Impartial Grace

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The text for today is from our Epistle, James 2:1: “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

It sounds strange the first few times you hear it. We pray for individuals in the prayers of the church, and among them, we pray for Joseph and Timothy. Now, that doesn’t sound strange in itself until you realize we’re praying for Joseph, our President, and Timothy, our Governor. Suddenly, it sounds inappropriate, disrespectful, or like we’re trying to cozy up or imply that we’re on a first-name basis with people who probably don’t even know we exist.

While there’s nothing wrong with praying for people using titles and last names, there’s a good reason for using only first names in prayer. It reminds us of an important truth: God shows no partiality with His Law and Gospel. Out there, He gives us all sorts of different stations and titles. Before Him, however, those stations and titles disappear. We’re all the same before Him.

We’re all the same according to His Law. God’s Law looks at all people with the same verdict. It declares: “All of you are finite little creatures, and while your various titles and stations may have some significance among you, they are nothing at all in comparison to the majesty and glory of God.”

But more than that, the Law declares: “All of you are sinful creatures, no matter what you’ve done or haven’t done. Whatever your stations in life, you’ve sinned and fallen short of God. You deserve God’s wrath and punishment.” This text declares that the one who breaks just one part of the Law is guilty of it all.

Many consider that statement to be unfair. But allow me to try to explain with a simple illustration. Suppose you have a clean handkerchief and blow your nose on only one little corner. Is it still clean? No! And if you don’t believe me, try offering it to your friend after using it. Even if 99% of it was unused, it’s still a dirty handkerchief. In the same way, it takes only one sin for a person to be a sinner—as guilty of missing God’s mark as a person with many sins.

We all stand on the same basis before God. The Law shows no partiality in its condemnation of sin and sinners, so all people, from peasant to king, face the same penalty—death! God’s Law is entirely impartial.

So is the Gospel. It doesn’t care who you are, either. God’s grace does not depend upon your station in life or the works you’ve done. The Gospel looks at you and declares, “Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, has died to redeem you. Not just some of you—not just men or women, young or old, white or black, criminal or law-abiding. He has died for the sins of the world, including you.”

Do you see? Here, before the throne of grace, your station and status don’t matter. The Law declares you sinful and deserving condemnation, no matter who you are. The Gospel declares that Christ has died for you to give you salvation, no matter who you are. God shows no partiality.

Now, there will still be distinctions within the congregation. Men and women have different roles in a congregation, like at home. Pastors and laity also have different stations, which are respected according to Scripture. Adults teach children in Sunday School, not the other way around. At times, because of particular temptations or lack of skills within congregations, it is necessary to restrict some people, for instance, from managing finances or supervising children. And yes, we don’t admit all to the Lord’s Supper because all are not prepared, although Jesus offers worthiness equally to all. These distinctions still exist. But when it comes to the forgiveness of sins, Christ has died for all.

Therefore, James declares, “Show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” He uses the example of wealth and poverty within a congregation, one that doubtless still holds true today. After all, as long as budgets must be met and bills must be paid, many would rather welcome to the church a potentially big donor than one who will be asking for financial assistance.

St. James calls this sin “evil thinking,” and rightly so. For one thing, it implies that God is partial to the wealthy over and against the poor when God shows no partiality. God values all, and Christ died to save all. If we think the rich are of more value to Christ and His Church than others, and we welcome them more than others, we deny that all are saved purely by grace through faith.

We all stand on the same level, needing and receiving God’s full and free forgiveness in Christ. We judge with evil thoughts when we judge others as “less worthy” of a relationship with Christ that is ours purely through His grace.

Partiality breaks the royal law of love because it picks and chooses the neighbors it will love instead of actively being a neighbor to whoever is in need. Furthermore, such thoughts declare that we want people here not so that they can receive God’s grace and grow in Christ and so that we might serve them in their needs but so that they can add to our numbers, benefit us, and make our lives easier. That’s not the Christian faith at work but selfish desire. It is sin!

But if you show partiality, take heart. Christ died for this sin, too. While the Law declares you a transgressor, your Savior had died to deliver you. Repent of this sin. Rejoice in His grace. He forgives you, for you are one for whom He died.

When we stand in awe of the impartial grace of God that has included us in His gift of salvation, we will become less inclined to make distinctions and show partiality. When we see ourselves as undeserving of God’s love but recipients of His impartial grace nonetheless, we can rejoice that He accepts others on the same basis. Forgiven for our sins, we are enabled to serve our neighbor.

Over the centuries, some have been offended by James’ emphasis on good works, supposing that this contradicted Paul’s teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. A more careful reading, however, reveals no conflict.

Sometimes, when people hear the Gospel for the first time, the Good News that Jesus Christ gives comfort, forgiveness, spiritual life, and a place in heaven to all who repent and believe in Him, it sounds too easy. “You mean,” they say, “all you have to do is say the Apostles’ Creed, and then you can live any way you want?” It is to this false notion that James speaks when he gives the example of a cold and heartless attitude toward a brother or sister without clothes or food, all talk and no action. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Certainly, our own attempts at good works are worthless before God to gain forgiveness of our sins and His verdict of “not guilty.” Only the righteous life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can do that. But this is where the works come in. As I am brought to faith in my Savior, I am born again and begin to understand God’s will for me. The Spirit helps me want God’s will and gives me the power to do it. Faith inevitably yields good works.

Paul connects faith and works similarly. Just after telling us that we are “saved by grace, through faith, apart from any works of the Law,” he adds, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Real faith and good deeds cannot be separated. They are bound together. Faith always produces good works; works that are truly good in God’s eyes always come from faith.

This only makes sense. Faith says, “I believe God’s Word.” Therefore, faith says, “I believe God’s commands to help my neighbor in need, love my spouse, and train my children, and I will endeavor to do so.” Faith that says, “I believe in Jesus, but I don’t want to follow His Word,” isn’t faith but foolishness and self-deception. Jesus died to set you free from sin, free from the selfishness that ignores others, and free to serve others as you were created to do. If you’re not doing good works as a result of faith, what are you doing? Bad works. Sin. Sin seeks to stifle and kill your faith. That’s why faith without works is dead.

Now, here is a brief tangent because I believe that Lutherans get a bad rap when it comes to good works. On the one hand, we are accused of saying, “Good works aren’t necessary,” as if we will leave here this morning and rob the nearest casino. But from the Reformation onward, we have declared that “Good works are necessary, but they are not necessary for salvation.”

To help us better understand this, let me try another illustration. Suppose I say, “You don't need to eat and drink in order to be born.” Have I said that it’s unnecessary for you to eat and drink? No. Eating and drinking follow birth, or else your life will be very short. They are things you do because you’ve been given life. Similarly, good works do not cause you to be born anew in Christ, but good works follow that birth.

On the other hand, we Lutherans get accused of being rather half-hearted about the works that we do. We go to church. We go to school or work. We come home, eat dinner, and talk with the family. We do homework and chores. “It’s all so ordinary,” some will say. “Where are the good works?”

Our answer is simple: good works are those things done in faith that serve your neighbor in need. And who is a closer neighbor who needs your good works than family members, co-workers, or friends? Good works are works that God has given you to do within the various vocations or stations in life that God has given you. If He’s given you to go to church, and He has, it is pleasing in His sight. If He has given you to be a student, then doing your homework is a good work that God has given you to do. If you have a job, then going to work and doing your job is a good work, because that is what God has given you to do. If He’s given you kids, then feeding and clothing and disciplining them is a good work.

Sure, it all looks ordinary because that’s how God has ordered things to keep the world going ordinarily. So why would God say, “Here’s what I’ve given you to do, so now go do something different to be good”?

So, do good works. Not because you have to, but because Jesus has set you free to. Once again, beware of favoritism. God gives people different gifts and stations, and some need more help than others. You’ll always want to help those who are friendly, nice, clean, and able to return the favor. You’ll want to help those who can help you. But our Lord would have us to help those in need, even as He has helped us undesirable sinners in our greatest need.

Do good works, then! But be careful that you don’t trust in them. They’re less trustworthy than you think. For instance, put yourself in the position of a pastor of a church located in southwest Minnesota. People drop by with stories: they’re passing through to visit a sick relative and need money for gas or a hotel room. Do you help them?

First, consider: if they’re telling the truth, it’s good to help them. If they’re not, you’re encouraging them to continue to lie and steal by rewarding them for their efforts. So it is good to help them? Without spending the next week on an investigation or being a mind reader, you can’t know for sure, can you?

Or how about your intentions? Would good intentions make it a good work? If you intend to help someone or glorify God, it has to be a good work, no matter how it turns out, right?

St. Paul would disagree. Before his conversion, he zealously persecuted Christians. At the time, he thought he was serving the Lord, but years later, recalling those actions, Paul said he did “not even deserve to be called an apostle” (1 Corinthians 15:9), and he called himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Or what if you don’t feel like doing good? Would it still be a good work then? Should a Christian “force himself” to display his faith by showing love even if his heart isn’t in it?

St. Paul advises: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (6:7-10).

As Christians, we do have to consciously put off the old sinful nature and put on our new nature in Christ and discipline ourselves to do what is right and true, even if we don’t feel like it. How else would Paul’s admonitions to put off the old self, corrupted by deceitful desires, and put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness make sense? Agape love is not a sentimental kind but a determined, willed love.

I could cite many more examples of where the lines get blurred in our daily life of loving our neighbor, but I will simply say this: do good works. Do good works, but rejoice that you’re saved by God’s grace in Christ, not by your good works or your intentions or your ability to read the intentions of others. Rejoice always to receive forgiveness through God’s means of grace because God gives you faith and life in Christ in His Word and Sacraments. From there, good works will follow, many of which you will be totally unaware of until the Day of Judgment (Matthew 25:31- 40).

For this is true: God shows no partiality but has given His Son to die for all. You can be certain that you are not excluded from that redemption. When you were baptized as one among all nations, Jesus said, “I baptize you.” When you heard the Absolution today, Jesus said, “I forgive you all of your sins.” And week after week, He gives His body and blood for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. And so your Savior shows no partiality or partial forgiveness. By His grace, you have been made His child. For His sake, you are forgiven of all of your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.