Text: James 2:1-17                                                                                      Calvary 090609
Title: “Love your neighbor as your self”

If you notices the title of today’s messages is “love your neighbor as yourself”
For me and for many people the immediate questions that comes to mind is, “who is my neighbor”

Many of you love to garden so you might like this story. A couple of months ago in Florida a man was arrested for getting in an argument with his neighbor, and you might think so what’s the big deal, why would someone get arrested over a simple argument.
Well the argument started simple. It was a disagreement on how one neighbor was watering his garden, somehow it was affecting the neighbors garden. So the man goes into his house comes out with a shot gun in one hand and a machete in the other. Fires a bullet in the ground then chases the neighbor with the machete and attaches the man’s front door.

A nicer story was on BBC Jan. last year where a group of Marines while patrolling in Iraq noticed a very sick little girl. One of the Marines, a reservist was also a Dr. and noted immediately after observing the girl that she had a heart defect.
News got back to the states and the wife of the company commander raised $30,000 and the U.S. military made arrangements for the girl and her mom to be transported to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, TN. Where the girl had her surgery and return home.

In the Gospel of Matt. A Pharisee asked Jesus which commandment in the law was the greatest of all. Jesus answered him “you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these 2 commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt 22).

James here writes to a church that is facing an obvious problem. It seems that there is a lot of partiality and favoritism going on among the church members and also towards visitors.

The problem with favoritism didn’t stop with the early church but escaladed. Remember what happened when Christianity became the national religion in the 3rd century and huge and elegant building were build for worshiping; they started to have special seats for special persons. Like the king and Queen, the nobles. While the poor sat in the back. Then people started buying pews and the closer to the front the more expensive the pew was, and your kids would inherit your seat, it would be in their will.
(so those sitting in the front pews remember that when the offering plat comes byJ)

Today we may not have these obvious partiality, but we still experience it in different ways. We are all willing to serve but only with people we get along with, and only in places that we like, and it has to be when it’s convenient for us.

Loving our neighbor and caring for one another has become such a burden that we placed all these conditions on how, when and whom we are to serve.

When we are asked to help, is our first thought, “it doesn’t fit my schedule and I don’t like doing this kind of stuff?” or do we pray about it, and ask God if this is something that he is calling us to do?

When there is a mission opportunity locally, or nationally, do we think
“O, this is a nice place to visit, or no I hear it’s too hot out there, I won’t do this one I’ll wait for a nicer place?”
Or do we pray about it and ask God if this is a call for me to serve and live out my faith?

If we’re only willing to serve when it’s convenient for us or when it makes us look good then we’ve become like the Pharoses and Sadducees who didn’t like Jesus eating and visiting with sinners, prostitutes, thief’s and tax collectors. And were upset that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath.

If that’s our attitude then we are saying the same thing. That God is only available at particular times and to specific people?

Our faith can’t be just empty words that we speak, often not even out loud.

James, was writing to Christians, those who had already come to faith in Jesus Christ. The tone of his letter is one of irritation, with a don’t-you-get-it type of attitude. In speaking to fellow-believers, James was pointing out that faith and works do not stand in opposition to one another.

It is through works that faith can prove and demonstrate itself; and it is through faith that works will be attempted and accomplished. Faith is bound to overflow into action. Faith and work go hand in hand like breathing when we  have faith we inhale the gospel, God’s word that fills our lives and every part of it, and overflows into action and work that is inspired by our faith. We exhale, service and ministry.

How many here say they love to Golf, How many love to fish, Football.
So I will assume that you talk about it with friends, you watch it on tv, and you probably play it often or every once in a while. Maybe even all of the above.
That’s how you prove that you love these things and people believe you.

Same thing with our faith, we say we love the Lord, we have faith in Christ.
So ask yourself when was the last time you spoke about God?
When was the last time you did something that demonstrated that faith?

 Church used to be the highlight of the week, people talked about it all the time. But slowly we started getting preoccupied with other things that we hardly ever talk about our faith anymore and got to the point where we aren’t even comfortable speaking about it. Our faith is not just something that we do at church.

In the Old Testament when the law was set up, notice that it wasn’t set up simply for practice in the synagogue or gatherings of worship but it was for a way of life.
Look at the Book of Leviticus (27 chapters) we think of them as the roles for just the priests, but actually very few of them are specifically for the priests. The laws were for everyone. And were to be practices always.
Faith in God is a way of life, not an occasional practice.
We are not hearers who forget, but doers who act.

Love isn’t primarily an idea or a feeling, it is an action. Love must be lived out. Love is active, it does something. You can say you love someone, but you prove your words by what you do to show it. Love doesn’t pick favorites. If we show partiality we are sinning.

James says if you want to engage in law keeping, or keeping a checklist of your good Christian behavior, beware! If at any point you fail to live up to the Law’s expectations you have failed to keep the whole Law. Instead he says we should speak and act as people judged under the Law of Liberty. The Law of Liberty depends not on human effort but on the effectiveness of God’s grace at work in us through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of Matthew (Ch. 25), Jesus talks about the time when all will stand before the Lord. He sais, “Then the King will say, Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
And people respond “Lord when did we do all these things”
He answers, “Truly, I tell you Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Jesus was saying when we live out our faith in serving and caring for others, we’re not only showing God’s love and compassion to the world but it is as if we are serving God himself.

A clear definition of this law of love in scripture is found in Romans 13:8

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Paul was saying that all the rules and basis for living out our faith are summed up in “loving each other”, that it’s the only way we can fulfill all these different rules.
And James reiterates that same point, he says “So speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.”

We live in the Love and Grace of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, and so let us share that love and that Grace with one another.   Love Your Neighbor As Yourself. AMEN.