SPEAKER_01: Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan, and thanks for downloading the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: In today's sermon, we'll continue our study of the book of James as we consider James chapter 2, verses 1 through 13.
SPEAKER_01: In these verses, James teaches us an important lesson that healthy families forbid favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not enough for us just to forbid favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: We also must fight against it.
SPEAKER_01: My challenge and my encouragement to you is throughout the next five days, when you wake up in the morning, pray for vacation Bible school.
SPEAKER_01: Later today, in your inbox, you will receive those prayer points again that were published in our June edition of the Tidings.
SPEAKER_01: Put those prayer points on your bedside table, put them inside your Bible, put them in that place where you will see them first thing in the morning and pray through those prayer points over the next five days.
SPEAKER_01: Because nothing God-driven will occur at vacation Bible school without God's people humbling themselves in prayer before Him.
SPEAKER_01: And it was so exciting over the last week.
SPEAKER_01: You could just kind of feel the energy and the excitement building in our church as volunteers and staff were working together, preparing for vacation Bible school, building, constructing the set, having meetings about recreation and Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: And that energy and excitement really what it confirmed for me is that now summer is in full swing, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like the return of vacation Bible School 2021, summer is in full swing.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know about you, but I love summer, and it's my guess that many of you love summer too.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm really kind of curious this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna start this way, kind of an unusual way.
SPEAKER_01: It's me channeling uh Man on the Street, if you're familiar with that sketch from the late night uh comedy hours.
SPEAKER_01: So we'll see how this turns out.
SPEAKER_01: It could go very poorly, and I'm I'm ready for that to occur.
SPEAKER_01: Um but uh so what's your favorite thing about summer?
SPEAKER_01: And I think Margaret Cup, Margaret's a teacher, and so like, hey, how are you doing today, right, Margaret?
SPEAKER_01: I didn't even tell you I was gonna talk to you, but I saw you and I was like, she's gonna have an answer for this.
SPEAKER_01: Margaret Cup, teacher, Hugh Goodwoman.
SPEAKER_01: What grade are you currently teaching?
SPEAKER_01: Fourth grade, and you've taught for how many years?
SPEAKER_01: 30 years.
SPEAKER_01: 30 plus years.
SPEAKER_01: 30 years, so gone past three decades.
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
SPEAKER_01: As a teacher for 30 years, Margaret, what is your favorite thing about summer?
SPEAKER_01: Not having to get up at 5 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: All right, not having to get up at 5 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: I think we can all agree that's a pretty awesome and amazing thing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh get to sleep in a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Um, who hey Hutch, what's your favorite?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you knew I was coming to you too, man.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're always up for a good soundbite.
SPEAKER_01: Um, Hutch, what's your favorite thing about summer?
SPEAKER_01: Not having to go to school.
SPEAKER_01: All right, we got some honesty in the room.
SPEAKER_01: Give Hutch a round of applause, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: So, um, in my family, one of our favorite things when it comes to summer is enjoying some very uh appropriate uh frozen treats.
SPEAKER_01: And we really like snow cones around my house.
SPEAKER_01: So, uh Will Colvin, do you have a favorite snow cone flavor?
SPEAKER_01: Blueberry.
SPEAKER_01: Strawberry.
SPEAKER_01: They're right here.
SPEAKER_01: Will strawberry is his favorite.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Camden, do you have a favorite snow cone flavor?
unknown: Blueberry.
SPEAKER_01: Blueberry, y'all here, Camden, blueberry.
SPEAKER_01: So, um, I have a favorite snow cone flavor, full disclosure.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I haven't had a snow cone since I was a child because I don't need extra sugar in my diet.
SPEAKER_01: Can I get an Amen?
SPEAKER_01: But um, my favorite snow cone flavor is something called tiger's blood.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was all the mixture of all the red uh dye in one place with like cream on top, and it was absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_01: So uh we've got time for just like one more question this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And and really, we're coming out of this period of like 14 or 15 months when um moms and dads who have kids living in their home, they've heard words like quarantine and lockdown, and now we're all the way back to summer.
SPEAKER_01: And I think like over this past 14 or 15 months, moms and dads, it's gonna make sense.
SPEAKER_01: I think they all have an answer to this question, although they may not want to give it to us.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna ask this question to the uh coach of the El Dorado uh Wildcat, Stephen Jones, because he has four kids who live in his house.
SPEAKER_01: So, Steven, here's the question: Who's your favorite child?
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I can answer that.
SPEAKER_01: Is that because you've forgotten their names?
SPEAKER_01: Because I can tell you their names.
SPEAKER_01: Like I can feed you the names.
SPEAKER_00: It'd be a bad idea.
SPEAKER_01: You don't want to even like whisper it to me?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: No, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, in life, so often we uh joke about uh parents having favorite kids, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: We talk about it, it's a joke, it's kind of a gag.
SPEAKER_01: But if you ever like ask someone who's your favorite child, they decide, well, I probably shouldn't answer that question.
SPEAKER_01: Or they say they don't have an answer to that question.
SPEAKER_01: Um did you know this?
SPEAKER_01: That maybe the reason um moms and dads don't want to answer that question is because several years ago a research study was performed and it discovered that 74% of moms and 70% of fathers actually did exhibit favoritism toward one child in their family.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, some of y'all are nodding your head like, that's believable.
SPEAKER_01: Did you catch that?
SPEAKER_01: Like, three out of four parents show favoritism towards a child who lives under their roof.
SPEAKER_01: What exactly is favoritism?
SPEAKER_01: What are we talking about?
SPEAKER_01: This is how I would define it.
SPEAKER_01: The practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one group or one person at the expense of another.
SPEAKER_01: The practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.
SPEAKER_01: So in a family setting, favoritism manifests itself in a variety of ways.
SPEAKER_01: Uh one parent spends more time with uh one child than the other children, or uh one parent gives more affection or more attention to one child than all the others.
SPEAKER_01: They give more privileges and less discipline to their favorite child.
SPEAKER_01: But favoritism, right, isn't a recent phenomenon.
SPEAKER_01: Uh just think of these families that we meet in the pages of the Bible, specifically in the first book of the Bible called Genesis.
SPEAKER_01: In Genesis, one of the first people we meet is that man named Abraham.
SPEAKER_01: His firstborn son is named Ishmael, and his second son is named Isaac.
SPEAKER_01: And you only need to like give a quick read of Abraham's story, and what you discover is this Isaac is the favorite child.
SPEAKER_01: And then Isaac, when he grows up and he has a family all of his own, um, Isaac follows in his father's footsteps.
SPEAKER_01: His favorite son is named Esau, while his wife Rebekah, her favorite son, is Jacob.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jacob, the favorite son of Rebekah, when he grows up and has a family all of his own, he follows the example of mom and dad, and he has a favorite son named Joseph, which really chap the hide of the ten older brothers, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Now, in each of those stories, a parent's favoritism leads to disastrous consequences.
SPEAKER_01: When Ishmael is just a young boy, Abraham kicks him out of the house and sends him out into the wilderness.
SPEAKER_01: Isaac and Rebekah's favoritism, it puts Jacob and Esau at odds with one another, so much so that Jacob has to flee for his life and leave behind his family.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jacob's own favoritism, when he grows up, it sparks anger within those ten older boys.
SPEAKER_01: So one day, out of anger and hatred, they capture Joseph, they throw him into a pit, and they sell him into slavery.
SPEAKER_01: The consequences of favoritism in your family, they may not be that dramatic, but they are no less dangerous.
SPEAKER_01: A family therapist named Mallory Williams describes the consequences of favoritism this way.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what she says.
SPEAKER_01: The biggest long-term dangers are depression, anxiety, unstable or even traumatic reactions and personal relationships, and performance anxiety for both the favored and the non-favored child.
SPEAKER_01: So whether you are the favorite or the not as favourite, there are disastrous consequences in the life of a child when favoritism occurs.
SPEAKER_01: So here's the thing: the stories of the Bible and the stories of our life are in agreement on this very topic.
SPEAKER_01: Here it is.
SPEAKER_01: Healthy families forbid favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: You may have feelings of favoritism, but you don't act on them.
SPEAKER_01: That means that moms and dads, for the health of your family, you give your children equal time, affection, privileges, and yes, discipline.
SPEAKER_01: Now, equal doesn't mean the same.
SPEAKER_01: Every child is different.
SPEAKER_01: And every child is deserving.
SPEAKER_01: Every child is deserving of time and affection, privileges, and discipline.
SPEAKER_01: So we don't want to shortchange any of our children, the children God has put into our home, because healthy families forbid favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: And what is true of the family who lives under your roof is also true of the family that gathers under this roof.
SPEAKER_01: Healthy families forbid favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: This morning we're returning to the book of James for our series Authentic Faith.
SPEAKER_01: And since week one, we've defined authentic faith with that simple statement: authentic faith is actionable.
SPEAKER_01: Actionable faith transforms the way we engage with the world, how we interact with people outside of these walls.
SPEAKER_01: But authentic, actionable faith, it also transforms, it also shapes the way that we see and interact and treat one another.
SPEAKER_01: Authentic, actionable faith forbids favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: And that's a really important thing for us to listen or hear this morning from James as we read from chapter two in just a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Because favoritism is the standard operating procedure of the world.
SPEAKER_01: That is how the world operates.
SPEAKER_01: We see favoritism at work in our government.
SPEAKER_01: We see favoritism at work, well, in our workplaces.
SPEAKER_01: We see favoritism at work in our communities.
SPEAKER_01: Favoritism is all around us.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says that favoritism is forbidden.
SPEAKER_01: And that means that the church becomes this family, this place that stands in opposition to the ways of the world.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what we need to realize, though.
SPEAKER_01: Favoritism, and this is stronger language than sometimes I use.
SPEAKER_01: Favoritism is a demonic spirit of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Because favoritism stands in opposition to the character and the kingdom and the gospel of God.
SPEAKER_01: But favoritism is kind of like this crouching lion outside of our walls.
SPEAKER_01: It's lurking, it's hoping to infiltrate.
SPEAKER_01: Because whenever it gets even just an inch, even if that inch is just a passing comment or a single thought, it erodes trust in a family, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Well, favoritism grasp just a single inch.
SPEAKER_01: When it looks like a person uh receiving favored treatment, they're maybe put into a position of leadership or influence solely because of the power and privilege they have in the world, it puts us at odds with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Favoritism, if it's allowed to grow and to flourish in a church, what it does is it fractures and it causes fissures in the very foundation of the family.
SPEAKER_01: We need to realize that favoritism, because of the way that our world operates, that it's the standard operating procedure of the world when it comes to how we see and how we um interact with one another, it is a very serious threat to the life of the local church.
SPEAKER_01: And its consequences are dangerous.
SPEAKER_01: But maybe because it is so prevalent in the world, it's not enough to just forbid it.
SPEAKER_01: We have to fight against it.
SPEAKER_01: So in our remaining time, James, the half-brother of Jesus, he's gonna remind us of three key strategies that the local church needs to implement so that they can fight against favoritism, so that they can see one another, interact with one another in a way that stands in opposition to the ways of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number one, honor God's character.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number two, honor God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number three, honor God's gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And those three strategies, when we implement them and live according to them, they not only help us have success in this fight, they also nurture within us that authentic, actionable faith that we are seeking.
SPEAKER_01: They also make us and grow us up into a healthy family of faith.
SPEAKER_01: So let's begin this morning with strategy number one.
SPEAKER_01: Honor God's character.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what James says in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4.
SPEAKER_01: He says, My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring in fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.
SPEAKER_01: If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, Here's a good seat for you, but say to the poor man, You stand there or sit on the floor by my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
SPEAKER_01: James begins chapter 2 by identifying the people he's writing to.
SPEAKER_01: He calls them his brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_01: That's relational language.
SPEAKER_01: It tells us that James views the church as a family.
SPEAKER_01: But this family is not related to one another as a result of earthly lineage.
SPEAKER_01: They are related, they are connected to one another because of their heavenly Lord.
SPEAKER_01: They are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And with just those opening words, what James says, he says, family, let's come together, let's hold hands and let's approach Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand in his presence together.
SPEAKER_01: Because when we stand in the presence of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, the character of God is revealed to us.
SPEAKER_01: And the character of God is simply this: He is a God who forbids and fights against favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 17 says.
SPEAKER_01: It says, For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords.
SPEAKER_01: The great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes, who shows no partiality.
SPEAKER_01: There is no space, not even an inch of space in God's character for favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe if we're being honest with ourselves, that revelation about God makes us a little uneasy.
SPEAKER_01: It makes us uneasy because on some level we hope God is partial to us.
SPEAKER_01: We hope God likes people and people like me more than he likes other people.
SPEAKER_01: They're okay, and I'm better than okay.
SPEAKER_01: We hope that God is partial to Americans over other nationalities.
SPEAKER_01: We hope that God is partial to Southerners versus Texans, because I know there is a real difference to the Texans who are in the room.
SPEAKER_01: That God prefers the educated and the employed to the uneducated and the unemployed.
SPEAKER_01: We just hope that God has this inch or two of favoritism and partiality in its character, and that he directs it towards me and people like me.
SPEAKER_01: Because in our mind, then it means like God puts this big divine rubber stamp on my life and he says, You got it all together.
SPEAKER_01: You're living just the life I envisioned everyone to be.
SPEAKER_01: Like if everyone could be like you, have your education, have your bank account, have your career, have your family, have your experience in life, they would be alright.
SPEAKER_01: If everybody was like me.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe we just want there to be an inch or two of partiality in God's life.
SPEAKER_01: Because then we just believe that God's more likely to hear my prayers than the prayers of other people.
SPEAKER_01: Or God's more likely to share his blessings on me than on other people.
SPEAKER_01: But hear that again.
SPEAKER_01: Within God's character, there is not even an inch of space for favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: There is no partiality.
SPEAKER_01: Our God is a perfect heavenly father.
SPEAKER_01: He loves all of his children.
SPEAKER_01: He gives all of his children attention.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't have favored and unfavored children.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the result of that.
SPEAKER_01: All of God's children can trust him.
SPEAKER_01: Like one of the fruits of favoritism in a family, one of the ugly, rotten fruits is that it erodes trust in families.
SPEAKER_01: But if we know a perfect heavenly father who has no favoritism in his heart, it means all of us can trust God completely with our lives.
SPEAKER_01: We can trust that he is who he says he is.
SPEAKER_01: He will keep and fulfill every one of his promises.
SPEAKER_01: He will never disappoint.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just gonna tell us something to get us off his back.
SPEAKER_01: That's who God is.
SPEAKER_01: That's God's character, and that's where our fight against favoritism begins.
SPEAKER_01: Then in verses 2 through 4, James describes this scenario.
SPEAKER_01: A scenario which does not reflect the character of God.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he describes a scenario that reflects the character of the world.
SPEAKER_01: James uses an illustration to kind of reveal what occurs when you allow even an inch of real estate for favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: The church, within the body of believers.
SPEAKER_01: So here's his scenario.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Imagine a day when two men arrive and they walk in to the gathering of the church.
SPEAKER_01: They walk in, God's people are assembled and gathered in one place.
SPEAKER_01: One of the men, he is wearing a tailored suit, uh tailored suit and a gold ring.
SPEAKER_01: Literally, in Greek, he is the gold finger.
SPEAKER_01: James Bond, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, guys.
SPEAKER_01: You there?
SPEAKER_01: He is the gold-fingered one.
SPEAKER_01: The gold-fingered one arrives.
SPEAKER_01: But then there's a second man.
SPEAKER_01: The second man arrives and he's wearing tattered pants, uh, a t-shirt that's dirty and has holes on it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when the well-dressed man arrives who's wealthy, um, they roll out the red carpet, they escort him to the seat of honor, have a seat right there.
SPEAKER_01: When the other man who's wearing his tattered pants and his dirty t-shirt arrives, they say, crisscross applesauce, right over there, right in the floor.
SPEAKER_01: So scenarios like James, what he describes, were actually probably pretty common in the ancient world in the Roman Empire.
SPEAKER_01: In Rome, um, about 2% of the population possessed all of the wealth, and the other 98% of the population lived in poverty.
SPEAKER_01: There's no middle class, there's no working class, there's 2% who have it all, and 98% who have nothing at all.
SPEAKER_01: As a result, there's this very highly stratified culture with basically like a Roman caste system that's at play.
SPEAKER_01: And in public gatherings, the rich were given favor.
SPEAKER_01: They were given privilege because it was believed that if we treat the rich well, they will come back and want to be a part of us, even if we're poor.
SPEAKER_01: And when they attach themselves and sit with us, then they're gonna raise our social status in the world.
SPEAKER_01: A little bit of their presence and their power and their prestige, little uh pixie dust will kind of brush off on us and we'll become a little bit more like them.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we don't have seats for the suits and seats for the tattered pants, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's not our culture that we live in.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, like the privileged seat is like the back row seat, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's where you want.
SPEAKER_01: No one wants to sit at the front row.
SPEAKER_01: Too close.
SPEAKER_01: I may look at them too much.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But we do have our own kind of culturally acceptable ways that we do the very same thing.
SPEAKER_01: And I've celebrated a marvelous five years here at First Baptist Church of Vel Dorado, and so we're just gonna have to see where this lands.
SPEAKER_01: What I'm about to say next.
SPEAKER_01: May make some of us really uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: But I but I think these this is the way James is teaching and the spirit of his teaching connects with a church in 2021 where we are located in South Arkansas.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so here's one example that I think kind of captures the spirit of James's argument.
SPEAKER_01: In the life of the church, um, we roll out the red carpet, we have the seat of honor, um, meaning we listen to the opinion of, value the opinion more of the person who can solely because of their wealth and power and privilege always write a bigger check.
SPEAKER_01: But the person who can't write a big check, we always write them off.
SPEAKER_01: We don't listen to them.
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of James's point, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like just because of your power and privilege, you earn something.
SPEAKER_01: Just because of who you are outside these walls, you get listened to.
SPEAKER_01: Your opinion matters more.
SPEAKER_01: Chriss Cross applesauce, you sit over in the floor.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe another example would be this um it's considering someone for a role of leadership, a lay role of leadership, like being a deacon, simply because they have a powerful, influential job in the community.
SPEAKER_01: That is the only qualification that went through the mind in that decision-making process.
SPEAKER_01: But we automatically, you would write off someone who, when they get home from work, has grease on their hands, or maybe um they're in between jobs.
SPEAKER_01: Those are a couple of ways that are kind of culturally acceptable in churches to discriminate according to appearance.
SPEAKER_01: There are more that could make us even more uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: But it's all of those times in our life together when we defer to people who have more than.
SPEAKER_01: Every time in our life together when we say, Well, you know who he knows.
SPEAKER_01: You know who his family is.
SPEAKER_01: And the person who has less they enter, the person who has no family who's notable, they're like crisscross, applesauce, you in the floor.
SPEAKER_01: We, you know, you can come, but like you're not really a part.
SPEAKER_01: That's when we discriminate according to appearances.
SPEAKER_01: And in those moments, even when like those are like passing thoughts, those are single words, right?
SPEAKER_01: But those are moments when we lose the fight against favoritism.
SPEAKER_01: And we reflect the character of the world and not the character of God.
SPEAKER_01: The character of God says, My church, listen, you will see the world, according to the words of 2 Corinthians 5, to regard no one from a worldly point of view.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, we're not gonna honor or dishonor someone because of their appearance, because of what they have, because of their privilege or their power, how the world outside views them.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, we're just gonna see everyone with the eyes of God.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see everyone is made in the image of God, uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit, someone who is valued and loved and cherished.
SPEAKER_01: And when we do that, we're winning the fight.
SPEAKER_01: We're reflecting God's character.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number two is this, then honor God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Two more verses, the next two, verses five and six.
SPEAKER_01: James says this listen, my dear brothers, 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?
SPEAKER_01: But you have dishonored the poor.
SPEAKER_01: Is it not the rich who are exploiting you?
SPEAKER_01: Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what uh James does in those two verses.
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to expose the lunacy of favoritism in the church.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, why are you operating according to the rules of the world?
SPEAKER_01: These people that you're honoring because they have power and privilege and wealth, they're dragging you unjustly into court.
SPEAKER_01: They're treating you terribly.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe, James, for us, it would say this: like, you always complain about how the government runs.
SPEAKER_01: You always complain about the favoritism at work.
SPEAKER_01: You always point out the favoritism in your community, and you wish it wasn't that way.
SPEAKER_01: So, why in the world are you practicing favoritism in the one place that it is absolutely forbidden?
SPEAKER_01: Why are you honoring the kingdom of the world and not the kingdom of God?
SPEAKER_01: And we honor God's kingdom when we remember what did James say, God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world.
SPEAKER_01: God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Earlier this week, I read that statement, and immediately the Holy Spirit reminded me of that story.
SPEAKER_01: You know the story in uh Mark chapter 12, when one day Jesus and his disciples, they're um sitting right outside of the temple of Jerusalem, and they see a group of wealthy men go up to the offering box at the temple, and they put in wealth.
SPEAKER_01: Like they put in lots of gold, lots of coin, and and and then they'll walk away.
SPEAKER_01: And then this poor widow comes up and she just has like a few cents to her name, um, just a few coins, and she puts everything, every bit of the wealth attached to her name.
SPEAKER_01: She puts it inside of that offering plate, inside of that box, and then she just walks away.
SPEAKER_01: Now the world would assume that what?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is gonna honor the men who gave more.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna honor the gold fingers, right?
SPEAKER_01: But that's not the way of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus looks at his disciples and he says, This, he says, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
SPEAKER_01: She put in everything.
SPEAKER_01: All she had to live on.
SPEAKER_01: This woman honors the kingdom of God because she approaches God as this completely dependent child.
SPEAKER_01: You see, in our fight against favoritism, this means that we we no longer see one another, we no longer interact with one another as white collar, blue collar, and no-collar.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, we honor God's kingdom because we first and foremost see one another as dependent children.
SPEAKER_01: None of us can depend upon ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Like part of the reason you roll out the red carpet, right, for someone who's wealthy, is because you think you can depend on some things that they can give you.
SPEAKER_01: Like they have something they can offer that can make your life easier.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it was in the first century, and that's often how our mind operates as well.
SPEAKER_01: But we can't depend upon them.
SPEAKER_01: We can only depend upon God.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we're like the children of Israel in the sense, like we're wandering through this wilderness, and every day we're learning to be dependent upon the God who sends manna from heaven and water from the rock.
SPEAKER_01: We're learning every day to be dependent upon the God who guides our very and every step of the way with his presence in our life.
SPEAKER_01: And when we're truly dependent upon God, listen, there is no space, not even an inch of space for favoritism.
SPEAKER_00: Because listen, we don't look to one another.
SPEAKER_00: We look to God.
SPEAKER_00: We depend on him.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number one, honor God's character.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy number two, honor God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go to the last one.
SPEAKER_01: Strategy three, honor God's gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Verses twelve and thirteen.
SPEAKER_01: Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.
SPEAKER_01: Mercy triumphs over judgment.
SPEAKER_01: James concludes this section, this passage of teaching, by instructing the church and saying, Let every word that is spoken and every act that is performed be scrutinized according to this one rule, this one law.
SPEAKER_01: Let it reflect the law that gives freedom.
SPEAKER_01: That law that gives freedom is the gospel, the good news.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians chapter 5, verse 1 declares, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
SPEAKER_01: And this gospel, listen, it fights against favoritism, because it is given to all who believe without regard to any power or privilege or prestige that they possess in the world.
SPEAKER_01: The freedom offered by this gospel, listen, it fights against favoritism because it is not purchased with dollars in cents.
SPEAKER_01: It was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's a freedom that is offered not because of who you are, but a freedom offered because of who he is, who Jesus is, and what Jesus has accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: And to honor the gospel, to see one another and treat one another according to the gospel, it fights against favoritism because we're not just dependent children, we are also needy children.
SPEAKER_01: Needy children who every single day we're honoring the gospel in our life and saying, God, I need your grace, we all need your grace.
SPEAKER_01: God, I need your mercy, we all need your mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Don't keep your mercy from anyone, God, give it all to us because James says, Surely mercy triumphs over judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if I were to be honest, if I weren't preaching through James, I don't think I would have ever picked James chapter 2, verses 1 through 13 for a Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_01: That's a passage that makes me really uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: Makes me kind of uncomfortable to say some of the things it forces me to say.
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's in part because it just goes against every um way in which our world operates.
SPEAKER_01: Like we are so shaped and indoctrinated to believe that favoritism should be a standard operating procedure.
SPEAKER_01: There should be preferential treatment shown to certain people and certain groups of people.
SPEAKER_01: But God, listen, God's word, when we just willingly say, passage by passage, I need to hear God's word, whatever he has to say for me, even if I don't want him to have said that to me through his word, when we walk through it, it opens our eyes to some realities that are already there.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, now that you know, no more.
SPEAKER_01: Now that you know, now that you know who I am, now that you have been reminded how my kingdom operates, the truth of my gospel, you need to see one another and interact with one another in a way that honors who I am, honors what I am bringing into the world, and honors the good news that Jesus declares.
SPEAKER_01: And we honor those things because we want to have an authentic faith.
SPEAKER_01: A faith that is actionable, and a faith that, listen, is so nurtured in us that we become the healthy family that God so desires us to be.
SPEAKER_01: God wants us to not be a dysfunctional family of faith.
SPEAKER_01: God wants us to be a healthy family of faith.
SPEAKER_01: Which means like we have to be people who are aware and say, that's forbidden.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna fight against it.
SPEAKER_01: And how we see and how we treat one another.
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand together for a time of prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Would you just pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: Almighty God, your word.
SPEAKER_01: There are moments when we read it and it is a word of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: It's a word of comfort, it's a word of compassion over us.
SPEAKER_01: But then there are our words that we read and they fall like a ton of bricks.
SPEAKER_01: They are heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like James II, God is one of those tons of bricks in our life.
SPEAKER_01: We just wish he didn't put it that way with such strong language.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive us when we see one another and interact with one another based upon the ways of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to think about every thought and every word that we speak, to make sure it's in line with your character and your kingdom and your gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That our words and our thoughts are lined up, God, with who you are and what you have done.
SPEAKER_01: We want to stand against kind of the ways of the world because we think there's a better way, the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to see one another through your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Created in your image, uniquely gifted, loved, cherished, valued.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for meeting with us today.
SPEAKER_01: Through the words of James, the half-brother of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And now our musicians are gonna lead us in a familiar hymn, that hymn just as I am.
SPEAKER_01: And the words of this hymn are so simple and so familiar to us, but it is just that declaration that we can approach God, baggage and all, past and all.
SPEAKER_01: And when we step into God's presence, we find a God who has no partiality in his heart.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: A God who is filled with love and compassion, whose kingdom will come again, whose gospel is true and brings dead men to life.
SPEAKER_01: Respond to that God right now.
SPEAKER_01: Let's sing.