I want to talk to you today about our relationship to God and our relationship to people. Jesus said life is all about our relationship to God, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength," and it's all about our relationship to people, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31). There is sometimes a perceived tension that you sometimes have to choose between whether you love God or love people, even if really loving God means always loving people, because you're doing the right thing. It's not easy is it?

I've heard people say, "I don't care what people think about me, I don't care." Here's the truth, we all care about what people think. Some people care way too much. Others, I haven't met too many, but some people care way too little. The truth is, we all care about what people think. To deny it is to lie to yourself. But at some point, we have to decide who matters more, God or people. I've heard people say this, "Vince, I want to get baptized, but I don't think I'm going to do it because I'm worried about what my family would think." And I will tell them, "Okay, are you worried about what God thinks?" They say, "You know, I would do that, but I don't know what people would think. They'd think I'm a Christian freak." And I would say, "Well, what does God think?" And here's the thing, if you're living for God, no matter what happens they're going to think you're a freak. So you might as well confirm it.

I get that because it's 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6. Paul was explaining his ministry to the Thessalonians. The Thessalonians had been influenced by his ministry, and many of them became Christians. He wanted to come back, but he wasn't able to. He writes First Thessalonians because they were panicked, they thought the rapture had occurred and that the Lord had already taken the church out, and they were left behind because they weren't true believers. They were young, insecure, and unsure in their faith, and Paul explains why he couldn't be there. He then defended his ministry against others who said. People were saying, "Well, Paul's not a real apostle, he's fake. He's this and that." Paul was constantly attack, and if you're in ministry long enough, there will always be people that will attack you. I'm not saying they're not sometimes right about me, or anybody else. I'm just saying that it's constant and sometimes very unfair. The apostle Paul used that opportunity to say look, I love you. But I love God even more. Look at what he says in 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6, "For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.We are not trying to please men, but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed - God is our witness. We are not looking for praise from men, not from you, or anyone else."

 

He's saying, look, we weren't trying to trick you when we presented the gospel at some pseudo religious magic show. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, which is what accompanies an apostle. And, at the end of the day, God's going to test our hearts. He says, you know, we never used flattery, which is people pleasing. Nor did we put on a mask to cover up. We know there wasn't the COVID virus back then. To put on a mask to cover up greed was just an expression that means, "we're just nice to you to get your money." He goes on to say, we are not looking for praise from men. Not from you, or anyone else. Now that's interesting. He loved them. He cared for them. He wanted what's best for them, but he wasn't looking for praise from them. Seems so contrary to life. All I want to tell you is this, we love people. We want to please people. But we don't want to be people-pleasers. We want to be God-pleasers. Here's what I know, if you please God, he'll take care of everything else. Proverbs 16:7 says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." So please God, He will take care of your relationship with other people. Don't be a people-pleaser. Please people at the appropriate level, but only under the overarching principle of pleasing God first.

 

Father, help us to be God-pleasers first, and people-pleasers second. Let us never forget that order. Let us take our lumps when we have to, but also remember that we live for an audience of one. For whoever needs to hear this today, maybe something's going on in their life and they need this reminder, speak to them. Speak to all of us and help us live this way every day, in Jesus' name. Amen.

As some of you know, I allude to it humorously in my messages if you attend our church, that I'm an Italian kid who grew up in Gates. Gates is a town that has a lot of Italian people. A lot of us have moved around to the city, Spencerport, Greece, etc., but a lot of Italians are still in Gates. Anyway, one of the things that I did a lot when I was a kid, was whenever somebody would hear me say something and they didn't believe me, I would say, "I swear to God." If someone would say to me "Come on, you didn't do that. That didn't happen. That's not really true," I would say, "I swear to God." Does God want us to say that? Here's the answer: No, he doesn't.

There are a couple problems with that phrase. Number one, it's taking God's name in vain. And number two, God wants our character to be so strong, to be so known, that when we say something, it's true, and never false. And when something's wrong, we call it wrong. When something's right, we call it right. Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no." In James 5:12 Jesus' half brother, James, says something very, very similar. Look what it says. James says, "Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. Let your yes be yes, and your no, no. Or you will be condemned." Now, this has nothing to do with taking an oath in the court of law. That's is different. Even in Jewish law there were oaths and things you would take. So, it's not talking about the legal process, because that is a statement to validate in the legal process that your statements are true. This is not talking about that. So don't say, "I'm not going to take an oath because Vince said not to. " I didn't say that. What this is about is you as an individual making statements, and having to testify it to ramp up, as an Italian from Gates often did, and I wasn't the only one. So, he says this, "Do not swear - not by heaven, or by earth, or by anything else." So, don't say things like, "I swear to God, I swear by the temple," which often was something people did. Or, here's another classic one, "I swear by my mother's grave." Look, your mother has nothing to do with it, so leave her out of it. And look at the alternative. Just like Jesus said, James also says, "Let your yes be yes, and your no, no. Or you will be condemned."

 

God isn't a big fan of the phrases, "I swear to God, I swear by...., I swear on..., etc." Jesus said, don't be condemned. Don't look foolish. Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. What's he saying? Be a person of character. If you're not sure, you say, "I have to think about it." Now, if you have children, I want to give you a little warning. Here's what I always say. If you have children, let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. And let your maybes never be found. Don't tell your kids maybe, as maybe is a statement that says, "If I work mom or dad over, they'll say yes." Don't say that. Instead, say, "I need to think about it." That's it. Can you let your yes be yes, and your no be no?" Here's what I found. When you're a person of character, and people know you, and when you say yes you'll always do yes, and when you say no and you always do no, nobody cares. Nobody wants you to swear by anything. Be a person of character. Yes is yes. No is no. If you make a mistake, say, "I know I said yes. I apologize," and get it over with. We're all imperfect. Don't try to cover it up. Don't put the canary under the carpet. It smells after a while.

 

So let's pray. Father, help us to be people of integrity. If we say we're gonna do something, we do it. If we say we're not going to do something, we don't. If we say one thing, but have to change our position, help us to be humble and apologetic and explain why. Maybe circumstances changed. All this, so that we are known as people of character. Help all of us do this in Jesus' name. Amen.

This has been a challenging year for all of us. And life is challenging. One person said, "Life is hard, then you die." Whereas I think that's true, it's incomplete. Life is hard, then you die, but then if you're a Christian life is easy, because we're with God in heaven. But life is hard, no matter how you put it, no matter what your reason is. So as a result, because life is hard, sometimes it gets so hard that we suffer. And we all know that we suffer. You suffer, maybe health things, maybe relational things. Maybe you suffer emotionally, spiritually, relationally, verbally with people coming against you. Whatever it is, we all suffer. We've talked a lot about suffering and about remedies. Today, I just want to give you a one-word reminder. I don't know that it's a remedy in the sense that it will take away your suffering, but it is one of the most powerful words you need to remember when you suffer. And it's this: patience. When you suffer, you need to be patient.

I get that from James 5:7-8. I think James tells us to be patient because when we suffer, naturally speaking, the first thing we want is the suffering to be over. But sometimes God allows us to suffer more. This calls for us to be patient so God can accomplish his work. Look at what James says, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yeild its valuable crop, and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." Now that's quite interesting. First, he says, Be patient for Lord's coming is near, and then he ends with the same thing. Then, he has kind of an inclusio in the middle of that bracketing idea, which is repeated at the beginning and end. He says this farmer has to wait. You know a farmer can't put a seed in the ground and go, "C'mon seed, let's go! I got till 5pm." You know, it just doesn't work that way. He has to be patient, has to wait for the process, has to wait for the seed. Have you ever seen pictures of a seed in germination? Essentially, the shoot sprouts and the growth spins around, and it shoots up and it gets stronger and stronger. There's a process. There's a season, and God has a season for your suffering. Because God has a season for your sufferings and it's not just haphazard, remember patience.

 

The text also says "Be patient and stand firm." Can you be patient? What's patience? Patience is not doing nothing. That's a myth. Patience is waiting on God. That's an active behavior, not a passive one. Can you be patient? The key to being patient is to remember that the Lord's coming is near. What's he saying? Even if the Lord doesn't come back in our lifetime, and nobody knows when he will, He will come back. If he doesn't come back in our lifetime, we will come to be with him, and it will be all over. At the end of the day, patience will seem like a small cost for the character development that God is using our suffering for. Can you be patient? I hope you'll be patient in your times of suffering, but not by twiddling your thumbs. That's not biblical patience. Biblical patience is waiting on God's timing. Can you do that? If you do, suffering will make more sense, and you'll be able to get through it, even if patience is hard, because it is a virtue.

Let's pray. Father, all of us struggle with suffering. All of us struggle with the pain and anguish that come with it. We don't like it. We fight it, we want out of it, we want it to be over soon. And that's okay. Except, that's part of why you will allow it longer - to build in us a patient perseverance and endurance. Help us to be patient by remembering that your coming is near, and our return to you is near. Help us to remember that is life isn't everything. So, whoever is suffering right now, give them a spirit of patience to wait on you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

There is a comment I have heard all my ministry life from time to time. Because of the nature of the comment, sometimes I hear it here at church. Many more times I hear it when I see people out and around in a park, or at a sporting event, or a shopping mall, or the grocery store, or whatever. I'll see someone I know and say, "Hey, how you doing?" Of course, with me being a pastor, it just kind of gravitates toward a spiritual conversation for many, many people. People will instantly go to that with me. They'll say stuff like, "You know what? I just don't feel that close to the Lord these days. I just don't feel close to him. I feel like he's distant. I don't know. I don't know why, but I just don't feel close to the Lord." And so, I think I do know why. I know exactly why.

 

I can say that because of James 4:8. When people say, "Man, I feel like God and I are just so far apart," the thought that always goes in my mind is this, "Well, if you don't feel close to God, guess who moved." Here's the hint: it's not God. God is immovable. The person who moved is you. If you don't feel close to God, it's because you are not drawing near to God. I get that from James 4:8. Look at what it says. "Come near to God, and he will come near to you." That's a promise. If you come near to God, He will come near to you. What does that mean? If you're not near God, you haven't come near him. Therefore, a lot of times the reason why people don't feel close to God is because they're not drawing near to God. They're not getting involved in church, or in Bible reading, or in activities of godliness. They just expect God to follow them around in different paths. I say that because the rest of the verse says, "Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded." James doesn't have a problem being blunt and direct, and I kind of like that. I think sometimes we need to be blunt and direct. It seems kind of random that after saying draw near to God and He will draw near you, he says you should cleanse yourself from sin and stop being double minded. What's he saying? Sin is the biggest thing that keeps us from drawing near to God. We all want to be near God. God is never going to move. The problem is that sin causes us to drift from God instead of draw near to God.

 

When it comes to the Christian life, God, is immovable, but you're always doing one of two things. You're very rarely hold ground for very long. You're either drawing near to God or drifting far from God. If you're drifting far from God, the text says it's because of sin. Either the sin of comission, meaning you're doing something wrong, something you shouldn't be. Or you're committing the sin of omission, meaning you're not doing something you should be, like reading the Bible, going to church, serving, giving, or practicing the Christian disciplines. That's what's causing you to drift. If you want to draw near to God, you have to get rid of the sin that's keeping that from occurring. So what is it in your life that's keeping you from being even closer to God? What's keeping you from drawing even closer to God? Or what's kept you so far from him that you can't get closer to him? Here's what I want you to do. Do a little inventory on your own life. Are you struggling with some sin of omission or commission? Get rid of it. It's not worth it. It's a struggle for all of us. We all sin. I sin, you sin, we all sin. If we want to get closer to God, we've got to fight it. Through him, we can win over it. So, next time you say, "I don't feel so close to God," don't blame God. You and I are the ones that have moved.

 

Let's pray. Father, forgive us for not being close to you, because when we're not close to you it's always our fault because we've moved. Sometimes we've drifted because sin has interfered with us getting close to you. You're too holy to engage us when we're in love with our sin. Help us to love you more, feel closer to you, and ask for forgiveness when we sin. Help us to have short accounts with sin and long accounts with forgiveness and grace. Help us to walk closer with you every day, and we ask this in Jesus' name, the one who facilitates this all through putting our faith in him. Amen.

If I say to you, I think being a humble person will get you further in life than being a person who has to fight and get their own way, you would probably agree with me in a certain sense, but inside privately, you'd question what I have to say. You'd say, "I think if you're humble, you're just going to get run over, or in football language, you're going to get trucked. Why would you be humble?" I mean, we would say that we all know it's good. We know it's right, but we question it in the way we live. So when Jesus says the meek, or the humble, will inherit the earth, we tend to think, "No, that's not true." Even though we know it's true, spiritually, if you look at the way we live, we tend to say the meek or humble will not inherit the earth. They'll be ground into the earth, they'll get run over. I'm here to tell you it's not true. I'm telling you if you'll be a humble person, you'll get a reward.

What is the reward for humility? James tells us in James 4:6 and 10. He tells us the reward that God gives the humble person, and that's, by the way, where the reward comes from. It's not just the natural consequences of life, but a direct reward from God. Listen to this. James 4:6, "That's why the scripture says, 'God opposes the proud. But gives grace to the humble.'" So, humility and pride are the two polar extremes. God resists the proud. Why? The proud say, "I can do it." And God says, "Okay, if you can do it, I'll let you do it. " It doesn't work. But he gives grace to the humble. What does that mean? A humble person is a person who's always thinking less about himself, and more about God and other people. When it says that God gives grace to the humble, what does that mean? Well, grace has two ideas, two shades of meaning to it, or two dimensions, perhaps. The first is that that God will give you undeserved favor. When you act with humility, he'll give you undeserved favor. Think about it. Imagine you go to your boss, and you're asking for a raise, and you say, "Look, I demand a raise, like I need to have a raise, right now. I want a raise, and you need to give me a raise," and you're prideful about it. Or, instead, if you say, "Boss, would you consider giving me a raise? I'm not demanding it. I'm humbly asking," and then you make your case politely, but give him the room to decide, what do you think's going to give you the best chance to get the raise? The humble approach will, not only because it makes sense, but because God will give you the grace.

 

The second dimension of grace thing is it's divine power. It's not only divine favor, but grace has divine power. So, when we say humble, we tend to think of weak. We tend to think of meek as weak, and of proud as strong. That's not really true. Grace is God's power. Pride is your power. What do you want, your prideful power, or God's power through your humility? I'll take the latter every time. James goes on to say this in verse 10, "Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up." The humility starts with God. Again, pride is you trying to lift yourself up. Good luck with that. Humility is God lifting you up, and God will lift you up to higher places. So here's what I want to say to you. Try operating with a lot less pride, and a lot more humility in your life. How do you do that? Instead of demanding your rights, you say, "Would you consider?" and give people the freedom. Don't go in powerful. Go in with a sense of openness and humility, humble, meek, in your approach. Don't worry about getting run over. You might. But you won't get run over very often, becuase God will lift you up above the trucking that others might apply to your life. I hope this helps you and helps all of us strive to live a more humble life because Jesus Christ Himself was humble and meek, and he gives us rest for our souls, according to Matthew 11:28 and 30.

 

Let's pray. Father, forgive me for being prideful, and prideful more than I realize. Maybe some of the people listening and watching feel the same way. Help us to operate with humility, to think less of ourselves, but think more of you and more of others. I think when we think more of you and others, before ourselves, you'll take care of us. So help us to be less prideful, and more humble. We thank you for this because we know you'll give us the power and the favor to go further in life than if we try to do it on our own. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

Why is it that we fight? Why do we fight with other people, with neighbors, co-workers, or family? Why do you fight in your own house? Why do you fight in any type of human relationship? Can I give you the answer? The answer is simply this, you fight because you and the individual that you're fighting with have what I call competing desires. You have a desire that you want, they have a desire that they want. Your desires are different, and you're not able to find overlap. Therefore, you fight.

Where do I get that from? I get it from James 4:1-3. Not only is James going to tell us why we quarrel and fight, but he's going to tell us the solution as well. So let's dig right in. James says this, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

James is saying that you want something so bad that you're willing to fight over it and kill over it. I don't know if it's literal murder, or slander, which would be killing people in their character. Either way, James says you want something so bad that you don't think about anything else but your desire. Your desires compete because you're only focused on your desire. And sometimes the other person just focuses on their desire. Now, sometimes one person can have a mutual desire, while another person can have a selfish desire, that certainly can happen. But at least one person is just focused on their own desire. If you're the in the fight it could be you, or it could be the other person. When you're focused on your own desire, it leads to death. You know, a male deer can be so focused on its desire for a female deer, a buck wanting a doe, if you will, it can get killed. When I drive home from work, every fall you always see dead deer. And that's because the deer was probably in heat. He was so laser focused on his desire to mate with a doe that he doesn't focus on anything else and gets killed. That's the same thing with desire.

 

And then James says this, which seems to be the solution to your competing desires with other people leading to conflict and quarrels and fighting. He says this, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." He says basically, the problem is you just focused on what will please you. The Christian life is supposed to be focused on how we please God and how he please others. But I skipped over an important verse, which is the answer, the remedy. How do you remedy this problem? James says this, "You do not have because you do not ask God." You go, "Wait a minute, Vince. James says you fight and you quarrel because you have competing motives. Now you're going to ask God? That's going to change it?" Yes. If you ask God for what you desire, guess what happens? God will interact with you and change your desires. Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." When you ask God for what you desire, he will change your desire and your affections. Then you'll want not only what's good for you, that's understandable, but also what is good for God and what is good for others. When that happens, desiring what is good for God, for others, and for you, you're not going to be the source of quarrelling, fighting, and killing. So here's my ask. Check your desires. Next time you're in a fight, check your desires, your competing motives. Are you only doing it for you, or for the other person and for God?

 

Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you so much for reminding us that quarrels and fights start with us examining our own internal desires. Is it just for us? Or is it for you, Lord, and for other people? Help us to balance that out. And when we're in a fight, help us to apologize if we focus on our own desires above the desires of you and others. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

One of the haunting, probing deep questions of Scripture, based on one statement Jesus made that raises questions in people, is this, when people say they have faith in Jesus Christ, do they really have true faith? Or is it false faith? In other words, do they believe in Jesus fully with a genuine, authentic faith that puts complete trust in Jesus Christ's payment of sin, and that they've received eternal life by authentic faith? Or, was it a phony faith, where you kind of just accept Jesus intellectually or some level, but no more? And I say that because Jesus said, "Not everybody who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom." So my question is this, how do you know when you have true faith? How do you distinguish true faith from false faith? How do you know the difference? I want to give you the answer in James 2:14 and 17.

 

James 2:14-26 is the classic passage on how faith works, and it gives us the answer to this question. James 2:14 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" In other words, if someone has no good works and no behavioral change as a result of the faith he claims to have, can such faith save him? Now, that seems like an open-ended question, except whenever there is a question in the Greek, there are two types of words used for questions. They actually do not have a question mark in Greek. Instead, they have two words, which are untranslated, but indicate questions. One of these words indicates a question that demands "Yes" as an answer. And the other is a question that demands "No" as an answer. When James says, "If a man says he has faith but has no good deeds, can such faith save him?" It's not an open ended question, but is a question that demands a "No" answer. Therefore, the answer is, No, it can't. The man says he has faith but doesn't have deeds, can that faith save them? No, it can't.

 

And then James 2:17 says this, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." How do you know if your faith is real? Your faith is real when you see good works and good deeds flowing from your life, a changed life flowing from a faith in Jesus Christ. The rest of the scripture I quoted earlier, what Jesus said in Matthew 7, illustrates this. Jesus said, "Not everybody who says, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom, but he who does the will of my Father." When you have true faith, it changes your life. It doesn't just mean you do good things. Pre-Christians, people who are not yet Christians, can still do good things. But when you have faith, you have a transformed life that it is changed by good works. And I say that because there are a lot of people that say, "Yep, yeah, my children are Christians." I say, "That's really cool, that's great. Where do they go to church?" And these parents say, "Oh, they don't go anywhere. They've accepted Jesus as their Savior, but they're not going to church anywhere, nope. And they really don't want to, either. But it doesn't matter, because all you have to do is have faith."

 

That is a massive divorce between faith and good works. A lot of people will say, "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but you know what? I'm committing adultery," or, "I'm a Christian and I steal. But you know, that doesn't matter, because it's all covered by the grace of God." Well, I have news for you. If you have that kind of faith, you have the kind that does not have good works. I'm not going to judge you, but I'm gonna say this: I'm very concerned about if you really have real faith. Are you sure you have real faith? Has your faith led to a transformed life and not just some nice things coming out of it? I'm talking about a changed life. And the greatest sign of a changed life is having Jesus Christ at the center of it. You want to give to him, to serve Him, to go to church, to study the Bible, to worship. You want to do the kinds of things that draw you closer to God, and to love God. You love your neighbor as yourself. You want to do good things for people around you to show the love of Jesus Christ to them. Do you have true faith? Here's the test to see whether it's true or not: Do you have good works that follow?

 

Let's pray. Father, I pray that if there's anybody who's thinking that they have faith, and this has really spoken to them, I pray that they will check their spirit and make sure they have true faith in you. I pray that they have acknowledged that they're sinful, that you're holy, and that only Jesus Christ can bridge the gap. I pray that they would ask you for total forgiveness and asked you to change their life. If that's you, do that. For the rest of us, let's make sure that we're still producing good fruit so that we can validate our faith as authentic. I ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen.

I was going through a news feed, and I saw an article that I thought captured a lot about how I'm thinking today. The title was, Has America Forgotten How to Forgive? The whole gist of the article is that anytime somebody does something wrong, we have what has been termed "Cancel Culture," which I am, by and large, opposed to. Cancel Culture says that anytime you do something wrong, that's it. It's over for you. So, the article told a story of somebody from a magazine who said something he shouldn't have when he was a teenager, and was fired from his job. He said it as a 17-year-old, apologized for it, but was still fired from his job. It just seems so true that we are unwilling to forgive. The reason why we're so unwilling to forgive is because we're quick to judge. I'm going to say something, and I hope you'll understand my heart. Do I believe racism is still a problem in our country today? Yes. But can I tell you what's really concerning? Every time something happens from one group to another, it's instantly termed racism. My fear is that the real problem of racism gets blunted by calling everything racism. If everything's racism, then nothing's racism. And then we don't deal with the real issues of racism.

It's all because of this: We have forgotten how to forgive. We have forgotten how to forgive because we're so quick to judge. The Bible says so much about judging and the dangers of judging. I do not mean judging in terms of rendering a verdict. If I see somebody call an African American or an Asian American a derogatory name, and if I say that's wrong, that's not judging. That's just the truth. In the Bible, to judge is to assign motive and to say something about someone's character that isn't necessarily true. For example, judging would be if you say, "You said that because you're a racist," or, "You did that because you're a bad person," or, "What you said when you were 17, that carries over, and you can't change that. So you're done." The Bible says that judging is basically assigning somebody's motives to something that's not true, or that you couldn't even possibly know. And it's got a negative view.

 

I want to read from James 2:12-13. To illustrate this concept, James says this, "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." So, think and act in a way that you don't judge, becuase the way you judge will determine the way you are judged. In other words, the measure you use is the measure that will be used against you. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 7. And then he goes on to say that judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. The reason why we can't forgive is because we're such judgmental people. And the reason why we're such judgmental people is that we lack mercy. So here's my encouragement to you, when somebody does something wrong, don't judge them. Now, it's not judging to say that something is wrong, especially something horrific, like murder. I'm talking about those gray areas where you see something and the math doesn't look good, but you're not sure. Be careful about judging. The secret to being careful about judging is to have mercy. And here's the key. The key to having mercy is to remember, what if it were you?Many people, and I don't want to mention names, but people even in our own state have been quick to judge other people. And yet, they've done the very same thing and worse. I'll tell you, they had no mercy. I'm asking you to have mercy with people. Can you give people mercy? Can you give people the benefit of the doubt? Can you reserve judgment on those motive things and those unsure things? I'm not saying reserve judgment for clear wrongs and clear rights. I'm talking about the in-between. Have mercy. And how do you have mercy? Remember, you're going to be judged by that very same law that you exercise toward others. Remember, it could be you.

 

So let's pray. Father, forgive us for being judgmental. We all do it. We all fail. We all say things that just are not true about other people. Help us to remember to be more merciful and less judgmental. As James tells us, we'll be better off, our world would be a better place, and we'll be able to get along without having to cancel each other for things that were done many years ago. Thank you for helping us model this, in Jesus' name. Amen.

We have heard a lot about racism over the last few years, and it is a real problem. We can debate about how much of a problem it is, and everybody's gonna see it differently. But really, racism is ultimately a form of favoritism. Favoritism is okay if you're watching a football game. My favorite team is the Saints. Your favorite team may be the Bills. It's okay to play favorites when it comes to sports and things like that, but when it comes to life, we shouldn't play favorites. It shouldn't matter what your skin color is, or whether or not you've got life all figured out, or if you're a man or a woman. It shouldn't matter if you're rich or poor, or if you live in the city or the suburbs, or if you live in New York State or in Texas. None of those things should matter. Because people are made in God's image, we should value all people.

James confronted the problem of favoritism in the church in James 2:1-4, 8. He says, 'Now 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 amongst yourselves and become judges with evil intent?... If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbors yourself," you are doing right.'

James started with the principle in verse one, and then he unpacked it. The principle is don't show favoritism. What did he call favoritism in this text? He called favoritism showing special favor, discrimination, judges, evil thinking, and special attention. Those are all forms of favoritism. Favoritism should not be part of our lives because it is ultimately judging someone on the outside, whereas God says we judge people on the inside. Again, how we judge people is not by judging their motives, but judging their character. I believe one of the greatest statements Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, which I love, is that he longs for a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. And that's important, the content of our character. What James is saying is, don't let the externals lead you to favoritism and discrimination.

Now here's the thing. We live by a model in America and in the world which says, "I scratch your back, you scratch mine. You help me, I help you." So, sometimes that's a good thing, but sometimes it can lead to favoritism. We have to be really, really careful. But all I want to say is that there are times in your life where you probably are playing favorites in a way that you shouldn't be. You're judging based on appearance, assuming some person is poor and is probably on welfare. You don't know that. Or you say, "That person has that skin color, so they always ... fill in the blank." First of all, there's no "always" with any particular skin color or ethnicity. And I like to tease about Italian people, so I suppose you can pick on your own, but I say it teasingly. But you have to be careful about playing favorites in your life. The great thing about Christianity is we welcome all people. We welcome the down and outers, the up and outers, the inside outers, or whatever way you are. The cross is available to everybody. We say that because of verse eight, where James says, "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbors yourself," you're doing right." Hey, we have a common humanity. We all came from Adam and Eve. We are all made in the image of God. We're not all Christians, true, but let's love people in the family of God. Let's stop playing favorites. Do you play favorites based on skin color, appearance, clothing, money, or how nice people treat you? Start seeing people the way God does, and stop playing favorites.

 

Father, forgive me for playing favorites. It's so subtle and pervasive. I pray that you help all of us to not play favorites, but to see people as bearing your image, seeing people as either in your family and needing to be encouraged or outside of your family and needing to be loved into it. And I pray that whatever area of our life we play favorites in, whatever prejudices, discriminations, and favoritism we show, help us to judge people by the content of their character. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

Today, I want to talk to you about being single minded. Now, I'm not talking about being obsessive, or only thinking about one thing. I'm talking about being single minded, as opposed to the alternative, which is being double minded. I've been around people that are double minded. They say, "I'm gonna do this.. well, no I think I'm not gonna do that. But now I think I'm gonna do that, no I'm not gonna do that." Or, they might say, "I believe that that's always wrong." But then later they say, "It's not always wrong." These are people who just flip flop around. They just have no firm opinions, or thinking, or convictions. They're double minded. And whenever you're a double minded person, James says you're in trouble.

I want to read James 1:5-8 because James talks about the dangers of double mindedness. He implicitly says the alternative is to have a single minded attitude. Look at what he says: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. " So, the context is wisdom. The context is for if you need direction, and are asking God what you should do in a certain area of life. If you ask God in faith, and with an expectation that He will guide you, he will give you wisdom. He will guide you, whether overtly or covertly, whether he tells you how he wants you to do it, or whether he is apparently silent but you do what you're going to do, he will guide you if you ask for wisdom.

 

But then James gives a warning in verse six. When someone asks God for wisdom, he must believe and not doubt, because "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he'll receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in all he does." In other words, if you don't have firm convictions, or firm beliefs, if you don't have a decision that you make and stand with, you are unstable. This doesn't mean that sometimes you don't change your decision. We all do that. But if this is the course of your life, you're constantly flip flopping, then you're unstable. You know, if you're on a ship and it's sinking, you shouldn't run to one side, then run to another side. I mean, you have to make a plan. Either run to one side that you think is going to be higher, or run to a raft, or run for cover, or whatever you're going to do when life is going crazy. That's not the time to be double minded. You have to be single minded. And the greatest single mind is this: I want to do what God wants me to do.

 

The whole context is wisdom. So here's what I want to ask you. Are you duplicitous? Are you double minded? Be single minded. Have a belief and stick to it. It doesn't mean you don't change. You know, we all grow. We all think one thing and then, as we get wiser, we think another thing. That's not double minded, that's just called development of your thinking. Double minded is when you have one belief, and then you have another, then you have another, and then you have another. In fact, when you have two beliefs, you have no beliefs. What I want to say to you is, that's an unstable life. You cannot say you believe in investing for the future, then decide you believe in buying a new car. Then you believe in investing for retirement, then you want to take it all out and put it down on a house. You can't live that way. It's not an effective way to live. James says, Don't do that. So here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Whenever you have double mindedness, seek God's wisdom, and ask him to help you be single minded, focused on him. And by the way, did you notice how he referred to single mindedness? He referred to single mindedness as faith, and he referred to double mindedness as doubt. Don't live a doubtful life. live a life of single minded faith, seeking God's wisdom, and then putting it into practice.

Father, we all struggle with double mindedness. I pray that we will be as single minded as we can be on as many convictions and areas of life as we should be. Help us to arrive at your will, your wisdom on every important matter of life. And when we change positions, help us to make the change carefully, cautiously, slowly, and righteously. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.