Sermon Tone Analysis

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message.

The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

Most of you have probably heard this adage before - or at least something very close to it:

You Can Easily Judge the Character of a Man by How He Treats Those Who Can Do Nothing for Him

The quote has been attributed to a number of people, including Ann Landers, Abigail van Buren, Charles Spurgeon, and Malcom Forbes, but no one really knows for sure where it originated.

But it is certainly a pretty good summary of the passage we’re going to look at this morning.

Tension

If I were to be able to spend a day with any of you without you knowing I was there, I think I would be able to determine pretty quickly how well you live by the principles we’re going to study today by observing how differently you treat those who can do something for you compared to how you treat those who can’t:

If you went to the doctor’s office, I’d look to see if you treated the receptionist and the lab technician and the medical assistant with the same respect you showed to the doctor.

If you went to a restaurant, I’d watch how you treated the server and the busser and see how that compared to the way you responded to the chef when he came through the dining room.

If you went to the grocery store, I’d see how you treated the cashier who was dealing with long checkout lines.

If you went to the bank to apply for a loan, I’d watch to see how you treated the teller compared to the way you treated the loan officer who was going to make the decision about your loan.

If you went to Jim Click to get your car serviced, I’d want to see how you treated the service manager or the mechanic and see how that compared to the way you responded to Jim Click when he wandered through the waiting room.

And if I accompanied you to church, I’d watch to see how you treated those who are different than you - those who are older or younger than you, those who are of a different race, those who dress differently than you, or who have tattoos or piercings that you don’t approve of, those who drive a more expensive, or less expensive, car than you drive.

That last example is the one James is going to address specifically in the passage we’ll study today.

Truth

So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to James chapter 2. This is the fourth message in our current series - Faith Works.

So far, James has addressed how to handle trials, how to triumph over our temptations and shown us why good intentions alone are not enough.

In each of those sections, James has given us one primary command and then provided a lot of practical guidance on how to apply that command.

He uses that same structure in today’s passage and we’re going to see that main command right off the bat.

The main command is obvious - “show no partiality”.

Based on the form of the verb used there, we could accurately translate the command “Stop showing partiality!”

In other words, James is addressing an ongoing problem among his Jewish Christian brothers.

The word translated “partiality” in verse 1 literally means “to receive a face”.

It conveys the idea of making a judgment about someone and deciding how to treat them based on outward appearance.

I’m sure we’d all like to think that we don’t do that - either individually or as a church.

But the reality is that this is something we all have a tendency to do.

Every day we make judgments about people based on external factors - their appearance, the way they dress, the car they drive, the talents and abilities they have.

But as we clearly see here, that is not something that we are to do as disciples of Jesus.

But rather than phrase today’s main idea in negative terms, I’d like to turn it around and make it much more positive:

Genuine faith causes you to love everyone equally

Before we move on, I need to clarify what I mean with this statement.

Sometimes it is appropriate to treat people differently because of who they are or the position they hold.

For instance, I will make no apologies when I give more attention to my wife than I give to any of you.

Because of her position as my wife she has a higher priority when it comes to my time and attention.

The same is true with my children and grandchildren.

You and your family don’t have an equal claim to my time and attention as they do.

So if you come to me and want to schedule a meeting at a time when I’ve already committed to go on a date with my wife or go watch one of my grandkids’ games and I say we’ll have to do it another time, that is not the kind of partiality James is addressing here.

We see that clearly with the illustration James uses here.

Two visitors show up to church.

I’m going to take a little artistic liberty here and make this a little more current.

One of the visitors pulled into the parking lot in his Tesla.

He got out of his car and was very well dressed and had a nice gold chain, a Rolex and some fancy rings on his fingers.

And when the greeters saw him they immediately introduced him to the pastors and elders.

They cleared out part of the back row, since for many in our times, those are the prime seats, and they seated him and brought him a fresh cup of coffee, served in a real mug instead of a paper cup.

And they told all the families with kids to make sure they didn’t bother him.

The other visitor pulled into the lot in an older model car that seemed to be held together with bailing wire and duct tape.

And it was pretty obvious that he bought his clothes from Goodwill.

He had several tattoos and body piercings and it smelled like he could use a bath.

So the greeters tried to whisk him off to a corner where no one would see him and once the service started, they suggested he might be more comfortable watching from the lobby.

Both of those visitors have a right to be treated equally.

But they are judged according to their outward appearance and treated much differently.

And that is inconsistent with genuine faith in Jesus.

James helps us avoid engaging in that kind of partiality in two significant ways:

First, he is going to show us why partiality is such a “big deal”

Then he is going to reveal the motives behind such partiality and show us how to recognize and deal with those motives effectively so that we don’t engage in that sin.

WHY PARTIALITY IS SUCH A “BIG DEAL”

It violates the character of Jesus (v. 1)

Even though James was likely Jesus’ half brother, he refers to Jesus here as “the Lord of glory”.

James uses that description to call attention to two important ideas:

Compared to the glory of Jesus, every person is a sinner who needs to experience the grace of God and therefore we are not in a position to judge others, especially not merely based on outward appearances.

It pictures the future return of Jesus in power and glory to judge the earth.

James is pointing out that Jesus alone has the ability to judge others justly because He is able to judge the heart and not just the outward appearance.

So when we engage in the practice of judging others, especially when that judgment is based on outward appearances, we are essentially usurping the role that God has reserved for His Son, Jesus.

Before we leave this principle, I need to point out that avoiding partiality does not mean we are never to make judgments within the body of Christ.

Some people have taken this and other passages out of context and tried to make the case that we are never to make judgments about others.

However, the clear teaching of Scripture reveals that we not only have a right, but actually a responsibility, to make judgments about those who are part of the body of Christ.

Here’s what Paul wrote about that:

Within the church, we are to judge those who are living in open, consistent, unrepentant sin.

But even then, we are not to do that based on external appearances, but rather by making an evaluation of their lives based on God’s Word.

It violates the sovereignty of God (vs.

2-7)

The key point here is found in verse 5 where James asks, “...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 clearly stressing the sovereignty of God here.

It is God, in His complete sovereignty, who chooses us to be part of his kingdom completely apart from anything that we have done to merit such a great gift.

So partiality is a big deal because when we engage in it, we are guilty of violating the sovereignty of God by rejecting those whom He has chosen.

It violates the law of God (vs.

8-11)

James’ readers were guilty of violating God’s command to love their neighbor as themselves.

James calls that command the “royal law” primarily because it is the law that governs the kingdom of God.

When Jesus was asked what is the most important command, He replied:

So the command to “love our neighbor as ourselves” is also the royal law because it is second only to the command to love God and along with that command, it rules over all the other commands.

For those who were tempted to think that partiality just wasn’t that big of deal, James points out that it is just a bad as the sins of murder or adultery.

In some ways it could even be more harmful than those sins because it can be a barrier that keeps people from coming to faith in Jesus and becoming a part of His kingdom.

Application

HOW TO LOVE EVERYONE EQUALLY

Remember who I was

We just said that the sin of partiality is just as bad as any other sin.

But let’s step back for a moment and take a look at the even bigger picture.

We are reminded here that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace.

At one time every single one of us were slaves to sin and in need of a Savior.

Paul provided this reminder to the church in Ephesus:

At one time every single one of us was dead and we could do nothing to bring ourselves back to life.

Like the rest of mankind, we were deserving of God’s wrath.

So whenever I’m tempted to judge someone else, I need to remember that without Jesus I am no better than they are.

Before I put my faith in Jesus I was in exactly the same boat they were and that is true regardless of how different we might look on the outside.

So I need to constantly remember that I am just as undeserving of the gift of God’s mercy and grace as the most offensive person I know.

I need to remember that without God’s gift of salvation I would be just as offensive to God as the homeless man on the corner, or the prostitute, or the drug dealer, or even a lawyer or politician.

Check my motives