love your neighbour as yourself

‘My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonoured the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honourable name by which you were called? 

8 If you really fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

James 2:1-13

In the verses above, James is telling us that favouring one set of people or one person above others is wrong. We should not judge anyone for the way they look, speak, their age, background or how much/little money they have. This may seem obvious to us today as we teach about equality and diversity wherever we go, yet this was clearly an issue to those to whom James wrote (and if we are honest with ourselves, we have so much training because it is still an issue today). It was obvious then that the rich were given preferential treatment over everyone else. So it is useful for us to consider if there are people that we are bias towards or against. 

We must remember that Jesus died for the rich and the poor, old and young, the beautiful, ugly, well-spoken and the common, those you like and those you don’t. Jesus made no distinction. Nor should you. 

In this text James reminds us that Jesus has instructed us to, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. In verse 8, James challenges - are you REALLY loving your neighbour as yourself? If so, you are doing well. If not, well, then you aren’t. If you show favour/bias/partiality to others then you are not loving your neighbour as yourself, and therefore you are not carrying out the command of Jesus. James goes onto say, ‘if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.’ It is a serious thing to be bias towards or against others. It is a sin. It is breaking the law of God. Jesus in the book of Mark precedes the command to love your neighbour with loving God first and foremost. This is the law of liberty that James refers to, loving God and loving others. Jesus shows how the rest of the laws from the Old Testament are stemmed from these two commands. If you live out these commands to love God and others this will effect your speech and actions and you will be following the 'law of liberty', honouring God and living life Jesus’ way. 

However if you do not keep these commands then it doesn’t matter what other rules you follow, you have still broken the law. It is not permissible to be committed to keeping some of the Law. If you break one part of it, you break all of it. If you steal, lie, cheat, murder, hurt someone, blaspheme, you are breaking the law of God and that is serious. You break God’s law, then you break relationship with Him and separate yourself from others. James wants you to be aware that just as not murdering or stealing is important for maintaining the law of God, so is your treatment of others. If you're unfair or unkind, treating some people with distinction and others with derision, you are breaking the same law that a murderer or an adulterer does. Breaking the law in any way has the same effect - separation from God. 

You may be reading this and be thinking you’re ok because the blood of Jesus has wiped away all your sin. It is 100% true, Jesus died for all your sin, he took it all on, so that when you decide to live your life following him you are free from the weight of sin and free to live a new life. A new life where you are dead to sin, as it no longer has power over you and you can receive forgiveness and mercy. This is all completely true. However when you gave over your life to Jesus you did not die to responsibility. 

Jesus died to release you from the consequence of sin when you turn your life around and follow him, but that carries with it a responsibility. Letting go of the old sinful life means that you’re born into a new life with new rules, roles and responsibilities. It means that you have been born into the life of Jesus, the life of following the law of liberty, of prioritising loving God and loving others. Being a follower of God means being obedient to his instructions. Jesus says, ‘if anyone loves me, he will keep my word’ (John 14:23) are you keeping his word? Are you obeying Jesus instructions to love God and love others? 

If you are someone that believes in God, then your life should be known for how you love, honour, serve and follow God, and in turn, how you speak, act, love, honour and care for others, all others. You should celebrate that mercy has overcome judgement in your life as Jesus has taken, destroyed and forgiven all your sin, but it doesn’t stop there. Are you extending mercy or judgement to others around you? If you wish to receive the mercy of Jesus, you need to be one who acts with impartial mercy to others. This is how you will show that Jesus Christ lives in you as you, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.

Are you a hearer or a doer?

As we start our reflection today, I am just going to recap some of the things James has covered so far in the first part of his letter;

• Withstanding the trials and temptations of life help you develop steadfastness. 
• As you grow in steadfastness you demonstrate your love for God and are on your way to gaining the crown of life. 
• There are things you need to watch out for that can overwhelm you and get you off track causing you not to show or live in the goodness of God. 
• Anger is not holy.
• Communication is an important way in which you can show the righteous life you have as a child of God. 

These points seem simple and logical, yet it does not seem so simple implementing them into everyday life does it? I struggle with it, especially that last one - being more considered in how I communicate. That is a constant effort and I know don’t live up to the standard of righteousness in each conversation. How are you doing? Have you made progress as you have been pondering this letter of James? It is ok if you find it hard, but are you endeavouring to lead a more righteous life?

James 1:22-25;

be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. *23*For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. *24*For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. *25*But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 

The things God has been teaching you, have you put them into practice? Or have you just looked at it, heard it and walked away? That is what James is challenging us within these verses. If you know that God has been pinpointing a certain behaviour, mindset or sin, and you realise that you haven’t got something quite in line with God’s expectations, then you need to sort it out. Not eventually, not when it is convenient, at a different time in life, but now. Otherwise you’re like someone who forgets what they look like. You are like someone who has gained insight into who they are and then just walked away. There’s no point reading and studying the Bible, praying, or going to church if you are not implementing what you reading, hearing and seeing. If you ignore what God and others are teaching you then you are ‘deceiving yourselves’, forgetting who you are. Faith in God requires action. Some people read the Bible diligently, study and investigate scripture, turn up to events and prayer meetings but remain completely unchanged. Why? Because they have no interest in putting it into practice, maybe because they are comfortable or it is too much like hard work. Don’t be one of those. They have forgotten what they look like. They don't know who they are or who they could be. God wants more for you and from you.

If someone reads the Bible, prays and carries on as they are without any change, it is like someone reading a car manual. It is pointless doing so unless you’re going to do what the manual says. It would be a waste of time and certainly won’t help the smooth running of the car. Ignoring the advice within the manual would be ignorant and could cause long-term damage. The same is true for how you handle the Bible. If you ignore what it says, don't implement the advice and instructions given then you are not living the best life you can, and that can cause long-term damage. 

These verses tell us the Bible is, ‘the perfect law, the law of liberty’. So, if you ignore it you are desiring imperfection and restriction in your life. Whereas if you challenge yourself to do as the Word of God says you will be following the perfect law and learning to live in freedom. Not only that, but the promise is that you ‘will be blessed’ by persevering and putting into practice what God is teaching you. If you seek to live a righteous, God-honouring life, it requires action. Being a follower of Jesus requires you to, 'be doers of the word, and not hearers only'.