James 2:1-7 - Partiality Pt. 1, partiality based on external judgments

Brian Burns

James • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Welcome

Picked last or first. How did that feel?

Is favoritism a good thing or a bad thing? Is partiality right or wrong? On what basis can we truly treat one another fairly and impartially? These are the questions we are going to be wrestling with today as we get into the book of James.

Song: Goodness of God

Song: My Worth Is Not In What I Own

Song: Is He Worthy

Introduction

James 2:1–12 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

This is a two part sermon

James zeroes in on the issue of partiality through these first 12 verses of chapter 2, but there is so much going on here that I just think we need to take two weeks to look at it.

He raises the idea that we show favoritism to some people over others, and he says this is wrong on two main reasons:

God views people differently than we do, and he has special concern for people that the world has discarded

The law of love demands that we love everyone as ourselves, and we don’t get to pick and choose who “everyone” refers to

Both of these are actually profound and huge topics, so we will take two weeks to look at these 12 verses.

So both this week and next week have at their core James 2:1

James 2:1 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

Despite nearly universal agreement among humans that its bad to show favoritism, we all have a tendency to do just that, don’t we? What are some of the reasons?

We like some people better than others

Some people annoy us, others don’t

Some people are easy for us to converse with, others aren’t

We naturally tend to drift toward people that look, think, speak and act like us

Does this mean we are in sin? Not necessarily - it’s not intrinsically wrong that you form friendships with some easier than other

But let’s not let ourselves off the hook so quickly - if you are anything like me it’s very easy to develop different ways of treating people - we will listen to some people and not others; we will give the benefit of the doubt to some people and not others, we will assume the worst of some people and not others.

This kind of favoritism, ESPECIALLY in the body of Christ, is simply not acceptable.

This is where James takes us for the first 12 verses of chapter 2.

I. We have a tendency to evaluate people according to external parameters.

James 2:1–4 ESV

James begins with a hypothetical, conditional sentence

Protasis and Apodosis

Protasis = “if” clause

Apodosis = “then” clause

If Gwen doesn’t get her way, then she will fuss and cry, and if she fusses and cries over simply not getting her way, then I will look at her and I will say, “Gwendolyn Ruth, we are not a whining family.”

I’m still wrestling on that one.

If clause:

A rich man comes in

Gold ring

Fine clothing

A poor man comes in

Shabby clothing

Shabby same root word in James 1:21

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Dirty, filthy clothing

You pay attention to the rich man

Pay attention = look upon with favor

Giving him a seat of honor

You disregard the poor man

“Stand over there” carries the sense of “you can be here, but just don’t bother me”

“Sit down at my feet” - don’t even give these people a seat

It is human nature to to make judgments about others based upon external parameters

After all, that’s all we can typically see - we can’t see into the hearts, minds, or motives of others

This often causes us to treat people differently

This might be on the basis of rich and poor as is the case in James

There are a lot of different external parameters that we use to assess and evaluate each other

Socioeconomic status

Race/Ethnicity

Language

Speech patterns and vocabulary

Clothing

Then clause:

You have “made distinctions” - this is an interesting word

"made distinctions” is not really the most useful way to translate this word here because it doesn’t actually advance James’ point here

The whole entire “if” section of this sentence is obviously about making distinctions

But this word can also refer to an internal negative attitude of doubt - this are negative distinctions

Illustration: Children begin at a very early age to be able to recognize distinctions between people of different genders, ages, ethnicities, etc.

But the younger a child is, the less likely they are to attach values to those distinctions

Somewhere along the line, though, kids start to not only recognize differences and distinctions in people but also respond to them differently

They start to identify some kids as the “cool kids” who they want to be friends with

So when James says you have “made distinctions,” he’s not just talking about recognizing a simple difference, but rather recognizing a difference while also attaching value to the differences.

You have become judges with evil thoughts

In case there is any confusion here, James will not allow us off the hook

To make those kind of distinctions is not just socially problematic or rude

To make those kind of distinctions is evil

Why does this happen? James picks this idea up in verses 6-7 to add another layer.

James adds another layer to this external judgment in verses 6-7.

James picks this up in verse 6 to let us know that this is not just a hypothetical situation: This is the kind of behavior that is happening in the communities he is writing to James 2:6-7

James 2:6–7 ESV

6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

This is Christians who are engaged in this: The group that he addresses in James 2:1 and 5 is “my brothers,” “my beloved brothers.”

They have dishonored the poor man

But James then asks three consecutive rhetorical questions about the rich

Are they not the ones who oppress you?

Are they not the ones who drag you into court?

Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

James is making an argument that the rich could not in fact be counted on to help

In the 1st century middle east, “a small group of wealthy landowners and merchants accumulated more and more power, while large numbers of people were forced from their land and grew even poorer…these rich people were undoubtedly using their wealth and influence with the courts to secure favorable verdicts against the poor.”

These rich ones were gaining wealth to the exploitation of poor workers

They were corrupting the judicial and civic system to their own advantage

They were blaspheming the name by which people were called, perhaps a reference to the term “Christian” that they were called by

In essence, James might be calling out certain rich people identifying themselves as “Christian” who, by their exploitive and corrupt business practices, actually blasphemed the name of “Christian” and made it look bad

In any case, James is making an argument against his readers favoring the rich over the poor. Why would he be making this argument? In other words, why would the poor Christians who James is writing to tend toward favoring the rich over the poor? Probably because they hoped that by currying favor with the wealthy they might gain something from them.

James here subtly calls out a darker reality to our external judgments of people

Not only do we tend toward making external judgments of other people, we do so for a reason. Why?

Because we tend not only to evaluate and sort people based on external parameters, but we sort them according to what we perceive they will be able to contribute to us

Illustration: Think about when a person wins the lottery, and all of a sudden they have a lot of friends. People start “forgetting their wallet” when they go out to eat. This is a well documented phenomena.

Or why is it that kids tend to want to be friends with the “cool kid?” Because that’s a way of hopefully insulating me from getting picked on, made fun of, bullied

We tend to view people through the lens of what we can get out of them, what they can do for us

Of course, this is often not a conscious decision, but rather a sub conscious reality

Jesus calls us to not evaluate and treat others based on what they can do for us, but rather to love people exactly when we get nothing in return. He says that we should do this because that is what God does. And this is exactly where James goes - the reason he gives as to why we must not practice favoritism and partiality is because God doesn’t.

II. God has a different lens through which he sees people

James 2:5 ESV

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

God has chosen the poor in the world

Poor can refer to a couple of different spheres

Materially poor, those who are dependent upon God for their daily provision

Spiritually poor, those who in their humility and meekness recognize their need for God and are dependent upon God for grace

James probably means both by this - certainly, in the context here he is referring to material poverty and wealth

But the phrase “in the world” carries the sense of “in the eyes of the world” - as in, non Christians hostile to God estimate people as “poor,” which again definitely carries a material sense but likely has a spiritual nuance to it as well

This raises difficult question: Does God only choose the poor? Does God like the poor more than the rich? Does God save the poor and not the rich?

I would say no - there are many people in the Bible who are righteous and upright and wealthy - it’s not a sin to be wealthy, and its not intrinsically virtuous to be poor

In fact, the Bible teaches that sometimes the poor are poor exactly because they are foolish, wicked, slothful and lazy

BUT on the other hand, wealth is often gained through wicked means and the exploitation of the poor, and God hates this

The prophets regularly decry the oppressive practices of the wealthy and powerful to gain more wealth and power on the backs of the poor

A theme running throughout the entire Bible is that God does not typically choose those who the world thinks are important or valuable; God tends to choose those who the world discards

God does not view and evaluate people from a place of self serving interest in what they can do for him - God chooses us, saves us, loves us, exactly when we have nothing at all to give him

Nowhere is this characteristic of God seen more clearly than in the cross

Romans 5:6-8

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner - he died for you knowing full well all of the exact sins you would commit - he died for you knowing that you have exactly nothing to give him in return

James is essentially appealing to the Gospel to

Show a contrast between how God sees people and how we tend to evaluate people

Exhort us to view and treat people as God does

God makes the poor rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

Notice the contrast - those who are poor in the eyes of the world are chosen to be rich in faith

James describes what the wealth that comes through faith in Jesus - heirs of the kingdom.

All of the goodness, wealth, riches, honor and glory of king Jesus and his kingdom belong to those who God has chosen to be poor in faith

So when we look at people who are poor in the eyes of the world, we need to understand what God has destined for them - the very kingdom itself.

And James is telling us that we have to conduct ourselves toward each other not in like of the worldly way of seeing people, but through God’s eyes of a persons eternal destiny

I’d like to end today by quoting a section from a work by C.S. Lewis called The Weight of Glory, in which he reflects on the future glory every child of God is destined for and what that means for how we view and treat one another.

“It may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use. It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.”

Transition to Communion

In Christ, God has chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which God has promised to those who love him. If you are in in Christ, then you are destined for the kingdom. God has chosen you through exactly zero merit of your own, not because you were rich, smart, good looking, popular, or influential. He has not saved you because he needs anything from you; he has saved you because he loves you. He has saved you and demonstrated his love for you in the death and resurrection of Jesus, which we celebrate every week with communion and which we will take together shortly.

If you are not a Christian, I invite you today to consider God’s great love for you based in no part upon your own merit. There is no external parameter that will impress God, and there is nothing you can do to earn his favor. Instead, he has loved you freely exactly when you had nothing to give, and he invites you to turn in trust and faith to Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, for salvation, and ultimately for eternal life in the kingdom of Jesus.

We are going to give five minutes for you all to reflect, pray and meditate upon the love of God in Christ, and then we’ll come back together and take communion.

Song: Build My Life

Congregational Meeting coming up in 10 minutes

Benediction

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.