Sermon Reflection James 2:8-13

(I skipped last week's message James 2:1-7 but I will hit upon a few of the points in this blog post."

Discovery: Two different types of "laws" are mentioned here. In v. 8, James speaks of the "royal law:" "Love your neighbor as yourself." Later in v. 10 he speaks of the "whole law." When it comes to keeping the law, there are only two standards: the world's and God's. The world's standard is to be good enough or to try our best; God's standard is perfection. Thus the bar is set high when it comes to keeping the royal law.

James says that by showing favoritism we are breaking God's law. When we show favoritism, we are sinning. The call in v. 12 is to "speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom..." We should speak and act in a way that follows God's law otherwise it is clear that we are going to be judged by God. The essence of the royal law is summarized at the end of v. 13: "mercy triumphs over judgement." Showing mercy is the opposite of favoritism. Just as James said earlier in vv. 1-7, rather than showing favoritism to the rich, we need to show mercy to the poor.

Application: Why is favoritism such a terrible sin? Favoritism reveals a dangerous imbalance in our lives. It reveals that we are ultimately sinful, selfish, and self-serving. We only think about what is in it for ourselves. This affects all aspects of our lives.

This affects our family, friendships, and romantic relationships. We look for others to meet or fulfill a need in us rather than looking for ways to serve and love them.

This affects our life decisions. We look at the ways that this decision will make our lives better versus thinking of ways that it might lead us to serve others.

This affects our church life. We look for ways that the church exists to serve our needs versus seeing it as a place where God calls us to serve the needs of others.

This ultimately affect our relationship with God. We look to Him to meet a need within us rather than seeking to serve and honor Him.

v. 8 states that "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture. "Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right." The key words here are "really" and "doing right." Are we "really" keeping the royal law? There is a direct correlation between loving others and loving God. That's why when the Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he answered with the two-fold response of loving God and loving others. We are also called to "do right" by God's standard. "Doing right" means serving others as if we were serving God.

We are called to repent from being like "judges with evil thoughts" (v.4) and instead becoming like God whose "mercy triumphs over judgement" (v.13).

Prayer: Help me Lord not judge with sin in my hearts. Help me instead respond in mercy in the same way You poured out Your mercies upon me. Thank you for your great love that propels me to attempt great things for You.

Sermon Reflection James 1:26-27

Discovery: James makes a clear distinction between two different types of "religions."

James tells us to avoid "worthless" religion: (v. 26) "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." This kind of religion is marked by an undisciplined tongue and self-deception. James speaks throughout this letter about the power (and danger) of the tongue. True faith is marked by having a "tight rein" on one's speech. James states that by neglecting one's tongue (or any action for that matter) and yet still considering oneself religious is an act of self-deception.

James tells us to emulate a "pure and faultless" religion: (v. 27) "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Purity refers to issues of the heart as well as the ritual cleanliness of objects. Faultless means that something is undefiled and not contaminated.

Application: We need to guard our hearts and to focus on the proper things.

Watching our speech: James uses an equestrian term to illustrate this point. It points to the fact that a large and powerful animal such as a horse can be controlled and moved by a simple device within the mouth. I was joking with the congregation that I love the feature within Gmail where you can "undo" a sent email even after you pressed "send." I can't tell you how many times that has probably saved me embarrassment and potential conflict. Unfortunately, we don't have an "undo" button when it comes to our speech. I know that I need to constantly be vigilant in regards to watching my speech, especially around my kids and wife. It is easy to say things in the heat of the moment that I end up regretting later.

Focusing on knowing and doing the right thing: James speaks both of being undefiled by the world as well as loving and caring for orphans and widows. I read this as a call to avoid sin and to administer grace. Sin is both found in the things we do (sins of commission) as well as the things that we don't do (sins of omission). I know that I spend a lot of my prayer times confessing the things that I know that I shouldn't do but less time praying for the strength to do the things I should do. I know that God wants my faith to be bigger than just be a good person. He wants to use me to administer grace to people who are in need and distress. There have already been moments this week where I can clearly see God putting people in my life that need His grace and I can feel Him prompting me to be that person who administers it to them.

Prayer: (I am fasting from the car radio til Easter) Lord, help me focus as I pray. Help me see those moments in the car to not just "pray" my requests to You but also to hear Your voice and sense Your leading during this season of Lent.