My dear brothers and sisters, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, never think some people are more important than others. Suppose someone comes into your church meeting wearing nice clothes and a gold ring. At the same time a poor person comes in wearing old, dirty clothes. You show special attention to the one wearing nice clothes and say, “Please, sit here in this good seat.” But you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or, “Sit on the floor by my feet.” What are you doing? You are making some people more important than others, and with evil thoughts you are deciding that one person is better. Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! God chose the poor in the world to be rich with faith and to receive the kingdom God promised to those who love him. But you show no respect to the poor. The rich are always trying to control your lives. They are the ones who take you to court. And they are the ones who speak against Jesus, who owns you. This royal law is found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” If you obey this law, you are doing right. But if you treat one person as being more important than another, you are sinning. You are guilty of breaking God’s law. A person who follows all of God’s law but fails to obey even one command is guilty of breaking all the commands in that law. The same God who said, “You must not be guilty of adultery,” also said, “You must not murder anyone.” So if you do not take part in adultery but you murder someone, you are guilty of breaking all of God’s law. In everything you say and do, remember that you will be judged by the law that makes people free. So you must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment.
The theme is a simple one - love all people.
Some translations of this section of scripture say, "Don't show favoritism." The trouble with favoritism is that some people suffer while others benefit.
Favoritism is often based on appearance (i.e. prejudice and stereotypes rule). It sets up a system of inequality.
In the beginning the Church became the only place where there was no favoritism. James wrote 45 years later - favoritism, all too normal, was creeping back in. Honoring equality is something we have to work hard to do.
God doesn't show favoritism. He loves us all equally. When we disrespect that love by showing favoritism, we disrespect God and devalue God's Love.
Live by the highest of standards - live by the standard of Love. The whole core of God's message is Love. All you need is Love.
A key part of love is respect. A key part of respect is listening. It's caring.
James says break any aspect of God's Law, we break it all. That means that when we come to being sinners we are all on level ground. We are all sinners and have no ground for thinking we or anyone else is better than anyone else. We run into trouble because we all have a sin severity scale. God doesn't work that way.
We are all broken and we are all loved.
We need to focus on what we're giving, not on what we're getting. When we focus on the second, favoritism creeps in.
Give mercy, receive mercy. Replace judgment and favoritism with mercy and grace. Be a mercy first responder.
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