Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Children, we are ready for Children's Church at this time.
You may make your way back there to see Miss Savannah.
We are excited that you're here to worship with us today.
This week during our Wednesday night life groups, the topic that we were discussing was becoming a welcoming church
and making sure that we're intentional about being a welcoming church.
It was part of the series, the Love Your Church series that all of our life groups on Wednesday nights are going through.
And actually some of our Sunday school classes on Sunday morning are going through as well.
But it was a really interesting topic, a great week of discussion as we think through what it means to be a welcoming church.
And in that session, during that chapter, the main passage that was used was James chapter 2 verses 1 through 13.
Well, guess what? Today, our main passage is James chapter 2 verses 1 through 13.
Now, I wish that I could say six months ago we planned this out and, you know, we just had it in mind all along.
That's not the case.
But I am really thankful that it worked out this way because it does, it's very helpful for us this week in thinking through this passage.
In thinking through what it means to be a welcoming church.
Now, there's a couple of areas that we need to be aware of when we think about becoming welcoming or being a welcoming church.
A few pitfalls that I think are easy to fall into.
And one of those is one that you would typically go to.
I think that everybody would recognize.
And we sometimes find ourselves becoming unwelcoming because we feel that we are being inconvenienced.
Our preferences or our comfortability is being challenged.
And we can find ourselves showing preferences in an unbiblical way.
We can find ourselves not becoming welcoming because all of a sudden these new people, it changes the dynamics.
It changes different things.
And I think we all recognize that we must push back against that.
We must not let that become what is important to us.
That we must be on guard against this.
But there's another way that we need to be on guard as well.
And sometimes we like the idea of being welcoming.
But as long as it is someone else who's doing the welcoming, right?
We like the idea of being a welcoming church.
Nobody wants their church to be known for not being welcoming.
Nobody wants that.
But at the same time, we don't want to actually be the ones who are making people feel comfortable.
We don't want to actually be the ones who are putting ourselves out there.
And when I think about this, I'm reminded of a church that I was serving in at one time.
Not here, but it was a church that I was serving in.
And there was this group of teens that was playing basketball in the parking lot.
And somebody comes in.
They says, somebody really needs to go out there and invite these teens in.
They need to invite them to church.
Because it was obvious by their actions, by the language that they were sharing with one another,
that they weren't typically people who go to church.
And so we had someone come in and he comes right up to me.
And I guess because I was on staff there, say, somebody needs to go invite them to church.
And so I go out there and invite them to church.
But then I began thinking about, you're right, somebody does.
But that's something that we all need to take responsibility for.
That's something that we all need to be a part of.
This is a command that we must all take responsibility for and actively participate in.
And so our passage today addresses the issue of showing partiality and favoritism.
James, a leader in the early church, wants to make sure we know that in the kingdom of God,
there's no place for partiality.
There's no place for favoritism.
And so if you have a copy of God's Word, I want to invite you to open with me to James chapter 2.
And we're going to read the first 13 verses.
So James chapter 2 verses 1 through 13, this is what the Word of the Lord says.
It says this,
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
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,
and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing,
and you 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 made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brothers,
has God not 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?
But you have dishonored the poor man,
and are not the rich ones the ones who oppress you,
and not the ones who drag you into court?
Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
you shall love your neighbor as yourself,
you are doing well.
But if you show partiality,
you are committing sin and are convicted by the law of transgressors.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails at one point has become guilty of it all.
For he who said,
do not commit adultery,
also said,
do not murder.
If you do not commit adultery,
but you do murder,
you have become a transgressor of the law.
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Now there are so many things that we would love to take the time to cover this morning,
and we're not going to be able to hit on every single thing.
But there are a few questions that I want us to ask ourselves
as we think through the problem that James addresses here,
this problem of partiality.
And the first question that I want us to look at today,
this morning,
is this.
What are you captivated by?
What are we captivated by?
And we see this from James 2, 1 through 7 here,
but I want us to pay particular attention to James 2, 1.
It says,
My brothers,
show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory.
Much of this section,
verses 1 through 13,
can be summed up with this one verse.
Don't show favoritism or partiality to anyone
because Jesus is the Lord of glory,
the only one who is worthy of glory.
You see,
when we ascribe glory to people based on their financial status,
we are being captivated by the things of this world
and not the one who created this world.
If we start showing and ascribing glory to people
and giving preference to those who have means,
then what we're doing is we're putting more glory on the things of this world
than the one who created the world.
And in our passage,
James goes on to give an example of what this would look like.
He says,
Imagine that two people come into your assembly.
One of these people that comes into your assembly
is dressed in really fine clothing.
And in fact,
he's got rings on all of his,
gold rings on all of his fingers.
And we know from history that this was a status symbol
where everybody would look to,
Oh,
that person's a person of means.
And in fact,
there's rumors that are told that,
that there were places where you could go
and rent gold rings to wear
if you were going somewhere to try to impress somebody.
I guess much like people use enterprise
or in a sports car to go to their high school reunion.
And so,
and so you would rent these things
and you would,
you would go and you would show off and say,
look at me.
Look how rich,
look how wealthy I am.
Look at all the things that I have done.
Look at,
look at me.
And so this person,
imagine this person coming in
and everybody wants to welcome him.
They roll out the red carpet for him.
He gets to sit with everyone.
He's invited to every Sunday school class we offer.
He's given his own parking place
and make sure that he gets a guest back.
Everyone wants to invite them to lunch,
to go with them.
Then there's another person that walks in
and this person is dressed in shabby clothes,
that it says.
This person doesn't look as impressive on the outside
as someone who,
who maybe can contribute to life.
This is not a person of means.
It's never going to be a large contributor of finances to the church.
And instead of rolling out the red carpet,
you ask the person to stand over there in the corner.
Why don't you,
if you need to,
you can sit down here at my feet.
But you don't welcome them in.
You have one person who feels incredibly welcomed
and glad that they are there.
And somebody else who,
who really probably will never come back
because they don't feel like they belong.
They don't feel like they are welcomed there.
And so as soon,
and then you have this take place
and soon the worship service begins.
Or does it?
And I say this because
what are we really worshiping at this point?
What are we really worshiping
if we're trying to make these distinctions between,
what are we elevating in our services
if we begin to make these distinctions?
Because it's not Christ that's being elevated.
I believe that God is far more concerned
with our heart as we come to our worship service
than he would ever be about how we are dressed.
Now you may object and say,
well, Brad, this is not a true story.
James is just,
he's speaking in hyperbole here.
No one calls themselves a Christian
would actually act this way.
There's no way that this would actually take place
if only that were true.
It's been a few years since I was in Greek,
but I'm not sure that I would have even picked up on this
because what I had was just the very basics of it.
But numerous commentators this week
noticed the language of verses two and three,
as well as the context that is given here,
indicates an actual happening in the early church.
James probably witnessed this tragic event himself.
And again, I'm not a Greek scholar,
but sadly, I don't find this hard to believe.
There's a real danger that if we are not intentional,
then we can fall prey to showing partiality.
Tony Morita, he notes that this word for partiality
is actually a plural term that is meaning
that it can be used in a number of forms,
saying that the Christian must not show
any act of favoritism regarding clothing,
wealth, skin color, background,
or external aspects of a person.
Now, hopefully not, but some of you may think,
is this really a big deal?
Is this really an issue that we need to spend
a whole week talking about?
And yes, it is.
Why?
Because it is far from being like Christ,
the example that we have,
the example that he's set for us.
Martin Lloyd-Jones, he says,
the Christian is meant to be like God.
He is meant to manifest in his daily life,
in this cruel world,
something of the characteristics of God himself.
He is meant to live as the Lord Jesus Christ lived,
to follow the pattern and to imitate that example.
You see, when we set our eyes on Jesus,
when we see him as our greatest treasure,
then all of a sudden,
the things of this world,
they don't seem to be as big of a deal.
When we set our eyes on Jesus,
and we see him as our greatest treasure,
then all the things that the world says are important,
all of a sudden start paling in comparison
to who Jesus is.
We must be more captivated
by Christ and his glory
than anything else in this world.
If you want to put partiality,
if you want to put favoritism,
if you want to put prejudice,
if you want to put discrimination,
or whatever you want to call it to death here,
then keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
Ed Welch rightly said,
he says,
when we see people as bigger,
that is more powerful and more significant
than God,
then we give other people the power and right
to tell us what to feel,
what to think,
and what to do.
Once our eyes are fixed on him,
then how we view this world
is brought into the right perspective.
Once we fix our eyes on Jesus,
then all of these other things
are put in their proper place.
But where do we go from here?
What's the next step that we find ourselves?
And the next question I want us to answer is this,
what do we do with our partiality?
What do we do with our partiality?
And we see this is in verses 8 through 11,
but specifically 8 and 9 right here says,
if you really fulfill the royal law,
according to the scripture,
you shall love your neighbor as yourself,
you are doing well.
But if you show partiality,
you are committing sin
and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
So to give a quick answer
to what do we do with our partiality?
We put it to death.
We do what we do with all of our sin.
We put it to death and we repent.
Now, if there's any doubt in our minds at this point,
is this a sin or not?
James removes all that doubt by saying,
but if you show partiality,
you are committing sin.
He tells us that this is a sin
that we must repent from.
Now, repentance is a really interesting thing
because repentance doesn't just mean
stop doing something.
It means turning from it, right?
It's not just that we stop doing something,
but it's we turn
and we start doing something else.
And so it's a stop and it's a start.
It's a turn and going in the opposite direction.
Ephesians 4 gives us one of the clearest examples
of how this plays out in the life of a believer
when it says this in Ephesians 4.
It says,
It's assuming that you have heard about him
and were taught to him as the truth is in Jesus,
to put off your old self,
to stop doing these things,
which belongs to the former manner of life
and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to put on the new self,
created after the likeness of God
and true righteousness and holiness.
And so in this passage, Paul's saying
that repentance is twofold.
It's to put off your old self
and to put on the new self.
Put to death all those things
that the world says are important
and to put on what it is that God values.
And then he gives us a beautiful example
of how this plays out
when he goes on to say this.
He says,
Let the thief no longer steal,
but rather let him labor
doing honest work with his own hands
so that he may have something to share
with anyone in need.
This shows not just a changed behavior,
but it shows a new affection.
It's not just a changed behavior
that God is after.
He's after a new affection.
And so the thief,
you know, if you were discipling this man,
this thief,
if you were discipling him
and trying to help him grow
in his relationship with God,
I think if we started that process,
we would all be thrilled to death
if this thief just stopped stealing.
We'd be like,
Wow, you have made incredible progress.
You've stopped stealing.
That's fantastic.
But Paul says that there's more to it
because it's not just the action
that we're after to be changed.
It's after a new heart,
a new kind of obedience
that desires to follow God.
And so here he's saying,
let the thief no longer steal.
But what should he do?
He should do honest work
with his own hands
so that he can have something
that he can do what?
That he can give to others.
And so what you see here
in the example of the thief
is a changed heart.
He's gone from a heart
that is greedy
where he's trying to take
and take and take.
And now he's given a heart
that is generous
so that he can give.
So that he can give
to those in need.
And so what we see in repentance
is stop doing something,
but it's also a move
in the opposite direction.
It's a turning from this.
We must not only show,
not stop showing partiality
and favoritism,
but we must be actively opposed to it.
Actively opposed to these things.
You see, evidence of revival
in the movement of God
is always characterized
by repentance of sin.
One of the things
that we know
from church history
and the different revivals
that have taken place
is one key characteristic
that is evident
in all of these.
And I would say
is probably the main characteristic
of evidence
that revival
and a movement of God
is taking place.
And it is that
the effect of the revival
is this repentance from sin.
One pastor I was reading
said it like this.
He says,
some so-called revivals
have been characterized
by exotic experiences
without much emphasis
on repentance.
People go like tourists
to such places
to see what is happening.
I wonder whether
we could call that revival,
he says.
After the revival
of Asbury College and Seminary
in 1971,
many students
came to the bookstore
to return things
that they had taken
without paying.
He says,
that is a powerful sign
that they have become
right with God.
Can you imagine
being in the bookstore
and all of a sudden
all of these students
start coming in,
yeah, I took this from you
but I want to give it
back to you now.
You know, I want to pay
for this.
I took this, used it,
now I want to pay for it.
It is my hope and prayer
that as a church
we want to see God
move in a mighty way.
That we want to see
revival take place.
That we want to see God
move throughout
our community.
But one of the ways
that that must,
that one of the things
that must be in place
for that to happen
is this repentance.
Is this turning from sin
and following God.
One thing that is clear
is that,
that is clear evidence
to God working
is repentance.
And so as a church
we must see others
in light of the royal law
that is talked about
in this passage.
To love your neighbor
as yourself.
We must be a church
that welcomes others.
If you had a chance
to read chapter 2
this past week
of Love Your Church,
there is a quote in here
from Pastor Ray Ortlund
that just really spoke volumes
and I think it was
one of the favorite places
at least for our men's group
that we landed
and was as we thought
about this chapter.
And this is what Ray Ortlund,
he is a pastor in Nashville,
he gave the following welcome
to his church
one Sunday morning.
He said this.
He says,
Welcome to church.
Now here is the one thing
I invite you to understand.
You may have noticed
when you walked in
that the doors out there
are painted red.
That is an old church tradition,
Christian tradition,
because we enter into the church
through the blood of Christ.
Out in the world
where we live
the rest of the week,
we never measure up.
Our lives are never complete.
We never fully belong.
And then we come into the church
through the finished work
of Christ on the cross.
And what makes the difference here?
The reason why we belong
is that we're walking
into completeness
already prepared.
Therefore, we can be weak.
We can be honest with ourselves,
with one another,
and with the Lord.
And he says,
We belong.
Welcome.
So to all who are weary
and need rest,
to all who mourn
and long for comfort,
to all who fail
and desire strength,
to all who sin
and need a Savior,
the church opens wide
her red doors
in the name of Jesus,
the friend of sinners.
Welcome.
I'm glad you're here.
I'm going to be honest with you.
It really makes me think
about painting
our church doors red.
I mean,
this is just an incredible opportunity,
incredible witness
of saying,
what is most important?
This should be our heart,
that we do away
with all partiality
and open wide
our doors
and say,
because of Jesus,
we're glad
that you are here.
But we must understand
what causes this change
and it's this repentance,
this new affection,
and it is the gospel
that does this.
It's the gospel
that changes us.
So the final question
that I want us to answer
this morning is this.
How does
the gospel
change us?
How does it change us?
How does the gospel
change us in our lives?
Verses 12 and 13
says this,
So speak
and so act
as those
who are to be judged
under the law
of liberty.
For judgment
is without mercy
to one
who has shown
no mercy.
Mercy
triumphs
over judgment.
Now,
at first glance
right here,
it appears
that James is saying
show mercy
so that you can
receive mercy.
After all,
he says,
for judgment
is without mercy
to one
who has shown
no mercy.
However,
James is saying
the exact opposite
of this.
He's not saying
that you have to
show mercy
in order to receive
mercy,
but rather,
if you have
received mercy,
then you're going
to show mercy.
Sam Alberry,
he notes that
by showing mercy,
we will expose
the kinds of lives
we have led
and whether
or not
we have been
impacted
and shaped
by a real
faith in Christ.
Obedience
to Christ,
Christ's ways,
is the sign
that we have
been saved
by him.
That his death
and resurrection
have truly gripped us.
That we have truly
come to a saving
knowledge of who
Jesus is.
It will be evident
in the way
that we act.
James is about
to show us
in this next section
that we'll look
at next week
that true faith
changes us.
He's not saying
that you must
do acts of righteousness
in order to gain
righteousness.
He's saying
the exact opposite.
He's saying
the exact opposite
of this
because that is
the exact opposite
of the gospel.
What he is saying
is that once you
have received
God's grace,
once you've received
his mercy,
then you will
show mercy.
And this goes
right along
with the theme
of James
that we have
been saying
over and over
again thus far.
Faith in Christ
produces faithfulness
to Christ.
Faith in Christ
is going to
produce in us
faithfulness
to Christ.
This idea
is not unique
to James.
In fact,
we find it all
throughout Scripture.
We find it all
throughout the Bible
that once we truly
understand who God is,
then it changes
our actions.
You can't enter
into a life-changing
experience with
Christ
and it not
change your life.
But this is also
one of the most
notable places
that we see it
is in the teaching
of Jesus.
Jesus in Matthew 18
told the parable
of an unforgiving
servant.
Now in this parable,
Jesus begins
by sharing
a pretty bleak
scenario
in Matthew 18
starting in verse 23
where he says this.
He says,
Therefore,
the kingdom of heaven
may be compared
to a king
who wished
to settle accounts
with his servant.
When he began
to settle,
one was brought
to him
who owed him
10,000 talents.
Now,
I realize
10,000 talents
may not mean
very much
to us today.
We have no
frame of reference
for what a talent
is,
but a talent
was actually
an incredibly
large amount
of money.
One talent
would be equivalent
to 20 years
of work
for an average
laborer.
And so,
if somebody
worked 20 years
and they never
spent a dime
of the money
that they earned,
then in 20 years
they would have
saved up
a talent.
And he's saying
that imagine
this servant
has been given
10,000 talents,
now he has to
repay this back.
And so,
in other words,
this is the equivalent
of 200,000 years
of working
for someone.
This is an incredibly
large amount
of money,
something that we
can't even really
begin to comprehend.
Well,
it came time
to collect
on this loan
and the servant
didn't have the money.
And so,
the king ordered
him and his wife
and his kids
to be sold
into slavery
until the loan
could be repaid.
Now,
think if you
were this man.
If you owe
this money
and then the king
just tells you
that you,
your wife,
your kids,
everything you own
is about to be sold,
what would you do?
You begin to beg
and plead
for more time,
right?
You say,
just give me
a little bit more.
Please don't sell
my whole family
into slavery.
Please don't put
me into slavery.
Please don't take
everything that I own
and sell it.
Give me more time.
Give me a little bit
more time
to come up
with this.
And in the moment
that would have
astonished everyone
listening,
Jesus says this.
He says,
and out of pity
for him,
the master
of the servant
released him
and forgave him
the debt.
What?
That's crazy,
right?
You mean to tell me
this king just
forgave a debt
that is so large
that we can't even
begin to imagine
that kind of money.
Everybody would have
just been confused
by this.
Obviously,
the man would be
relieved,
and so he just
had a debt
that he had no
chance of repaying
forgiven.
And so he goes out
and he runs into
a man that owes him
100 denarii.
Now,
that would be
equivalent to
100 days
of labor
for a worker,
which is a far
cry from 200,000
years,
right?
In fact,
if you were
wondering,
I did the math,
it's 0.00014%
of the loan
that he had just
been forgiven.
You would think
that if someone
had just been
forgiven 10,000 talents,
he would forgive
100 denarii.
But he doesn't.
He begins to
choke the man
and demand
that he be
repaid.
Now,
when his fellow
servants hear this,
what are they
going to do?
Oh,
they immediately
run back to the
king.
They immediately
run back to the
master and told
the master,
and Jesus says,
then his master
summoned him
and said to him,
you wicked servant,
I forgave you
all that debt
because you pleaded
with me,
and should not you
have had mercy
on your fellow
servant as I
had mercy on
you.
And in anger,
his master
delivered him
to the jailers
until he should
pay all his debt.
So also,
my heavenly father
will do to
every one of you
if you do not
forgive your brother
from your heart.
Just like the servant
didn't understand
mercy of what
had been given
to him,
James is telling
us very plainly,
if we show
partiality,
if we judge
people on their
appearances,
turn up our noses,
and not show
mercy to them,
then we truly
don't understand
what has been
done for us.
We truly don't
understand what
has been paid
for us.
Now,
this doesn't mean
that we'll never
mess up,
that if we do,
then maybe it means
that we're not saved.
No,
that's not what
this is saying.
This is going to be
something that we
struggle with.
In fact,
Peter,
one of the early
church leaders,
he struggled
with this at
times.
He began to
show partiality,
and Paul called
him out on it,
and then shortly
after Paul called
him out on it,
we ended up having
the Jerusalem
Council,
where everybody
comes together
to try to
discuss this
matter,
and James,
the author of
this book,
is the one
who's presiding
over this
Jerusalem Council.
So,
no,
this is a
struggle that
many people
have with
even Peter,
one of the
leaders of the
early church,
struggled with
this.
But what
James is making
very clear to us
is if you
have received
mercy,
if you have
come to faith
in Christ,
then there is
no room
for partiality.
There's no room
for favoritism.
There's no room
for racism.
It is simply
incompatible
with a true
follower of
Jesus.
And so,
as you have
received mercy,
you extend
mercy.
But the
opposite of this
is also true
and tough for
us to hear.
David Platt,
he put it this
way,
he says,
if we do
not extend
mercy,
we demonstrate
that we have
not received
mercy.
You can't
earn mercy.
It's mercy
because it
can't be
earned.
This text
is saying
you can
tell who
has received
mercy from
God by the
way they
show mercy
to others.
Now,
if this is
a foreign
concept to
you,
then I've
got wonderful
news.
You can
receive God's
grace and
his mercy
today by
placing your
faith and
your trust
in him.
You can
be forgiven
of far
more than
10,000
talents.
You can
be forgiven
of a debt
that is
impossible to
pay back.
And one of
the evidences
of that
forgiveness
is the way
that you
begin to
look at
others.
The way
that you
begin to
treat
others.
The way
that you
begin to
see them
in light
of who
God
is.
Church,
I hope
that we
can walk
away from
this
passage
with not
only an
understanding
that we
are called
to be a
welcoming
church,
but that in
order to
do this,
we must
take
responsibility
and we
must do
this
individually.
We must,
it's not,
it's one
thing to
desire to
have a
welcoming
church,
it's a
whole
other thing
to desire
to be
a welcoming
church.
And that's
what I hope
is our
desire.
That it's
not just
this idea
that's out
there,
but it's
something that
we take
to heart
and we
want to
be a
part of
that.
Heavenly
Father,
I thank
you so
very much
for the
many ways
in which
you bless
us each
and every
day.
Lord,
I thank
you for
this
passage
and as
difficult
as it
is to
hear
at times,
Lord,
it's
something
that's
necessary
for us.
And Lord,
I pray
that you
give us
a desire
not only
that we
have a
welcoming
church,
but that
we are
a welcoming
church,
that we
are a
part of
that,
that we
seek as
individuals,
followers of
you,
to be a
part of
something that
is far
greater than
ourselves.
And so,
Lord,
be with us.
Help us to
understand this
in a greater
way.
Help us to
keep our
eyes fixed
on you
because that's
what makes
the difference.
When we see
you as our
greatest treasure,
then the
things of
this world
get put in
their proper
place.
And Lord,
I pray
that there's
somebody here
that has
never experienced
your grace
and mercy,
that's never
experienced that
life-changing
relationship with
you,
then today would
be the day
that they go
from death
to life.
And so,
Lord,
thank you so
very much
for the
book of
James,
the book
that your
brother wrote.
Lord,
I thank you
for what it
teaches us
about how
we should
live our
lives.
And so,
Lord,
I pray today
that it
wouldn't just
be something
that we hear,
that wouldn't
just be
knowledge
that we
have,
but it
would be
knowledge
that gets
applied,
that changes
how we
view our
actions and
how we
view those
around us.
So,
Lord,
thank you
so very
much for
all that
you do.
In Jesus'
name we
pray.
Amen.
I'm going
to invite you
to stand.
We're going
to sing a
song of
invitation.
If God
is speaking
to you
this morning,
won't you
respond as
we stand
together and
sing?