy towards you that gave you forgiveness of sin and eternal life at the cost of the blood and life of Jesus. We are guided now by the Holy Spirit who has given us freedom to be led by Him and fulfil the law of freedom and give mercy as we have received it. For the law we now obey is love.
So, stop being so consumed with how you look or how others look. So many are caught up in celebrity culture and the me culture but Christians should be putting God first. The world’s culture is not something we should take for our own. We are told
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Pray, instead, for a heart after God. Take your eyes off yourself. Take your eyes of others. Put your eyes on Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. This world matters little, so do all you can to gain a better resurrection by following in Jesus’ steps who reached out to lepers and those in need whilst at the same time could luncheon with the rich. To be comfortable with both those who are refugees and with royalty. To not favour one above another. To love as we would want to be loved.
And then, when we have to give an account, the mercy we have shown to others will be shown to us, and that mercy will overcome judgment when we are there before Christ,
Who, in verse 1, is declared to be the Lord, the One in charge of the universe whose name is Jesus, our Saviour who came into the world to be among us and save us, who is most glorious in appearance that He shines brighter than the sun, who is God over all, and He has revealed Himself to us if we would receive Him into our lives trusting Him completely that His grace is sufficient for us to bring us home to Heaven to be with Him forevermore. Amen.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Ellsworth, Roger, Opening up James, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2009)
Gaebelein, Arno C., The Annotated Bible, Volume 9: James to Revelation (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009)
Guzik, David, James, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013)
Hughes, R. Kent, James: Faith That Works, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991)
Radmacher, Earl D., Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999)