WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.359 Wonderful. Good morning, everyone. Thanks. It's great to be here. Thank you for your 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:13.759 fellowship for the service. It's good to meet up with our friends again. Let's pray, shall 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:21.019 we, before we get into today's passage. Heavenly Father God, we thank you and praise you for 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:24.800 who you are. We thank you for what you have done. We thank you for your word. Thank you 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.320 that it is good for us. Thank you that it is our very bread and our meat. Lord, I pray 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:35.079 that you would bless us as we eat of this today. May we be learning things that we need to 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:42.219 learn. May we go away from here feeling changed. May we act differently and may we also enjoy 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:49.859 grace. May we fall more in love with the beautiful, attractive person of Jesus Christ. We praise 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:53.039 you that you are here with us. We pray that your spirit would be moving. We pray that we 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:56.760 would be open to what you have to say. And we pray all these things in the mighty name 00:00:56.760 --> 00:00:58.880 of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:05.780 As a start of a ten, I wonder by a show of hands, how many people have seen the musical 00:01:05.780 --> 00:01:10.799 Les Mis? Anyone else? Yeah? Good. Great. That would have been a very awkward sermon if 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:16.299 you hadn't. Good. Let's do a recap. I just want to pull out a few characters. I'm not 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:18.620 going to go through it all. I just want to bring out a few characters before we look at 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:24.780 our passage today. Jean Valjean, the main guy, a beggar man, jailed for stealing a loaf of 00:01:24.780 --> 00:01:30.299 bread. He's freed and he finds himself in desperation with nothing to his name at the 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:35.579 Bishop of Dean's house. The Bishop, a truly godly man, welcomes Valjean into his company 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:41.939 without question, feeds him, clothes him and gives him rest. Then as we know, in the night 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:48.460 Valjean ups and leaves with half of the Bishop's silver. On being rearrested, Valjean is placed 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:53.280 before the Bishop, utterly bound to rights, with his knapsack overflowing with the silver 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.519 that he has stolen. And without a moment's hesitation, the Bishop tells the police that 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:03.619 he in fact gave the silver to Valjean as a gift. And not only that, but Valjean had forgotten 00:02:03.619 --> 00:02:09.919 to take with him the silver candlesticks, two beautiful and enormously expensive ornaments 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:16.819 that had been in the Bishop's family for years. Valjean is freed to live his life as a free 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:23.819 man. But then you have a very different kind of character in Les Mis, Javert. Valjean's 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:29.739 old prison guard and his arch enemy, a man who finds the underclass, the poor, to be no better 00:02:29.739 --> 00:02:35.079 than dirt. And he sees Valjean, a product of this underclass, as someone to whom mercy 00:02:35.079 --> 00:02:41.699 simply cannot be shown because a law has been transgressed. In the book, Javert famously 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:47.099 takes the word of a wealthy man in a court of law as being utterly true simply because 00:02:47.099 --> 00:02:51.959 he is rich. And time and time again, he throws the poor into prison without representation. 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:57.699 So you have two very different kinds of characters, don't you? Two very different men that treat 00:02:57.699 --> 00:03:02.959 people in very different ways. The Bishop of Dean versus the Judge Javert. The man of grace 00:03:02.959 --> 00:03:08.780 versus the man of legalism. The man who seems beyond the clothes and the crime, the poverty 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:15.740 in the past versus the man who simply cannot, who simply will not. And if we were to do a 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:21.860 character reference of these two, who would we rather be? That's a very obvious answer. 00:03:22.819 --> 00:03:29.000 Javert is hideous. He is bent by discrimination beyond reckoning. He is an exaggeration of everything 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.180 that the world tries to rally against, everything that the gospel shows, and it's against everything 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:43.900 that grace demands. But here in this passage, James seems to imply that we are not that different. 00:03:46.060 --> 00:03:54.000 James chapter 2 verse 1, my brothers, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:00.300 The themes in Les Mis are obviously dealing with extremes of poverty and wealth and incredible 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:06.219 prejudice and deep discrimination. It's easy to walk away from that and not to feel convicted. 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:12.340 To look at Javert and say, well, I'm not that bad. But the Bible doesn't let us off so easily. 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.740 Because you see in this passage, as James is rallying against exactly this kind of mindless 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:23.980 discrimination, he's not talking to Javert. He's talking to believers. 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:31.240 And as we read through this passage, we find that this is very sobering stuff. Shall we do that? Shall we 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:35.800 read it together? If you've got your Bibles, follow with me. It'd be great for you to have this open 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:41.560 as we go through the whole of the talk. And we're going to read from James 2 verses 1 to 13. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.620 James chapter 2 verses 1 to 13. 00:04:44.620 --> 00:04:50.060 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 00:04:51.459 --> 00:04:56.399 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:02.459 shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 00:05:02.660 --> 00:05:08.600 here's a good seat for you, but say to the poor man, you stand here or you sit on the floor by my feet. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:14.320 Have you not discriminated amongst yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:20.800 Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:27.020 faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. 00:05:27.640 --> 00:05:31.560 Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:35.760 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:43.060 If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:49.920 you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin, and you are convicted by the law as 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:55.779 lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking 00:05:55.779 --> 00:06:01.920 all of it. For he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder. If you do not commit 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:09.080 adultery but do commit murder, you've become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:16.319 to be judged by the law that gives freedom. Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:26.460 has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Amen. These are three points this morning. 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:33.939 If you're taking notes, the first one being favoritism in community is wrong. Genius. I know. 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:38.939 Spent hours over that point. But to a certain extent, there's nothing to hide behind in James 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:43.159 chapter 2. It's very much exactly what it is that says on the tin. This is what we've got. 00:06:44.060 --> 00:06:49.659 Favoritism in community is wrong. What does this look like? Let me give you an example. On the 25th of 00:06:49.659 --> 00:06:53.439 December, Christmas just gone, my wife, Jen, and I, along with my parents and my brothers and my 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:59.300 sisters and all attached children, who had invaded us for a week, attended our normal Christmas day 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:03.959 service at our normal church here in Edinburgh. Now, Christmas day services are a bit weird, aren't 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:08.740 they? They sort of vary in quality. It depends on who's visiting who. You either have no one at them 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:14.240 or thousands of people at your Christmas. And this was one of those days we had thousands and my family 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:19.100 making up about half that number. And as the service draws to a close and the teas and the coffees 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:22.920 started trundling out and as people started twirling in their seats, talking and greeting and meeting each 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:28.819 other, I scanned my eyes across the crowded room and I caught my breath as they landed on a very 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:35.379 familiar face. It was Marius. Marius from the recent film version of Les Mis, just to stick with the 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:42.240 theme of my talk, or rather the guy who plays him, Eddie Redmayne. I'm a huge fan. His grandmother comes 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:47.120 to our church and I heard that he comes sometimes. I daren't believe it, but now I can because I saw him. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:55.860 I realised that Eddie, Ed to his friends, was on his own. No one had spotted him yet. This is my chance. 00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:02.319 I would go over, welcome him warmly to the church, show him around, walk him to the coffee queue, chat over 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:09.019 our shared interest of all things musical and French. In short, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he and 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:16.199 I were going to become close friends. It just made sense. But suddenly I realised I had a decision to make. 00:08:17.159 --> 00:08:24.039 Do I stay talking to kind, old, slightly deaf, very blind Mrs. Ross? Or do I break off the conversation 00:08:24.039 --> 00:08:29.519 and just go for it? Catch quality time with my hero and a superstar? Meeting Eddie would be great, 00:08:29.719 --> 00:08:35.759 leaving the conversation would be so rude. What do I do? I'm walking away from Mrs. Ross while she was 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:42.980 still talking. I was already working out my direct route to Eddie and I was doing so well. Only a few 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:49.259 more feet and he was mine. With arm thrust out, ready for the strong arm of fellowship handshake. 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:53.639 And with my well-rehearsed, I'm talking to you because I know you're new and I haven't clocked 00:08:53.639 --> 00:09:01.360 at your famous yet face. Out of nowhere, a gaggle of girls cut right across my path, exploded all over 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:06.279 the boy in fits of joyful glee and ecstatic abandon, laughing, giggling, asking him stupid 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:12.300 questions, thrusting iPhones in his face and giving their Santa hats for him to sign. I don't think I 00:09:12.300 --> 00:09:19.919 have ever hated a group of people so much in my life. My golden opportunity was ruined. My lifeline 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:25.220 to the rich and famous severely cut off. My hope for a true lasting friendship with someone with such a 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:31.660 voice, never to be. Well, all the while, Mrs. Ross drank her tea, still talking very loudly to herself. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:39.080 My brothers and sisters, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:46.139 I'm guilty of making distinction between Mrs. Ross and Eddie Redemain. I have, with no knowledge of 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:51.940 what Eddie is like, placed him on a higher standing, of higher importance, of someone who is more worth 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:57.720 my time than Mrs. Ross's. Names have been changed, just in case anyone's listening to this. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:04.900 And I flaunt this quite unashamedly whilst I'm standing in the community of believers. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:11.460 And as much as this story is exaggerated, it is unfortunately true. And it doesn't even have to be this extreme. 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:19.200 This favoritism doesn't fall into just concerning famous people. The reality for us is a lot more subtle. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.580 What is our reaction, for example, to the odd people who wander into our churches? 00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:29.740 Where do I take my seat in regards to the man that smells, or the woman that makes the uncomfortable noises? 00:10:30.060 --> 00:10:32.940 Or the family that is always very late and very noisy? 00:10:33.300 --> 00:10:36.160 The student that wears the tattered holy jeans? 00:10:36.400 --> 00:10:38.780 Or the guy that, quite simply, just looks really unattractive? 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:42.860 Dare I say it, what do we think of the English? 00:10:43.800 --> 00:10:44.500 The Scottish? 00:10:45.280 --> 00:10:46.020 The American? 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:50.419 What is my immediate preconception of these people? 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.039 What is my automatic response to these people? 00:10:55.199 --> 00:10:56.079 Let's take it further. 00:10:56.299 --> 00:10:57.279 Who am I drawn to? 00:10:57.659 --> 00:10:59.819 Who do I go to speak to at the end of the service? 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:02.360 Who do I want to be seen with after the service? 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:04.000 Who am I going to invite home for lunch? 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:10.699 During the sermon, have I clocked the doctor, the architect, the medical student, the head teacher, the minister himself, 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:17.800 or the visiting speaker, are these the people that I want to be seen as being associated with as soon as the last prayer is said? 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.640 Have I clocked the attractive girl, the new hot guy? 00:11:22.020 --> 00:11:23.660 Will I make a beeline for them? 00:11:25.680 --> 00:11:26.980 Can you see what's going on here? 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.000 We kind of do this without thinking. 00:11:30.180 --> 00:11:31.520 It's so subtle. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.399 It's so pervasive. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:36.139 We don't have to be like Javert. 00:11:36.579 --> 00:11:38.919 No, we're far more crafty and insidious. 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:46.120 As amusing as my story is, it is a product of something much more serious, and it is genuinely damaging to people. 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:51.259 I wonder how many times you have moved into a new city and started looking at new churches. 00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:54.059 You know the conversations that you have afterwards. 00:11:54.379 --> 00:11:59.559 The decisions that you make regarding whether you go to that church are based primarily on how you are treated. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:05.399 And there's a statistic that says you make that judgment call of a new church in seven minutes. 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:08.980 You say things like this. 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:10.100 No one talks to me. 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:11.080 Not once today. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.100 Everyone was far too busy. 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:18.379 The person I was talking to always looked like she had someone better to go to, someone more important to arrive. 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:21.860 I've had these conversations so many times. 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:29.700 And if we as Christians are feeling this in our own environments, how much more so are people who are already on the fringes of society going to feel? 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:35.679 The different, the quirky, the poor, the unpopular, the uneducated, the unemployed, the unhealthy, the quiet. 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:41.919 How are they going to feel in the very place where they should be the most accepted and loved? 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:48.220 I've had far too many conversations with far too many students who have come up to university from difficult backgrounds. 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:59.919 With a weak faith and little assurance who have been completely put off by church because of the ever so subtle inherent discrimination they face from a church they should feel completely accepted in. 00:13:00.899 --> 00:13:03.939 Instead, they find a church they feel they have to break into. 00:13:03.940 --> 00:13:09.900 And this is perhaps the most uncomfortable application of this passage. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:15.580 Because you see, it may be that we're genuinely not that bothered by the poor or the odds. 00:13:15.660 --> 00:13:20.300 Or we don't actually make health or status judgment calls on people. 00:13:20.420 --> 00:13:21.240 Maybe that's not us. 00:13:21.260 --> 00:13:22.020 And I get that. 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:27.320 But the problem could be is that we're just not bothered at all about anyone. 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:31.879 We aren't bothered by those who we don't need to be bothered about. 00:13:32.640 --> 00:13:34.260 These people aren't in my clique. 00:13:34.760 --> 00:13:37.320 Or people who simply are not part of our church structure. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:39.080 We can't end up ignoring anyone. 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.000 We end up ignoring anyone who's new maybe. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:41.960 Anyone who's different. 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:43.960 Anyone who simply isn't us. 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:50.080 And by inaction, we deliberately keep them on the fringes of our groups by the power of indifference. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.300 Let's not kid ourselves. 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:57.300 We don't need excuses to treat people with silent disdain. 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:00.100 I can make up all the reasons on my own. 00:14:00.420 --> 00:14:01.280 Thank you very much. 00:14:02.520 --> 00:14:07.800 And in doing so, either by showing indifference in love or by active favoritism, 00:14:07.800 --> 00:14:14.600 we have, as James says, discriminated amongst ourselves and have become judges with evil thoughts. 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:19.340 It sounds like, that language, that I've become a mini Javert. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.320 A judge with evil thoughts. 00:14:22.560 --> 00:14:24.280 Just not so fat and obvious. 00:14:26.280 --> 00:14:29.780 We are, at best, not bothered by those we don't need to be bothered about. 00:14:29.980 --> 00:14:33.020 And at worst, actively and subtly discriminating on sight. 00:14:34.300 --> 00:14:37.300 Paul David Tripp, an American Christian author with a huge moustache. 00:14:37.900 --> 00:14:38.940 You'll know who it is now. 00:14:39.560 --> 00:14:41.320 Is great on this kind of stuff. 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:43.000 He deals a lot with this kind of stuff in the church. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.500 He likens this attitude of, like, being on a ladder. 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:50.100 There are people we place higher than us on this ladder. 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:52.440 And there are people that we place lower than us on this ladder. 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:56.879 And we're not happy until we've walked into a room and worked out where on that ladder I fit. 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:01.379 And as soon as I've worked it out, as soon as we're happy with the people above us and the people below us, 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:05.759 then we begin to settle into our routine of treading on the hands of those beneath us 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:07.559 and grabbing onto the ankles of those above. 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:12.939 And upon walking into a room, this whole selection process can take but a second. 00:15:14.219 --> 00:15:21.459 I've found my place on this ladder of favoritism, and I've become a hand stamper and an ankle grabber almost effortlessly. 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:29.259 And not only does James talk to believers in isolation in a worldly environment when our guards are down 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:31.040 and when we're more susceptible to sin. 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.080 No, he's saying that we're prone to this, this favoritism, this ladder stacking, 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.660 in the place where the stranger, the poor, and the disenfranchised, should feel the most welcome. 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:40.560 Our churches. 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:44.420 The people who come into our meetings. 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:50.659 And if we're not careful, we can get to the end of this passage 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:53.620 and have the same reaction that we do when we look at Javert's character. 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:55.459 I honestly don't think I'm like that. 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:58.000 I don't really think our church is like that. 00:15:58.979 --> 00:16:05.639 But upon deeper inspection, we can see that we can really easily fall into the ugliness of favoritism quite quickly. 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:12.759 My brothers, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:14.779 But the question is this. 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:20.279 Why does James spend so much time detailing a specific scenario for us? 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.759 Why does he seem to focus on this particular sin here and now? 00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:28.980 Well, because not only is it wrong and hurtful, not only does it make people feel judged, 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.980 it is quite simply not how the kingdom of God works. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.559 And this brings us to our second point. 00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:41.840 Favoritism in community is wrong because it violates the kingdom law of love. 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:45.059 Read verses 5 to 7 with me. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:48.000 Listen, my dear brothers. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:53.639 Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:55.600 But you have insulted the poor. 00:16:56.539 --> 00:16:59.639 Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? 00:17:00.179 --> 00:17:02.519 Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:06.440 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:11.400 Jesus is saying that God has never worked like this. 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:14.860 There is almost a hint of incredulity here from James. 00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:17.120 It's the other way around, guys, he's saying. 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:27.580 The kingdom has always worked in that it is the unseen, the poor in heart, the weak, the last, the lost, the smallest, the short, the frightened, the wrong one, the incapable, 00:17:28.120 --> 00:17:30.340 who have been given the lead role in the kingdom. 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:34.899 The kingdom has never been about picking out the greatest and the best. 00:17:35.159 --> 00:17:40.220 Tell that to Samuel in the Old Testament, who was desperate to choose a brother other than David to be anointed as king. 00:17:40.439 --> 00:17:41.220 No, Samuel. 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:42.839 Man looks on the outward appearance. 00:17:42.959 --> 00:17:43.980 God looks at the heart. 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:53.539 The whole of redemption history and the pinnacle of the salvation narrative is summed up in the fact that it is those who are lost, least, and last, 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:59.259 are those who are loved, accepted, and drawn into this fantastic countercultural kingdom 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:03.480 that completely turns the twisted norms of society upside down. 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:09.000 And we see this kingdom style everywhere we look in scripture. 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:10.839 Abraham, the childless pagan. 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:15.319 Moses, the prince who had to unlearn being a prince to become a stuttering shepherd. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.159 Jacob, the wrong twin. 00:18:17.419 --> 00:18:18.339 Rahab, the prostitute. 00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:19.559 Gideon, the petrified. 00:18:19.699 --> 00:18:20.419 David, the youngest. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:21.639 Judah, the least. 00:18:21.919 --> 00:18:22.959 Nazareth, the infamous. 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:24.879 Jesus, the baby. 00:18:27.379 --> 00:18:33.059 Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and inherit the kingdom? 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:33.839 You bet. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.699 And Jesus is the perfect example of this. 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:46.680 I have come not to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.319 In human terms, Jesus was crucified because of the very people he hung out with. 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:58.460 The sinners and the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the filthy, the contagious, and the forgotten. 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:11.360 And the very people who were meant to keep the law by protecting the fatherless and the widow were the very people, the priests, who had set up a religious empire that could not accommodate people such as these. 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:15.420 Has not God chosen the poor? 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:21.000 Can our churches accommodate these people? 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:26.220 If not, then we are no better than the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:31.180 James also says here that favoritism just doesn't make sense. 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:32.519 Verses 6 and 7. 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:34.200 Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:36.680 Are they not the ones dragging you into court? 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:40.900 In essence, why are you pandering to people who will only eventually crush you? 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:42.819 The rich don't care about who they step on. 00:19:42.859 --> 00:19:46.599 It simply doesn't make sense to esteem them without looking at their character. 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:48.439 And don't hear what I'm not saying. 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:50.899 Discrimination can work the other way around as well. 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.959 In that I shun the rich because they are wealthy. 00:19:54.199 --> 00:19:56.039 I'm just dealing with someone else. 00:19:56.379 --> 00:19:57.859 Okay, this works both ways. 00:19:58.179 --> 00:19:59.699 But here, this is a really good point. 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.959 Why are you trying to esteem people when you don't know their character and you're just looking at their riches? 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.500 But, and here's the kicker. 00:20:09.439 --> 00:20:12.259 Not only is favoritism simply not how the kingdom of God works. 00:20:12.500 --> 00:20:14.079 Not only does it not make sense. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.199 But it finds us to be lawbreakers. 00:20:18.220 --> 00:20:19.019 Verse 8. 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:26.559 If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing right. 00:20:26.919 --> 00:20:31.859 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.659 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.699 For he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder. 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:43.740 If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, well you've become a lawbreaker. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:51.980 If there was any way that we got to this point in James' thought process thinking that we got away with it, James lowers the boom. 00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.939 He's saying if you've committed murder but not adultery, it doesn't matter, you're still a lawbreaker. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:57.619 We get that. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.480 If you've fallen into favoritism, you're the same lawbreaker. 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:05.680 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty. 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:06.420 We know that. 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.660 This is very much the language of Jesus, isn't it? 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:13.599 Especially in regards to murder and adultery, which I think is why James uses it here. 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:18.039 If you simply looked at a woman lustfully, you have committed adultery in your heart. 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:21.559 If you have hated your brother, you have committed murder in your heart. 00:21:22.620 --> 00:21:26.480 Favoritism is one of those sins that we put under the bracket of acceptable. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.039 Murder is not, we say. 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:30.160 The law says something different. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.240 Going back to our ladder analogy, where we're all ranked. 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:36.579 Me somewhere about the middle. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:37.980 Don't want to be too presumptuous. 00:21:38.360 --> 00:21:39.259 People beneath me. 00:21:39.460 --> 00:21:40.220 People above me. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.980 As soon as I face the law, this ladder gets turned sideways. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.740 Suddenly, I'm not looking up to or down on anyone. 00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:52.099 I'm looking across at people. 00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:56.259 As I've suddenly seen that I'm placed on exactly the same footing that they are. 00:21:57.179 --> 00:21:59.299 If I look up, what do I see before me? 00:21:59.419 --> 00:22:00.679 The words law. 00:22:02.459 --> 00:22:06.659 When I face the law, I am the same as everyone else. 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:07.359 Does that make sense? 00:22:08.899 --> 00:22:11.599 The law does not discriminate. 00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:15.679 The law does not show favoritism. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:20.680 This is the uncomfortable irony of James and the brilliance of his arguments. 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:23.600 Can you see you are no different, he says. 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:31.779 As the football commentators on this very day like to remind us, or like to remind any relevant football fans, 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:34.600 when talking about the last do or die day of the premiership, 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:37.380 they say we have hit squeaky bum time. 00:22:37.820 --> 00:22:39.360 And we have in this passage. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:44.099 Because not only do we find ourselves on a level pegging with everyone else's lawbreakers, 00:22:44.379 --> 00:22:47.599 but which specific law are we actually breaking? 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.219 The one that says all of it. 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:53.159 Verse 8. 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:56.199 If you keep the royal law, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:57.959 But if you show favoritism, you sin. 00:22:58.339 --> 00:22:59.599 Love your neighbor as yourself? 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:03.959 Isn't that the summary of the whole law Jesus himself preaches? 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:09.100 This along with love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:10.860 That's why it's called the royal law. 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:13.840 We know, as Johnny was just saying, actually, 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.319 anything that in this nation assented by the queen is important. 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.519 This is given royal assent by the king. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:23.660 These two laws encompass everything in the law. 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:28.000 It is like, in effect, we are breaking the very nature of the law. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:33.940 Favoritism in community is wrong because it fundamentally violates the kingdom. 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:35.340 law of love. 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:40.440 We are meant to love unconditionally, not love under condition. 00:23:40.860 --> 00:23:45.279 We are meant to love without want of return or reward, not love with perks. 00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:49.380 We are meant to love people like we would wish ourselves to be loved. 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:55.660 Or, love like we have been loved. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.400 And this brings us on to our last point. 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:08.640 Favoritism in community is wrong because it violates the kingdom law of love from which we have already received mercy. 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:12.100 Read the final two verses with me. 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:18.100 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. 00:24:18.099 --> 00:24:23.279 Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not shown mercy. 00:24:23.699 --> 00:24:26.759 Mercy triumphs over judgment. 00:24:28.659 --> 00:24:30.859 Let's, for a minute, go back to the story of Les Mis. 00:24:31.899 --> 00:24:35.259 Let's pick it up where the police leave Valjean in the presence of the bishop. 00:24:35.259 --> 00:24:46.700 Upon being immediately released by the police, Valjean stands in front of this man of God as the criminal that he is, gripping tightly to the two precious candlesticks. 00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:50.240 And the bishop of Dean leans in and says this. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:25:16.940 That is the scandal of Les Mis because we know it is the scandal of grace. 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:20.360 The bishop was wronged. 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:21.920 Valjean had no right. 00:25:22.580 --> 00:25:25.860 The criminal was not treated as his sins deserved. 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:30.299 Surely, surely, that is exactly like us. 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:39.279 Standing in front of Jesus, pathetic, weak, miserable, hungry, with our bags overflowing with stolen silver, utterly banged to rights. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:49.920 And as we stand in front of the Son of God, as the criminals that we are, grasping tightly to the foot of a cross, Jesus leans in and says, you are forgiven. 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:54.519 God was wronged. 00:25:54.639 --> 00:25:56.700 I had no right. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:01.980 I, the criminal, was not treated as my sins deserved. 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:05.480 Is this not the gospel of grace? 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:09.140 The law of love that has set us free? 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:11.079 Now, can you see what's going on here? 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:16.599 We are the poor beggars that have wandered in and off the streets with nothing to our name. 00:26:17.099 --> 00:26:18.279 Nothing to show. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:19.819 Nothing to give. 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:21.259 And nothing to hide. 00:26:22.339 --> 00:26:29.500 But instead of being shafted to the feet of the judge in the way that we should have been, we are called into the loving embrace of the Savior. 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:36.160 In Les Mis, it's interesting, isn't it, to see what Valjean does with this new life. 00:26:36.339 --> 00:26:42.019 Valjean dedicates his existence to making sure that his life is worth the candlesticks that quite literally have brought him life. 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:51.740 And with it, he gives life to a little helpless girl who can give nothing back to him in return, just as a bishop had done all those years ago to that helpless beggar. 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:57.299 Valjean understands that the grace shown to him means that he can now show grace. 00:26:57.299 --> 00:27:01.359 In fact, that he must show grace to someone else. 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:08.759 So speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:12.559 What is the law of freedom, as we close? 00:27:13.399 --> 00:27:20.279 It is the law that says no one can keep the law, but it is the law that says someone has, so that the guilty may go free. 00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:29.119 This is the law of the cross, the law of grace, the kingdom law of love, but it is also the law that lets me live a free life. 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:39.700 Having been treated without favoritism, having recognized that actually against the law and in the face of the creator, we are the poor, the lost, the low, the outcast. 00:27:39.700 --> 00:27:47.960 Does it not absolutely make sense then, having been liberated from under this law, we go and treat people in exactly the same way? 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:55.259 James takes this further and it fires a warning shot across our bowels when it comes to this point. 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:56.900 He takes it from another angle. 00:27:56.900 --> 00:28:15.040 This is scary stuff. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:16.139 It's a warning. 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:22.440 Just like in the prelude to this passage, actually, James 1, 26. 00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:27.579 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep in a tight rein in his tongue, he deceives himself. 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:29.519 And his religion is worthless. 00:28:31.379 --> 00:28:33.019 Just like in Matthew 6, 14. 00:28:33.139 --> 00:28:36.500 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will forgive you. 00:28:36.659 --> 00:28:40.240 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your heavenly father will not forgive you. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:48.160 Just like in Matthew 18, 32, the unforgiving servant who refuses to cancel the debt of his friend, even though a bigger debt has been removed. 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:57.640 The gospel is always allowing us to live life to the full and it allows us to live the life that we, despite our sin and our shame, have been allowed to live. 00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:01.980 Not in a bubble of grateful indifference, but in Christ. 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:04.700 Actively in Christ. 00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:07.000 Forgive like you have been forgiven. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:10.400 Cancel debts like you have had your debt cancelled. 00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:12.759 Love like you have been loved. 00:29:15.380 --> 00:29:18.819 Do not show favoritism against those who look worthless and down and out. 00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:25.160 Because when you were dead in your transgressions and sins, he made you alive with Christ. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.019 Don't forget who you are. 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:31.119 Don't forget what you have been made into. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.019 And don't forget what it is that we're meant to be doing. 00:29:34.019 --> 00:29:37.180 Don't forget what it is this church is here for. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:40.480 To hold out the gospel of love. 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:44.759 Again, James 1, 27 at the end. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.480 This is the simple gospel. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:50.539 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this. 00:29:50.639 --> 00:29:52.680 To look after the orphans and widows in their distress. 00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:56.819 And to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 00:29:57.099 --> 00:29:58.339 Massive gospel themes. 00:29:58.680 --> 00:29:59.319 God is this. 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:00.240 Jesus is this. 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:01.440 Isn't the cross wonderful? 00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:03.000 This is what we've been saved to. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:03.920 What does that look like? 00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:05.700 Simply look after the person next door to you. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:08.440 That's what the gospel is. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:10.680 It doesn't have to be massive. 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:12.440 It can be simple. 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:16.740 But in the simple ways that we love each other, it is a beautiful gospel. 00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:19.220 And this is the heart of the gospel. 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.460 Favoritism is the abandonment of the very heart of the gospel. 00:30:24.460 --> 00:30:32.319 Just as the beauty of the law that brought people into a relationship with God was meant to be seen, shown, and promoted by the priests in Jesus' day. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:41.539 In reality, all the people could see when they looked at the temple of God was a rich clique of legalistic abusers steeped in prejudice and segregation. 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:50.419 Favoritism is dangerous because, as we've seen, it is an affront to everything the gospel stands for. 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:54.320 In showing favoritism, we are not showing the gospel. 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:59.440 And more dangerously, we are not living out the gospel of grace that has been shown to us. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:04.340 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. 00:31:04.339 --> 00:31:07.799 Not many of you were wise by human standards. 00:31:08.699 --> 00:31:09.899 Not many of you were influential. 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:11.659 Not many of you were of noble birth. 00:31:12.959 --> 00:31:16.259 But God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the strong. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:22.199 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are. 00:31:22.199 --> 00:31:26.599 So that no one may boast before him. 00:31:28.779 --> 00:31:30.959 Because we have been so loved. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:34.400 Because we have been shown so much grace. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.019 Because we have been shown unimaginable mercy. 00:31:37.980 --> 00:31:41.740 And because we are not treated as our hearts deserved. 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.299 So we love each other. 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:47.680 Holding out the gospel and inviting people in. 00:31:49.660 --> 00:31:52.559 This is the very thing that makes the gospel attractive. 00:31:53.059 --> 00:31:56.360 The fact that people aren't treated in the way that they usually are. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.059 This should be what draws people to our churches. 00:31:59.059 --> 00:32:01.539 When they go away saying, they look different. 00:32:01.940 --> 00:32:03.019 They speak to me. 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:03.879 They take me home. 00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:05.059 They sit next to me. 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:07.619 They love me without seeming to want anything back. 00:32:07.740 --> 00:32:10.899 Can you imagine what our communities would look like if we were doing this? 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:16.059 This gospel attractiveness is shown perfectly. 00:32:16.659 --> 00:32:18.059 In the person of Jesus Christ. 00:32:18.879 --> 00:32:20.480 As we welcome the way from the stray. 00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:20.980 The hurt. 00:32:21.099 --> 00:32:21.879 The downcast. 00:32:21.980 --> 00:32:22.480 The desperate. 00:32:22.579 --> 00:32:23.000 And the lost. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:23.960 And each other. 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:29.240 Let's enjoy holding out this gospel of grace and mercy in our actions. 00:32:29.360 --> 00:32:30.600 Our thoughts and our words. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:33.860 In our everyday, very normal experiences of life. 00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:36.160 Just as it has been shown to us. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.480 I think the only way that we do this well. 00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:40.880 Is by remembering Jesus. 00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:43.400 Is by remembering the cross. 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:45.400 Remembering the incredible sacrifice. 00:32:45.860 --> 00:32:48.559 That was paid for a wretch like me. 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:51.500 Who was only ever good enough to die on a cross. 00:32:54.139 --> 00:32:56.859 What's the very last sentence in this passage? 00:32:57.059 --> 00:32:59.240 Mercy triumphs over judgment. 00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:01.839 Mr. Moo. 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:03.859 A great commentator on this. 00:33:04.059 --> 00:33:05.259 He says this very simply. 00:33:05.399 --> 00:33:06.579 He says, James ends on high. 00:33:07.159 --> 00:33:08.019 He ends with grace. 00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:11.700 We are a fickle, blood-bought people. 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:13.419 But we. 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:16.019 Even as we stumble in this sin. 00:33:16.019 --> 00:33:18.379 Are being loved beyond reason. 00:33:19.079 --> 00:33:20.720 Shown grace beyond compare. 00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:22.759 And forgiven to the uttermost. 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:25.619 Let's pray together as we close. 00:33:28.539 --> 00:33:30.740 Heavenly Father God, we thank you for your word. 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:34.379 We thank you so much for the way that you treat us. 00:33:35.059 --> 00:33:36.680 Thank you so much for the gospel. 00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.359 Thank you for the kingdom law of love. 00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:41.819 Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you sent your son Jesus. 00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:43.559 So that he could fulfill the law. 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:44.940 So that I didn't have to. 00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:47.820 And who died in my place that I didn't have to. 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:50.620 And who rose against that I may be risen with him. 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:52.880 Thank you that it is true for those of us who know you. 00:33:52.980 --> 00:33:55.840 Thank you so much that this gospel invites people in. 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:57.440 Anyone of any standing. 00:33:57.620 --> 00:33:59.080 Of any social class. 00:33:59.140 --> 00:33:59.799 Of any race. 00:34:00.080 --> 00:34:01.000 Of any creed. 00:34:01.299 --> 00:34:02.220 Wherever they are. 00:34:02.340 --> 00:34:05.160 Thank you so much that you don't treat us like a ladder. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:09.119 Thank you that you put us exactly where you want us to be. 00:34:09.220 --> 00:34:12.659 Thank you so much, Heavenly Father, that you love us despite ourselves. 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:15.819 Lord, thank you so much for this wonderful gospel. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:20.359 We pray that we will be people who are very aware that we want to be living this out. 00:34:20.879 --> 00:34:24.339 May we be attractive because we are showing Jesus Christ. 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:27.159 May we as a community, as a culture in our churches. 00:34:27.599 --> 00:34:30.879 May this culture be attractive as we hold out the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:33.460 As we show that we are different to the world. 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:36.239 That we don't rank people, but that we invite them in. 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:40.239 Heavenly Father, thank you too that the gospel does not have to be complicated. 00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:41.979 Thank you that it is so simple. 00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:45.079 I pray that you would help us as we look after each other. 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:45.859 Those we know well. 00:34:45.959 --> 00:34:46.419 Those that we don't. 00:34:46.500 --> 00:34:47.239 The rich, the poor. 00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:53.000 Lord, help us to be people who are going out of our way to living out the gospel of grace. 00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:56.699 That we have been allowed to live because we have been shown grace. 00:34:57.639 --> 00:34:58.939 Lord, we praise you for this. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:00.319 May we leave here changed. 00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:01.859 Thank you so much for your word. 00:35:01.860 --> 00:35:04.160 Thank you for the goodness of Jesus Christ. 00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:05.300 The goodness of the gospel. 00:35:05.680 --> 00:35:07.960 Thank you so much for being with us this morning. 00:35:08.059 --> 00:35:10.160 We pray all these things in your mighty name. 00:35:10.700 --> 00:35:10.920 Amen.