James 4: Competitive by any means at all and find any reason to compete with each other. But a book that we both read was called Theo of Golden. It's a book that's kind of made the rounds, I think, at our church. A few people have read it, and it's an incredible story. If you're able to get your hands on it, it's also a great audiobook if you want to go that route too. But Theo, the main character, moves to the town of Golden, and he just slowly over time makes friends with different individuals in the town. Just kind of one by one by one, and it really kind of traces his conversations and the natural unfolding of the relationships. But there is a particular person in the town of Golden who is an outcast, like the most outcast of everyone, the most of the misfits. Her name is Ellen. And Ellen is homeless. Ellen has struggles with mental health, and she she's there like half the time. The other half the time, she's just not really there and doesn't always make sense. Sometimes she breaks through, but you know, it's Ellen. And everyone, you know, they're they're they're courteous to Ellen, but you know, they also maybe just go on the other side when she's around too. Ellen, the thing you need to know about her is she is homeless, but she has one cherished possession that she will not go anywhere with, and it's her bicycle. She even has a name for her bicycle. She calls it the noble invention. So she thinks very highly of this bicycle. This is her transportation. In the middle of the book, Theo is going to church, and he's sitting towards the front, and they're just getting started. And the pastor or the priest, I can't remember, it doesn't really matter, gets up and is beginning the service, and all of a sudden there's a disruption in the back where the doors are, and it sounds like glasses banging, and there's all this disruption, and people are turning and looking. And what's going on? And it's Ellen. She decided to come to church. She wants to sit with Theo. But she wants to bring her bike in. And the very nice ushers are like, well, usually people leave their bike outside. And she's like, no, this is the noble invention. The noble invention will be coming with me. And it's disruptive. And finally, it's resolved because one of the sweet older women who goes to the church and volunteers at the homeless shelter recognizes Alan, soothes her, comes up with a solution, and the service continues. But in the story, sadly, it's a very common scene of what we imagine church is around the world for many people, where if there's the slightest disruption, people get more upset because the church service gets disrupted and tend to forget that the person who may be causing a disruption was made in the image of God. It's easy to think: we're here for church, we're here for God. And you, made in the image of God, are kind of ruining this. What I love about our church, and I have said this time and time again, is I believe that if Ellen came to our church, there would be a line of people helping her bring the noble invention into our sanctuary. Amen. I don't think anyone in here would be like, do not sit next to me. Please do not sit next to me. I believe that what our church gets so, so right is we are so intentional about treating everyone that comes through those doors as though they are made in the image of God, worthy of respect and dignity, no matter who they are, what they're dressed like, where they've been, or what they've done. So it was really nice to get this passage because this does not need to be a rebuke for us. This is a Reminder that we know we treat people a certain way, but where does that come from in the scriptures? Isn't it nice that we don't have to go through life blindly? That we have a book to consult. God, how should I handle this situation? That we don't need to walk blindly through this world and say, okay, I was going wrong over here. Let me correct it, but I am going the right direction, so let me keep going when there's doubts. So the message this morning, no rebuke, a reminder of why it is so critically important that we hold everyone who comes through our doors with dignity and respect because they are made in the image of God. And it comes from the passage we just read. So let's dive into it and continue to apply it and see how we can even amp it up in our church. Does that sound good? All right. James, for those of you who are maybe joining us for the first time as our series, we're going through the book of James. James is Proverbs of the New Testament. Proverbs are sayings of wisdom. So James was an early church leader and teacher. So what they did was they created his greatest hits, his best teachings into a book to say, hey, you don't need to be a first century Jew living in Jerusalem to have these teachings. These teachings are for anyone, anywhere, at any time. So whether you were a drug addict, you've always been sober, whether you're rich or poor, black or white, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, it does not matter. If you take these truths and apply them to your life, your life will get better. Seem like a noble book for us to journey through in a world that feels filled with chaos. How do we know where truth lies? This is partly why we're going through the book of James. James, we are now in chapter two, and he is describing why everyone is treated in the image of God. This begins a new passage, a new chapter. This is what his focus is. The focus is saying it doesn't matter who comes in to join you in worship. They are worthy of dignity and respect. The church was the first organization of its kind to ever hold this as a value. This was not a value in any pagan religion, any pagan culture. Never was it ever seen that the rich and the poor were on equal footing. Never did that exist in world history until Jesus showed up. Now we take it as normal. We take that for granted because we have 2,100 years of applying it and it has reshaped our culture and our society. But at the time this was radical. And it's still radical in practice today, because the world does not understand that when a billionaire sits in the same church pew as a homeless person, the church says you're equal. The church says it doesn't matter if you have a billion dollars next to your name. Or you are a crack addict who just got off the street, in the eyes of God, you are of equal worth and value. Not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of God. And if you ask me at the end of the day, whose eyes really matter? When all is said and done, it's not the world that will judge us, it is not the world that will determine where we spend eternity. It is God. And so we live. Differently. We live by saying the billionaire, yes, come in. The homeless, yes, come in and sit next to each other because you are equal. This is where we are going. James puts it bluntly: you cannot be a Christian and look down on the poor. You cannot say, I follow Jesus, but I despise or I'm prejudiced against the poor. Why can you not do that? Well, for starters, the savior of the world, the one who, I don't know, started Christianity, was poor. He was homeless. By American standards, we would have probably crossed the street when we saw Jesus walking by. We'd be like, ooh, he's got nowhere to go. He had no possessions. And yet we say, I'm a Jesus follower, but the poor. No, no. It's the eyes of our Lord that determines value, not the external metrics. This is why a person's worth and value is not determined by what they possess, but by who treasures them. And the one who treasures them is God Almighty. This is why when we see the church acting in a different way, we tend to be like, that's wrong. And the world notices because they say that's wrong. They've watched the church for 2,000 years. There is a story that came to mind while I was preparing this. I'm not trying to pick on him, but hey, it was their decision when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston a number of years ago. Joel Osteen's church, which meets in an old NBA arena, so it's not a small building, it's a large building, did not open their doors for the refugees and the displaced. Until social media and the national news started putting them front and center and saying, why aren't you opening their doors? And they said, we're worried about flooding. But they didn't have flooding in that part of the city and there were photos to show it. And then there was a rumor going around that the reason that Joel didn't want to open the doors was because they just had the carpet redone. Doesn't that just strike you as wrong? Carpet is valuable and expensive. Yes. Anyone laying carpet? I know my in-laws are. It's expensive. What is infinitely more expensive are human beings who need refuge. This is what the church is meant to be. And when a church acts differently, not only other Christians notice, but the world notices, they say, hey, you're not supposed to be like that. You're not supposed to be like that. We're supposed to say, hey, everyone's made in the image of God, and all of the resources of the church are towards that end of promoting the dignity of human beings. So in verse five, this is what James says. He says, Listen, my dear brothers and sisters, 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 to those whom he loved? This is not just a James idea, this is a Paul idea as well. Check this out from First Corinthians chapter one. This is part of Paul's intro. He says, Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. Here's the thing about our God. Our God does not need riches, talent, or worldly influence to get his plans accomplished. In fact, he tends to like the opposite because he gets all the credit and he gets all the glory. He tends to pick those that no one else would pick to show what he can do with anyone. Isn't that amazing? What our God is like. You were not called by God because you were big or important or rich or influential. God called us, watch this, you know this, because He loves us. Not because He had to. You don't have anything. I'm not trying to be like a bummer, but it's true. You don't have anything God needs. What do you possibly have that God's like, If I could just get that, then I could actually get my vision across. Everything is at his disposal. Everything is his. He freely gives away his gifts and says, I would love to partner with you, and it would be for your good and the world's benefit, but I don't need it. I want it. Friends, let me ask you: what does Elon Musk and his trillion dollars have? That by comparison isn't a penny to the treasure of God. God does not need anything, but what he wants is a willing heart. He can use a willing heart more than he can use a trillion dollars. A willing heart, willing to be moved and aligned with the things of God is what he's seeking. Anyone can bring that offering to the Lord. That means the least influential in the world's eyes, the least wealthy, the most broken, the most forgotten, the most misfit. Everyone can bring that before the altar of God and just step back and watch what He can do with it. So that's how God takes care of the poor. A question that I have always kind of wondered in the back of my mind is this: so, does that mean that God hates the rich? Have you ever kind of wondered that? Like, there's so much talk about the poor, so how do I handle my money? Does God hate the rich? Instinctively, we all know the answer, right? No, of course not. God loves everyone, but this is crucial. This is the wisdom of James coming through to us. Please lean in. This is James' wisdom. He's saying God does not love the rich or the poor more or less than the other, but God Will always come to the defense of those who cannot defend themselves. God will always step in and protect those who are the most vulnerable. We're gonna get to the passage where he says: care for widows and orphans is the show of true faith. Care for the least of these, not because God loves them more, but because no one else is looking out for them. Now again, here is the wisdom. This is the wisdom of the book. This is incredible. When it comes to those who are wealthy, God does not hate them. He loves them. But in his love, he warns those who are wealthy. And here's the warning: that you will experience a different temptation if you are wealthy than if you are poor. There are different temptations that money will bring. And the primary one that the Bible talks about. Is the temptation to think if I have enough money, I won't need God. If I have everything lined up and everything's in order, I don't need to depend on God as much for my next meal. I don't need to depend on God to move in miraculous ways because if I'm honest, I've got what I need. And the Bible's very clear make sure you have what you need. But never have so much that you think you don't need God. Are you with me? The other temptation that money brings is this: wealth can tempt you to think this is who I am. I am important and successful and influential and seen as a somebody. Because of my success, because of my wealth. We even introduce people that way, don't we? We admire people. Wow, they're a success. Look at what they've done. And yes, it's admirable, but the temptation that comes is to trust that's who I am. And if that's who I am, then it can be lost with a downturn of a stock market or a job. Or a divorce, or you name it. Money has a way, it's very subtle in the beginning, of trying to tie itself to our identity. It tries to tie itself to who I am as a person. I'm a little better because now I have the salary package. I'm a little further along because I now have this and this and this, because those are the external worldly influences. What the Bible says is. Be on alert because that can come and go. Instead, untie your value from your stuff, untie your value from your money, so that if you lose it, you don't lose your worth. If you lose it, you don't lose your identity. Like I said, it's subtle, it's so subtle until you experience it. I truly believe this is why at times people have such a difficult time. With generosity, because it's giving away not just money, it can feel like giving away treasure, it can feel like giving away part of your heart, it can feel like giving away part of who you are. And Jesus understands this. Jesus Christ was a genius, an absolute genius by any standard. He understood human beings better than anyone who ever lived. So, in order to combat that subtle lie, what does he say? The kingdom of God is a treasure. I am a treasure beyond human comprehension. He says, in order to tip the scales of one treasure, you need a greater treasure. The pearl of great price. A man sold everything in order to buy the field, in order to get the treasure in that field. This is what the kingdom of God is like: it is a treasure beyond measure. This is the claim that Jesus is making that if you have me in your heart, it is the greatest treasure. It is the only wealth that will enhance your identity and cannot be lost, stolen, or wrought away. So we leverage everything for the treasure of holding on to and keeping and giving away Jesus as the true treasure of our hearts. So God does not hate the wealthy by any means. But he's saying, beware, because wealth will try and undergird your heart. It'll try and rot out the foundation to think I don't need God if I have enough of fill-in-the-blank. James is addressing this issue and saying, when we go by these tactics that the wealth often employ, dragging people into court, using sneaky means, they are doing these things. Because they're trying to hold on to their money, because holding on to their money is holding on to their identity and their value as a person. So be aware of that. Be aware of that. Be aware of how we handle what we've been given to steward by God. If you are a wealthy Christian, just like if you were a poor Christian, your value is not in what you have, your identity is now firmly rooted in Jesus Christ. Who paid an infinite price for the redemption of your soul that no one could pay for, no matter how rich or poor. And when you remember what Jesus did to save you with all of your flaws, with all of your strength, with all of your wealth, with all of your poverty, with all of your brokenness, with all of your strengths, when you remember all of that, whatever it was, he bought all of you forever. When you truly let your mind Marinate on that truth. You will begin to understand what it means to be a godly man, a godly woman, to see others the way that God sees you. Because those who look down on maybe the poor or another group of people, they look down on others because they forget. That in the eyes of God they too were poor. We look down on others when we forget what God has done for us. That's when we look down. This is how this changes. Watch this. How this changes us psychologically, friends. I find this truth to be so freeing. I had to kind of sit back and really think on this for a moment, but like consider this, consider this thought, okay? Because your faith. Your identity and your value is not determined by you. It makes you steady. It means it can't be lost. If your identity and value comes from God, You can't do anything to lose it. You can't do anything to keep it. You can only receive it. What that does to us psychologically is this: it means you can ride economic waves easier because it doesn't determine your value or your identity or your worth. It's not tied to that any longer. It's tied to Jesus Christ. It means that you can navigate job changes with a clearer head. When you're interviewing for that job, you can hold your head up a little differently because you're like, yes, I want this job, but this job doesn't determine my worth or my value or who I am as a person. But I want to apply my skills in this way. But you've uncoppled it from your identity. Personally, and I'm sure for a lot of us, You can hold your head up higher at parties when you're introducing yourself and saying what you do for a living because get this, you don't have to be impressive any longer. Isn't that nice? If your identity is not in your job or your salary, you don't have to be impressive to anyone at that party. You don't have to. Who are you trying to impress? Who's more impressive at that party than God Almighty? Who's more impressive in your family than God Almighty? You can hold your head up with dignity and say, yeah, I clean floors for a living and I get paid minimum wage. I work at McDonald's, I get paid minimum wage, and so be it. That doesn't determine my value. That doesn't determine my worth. When you have something the CEOs and the billionaires do not, which is a steadfast foundation built on an identity that is received. Rather than achieved. Your identity is received, not achieved. Doesn't mean we don't work hard, doesn't mean we don't earn. We do all of that, but we aren't driven by anxiety that if we don't, it all falls apart and we are a failure on an existential level. Are you with me? Isn't that so nice to take that burden off your shoulders to not have to be impressive? Wouldn't that be so nice to never have to play the comparison game again? In person, social media, online. You don't have to play the comparison game again because it doesn't set your worth and it doesn't set your identity. It's what it does to our hearts. Here's what it does to our hearts. When your heart is unburdened from having to be impressive, you don't have to compare. Because when you compare, you will always find someone better than you. So how do you soothe your heart when there's someone better than you? You have to find someone, what? To balance it out who's worse than you. Is it only me? Am I the only one who seeks validation by saying, well, at least I'm not so-and-so? But when you know who you are, you can see others the way that God sees you, on equal playing field, not as competitors, but as people to say, I know who my value comes from, I know where my identity comes from, and whether I'm rich or poor, somewhere in between, successful, unsuccessful, forgotten or famous. It doesn't determine my value or how impressive I am. Therefore, I'm not comparing myself to you when I'm talking to you. I'm not making criteria up in my head to say, well, you know, go with God, but dodge the bullet by not being like them. Come on, am I the only one who's ever in their heart thought, at least I'm not them. At least I'm not like them. I might have made some mistakes, but I didn't do that. But in the eyes of God, what's the difference? But when you take yourself out of the equation, when you receive the gift of self forgetfulness, new term. Self forgetfulness, all of your attention is on them. Who's the most important person Jesus ever ministered to? Whoever was in front of him. He wasn't thinking about himself the whole time. He was giving himself away. How can I serve you? How can I love you? How can I help you? Those are the most free people because they don't need to hold on to anything. Friends, when we see people the way that God sees us, we are more patient with them because God was patient with us. We're more graceful with them because God was first graceful to us. We are less judgmental because the God of the universe didn't throw the book at us. We don't play favorites because God didn't play favorites with us. We give what we've received. Friends, I look down on people, me, Sam Holmes, your pastor. Looks down on people when I forget to look up at the cross. That's when I look down on people the most. I'm so busy looking down and judging those who aren't doing as well because I forgot to look up at the cross. You can only do one at a time. You can either look down at people and judge them, or you can look up at Jesus and say, thank you. Those are your two options with your heart. Now, I say don't play favorites, and that's obvious. Like we know that, right? Don't be racist. We know that. Don't look down on other people, rich or poor. We know that. Don't look down on this group or that group. We know that in the abstract, right? Like we know that. But that's it's not that easy. Well, yes, that's a good place to start, but here's my question: how do we look down on people we actually know? I think we have that. Up on there, Amy. How do we not look down on people we actually know? Because what James was saying was not just the abstract, I think we have it right here in verse 8. He says, if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself. Your neighbor isn't in Siberia. Your neighbor is often your coworker. Your neighbor is often your annoying friend, which is always an oxymoron to me, but we all have them. Your neighbor can be your actual neighbor. Your neighbor is in your family. How do we not look down on our neighbor? So this is what he says: 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 a lawbreaker. For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, You shall not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Friends, if you watch a documentary on prison and they say, How'd you get here? It's not because they broke every law in society. It's because they broke one to get there. What are you in for? Is the question they ask. God says the same is true of us. Who do we look down on and we judge because we forget to look at the cross? So do not show favoritism to those we actually know. That's a lot harder than in the abstract, isn't it? How do we see people the way God sees them, even though we know them? Maybe they've harmed us. Maybe they've done some wrong to us. Because for me, I don't know about you, my problem isn't hating a group of people I've never met. My problem is getting angry with people I know. Anyone else? It seems like all the annoying people in the world are around me. It's not my fault. They just fine me, it seems like. Anyone else? So, how do we not play favorites when we actually know real people? When we actually know what they've done, or maybe what they've actually done even to us. Here's the formula: it begins with confess and repent or reconcile and look to the cross. Confess when you realize in your heart that you're like, I think I'm looking down on this person. I think I'm making up some criteria in my head to really judge them in order to make myself feel better, which takes some self-awareness, but you get better at it with practice. You need to confess that. God, I'm sorry. I've judged that person. I've put myself in your place. I've acted like judge, jury, and executioner, and you didn't do that for me, and I don't want to do that for them. Confess it to God. Here's another one. To another person. There's power in saying it out loud. There's power in saying it out loud. I don't want to be angry with that person. I don't I want to I want to acknowledge there's a problem. And then reconcile. What does that look like? It means showing mercy to that person even though they didn't ask for it or deserve it. Why? Because God showed you mercy when you didn't ask for it or deserve it. That's what reconciliation looks like. Looking for opportunities to make it right. And finally, look to the cross. Go out of your way to show mercy by looking at the cross. This is the last sentence of the scripture. It says, mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. You can only be merciful because God first showed you mercy. A Christian forgives the inexcusable in others. Because God first forgave the inexcusable in you. It's when you realize you were first a lawbreaker and God gave you mercy that you give mercy to those who harmed you. This is the way of a Christian. It is impossible without God being in the center of our hearts. Friends, if we fix our eyes on the cross that's high and lifted up. We remember what Jesus did for us. We remember the infinite mercy that He did not come down to harm us and condemn us, but He came to save us. This is how you do not show favoritism to those who've harmed you. This is how you forgive those who are not your favorite people. And we all have people who are not our favorite people. But how do you become the kind of person? That if there's a disruption in your life, someone has their hurts, hangups, and habits, and they're disrupting your life. Maybe it's the kind of person who has a bicycle and they're disrupting a church service. Maybe they're the kind of person who has an addiction, they're disrupting your family situation. Maybe they're the kind of person who just has an anger problem. They have something. How do you go from being the kind of person that is like, ugh, so turned off? But being the kind of person who gets up out of their seat to help bring the bicycle into the sanctuary so that they too can sit at the foot of the cross and you can sit beside them and point to Jesus together as equals. How you do that is when you look at the cross and remember how Jesus first forgave you. So I want to invite the band to come forward as we prepare for communion in just a moment. But I would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to reflect and pray on this question. Who in my life am I tempted to look down on? Who in my life am I tempted to look down on? We're gonna pray. Just take a moment. We're gonna leave that up. They're gonna play some music before we go into communion. Who am I tempted to look down on? Part two of that is this. Amy, can you put up part two? God, help me to remember the mercy you've given me so that I may love them. Let's pray. Father Our brothers and sisters on this world can be difficult to love. I am difficult to love. And the only way that we can get through it is to be merciful when it's undeserved. Because you were merciful when I did not deserve it. Soften our hearts when we look at the cross and say, in view of God's mercy, I offer them mercy. In view of the forgiveness that God gave me, I give them forgiveness. In view of mercy triumph over judgment for me, I will not play favorites and I will not be the judge. But God, work in our hearts to be the people who see people the way you see us. It's your name we pray. Amen. Friends, I invite you to pray and reflect before we enter into a time of communion in just a moment.