A Man Named James | Part Two

Thank you for listening to the color critic podcast.

I want to thank the church for uh praying for my dad, Pastor David.

Um, he's been in the hospital last week.

He had to go into the hospital, and he was dealing with a combination of different uh issues related to his health, uh, his lungs, his heart, his kidneys, uh, his organs just in general.

He was in a really depleted state.

And as uh many of you know, last year he uh developed uh lung damage, presumably from the smoke in the Okanagan.

And it impacted his breathing, impacted uh some uh created some collateral damage in his uh uh coughing and in his lungs, creating coughing spasms.

And last week as he went into the hospital uh to deal with some of his challenges, um, to his lack of breath and the pain that was uh happening in his chest, he was there for about four days and um at his heart rate was continuous at about 160 beats a minute for four days.

It went as high at one point as 190 um beats per minute, which is quite high.

It's like running a full marit, it's like running really hard, or one of the guys in the office just said, you know, when they bike, um when they hit one of those hot, those really hard hills, their heart rate just pumps up, and and uh a resting heart rate is probably about 60 beats a minute.

That's like what mine would be.

And uh he's been running at that for about four days, and as you can imagine, the depletion in terms of mentally, uh, when you're when you're trying to sleep and your heart's racing that way, and the anxiety that brings to your your uh mental state and as well as just his health in general, they tried to treat the heart to try and bring it down to a normal resting rate, and uh it ended up creating kidney failure.

And so they changed that medicine, which thankfully they caught that quickly, and his kidneys began to repair.

But they were dealing with either a bacteria, bacteria, or a virus, and they didn't know what to treat, so they were just hitting him with everything and trying to take swabs and samples and all sorts of little things that they were trying to do to try and treat it.

And one of the antibiotics uh that they were trying had created that challenge.

But thankful, thank the Lord, is uh kidneys have begun to normalize.

And when the church began to hear of the challenge we were facing, it was incredible because they began to pray.

Amen.

That's what the church does.

The church, the Bible says, don't you know that the church is called to be a house of prayer?

It's a house of prayer for all people, for all nations, people everywhere should be able to find a place of prayer.

And uh local churches, yesterday I got a voice message over uh text uh from the pastor from Willow Park, Pastor Phil Collins, and he just sent me a message of the prayer they prayed for him at their service last night.

Um, there were churches all across Canada that were fasting and praying for him, and uh, we were just so appreciative for all the prayer and support.

Yesterday, uh decision was made for him to go ahead with the procedure that would virtually reboot his heart.

And I didn't get a message, like no one sent me an email or a text that this was gonna happen.

Um my mom said she texted, but I didn't see a text.

I think it was just like we got to do something to bring this his heart rate down, and nothing was working.

But they were starting to get really concerned because of his exhaustion, it was so severe.

And so what they did is they stopped his heart.

And uh when they stopped his heart, they they then rebooted it.

It's like you know, when you have a problem with the computer, you just unplug it and plug it back in, and there it works again, right?

Well, thank the Lord that they were able to uh do that.

And when he came back, when his heart began to beat again, it was beating at a normal 60 beats per minute.

So uh we thank the Lord for that.

We believe it's the first step to his recovery, and because that will have impact on his sleep, which will be able to help his lungs recover and his rest as he'll be able to rest.

And so I want to thank you for praying.

Um, I want to thank you for uh, you know, just holding faith with us, because throughout this process, you know, there will be moments where you just feel a little bit of that anxiety.

And I can tell you that today these songs were for me.

That in those times of trials, and this is just after I preach a message, and we've gone through the study in James where take joy, my brothers, when you experience trials and tribulations of all sorts and all kinds.

Remember that it's the Lord working this in you to bring about maturity.

So I feel like I've just grown enough, Lord, and through this last week, I am now mature.

I am now mature, says my my spirit team.

Um but I believe that uh we believe that God, like he was when we visited him on, I think it was Friday, Friday afternoon, he said his main concern was that he wants the Lord to do something in his body that will be an encouragement to the church.

Because the church needs to be aware that God does miracles.

Amen.

And that there's nothing too difficult for him, and that with God there's nothing impossible.

Nothing is too difficult, nothing is too hard for him.

With him, all things are possible.

So we want to thank God together.

Would you just give him a hand?

Thank the Lord for doing that.

Amen.

Uh, I've been so excited to see the church working together and uh going through the book of James together.

How many of you are enjoying the book of James here?

It's uh we've been doing it through our series and doing Bible studies together.

I have been hearing those stories of people doing it at home if it's around the kitchen table.

I've been walking into rooms and sometimes in offices, and people are having their own little Bible studies uh about this, their own study in James, and I believe that's a part of maturity.

The Bible says that if you're if you're mature, you're hungry.

You're hungering for meaty things.

And when I'm seeing the church hungry for the scripture, I say it's in a good, healthy space.

Amen?

And if you're if you're hungry and you're taking in the word, then you're healthy.

And if you're healthy, you're growing and you're maturing together.

So all healthy things grow and mature.

And in essence, this is the message of James.

He's saying, listen, church, don't get, don't resort, don't slide back, don't neglect the hard things.

It's the hard things that are gonna push you forward.

But the culture always wants to squeeze you in to a simplistic, kind of easy way of life where that isn't God intended.

God wants us to face trials and tribulations, not just bury our head in the sand.

God wants us to believe when it's hard to believe.

And sometimes our prayer has to be, Lord, help me in my unbelief.

Help me to believe these hard things, help me to have peace in difficult times.

Help me to step out onto the water and let me walk and let the and trust that you'll sustain me in this process.

The whole scripture of James is about teaching us to mature.

And sometimes we may look at our own life and say, Well, you know, I'm I'm quite mature, and then you realize when you read the book of James, you're realizing that, man, there's some things he's talking about that are really hitting home for me personally.

Issues that I have to face, that I'm still dealing with.

And it exposes the heart of a person to be able to become better.

The scripture is all about moving us from childlike faith to like a mature faith, a great faith.

Jesus said there are those who have little faith and those who have great faith.

And we want to be in the company of those who have great faith because when you have great need, you want to surround yourself with people who have great faith.

I'm so grateful for a church, honestly, in a in a culture today that's got a trend of people in churches that are really targeting demographics, which I think is wonderful that the message is going out to a demographic of people.

I really feel that the church is strengthened with the young and the old.

Because there are those who are young in their faith that have are really explosive and but almost like the Bible calls it new or naive.

It's just like we're just excited about our faith and our salvation.

And then you have those who are mature in their faith and teach you how to believe, teach you how to trust, teach you the word of the Lord and how what the word says, so that we're not just basing our faith on a feeling.

Because feelings tend to be temperamental, but the word of God stands the test of time.

The word of God is eternal, and when we trust with his word, we have something concrete that we can rely on.

Amen?

So we're growing in our faith, and as a church today, I look around and I see people that I grew up with.

As a young person in the church, growing in the church, I see people uh in the church today who are veterans of the faith.

Those in the church who are have carried it for a long time, who've gone through the seasons of challenge, though those those seasons of prosperity or the hilltops, and then those of the valleys, and they've moved their way through.

They've faced the giants and they've walked into promised land.

They've moved in, and I know Arnie's one of those.

Amen.

Yeah, Arnie is one of those.

A veteran of our faith.

The Bible says that in the that there are actually cheerleaders in heaven cheering us on to move forward in our faith.

They're cheering us on, they're saying, you can do it, you go for it, you reach that finish line.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

And sometimes it's like you're hearing that voice, you're like, I can do it.

I just don't want to do it.

No, get up and go for it.

But I failed, I've fallen, I've broken down, I've stepped back.

It's okay.

Get up and keep moving forward.

Because you've got a chorus of cheerleaders in heaven cheering us on.

Because they see something that we sometimes don't see.

They see the finish line, they see the promise and the reward, and so we keep keep going on.

So we hear about this, uh, this this message, and and we're hoping that as the church we grow deeper in the word and we grow stronger in the word by applying this message of James.

So let's look at James chapter two today.

I'm gonna look at the first section of this scripture as we're moving forward.

Some of you are taking the pace of scripture like at a really small pace, like some people are just finished chapter one in James, and they're just moving really slow verse by verse.

I think that's awesome.

Others of you are just moving right right through it.

It's just like nope, moving my way through.

I'm gonna pace myself and get through this book.

But I'm just encouraging you just to take it and just eat the word.

Just eat it.

Okay.

Let it bring life to you.

So, Father, we thank you for the word today.

We open up our hearts to receive it.

We believe it.

We believe we'll be better because of it.

And we thank you for your Holy Spirit imparting your wisdom and your truth to us.

We open up our heart, we say, Lord, speak to us as you as you would, Lord, to help us grow in our faith.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So James chapter 2, verse 1, it says this, my brothers and sisters.

James 2:1

Turn to your neighbor.

That means you.

That means you, brother, sister.

Again, he starts the chapter.

Chapter 1, he says, My brothers and sisters, and chapter 2, he starts it again.

Addressing them as family, addressing them as the church.

Uh, the implication is that with family, you don't live your life in exclusion.

We were never called to live independent Christianity.

We are called to live Christianity linked, arm to arm, a community of faith, having a common unity, moving forward together.

And our choices and our decisions are never all and never independent.

The Bible says when one is blessed, we're all blessed.

When one grieves, we all grieve.

When there's a celebration, we can all celebrate.

It's that spirit of unity that actually brings us together.

We're linked, we're connected, and we bleed and we battle together, we thrive, we survive together.

We're together.

And that's why the Bible says it's so important to love one another because guys, this is gonna be like these are the people you need to lean on around you.

Look down your row for a minute and just look eyeball to eyeball.

These are people you're leaning on.

You need to you need to pull in together with.

And the Bible, and James begins to share this scripture.

He says this, brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

I I gotta be honest with you, I never saw this as a real issue.

Favoritism, until it happens to you, right?

And then all of a sudden someone else gets chosen, you don't, you're like, what?

Like favoritism.

But the Bible actually speaks of this as a sin, the sin of partiality, the sin of showing favoritism.

And it is quite significant.

James talks about it as a sin that God hates, and I think most of us hate as well.

We hate the fact that uh that uh favoritism is is in culture today, it's in our hearts.

Like uh we have favorites, and each one of you is going to have to diagnose your own heart in this process, but it goes contrary to the nature of God.

It's a contrary, it's contrary to his character.

And the scripture actually talks a number of times about the fact that God does not show partiality, God does not have favorites.

So, mom, I'm your favorite child.

I have to, this is directed to you today to you as a message, but there are there are these sins that we encounter that are still in us that Paul or that James is saying, it's important that you recognize.

Uh Romans 12, it says that, or 2 and 11 says, God does not show favoritism.

It's pretty straightforward.

Ephesians 6 9 says, all are equal before him.

Colossians 3 25, there is no favoritism with him.

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Don't you wish God was favorite, like you were God's favorite?

We think, oh man, wouldn't it be great?

You know, you're God's favorite.

No, we're not.

You're just as favorite as the person you're sitting beside.

God doesn't love you any more than he loves me.

He doesn't dislove you, dislike you any more than he dislikes me.

His love for me is full.

His love for you is full.

He can't love me any more than he loves you.

We have the same measure of love.

God shows no favoritism.

Doesn't matter your color, doesn't matter your gender, doesn't matter your economic position, doesn't matter how famous you are, how many followers you have, God loves you the same.

Doesn't matter what you've done for 10 years, five years, one year, one day, your life, God loves you the same.

This is a huge message.

And this message, if God loves us that way, how ought we to love others in the same way?

And yet, what is in our heart that creates this favoritism?

There's a part of us that doesn't want to admit that even though we're glad it's not in God's character, it is in ours.

It's a horrible thing.

Honestly, it's it's a horrible thing once you get to see it.

Once you realize that you may not play favorites, but you give someone else the benefit of a doubt, the doubt, but you're not going to give this other person the benefit of the doubt.

That's favoritism.

A number of years ago, about six years ago, uh I had the opportunity to come in and just start serving and overseeing the House of Houses of Mercy, which is our food center.

We serve a big portion of the community that are the working poor or the people on the streets that just don't have food access.

And it was at a time when uh right now the services in clone are trying to bring more food centers into the Rutland area, but at that point in time, we were received, we had a lot of people that were just coming from the low-income areas around our neighborhood into our center.

And the first day I was there, the first day I was there, I had someone tear a strip out of me.

Person I didn't really know, they heard I was pastor, they rattled into the church.

I remember, do you remember that, Henry?

Do you remember that?

They rattled into the church, they rattled into me, they just tore a strip out of me, and they just said, This, but what the church ought to be and how the church ought to operate and how I wasn't doing my job, and how they were a better Christian than I was.

And I thought, oh my gosh, I I have I'm in the wrong place.

You guys were doing so well until I showed up.

And and I realized our house of mercy, our community of people serving are like the creme de la creme.

They just went out and they began to serve everyone the same.

They gave everyone the same dignity, everyone the same opportunity, everyone the same uh touch and love.

And the Bible says, like those who who they touched the untouchable, they went and they were embracing each one.

And I realized at that point in time I had had I had had a form of prejudice in my heart.

Lower income people, people on the street, the homeless, the mentally disabled, and the challenged.

And it took me a few weeks, took me maybe even a year to actually feel comfortable going into that environment where people were coming into our place, and they were coming with all their different styles and looks and language and talk and prejudices against me.

And they were they were coming in, and it became took me a while before I actually said, no, this is really important.

I dove in and I actually brought my kids and my family, and we just said, you know what, we're gonna serve in this community.

And now my kids go up and down the street and they see you know the members and clients in our food center that are like riding their bikes up and down Rutland.

They're like, hi Jim, hi Bob.

My kids know them name by name because I realized I was carrying something in my heart that needed to be dealt with.

Prejudice is ugly.

Favoritism is ugly.

It's not supposed to be there.

And what it really boils down to is actually a matter of judgment.

And judgment is not what we're qualified or called to do.

We're not called or qualified to pass judgment on others.

James was the brother of Jesus.

At our small group, it was probably, it was probably very sensitive.

This was a sensitive issue to James, because I can imagine, I can only imagine that in Jesus' home, Jesus was the favorite kid.

Like all of you others, we had, all of you other kids, you know, that you're great and all.

And, you know, you're our children, but Jesus actually, an angel came and told us that he's the Son of God, and he's to be in our home.

So we may have left him in Jerusalem for a week, but that was our error.

But if you're gone, you're gone.

Okay, James?

Like you're not, if it means putting Jesus at jeopardy.

Jesus was in this home.

And and James probably dealt with this element of favoritism.

It was partial, this place of partiality.

And at first he explains this.

He says, We're talking about the Lord of glory.

He says, we don't show favoritism when there's a God up there that is glorious.

We don't show favoritism because there's one who dwells with so much glory, like that our lives can't even compare.

The scripture says in Timothy that how can we compare ourselves?

How can we even show favoritism towards each other when really there's God and then there's man?

And the difference between those two is astronomical.

God is immortal, God is surrounded, as Timothy says, with in insurance surroundable light, like God is God, and man is man, and man can't even compare to God.

So what we're trying to do is we try to compare with each other.

And it's a dangerous thing for us to do.

It's a small-minded person that thinks we can compare man to man.

Because in the end of the day, in light of God's goodness, we all fall short.

We all uh there is no one good, even our best righteousness, the scripture calls, as filthy rags.

The best that we can do is nothing compared to how good He is.

So don't show favorites.

There's a distinction distinction that should that there should be God and man, and there shouldn't be anything else.

That should be the only distinction.

There is a God and there is a man.

And between men there are only equals.

You have a glorious God up there, and you have men down here, and humanity uh has a tendency to show favoritism.

Uh it's upsetting to me.

I sat with uh Pastor Sean, and I know uh Val's here with us today, and Sean was just sharing with me some of the challenges he's gone through in terms of the medical system in treating his liver cancer.

And he was saying, you know, the first question people ask is, how wealthy are you?

Because if you're really, really wealthy, there might be a cure for you.

It's favoritism.

It's an ugly thing, but the fact of the matter is that in humanity, we tend to look at what we can get from people and know what we can give to people.

And the fact is that in in our lives, we're not called to be the takers, we're called to be the blessers, the givers.

We're called to benefit those around us and bless those around us, and don't look at how we can take advantage and favor another person on top of another.

Jesus went about his days, he didn't choose who he ministered to.

He it didn't matter if they were man or woman, it didn't matter what what nationality they were from, it didn't matter what what gap they were in terms of the pay gap or the pay scale, he didn't look at their financial position, he didn't look at um what jobs they did or what religious background they were, Jesus treated each person equally.

And James is saying if you really want to mature, you got to start looking at treating people equally without showing any form of favoritism.

Favoritism is why all these things are sought after, oftentimes money, fame, prestige, because if you're if you're in that place where you have it, you're treated differently and you're considered more valuable.

If they're obtained, you'll have a better, you'll have a better and and more favorable experience.

And in life, they're separated between those who don't have and those who have.

And they aren't uh equally recognized.

And in general, people will give favor to people they feel that they will benefit from.

And that's why today is really such an incredible day.

You know what today is?

Remembrance day.

It's a Canadian uh holiday, uh, it's a Canadian day where we recognize in Canada those people who have who recognize the rights of all people, and those people who recognize the importance of peace and freedom in different lands and in different places.

And today we remember their sacrifice.

We remember men and women who wouldn't benefit directly from those they defended, but chose to stand up when others were being put down.

Even if it meant they left their families, they left comfort, they left home, they began to war on different soil in different lands.

But today marks a hundred years after the end of the First World War.

Did you know that?

Hundred years after the First World War.

And a war that really touched the whole earth.

Um, from that point to today, there's still Canadians that are fighting wars.

Um, they're fighting for the same peace and the same freedom for all people, and families and individuals are still being affected even today.

We'd like to think that the world is a better, perhaps wonderful to think it's a perfect place.

But the fact is that there are places in the world where favoritism is still there.

Favor different people of different religions and different backgrounds.

And the fact is that it required people who are willing to say, you know, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter your background, doesn't matter what country you're from or where you're from.

We believe in this in showing equal rights to all people, that each person needs a safe place to live, and each people needs to be able to have that freedom of conscience, a freedom to be able to live lives that they feel that they are called to live.

And this morning, uh we would like to publicly recognize anyone who's with us today who has spent time in service, and if you'd be so kind if you're in the church today as to stand so that we could recognize you and express our appreciation towards you.

Is there anyone here who served in the military?

Anyone who's been a part of serving?

I know my buddy Aaron Anthony has served in Afghanistan.

Anyone else here today?

Is there anyone here who's had family that has served in the military?

Would you stand with me today?

Everyone, just all to your feet in honor.

Many around the nation are gathering today, 100 years, November 11th, at 11 and 11.

And I'd like to take a moment as we're gathering this morning, and I'd like to take a minute of silence.

And I'd like to remember those lives that were given for our nation and for other nations.

And I'd like to close by reading a poem written by a songwriter and a musician, a friend of ours from Ontario, Derek Drover, who wrote a particular poem entitled A Prayer for Remembrance Day.

And during this moment of reflection and this minute of reflection, I'd like to encourage you just to take a moment and just to not only reflect on the lives that were laid down and were sacrificed, and those lives that continue to be sacrificed, but that you would look at your own heart and you would gauge your own heart in light of the words of James and just assess whether or not you can be more mature.

You can grow.

Grow together in terms of rooting out any route or any place of favoritism that you might have in the process and in the journey of actually reaching all people.

Because isn't that what we're called to do?

To be a blessing to all people.

Amen.

Just take this moment of silence.

Thank you.

Here's a prayer for remembrance day.

You can read with me on the slide.

Abiding forever, Father, Son, Spirit, it's with thanksgiving that we come before you in prayer.

Thankful for our country, Canada.

We are humbled by the sacrifice that so many have made and continue to make, so that we can live freely.

For their bravery and lives, may our citizens dwell in such a manner that would honor them.

Thank you, God, for giving your Son, that we may have an eternal home.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving your life, that through your death we may live.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for giving us help, that through your guidance we may help each other.

We stand on guard for our country of Canada.

We stand firm in the faith.

We remember that freedom did not come freely.

The cost can never be fully comprehended.

How great the price that was paid for us, lest we forget.

Amen.

Father, we thank you today for your presence with us.

We realize today, Lord, that we are just part of this great community, this great global community.

But we are all united in the fact that you've called us sons and daughters.

And today, Father, we look to you as the Father who gives every good and perfect gift, the one who gives us bread and not a stone.

The one who brings us healing and not further trouble.

We believe today, Father, for your hand to rest upon this church and on this city and on this nation.

Lord, as we move life forward, continuing to raise the standard of our faith that would show no favorites as you show no favorites, that we would lay our lives down for those who are oppressed, that we would lay our lives down for those who are unfairly treated.

And Lord, that we would stand on guard not only for our nation, but for other nations as well.

We ask for your comfort and your peace to be upon those whose families have lost, those whose this day brings a painful reminder of a lost one, loved one.

We ask, Lord, that you would comfort those who mourn.

And Lord, that you would give them the beauty for their ashes and the oil of joy for mourning.

Lord, we ask this in the name of Jesus.

We thank you, Father, for taking care of each of us and treating us all fairly and treating us without prejudice and choosing to be the giver of mercy instead of judgment.

Because we believe today's the word says that mercy triumphs over judgment, and you are the king of mercy.

And we receive it today, today with grateful hearts in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.