Sermon Tone Analysis

Playing Favorites

This last week Abigail and Abram were given the opportunity to run for class president at their school.

Both of them, whether at Zion Lutheran School or now at Faith Academy, have always participated in student government.

And at both schools, both children expressed concern over the process of being elected by their peers.

“It’s a popularity contest, dad.

It’s not about what you know, but about who you know and if you are in their good graces that week.”

Then I hear about how the class is divided up and who will likely get the nomination; not based on merit but on favoritism.

It is a hard lesson to learn, but it is a reality in our world.

Just a brief survey of the Bible will show you that since the fall of man we have a natural inclination to play favorites to our detriment.

A few examples in the Old Testament

Isaac favored Esau (Gen 25:23,28)

Rebekah favored Jacob (Gen 27:6-10)

Jacob favored Joseph (Gen 37:3-4)

Elkanah favored Hannah (1 Sam 1:5-6)

The Temple

In the life of Jesus and the apostles, the Temple in Jerusalem was divided into various courts.

There was a court for the Gentiles, another court for women, then Israelite men, priests, the Holy Place and then the Holy of Holies.

On the wall beside each entrance into the court of women were stone slabs warning Gentiles not to go beyond that point.

One such slab was discovered in 1871 and I believe sits in the Museum of the Ancient Oriental in Istanbul.

Part of another is in the British Museum.

The whole slab reads,

“No foreigner may enter within the balustrade and enclosure around the Sanctuary.

Whoever is caught will render himself liable to the death penalty which will inevitably follow.”

In the early church...

Hebrew widows were favored over Hellenist widows in the church community (Acts 6:1)

Paul warned Timothy about showing favoritism in his ministry (1 Tim 5:21)

James warns us this morning to not show partiality (James 2:1)

In James 2:1 he exhorts his readers,

That is, do not discriminate between people, play favorites, or make sinful distinctions.

He is speaking to Christians, to those who hold to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

Inside the church community, says James, there should not be a culture of discrimination based on outward appearances like race, gender, ability or disability.

In our text, James is speaking directly to social status, particularly the relationship between the rich and the poor, but the principle will apply across the board.

Jesus did not come to save only white people, or black people, or abled bodied people, or rich people.

His salvation is offered to anyone, red, yellow, black or white, rich or poor, man, woman, or child, abled or disabled, who will call upon his name to be saved.

The gospel is not about a popularity contest among races and riches.

The gospel is about the unifying the nations to favor Jesus.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful uniting force in heaven and earth.

For only Jesus can take people who have absolutely nothing in common, ethnically, culturally, or economically, and unite them together to truly love God and love their neighbor.

The church is the space God has provided for that unity to flourish and work itself out on the community and home.

For us to flourish we must allow the Spirit of God to transform our thinking and conform our hearts into the Lord of glory so that we do not continue making sinful distinctions, but truly love God and our neighbor as ourself.

This morning, James is going to hone in on our temptation to discriminate, particularly to favor the rich over the poor.

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James will admonish you this morning to not discriminate against people who find there way into the fellowship of believers at FBCL based sinful distinctions, but to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the way we love our neighbor and delight in the diversity of the kingdom of God.

Or in other words, to form it in an admonishment,

Christian, do not show partiality in the church because it contradicts God’s love for the poor and violates his command to love your neighbor.

As we get started this morning, I’d like to probe our hearts a bit to discover the sin of showing partiality.

A good question we could ask is,

Why are we tempted to show partiality to the rich?

After James gives the imperative to not show partiality, he moves into a hypothetical situation that was likely happening in the church.

He says,

James 2:2–4 (ESV)

Suppose a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

The temptation to Show partiality comes from a divided heart.

In verses 4, James says

James 2:4 (ESV)

have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

The word used for “distinctions” carries the idea of having internal attitude of doubt.

For example, Jesus uses a form of this word in Matthew 21:21

The word for “distinctions” is also used in the Book of Acts, when Peter had a vision of God sending men to take him to Cornelius’s house.

God says to Peter,

Peter is to go with the men, “without hesitation.”

That is, Peter is not to have a divided heart.

A divided heart is an internal attitude of doubt.

James uses the same word in

As we have already seen, the one who doubts is one who has a divided heart.

James says do not have a divided heart when you pray for wisdom.

In verse James 2:4, the same idea is expressed, do not have a divided heart in your relationship to God and neighbor (Douglas Moo).

We teach the children at TTV that idolatry is to love something or someone more than God.

For believers, idolatry creates a divided heart.

We are commanded,

Matthew 22:37 (ESV)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

“Anything that competes with your love for God is an idol.”

White Supremacist love their idea of whiteness more than God.

Black supremacists love their idea of blackness more than God.

Chauvinist love their notion of male superiority more than God.

Feminist love their notion of female superiority more than they love God.

The elitist love their wealth and position in society more than they love God.

And the church who shows favoritism to the elitists loves what the rich can offer them more than they love God.

We are tempted to show partiality to rich because of our lust for influence and affluence.

The Bible is filled with warnings about the love of money.

Paul warns Timothy that the love of money is the root of all kinds evil (1 Tim 6:10).

John says the lust of the eyes, which is as one commentator put it, the sinful desire to possess what we see or to have those things which have visual appeal; coveting of money, possessions, or other physical things, is passing away and warns not to put your hope in the riches of this world.

The warnings are there because our hearts are deeply attracted to influence and affluence, and the rich have both.

Our hearts are sinfully drawn to the influence of the rich.

It is a given fact the wealth elitist are deeply connected to very influential people.

For example, The New York Times did a study in 2015, and found that at that point fewer than 400 families accounted for almost half the money raised in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Just for a comparison, the United States Census says there are approximately 83 million families in America, and 400 hundred of them have intimate access to our political leaders to shape political policy.

Paul Krugman, a columnist for the New York Times, commented on this in his Article, “Why do the Wealthy Have so Much Power,” saying,

“Wealthy donors have access to politicians in a way ordinary Americans don’t and play a disproportionate role in shaping policymakers’ worldview.”

Paul Krugman

Our hearts are sinfully drawn to the affluence of the rich.

Look at the way James describes the rich man

James 2:2 (ESV)

For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing

The rich man is identified by his resources or his affluence, gold ring and fine clothes.

An affluent person is someone who has a great deal of property, possessions, and wealth; they have an abundance of resources.

They have the ability to write a check and cover the churches expenses for a year.

Their tithe could ensure lucrative salaries for staff.