1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show
favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring
and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 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,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become
judges with evil thoughts? 5 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? 8 If you really keep the royal
law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty
of breaking all of it. 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims
to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose
a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you
says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing
about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will
say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds,
and I will show you my faith by what I do.
- James 2:1-5,8-10,14-18, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
If someone accused you of being a Christian, would they have enough evidence for a conviction?
This is the essential question that James confronts each of us with in our text for today.
Those of you who are familiar with the Book of James know that its general content is more practical than theological. What I mean is this: James talks to us about the practice of the Christian life. He does this through a series of examples and illustrations and exhortations and words of encouragement and sometimes surprising – maybe even seemingly controversial – statements that were undoubtedly included to make us think. Throughout his letter he gives us instructions and paints a picture of how living Christianity presents itself before a watching world.
And he does so not with the intention of reducing Christianity to a series of rules and regulations. He writes for the purpose of giving us as believers a practical way of life to desire, aspire to and increasingly carry out as we stay connected to the source of our spiritual life, Jesus Christ.
James talks about what Christian faith looks like. Today he gives us a very practical lesson on two particular
MARKS OF A GENUINE FAITH
1. It is not partial
2. It translates into action
"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism." James begins with a warning against partiality and then immediately gives an illustration… "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 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?
The hypothetical situation and the point James makes is self-evident. Whether this illustration was real or imagined is unimportant. What is important and the real issue that James addresses here is how we look at people and then, on the basis of our own personal assessment, treat them. Here he uses the example of the wealthy getting preferential treatment over the poor.
James understands that it is the tendency of our sinful, human nature to make judgments on people purely on the basis of external matters; to sidle up to people that we think may be of advantage to us and to discard those who won’t. And if we are honest we know exactly what we he is talking about, because we’ve all done it.
Let me give you a modern day illustration… I recently read an article about Kurt Warner, the Superbowl quarterback for the St. Louis Rams. Those of you who follow professional football are probably familiar with his Cinderella-like story. Kurt Warner is now making the millions of dollars which premier professional athletes command, but that wasn’t always the way it was. It was not long ago that a career in football was just a dream for him. To make ends meet for his wife and family he stocked shelves in a local grocery chain in Iowa. For a time, I believe, they were on some kind of government assistance. Life was a struggle and filled with uncertainty. Then a series of breaks came his way that eventually brought him to where he is today.
What I found interesting in the article was a statement he made about the irony of his present situation. He inferred that when they were poor and struggling and had nothing and really needed help, nobody came to their aid. But now that they are rich and famous and lacking nothing, people seem to want to give them all kinds of things for free. What changed? Was it their intrinsic worth and importance in the eyes of God? No. It was their social status. They are the same people they always were. But now other people are treating them with a preference they’ve never experienced before.
James tells us that when we engage in the kind of thing Mr. Warner is alluding to – judging people solely on the basis of who they are or what they have and how we can use them to our advantage – we are "discriminating among ourselves." In other words, we set up a false classification system because we make the determination that some people are more important than others. And "our glorious Lord Jesus Christ" – the One whom we follow and imitate – certainly never did that.
Is it not interesting to note that in the Gospels Jesus is often roundly criticized because of the company He kept? The Twelve disciples were nothing if not ordinary. (I recall one commentator saying that the disciples possessed an "uncanny capacity for dullness" when it came to understanding what Jesus was trying to teach them.) We’ll remember how the self-righteous Pharisees literally sneered at Jesus because, in their eyes, He spent way too much time with the lowlifes they described as "tax-collectors and sinners." Responding to this charge, Jesus said it was not the healthy that needed a doctor, but the sick…
We could give any number of specific examples, but the point is simply this: Jesus always looked at the inside of a person, not the outside. There was not an ounce of partiality in our Lord. Jesus saw (and continues to see) every single individual human being as a soul for whom He came to redeem by His perfect life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. And we as His followers are to view people with the same eyes as that of "our glorious Lord Jesus Christ."
And so James reiterates the point: "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
Instead of passing personal and arbitrary judgments on others, James invites us to see ourselves for what we really are: law-breakers. Sinners. We may point the finger at others who don’t measure up to our personal standards and somehow view them as lesser beings, but the thumb comes back at us, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The implied question is: Who are we to pass personal judgments on others when we ourselves fall under the judgment of God? Or, in the words of Jesus, before we go pointing out the speck of sawdust in the eyes of others, let us first remove the beam from ours…
So the first point James makes is that a genuine Christ-like faith is not partial and does not discriminate on the basis of externals. It sees others through the eyes of Jesus. It understands that every soul is of worth to the One who created and redeemed us all.
What else does genuine faith do? It translates into action. This is what James talks about for the remainder of the text. He again asks some pointed questions, followed by another illustration: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."
James indicates that genuine faith makes itself known by its confession and actions. Jesus said the same thing when he remarked that you can tell a tree by its fruit. A good tree brings forth good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit…
One thing we must not misunderstand is this: It is Jesus Christ alone who saves us from our sins. It is faith alone in Jesus Christ that appropriates and applies what Jesus did to our lives so that we can look forward with assurance to everlasting life in heaven. Jesus supplied us with a white robe of righteousness through His life, death and resurrection; faith is what takes that robe out of the closet and puts it on. Therefore we correctly say that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
But such faith is not invisible. What James is indicating is that genuine thankful, grateful, gospel-understanding faith will express itself in a way that can be seen. In this way, faith and deeds are inseparable.
The illustration he uses needs little expansion. It clearly demonstrates the inconsistency of faith without deeds. What James tells us is that true faith is more than pious words. It’s more than saying the right things. Genuine faith translates into action…
The kind word; the held tongue; the sincere offer to help; the resolve to give. James’ second point: Faith acts.
In one of his Christmas sermons, Martin Luther talks about Mary and Joseph finding no room in the inn at Bethlehem. He then suggests that some of his hearers may be saying to themselves, "If only I would have been there. I would have given up my room. I would have made the provisions for the Savior to be born." Luther goes on to say that the reason we talk like that is because we know how the story ends. Then he reminds us how we have Christ in our neighbor now, and admonishes us to help our neighbor now in time of genuine need. In doing so, we are putting our faith into action.
The two practical lessons that James presents us with on the subject of genuine faith – that it is not partial and that it translates into action – I believe come together nicely in a short story by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It’s called "The Cobbler’s Visitor"…
Martin was a shoemaker. His life was hard and his wife had recently died. He spent much of his time being sad. One day a Russian priest visited him, gave him a Bible and suggested that he read it to lighten his soul. So Martin did this, and soon found himself reading it more and more. Once, while reading the account of Jesus visiting the house of a Pharisee, he fell asleep. And in his dream he heard Jesus say, "Martin, look out in the street tomorrow, for I shall come."
The next day he was very excited. He frequently checked the window of his shop awaiting his special guest. Late in the morning he looked out and saw an old man who worked for a neighbor, clearing snow. It was obvious that he was cold and tired. So Martin invited him in and gave him some hot tea and pleasant conversation.
Later in the afternoon he looked out and saw a young peasant woman with a baby in summer clothes, valiantly but unsuccessfully trying to protect it from the winter wind. Martin invited her in, gave her hot soup and found an old coat for the baby…
Toward evening he saw an old woman selling apples from a heavy sack. A boy ran by and stole one, but the old woman caught him by the hair and threatened to call the police. Martin intervened. He asked the woman to forgive the boy as Christ had forgiven her and then asked the boy to help the woman. So they went down the street together, the boy carrying the heavy sack.
Back to his shop. Night came. No visitor. Martin went to read his Bible. He meant to open it at the place he had marked, but it opened at another place…
Then he heard a voice call his name. "Who is it?" asked Martin. The same voice from night before said, "It is I" – and from the shadows first came the old man… then the young peasant mother… then the old woman and the boy… Each smiled and vanished.
Martin’s soul grew glad. He looked down and found the Bible open to this passage: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in…. Forasmuch as you have done this for the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." And Martin understood that the Savior had indeed come to him that day.
Martin the Cobbler had acted with the impartial, active faith that James talks about in our text. If accused of being a Christian, there was plenty of evidence to convict him.
May the same be said of us. And it will be said of us when, out of love for Christ, we keep ourselves connected to Him. For when we do, the results will be visible. And the world will see in us the MARKS OF A GENUINE FAITH. Amen.