All People Matter To God
James 2:1-12
* Let’s begin tonight by reviewing our “Core Values”. 1) The Bible is our guide book. 2) God loves us and has a plan for us. 3) All People matter to God. 4) We seek to honor God in all we do. 5) The Local church (that’s us) is the hope of the world. We can and have visited these 5 beliefs repeatedly in the last 5 years and perhaps God is urging us to revisit them again because tonight’s text from James speaks directly to our third value, ‘all people matter to God.’
* Consider the different emphasis and inflections from these 5 words. We may begin by drawing attention to the last 2 words know that God cares for all people. John 3 tells us that “God loved the world” & not just the chosen. Romans 5 tell us that God demonstrated His love in that while we were sinners He sent Christ to die for us. Based on these text we can then inflect the word ‘matters’ because scripture, history, and activity, clearly reveal God cares for us, His crown creation so we can now emphasize people. Joel Hemphill wrote many years ago, “God loves people, any shape any color any size. You don’t have to be an angel to be really special in His eyes.”
* Finally consider the word “ALL.” “ALL” people matter to God. This word is encouraging, sobering, and convicting, because it is revealing. It encourages us to know that everyone is on God’s radar, it is sobering because this means even those who are different than us has the heart of the Father, it is convicting because that person who we don’t like, has hurt us, or even is antagonistic is one that God loves. Finally, when we say ‘all’ people matter to God it reveal the wickedness & corrupt of our hearts.
* One of the outstanding attributes of the Bible & particularly James is the fact that ‘truth is given’ while the chips fall where they may. Let’s read our text.
* Let’s re-read verse 12. The concept of ‘freedom’ or ‘liberty’ is big to James. In fact, he is the only writer who mentions it & he mentions it twice in just a few verses. Obviously in Christ, James was given a divine sense of release from the bondage which had a strangle hold on those outside of faith in Christ. So his words are both a reminder and a warning for the true believers.
1. The Principle – Knowing he was speaking some strong truths which would not be easy for those of faith to hear, James continues the pattern of keeping the familial connection with his readers. This is why we read “My Brothers,” or “brethren”, he wants us to know that the desire is not to put down but to build up. He tells us to ‘hold on to faith in Jesus, the glory of God, without sinning and the particular sin he names hits us all. It goes by many names; favoritism, discrimination, bigotry, prejudice, and even bias. Candidly, all of these things in our life are from Satan himself. When preference invades our lives what follows is judging (and judging by OUR STANDARD). Have you ever wondered why Jesus (Matthew 7) tells us to Judge not? It is because we do not have enough information on other people to make quality judgments.
All People matter to God – Pg 2
* Chuck Swindoll tells the story of a man in the Northeast on a commuter train with 2 or 3 small kids. The kids were running crazy while the Father seemed oblivious. Finally, someone said something to the dad about how the kids were misbehaving which was making the ride for everyone else very difficult. After speaking to him harshly, the dad kind of snapped out of his trance-like state with apologies. He said, “I’m sorry. My kids & I just came from the hospital where my wife died of an extended disease. The kids don’t understand & I’m just trying to figure out where to go from here.”
* Now all the whispers about the misbehaving kids changed as the travelers had full knowledge. Yet, the damage was done like it is done in so many areas of our lives these days. Even as believers in Christ, we find ourselves showing partiality or favoritism and thus, violating the very scripture we say we live by. This principle is to place your ‘faith in Jesus’ for salvation, to ‘focus on Jesus’ as your example, and then, in Him, ‘forsake the status signs’ which the world tries to force on us.
* Honestly, James didn’t leave any of this to our imagination. He paints an illustrative picture which is all too familiar. (Red verses 2-4)
2. The Picture – Almost every time I speak, there is one common phrase which I hear from at least listener in every group. It is either, “I’m glad I wore my steel toed boots,” or “You stepped all over my toes.” These 3 verses, if we are honest before God, hammer us. This was illustrated by a story I read.
* An interim pastor needed to make a strong point with a wealthy congregation so he did an unusual thing. On the morning he was preaching from James 2, he dressed up like a dirty vagabond & came into the worship center, sitting with the other people. Well, you can imagine the whispers, the lack of cordiality, and even other improper suggestions. As the music began, he exited the back door (a sigh of relief was almost audible). Walking around the building into His private study, he then re-entered the worship center sitting in his chair on the platform. By the way, he didn’t change his clothing so they knew. You could hear a pin drop as he spoke.
* This text deal with the rich/poor issue, and well it should. Many times you have heard me say that if Jesus had been a Baptist, when the rich young ruler turned to walk away, he may well have said, “Wait a minute, you and I need to get together because you can do so much with your wealth.” Yet, Jesus had revealed this young man’s god. Never let us forget, “Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart.” James is teaching us that the rich tend to want THEIR way instead of GOD’S and if they can’t get their way, they’ll take their money and go home.
* There exists a tendency to see people for what they bring to the table instead of ‘recognizing’ that all people come to Christ in the same manner, on the same level, for the same reason.
All People matter to God – Pg 3
* One more thing before we pass on the picture James is painting. He mentions only one illustration of a sin that is multi-faceted. It can be a rich/poor issue, but it can also be a racial, a cultural, a relationship, or many more. There is no end to the illustrations we can give for this truth.
* Because all people DO indeed matter to God, they must matter to us.
3. The Problem – Verse 5 begins with a reiterated endearment to make sure we readers understand James’ heart is to build & not berate. The problem is multiplied. First, we don’t see things like God does. Already, we have been reminded that man looks out the outside but God looks on the heart. Next, we don’t understand truth like God does. There is a tendency to overlook what we really need to see. In the Rich/Poor scenario, rich people can & will use their resources for no good. The very reason a rich man has trouble with faith in the Savior is because he has faith in Self and his possessions. This is the ‘eye of the needle’ principle. We see this even among us today. Stepping out in faith is not a big number on our personal charts today; rich people prefer only the bottom line. While we should ‘count the cost’, we must also walk in faith. Generally, the wealthy has a problem walking in faith. Finally, we don’t respond to people like God does. Once again, the painful truth stares us down. Human tendency is to respond to people based on ‘what they can do for us’ as opposed to what we can do for them or even what they may need. Every person needs the same thing, a relationship with God through Jesus. This congregation must be in step with helping this come to pass. No one gets a free ride because God is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t respect a king or a pharaoh more than a church member. -
4. The Penalty –Verses 9-11 give us a sense of the severity of this problem. (READ) These three verses contain enough truth for 3 different sermons. First, we learn that to show favoritism (on any level or for any reason) is to break the law of God and be convicted as a lawbreaker (transgressor). To what law does he refer? It is the “Royal Law.” There is no way to Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself and show favoritism. We can love our family, friends, those like us, and those who LIKE us, like we love ourselves; but it is impossible to love like Christ loved while, at the same time, showing partiality. As a lawbreaker, we commit sin. Sin, by definition, is missing the mark. With sin in our lives there is no sharing in the prize. It is a wrong thought which says, “I’m a believer so I can do anything & be forgiven.” Paul wrote to Corinth, “We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ” and to the church at Rome, “The wages of sin is death.” To be convicted as a transgressor is to be exposed to the point of being put to shame because a transgressor is a violator or breaker of the law and having to pay the price. Somehow we have convinced ourselves there the judgment seat will be nothing but a party, but this will be a day of accountability.
All People matter to God – Pg 4
5. The Prescription – Most, if not all of us, have a medication we take for some condition we have. Candidly, all of us have the same condition. We are given to the pull of this world—it is like a disease that doesn’t want to let go. Could it be that the Law of Freedom and the Royal Law are one in the same? To love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength will lead us to the point that we can love our neighbors as ourselves which results in living out the principle that all people matter to God. Verse 8 gives us the prescription for doing well; don’t you want to do well? Verse 12 challenges us to not forget that we are being judged by this law; do you remember this whenever someone you don’t care for (or don’t think you care for) comes across you path? A great prescription to regain spiritual health is “JOY”…(Jesus-Others-Yourself). We must guard our heart, guard our minds, guard our attitudes, and let the same mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus.
* To bring this home to us, let’s hear one more story.
* John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, John began to be suspicious of his passenger, so he checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them. But the wallet was GONE!! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out of the car, and said, “Hand me over the wallet immediately!” The hitchhiker handed over a billfold and John drove off. When he arrived at home, he started to tell his wife about this difficult experience but she interrupted him by saying, “John, before I forget, did you know that you left your wallet on the dresser this morning?”
* I wonder how often we are like that. Do we judge based on appearance, status, race, health, or __________? James says, ‘Hold your faith without favoritism because “All people matter to God.”
