Don't Play Favorites

Good morning. So this morning I get the privilege of

introducing the gentleman who is going to bring our message.

And this isn't his first time, but Zach Clark is

going to be bringing our message this morning. A'man most

of you know him. You know I'm excited for Zach.

One thing about him that is clear over the many

years that I've had the opportunity to co labor and

ministry with him is his heart for God's Word and

his heart to disciple people, equipping them to be more

effective Christians who love God's Word and love one another.

And so I know this morning that that will be

reflected in the message that he brings this morning. Welcome Zach.

Thank you.

Just spread appreciating.

Good morning everybody. It is a privilege and a joy

to be with you today. I don't get to do

this very often, so I'll take it while I can

get it. I love this church, amen, Amen, I love

the people, love this church. Many, so many of you

have had a tremendous impact on my life, my family's life,

our two boys, our new little daughter. I'm blessed to

be a part of this body. So thank you, thank

you for having me this morning. Let's grab our bibles.

I want to take us back. I admit I don't

want to cause any controversy. But back in the day

for me was like fifteen twenty years ago. All right,

so I'm an eighties baby. It's just kind of the

way it goes. But do you remember back in the

day the old pick up football game or the pickup

basketball game or volleyball game. As a guy who loves

I participated in my fair share of those.

And we had a blast.

But in order to have a blast and have a competition,

you have to have teams.

Right, how do you do that?

Well, you pick a couple captains by popular demand. You

pick those captains, and everybody lines up on the volleyball net.

In this case, I don't know, tallest, the shortest, whatever, Right,

they just line up on the net, and the captains

have the responsibility to do what They have a responsibility

to pick the team because that team captain, along with

their team, wants to win. Right, we want to win.

So we don't exactly pick our team by those people

who are the most kind or enthusiastic or charitable. No no, no, no, strongest, tallest, fast,

most competent. That's who goes first? Everybody with me?

So far? Okay? How brutal is that? Brute? Horrible? Horrible?

We still do it. I'm confident we still do it today.

It's how it works. I don't know.

You'd think there'd be an app by now that you

know you could just randomize names and split everybody up.

But that's how it worked back in the day. Some

kids were always last, right standing there as we eyed

them with half hearted enthusiasm, already calculating that they wouldn't

be adding much to the team.

How'd that make them feel terrible?

I feel so terribly now about that. For those kids,

it wasn't just a game. They were told time and

time again, over and over that they didn't measure up,

they were less than, they.

Didn't cut it. Here's the thing.

How often do we bring that same brutal mentality into

other areas of life, even if it's just subtly. We

size people up, sometimes without even realizing it. We look

at what they can do for us, how they'll make us,

look what kind of influence they might have, and we

act accordingly, showing preference to those we think our best,

disregarding those that don't fit the image.

We're looking for.

It might not be a basketball court, but we're all

still picking our.

Teams, choosing who gets our time, our.

Attention, respect based on criteria that serve ourselves. James warns

us against this very favoritism, reminding us that in God's eyes, every.

Person has inherent worth and value.

Our mission is not to win in life by aligning

with the most influential, is to reach everyone without partiality,

as Jesus would. Christ calls us to look beyond appearances,

beyond social status, beyond what a person can offer us,

and to.

Love them like he loves us. Amen.

The author of this book is not surprisingly James, the

brother of Jesus.

For you chosen fans out there, that's little James. Okay,

all right.

What's important is most likely he's writing to a group

of Jewish house churches outside of Palestine.

Okay, so keep that in mind.

Let's read this together, James two one through thirteen, My brothers,

show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord,

Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. 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

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, stand

over there, or sit down at my feet? Have you

not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with

evil thoughts?

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.

But you have dishonored the poor man.

Are not the rich ones who oppress you, the ones

that drag you into court? Are they not the ones

who blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called.

If you really.

Fulfill the royal law according to scripture, you shall love

your neighbor as yourself. You are doing well, But if

you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted

by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole

law but fails in one point has become guilty of

all of it. 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.

So speak and so act as those who are to

be judged under the law of liberty. Judgment is without

mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs

over judgment.

This is God's word. Amen.

So verse one brings us to the first point. That's

the command. The command is very clear. My brothers, show

no partiality. As you hold the faith in our Lord

Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, show no partiality. As Christians,

we are not to be partial to any one group

or type of person. We are to be impartial. Don't

play favorites. We shouldn't care about one group more than another.

Our actions should not be based upon the superficial, but

upon the eternal.

Humans.

We're clique creatures. Agreed, We're destined to group up in

dissimilar likes and dislikes.

Races, beliefs, classes, really anything that makes us feel good, liked, important,

doesn't really matter.

We find those people and we group up. It's human nature.

Apart from Christ, we naturally move away from loving others

and into self serving relationships.

Look at the second half of this verse.

As you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,

to the Lord of Glory Christians.

He's speaking to us Christians.

We are called by the Lord of Glory to be impartial.

This is part of the deal. As believers. James is

calling his audience to something greater with eyes that are

focused on eternity.

Everyone is a first round draft.

Pick two, corny, that's right, they'll be more, they'll be more. Okay,

we clear on the command pretty straightforward. Where does James

move next? He gives us an example. That's the second point.

The example verses two through four starts out, for if

a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes

into your assembly, stop there.

Assembly.

The meaning of assembly is important to our understanding of

this text. Remember, James is writing to churches, and therefore

he's speaking to church gatherings or assemblies.

Keep that in mind as we continue.

Okay, For if a man wearing a gold ring and

fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man

in shabby clothing comes in, 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 stand over there, sit down at

my feet, have you not then made distinctions among yourselves

and become judges with evil thoughts. James contrasts our hypothetical

response to a poor man versus a rich man coming

into our church?

How do we respond? How do you respond? Well? Today?

It might be a Porsche or a Rolex instead of

a gold ring that gives away the wealth of a person.

Or it might be simply someone who dresses like a

million bucks versus somebody in shabby clothing, like the text says.

Although James seems to be heavily focused on the outward

actions of a Christian throughout this book and specifically this

chapter the text this morning, his instruction is targeted at

the heart, So the question becomes, who is your heart

drawn to in this scenario? Does Jesus' example of sitting

with sinners and tax collectors come to mind? Do you

love people more than you love yourself? Trust me, I'm

preaching to myself as well. I've been working in this

text all week. I've had my fair share of repentance

before the Lord.

Do you value what God values.

The person that was made in God's image.

And love them like Christ has loved us?

Are you intentional about showing kindness and understanding to people

who are struggling even if.

They don't meet societal expectations.

Do you avoid jumping to conclusions about people based on

stereotypes or gossip?

How about this? We enter every conversation with the.

Recognition that we can learn something from It doesn't matter

the situation, who the person is. Approach it with humility,

as Christ would. One of my constant heart battles many

of you know me, probably too well by now, is

the fear of man and choosing the fear of man

over the fear of God. I confess that my heart

tends toward thinking about how my interaction with that person

might affect my relationship with the in crowd those people.

What a wretched perspective, What a wretched man that I am?

Just blatant, self serving looking out for Number.

One, Let's put it into a different context.

We have quite a few students here.

Imagine a professor or teacher who grades not only based

on accuracy and performance.

But also factors in good looks and likability.

The more attractive and friendly students will inevitably get higher grades,

even if the other students do just as well. Sound good, No,

What if a hiring manager who has two qualified candidates for.

The position in question.

But one of them is a good friend, and even

though his friend is less qualified by any objective measurement,

he hires the friend blatant favoritism on display.

How do these situations make you feel? Gross? Right, It's

not how life should be, Praise God. That's not how

he operates.

His desire is that all should repent and turn to him.

His saving plan completely disregards status or money, or beauty

or anything else that.

This world holds precious.

So the example is in the context of the church,

but the application goes way beyond the walls of this building. Amen,

this text is very clear. We are called to impartiality.

Why why why are we called the partiality? What's the reason?

That's the next point, the reason Versus five through seven. 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.

But you have dishonored the poor man? Are not the rich?

The ones who oppress you and the ones who drag

you into court? Are they not the ones who blasphem

the honorable name by which you are called the poor

have been chosen by God to be rich in faith,

named as heirs of the kingdom. Does that mean that

if you're poor, you're inherently righteous. No, We're all equally

in need of a savior. Matthew five three says, blessed

are the poor in spirit the humble. For theirs is

the Kingdom of Heaven. Later in Matthew twenty five, Jesus says,

and the King will answer them. Truly, I say to you,

as you did it to one of the least of these,

my brothers, you did it to me, referring to the

most vulnerable, the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned.

What a profound call from Christ.

When you care for the needy, it is though you

are caring for Christ himself. Not only are we to

strive to be impartial towards the poor, but inherently this

text is saying you're called to be like them. God

has chosen the poor to be rich in faith, and

God wants his people, his body, to be rich in faith.

And here are just a few ways that just the

Book of James might be Consider what being rich in

faith looks like.

Praying James one, praying.

Asking God in faith for the things that we need.

Also in James one, remaining steadfast under trial. Also in

James one being doers of the word and not merely

hears James five singing praise, confession of sin, rich in

relationship with the Lord, Rich communing with the Lord through

prayer and fasting, trusting God for provision and health even

when life's circumstances are hard.

Rich in faith.

James is also very pragmatic here, says the rich dudes

are the ones who oppress you.

Although this isn't the reason.

It's a reason that James gives here in the text

to show impartiality. They're the ones who sue you and

make you spend the precious money you do have on

lawyers and court fees.

Not to mention, they are the ones who tend.

To blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ. James isn't pulling

any punches here. Those rich people the ones that we

want to hold in high esteem and give special treatment to.

They're often are very real adversary. No, every rich person,

just like the poor, is not like this, of course not.

But James is speaking to a very specific.

Situation in those congregations that he's writing this letter to

This was a big issue later on in James. In fact,

he gives an absolutely brutal warning to the rich in

chapter five which explained some of the ways that the

rich have oppressed the poor. Again in this context, let

me read it because it helps us understand this passage

and what James is driving at. Here says five to one,

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries

that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and

your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded,

and their corrosion will be evidence against you, and will

eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure

in the last days. Behold the wages of the laborers

who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud,

are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters.

Have I've reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on the earth and luxury, and in

self indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day

of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.

He does not resist you.

Ouch.

So the presence of partiality was so rampant in churches

at that time that James.

Holy spirit compelling him to write this dire warning may

not be true of us. Church may not be true

of us.

We also know that in Matthew nineteen, Jesus said this, Truly,

I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich

person enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, I tell you

it is easier for a camel to go through the

eye of a needle than for a rich person to

enter the Kingdom of God. The rich have a much

harder time seeing their need for Christ. The poor, on

the other hand, much more quick to recognize their need,

much more quick to depend upon the Lord. If God

has blessed you with abundance in possessions and resources, this

is a warning.

To you.

Evaluate your actions. How are you treating those less fortunate?

Do your business practices line up with scripture? Do your

compensation packages for employees express the generosity and.

Care we are called to as Christians.

Maybe it's not as blatant as what we read in

James five, but think about even subtle ways that a

heart of stinginess and pride might be creeping in to

your mind and heart. Again, the irony here is that

the rich are to be like the poor. More specifically,

we're called to be like the one who is poor

in possessions. Yes, But more importantly, he was perfectly impartial.

Christ showed love and care to all, no matter their background,

no matter their standing. He wanted to see everyone come

to faith. That's our mission, that's our goal as believers.

Acts ten thirty four and thirty five says this. So

Peter opened his mouth and said, truly, I understand that

God shows no partiality. But in every nation, anyone who

fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

Amen. So how does James further instruct us here? That

brings us to the last point, the call?

What is James calling us to Verses eight through thirteen.

If you really fulfill the royal law according to scripture,

you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing well.

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and

are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps

the whole law but fails in one point has become

guilty of all of it. 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. So speak and so act

as those who are to be judged under the law

of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who

has shown no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgment. You may

have noticed that James in this chapter and this text

and elsewhere in James, he tends toward a heavy handed

approach to exhortation. Agreed, don't do this, don't do that, fire, slaughter, corrosion, condemnation.

In verse eight we see James almost begrudgingly using encouraging language.

If you really fulfill the royal law, ing to scripture,

you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You're doing well,

You're you're doing pretty good. Why is he communicating this way?

What's he trying to get across to us? James is admonishing.

He's trying to up the level of importance in our

minds in regards to partiality. Before we look at verse

eight any further. The weight of the sin of partiality

is laid out starting in verse nine. But if you

show partiality, James says that if we fail, and even

just one point of keeping the law that we are

guilty of all of it. I would guess that most

of us would put the sin of partiality in the

safe sins category, right, acceptable sins. This is one of

those sins that we probably wouldn't be super scared about

sharing in small group mutual ministry.

Fair fair, Truthfully, it's probably.

One of those sins that we probably don't even think

about mentioning ever, because it's not ever talked about.

It's so safe we might not.

Even really see it as needing.

To be confessed. James is setting us up.

He wants to elevate partiality in our minds and hearts

to the proper level of seriousness. For whoever keeps the law,

the whole law, but fails in one point has become

guilty of all of it. For he said, for Hughes 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.

Wait, wait, wait, partiality is the same as murder adultery?

Really well, it's obviously not the same sin, and it

definitely doesn't have the same temporal consequences.

But in God's eyes. Even just the safe sin.

Of partiality breaks relationship with the Lord.

And condemns our souls. All sin is serious.

It's like there's a chain that connects us to God

and each link represents a command. If we break any

one of those commands.

We're separated from God.

We don't have a chain for each command we break

a command.

We still got nine others holding us up. Right. We

know this is how it works.

But for me, when a safe sin like partiality is

set side by side with murder, it gets my attention,

and James wants to get your attention as well. But God,

in his great mercy, sin Christ to be the payment

for all of our sin.

What makes his payment acceptable to God?

Well, Christ has not failed in even one point of

the law. He is the sinless lamb that was slaughtered

for the sake of sinners like you and me. He

was here on earth as man, selflessly loved and served

all types of people, perfectly impartial. If you're here today

and you don't know this Jesus, you can turn to him,

turn from your sin, come to him.

And he's a merciful God.

He will accept your humble repentance no matter what the

sin is grab any one of the pastors leaders of

this church and love to talk to you about it.

More So, this brings us to.

The point that text for James clearly lays out the

call so speak and so act as those who are

to be judged under the law of liberty in verse twelve,

for judgment is without mercy to one who has showed

no mercy.

Mercy triumphs over judgment.

So first, what does James mean by the law of liberty.

He actually uses the same phrase in the preceding chapter,

chapter one, in verse twenty five, it says, but the

one who looks into the perfect law, the law of

liberty and perseveres, being no hero who forgets, but a

doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James is intentionally using the juxtaposition of law and liberty

to communicate that things are different now. The law is

now coupled with the perfect liberty that is found in Christ.

There's freedom in Christ because He has perfectly fulfilled the law.

This was mind blowing to that early church. Right James

is driving at home. So the law of liberty is

actually referring to the Gospel. We are to be judged

under this new law of liber Praise God, and then

the rubber meets the road. For judgment is without mercy

to one who has shown no mercy, Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We're called to mercy just as we have been shown mercy.

Christ has taken.

On himself what we deserve.

And I can't help but think about the parable of

the unforgiving servant in Matthew. A king forgave a servant

who owed him an enormous sum of money, probably could

never have paid it off in his life. The king

showed mercy and forgave that servant. Well, that servant, forgiven

a massive sum, turned around and apparently forgot that he

was just shown mercy, and he grabbed his fellow servant

by the neck and said, pay me my ten bucks.

Needless to say, that king was not happy with the

forgiven s and judgment had no mercy based on his

lack of mercy. So the same principle applies here. We've

been shown great mercy. Let that same mercy be shown

to those who are less fortunate. Ask God to give

you gracious and compassionate hearts for others.

Let's jump back up to verse eight as we wrap

this up. If you really fulfill.

The royal law according to scripture, you shall love your

neighbor as yourself.

You are doing well. This is the royal law. Love love.

That's our calling, loving others like we love ourselves. God

knows we don't have a problem loving ourselves. We're all

pretty good at that. We love ourselves fully. We're called

to love others regardless of who it is. Christ loved

and loves his enemy. He died for, even the ones

who nailed him to the cross, and that should shape

how we live.

When someone new comes into your small group, what do

you think? Hope he's cool. Hope he's not awkward. You know,

we don't want that in our group.

Hope he doesn't have a lot of problems, because that

would really disrupt the good thing that we've got going

on right here right. If these are your first thoughts,

trust me, I've been there. We have to go to

the Lord in repentance, asking him for the help to

see others as opportunities for love.

Regardless.

Although our church has many wonderful, loving people, we can

still be drawn into clicks only talking and fellowshipping with

those we have the most in common with, or are

the most comfortable with.

I get it.

It's impossible to be friends with everybody. Thankfully that's not

what we have to do. But we are called to

be the family of God with everybody. So let's work

as a church to broaden the circle of conversations on

Sunday and elsewhere, to include those you haven't met with,

don't know, maybe don't have in common much at all,

don't look like you broad in your circle. Maybe small

group or church isn't where you struggle. Maybe it's at work, school,

Jim Sports, Pray that God would give you eyes to

see your fellow man as a sufferer just like you,

just like me, and reach out to show them the

love of Christ.

Or very timely.

What about the neighbor who has the opposing political parties candidates.

Sign in their front yard? How does that change the

way you might think about them? I know I wrestle

with it in my heart too.

A little self reflection is of great use in our

pursuit of holiness. We all have mixed motives, of course,

but our striving should continue to be focused on becoming

like the one that showed perfect love and courtesy toward others.

We're going to ask the band to come up now,

But I want to leave you with this Praise God

that the election is over.

Now we don't have to worry about seeing political ads

every thirty seconds, right, and be done with that for.

At least a couple of years. So happy that's over.

But as we move forward, how can we as Christians

keep the main thing?

The main thing? Our mission is not political.

It doesn't hinge on who's in the White House or

the economic environment.

Our mission, our purpose.

Is straight from Christ himself in Matthew twenty eight, nineteen

and twenty. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and the Son

and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all

that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with

you always, even to the end of the age. This

mission calls us to be impartial in our interactions with

one another. We're to make disciples of all nations, reaching

out to everyone with the love of Christ, regardless of background, status,

political leanings, personal differences, or preferences. Just as Jesus didn't

discriminate in his ministry, we're called to reflect that same love,

treating each person with respect and fairness, no matter how

vehemently we might disagree with them.

Don't play favorites.

Let's remember that in God's kingdom, there are no first

round draft picks.

There's no last picks.

Every person is valued, every person is worthy of love.

Every person is called to be a part of his team.

We're made in his image. So as we go about

our lives, and we strive to put aside favoritism and

embrace a heart that sees each person as that image.

Baron equally in need of the Gospel.

And it's by God's grace alone that we can accomplish

this amen.