The Sunday School Lesson

JAS. 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Je'sus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool!

4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith. and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

HEART OF THE LESSON

In this world, it is generally recognized that people with lots of money, power, and prestige get many perks and opportunities that common people, not to mention the poor, could never even dream of receiving. The reason for this is that people focus on external matters rather than on internal worth. A whole different perspective is employed in God's kingdom.

1. Unwarranted distinction (Jas. 2:1-4). It is not unusual for believers in Christ to cater to the rich and show disdain for the poor. This worldly perspective is part of human nature-we tend to focus on what we can see. As believers, however, we know that "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (I Sam. 16:7).

If we want to be godly in how we assess others, we must retrain ourselves to ignore external distinctions. People in the church are often quite aware of when they are passed over for some position or ministry because a wealthier or better looking person is available. And nothing hurts worse than being treated that way in the world and then finding out that even your brothers in Christ are unwilling to look any deeper. It is even worse when this unwarranted distinction is emphasized in front of the whole congregation, as is described in our text.

2. Unworthy individuals (Jas. 2:5-7). Besides the obvious rudeness that is involved in favoring the rich, James gave a spiritual reason for showing respect to the poor in the congregation. This is an example set by God Himself. He continually chose to honor the humble.

In I Corinthians 1:26-28 Paul hit on the same issue as James: "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised,

hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are."

God's way of doing things seems backward to the thinking of this world, but there actually are good, practical reasons for God not showing partiality to the rich. Generally speaking, it is those who are wealthy and powerful who have the most pride and show disdain for the things of God. Many times in those days it was the rich who treated Christians as irrational people who deserved to be exploited. They would take away their possessions.

3. Undeniable truths (Jas. 2:8-13). The royal law that James wrote of is foundational to the unity of the church. When believers consider the needs of brothers and sisters in Christ to be more important than their own, a sweet spirit of Christian love is the result.

Sadly, though, even the royal law can be used wrongly by showing favoritism. Humility is key in Christian service. If we show deference to the -rich and refuse to lower ourselves to help brothers who are poor, we show that pride is thoroughly mixed into our righteous desire to serve others. More than that, we transgress God's laws.

It is not possible to continually obey all of God's laws, but the law of love sums up all the law. Thus, if we break this comprehensive law, we have in a way broken all the laws. Therefore, if we want God to show mercy to us lowly lawbreakers, we should be merciful to the poor and lowly around us.

(Reprinted by permission of The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society and Union Gospel Press, P.O. Box 6059, Cleveland, Ohio, 44101)