The Sin of Partiality
This sermon works through James 2:1-7, where James confronts a sin the early church could easily excuse but never quite admit to, partiality shown toward the wealthy and well-dressed at the expense of the poor.
James roots his command not in mere fairness but in Christology. Faith in “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ”, the Lord of glory Himself, makes favouritism a direct contradiction of what believers claim to hold. Through the vivid picture of two visitors, one favoured, one dismissed, James shows how quickly the church can become “judges with evil thoughts,” measuring people by categories the gospel has already discarded.
The sermon then turns to James’s deeper argument, that God’s own pattern of electing grace, choosing those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith, directly exposes and condemns the church’s favouritism. It closes by tracing this back to the gospel itself, Christ, though rich, became poor for our sake, so that all who trust Him, whatever their worldly standing, might be made heirs of His kingdom and truly rich in Him.
