Sermon - Mercy and Justice For All: "Kingdom Wisdom " Series

Sermon Outline
Focus: Kingdom wisdom rejects favoritism by loving all people,
showing mercy to all people, and serving all people.

I. Love All People
     Favoritism judges outward appearance
     God looks at the heart
     Love your neighbor as yourself

II. Show Mercy to All People
     Mercy over judgment
     Everyone belongs at the table
     Respond to need, not status

III. Serve All People
     The Last – those pushed aside
     The Lost – those far from God
     The Least – those in greatest need

IV. Living It Out
     For better or worse
     For richer or poorer
     In sickness and in health

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Real kingdom wisdom requires us to live our faith. Out loud, real faith doesn't stay in your head. Real faith instead is going to shape your ways, your words, and dare I say, even your wisdoms.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes weekly sermon podcast. We're so glad you've joined us and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey. Today, Pastor Robbie Straich continues with our new sermon series, Kingdom Wisdom, using the Book of James, written by the half-brother of Jesus. Today's message is titled Mercy and Justice for All. Kingdom Wisdom rejects favoritism by loving all people, showing mercy to all people, and serving all people. And now, here's Pastor Robbie. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

It is really good to be in the house of the Lord together this morning. And also, I just wanted to show a sign of appreciation. My grandmother passed away on Tuesday. And a lot of you have reached out with phone calls and text messages, emails, what have you. Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for that. One of the great blessings I had this week, uh is I was telling Deb Webmer as she was coming in. Uh, my grandpa who passed five years ago, my grandma was holding on to his Bible. And when she passed, I got his Bible this week. And uh uh it was really cool to thumb through the pages and see the notes of my grandfather, who was a spiritual rock of my family. And although it's the King James Version, so I need a little bit of translation help, I think as a pastor I can handle it, I promise you. But it was really cool to look and see what he had written in the columns and brought me to. I spent three hours looking through his Bible this week, whether that was at work or at home. So it was good. But thank you for all the kind notes. And uh I think there's no better way than to continue on in worship by studying the Holy Word of God together. And as Nancy so wonderfully said to begin with, you know, this year, although it's only June, believe it or not, we are studying the whole entire 2026, focusing on the kingdom of God and why it's so important to have a kingdom mindset consistently and constantly in everything that we do. And to help us build on this theme, we've turned to the book of James, learning how to live not with earthly wisdom, but rather kingdom wisdom, because there certainly is a difference between the two. And we're gonna do some comparing and contrasting today in the scripture, because kingdom wisdom is not just about talking the talk, but it's about actually walking the walk, right? And as Pastor Brian shared last week, it's about being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. And then even further, James pushed us, as Brian shared with us, that we are to actually do the work of the Lord, which is to care for the most vulnerable that we see, which is the orphan and the widow, as James lists them in James 1. And I hope you're beginning to see why we are so excited to be in the book of James throughout this summer series, because it's all about how we are to live out our faith. Now, I don't want you to mishear me. I think the why you should have faith is really important. Paul spends a ton of time in the New Testament telling us why faith is important. However, James is gonna push us in the next couple of weeks, starting with last week, even, of how we're going to live that out is by action. Once again, it's not just good enough to talk the talk, but Jesus calls us to walk the walk. Here's the premise of our whole entire series: real kingdom wisdom requires us to live our faith out loud. Real faith doesn't stay in your head. Real faith instead is gonna shape your ways, your words, and dare I say, even your wisdoms. And today's focus is gonna be where we picked up last week. We're gonna be starting out at James chapter two, starting in verse one, which can be found on page 983 of your Pew Bibles. And we're gonna really launch off of our topic of last week as James once again challenges us to be doers and to act differently than the rest of the world. Specifically, he's gonna challenge us, friends, to love all, give mercy to all, and to serve all. Will you follow along? I'm gonna be starting in James chapter 2, verse 1. Hear now the words of God through the half-brother of Jesus, James. James writes, My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes saying, Have a seat here, please, while to the one who is poor you say, Stand there or sit at my feet, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters, has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. It is not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, which is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said you shall not commit adultery also said you shall not murder. Now, if you commit adultery, do not commit adultery, but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, for judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy, but mercy triumphs over judgment. Friends, this is the word of God for the people of God. Can we pray together this morning? Oh heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts, may they be found holy and acceptable in your sight, for you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. James is going to tell us three things today as we walk through James chapter two. He's gonna tell us number one, that we're to love all people. Number two, we're to give mercy to all people. And finally, number three, we're to serve all people. Perhaps a catchier way to remember this sermon in your own mind would be to remember this phrase for better, for worse, for richer for poor, in sickness and in health. How many of you have heard that phrase before? Show of hands up in the air. Let's hear. If you're married and you didn't just raise your hand, you're in trouble. Those are the classic vows of Christian marriage, are they not? And you know, I have the honor this year of officiating three weddings. I've got one down, one to go next weekend, and then one to go in the fall. And you may think, oh, come on, Robbie, that's normal for a pastor, right? You serve in services of worship, yes. You serve in Christian marriage services, yes. And then in funerals as well, yes, yes, and yes. But I tell you what, these three weddings are extra special this year for me. Because each one includes a former youth from our faith family. And I'm really excited for the one in the fall, because believe it or not, this couple actually met in our youth group eight years ago, and they've been dating ever since. Isn't that cool? Isn't that really cool? But when we go through marriage counseling, that's something that we require here as a pastoral staff, before we'll officiate your wedding, we have a couple of marriage counseling sessions, and in doing so, I always emphasize the importance of these vows, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. In short, these vows, they reject favoritism or partiality, as James says it, in the most personal way. They help these vows orient us and individuals to honor the dignity that is found in being in the family of Christ. Because when you say I do to those marriage vows, you know what you're doing? You're saying yes to someone, all of someone. You don't get to say yes to the favorite parts of someone and then reject the parts that are the worst. And James warns us exclusively in James chapter two about favoritism and partiality. He says this for if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes come into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one who's wearing the fine clothes and say, Hey, you can come sit here, and then you take notice of the one who is dirty and you say, You sit over there, James says, Have you not become judges with evil thoughts? Yikes. Favoritism. Simply put, it's saying yes to some people and no to others. Favoritism, it's saying yes to a part of a person and not the whole. Favoritism. It's saying yes to a person because of their inherent usefulness and then rejecting when you can't use them. Friends, hear me. Favoritism is judging someone's value before you know their heart. And that's not the character or the values of our God in heaven. Amen. You know, one of my favorite call stories in all of Scripture is the call of King David. I absolutely adore the call of King David. His call story, which is simply put, is his coming to faith story in our scriptures. Uh, David was the youngest of seven. He was an afterthought, a poor shepherd boy. When God decided that he needed a new king, because Saul kind of fell off the wagon there a little bit, uh, he sent Samuel to anoint Israel's next king. And he went to David's household, the home of Jesse, and Samuel declared that there was going to be a new king. And David's family didn't even call him in from the field to be considered. He truly was an afterthought. It was the oldest son that stepped forward first, just making the assumption since he's the oldest, ready to receive God's blessing. But it's funny. 1 Samuel 16 says it played out a little differently. Here are the words. When the sons of Jesse came forward, Samuel looked on Iliab, who was the oldest, and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on his height of stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not see as mortals see, they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Samuel eventually looks at each successive son and discovers magically that there's one missing. He's out in the field, and he hightails it out there, and that's where he finds David and anoints him with oil. That is the future giant killer and great king of Israel. Have you ever wondered why David? Why the runt of the litter? Why the poor shepherd boy? It's because David is described in scriptures as a man after God's own heart. That's first Samuel 13. Remember this, friends. God looks at the heart. And he recognizes those whose heart dwell upon our Lord. Now, even with a heart that longs after God, was David perfect? No. David was far from perfect if you read through the scriptures, but still, please realize that David was anointed king because of the orientation of his heart, not because of his perfection. If you hear nothing else, then hear this this morning, friends. Earthly wisdom says to look at the outward appearance, to look for the rich and the healthy. But friends, kingdom wisdom says something entirely different. Kingdom wisdom says to look at the heart. That's why. That's why marriage vows say for better or for worse, for richer for poor, in sickness and in health. Because a heart oriented towards the Lord loves all for better, for worse, for richer for poor in sickness and in health. I think you're going to hear that a couple more times in the sermon if you're not prepared for it. So how do we? How do we orient our hearts towards God like David? Well, I think James gives us a little pathway here in chapter two. James encourages us by saying, you do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to scriptures. And he sums it up beautifully from the words of his half-brother. He says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you show partiality, but if you show favoritism, but if you reject someone just because of the way they look, perhaps, then you commit sin. And then James continues on at the end of the scripture section. He says, For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who doesn't show mercy. So in short, James is calling us to love all others, showing no favoritism, and then to show mercy to all others, showing no favoritism. Perhaps the best illustration I could come up with is to imagine a family gathering around the dinner table. I want you to think of maybe one of those big holidays. Let's say Thanksgiving, for instance. That's a big meal day where we get around the table, right? The meal is served, and everyone at Thanksgiving is invited to eat, right? And that includes the successful uncle who has a thriving business. But it also includes the aunt who might have an addiction issue. It also includes the cousin who's made all the right choices and is going to college in the fall, but it might also include the cousin who's made less uh, let's say, wise decisions. No one earns a seat at the table at Thanksgiving, do they? They are simply there because they are members of the family. Now imagine if the patriarch of the family were to stand up and started assigning seats based on income level or education or how about their accomplishments? You get to sit at the head of the table this year for what you've done, and you got to go sit in the corner, and then you, you don't even get to eat until everybody else is finished. Doesn't that feel wrong? Right? That's not how a family works. But friends, I want to push this morning. Isn't that how our world works? Doesn't our world often look like that? Do we act at times in that way when we go out into our homes, our communities, and our workplaces? Because I want to push back this morning. You know, in Genesis, we read how all of God's people are made in the image of God. No exceptions. That includes the people who may be in the other political party, the people who might look and dress a little different than us, or even dare I say, it might include those nasty Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Hi, Andy. James's call to us, friends. James's call to us is to love. To love all. Because we're all in the family of God. We are all in this together. And his challenge for us to love all others means that we got to give mercy to all others. And the challenge, his challenge, then, if we're to love all others and give mercy to all others, then frankly, that means we need to serve all others. Because I think the best way to show love and mercy to another is to serve them. One of the great refrains in my life that I hope I'm remembered for is that I believe with every ounce of my being that we are to serve the last, the lost, and the least. Those are big groups in our Bible that are described in the scriptures as the marginalized, the outcast, the canceled, the forgotten. And I believe, I believe that the only way as a church that we really can push forward the gospel message of Jesus Christ is to serve the last and the lost and the least. So thank you for asking the question. I would love to tell you who the last, the lost, and the least are. The last, it comes from the parable that Nancy read for us this morning out of Matthew chapter 20. It's a convicting parable, a challenging one, oftentimes with our economic status as suburbanites. But friends, hear the echoes of Jesus reverberate in your brain today. Matthew 20, the last will be first, and the first will be last. The last. And that parable are the outcasts, are the marginalized, those who are pushed to the back of society. Friends, are you serving the last? The loss comes from another one of my favorite call stories in scriptures out of Luke. It comes from that wee little man who was up in a tree named Zacchaeus. Luke details it this way. Luke writes, Then Jesus said to Zacchaeus, Today, salvation has come to this house because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save the lost. The lost. You know, the lost friends in our scriptures are those who are separated either by choice or by circumstance from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question. Are you serving the lost? Finally, the least comes out of a very challenging chapter of Scripture in Matthew chapter 25, where Jesus challenges us to push back the ways of the world. Jesus goes on, he says, Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food? Or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the king will answer them, Truly I tell you, as you did it for one of the least of these who were members of my family, you did it for me. Friends, the least. They represent all those people who get pushed to the bottom of the social ladder or the economic ladder. They like to think of them as the ones that are canceled out from our world. Friends, how well are you serving the least? Once again, that's the push today. James is challenging us to love all, to show mercy to all, which means we have to serve all, which includes the last and the lost and the least. And perhaps I think the best illustration I come up is to think of ourselves here as the church, the church universal, that is, as EMTs. I do love our firefighters and EMTs for the way that they serve our community. They're dispatched always to the scenes of intense pressure where people are in desperate need. And friends, I think that's our call here as the church. And I don't think there's a better illustration than to think of our world as one of those 911 distress calls. Because to be honest with you, when I look at the news and I look at social media, I think our world looks like a total disaster. Would I be wrong? But I digress. You know, when an EMT arrives surveying the trauma of a scene, they notice where the hurt people are. That's their job. Does an EMT stop in that moment and ask, which one of these people is the most important? No. They don't ask who has the biggest bank account, they don't ask who has the nicest car or who can help advance my career. Why? It's because in that moment, in the moments of distress, all they see are the children of God in need. In fact, if an EMT began treating people based on their status, we'd be horrified, wouldn't we? If they walk past someone bleeding because they notice a more influential person with a hangnail, we would say they'd forgotten their very purpose as servants of crisis. An EMT's job is never to calculate worth. Their job is to love all, give mercy to all, and then to serve all. And in many ways, I believe that's what James is calling us to do, friends. We are to intently open our ears, last week's message, quick to listen. Open our ears and hear the calls of distress. And then James is telling us through the words of Jesus that it's not good enough just to hear it, but run towards it. Go to the scene.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Thank you for listening to the Church of the Lakes podcast.

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In contrast, our earth gives certain wisdom as well. In contrast, our earthly wisdom says to ask questions when you show up to the scene of the accident. What can they do for me? How does that person fit in? Do they like me? Are they successful? Are they respectable? Will they make my life easier? But friends, kingdom wisdom says something completely different. Kingdom wisdom says, what does that person need? And then go and do it. Earthly wisdom calculates value. Kingdom wisdom, it responds to need. Earthly wisdom sees categories, friends. Kingdom wisdom sees people. Earthly wisdom says who deserves my attention, but kingdom wisdom asks, how can I reflect the heart of Christ so everyone can see it? Friends, James is asking us to serve all people, the least, the last, and the lost by sharing love to all people and giving mercy to all people, for better, for worse, for richer for poor, and in sickness and in health. Let us pray together this morning. Well, Heavenly Father, we certainly are convicted by your holy words this morning. For we know there are times that we fail to act. When we hear the 911 calls of distress in our community, in our homes, and in our workplaces, Lord, give us the courage and the power from your Holy Spirit to go towards the pain, to love all and to give mercy to all, and to serve the least, the last, and the lost. Lord, we love you, for you certainly gave us that example in your Son, Jesus Christ, who dined with sinners and lepers and people who needed your love the most. Lord, that's why we follow you and praise you this morning. Your holy goodness we pray. Amen.

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