Love God, Love Others, Be Free. (Part 2)
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Good Morning!
It is good to see all of you and worship with you this morning.
Last week we began looking at verses five through thirteen in James chapter two, but God had more to say than we had time.
So we will continue on picking up at verse eight this morning.
We ended with the question about how we treat others.
Do we show favoritism to the wealthy people in our lives?
I shared with you my tendency to do just that when it comes to how I prioritize my customers at work.
If you think about it from the world's standards, it makes sense to do so.
However, if my goal as a follower of Christ is to let God’s love flow through me, I must let God determine who and how I prioritize.
One of the things we should all begin to see happen in our lives as we are growing in our faith is that we think and operate differently from the world.
Not for the sake of just being different, but because Christ in us is changing how we see things.
As we grow in True Faith, our goals and desires change.
Those changes in who we are and how we operate reveal Jesus to the world.
The apostle Paul is a great example of this work.
Grew up and was trained in religion.
Followed what he was taught to the point of persecuting anyone who believed otherwise.
Then… He saw Jesus for who he really was, the promised Messiah.
Everything about Paul changed after encountering Jesus and growing in his understanding.
Not only did he reinterpret his previous beliefs on this new information, but he put his life on the line for the sake of Christ.
Look what he says to the church in Colosse.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.
25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.
We may go study that letter in the future, but for today I want you to understand that Paul’s life work was to help people understand the grace and mercy we have received and live accordingly.
Nothing was more important than sharing that message, and the cost was irrelevant to him.
This is God’s goal for us as well.
To know, by experience, the goodness of Jesus and letting that change our lives.
We are to be a refreshing balm in a world that is suffering from disinformation about who God is.
James addresses our tendency to be an irritant rather than a balm by perpetuating lies about who God is through how we treat others.
Let’s continue by looking at verses eight through eleven.
8 Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.
11 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.
Do you see who James is addressing here?
It’s not those who don’t know God.
He is talking to the church and us.
If we are showing favoritism, we are living in sin.
Look at it again.
He is addressing those of us who are choosing to be sanctified.
He is saying that our goal is sanctification, which is wonderful, BUT if you are purposefully showing favoritism to the rich, you might as well break all the law.
We cannot turn a blind eye to some sin!
James is referring to Jesus’s conversation with the rich young ruler.
16 Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” he said to him. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he asked him. Jesus answered: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness;
19 honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.
20 “I have kept all these,” the young man told him. “What do I still lack?”
21 “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
I want you to hear what James and Jesus are saying.
The problem or sin isn’t in being wealthy.
The problem is in what we do with our wealth and whether we trust in it or Jesus.
Jesus goes on to say that it is incredibly difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 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.”
Wealth creates a false sense of security, and we put our trust in it rather than in Jesus.
We become so accustomed to that security blanket that it is nearly impossible to let go of it.
Circling back to what James is teaching, if we show favoritism to the rich, we create a false image of God and lead people to desire and trust in wealth rather than in Jesus.
9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money is a big sticky spot in our culture.
We get consumed by the desire to be comfortable according to our culture.
It becomes the main driver in the decisions that we make.
It doesn’t matter if it is our own wealth or the wealth of others; if we put special attention to it we are falsely representing God.
James is pushing back against that ideology because Jesus also pushed back against it.
So, what do we do with all this?
James is warning us against showing favoritism to the rich because, in doing so, we paint a false picture of God.
What does James want us to do?
How do you and I push back against a culture that places so much emphasis on wealth?
12 Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
The Law of Freedom is the two greatest commandments, Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself.
This should be our daily driver, not a pursuit of security through wealth.
What is God’s goal in redeeming us?
He wants to restore us to the relationship we were created to have with Him.
One that is open, where we can walk and talk with Him.
A relationship in which we never feel guilt, shame, or anything even remotely negative.
Does that sound like the kind of relationship that would be offensive or decisive in any way?
No, of course not.
Why is it then that people are turned off by the church or by mentioning God?
People distance themselves from both because what they have learned from their experiences is the opposite of what God wants them to learn.
That isn’t God’s fault.
The fault lies at the feet of those who claim to know God but don’t.
What we know to be true is that if we Love God, Love others, we will experience true freedom.
Love God, Love others and be free.
We have experienced this in our own lives as our faith has grown.
The clearest example of this in scripture is found in Acts.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.
45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
This is the freedom and Joy that Jesus and James are talking about.
These believers' lives were focused on God and one another.
How did they get to that point?
How were their lives changed so radically?
41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
They were filled with the Holy Spirit and made their relationship with God and one another the main priorities in their lives.
They were intentional about Loving God and Others and experienced freedom in return.
We don’t need to worry about if we will have enough.
As we saw at the beginning of this message, Jesus said that all He has is ours.
We can experience freedom as we learn to trust God just like the early church did.
James says that we are to speak and act as those who are judged by the law of freedom.
In other words, live in the freedom that you have been given!
What does that look like?
The world would say having enough money and power to do what you want is freedom.
Look at how Jesus describes it in Matthew 7.7-12
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus redefines what it means to be wealthy and free.
When we were created, God gave us all that was needed to enjoy life.
The same is still true today.
Our salvation is adoption into the family of God and co-heirs with Christ.
By God’s standards, all that we need will be freely given to us as we abide in Christ.
Knowing all God has done for us causes us to love Him more and more.
What is the next thing that Jesus said we are to do?
Love our neighbors as ourselves.
The most loving thing we can do for our neighbors is to share that knowledge and wealth.
We must ask ourselves, “what does James mean in the first part of verse thirteen?”
“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy.”
We have heard something like this before.
Christian Standard Bible Proverbs 21:13
13 The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
will himself also call out and not be answered.f
Or what about the parable of the unforgiving servant?
Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone, and Jesus responded with a parable of the King who forgave the debts of three men, but one does not extend that same mercy to his debtor.
Look at the king's response.
32 Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
34 And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”
The Letter of James James 2:12
God’s gracious acceptance of us does not end our obligation to obey him; it sets it on a new footing. No longer is God’s law a threatening, confining burden. For the will of God now confronts us as a law of liberty—an obligation we discharge in the joyful knowledge that God has both “liberated” us from the penalty of sin and given us, in his Spirit, the power to obey his will. To use James’s own description, this law is an “implanted word,” “written on the heart,” that has the power to save us (Jas. 1:21).
James sets the stage for his next section on the connection between faith and works.
We must be careful because, upon a quick reading of this passage and the parable, we might think that the mercy that God extends to us is conditional.
Nothing could be further from the proof.
Jesus confirms that in the first part of the parable.
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?”
22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.
God’s mercy will never end, and we should not doubt that.
“God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow, then diminish the great mercy of God.”
Jame’s argument, and again, we will see this more in the next week, is that if we do not show mercy, it is because we have not known mercy.
If we consider it in the life of the Unforgiving Servant, we could conclude that while the King acted in mercy, the servant did not understand it.
It would be easy to scoff at this servant, but James is saying that if we do not speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom, we have not understood God’s mercy.
I don’t know if you are aware, but a person can know a thing and not allow it to effect change in their lives.
For example, raise your hand if you have ever gotten a speeding ticket.
Did you not know that driving over the speed limit was against the law?
Of course, you did, but you didn’t heed that law.
We know that God has lavished His grace and mercy over us.
James is telling us that we should act like it.
It was true of the group that James was writing to and it is true of the church today.
We have heard of God’s mercy, but have we allowed that knowledge to change how we live?
What James is addressing is not a knowledge issue; it’s a heart issue.
If you find yourself denying mercy to others.
If you are judging them against some other metric than you are using upon yourself, you are lying to them and yourself.
James is saying that you don’t understand God’s mercy.
If you are struggling with extending God’s mercy, take the time to meditate upon it this week.
Let God work in you to move that knowledge from your head to your heart.
It will change the way you see the world.
I had that experience last Wednesday.
I had to go to West Monroe for a meeting and on the way there i was thinking about this message and really pondering what I know of mercy.
It is a word that I know, but what does it mean in my life?
What prompted this thought was quote from a book I was listening to that said that “mercy cost both parties something...”
The holy spirit grabbed my attention and I turned the book off and spent over an hour just thinking about that.
I went to my meeting, it was great, and then I went to Grambling to check on the truck stop we are building.
I called one of my coworkers that is managing the building portion of the job to ask a question.
When I did, he unloaded on me and said something to the effect of “you worry about your own job and leave mine alone.”
I was taken aback because this person has never acted that way towards me.
There is more details here than we need to get into, but suffice it to say that it rocked me.
I thought I was being helpful, but obviously he didn’t feel the same.
I spent the hour and a half trip back to the office thinking through that conversation and the ones prior trying to figure out what happened.
As you can imagine, I just wanted to be mad.
However, this idea of mercy was still rolling around in my head.
It caused me to ask God to give me the wisdom and determination to be merciful.
This was not easy, it took talking to God that whole drive back to soften my heart.
When I got back to the office, I saw the guy and asked him to come to my office.
I started with a simple question.
“Are you okay.”
I didn’t mean that sarcastically, but genuinely wanted to know if he was, and he recieved it that way.
He proceeded to tell me about some things that other people had done the day before and right before I called him.
He was very frustrated and took it out on me.
He then apologized and we both left understanding that we are on the same team.
We ended up having to work very closely with one another the rest of that day and most of the day Thursday.
Y’all, this was so hard for me!
I wanted to just be mad and give him a piece of my mind.
But what God had done in my heart that morning wouldn’t let it happen.
Because of what I had been talking to God about that morning prompted me to look beyond my own feelings.
That insight, from the Holy Spirit, changed our relationship.
Had God not been working in my heart that morning, Thursday would have been real awkward.
God’s love and His love for others that He has placed in me gave me freedom.
God made this message real in my life.
I pray that he will do the same for you this week.
We know, by experience, God’s love.
Let’s allow God to work in our lives to see people as He does.
That we would offer mercy to everyone instead of judgment.
The same mercy that God extends to us.
If we allow God to do that work in our hearts, we will love our neighbors.
In loving them, we will experience the freedom that we were created to enjoy.
No shame, no guilt, no desire to avoid.
God’s pure and holy love will overwhelm our lives and overflow out of them.
We will experience freedom and be able to extend that freedom to others.
Let’s pray.
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