August 17, 2025 Faith That Shows Up James 2:1-13 VIP’s Only
Faith That Shows Up: VIPs Only
James 2:1-13
Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins
August 17, 2025
My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality. 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 and say, “Have a seat here in a good place, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,” 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 person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into the courts? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 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 do not commit adultery but 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; mercy triumphs over judgment.
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I’ve done a little bit of traveling over the summer, which means I flew on a couple of different airlines. I don’t often think about my standing in society . . . that is, until it’s time to board an airplane, when I’m almost always at the back of the line, which means I board last, which means I’m walking through the comfortably seated passengers in first-class drinking their Jack and Coke snarling at the rest of us low lifes as we make our way to the back of the plane to find our seat right in front of the rear lavatory.
This got me wondering: what if getting into heaven was like boarding an airplane? So if you’re willing to run a little simulation with this scenario, I’d like to invite everyone to stand, and when I call out your category for boarding the plane bound for heaven, you may sit down.
Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 777 with service to Heaven.
· We are now inviting those passengers with small children to board.
· Those requiring special assistance may begin boarding at this time.
· Any unaccompanied minors may now board flight 777 to Heaven.
· I’d like to invite all active-duty military to board.
· And now those customers who hold the Heavenly Discover Card are invited to board.
· Those Gold Star passengers with perfect church attendance throughout their lives may now board flight 777 with service to Heaven.
· Premier Silver passengers who’ve read the Bible through every year may now board.
· All remaining schmucks, er, passengers may now board.
No worries! I’m right there with the rest of you schmucks, er, passengers!
There are VIPs in the airline industry, there are VIPs with box seats in theaters and sports arenas, there are VIPs at concerts with their backstage passes, there are VIPs at restaurants and hotels, and there are VIPs in heaven and in churches, including Chapel by the Sea. The only difference is that in heaven and here at Chapel by the Sea is . . . everyone is a VIP! Therefore, Chapel by the Sea is for VIPs Only! The good news is, you’re a VIP, and you’re a VIP and you’re a VIP and you’re a VIP . . . we’re all VIPs!
Everyone flies first-class in God’s kingdom. The only boarding pass we need for God’s kingdom? A heartbeat.
How can I claim this as truth? Well, it better be the truth, because James admonishes his first-century readers to make it the truth in the section of his letter we read together earlier.
THE TEMPTATION TO PLAY FAVORITES (vv. 1-4)
In verse one James writes: “Do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality.” In other words, stated in reverse order, if we are prone to showing partiality, we cannot claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The problem is, it’s human nature to play favorites. James presents a scenario we all recognize—the well-dressed visitor gets the VIP treatment while the poorly dressed one gets the leftover seat. Sound familiar?
I’ve heard of churches who hire actors to come to worship dressed as vagabonds, who then report back to the church how they were treated. Because of our location, we are blessed to receive lots of different kinds of people here at Chapel by the Sea . . . we don’t need to hire anyone to play some kind of role. I am so proud of how I’ve witnessed the people of this church treat everyone with love and respect and dignity. I mean, why wouldn’t that be true since everyone here is a VIP?
Several years ago, when I was a campus minister at the University of Georgia, I had the pleasure of participating in the interfaith campus ministers association. There was a Jewish rabbi in the group who became a friend, and he taught me something I’ll never forget. The conversation that day was about tolerance . . . tolerance for people whether it be religious difference or racial difference or difference of sexual orientation or socioeconomic difference. I’ll never forget what he said: “As a Jewish person, I don’t want to be tolerated . . . I want to be accepted.”
Do you see the difference? I can find myself tolerating all manner of people, but acceptance? That’s a much higher bar, isn’t it? Tolerance says, “I’ll put up with you.” Acceptance says “I’m genuinely glad you’re here.”
James calls us beyond tolerance toward radical acceptance.
So the first question for us to consider this morning is this: where do we still have “premium seating” in our hearts? Are there individuals or groups of people we tolerate, but haven’t gotten to a place of radical acceptance? People who look different, think different, smell different, vote different?
The first call is to check our judgments.
Where we still have premium seating in our hearts, Jesus doesn’t have full access. James challenges us to examine our hearts, to follow in the way of Christ by learning to truly accept all God’s children.
GOD’S UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM (vv. 5-7)
James takes it a step further, beyond acceptance and inclusion, to offer an alternative system . . . an “upside-down kingdom” if you will, where the poor are given preferential treatment. Listen again to verse 5:
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?
This is one of the verses that forms the theological concept called the “preferential option for the poor” which is a central element of Catholic social teaching and beyond. In essence, the preferential option for the poor is rooted in the belief that God has a special concern for the disadvantaged, and followers of Christ are called to emulate this concern through acts of compassion, justice, and solidarity. God’s heart is for the poor; ours should be as well.
Here’s the truth: God’s VIP list looks nothing like ours. Society favors the wealthy, but wealth and faith often move in opposite directions.
So the second question James prompts us to consider is this: are there any ways that wealth, comfort, or privilege have moved us in opposite ways of the gospel? Is there any sense of “I deserve this, but another person does not” based on where they were born or decisions they’ve made?
With that, the second call is to check our privilege.
When privilege moves us away from people, it’s moved us away from Jesus. We must check our privilege in order to have a faith that shows up.
THE ROYAL LAW (vv. 8-11)
After calling us to check our judgments and check our privilege, James introduces the “royal law”—the king’s command that creates the ultimate VIP principle: everyone gets first-class treatment.
Listen again to verse 8:
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
This isn’t just any law—it’s the “royal law,” the supreme command that governs God’s kingdom. “Love your neighbor as yourself” has no fine print, no exceptions, no boarding groups based on status. It’s the golden rule elevated to royal decree.
James makes a crucial point in verses 10-11—one that’s hard to hear and possibly difficult to accept. Listen again, but this time in The Message version:
You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.
Breaking the law of love anywhere breaks it everywhere.
Think of it like this: if you’re faithful to your spouse in every way except one, are you faithful? If you’re honest in every area except your taxes, are you honest? James says the same principle applies to love—partial love isn’t royal law love.
The royal law demands consistent love, not selective kindness. We can’t love our wealthy neighbors while merely tolerating our poor ones. We can’t welcome some with open arms while giving others the spiritual equivalent of middle seats in the back row.
In the words of Father Thomas Merton: “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.”
The third question James prompts us to consider is this: is our love consistently applied to all people, or do we pick and choose whom we love based on merit or pedigree or performance?
So James issues a third call: check our love. Is your love like the “royal law,” treating everyone as a VIP? Or is your love selective, playing favorites based on appearance, wealth, or social status?
When we embrace the royal law, we discover that God’s kingdom really is for VIPs only—and every single human qualifies for that status.
MERCY WINS (vv. 12-13)
James concludes with both warning and hope—we’ll be judged by how we judge others, but mercy has the final word. Let’s read verses 12 & 13 again:
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; mercy triumphs over judgment.
This phrase, “the law of liberty” is interesting, isn’t it? Our law is one of freedom, not restrictions. Freedom comes not from the absence of rules, but from following the right rule: love without limits. When we love as God loves, we’re truly free.
In God’s courtroom, mercy gets the final word. Grace overcomes judgment. Love wins over law.
Several years ago, a mega church pastor by the name of Rob Bell published a book entitled Love Wins, in which he proffered that all God’s children are covered by God’s love and will find a place in heaven. He lost his job because of that book. Apparently there were folks in his church that didn’t want to spend eternity with the “undesirables.” These folks preferred a law where judgment prevails rather than mercy, so they canned their pastor for saying something that contradicted their desire for lots of folks to spend eternity in an eternal pit of flames called “hell.”
Make no mistake: I’m with Bell on this one. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for all people. Period. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what you’ve done. I don’t care what religion you profess or if you believe in a God at all. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for all people. Period.
To be fair, this theology isn’t a great money-maker. Fear-based religion is far more lucrative than a love-based religion. If you can get people scared of spending eternity in hell, and you tell them they have to give up their money in the form of a tithe in order to avoid burning for eternity, you can build up a little lucrative religious kingdom and maybe have four or five luxury cars and with enough charisma and a great smile, you might even get your own private jet. Fear sells. Fear-based religion pays well. Love-based religion changes the world.
Fear-based religion is the complete opposite of who I believe God to be, based on reason, scripture, tradition and experience. And if James, the very half-brother of Jesus were to weigh in (which he does!), James might say it once more for the people in the back: “mercy triumphs over judgment!” Mercy triumphs over judgment—that’s not wishful thinking, that’s God’s economy.
So the fourth question James prompts us to consider is this: are we quick to extend grace or quick to pass judgment? Do we err on the side of inclusion or exclusion? Remember—mercy triumphs, but only if we practice it.
The fourth and final call James issues is this: check our mercy.
Conclusion: Everyone Flies First-Class
So here we are at the end of our boarding announcement for flight 777 to Heaven, and James has given us four calls to consider:
Check your judgments: Move from mere tolerance to radical acceptance
Check your privilege: Align your heart with God’s upside-down kingdom
Check your love: Practice the royal law consistently, not selectively
Check your mercy: Remember that grace gets the final word
The beautiful truth is this: in God’s kingdom, there’s no scarcity of love, no limited seating in first-class. The airplane boarding system works because scarcity creates value—limited first-class seats make them special. But God’s kingdom operates on abundance, not scarcity.
There are no middle seats, no cramped quarters next to the lavatory, no snarling passengers looking down on the rest of us schmucks. In God’s economy, mercy triumphs over judgment, love wins over law, and grace overcomes every barrier we try to construct.
Chapel by the Sea really is for VIPs only. And thanks be to God, that includes every single person who walks through these doors—as well as everyone who hasn’t yet walked through them. You don’t need a Gold Star membership or perfect church attendance. You don’t need to read through the Bible every year or hold some spiritual credit card.
Your boarding pass to heaven isn’t perfect church attendance—it’s being perfectly human.
The question isn’t whether you qualify—Jesus settled that on the cross.
The question is whether you’ll extend that same first-class treatment to others. Will you make sure everyone knows they’re a VIP? Will you help others find their place in God’s kingdom without checking their boarding group first?
So this week, practice a little heaven on earth. God settled your VIP status on the cross. Now extend that status to others. Treat everyone like the VIP God says they are. Love without limits. Show mercy without conditions. Welcome without prerequisites. If we do that, then we are practicing a faith that shows up.