Wednesday Preverb – 04September2024 – James 2:1-17

 

 

 

 

 

 

A. Partiality and discrimination in the family of God.

1. (1) The principle established.

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

a. Do not hold the faith: The glorious faith we have, the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, should never be associated with partiality (discrimination). The Lord of glory Himself shows no partiality (Deuteronomy 10:17 and Acts 10:34) so neither should those who put their trust in Him.

i. James used strong words to refer to Jesus Christ: The Lord of glory. Moffatt comments: “The Christian religion [is here called] more explicitly belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the divine Glory – a striking term for Christ as the full manifestation of the divine presence and majesty. The Jews called this the shekinah.”

ii. This is especially significant because James is widely (and properly) regarded as one of the first letters of the New Testament written (perhaps somewhere between AD 44 and 48). This means that the earliest Christians considered Jesus to be God, and said so in strong, unmistakable words.

b. With partiality: We do well to remember that James wrote to a very partial age, filled with prejudice and hatred based on class, ethnicity, nationality, and religious background. In the ancient world people were routinely and permanently categorized because they were Jew or Gentile, slave or free, rich or poor, Greek or barbarian, or whatever.

i. A significant aspect of the work of Jesus was to break down these walls that divided humanity, and to bring forth one new race of mankind in Him (Ephesians 2:14-15).

ii. The unity and openness of the early church was shocking to the ancient world. But this unity didn’t come automatically. As this command from James shows, the apostles had to teach the early church to never hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ… with partiality.

2. (2-4) An example of the kind of partiality that has no place among Christians.

For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

a. If there should come into your assembly: In the ancient Greek, the word assembly is literally synagogue, the name of the meeting place for Jews. The fact that James calls a Christian meeting place a synagogue shows that he wrote before Gentiles were widely received into the church. At the time James wrote, most all Christians came from a Jewish heritage. This is the only place in the New Testament where an assembly of Christians is clearly called a synagogue.

i. “Till the final rift between Judaism and Christianity both Christian and non-Christian Jews used, at least often, the same word for their sacred meeting-place.” (Adamson)

ii. “As Christians have no church-buildings at this period, their place of meeting was usually some large room in the house of a wealthy member or a hall hired for the purpose (Acts 19:9), where outsiders were free to attend the ordinary services… They were to be welcomed, but welcomed without any servility or snobbery.” (Moffatt)

b. A man with gold rings: This showed the man was rich. “In Roman society the wealthy wore rings on their left hand in great profusion. A sign of wealth, rings were worn with great ostentation. There were even shops in Rome where rings could be rented for special occasions.” (Hiebert)

i. There should also come in a poor man: “The word signifies one very poor, even to beggarliness.” (Poole)

c. Have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? To favor the rich man over the poor man in the way James described shows a deep carnality among Christians. Their evil thoughts are evident by their partial actions.

i. To show partiality shows that we care more for the outward appearance than we do upon the heart. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). God looks at the heart, and so should we.

ii. To show partiality shows that we misunderstand who is important and blessed in the sight of God. When we assume that the rich man is more important to God or more blessed by God, we put too much value in material riches.

iii. To show partiality shows a selfish streak in us. Usually we favor the rich man over the poor man because we believe we can get more from the rich man. He can do favors for us that the poor man can’t.

3. (5-7) Man’s partiality rarely agrees with God’s heart.

Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

a. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom: Though it is easy for man to be partial to the rich, God isn’t partial to them. In fact, since riches are an obstacle to the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24), there is a sense in which God specially blesses the poor of this world.

i. They are chosen… to be rich in faith because the poor of this world simply have more opportunities to trust God. Therefore they may be far more rich in faith than the rich man. “The rich man may trust Him; but the poor man must… the poor man has no fortress in which to hide, except the two strong arms of God.” (Meyer)

ii. “This seems to refer to Matthew 11:5: And the poor have the Gospel preached to them. These believed on the Lord Jesus, and found his salvation; while the rich despised, neglected, and persecuted him.” (Clarke)

b. Has not God chosen: The poor are chosen in the sense that the poor more readily respond to God in faith, having fewer obstacles to the kingdom.

i. “Church history demonstrates that comparatively more poor people than rich have responded to the gospel.” (Hiebert)

ii. When we choose people by what we can see on the surface, we miss the mind of God. Remember that Judas appeared to be much better leadership material than Peter.

iii. What is more, we can say that God has chosen the poor in the sense that when He added humanity to His deity and came to earth, He came into poverty. “There is nothing that men dread more than poverty. They will break every commandment in the Decalogue rather than be poor. But it is God’s chosen lot. He had one opportunity only of living our life, and He chose to be born of parents too poor to present more than two doves at his presentation in the temple.” (Meyer)

iv. Of course, God has not only chosen the poor. Yet we may say that He has chosen the poor first, in the sense Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 1:26: For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. “Not that God hath chosen all the poor in the world, but his choice is chiefly of them.” (Poole)

v. Calvin wrote regarding God’s choice of the poor: “Not indeed alone, but he wished to begin with them, that he might beat down the pride of the rich.”

vi. We should remind ourselves that God also never calls for partiality against the rich. If one must judge in a dispute between a rich man and a poor man, they should let the law and the facts of the case decide the judgment instead of the economic class of those in the dispute.

c. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? James reminded his readers that the rich often sin against them (oppress you… drag you). This is often because the love of money is the root of every kind of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). For this reason alone, the rich are not worthy of the partiality often shown to them.

i. History shows that the rich can indeed oppress the poor. “Trample upon you with the feet of pride and cruelty; yea, devour you, as the greater fish do the lesser… This is a sin against race, grace, and place.” (Trapp)

ii. Do they not blaspheme: “If the rich here spoken of were Christians, then they may be said to blaspheme Christ’s name, when by their wicked carriage they caused it to be blasphemed by others… but if rich unbelievers be here meant, the rich men of those times being generally great enemies to Christianity.” (Poole)

4. (8-9) Partiality is condemned by the Scriptures.

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

a. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: James anticipated that some of his readers might defend their partiality to the rich as simply loving the rich man as their neighbor in obedience to the law.

b. If you show partiality, you commit sin: The problem isn’t that one is nice to the rich. The problem is that one does show partiality to the rich, and is not nice to the poor man! So you can’t excuse your partiality by saying, “I’m just fulfilling the command to love my neighbor as myself.”

c. The royal law: Our God is a great King, and His law is a royal law. Our King Jesus put special emphasis on this command (Matthew 22:36-40) from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18). James is reminding us that the poor man is just as much our neighbor as the rich man is.

i. “This commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, is a royal law, not only because it is ordained of God, and proceeds from his kingly authority over men, but because it is so useful, suitable, and necessary to the present state of man… we give the epithet royal to whatever is excellent, noble, grand, or useful.” (Clarke)

5. (10-13) The serious matter of obeying all of God’s commands.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

a. Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all: James here guards us against a selective obedience, the sort that will pick and choose which commands of God should be obeyed and which can be safely disregarded.

i. We can’t say, “I like God’s command against murder, so I’ll keep that one. But I don’t like His command against adultery, so I will disregard it.” God cares about the whole law.

ii. The whole law must be kept if one will be justified by the law. “In the tract Shabbath, fol. 70, where they dispute concerning the thirty-nine works commanded by Moses, Rabbi Yochanan says: But if a man do the whole, with the omission of one, he is guilty of the whole, with the one.” (Clarke) Adamson quotes one ancient Rabbi who taught: “If a man perform all the commandments, save one, he is guilty of all and each; to break one precept is to defy God who commanded the whole.”

iii. “He breaks the whole law, though not the whole of the law: as he that wounds a man’s arm wounds the whole man, though not the whole of the man.” (Poole)

b. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty: We are under the law of liberty. It has liberty, yet it is still a law that must be obeyed and that we will be judged by at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).

i. “It is also called a law of liberty, because it is freely and willingly kept of the regenerate, to whom it is no burden or bondage.” (Trapp)

c. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy: As those who will be judged by the law of liberty, we should always show mercy to others by refraining from partiality. The mercy we show will be extended to us again on the day of judgment, and that mercy triumphs over judgment.

i. James is relating another principle of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount: For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Matthew 7:2).

ii. “The law of liberty is the law which defines our relationship to God and man as love-mastered. To speak and do under that impulse, is to be free indeed. If that law be disobeyed, if no mercy be shown, then judgment based upon that law will show no mercy.” (Morgan)

iii. “The law of freedom is not laxity but a strict ethical rule of God, and we shall be judged by our adherence to its supreme principle of brotherly love or mercy, i.e. compassion for the sins and sufferings of our fellows.” (Moffatt)

iv. Mercy triumphs over judgment: Moffatt translates this, “The merciful life will triumph in the face of judgment.” “That is, the merciful man glorieth, as one that hath received mercy, and shall not come into condemnation; for God’s mercy rejoiceth against such a man’s sins, as against an adversary which he hath subdued and trampled on.” (Trapp)

B. The demonstration of a living faith in loving action.

1. (14) The principle established: true faith will be accompanied by action.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

a. What does it profit, my brethren: James thought it impossible that someone could genuinely have saving faith with no works. But someone could say he has faith, but fail to show good works. So, the question is valid: Can that kind of faith save him?

i. “The apostle had just before declared, that they who are unmerciful to men shall find God severe to themselves, and have judgment without mercy: but hypocritical professors boasted of their faith as sufficient to secure them against that judgment, though they neglected the practice of holiness and righteousness.” (Poole)

b. Someone says he has faith but does not have works: James wrote to Christians from a Jewish background that discovered the glory of salvation by faith. They knew the exhilaration of freedom from works-righteousness. But they then went to the other extreme of thinking that works didn’t matter at all.

c. Can faith save him? James did not contradict the Apostle Paul, who insisted that we are saved not of works (Ephesians 2:9). James merely clarifies for us the kind of faith that saves. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works; but saving faith will have works that accompany it. As a saying goes: faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone; it has good works with it.

i. Paul also understood the necessity of works in proving the character of our faith. He wrote: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). He also wrote: This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. (Titus 3:8)

ii. Can faith save him? “That is, his profession of faith; for it is not said that he has faith, but that he says, I have faith.” (Clarke)

2. (15-17) An example of dead faith.

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

a. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food: To fail in the most simple good work towards a brother or sister in need demonstrates that one does not have a living faith, and we can only be saved by a living faith in Jesus.

i. “Under these two of nakedness and hunger, he comprehends all the calamities of human life, which may be relieved by the help of others; as food and raiment contain all the ordinary supports and comforts of life, Genesis 28:20; Matthew 6:25; 1 Timothy 6:8.” (Poole)

b. Be warmed and filled: To say this means you know that the person in front of you needs clothing and food. You know their need well, but offer nothing to help them except a few religious words.

i. “How many have we now-a-days that will be but as friends at a sneeze! The most you can get out of these benefactors is, ‘God bless you, Christ help you.’” (Trapp)

c. What does it profit? Real faith, and the works that accompany it, are not made up of only spiritual things, but also of a concern for the most basic needs – such as the need for comfort, covering, and food. When needs arise, we should sometimes pray less, and simply do more to help the person in need. We can sometimes pray as a substitute for action.

i. “Your pretending to have faith, while you have no works of charity or mercy, is utterly vain: for as faith, which is a principle in the mind, cannot be discerned but by the effects, that is, good works; he who has no good works has, presumptively, no faith.” (Clarke)

d. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead: This is the first time James speaks of a dead faith. Faith alone saves us, but it must be a living faith. We can tell if faith is alive by seeing if it is accompanied by works, and if it does not have works, it is dead.

i. A living faith is simply real faith. If we really believe something we will follow through and act upon it. If we really put our trust and faith on Jesus, we will care for the naked and destitute as He told us to do.

ii. “He doth not say, faith is dead without works, lest it should be thought that works were the cause of the life of faith; but faith without works is dead; implying, that works are the effects and signs of the life of faith.” (Poole)

iii. What are some marks of saving faith?

· It is faith that looks not to self, but to Jesus Christ.

· It is faith that agrees with God’s word, both inwardly and with words.

· It is faith that in itself is not a work that deserves reward from God; in this sense it is simply refusing to think God is a liar, and that in itself is not a good work, simply the absence of a sinful work.

· It is faith grounded in what Jesus did on the cross and by the empty tomb.

· It is faith that will naturally be expressed in repentance and good works.

· It is faith that may sometimes doubt; yet the doubts are not bigger than the faith nor are they more permanent than the faith. This faith can say, “Lord I believe; help my unbelief.”

· It is faith that wants others to come to the same faith.

· It is faith that says more than “Lord, Lord” as in Matthew 7:21-23.

· It is faith that not only hears the word of God but does it, as in Matthew 7:24-27.

 

 

 

 

 

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• Jesus Interrupted 
• Greg Williams 

 

From the TRANSCRIPT …

Have you ever been interrupted? We all have! Kids especially have a gift for knowing the worst time to burst in the door and throw off the whole trajectory. Every one of us has some story of the kid who yelled at church or loudly announced his bathroom needs during a quiet moment.

Mark 7 records one of the oddest interactions Jesus has—and it’s the story of an interruption. Jesus had just had a fiery confrontation with the Pharisees not long after John the Baptist was executed. He was also strategizing his mission and going through Israel and from there out to the world. At this point, he was laying low for a little while, as Mark says: “And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know” (Mark 7:24).

Even before he can enter a time of privacy, a worried mom interrupts Jesus. A Syro-Phoenecian woman begs him to heal her daughter—right at that moment when he’s trying to not draw attention to himself. He enters into a verbal sparring match with her that may leave us scratching our heads:

 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Mark 7:27-28 (ESV)

Huh?! On the surface it looks like Jesus is insulting this woman, even calling her “dog”—a common slur for Gentile people. It would be reasonable if he were upset by her interruption during this strategic moment.

But look closer. The word he uses is actually a term of affection like “puppy.” He’s hinting toward a change, a softening of the division between people. Look again and you can see, by her witty response that she’s engaging with Jesus, almost joking with him.

True, he is strategically laying low right now. True, he is called to Israel first to fulfill the narrative of the gospel. But he can’t help himself—this determined, headstrong woman captured his heart at that moment.

And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”
Mark 7:29 (ESV)

This is Jesus, interrupted. We will see later in the chapter—as Jesus fulfills a prophecy of Isaiah—that Jesus moves very carefully within his bigger story. His life and actions tie together the story of Israel and redemption.

But the greater theme of this particular story of interruption is generosity—God’s overflowing love that doesn’t always go “according to plan.” Determined and worried parents, overly active children, and faith-challenged disciples become part of the epic story.

The interruptions drive the plot.

How are we being interrupted today? Are the kids ruining our concentration? Is a difficult person calling us outside “office hours”? These moments are often uncomfortable and never predictable, but they are grace moments and Jesus is there in them. Perhaps they are part of the plot of your life with him.

This is Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

 

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Compassion Over Favoritism

James 2:1-17  NIV

 

One Sunday in November of 2013, a Mormon bishop by the name of David Musselman posed as a homeless person outside the church he attended.  He recalled that while a few people offered him money, most people had a negative reaction towards his presence.

Much of the congregation were indifferent towards David and simply ignored him, but five people were so offended by the sight of him that they took it upon themselves to ask him to leave.  Undeterred, David took his seat in the front row as the service started.

When it was time for the bishop to speak, David took to the stage, much to the shock and dismay of the congregation.  Then he revealed his true identity.  He said he wanted to see how a homeless person would be treated if one of them decided to show up.  It was an experiment that would prove to be quite revealing to that congregation.

Today, we are going to be looking at a passage of scripture found in James 2:1-17.  What James is going to be addressing may sound like the situation we just heard.  Although James may not have shown up dressed as a homeless person to one of their gatherings, he was aware of how the poor among them were being treated without respect.

James is going to have to call out the believers on their behavior and the favoritism that they were affording the well-to-do in their midst.  James has a lot to say to us about how to treat our brothers and sisters in the faith, as well as presenting us with the challenge to prove our faith by our actions.  We are going to start by looking at the first four verses of our passage.

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.  Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes 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?   (James 2:1-4 NIV)

James is not just referring to someone wearing a customary gold ring.  He is drawing a sharp contrast we would all be familiar with.  To modernize this for us, picture someone pulling up in their brand-new Lexus or Mercedes.  They are decked out as they exit their shiny impressive vehicle, wearing an Armani three-piece suit and sporting an expensive Rolex watch.  How is this person likely to be treated?  After asking if they are lost, we may be tempted to give this person the royal treatment.

Now, picture someone whose appearance is the total opposite of this person.  Maybe their shoes, if they are wearing any, are completely worn out with holes in them.  Their clothes haven’t been washed in months and from the smell of it, they have not bathed in a long time as well.  How will we treat this person?

James would argue for equal treatment in either case.  If the rich person is shown favoritism over the poor person, then we have a problem.  James is asking us to dig deep into our motives for how we treat others.  Part of having a healthy church is recognizing where we are not operating with healthy behaviors and attitudes.  This is where we honestly admit when we erroneously place a higher value on certain people over and above others.

The Christian community gets all excited when we find out that a certain celebrity or athlete is now professing their faith in Christ.  It’s as if an “important” person we admire has now legitimized our faith in the eyes of the world.  There is something about this that strokes our egos a bit.  But why is a high-profile athlete coming to Jesus any more important to us than when an unhoused person has made the same decision?

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 those who love him?  But you have dishonored the poor.  Is it not the rich who are exploiting you?  Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?  Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?   (James 2:5-7 NIV)

James now proceeds to point out the obvious flaws in their thinking.  These believers were stuck on the external trappings of this new member.  “He’s a big deal!”  “He’s a winner!”  At this point, James offers some rhetorical questions to challenge their thinking.  In essence, here’s what he is asking:

“Is it really the person who’s on top of the world that most often sees their need for Christ, or is it those who know that they have already hit rock bottom?  The kingdom of God is so near to them.  These people are ripe for the good news.  Can’t you see that?  Besides, which one of them is more used to getting their way and who wouldn’t think twice about ruining you financially in court?”

Note: Further study would reveal there were three clear flaws.

1) their attitude was diametrically opposite to God’s long-standing concern for the poor with no partiality (Deuteronomy 1:17, Leviticus 19:18, and Zechariah 7:9-10),

2) the rich were exploiting and persecuting the church,

and

3) the believers’ actions violated the “royal law” of love for neighbor.

James is continuing to share the long-standing tradition of the fair treatment of the poor.

• In Luke 14:13, Jesus said, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.”
• In Deuteronomy 15:11, it says “Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.”

James, then, is not presenting a novel idea to these believers.  He is insisting on participating with an idea that was birthed in our heavenly Father’s heart ages ago.

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.  For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “you shall not murder.”  If you do commit adultery but do not commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.  Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  (James 2:8-13 NIV)

James is writing to Jewish converts to Christ.  These are a group of people who are well acquainted with the Law of Moses.  As such, he wants to drive his point home to such a degree that the message goes to their very core.

In verse 8, he sites one of the two great commandments to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

The phrase “really keep” has extreme emphasis and is used only twice in the New Testament, (the other occurrence in Romans 2:27).  This phrase means to “bring to perfection” or to “bring to completion” and is much stronger than the Greek word used for “observe” or “keep” used later in verse 10.

Not “really keeping” the law was seen as breaking the law.  Being accused of being a lawbreaker is not something that James’ audience would have had an easy time hearing.  He allows no wiggle room either, as if they could claim that at least they were not adulterers or murderers.  Maybe not, but they are still lawbreakers.

If the Jewish believers were unwilling to act kindly towards others, how could they possibly think that they will be treated with mercy?  Instead, merciful kindness wins out over judgment every time.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? CCan such faith save them? CSuppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. CIf one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? CIn the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead. (James 2:14-17 NIV)

Here we come to perhaps the most famous quote from the book of James: “faith without works is dead.”   So, in context, what is James communicating to us?  He is telling us that it is more than not discriminating against others; we are also obligated to do something for them.  We are not merely to tolerate their presence among us; we are to make them feel welcomed, and we are to address their needs.

Sadly, we need to make something clear.  Some come to a body of faith to take advantage, and they are unwilling to help themselves.  This is a different topic.  Here, James is talking about brothers and sisters we worship with who come to a place of (genuine) need.  He is not telling us to meet every need of those who seek to take advantage.

So, this just took James’ message to a higher level.  A level that moves us to taking responsibility for our siblings who require our care and assistance.  This echoes what James wrote in James 1:27 that God considers caring for the most vulnerable among us as the purest form of religion.  A faith that is alive will concern itself with a focus that looks beyond oneself.  He is exhorting us to trust God with our whole being as we look outward to minister to others.

Faith reorders our own desires away from securing our well-being by our own efforts, from enhancing our image by associating with glittering celebrities, and summons us to make our friends among the shabby poor, and to trust the provision of God, who gives freely to all.²

We live in a time where celebrities are worshipped, where those who seem to have it all are seen as more valuable and worthy.  It looks like we have this in common with first century believers.  And yet, James speaks loudly to our present culture.  He reminds us to esteem our siblings whom the world may despise.  He would agree with Paul’s statement that “we regard no one from merely a human point of view.”

As we put our faith into action, we do so by tangibly loving our neighbors as ourselves.  This is what pleases our Father, who in his heart, sees all of us as his treasured possessions.   We welcome all to our assemblies with a seat of honor not based on class, but on the esteemed value God has placed on all his beloved children.