I just want to say thank you for praying for me while I was away. I had a wonderful time this past week with Aaron Messner, the person who preceded me in the evenings here at Tenth, at Covenant College for three days. Aaron is doing a great job there. I had so many people tell me how thankful they were for his ministry there at the college. Thank you for your prayers for me. Well, it was a quote from Philadelphia Magazine that I just couldn't resist. It said this, "If New York is known for money, and Los Angeles is known for fame, then Philadelphia is known for conflict."
A Nasty Culture of Division
It's a nasty culture of division where race is pitted against race; class is pitted against class, special interest groups pitted against special interest groups, all for power and position. It's an endless game of "Divide and Conquer." And God has placed Tenth Church smack dab in the middle of that culture. We call ourselves the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into a similar culture. It was a culture of division, and Jesus refused to keep the perverse rules of the religious prejudice of the Pharisees.
He broke those rules in the way He responded to women and to children, to the sick, to the poor, to even people who would be called immoral. Jesus would not keep the rules of that prejudice. We're the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I would confess, and I think you would confess with me, that I am not free of that prejudice. Maybe deep in the DNA of every sinner is partiality, and favoritism, and prejudice. And James can't help, as he's thinking about Christianity at the street level where all of us live, to address this thing that is so deeply contradictory of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
James is addressing poor people. You think, you think of all people, they would be sensitive to what prejudice is about. You think of all people, they would be free, but they're not. Now, let me remind you where we are in James's writing. It's my impression that there are really only two sections in this letter. That first section, where James, with a sweet pastoral heart, talks about the suffering that is going on in the lives of these people and gives them a Biblical worldview--a Gospel way of thinking about the difficulties that they face.
In the second section of James, it really begins with verse 19 of chapter 1, where James begins to describe this new life that God has called us to. Remember, it's not that God has given you His grace to make your kingdom work, God's given you His grace was to invite you to another Kingdom. The rules of the game have changed. And rather than my life being directed by what I want, and what I feel, and what I need, I'm now called to a life where the central motivation of my existence is that I would live, and think, and speak, and act, and decide, and choose in a way that pleases my Lord.
James's short summary for that is, 'The righteous life that God requires.' God's called you to a commitment to righteous living. And that call moves down to the most mundane of levels, down to the very level of how you respond to and treat the people that you encounter every day. We do not believe that our faith should live most strongly in this room. We reject that! We believe that the faith to which God calls us to, runs to the recesses of every area of our lives; it must live where we live every day.
Your Lord lays claim to every area of your life. And so it's quite impossible for James, in his pastoral wisdom, not to talk about something that's so deep in the DNA of every sinner. Let me read verses 1 to 13 of James 2 for you again; it's there in your bulletins: My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
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. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Accountable for All of It
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for 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. 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. (ESV) James presents us with devastating Gospel arguments against prejudice in the Christian life.
And as he does that, he really does unpack, reveal the heart behind prejudice, the heart behind partiality. And again, as your pastor, I would plead with you this evening, "Open your heart." Don't sit there and think, "I don't think that this really speaks to me. I don't see myself as a prejudiced person." Please don't sit there and say, "I'm so glad so-and-so is here; I recognize prejudice in them." Let God's Word function as a mirror for you this evening. Receive the council and the conviction of the Word of God.
You can have courage to do that because all of your sin, if you are God's child, past, present, and future, has been fully covered by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to be afraid of looking at you--it's all been covered by Jesus--isn't that wonderful? And so we can be honest as we look at this passage this evening. Look at verse 1, "My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." James is very careful in the title that he uses for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice there, "My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." Prejudice is all about the glory that rules your heart. If you don't realize this, let me inform you, as a human being made in the image of God, you're hardwired for glory. You don't live by instinct. Your heart runs after some kind of glory, and there are only two kinds of glories you can live for. You can live for the shadow glories of the physical created world. Or you can live for the glory that's truly glorious--that is the glory of God.
Now these physical glories of the physical created world are meant to be to us sign glories that point us to the glory of God. Now think about what prejudice is about. It's about the glory of appearance. It's about the glory of wealth. It's about the glory of position, the glory of possessions, the glory of power, the glory of gender, the glory of race. And to the degree that my heart is ruled more by the physical glories of the created world rather than by the glory of God, to that degree, there will always be prejudice in my heart.
Listen, prejudice will always reveal what is important to your heart. It is much more about what is inside of you than what is outside of you. The way you view people is much more dictated by what rules your heart than it's dictated by who those people are. We don't want to think that. We want to argue inside of ourselves for the legitimacy of the separations and divisions that we give ourselves to. But those separations, those divisions, those acts of rejection, and unkindness, and discompassion, reveal what is actually important in our hearts.
Does God Rule My Heart Comprehensively?
And as I face my own struggle in this area, I have to at least ask the question that perhaps God doesn't rule my heart in the comprehensive way that I think He does. Maybe there is still, in this man, a glory war taking place in my heart, and sometimes I get it right, but sometimes I get it so wrong. James immediately is introducing us to the radical counter-culturalism of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a different way. And if you have no Lord, if you have no Jesus Christ, if you have no eternity, if you have no system of unshakable truth, if all you have is material positions and material possessions, then prejudice makes sense.
But it doesn't make sense when there is a Lord of glory who has laid claim to our hearts. James's little case study there in verses 2 and 3 and 4, I mean, what is it about? It's about physical, material things. I make the judgment based solely on how that person is dressed. Now, would you ever do that? Come on, be honest. What would you be thinking if somebody walked down this aisle on Sunday morning about 11:05 with more earrings and tattoos than you thought were possible for a human being to have on his body, a man!
What would be coursing through your mind? Would your heart be filled with love? Or would you make a quick judgment based on what your eyes can see? No need to ask any questions. What kind of person makes you uncomfortable? What kind of person makes you feel unprotected on the street? Is your heart embracing the radical counter-culturalism of the Gospel? Oh, I would say again, if we are ever going to be a light in this city, brothers and sisters, we have to address this. We have to accept Christ's call to a new and better way, and I think that means for Tenth Church confession and repentance.
Because although there are many ways in which this is a multicultural and multiple class congregation, wouldn't you recognize with me that we are not yet free of this struggle? We're not yet free of what James is addressing, and James says it very clearly that when you live that way and respond to people on those kinds of bases, then you've made distinctions with evil thoughts. That's evil in the eyes of a God of awesome grace and awesome love. Look at verse 5 where he goes, and he says: 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. (ESV) This not only gets glory wrong; prejudice forgets the work of the Gospel in your own life. Why is it that you were accepted? Why is it that you've been forgiven--the power of your position, the beauty of your appearance, the magnitude of your wealth, because you are of the right race or the right class? Absolutely not! Every person who comes to Christ comes absolutely poor. We come with nothing to bring, nothing to hold in our hands, nothing that we could bring to Christ to somehow gain His favor.
We come naked, and poor, and we have one plea, it is His blood; it is His grace. How could it ever be that this message would become an occasion for pride? How could it be that this message would ever become occasion for division? How could it be that this message would ever become an occasion for prejudice? How could it be when the message is a message of glorious love and glorious grace to those who are absolutely poor? We come with nothing, and hear this, brothers and sisters; you still stand with nothing before Christ because all of your righteousness is His.
And the only difference in my identity from that man on the street that would repel me, if there is any difference in us spiritually is that I've been given that awesome gift of God's grace, but I am as poor and needy as he is. James goes on, verse 6: But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? (ESV) James is actually talking about current events there.
Rich Landowners and Poor People
These people were in a situation where there were rich landowners, rich politicians, if you would, who would drag poor people into court and subjugate them even more and meet out even more tax--this system had broken the economic back of Palestine. And often these people were at the same time the people who would mock the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and mock His followers. You see, prejudice will always lead me to moments that are functionally and philosophically inconsistent, because I will want favor with someone because of their power, because of their position, because of their appearance, because of their social class, or whatever, maybe without regard for the fact that that person stands against everything I say is precious to me.
Because what's motivating me is not the heart, what's motivating me is not the call of Christ; what's motivating me are the distinctions that are made in this physical, material, created world. Those rule my heart more than the Gospel. Well, I want to look at verse 8, notice where he goes next. If you really fulfill the royal law according to 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.
(ESV) James can't help but remind us of this--that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of love. What are the two principal commands of the Kingdom of God? "Love God above all else," (Are you listening?) "...and love your neighbor as yourself." That's exactly what prejudice doesn't do. Who here in this room has not been hurt by some kind of rejection? Who here has not somehow, someway, felt the pain of being an outcast? Love your neighbor as yourself. More than constructing a life that is comfortable where you're around people that make you feel special and make you feel comfortable, the Gospel is a call to a dangerous and vulnerable life where you will move out into places that are not comfortable to you with people who are not comfortable to you, in situations that are not comfortable for you for the sake of incarnating the grace and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you willing to accept the call to the dangerous relationships of the Gospel? Listen, that danger cost Christ His life. Or would you rather be comfortable, have a predictable life with predictable people, a closed circle of accepted friends that tell you all the things you want to hear about you because they're exactly like you? Are you willing to step out and say, "I want to move in this city; I want to move places where I'm not comfortable? I want to be places where I'm beyond what is normal and comfortable for me for the purpose of being part of the most powerful force of transformation in the universe, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ"?
But James isn't done; we sort of wish he was because there's much he's saying to us. But he's not done, verse 9: 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 accountable for 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. (ESV) Hear the next thing that James would alert us to.
Prejudice, partiality is propelled by a self-serving, selective ethic by our ability to prioritize one of God's laws as we forget or neglect another. And so the proud man, forgetting his own pride, looks critically upon the materialistic man. And the materialistic man criticizes the bad theology of the poor theological guy rather than understanding that I cannot be selective with God's law. He's called me to submit myself to it all. And prejudice is not a little thing. My prejudice reveals my disloyalty to my Lord and my desire to set my own standards and make my own rules.
Judged Under the Law of Liberty
Prejudice reveals my lack of submission to the law of my Lord. And then James ends by these words: So speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (ESV) Finally, prejudice forgets the grace and mercy economy of the Gospel. We've already hinted at this. God has called you to a life of glorious liberty--it's the liberty of His grace. It's a liberty where you are freed from your bondage to all of those divisive distinctions that so destroy human community and human relationship--that you have been freed.
Hear this--not by the law, but by God's grace. That grace not only forgives you for that spirit, but that grace would empower you to live in a much better way. And James would remind us that our identity no longer is that we are children of judgment. Our identity is--Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! We are children of mercy! Mercy in every life of every believer has triumphed over judgment. Should not that be the case in our own lives as well? Maybe you're sitting there and saying, "Well, Paul, this is hard.
This has not been a real encouraging sermon on a Sunday night as I'm facing my week." And I would remind you again of what I have said, I love so much about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; I love so much about Scripture; I love how shockingly honest the Bible is; I love that James is just this honest with us; I love that James wants us to look in the mirror of the Word of God and see the true condition of our hearts. Brothers and sisters, let's be honest; we're not free of favoritism; we're not free of partiality; we're not free of prejudice.
It still lives in our hearts, and it gets in the way of the work that God has called us to do as we represent Him as His ambassadors in this city in which He has placed us. We're not always a community of love; we're not always a community of grace; we're not always kind, and compassionate, and patient as we should be. But this Gospel that is just this honest is also a Gospel of glorious hope. Listen, your Lord of glory left glory, and He was willing to subject Himself to all kinds of rejection. He was willing to be mocked and despised.
He was willing to face gross injustice. He was willing to die as an innocent man. He was willing even to have His Father turn His back on Him. Hear this, He was willing to do all of that for people like you and me so that we would have the forgiveness, and the power, and the deliverance to deal with the things that His Gospel would reveal in our hearts. You cannot believe the Gospel and be afraid to look at yourself honestly. The Gospel welcomes you to honesty, but it welcomes you to hope because Immanuel has come, and Immanuel has made you the place where He lives.
There is hope for us! There is hope for us that we could become, in every way, a remarkable community of love; a remarkable community of grace, and compassion, and sympathy, and kindness; a group of people who represents the Lord of love well and whom God uses to transform this city that is known as much for its division as anything else. God help us! Let's pray: Lord, James puts before us hard words to consider, scary things to think about. Oh, Lord, give us humility in this moment. Help us to open our eyes and open our hearts to be willing to look at ourselves in the mirror of Your Word and to be able to do that because we have confidence in Your grace, rest in Your love, security in Your mercy.
And, Lord, we would pray that You would transform us so that we could be transformational tools in Your hands, in the place where You have put us. In Jesus's name, Amen.
