The Level Ground: Why Favoritism Has No Place at the Foot of the Cross

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:12:16] The joy and pleasure to be with you all here today and again if you've noticed that I've been away it's because I've been fulfilling the remainder of my paternity leave to get to be home with Jordan and the baby and if you didn't notice that I've been gone well then that's just really sad so but I just want to thank the church for the ability to be home and to take care of my first ministry and to get to see them spend some time with with Joe and and bonding with our seven month old who is now teething so if you hear her in the back just prayers for
[00:12:46] sanctification on our behalf and uh just uh it's a great time in the in the Camacho Greer house so keep us in prayer please and as we begin our time of worship today please join me in our call to
[00:12:57] worship from Psalm 146 you can read along in your bulletin or follow along on the screen happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help whose hope is in the Lord their God
[00:13:13] who made heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who gives justice to those who are oppressed and food to those who hunger.
[00:13:25] The Lord sets up the prisoners free.
[00:13:28] The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
[00:13:31] The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
[00:13:34] The Lord loves the righteous and he cares for the stranger.
[00:13:38] The Lord sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked.
[00:13:44] The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
[00:13:51] Hallelujah.
[00:13:52] And please join me now in our prayer of invocation.
[00:13:56] Blessed are those who put their trust in you, O God, our sure rock and refuge.
[00:14:03] Guard us from giving to any other the allegiance which belongs only to you.
[00:14:08] shine upon us with the brightness of your light that we may love you with the pure heart and praise you forever through jesus christ our lord amen please stand now as we sing our first

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:14:23] hymn in that spirit of rejoicing let us now affirm our faith to this creed now i would ask you oh

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:17:03] christian what is it that you believe i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried.
[00:17:24] He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
[00:17:29] He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:17:34] From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[00:17:37] I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. You may be seated.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:17:52] For a minute permission today, I would like, I would now like to invite Laura Wright to come

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:15] on up and share some of an event with us. Good morning, everyone. We are having a party,

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:35] and it's going to be put on by our prayer shawl team and we're making pillowcase dresses for the shoebox ministry come christmas time they're just a simple dress if anybody wants to to come and
[00:22:49] join us it's going to be on saturday march 21st from like 10 a.m to 3 p.m you can come and go as you please but we need people who can sew cut iron pin dresses clean up whatever everybody
[00:23:04] please come join us it's going to be a blast thank you and there's flyers in the parlor

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:23:12] thank you laura a couple of other announcements for us this morning there are some here in your bulletin so i won't read it word for word but same to live is this tuesday and sharon cope
[00:23:30] will be coming to do a demonstration for our participants and so if you haven't rsvp'd yet tomorrow it just helps to know how much food to make it'll be ten dollars for lunch 12 30 on in
[00:23:41] the fellowship hall again that's do you mind just raising your hand melissa thank you just in case you don't know who she is um the chili cook-off will be coming on march 1st 5 p.m in the fellowship
[00:23:54] hall it is a fun tradition and love getting to see all the competition of the different chilies and shout out to fred who says that white chili is not real chili i would disagree i love a good
[00:24:06] white chili so there will be a 50 50 raffle silent auction but reach out to trent newell or to or to David Ramey to sign up and they'll make sure you have a station set up and everything
[00:24:16] is good to go. I highly encourage you to participate. Wednesday night started off last week and I heard it was great and I'm sorry that I missed it, but I will be there here on out. This upcoming Wednesday, we will not have our classes. As we are following the
[00:24:31] Christian calendar, this week is the beginning of Lent. So Wednesday, we will be celebrating or having a service for Ash Wednesday. And so normally if you weren't here last year, we would have a dinner like a normal Wednesday night, but then we will come to the sanctuary
[00:24:45] afterwards and we will have a somber, more reflective service for Ash Wednesday. We'll sing some hymns, have some prayers, some scripture reading, I'll give a devotional.
[00:24:55] And then outside of communion that we will have, we will also do a participate, if you want to participate, putting on the ashes as a practice to remember our humanity, but also reflecting on Christ's humanity and what he has done for us. So I highly encourage you to come on Wednesday
[00:25:12] as we worship together. Laura Rumpel, our interim contemporary director, wanted to share as well that this upcoming Saturday, the 21st, she will be having a worship night in the 143 at 7 p.m.
[00:25:29] It was supposed to happen last year, but due to just unforeseen circumstances, it was rescheduled to this Saturday.
[00:25:34] But if you're wondering what it is, it is a worship night.
[00:25:37] She and many other students and other talented musicians will come and just lead in worship.
[00:25:42] There will be times of prayer and especially times of testimonies of people in our community, not just our church body, but around us that have witnessed the work of God in their lives and they'll get to share
[00:25:51] a bit of their lives.
[00:25:53] So I highly encourage you this Saturday the 21st at 7 p.m. And then lastly it is not on your bulletin then that is on me but we will be having a men's breakfast come February 28th on a Saturday and it's just a
[00:26:08] time for us as the men of the church to come together to fellowship over some breakfast and some coffee and also maybe together to vision what could men's ministry further men's ministry look like here at our church. So that'll be 9 a.m. Saturday February 28th. It'll be five dollars just
[00:26:24] to help cover the food but again highly encourage you to participate and more details will come as the days and weeks come so with that being said would you please join me now for a word of prayer
[00:26:35] be still my heart and know that god is the lord and search my heart god and know me test me and know my anxious thoughts see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way
[00:27:09] everlasting. Lord, we invite you here and now to be within us, to be with us, and around us.
[00:27:19] This service is yours, and we ask that you would please receive all our worship, our attention, and our hearts. Before we continue, I now invite you, church family, to silently confess your sins before our loving Father. Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,
[00:28:00] a sinner. Lord, I pray that you would be the God of mercy to us, because who could stand under your judgment? We look to you, Father, and beseech that you would have pity on these
[00:28:18] poor vessels, on these weak and frail bodies that are prone to wander, that are prone to sin and to follow our own way like lost sheep. So we come to you, Lord, confessing our sins to
[00:28:31] the one who will leave the 99 to chase after the one. And we pray, Lord, that when you find us over and over, we pray, forgive us. Cleanse our hard hearts. Restore our wayward minds.
[00:28:47] Show us grace in the midst of our pride and arrogance and selfishness. Forgive us, Lord, in the midst of our anger and how we treat our neighbor, our friends, our families, our strangers.
[00:29:03] Forgive us, Lord, when we have turned aside and given a cold shoulder to the widow, the poor, the orphan, and those in need around us.
[00:29:15] This day, Lord, there is much need around us, and there is a need within our hearts to be redeemed, to be refreshed by only the grace you can provide.
[00:29:28] Have mercy on us.
[00:29:32] But this day, I have words of life for you, all those within the hearing of my voice.
[00:29:39] The psalmist says that the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
[00:29:44] The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
[00:29:50] Jesus in his own word says that all those who come to me, I will never cast out.
[00:29:56] As we run to Jesus, as we proclaim his name and call upon him, his word tells us that he will answer us.
[00:30:06] He will restore us and save us and redeem us.
[00:30:09] and because of the blood he shed on the cross the ultimate sacrifice for all those who believe in his name we are called children of god and praise god we are forgiven hallelujah lord in this moment
[00:30:28] i lift up this congregation to you i lift up your people heavenly father to those that you have brought to this house today there are many here that have a wonderful season and joyful times and
[00:30:42] their homes, in their workspaces, among their communities. And for that, we simply say thank you, Lord. All good things come from your hands, and we are just grateful that people are safe, that they are okay, that they are resting, and they are joyful. We thank you, Lord, for these
[00:30:58] good things. On the other hand, there are many here, many whose hearts are burdened, whose lives are strained, who are struggling day in and day out. I don't know all the details, but you do.
[00:31:17] I don't know all the types of sufferings, but you do. I do know that there is sickness and disease that plagues so many of us, that there is depression and anxiety that attacks us every
[00:31:31] single day, that there are changes coming that we are dreading, the unexpected or the unknown that we don't know how to act or what to do. Some of us parents are just trying every day to do the
[00:31:45] right thing. Some of us who are seeking you in our faith journey, just hoping we're doing just enough to be good in your eyes. Some of us have lost friends and family. Some of us are strained
[00:32:01] in our relationships, and things are awkward and intense. Some of us are in life hoping you will reveal the next steps. Wherever each person finds themselves today, Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, you are the God who steps away from your throne to come be with us.
[00:32:31] You are the God who left heaven to dwell in a tabernacle in the middle of a desert to be with a sinful people because you loved them. Jesus, you left the glory of heaven, took on flesh, and came
[00:32:45] to earth to dwell among us, to be the light in our darkness. That is whom we call upon today.
[00:32:54] Jesus, you are the Christ, and I pray your peace, your blessing, your strength, and your anointing on your people, that wherever they find themselves, they will find you. That whatever darkness they are experiencing, they will see your light. And whatever worries, whatever hardships we are facing,
[00:33:17] we will be able to endure because whatever burden is put on our backs we can look to our left and to our right and see the face of Christ bearing the burden with us because that is who he is
[00:33:29] that is who you are Lord and today we thank you for that love and that mercy that is working in us and around us and in this world this world is yours Lord God and have your way with it
[00:33:44] all glory and honor be to Christ Jesus and it's in his name we pray and together let us now pray what he taught us to pray our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
[00:34:04] give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:34:20] forever. Amen and amen. Let us now stand as we sing our next hymn. I need to give a brief follow-up

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:36:34] with announcements, just a gentle nudge. Obviously for two weekends some of us were snowed in or iced in and two weekends in a row we did not have worship services in person. And so we found
[00:36:49] ourselves getting a little behind in budget. And if able, I encourage you, I gently nudge you to get caught up and that helps us with everything, keeping the buildings and the staff paid and our
[00:37:00] missions provided for. And that's all I have to say to that, but just wanted to keep that in front of you. Our passage this morning is James chapter 2, verses 1 through 13. We've been working our
[00:37:14] way through the book of James, and it's entitled the sermon series, Everyday Living. And he gives, James, the brother of Jesus, gives very practical advice for living out our faith. I want to highlight last week, chapter 1, verse 22, James said, be doers of the word and not merely hearers
[00:37:36] who deceive themselves. And then he gave this very interesting, intriguing illustration of a mirror. When I was a child and I heard this illustration being taught in church, it didn't make any sense to me. You know, who looks in a mirror and then walks away and forgets what you
[00:37:56] look at. You know, James says, for those who hear the word of God and do not put it into practice is like a person looking in the mirror, walking away and forgetting what they look like. I thought
[00:38:08] that's ridiculous. You don't do that. Well, that's the point James is making. Yes? And last week, the emphasis was spiritual integrity. If you look in the mirror and you see chocolate cake on your face what use is it of looking in the mirror if you just walk away and go to work with a smudge
[00:38:30] on your face or to church with a smudge on your face he's saying be doers of the word don't just look God with the mirror illustration it's like when we look intently into God's word he gives
[00:38:42] you a picture of yourself and not only does he show you your flaws and inadequacies which he desires for us to correct. You can look intently to the word of God and be convicted. You walk
[00:38:57] away and you make the adjustment. Not only does he give us things to look at that we can correct, he also gives us encouragement and inspiration. So when you look into the mirror as a child of
[00:39:11] God, if you're a believer, you should also be able to see that you are beloved, that you're forgiven, that you're a child of God. So when you have something to correct, you're not correcting it out of shame or guilt. You're correcting it because you belong and you are reminded of what
[00:39:32] God has done through his son Jesus on our behalf. And you make the correction out of gratitude.
[00:39:38] Thank you, Lord. And you understand, you trust that he has your best interest in mind. Now, chapter 1 links to chapter 2. This morning we're going to take a look at the topic, a theme that
[00:39:51] pops up is that of favoritism. And as you look into the mirror, do you think any churches today practice any sort of favoritism? Are we beyond that? When we look into the mirror, it's a
[00:40:05] challenge to you as an individual, it's a challenge to us as a church when it comes to favoritism.
[00:40:12] He's going to hold that up for us to take a look.
[00:40:16] When we walk away this morning, what are we going to do?
[00:40:19] Forget about what we heard or are we going to make the adjustment?
[00:40:22] Big idea that I want to develop from our passage is this.
[00:40:27] Favoritism in the church contradicts the heart of our Christian identity.
[00:40:34] Who we are in Jesus.
[00:40:37] When you show favoritism based on human standards, the externals, it contradicts who we are as believers let's first say a prayer before we read the passage please join me heavenly father we do thank you for the gift of your word this morning as we
[00:40:56] take a look as we dig in to your message please speak to us through your holy spirit i pray that you can illuminate this passage and bring it to life through your holy spirit and lord as we
[00:41:09] receive, may we not only gain a deeper sense of understanding through knowledge, but through that understanding, may we draw closer to you. Lord, as we seek to apply it, bend our will towards yours.
[00:41:22] We do give this time to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. James chapter 2, beginning with verse 1.
[00:41:31] My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the
[00:41:51] fine clothes and say, have a seat here, please. Well, to the one who is poor, you say, stand there or sit at my feet. Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil
[00:42:05] thoughts. Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters, has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
[00:42:19] But have you dishonored the poor? Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
[00:42:33] you do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself but if you show partiality you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable
[00:42:54] for all of it for the one who said you shall not murder commit adultery he also said you shall not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but if you murder, you've become a transgressor
[00:43:07] of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. This is the
[00:43:24] word of the Lord. Again, the big idea this morning, favoritism in the church contradicts the heart of our Christian identity. First point I want to make comes from verses one through four. The point is this favoritism contradicts the core of our faith. You know the name John Calvin, the great
[00:43:52] Protestant reformer. When he addresses the topic of favoritism, when he addressed it, he expressed that showing favoritism is incompatible with faith in Christ.
[00:44:04] And he goes as far as to say that favoritism is not merely unkind, it's a theological insult.
[00:44:12] It doesn't belong in the church.
[00:44:14] It doesn't fit with God's word.
[00:44:18] Alec Moter, he's a more modern theologian, also reformed in his theology.
[00:44:25] He says that favoritism, or he describes it as partiality, is a contradiction of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, the core of who we are.
[00:44:38] He said favoritism contradicts the heart of a believer. You've heard me several times quote Tim Keller. I've most recently read his biography, and he's recently passed away in this past year, but he was a Presbyterian pastor, and he, when talking about favoritism, took it to the point of
[00:45:01] saying favoritism is that when we make judgment based on outward appearance, it exposes idolatry in our lives, the things we worship by worldly standards, wealth, status, appearance.
[00:45:23] Genuine faith is grounded in Christ's glory, and if you could truly grasp Christ's glory, The Greek term for that is doxa, meaning his divine worth, his imparted grace.
[00:45:38] If you can grasp the glory of Jesus, it's like my grandfather used to say, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
[00:45:47] It levels all human distinctions.
[00:45:50] Yes?
[00:45:51] When you think of the glory of Christ, he came and he fulfilled the law of God perfectly.
[00:45:57] He said, I did not come to condemn the law, but to fulfill it.
[00:46:00] he lived a perfect life and then he bore the punishment of our sin because we're imperfect he bore the weight of our sin to conquer sin and death so that you and i may have life
[00:46:15] a different quality life eternal so if you can grasp the glory of jesus and you recognize the ground is level at the foot of the cross then you realize no one in this room is any better or worse
[00:46:29] No one tuning in on the live stream is better or worse.
[00:46:32] If a visitor comes through the door, whether they're in fine clothes or whether they're barefoot, again, the ground is level.
[00:46:39] In Christ's eyes, right, and in light of Christ, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
[00:46:47] We fall way short of his glory.
[00:46:53] Genuine faith is grounded in Christ's story.
[00:46:56] Now, here's the illustration that he gives this week.
[00:46:59] Look in the mirror.
[00:47:00] All right, this connects to chapter one.
[00:47:03] Look in the mirror, what do you see?
[00:47:07] Now I'm gonna repeat the illustration.
[00:47:10] James says, suppose a wealthy man walks into your church service.
[00:47:15] Describes someone with gold rings and fine clothes.
[00:47:19] And then a poor person in dirty clothing.
[00:47:21] The literal translation is in filth.
[00:47:25] Also comes in.
[00:47:26] If you take notice, James is saying, if you pay respect to the rich man, give him VIP seating and dismiss the poor man, send him to the back. Have you not shown partiality? Have you not sinned against God in that respect? You've become
[00:47:51] judges with evil thoughts. Now I was struggling this past week to think of a modern day equivalent because 2,000 years ago, the seating charts were often how you distinguish the rich from the poor, the prominent from the less.
[00:48:08] So in assemblies back then, in a synagogue or in a place of worship, this really hit the listener between the eyes.
[00:48:16] It was like, whoa, this is heavy.
[00:48:18] Now, I'm not sure that's the case now.
[00:48:21] I'm looking in the front of the church, and nobody's in the first three rows, and maybe a couple.
[00:48:26] And so back then, 17, 1800s here in our culture, it might have applied really well.
[00:48:31] Up in New England, a lot of the historic churches, if you go in, the church my wife and I used to be at, if you go in, the pews, have you ever seen the pews where they have the doors with the latches?
[00:48:43] And you can come down the aisle, and you're ushered in, and you can open the latch, and you can step in, and then you close the latch, and each of the pews have a number.
[00:48:52] why do you think the pews were numbered way back 17 1800s you could actually purchase a pew as a parishioner and a wealthy parishioner would often sit more near the front those were where the prominent people sat now if you go into our old church into the balcony the aisles aren't
[00:49:14] numbered you can sit anywhere in the balcony you're hidden you're up behind everything so this might have applied really well. Now I think of my grandparents' generation. There were solid churches that my grandparents were part of, but this might have also, this passage, been a bit
[00:49:33] of a challenge because I could see maybe at that time, I'm not saying all churches would do this, but I could see someone with bare feet or wearing blue jeans or, you know, not dressed up to a
[00:49:44] certain standard, maybe being looked at differently, entering a place of worship. You know, this morning We actually had someone sitting on the front row in the 10 o'clock service wearing a cap.
[00:49:55] You know, think about that 70 years ago, how that might have been looked at.
[00:50:02] In most worship settings today, favoritism is far more subtle.
[00:50:08] Would you agree?
[00:50:09] Again, as I'm trying to think in a modern day, this is my modern day attempt.
[00:50:13] You know, I think we're pretty good.
[00:50:16] I've seen you all display it, and I admire that.
[00:50:19] I've seen, literally I've seen, remember when Ken used to come?
[00:50:23] he was a drug addict, homeless here in town, and you all, when he would walk in here, you'd give him a bulletin, you'd sit him down. It warmed my heart. I think you do that well. But here's, I
[00:50:35] think, our challenge today. What about someone who enters in? We're pretty good at getting a bulletin in hand. We're pretty good at maybe in the other service, a cup of coffee. What type of attention do you give them after the service? Now, is it based on appearance or do you just look to
[00:50:54] whoever's new and in your area who might you be prone to give that extra time after the worship service a visitor walking in would it impress you with how they dress or the car they drove or
[00:51:05] if it was someone that you knew like oh this person's known in the mooresville community who's the type person you might even exchange cell phone numbers with or invite to lunch after church again we're looking in the mirror james is saying hey you know favoritism is frowned upon
[00:51:24] is forbidden within the church context.
[00:51:28] Where do you see the glory?
[00:51:30] Who do you give special attention to?
[00:51:34] Sometimes when my family's on vacation, we'll go into a place of worship, and I notice, especially when my children were younger, I think in today's culture, the church culture here in the United States, there's a pressure for churches
[00:51:48] to reach the younger generation.
[00:51:51] So you really want young families attending.
[00:51:53] So when my children were younger, we'd visit a church and let me tell you at the end of the service people would just be clamoring around us and now they should be doing that with everyone but they would be you know thinking oh
[00:52:05] here's a family six girls if we can get them plugged into this church and I notice sometimes when I'm on my own out of town and I go to a place of worship by myself I'll be given a bulletin
[00:52:17] and sometimes I can just go find a place and be almost invisible and the service is over and I can just walk out. So again, as James gives us this challenge, as you look in the mirror,
[00:52:34] don't elbow your neighbor, your wife, or your husband, or your child. Take some time to ponder this. Look deeply. Look intently. If something pulls at the string of your heart, don't ignore it. Don't walk away and forget. That's the challenge from James this morning. Second point
[00:52:52] I'd like to make is this, and I'm drawing this from verses five through seven. James goes into the irony of favoritism. It's a counter-cultural reality, the irony of favoritism. One irony is this, God chooses the poor to be rich in faith. That's a theme throughout scripture. Old and New
[00:53:16] Testament, God chooses the poor to be rich in faith. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 26. This is the Apostle Paul. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters, not many of you were wise by human standards, not many of you were powerful, not many of you were of noble birth,
[00:53:39] but God who chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not
[00:53:50] to abolish things that are so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
[00:54:00] Take a moment to consider Jesus' leadership team, right?
[00:54:05] The original 12.
[00:54:08] Were these highly educated, well-cultured people, wealthy?
[00:54:17] I can think of one that might have been wealthy.
[00:54:20] Which of the 12 disciples might have been wealthy?
[00:54:23] Yes, choir had the answer.
[00:54:25] Matthew, right?
[00:54:27] The tax collector.
[00:54:30] But the thing about Matthew was tax collectors were despised by the Jewish culture.
[00:54:37] He was part of the original leadership team of Jesus.
[00:54:40] We know at least four of his leadership team were fishermen, just common blue-collar workers, not highly educated.
[00:54:49] Now, Jesus, in becoming fully human, fully God became fully human, where did God place him in a family what does his father do as a profession carpenter would he have had high social status he wouldn't have been one of the country club folks he modest means Jesus
[00:55:10] grew up in that now now here's the caution when you think about with the point that that James is making that I'm getting across to you right now we need to pause to exercise caution be careful
[00:55:25] with this theme. James is not saying that all poor people are rich in faith. That's not his point. He's also not saying that all rich people are excluded. Did Jesus have any people of means
[00:55:39] as part of his ministry team? Yes. Think of Joanna. Think of Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
[00:55:49] They helped support the ministry of Jesus. Think of the early church. Does the name Lydia ring a Scholars believe she was a wealthy woman by the purple dye.
[00:56:02] She was in that trade, and it was very expensive, the purple dye.
[00:56:06] And she would host the early church in her home, gatherings.
[00:56:11] I think of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, a man of means who came to faith, and his family was baptized.
[00:56:20] So again, be cautious with this theme.
[00:56:23] Jesus does well when he shares the challenge of wealth.
[00:56:28] By the story of the rich man.
[00:56:30] Remember the rich man, the young rich man came to Jesus.
[00:56:33] What must I do to, in a sense, attain eternal life?
[00:56:38] And how does Jesus respond as he's giving him his resume, all that he's done?
[00:56:43] Jesus said, well, just sell everything you have and follow me.
[00:56:47] You'll be good.
[00:56:49] What was the response?
[00:56:52] The wealthy man, the rich young man walked away sad.
[00:56:55] And it's not an illustration about wealth.
[00:56:58] later it says Jesus said you know what is impossible by man is possible with God the camel through the eye of the needle the issue wasn't wealth the issue was the idol in his life
[00:57:09] he was serving mammon he was serving wealth over God has identified that idol you want assurance of eternal life let go of that area second irony I see from our passage is this that the church is
[00:57:29] prone to choose sometimes the rich for superficial reasons. James says how often the church is tempted to honor the rich when ironically it's often the rich that were exploiting the poor or that were bringing people to court. It literally says dragging people to court, blaspheming the
[00:57:53] name of God. And there's still this human tendency to honor those whose hearts are in the wrong place. I see a challenge as we look into the mirror. He's exposing community sin, and I think
[00:58:11] we have to be careful as a church. You can be prone to make the leaders of the church those who just give the most money, and I'm not saying that's bad, but who should be the spiritual leaders
[00:58:22] in the church? Those who give the most or those who are mature in their faith? Sometimes wealthy people give a lot and they do qualify for leadership but sometimes we ignore those that are rich in faith because they don't have the same you know we as a church are sometimes guilty of
[00:58:40] transactional relationships what do you have for me we'll put you in the right leadership position if it benefits us in a worldly sense be careful we as a church have to look at ourselves how we
[00:58:52] make decisions matter is not a matter of wealth it's not a matter of the seating chart it's a matter of the heart a third point i want to make and this will be drawn from verses 8 through 13
[00:59:09] has to do with living by the core of our faith what's being emphasized towards the end of this passage is the royal law in verse 8 james says he identifies the royal law as love your neighbor
[00:59:27] as yourself why is there royalty attached to this why is this called the royal law i think it's important for us to this law it's called royal because it comes from the king yes who's the king
[00:59:45] jesus christ if he's lord of our lives and when jesus was asked what the most important of the commands were from the old testament how did he respond what was the number one what's the most
[00:59:59] important aspect of god's law number one love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and second love your neighbor as yourself why is it royal because it
[01:00:14] comes from the king and everything hinges on those two things he came to fulfill the law not abolish the law he sees our best interests it's how important it is to worship our lord and make
[01:00:27] him first in our lives but what should flow out of that is our treatment of others he says we also need to understand it's important to understand the unity of this law there's like a fabric
[01:00:40] we can't pick and choose when it comes to God's law this one comes more easy but that one the examples he uses here in the passage the Lord as part of his law says thou shalt not commit adultery
[01:00:53] and he also says thou shalt not murder and James says well if you haven't committed adultery but you're guilty of murder and Jesus defines murder as not like literally killing someone but harboring hatred in your heart
[01:01:05] if you're guilty of that you've broken the whole law it's all one fabric again when we think of the glory of christ who came and fulfilled the law and lived a perfect life we pale in comparison if you break any part of the law we're labeled a law
[01:01:24] breaker it's important to understand the unity of this law and here's the take-home and it's recognizing the implications what do we take from this message james is saying look in the ear. But when you walk away, and we're giving a picture of favoritism, and do we like what we see?
[01:01:46] The standard is given. Do we like what we see? Do we forget? Do we walk away? If the Lord convicts your heart, what do you do with that? Do you walk away with the chocolate smudge on your face,
[01:01:56] forgetting that you even saw it? Or do you make the adjustment? By showing favoritism, you and I have fallen short of the glory of God. God loves the poor. He's chosen those who are poor to display
[01:02:11] his power and his grace. He commands us not to show partiality based on human standards, wealth, appearance, status. It's like a litmus test. When we look in the mirror how we treat others, it shows the reality of our faith, showing mercy towards others in the same way God shows mercy
[01:02:35] towards us. So I want to make this crystal clear. If you walk away this morning, the gospel, the word of God is not intended to make you walk away with shame and guilt and I'm just a horrible person. I just can't pull it together. The goal is to, the Lord sees you as
[01:02:53] through faith in Christ, you're a child of God. You're his beloved. You're forgiven.
[01:02:58] He has your best interest in mind and when he points out a flaw, it's for your benefit and he doesn't ask you to do it alone. As you leave this place, the motivation shouldn't be fear or shame
[01:03:11] but the motive should be love.
[01:03:14] Look at the mercy he's extended you.
[01:03:16] Do you extend the same mercy towards the poor?
[01:03:20] Do you extend that same mercy towards those that may look different than you?
[01:03:25] I love at the end, it's by grace we've been saved and it says here in verse 13, God's mercy triumphs over judgment.
[01:03:35] Yes, may we rest in that.
[01:03:37] As I close our time, let's join our hearts in prayer.
[01:03:45] Heavenly Father, I do thank you for the gift of your word, and I must confess sometimes when we look deeply, there are certain aspects that can sting when we see our flaws, when we see our idiosyncrasies,
[01:03:58] when we see our shortcomings.
[01:04:01] So Lord, help us to have open hearts.
[01:04:06] And when you show us something about ourselves that we don't like, help us when we walk away from your word to make the adjustments.
[01:04:12] But Lord, we can't do it on our own, And so I do pray for sensitivity to your spirit.
[01:04:18] We are a work in progress.
[01:04:19] Thank you for your grace, for your patience.
[01:04:23] You promised through your spirit to work in and through us.
[01:04:28] So Lord, the challenge this morning before us for individuals, for us as a church, may we respond but with a posture understanding that you're a God of love, that you're a God of grace.
[01:04:41] So we leave this place, Lord, may we represent you well in your strength, as your hands and your feet.
[01:04:47] When people come through those doors, Lord, may we welcome them, seeing them through the lens of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:04:55] We pray all these things in his name.
[01:04:58] Amen.
[01:04:58] As we leave this place, we always give an invitation.
[01:05:33] My invitation, if the Lord has spoken to your heart in any way, if something's kind of pricked there and you've been convicted of something, just we have a God of love, a God of grace, and he invites you to bring it to him.
[01:05:47] He can help clear the soil, so to speak.
[01:05:49] and if you feel overwhelmed by any portion of the message as we leave, my prayer for you I invite you to bring him along with you, to go out in his strength, by his grace
[01:06:01] may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father, may the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each and every one of you, now and forever Amen