James 1, verse 27. That's where we're picking things up.
And we're tempted to think that when James tells his hearers to keep themselves unstained from the world,
! That he means, right, enough with the sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Stay away from the basement clubs in Soho.
Nothing good happens after midnight.
We saw last time, a couple of weeks ago, that he's talking about something else.
What he's talking about is living as Christians according to the same values as the world around us.
In 1.19 and following, James' concern was that in response to the persecution and the trials
that this scattered group of believers are experiencing,
that they would get drawn into a kind of revolutionary anger.
The sort of thing that we see today.
When people don't get what they want, when they're badly treated,
they riot, and they fight,
and they even burn cities to the ground.
And it's all talked about as a kind of virtuous thing.
It's one of the ways that a worldly culture responds to suffering, or indeed perceived suffering.
Well, this morning, James continues on this thread.
Only this time, the worldly value that he addresses,
it's there in chapter 2, verse 1,
is favoritism, partiality.
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The way to get things done in the world,
the way that you get ahead,
often the way that you get out of trouble,
is by knowing rich and powerful people.
And usually the two go together, rich and powerful.
So if you can ingratiate yourself with a rich person, you can benefit.
Start-up businesses, understand this.
Start-up entrepreneurs network like mad,
hoping that the rich guy will invest.
Or that the influential person will use their product,
and they can put it on their social media.
Partiality is something that is considered a veritable positive thing
in the world of start-up business.
On a personal level,
rich and powerful people can do things,
and can get things,
and can go places.
And if they like having you around,
well, you get favor by association.
We treat rich people differently.
We make time for them.
We can clear our schedule for them.
We give them attention.
We laugh at their jokes,
because we want to benefit in some way.
And the reason that that kind of behavior is worldly
is because it's actually a form of self-love.
There's lots of talk in our culture today about the rich using people.
That may be true.
But plenty of people use the rich as well in order to get what they want.
The point is that James says that there isn't to be any of this in the church.
But it's really important, I think,
that we see that James isn't referring here simply to financial wealth.
Remember that these believers,
to whom he writes,
have come to faith in Christ from Judaism,
and they have been scattered because they've been persecuted
for naming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and not bowing the knee to the Jewish system.
So, when James gives this mini parable in verses 2 and 4,
he has 2 to 4.
He has a particular kind of rich person in mind.
So, do you see, it's interesting the details that are mentioned.
This person who comes into their gathering is wearing a signet ring,
and he has fine clothing, verse 2.
Those point to his authority.
And we're told in verses 6 and 7
that this rich person is actually an oppressor and a blasphemer.
I think what we're supposed to see is
that this isn't just a generic wealthy person.
This man is some kind of leader from the Jewish establishment
who has come to see them.
So, what's happening is this beleaguered group thinks,
well, if we can treat this guy well,
with all of his authority, all of his influence,
he might use that influence in order to help us.
It's a bit like today,
us trying to get favor from the local MP
or even the prime minister.
They come along on Sunday,
and we make a fuss of them
because, well, they might be able to help us.
They might be able to assist us in our mission.
So, you're unwelcome.
Down at the door there,
and two men arrive at the same time.
One of them pulls up in a Range Rover
with blacked-out windows,
and you think he looks familiar,
very well-dressed.
You might have seen him on television.
Hello, sir.
Lovely to meet you.
You're very, very welcome.
Let me get you a seat.
Come with me.
Come this way.
The other guy arrives.
He looks a bit shabby.
Morning.
Very welcome.
Wait there for a moment.
Sorry.
Just, if you don't actually,
just grab a seat wherever.
I think there's one over there somewhere.
In fact, you know,
maybe you just want to perch on the floor.
That's all right.
It can be a subtle kind of thing,
but it's usually pretty obvious.
The person with wealth and authority and power
gets special treatment.
It's the same self-love
that marks the culture on display in the church.
And James says it's worldly and it's ugly.
Just like anger, actually,
it doesn't bring about the righteousness of God.
He's saying political manipulation,
working the rich does not accomplish God's work.
Indeed, when you do that,
look at verse 4.
He's saying,
you make distinctions among yourselves
and you become judges with evil thoughts.
Literally, you divide yourselves.
That problem sound familiar?
We heard that right at the start of the letter
in chapter 1, verse 8.
Double-mindedness.
Divided.
One foot in the kingdom of God,
one foot in the world.
One foot in the kingdom of service
one foot in the kingdom of equality.
One foot in the kingdom of
out for what I can get.
Let's work the angles and see if we can get ahead.
And James says,
don't do it.
And he goes on to provide two reasons
why we're not to do it.
Point number one,
he says it's against God's design.
To show partiality
within the church
is against God's design.
Verse 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?
But you have dishonored the poor man.
A couple of weeks ago,
we heard James tell the poor man
to rejoice in his exaltation
for this reason.
In the economy of God,
it is the poor whom he chooses.
He goes to those that the world overlooks.
He meets them in their need
and he chooses them
to be in his family.
Now, James isn't saying,
he's definitely not saying,
as some theologians seem to want to say,
that material poverty
is a requirement for salvation.
He can't be saying that.
God doesn't choose the poor
because they are poor.
He's saying that what is required
is humility,
poverty of spirit.
Remember, I said at the outset
that this letter echo after echo
after echo of the Sermon on the Mount.
Who is blessed?
Who finds favor with God?
Who flourishes in God's eyes?
The poor in spirit.
And anyone who possesses
that kind of poverty
can be saved.
Indeed, they will be saved.
In practice, what that means, however,
is that those who have
very little materially
are actually at a spiritual advantage.
How is that the case?
Well, if you have nothing else
to hope in,
you're very aware of your need
and you're open
to what Christ has to offer.
That's why Luke,
when he uses his beatitudes,
he says in Luke chapter 6, verse 20,
blessed are the poor.
If you have plenty of other things
to trust in,
money,
contact,
influence,
then you look to those things
to deliver the life
that you want
and what ends up happening
is that you resist
what God is doing in your life
to grow you to maturity.
When trials come,
how many of us,
the first thing we think
is we can pay our way out of this,
we can ring somebody
who will help us
to get our way out of this.
If only I had
that level of influence,
if only I was that kind of person,
well then I could fix this situation.
That's the problem.
If you have those things,
you tend to trust in them.
That is why Jesus says
in the following verses
in Luke chapter 6,
he starts,
blessed are the poor,
he goes through his beatitudes,
and then he says,
624,
woe to you who are rich
for you have already
received your comfort.
If we have resources,
we can fix things.
Without those resources,
when things come our way
from God under His hand
to cause us
to have to lean on Him
and have to grow,
what ends up happening?
We lean on Him and we grow
and we're spiritually much healthier.
Woe to you who are rich
for you have already
received your comfort.
Hey, by the way,
this is why God sends
trials of various kinds
to those who are truly His,
trials that money
and contacts and influence
can't do anything to fix.
God is intent on maturing us,
on growing us up,
whatever we have materially,
whatever we have in terms
of contacts and influence.
And sometimes He will send
things our way
that whatever we have
can't fix,
like sickness,
like problems with our children,
like relational breakdown.
Your money doesn't work.
Your contacts are no help.
Your influence delivers nothing.
What's happening?
God is forcing you back on Him
so that you gain steadfastness,
chapter 1, verse 3,
so that you grow to maturity.
Look, if wealth or comfort
or privilege in this life
causes you to miss out on Christ
or to fail to grow up
in the ways of Christ,
whatever you have,
it isn't worth the pleasure
or confidence that it has provided.
Whatever it was that you trusted in
rather than Him,
it wasn't worth it.
So, to dishonor the poor
is to push against God's design.
He chooses the poor
and the world to be rich in faith.
And they are co-heirs
with everyone else
in God's kingdom.
The ground at the foot
of the cross of Christ
is level.
However we've got
to the point of poverty of spirit,
that doesn't matter.
That is God's work.
The ground at the foot
of the cross is level.
Just to say,
many of us
are rich,
at least by global standards.
But it may be
that you feel relatively poor.
You're not as rich
as someone else.
Well, if that's the case,
let me say,
look at verse 5.
Let verse 5
get into your bones.
Listen, my beloved brothers,
has God not chosen,
has not God chosen
those who are poor
in the world
to be rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom?
Our world might despise
poverty and weakness.
God does not.
Our culture might choose
the strong and the impressive,
but God doesn't.
Your poverty is no barrier
to knowing Christ,
nor is it a barrier
to receiving
a heavenly inheritance
that is worth
more than any
earthly inheritance.
Even the biggest,
the Gates children,
the Musk children,
the Bezos children,
poor kids.
they're all looking forward
to a massive inheritance.
It is nothing
compared to this one.
In Christ,
you inherit God's kingdom.
Don't show partiality
because it is against
God's design.
James continues,
it is also secondly
against God's law.
Verses 8 to 11,
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.
For whoever keeps
the whole law
but fails in one point
has become guilty
of all of it.
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.
Now, James hasn't gone here
on a theological tangent
to talk about the law.
Verse 9,
partiality is still
his concern.
But he ties it here
to God's law
because it is such
a prominent theme
in the Old Testament.
Exodus 23,
Deuteronomy 1,
Deuteronomy 10,
Israel are commanded
to act without partiality,
to be impartial.
And they're to do that
because to do that
is to mirror
or to imitate God.
And when we get further on,
when we get to Jesus'
summary of the law,
impartiality lies
behind what He says.
You remember?
The Old Testament law
is summed up
in two commands.
Love God
and love your neighbor.
And it follows.
It un...
Whatever.
There's no disconnection.
It has to follow
that you simply
cannot love your neighbor
if you discriminate
against them.
Just sit on the floor there.
I'm going to talk
to the rich guy.
Partiality is a failure
of neighbor love.
It is very simple,
but it is so important.
James speaks to those
because of its importance.
He can't emphasize this enough.
In fact, he says,
listen, to those of you
that want to wriggle out of this,
I've got something to say.
They say, okay, well,
maybe do fall down
on the partiality front.
Maybe not great at that,
but I'm good at the others.
I'm pretty good at the others,
most of them anyway.
I'll take the test.
I'm sure I'll do a solid
seven out of ten
on the Ten Commandments.
He says, no.
The law comes as a whole.
You can't break it in one place
and not destroy the whole thing.
It's a bit like bursting a football.
You can't burst a football
and put a hole in one place
and not ruin the whole thing.
If you tried to say,
but no, it's not ruined.
There's only a tiny hole there.
The hole's only in that part.
It's nonsense.
One place it breaks,
the whole thing is useless.
And if you start going,
oh, no, there's only
a tiny hole there,
you miss the point.
God's law requires us
to love our poor neighbor.
It's saying here,
if you only have time
for the rich,
you're in sin.
So, partiality is against
God's design.
It's against God's law.
This is James' kind of one-two
as to why favoritism
has no place in the church.
But I said at the beginning,
it kind of comes naturally to us.
We might know that favoritism
is an ugly trait,
but it just kind of happens.
We gravitate towards rich
and influential
and powerful people
if we can gain their favor.
So, how do we change?
How do we change?
Well, I want to suggest
that we focus ourselves.
We lift our eyes.
We focus our gaze.
We turn our hearts
to three realities
that James mentions
in the passage here,
but he mentions them
almost in passing.
So, the first one
is the fatherhood of God.
Look at verse 27.
Chapter 1, verse 27.
Religion that is pure
and undefiled before God
is this,
to visit orphans
and widows
in their affliction,
to keep oneself unstained
from the world.
He doesn't say that.
He doesn't say God.
He says God the Father.
The sort of religion
that God the Father loves
reflects God the Father's
posture towards the world.
He loves as a perfect father.
It's terrible.
It's a terrible home
where fathers have favorite children.
You see it in families
where one child
is particularly talented.
They get all the time
and attention.
Why is that?
In the hope that the child
can make it in some way.
Whatever area
their talent lies,
it's often couched
in terms of,
I just want to give them
the best opportunities
they can.
But actually,
it's usually much more
about the parents
because if your child
becomes rich and famous,
there's a good chance
you will as well.
Favoritism among children,
favoritism among your children
is really destructive.
One of my children
describes themselves
as favorite child.
They come to my office
after school
and they say,
Hi, Dad,
favorite child here
and continue.
Sometimes they even
sign off their emails,
Yours,
favorite child.
Now,
their siblings
find this annoying.
So,
we've had a few
dinner table summits
where I make it clear
to them
who my favorite
really is.
Obviously,
I go around
and tell them things
that I value about all of them.
They say,
No, that's boring.
Who's your favorite?
I say,
Well, of course,
your mother's my favorite.
Good fathers
don't discriminate.
And we don't love
our children
for what we can get
from them.
And we don't discriminate
because
that is an imitation
of how God loves
His children.
As we've said,
He loves those
who have nothing
to give
in return.
God loves those
who know
that their hands
are empty.
And to those
who know that,
He showers us
with the love
of a perfect
Father.
Whatever your experience
of earthly fathers,
and I know for some of us
that's not great,
say the least,
but whether your experience
is good or bad,
when you come to God,
you are received
by a Father
who loves you
indiscriminately.
In our sin,
we're all the shabby guy.
We're all the guy
with nothing to offer.
Spiritually speaking,
you can have
all the zeros
in the world
at the end
of your bank account.
Spiritually speaking,
we're all the shabby guy.
When it comes to God,
that currency
doesn't work.
And yet,
in our shabbiness,
God doesn't wait
for us to get cleaned up
in order to accept us.
You know that,
don't you?
God isn't waiting
for you
to clean up your life,
to show yourself
to be impressive,
to be able to perform
at a level
that He can go,
well, okay,
I'll accept you.
No.
He doesn't wait
for you to sort yourself out.
He comes to you
at your worst,
and He says,
my son
shed His blood for you.
Come and welcome.
God doesn't overlook you.
He loves you,
and He welcomes you
in the Lord Jesus.
And here's the thing.
It is to the degree
that you know
that love yourself,
that you know it
in your heart,
not just up here,
not just that you can
answer the question,
does God love me?
Yes, God loves me
because I put my faith
in the Lord Jesus.
It's that when you
experience that
in the depths
of who you are,
that you know
that you've been
welcomed into God's family,
that you know
that you are secure
in His love
despite your spiritual poverty.
It is to the degree
that you know that yourself
that you won't look down
on others.
First reality
we need to grasp
is the fatherhood of God.
The second
is in verse 1,
it is the glory of Christ.
Again,
James includes
a detail almost in passing
that is absolutely
massively important.
My brothers,
show no partiality
as you hold the faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He could have gone on
from there,
but he adds,
the Lord of glory.
Why does he do that?
Well,
I think it's to remind us
that there is only
one truly glorious person.
There is only one man
who has walked
the path of trials
to maturity
and to glory.
Hebrews 5,
verses 8 and 9,
although he was a son,
he learned obedience
through what he suffered
and being made perfect,
mature.
He became the source
of eternal salvation
to all who obey him.
That's the pattern.
And it is this pattern
holding to the faithfulness
of Jesus
that James exhorts us
to imitate.
We could summarize
the letter to this point,
I think,
this way.
Rejoice in your trials
as Jesus rejoiced.
Remain steadfast,
persevere
as he persevered,
and be made mature
as he was made mature.
Part of our love
of the rich
is their glory,
their power
and their authority
and their status,
and that's what we're drawn to
and that's what we want
to share of.
So, if we can just
make them like us,
we can just get
rich adjacent.
That would be the way
it would be described,
isn't it?
If we can just get
alongside them,
we'll get caught up
in that glory ourselves.
We'll get to share
some of that glory.
Remember,
having lunch
with a wealthy friend
a number of years ago
and it was quite
an experience.
The people
that waited
on the table
and the people
that were also
at the table,
they treated me
very differently
because I was
with the big guy.
I was sharing
in that glory.
The problem is,
it is when we
desire that,
when we pursue
that and we
want their favor
in order to get it,
it does terrible
things to us.
I don't mean
even just the sinister
things that people
do for the praise
of the rich.
I mean,
laughing at jokes
that aren't funny.
Yes, of course.
Flattery.
Denying your values
in order just
to keep them on side.
Keeping your mouth
shut when the big guy
states his opinions
about things
that you think
are nonsense.
Why are we
drawn to this?
In the world,
it's because
of the glory hunger
that exists
in the human soul.
We, all of us,
are created
for glory
and there is this,
as it were,
this gap in the soul,
this emptiness,
this lack of glory
and we're hungry
for it.
But what we do
is we decide
that the glory
of the rich
in this life
is enough for us
and we settle
for so little
when we do that.
Because whatever glory
that is,
it's always fleeting,
it's always dissatisfying,
the pleasures
always come
and they go.
And when Christians
do this,
when we seek
the approval
of the influential
and the rich,
what we're doing,
we do that
because we've diminished
or we've forgotten
the glory of Christ.
You know,
if we really grasp,
again,
in the deep places
of our heart,
if we really grasp
that there is only
one truly glorious person,
He is absolute beauty,
absolute truth,
absolute goodness,
absolute perfection.
And if we really know
that through the gospel
we aren't merely
associated with Him,
we aren't merely
glory adjacent
in some detached way.
And if we grasp
that we don't merely
follow His example
in our own strength,
but we're united to Him
and we possess
His Holy Spirit,
that changes
just about everything.
It changes how you think
about the very Christian
life itself.
What is the point
of your Christian faith?
What is the point of it?
To glorify God
and enjoy Him forever.
You are Christian
because God saved you
not to live
your best life now,
but to make you
like Christ,
the glorious one,
and to bring you
into a share
of His glory.
And He sends trials
along the way
to ensure
that we get there,
to make us
like Christ,
and in order to get us
to a share
of that glory.
The glory path
that we walk
is a path
that inevitably
requires us
to go through
the same trials
that Jesus endured.
If you want
to be like Jesus,
if you want
to share eternity
with Jesus,
you have to walk
the path
that He walked.
When we see
the glory of Christ,
that He is the glorious one,
it changes the very
Christian life itself,
how we view it.
It especially then
changes also
how you view
other people
in the church.
When you are in Christ,
the glorious one,
you don't need
earthly glory.
Do you know that?
When you have Christ,
you have everything
that you need.
You don't need
earthly glory,
and you see
that your poorer
brothers and sisters
share in that glory
in the same way
that you do,
and you're equal.
Can you see
that Jesus Christ
is the Lord of glory?
And can you see
that all the glory
that you're searching
for in other things
is found in Him?
Unless we are
captivated by Christ's glory,
we will be taken up
by lesser glories.
We'll be sucked in
and seduced
by lesser glories.
I'll be dazzled
by wealth and power
and anything else
that I might be able
to get in on.
Unless I am dazzled
by Christ's glory,
I'll be unimpressed
with you if you can't
meet my glory needs.
If you're not
going to be able
to satisfy the glory
hunger within me,
well, you're no use to me.
And so,
partiality will
inevitably follow.
Lift your gaze
from the petty glories
of this life
and set your mind
and heart
on the glory of Christ.
Fatherhood of God,
the glory of Christ.
And then, thirdly,
James is more explicit
about this,
the judgment to come.
The judgment to come.
While we might make
these judgments
about people now,
that person's impressive,
that person's important,
not so much.
Don't forget that we will
all one day
be judged ourselves.
Look at verse 12.
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.
The law of liberty
that we have set aside
in our judging
between people
won't be set aside
on the last day
when it is God's turn
to judge us.
When it's not you
standing at the door
of the church
making your judgment,
oh, impressive,
come and sit here,
lovely,
let me get you
a cup of tea,
but it's God
standing at the door
of heaven
as you approach.
As you approach
holding the two tablets
of the law
cracked apart
because you refuse
to love your neighbor
as yourself.
That's all of us.
What are we hoping for
at that moment?
What do we need
at that moment?
What we need
is mercy.
And we will plead,
Lord,
have mercy on me.
And you know
how God will reply?
You want mercy?
How much mercy
did you show
to the people
who needed it from you?
The poor man,
the homeless,
the person
who could do
nothing for you.
Did you give them
time and care?
James reminds us
that a day is coming
and if we don't show mercy
to those around us now,
don't expect to get it
then from God.
God,
it is a very solemn warning.
It's not just that
you're shortchanging
yourself then
if you choose
to pursue the favor
of the rich
and the powerful
for what they can give you
in this life,
but you're doing
a terrible deal
with eternity.
But,
it's not the last word,
is it?
Look at verse 13.
It is incredibly
convicting,
but it's not the last word.
James also reminds us
that in Christ,
mercy triumphs
over judgment.
Because God is merciful,
we should be merciful.
Yes, we should,
but we hear the challenge.
But when we sense
the fact that we have
failed there,
we don't despair
because the one
who demands mercy
has also shown mercy.
Here's the thing
to go away with
this morning.
For disciples of the Lord Jesus,
God's mercy
is always the last word.
Mercy triumphs
over judgment.
The pursuit
of wealth and power
do not accomplish
the work of God.
The pursuit of wealth
and power
do not accomplish
the work of God,
either in our lives,
in the church,
or in the culture.
But a deep knowledge
of the fatherhood of God,
the glory of Christ,
and the judgment to come
will change us.
It will.
It will change us.
It will change
our relationship
to earthly glory,
and it will change
how we view others
in the church.
So, may God help us.
Let's pray together.