Playing Favourites | James 2:1-13

hey good evening how your guy pretty good my name is Jeremy I'm one of the pastor's here the youth pastor glad to have you here we're going through this series called 'adulting growing up in spiritual maturity it's about God refining us and developing us because he he starts with us as we are this messed-up immature little blob and and says i wanna i want to do awesome things with you and in you and through you and so he encourages us to spiritual maturity and that's what the book of James is all about is not just sitting there is just this spiritually immature blob but being refined and sharpened to this point where you're actually a blessing to other people tonight we're going to be talking about playing favorites how do we play favorites what's the problem with paint playing favorites and because there are problems with it how can we possibly stop that let me pray and then we'll get into it father God we thank you for your word it is the truth thank you that you listen as we as we call out to you please speak to us please give us the courage to hear as you confront us with your word to not just be heroes of your word but doers of your word please speak through me by the power of your spirit in Jesus name Amen um so I'm the chaplain as well as being a youth pastor in the chaplain at Cedar College in the high school and a few weeks ago oh I went on the year 7 camp now we went up to we're away homestead just like a bit of a farm and one of the activities that the kids had to do was rounding up sheep so I went out there with a dozen year sevens out into this muddy wet paddock and we had to they had to round up these sheep from one pen in one paddock take them out into another pen in another paddock and I had to do it without touching the sheep which I thought it was a really good role for the shape um and so here's these kids just yelling out the sheep and banging on the fences and trying to get these sheep out because they had to get just two of the sheep out and into the other pen and keep the other ones in there and the more they just yell a stupid shape come on um this sheep oh how do you think they reacted they stayed stuck in that pen and the louder these kids got and the more they rattled and and and wave their fists and everything the more this sheet were just that nah not going anywhere they managed to get one sheep out I don't know how but the sheep was dumb super dumb um and it got away for a bit and then you could almost see it just realizing what have I done because they all started coming behind the sheep and just trying to rally it around to the other pen and it just stops turned around and ran straight back through them and then as it saw its freedom in the pen it just left off the ground about this high off this high off the ground and and just landed in the panels yes I'm safe again and the kids just woulda moralized but the thing with this sheep was it knew that it was dangerous out here where these 12 years were just going to go at it and it needed to get back into the pen to safety because there was safety in numbers when you belong there in the pan you safe and it struck me that what happened out there in that rainy paddock was exactly what was happening throughout the whole camp in the dorms and in the dining room because he with these year 7s like I don't know if you cast him mine back to you seven might have been you rate for you but that year where you started high school and you go from this safe little primary school into this high school and there's all these new people all these new people coming in from everywhere and you've got to figure out your friendship groups you've got to figure out who you're safe with and AH like who you can trust and you're looking at all these people you think at home Who am I going to pick who's gonna pick me how am I going to fit in in this place and I start at that dinner table there on that camp with these year 7s and being a chaplain I consider any table like none of their mind games work on me and I'm sitting with the cool kids because they couldn't do anything about it and as I watched them there were these two guys in particular who didn't belong to that table who desperately wanted to be there and um one of them this night he's like I want to sit there at the table and they let him sit down and it just broke my heart cuz here's this guy he just wants to be a part he wants to be in that pen and belong and i'll let him for a while but then as soon as he slips up or does something where they can just mock him and feel better about themselves they'll do it and then just take him down and it just felt like saying to the guy what are you doing I'm not the cool kids the ones who are oppressing you are they not the ones who dragged you into court and and what James is saying it's just I'm seeing it right there with these kids that these kids are playing favorites and its deadly and it's dangerous and it hurts everyone but the thing is it's not just year sevens on camp it's us that we play favorites and it's a dangerous game it does damage because it it hurts us and it's sinful and it actually stops us fulfilling our purpose as a church God has called us together as an assembly to do amazing things together and if we're playing favorites we're going to miss our so here's where we need to stop playing favorites number one we need to stop playing favorites with people stop playing favorites with people verse 1 my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory show no partiality if there's anyone who knows the sting of partiality how much it hurts when others are shown favoritism and you're not it's me because I was a bass player in a band that's like one step up from rich guy because when you're in a band the bass player doesn't matter it's all about the singer it's always always husband about the singer so know what it's like I know how much it hurts but showing partiality it's not treating all people equally it's making distinctions between people it's tacit Lee suggesting the one person is worth more than another person playing favorites so James gives us this illustration for if a man wearing a gold ring gold ring was like a symbol of nobility of authority of power of wealth and fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in if you pay attention to the one with the gold ring and say you sit here in a good place I just want to say that in this church that does not happen anyone can sit here in a good place this front row is the best place in the church you feel the subs more you can see the screen really clearly you're closer to Karl and if you're a bad singer no one's going to hear you you can sit here anyone in people up the back feel free sit down the front but what James is saying if you pay attention to the to the one with the gold ring and say you sit here in a good place while we say to the poor man you stand over there we'll sit down here my feet have you not been made distinctions among yourselves and get this and become judges with evil thoughts saying what is going on this is a horrible thing and we know that we get that you shouldn't make distinctions but what is going on at the heart of it why are they doing that and think in the context there and these these gatherings of Jewish Christians they're doing something really risky really vulnerable and like how said there are people that were just at the mercy of others and at the mercy of nature and if there's anything they can do to to get themselves a bit more security you just got reaction is to Rick you up for it and grasp it is this force of habit it's just what we do if there's a way for us to to get a bit more security and get a little bit further ahead in life and someone can help me to do that I'm gonna I'm going to go for them I'm going to reach out to them and so this is force of habit someone comes in wearing a gold ring and fine clothing it's like hey are you going let's go out for lunch so it can be this thing of them hoping to gain financial gain to get money out of this or to gain protection like if you're friends with a nobleman back then oh we're really handy maybe it's it's that it's just a whole lot easier to reach out to someone who's already got everything the church back then had a reputation for looking out for poor people for caring for people you start to get a reputation like that you start to get all kinds of people coming in with all kinds of needs you imagine that will be really draining to have people coming in like that like someone else who's needing a handout and I've got nothing and you just drawn to these people that are going to be helpful and and yeah just automatically moving away from the people that are going to drain you and that's what it would have been like for them but how do we and why do we show partiality I think a lot of it is the same kind of reasons you're probably already making those connections but it's this force of habit we move towards the people that are that are more attractive that are wealthier the people that we feel more comfortable around that are easier to talk to because we fear the unknown because we worry about what it might cost us to care for someone who's needy in whatever way maybe we do want more money maybe we want a free lunch so we see the person who looks rich from life let's go out to lunch I've got my wallet but it's like it goes beyond just what they've got like we show partiality and the people we hang out with here a church that we come to church to to build this kingdom but it's not God's kingdom it's like a shangri-la for us this comfortable place we can come to to make friends with people that make us feel comfortable to pick out the beautiful ones because you have beautiful people in shirts and more beautiful people come to church we want a comfortable place for us and God says that's not what this is all about and what you're doing is horrible the problem with showing partiality is it it turns you into something wicked you're making distinctions among yourselves and becoming judges with evil thoughts that's a really strong statement if we're showing any level of partiality and the people that we're reaching out to and spending time with a moving towards here in this church James is saying we're becoming judges with evil thoughts but even worse by showing partiality by playing favorites were actually missing the point of why we're actually assembled he says verse 5 listen my beloved brothers has not God chosen those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom the God has promised to those who love Him but this is what it's about God has chosen these people in his he's drawing them in but you dishonored the poor man that's wanting to think that we might honor dishonor and we might reject or offend someone that God has chosen just by showing partiality we need to really search our hearts on this let the Holy Spirit convict us how have we shown favoritism tonight what damage might we have done already tonight to those God has chosen dishonored the poor man I'm not the rich the ones who oppress you and drag you into court I may not the ones who dis who blaspheme the Honorable name by which you were cold I don't think that James is necessarily saying that all rich people are evil he's getting to the heart of what these people do you think back to that year's seven dynamic yeah there's these cruel kids and they oppress and they drag each other before the courts of the middle school principal and they dishonor through back fighting and shaming and gossiping and in James day there was the rich Roman rulers in the Jewish rulers but they would have press and they would drag the Christians before the courts and they would try and force them to blaspheme the name of Jesus to disown Jesus and dishonor Jesus but what about us does this thing that stunned me that it shouldn't come to us as a surprise that the rich might turn on us this way the rich because they're doing the same thing that we're doing to them that the rich of this world are trained to use other people to manipulate other people to impress other people in in order to get more for themselves to show partiality towards the people that are going to improve their lives and then get to the point where I don't need you anymore then I'm going to get rid of you and I'm going to dishonor you that's what they do and that's what we are doing to them by playing favorites because we're not reaching out to them because of who they are we're reaching out to them for what we can get out of them and that's not love that's evil thoughts and acting like that blasphemes the Honorable name by which you were called you called to belong to Jesus his good name is yours and he doesn't act like that and neither should we but what can we do about it because this this little game of playing favorites is deeply ingrained and it seems to be all these benefits for us as we play this game of favorites can't we just get away with a little bit it seems like sometimes there's some sins that we play favorites with and we can get away with just a little thing like favoritism right we can let that slide James says no he says we need to stop playing favorites with sin we need to stop playing favorites with people we need to stop playing favorites with sin go to verse 8 if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself you're doing well but if you show partiality you're committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgresses whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it for he who said God who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder if you don't commit adultery but you do murder you've become transgresses of the law he's saying you fail in one bit the whole bit is blown and this is that this is a handy picture to get this in your head kamoj in today you went down to henley beach beautiful sunny day but you get down there and it's bright and clear as it is it's cold and so I think I'll get a coffee warm myself up and so you get yourself a coffee and you're about to take a sip and you realize it is too hot so you pop the lid just to let it cool off a bit but the sea breeze just come in cool off your coffee you see it there the latte art is perfect so you know the milks going to be good this is going to be a sweet coffee and just as you're about to take a sip you look up and there's this yappy dog just running up from the sand and doing what yappy dogs love to do at the beach he's chasing seagulls he's coming for these seagulls and these seagulls just take off on mass and they just up in the air and a circle around over the top of you what right into the middle of your coffee a bird lob and here's what you can do in that moment you can be grateful and say that was a whole lot of seagulls and I only got one or you can be normal and be disgusted and say it's ruined this seagull has transgressed my coffee and the coffee is gone because just one little bird blob ruins the whole coffee it's the same way one little sin the ones that you play favorites with those favorite little sins and favoritism is one of the worst James lumps it in with murder and adultery it's really bad it's ungodly it's a seagull mess in your coffee and cast this stain on your soul and it also reveals that we have a small view of God this is guy alec mutia he's a theologian he said to say that one of the commands does not apply to me I'm just going to show favoritism that one come on doesn't apply to me to say that is to say that there is some aspect of the nature of God that doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned I can get on without it its of no particular value see when we play favorites with sin we settle for a smaller view of God he's given us the law as a reflection of his goodness and his mercy and grace and he says don't show favoritism because that reveals some thing of him that he is someone who doesn't show favorites and when we say no no I'm just going to let that one slide we miss out we get this blind spot on how good god is but the problem gets worse than that u verse 12 so speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of Liberty and gets bleaker and bleaker and bleaker for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy James is saying you want to keep the law that's good but if you just do one little thing like showing favoritism then you've messed up the whole lot and let me tell you the judgment is without mercy if you've shown no mercy by showing favoritism it's pretty disheartening the problem is that as we judge others with our favoritism we're piling up judgment on ourselves and he's saying it will catch up with us so we end with this painful realization that we've watched it but what what can we do we're not doing well we're doing quite the opposite and what hope is there for us let me give you some hope verse 13 forwards mercy triumphs over judgment forwards that is the gospel right there you underline those in your Bible if you've got a Pew Bible just underline anyway mercy triumphs over judgment these four words sum up everything praise God that Jesus shows no partiality that he doesn't play favorites excuse me we'd be done for if it was up to us to impress him imagine if Jesus treated us like those cruel year sevens using us for his own gain and then crushing us when he was done with us giving us this false hope that maybe we belong but then destroying us when he's done they so not Jesus hey that he crushed himself for our gain 2 Corinthians 8 9 says for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich and here's how he did it Jesus Christ the Lord of glory God lived a full life as one of us and he was rejected more than any of us if anyone knows the sting of partiality it's Jesus he gave up everything and he made himself nothing and he bought all of our sins our little as smallest favorite pet since he took him all on himself and then by His mercy by his glory he took it to the cross and he died with it there and then he rose again without it left it there every single last little favorites in gone and now anyone who holds the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory receives that mercy that triumphs over judgment is free from sin mercy triumphs over judgment when no longer judges with evil thoughts were no longer double minded people like he says in in chapter one we're called by his honorable name he said blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God and when we come to him poor knowing that we are spiritually bankrupt and longing for him to not show partiality and he doesn't show partiality amen mercy triumphs over judgment and here's how that truth changes everything that we are not done for that we haven't we have botched it but we do have this chance here's how it enables us to stop playing favorites with people and stop playing favorites with sin this is how it works we share in the riches of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him that's us we don't look to other people to find our riches or our security or our comfort not the rich person with the gold ring and the flying clothing not the cool kids not the easy people that we find it easiest to speak with not the people of influence that are going to make our lives a whole lot more comfortable we find all our riches in christ alone he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing and rather than seeing other people the difficult people the needy people the uncomfortable people is people that are going to drain us about resources Jesus is saying I'll give you all the resources you need every spiritual blessing and we can see people with no partiality because it's it's not costing us anymore and together we come to the throne of grace that we might all enjoy the riches of God's love for us that's what he's saying a church is about don't come here to play favorites and to show partiality come here to together come to the throne to experience these riches together it's not via feel like you're a drain on someone or they're like they're draining you all of us together coming poor to the throne to receive riches and he says take those riches that you found in me and share them with anyone who needs them the orphan the widow the oppressed the poor the outcast Jesus has moved towards us in a dramatic way and he calls us to move towards others we're all poor and needy we're not here as a church to play favorites we're here is a church to bring blessing to anyone who needs it you flip back to verse 1 my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory that's what it's out because if we're showing partiality we're not holding on to the faith the lord jesus christ we're hanging on to ourselves we're hanging on to other people trying to find all our all our wealth and and comfort and protection in them and we've lost faith in Jesus in that moment here's the key don't focus on the favorites but on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ we're going to make him our favorite we got to hold on to him and let him lead us tonight from this moment not showing favorites anymore but saying Jesus I'm holding on to you and you alone and you lead me to whoever you know needs whatever blessing i can give through your name my brothers and sisters show no partiality as he hold the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory

Channel: CityReach Oakden Church

Views: 322

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: oakden, baptist, church, obc, sermon, message, advice, bible, city, reach, cityreach, Playing Favourites, Don't Play Favourites, James 2:1-13, Jeremy Wright, Adulting, Growing Up In Spiritual Maturity

Id: Mkhh8oA0msM

Length: 27min 41sec (1661 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 17 2016