10/1/06 - Pentecost 17 - James 2:1-5,8-10,14-18

FAITH SHOWS
- Equal treament
- Special treament

Strong emotions show. Isn’t that true? If you are filled with a strong emotion it’s really hard to hide that. For instance: If you are having a really bad day and everything is going wrong for you and you walk into a room, a person who knows you well might look at you and say, “What wrong?” You didn’t say anything, you didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but that strong emotion of frustration or worry is still very visible. And the same could be said for excitement. You can tell when somebody is filled with a strong emotion of excitement or happiness because they are smiling and talkative and they’re just glowing. And if that person would say to you, “I’m excited to get married next week,” or “I’m excited to see my grandkids tomorrow,” or “I’m excited to hunt for the first time this year,” you might say, “Yeah, it shows.”
Strong emotions show. They show in your actions, the show on your face, they show in the way you go about life. At times they fill you up to such an extent that it is almost impossible to hold them back. Right now, there is something that fills you up to such an extent that you shouldn’t be able to hold it back. It ought to show in your actions, it ought to show on your face, it ought to show in the way you go about life. It’s not any sort of emotion, though - it’s faith.
You are filled with faith, faith that believes Jesus is your Savior. That’s why James addresses us in our text as “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” We are filled faith in him. And the only way we are filled with faith in Christ is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. “I will put my Spirit in you,” God promises. And that’s exactly what he did at your baptism. When you were baptized with the water and the Word, the Holy Spirit entered your heart and brought you to faith. So that now, “you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” If the Holy Spirit lives in you, if the Holy Spirit fills you up - so does faith. Because faith is the gift the Holy Spirit brings with him. You as a Christian are undoubtedly filled with faith. But does your faith show? If somebody found out that you had faith in Jesus as your Savior, would that person say, “Yeah, it shows.” Or would they be surprised? Does your faith show in your actions, on your face, in the way you go about life?
Because, my brothers and sisters, faith is not stagnant. Faith is not a couch potato. Faith is active. Faith is energetic. Faith shows. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?” These words of James are directed at us. These words are a call to action. Now, James isn’t saying that our deeds, our good works, have something to do with salvation, James is saying, and I quote, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” If your faith is invisible to the people around you, that’s really no faith at all. Because true faith shows.
Faith in Christ shows itself in the treatment of others. And James points out two ways in which this faith shows: 1) equal treatment of others and 2) special treatment of others. First of all, James talks about equal treatment. “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 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? 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?”
Faith does not show favoritism. That is the principle laid out for us here. Faith does not show favoritism. But it may be hard at first to apply this particular passage from James to ourselves, because we don’t have people walking in here during the service who are decked out in extravagant clothes and priceless jewelry, and we don’t have people walking in here dressed in rags and living on the street. But we do still struggle with the sin of favoritism on many different levels.
During my first year at the Seminary, I started to work at a Lutheran Elementary School as a janitor. The first day the head janitor took me around to all the classrooms and introduced me to each teacher. When I was introduced to one of the teachers, at first, she didn’t give me the time of day. The head janitor who introduced me said, “This is the new janitor who’ll be helping me out.” And this teacher, a great lady, a kind faithful Christian woman, just glanced up quickly, “Oh, hi” and went back to her work. The head janitor then said, “He’s a student at the Seminary.” All of the sudden this teacher’s head snapped up, “Ohhhh! That’s great!” She actually looked at me for the first time, came over and shook my hand, asked me how things were going, and was one of the friendliest people I met that day. In fact, we became fairly good friends and I talked to her almost every day I worked there.
Now, I respect the fact that people have a high regard for those studying to be pastors. That is an incredible blessing that I know you have shown to me, and that I would never speak against. But on that first day in the Lutheran Elementary School, there was favoritism. There was unequal treatment between a person with one title and a person with another. And it happens here, too.
I wish all of you were treated like I am treated. You are nice to me. You go out of your way to talk to me. You respect what I have to say. You tell me about your day and you ask me about mine. You treat me well partly because of the title I hold. And I appreciate that. I thank you for that. But I don’t always see you treating each other in the same way. I don’t always see equal treatment. I don’t always see your faith show. And I have to admit: I don’t always see my faith show. We don’t treat each other equally. Our friends we treat better. The people we can benefit from we treat better. That could include treating your boss better than your co-workers. That could include treating your pastor better than other members. That could include treating those who could pay you back with nicer things better than those who aren’t as fortunate. We do show favoritism. But that does not show our faith.
Do you remember what Jesus did? When he was on this earth he ate meals with those who were considered vulgar sinners and he accepted the invitations of self-righteous Pharisees. Jesus healed the daughter of a well-known Jewish official and he healed the son of an unknown Gentile woman. Jesus warned his disciple Peter not to fall away and he gave Judas, the one who betrayed him, countless opportunities to repent. Jesus allowed himself to be posted on a piece of wood for the sake of apostle Paul, Abraham, Eve, and you. Jesus does not show favoritism. Even to the people who sin against him the most. He loves everyone in this room equally. It doesn’t matter what your title is, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it doesn’t matter how strong your faith may seem to be. The Lord loves you like he loves the person sitting next to you. And he treats all of us like his own dear children.
So you see, the Lord doesn’t just give us equal treatment, he gives all of us special treatment. We should all be treated like sinners, like unworthy creatures, like servants at best! But Scripture says, God “adopted us as his sons and daughters through Christ Jesus.” That is special treatment. Undeserved and beyond paying back. We are adopted children of the Lord himself. The apostle John said it best when he wrote: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
Remember that. Remember that God gives us that kind of special treatment. Because we are to give that kind of special treatment to others. That is a way our faith shows. James says, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” Love your neighbor as yourself. Familiar words. But is that what your faith shows? Have you ever considered what that really means?
You love yourself. Why do I say that? Because you care for yourself. You look out for your needs. You avoid things that may harm you. When you’re hungry what do you do? You eat. When you’re cold you put clothes on. When you’re tired you sleep. Why? Because you care for yourself. You are concerned enough for your personal well-being that you will do whatever it takes. Now, love your neighbor as yourself. Pick anyone out in this room. Love that person, care for that person, show concern for that person’s needs and wants and opinions as you would yourself.
Do you see what that simple command entails? If we take that to the extreme we would be completely giving ourselves over to help other people. But that’s exactly what Jesus did. He took it to the extreme. He became the servant, he became the substitute so that our lives could be better. That is loving your neighbor as yourself. That is what we are to do. That is how your faith shows.
Do you remember what we read from the book of James in our epistle lesson from last Sunday? “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves; do what it says.” When a section of Scripture is a call to action like our text is today - don’t just sit there and think, “Yeah, that’s good and scriptural and that’s what I should do…” but then when you leave church you completely forget about it and don’t do what it says. The Lord didn’t have these words written down in the Bible so that they could be ignored. Take them to heart. I have to take them to heart and implement them in my own life. That may mean a lifestyle change! That may mean I have to make a conscious effort to do what God wants me to do! That may mean hard work! So, my brothers and sisters, work hard at this. Let your faith show to others in equal treatment and special treatment. Because the Lord has done the same for you.
A professor and his wife were over in Russia helping out the WELS missionaries there. His wife was teaching an older Russian lady English for a few months while they were there. When it was time for the professor and his wife to go back to the United States, the older Russian lady gave her a going away gift. The missionary’s wife replied, “Thank you so much. But the only thing I have to share with you is my faith.” The Russian lady looked at her, smiled, and said, “Yeah, I can tell. It shows.” May the Lord grant each one of us a faith that we can’t help but show to the world.
Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13