A Community of Justice and Mercy
A Community of Justice and Mercy
- Greg Waybright
- James 2:8-13
- Examining Our Ways
- 44 mins 24 secs
- Views: 1435
Pastor's Letter
A Community of Justice and Mercy - Week 1
Micah 6:8 is a text known and valued by both churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike. In fact, it was the passage used by Presidents Warren Harding and Jimmy Carter when they took the presidential oath of office. It is usually translated this way:
Micah 6:8 is a text known and valued by both churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike. In fact, it was the passage used by Presidents Warren Harding and Jimmy Carter when they took the presidential oath of office. It is usually translated this way:
He (the LORD) has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
In that verse, three powerful challenges are brought together:
1. Act Justly – The word "justly" has to do with doing what is right in the midst of a world in which everything has gone wrong. It is rooted in the character of God, the only One who is "right" in every way. One of the pieces of good news we discover in the New Testament is that, although each of us has fallen short of what is right, on the basis of faith in Jesus, we are declared right with God. More than that, God begins a process that, when he is finished, will result in our lives' being right with him in every way.
2. Love Mercy – The word translated "mercy" is one of the most beloved in the Bible. It is "hesed," the covenant of abiding love that God makes to his people. The one who loves mercy is a person who loves to restore relationships with others in spite of their sin. God loves mercy. However, how can God show mercy to sinful people and still be just? We will see today that God loves mercy so much that he found a way to punish what is wrong in us in order to bring us back to himself. This mercy came at a great personal cost to him.
3. Walk humbly with God – This is a beautiful statement of relationship. It means to walk "side by side" with our just and merciful God. When we do, the only attitude that we possibly can have is one of humble gratitude.
Today, in James 2:8–14, Pastor James of the 1st Church of Jerusalem will teach us what life looks like when we obey Micah 6:8. As God acts with justice, while always loving mercy, so we who are his children must act justly and show mercy to others. We will be forced to own up to the fact that we have not always done this. However, I pray that we also may leave church convinced of the final truth that James gave his people in this passage, i.e.,
Mercy triumphs over judgment!
James 2:13
Thanks be to God!
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Study Notes
A Community of Justice and Mercy - Week 1 - Study Notes
English
A community of justice and mercy
James 2:8-13
During the two years between Pastor Kirk's leaving LAC and my coming, Pastor Denny Bellessi served in the role of Interim Weekend Teaching Pastor." Many people in our church have passed on to me that Denny often looked at us and said, "You are a piece of work."
Well, Denny was right. We are a piece of work, i.e., of God's work. I'm going to accept Denny's description of us as we meet for this first weekend of Lent. Lent is new to many of us – though Christians have been remembering it for centuries. During Lent, we do what we should always do as those whose lives are being re-made through faith in Jesus but in whom there is still much work for Jesus to do. The difference in doing this at Lent is that for these next six weeks, we will be looking specifically at our lives in the light of Jesus' crucifixion. We know he went there to pay for our sins. And, we know that, when we trust Jesus, he promises not only to forgive us of our sins but also to remake us into people whose lives someday will be free from sin altogether. Someday, we will be complete in Christ.
But, there is still a lot of renovating work for God to do. We are all pieces of God's work. God will finish what he has started in us. God promises that. But, during these weeks, we will focus week by week on parts of our lives and ask God to do a fresh work in us – setting us free from sin so that our lives will glorify him. And, this Lenten Season, 2014, we will let Pastor James of the 1st Church in Jerusalem be our teacher and guide. For the next six weeks, we will find James' message located in God's Word helping us examine our actions, our words, our hearts, and our relationships. As we have learned over the past two months, James will be quite direct in all he writes.
Today, we will start by letting him tell us that we grow to become complete in Christ by being deeply involved in a Christ-obeying, God-glorifying community called the local church. We will not find victory over temptation and trials in this world unless we are connected to the family God has planted in neighborhoods throughout our world, families like this one we call the Lake Avenue Church.
What I want us to see today is that the kind of church in which "pieces of work" (like we are) can become God's finished and beautiful work must be a certain kind of community. Put very simply, the kind of church in which God does his work in people's lives must be a community that blends justice and mercy. I'll tell you right now that it's not easy for a group of imperfect people to be committed both to justice and mercy. This can happen only through the teaching of God's Word and the power of God's Holy Spirit. Today, as I talk with us about this, I am intentionally standing behind the communion table. Why? Because it is on the cross that we see the place where God's justice and mercy meet.
#1: A Community of Justice -- People with a seriousness about pleasing God.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful (2:12-13a).
The verses we are looking at this weekend are not very popular ones in our day because we don't like all this talk about God saying:
1) There are ways he has created us to live and therefore commands us to live,
2) That when we don't live the way God commands us to live, it is sin and
3) That sin will be judged.
When I put it that clearly, does it hit you that Southern Californians in general would not like what James is saying? Well, 1st C Jewish Christians didn't seem to like it much either.
Some people are confused about what James is saying here so let me walk you through it. James has just been saying that if we will glorify God, then we dare not show partiality to any human being. We dare not show favoritism simply because a person is wealthy or successful and we dare not discriminate against a person simply because he is poor and unsuccessful (in the world's eyes). James used very strong words about this even saying that we "become judges with evil thoughts" (2:4) when we discriminate.
With that in mind, Pastor James seems to anticipate getting notes or emails saying, "Why are you making such a big deal out of such a small thing, Pastor? It's not like we're committing adultery or murder." To this he replies, "You remember what our King over all kings, our Lord Jesus taught, don't you?" He said that all the Ten Commandments of God can be boiled down to two, i.e., love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself. The first half of the 10 Commands tells us how to love God and the second half tells us how to love neighbors. If you don't recognize the image of God in all people and discriminate against people, you break both halves – you transgress the heart of God's royal law! See vv.8-9: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
James' words are a very Jewish way of saying, "It is this so it cannot be that." Here's the formula:
It is this: If you love by showing no partiality, you do what is right.
Therefore: If you are partial to people, you are doing what is wrong.
James is saying powerfully the same thing I often try to preach here, i.e., when we trust Jesus, we follow him. We become committed to having our whole lives obeying God. As Paul put it, "We no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:15)" and "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20)." When we believe that, then we don't say, "Well, I keep a part of what he asks for but not the rest." No, we know that everything he asks of us is to be obeyed. We are serious about obeying God. At the heart of what God calls for is to love people as Jesus loves people.
So, the kind of church that James is calling for is one that takes obedience to God seriously. We know that evil does great harm. If evil is not judged and punished, there is no real justice. And we know that God has promised that, when he has finished his work, his world will be a just world in which evil has been punished and no longer does harm. So, we will seek justice when things are wrong because God is just.
We fear only one thing, i.e., we fear disobeying God. That fear takes away all other fears.
Being a community of justice means that we are committed:
1) To confronting wrongs and evils when we recognize them and
2) To doing personally what is good and right – as determined by God.
God alone is fully just. But, when we see things in ourselves, in our church and in our world that are not right, we take them seriously. When we do, we become a church that prays for one another, encourages one another, corrects one another and holds one another accountable as we seek together to glorify God.
Any community in which Jesus is the Lord will be growing toward becoming a community of justice. According to James, one of the clearest indicators that God is doing his work in us will be that we will not discriminate against anyone made in God's image.
#2: A Community of Mercy – Mercy needing people who have found mercy offering mercy to other mercy needing people. Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment (2:13).
The term mercy has two general and closely related meanings both in James' language and in our own:
1. A kindness that flows into acts of compassion for those in distress.
2. A willingness to do almost anything to establish, maintain or restore a relationship.
I think that Pastor James had received news that some of his church people were failing to be merciful in both of those ways. They were ignoring people in their community who were in distress (see 1:27). And, they were refusing to enter into a relationship with some who wanted to be a part of the church family. Sadly, they excluded this group solely on the basis of external appearances (2:1-7).
So, James addresses this in the way that any good pastor must do it, i.e., by pointing out that in the eyes of God, what they were doing was wrong. "And," says Pastor James, "the sin is serious." He doesn't sugarcoat the sin. He doesn't say, "Well, others are worse. And, I know life is hard for you so you can be excused for what you're doing. After all, you're the victims because you're being mistreated yourself." No, James calls their prejudice a serious sin and he warns them in the most sobering terms imaginable: Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.
By saying this, James is simply re-phrasing what his brother Jesus had said in his Sermon on the Mount, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." Jesus had declared that one of the surest ways that we can know that we have fallen upon God's grace and received his forgiveness is that we forgive those who seek forgiveness. James is saying that, if we have fallen upon the mercy of God and found that he is merciful to us, then we will show the same mercy to those who seek it. The Bible's warning is clear and sobering: If there are people you refuse to reconcile with, to enter into relationship with or to forgive, you are in danger before God. Failure to show mercy is a sure sign that you have never received it.
I'm sure that when James' words were read in church, many people felt a deep conviction for their sin. They may have even felt a sense of hopelessness. If James' words are true, then it would seem that is no hope for any of us. All of us have broken God's laws. All of us have been unloving toward others. If God is just and must forgive evil – and I have engaged in evil – then where do I find hope?
Do not miss what James declares in his last sentence in this section (v.13). He simply and concisely says, "Mercy triumphs over judgment!"
Scholars have debated endlessly about what James means here. Is he simply demanding that his people stop making judgments about people based on external appearances? Is he saying "You must stop judging people and you must let mercy triumph over judgment"? Or, is he offering his people hope – reminding them that God's mercy toward us has found a way to triumph over the judgment we require for our sins?
Let me tell you how I read the verse. In v. 13a, James cites a maxim. By doing so, he says, "This is the way that God has established the world, i.e., that genuine mercy finds ways to triumph over judgment." And, with that in mind, this is exactly what God has done. We have all sinned – and we do it by not loving people. But, the nature of God is that his mercy triumphs over judgment. And, a church in which Jesus reigns will be committed to doing the same, i.e., to finding ways to have mercy triumph over judgment. That means that even when we feel people are messed up or that they have wronged us, we will seek find a way to show mercy in ways similar to the way God does it. In other words, we will not ignore injustice or evil. We will be a community of justice. But, we will find a way to forgive and restore.
I was talking with Matt Barnes about this last week, and he challenged me with this question: What will a community of justice and mercy look like when God is working in us?
• We will have times in our worship or smaller gathering when we come broken because we have become aware of sin that is not yet dealt with
• We will have people in our smaller groups holding us accountable to live holy lives – with seriousness but without pride.
• We will experience times in church when we must engage in discipline – but it always will have the goal of restoration. We will see people who have at one point acknowledged their sin later being restored to fellowship and service because – mercy triumphs over judgment.
• We will discover that people in the world, who know their lives need to change but don't know how to change, will come because they will hear stories of change in our lives
• We will love to receive communion together because we will know that the cross is where justice and mercy come together – and that brings us to communion today.
When we receive communion, we recognize how God has found a way to be just and merciful at the same time. There can be no justice if evil is not judged. And God has declared that he personally will see that sin does not go unpunished. God declared, Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord (Rom. 12:19). At the same time, God declares that "there is no condemnation – no judgment – for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1)." But, we all have sinned and the payment due for sin is death (Rom 3:23; 6:23). So today, at this communion table, we are grateful because we know that God has declared us to be right with him. But, we have a question: How is it possible that God can both be just and justify sinners?
That's what we remember at this table. God himself came into the world and bore the punishment for our sins. God is just so evil will be judged. God is merciful so he has found a way to bring us into a relationship with him. Hear the words of 1: Peter 2:22-24: Jesus committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
At communion today, we remember: Mercy triumphs over judgment!
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
title="Chinese
在Kirk牧師離開LAC而我還沒有來之間的兩年裡,Denny Bellessi牧師承擔了過渡期教導牧師的角色。我們教會裡的許多人告訴我,Denny牧師經常看著我們說:“你們夠特別。”
Denny是對的。我們的確夠特別,是神特別的作品。在大齋節的第一個週末我們見面的時候,我會接受Denny的這個說法。大齋節對很多人來說比較陌生——儘管基督徒守這個節已經幾百年了。在大齋節期間,我們總是做一些該做的事,就像生命因著在基督裡的信心被改變的人一樣,在基督裡我們總有很多工作要做。在大齋節裡,我們所做的與平時不太一樣的是,在接下來的六個星期裡,我們將特別看一看耶穌十架受難給我們生活帶來的亮光。我們知道,他為我們的罪上了十字架。並且我們知道,當我們信耶穌,他應許不僅赦免我們的罪,也改造我們的生命,讓我們有一天一起從罪中得釋放。有一天,我們會在基督裡成為完全。 但是,神還要做許多修復的工作。我們都是神的作品。神會完成在我們身上已經開始的工作。神是如此應許的。但是,在這幾個星期,我們將一星期一星期聚焦在我們生命中的各個部分,求神來做更新我們的工作——讓我們從罪中得釋放,以使我們能夠榮耀祂。在今年的大齋節期間,我們將請耶路撒冷第一個教會的雅各牧師做我們的老師和引導。接下來六個星期,我們將會發現雅各的信息裡所包含神的話語,這些話語會幫助我們檢查我們的行為、我們的言語、我們的心以及我們的關係。就像過去的兩個月我們所知道的,雅各在他的著作裡總是非常直截了當。 今天,我們將請他告訴我們,我們要通過積極服事順服基督、榮耀神的社區(稱為本地教會)來成長完全。除非我們與神在這個世界所建立的家庭(就像LAC)建立聯繫,我們就不能勝過這個世界的試煉和試探。 今天我想讓大家看到,在神完成的、美好的作品(就像我們)中的那種教會,應該是什么样的社區。簡單來說,如果這個教會是神在人生活中的工作,它必定是一個充滿公正和怜悯的社區。而這只能通過神的話語和聖靈的大能才能實現。今天,當我和大家說這些的時候,我特意站在聖餐桌的後面。為什麼?因為在十字架上,我們可以看到神的公義與怜悯的交匯。
#1: 一個正義的社區– 人們对討神的喜悅存认真的心。 你們既然要按使人自由的律法受審判,就該照這律法說話行事。因為那不憐憫人的,也要受無憐憫的審判(2:12-13a)。 我們正在看的這些經文,在如今不是非常流行,因為我們不喜歡談論神的這些話: 1) 祂創造我們,讓我們活著,因此祂吩咐我們要按照某些方式活著, 2) 當我們不按照神吩咐我們的方式去生活,這是犯罪,並且 3) 犯罪要受審判。 我這麼明白地說,對普遍南加州的人來說是不是當頭一棒,雅各的話聽來不悅耳?其實,第一世紀的基督徒並不見的就喜歡一樣。 有些人對雅各的話覺得有些費解。雅各只是說如果要榮耀神,那麼我們就不敢對任何人偏心。我們不敢只是從人的財富和成功來偏愛一方。我們不敢因為人窮或者沒有什麼成就( 在人的眼裡)而歧視人。雅各用極重的話说如果我們歧視人,就是"用惡意斷定人"。 你可能會說,"有必要在這麼小的事上弄出那麼大的動靜嗎?又不是犯姦淫,謀殺這麼的罪?"雅各牧師的回答是:"記得神的十誡裡面,歸根結底兩條誡命,盡心盡意愛主你的神,並愛人如己。誡命的前面一半告訴我們怎樣愛神,後面一半告訴我們怎樣愛人。如果你不認為所有的人都是按照神的形像被造的,歧視人的話,前後兩半的律法就都違背了-你違背了神心中至尊的律法!看8-9節: 經上記著說:" 要愛人如己。 "你們若全守這至尊的律法才是好的。但你們若按外貌待人,便是犯罪,被律法定為犯罪的。 雅各的話帶著濃郁的猶太人的風格。 "你們若...才是...但你們若...便是... " 方程式是這樣的: 是:如果你的愛是不偏心待人,就對了。 便是:所以你待人偏心,便是做不對的事。 雅各強調的,也是我常常在教會講道中竭力要傳達的就是,當我們信靠耶穌,那就跟隨耶穌。我們全人委身來順服神。如保羅這樣描寫,"不再為自己活,乃為替他們死裡復活的主活(林後5:15)",另一處經文"我已經與基督同釘十字架,現在活著的,不再是我,乃是基督在我裡面活著,並且我如今在肉體活著,是因信神的兒子而活,他是愛我,為我捨己(加2:20)。"當我們如此相信,就不會說," 可是,我遵行祂要求的一部分,但不是全部。"不行的,我們知道凡是神所說的都要遵行。我們認真對待順服神這件事。神的心呼召我們的乃是向祂那樣去愛人。 因此,雅各所呼召我們的教會,認真對待順服神。我們知道邪惡破壞的影響力之大,若是邪惡不得審判和懲罰,就沒有真正的公義。我們知道神應許,當他的工作完成的時候,這個世界將會有公正,罪惡受到懲罰, 不再造成傷害。因此我們尋求撥亂反正,因為神是公義的。 唯一讓我們懼怕的乃是我們對神的不順服。這樣的敬畏會代替一切的懼怕。 成為一個公義的社區團體意味著我們委身與: 1) 意識到過錯和發現罪惡的事,便正視面對,並且 2) 在神看為良善和正確的事,親自去行。 只有神是完全公正的。但當我們看到自己,教會以及身處的世界有不對之處,我們認真對待。這樣做的時候,我們就成為一個彼此代禱的教會,相互鼓勵,糾正,彼此督促負責,一起尋求榮耀神。 任何以耶穌為主的社區團體,就會越來越長成滿有公義的身量。按照雅各說的,神在我們身上工作的一個最清楚的標誌之一是我們不歧視任何按著神形像被造的人。
#2:一個充滿憐憫的社區團體– 需要憐憫的人找到憐憫,同時成為施憐憫與需要憐憫的人。 因為那不憐憫人的,也要受無憐憫的審判;憐憫原是向審判誇勝。 ( 2:13 ) 。 用雅各和我們的語言,憐憫這個術語有兩個普遍和緊密相關的意義: 1。良善的心,對身處困境的人,流露出同情人的行動。 2。願意的心,願意做任何的事來建立,維護並恢復與人的關係。 我想是雅各牧師得到消息,他的一些教會中一些人未能在這兩個方面存憐憫的心。他們忽略社區中的一些人處在患難之中(見1:27 ) 。而且,他們拒絕和其中一些想要成為教會大家庭中的一部分人建立關係。可悲的是,他們只是憑著人的外貌,排擠這一組人( 2:1-7 )。 所以,針對這一點,雅各牧師採取的方式,也是每一個好牧者必須要做的,就是指出在上帝的眼中,他們做的事是錯的。 “而且,”雅各牧師說,“這罪是嚴重的。 ”他不粉飾罪惡。他沒有說, “好吧,其他人更糟糕。而且,我知道你生活的難處,所以可以原諒自己所做的。畢竟,你是個受害者,因為你自己也受到不公正的待遇”不,雅各說他們的偏見是嚴重的罪,他警告他們,令人深省:因為那不憐憫人的,也要受無憐憫的審判。 雅各這樣說是在轉述他的兄弟耶穌的登山寶訓:“免我們的債,如同我們免了人的債。” 耶穌宣布了一個可以知道我們在神的恩典之下並獲得了饒恕的最肯定的方法,就是我們饒恕那些尋求饒恕的人。雅各是在說,如果我們在神的憐憫之下並發現祂是憐憫我們的,那麼我們要向尋求憐憫的人表現出同樣的憐憫。聖經的警告是明確且發人深省的:如果還有一些人你拒絕與他們和好、建立關係或給予原諒,那麼你在神面前是危險的。無法施予憐憫是從未獲得憐憫的明確標誌。 我敢肯定,當雅各的話在教會被宣讀的時候,很多人都深感自己被定了罪。甚至會有一絲絕望感。如果雅各的話是真的,那麼我們每個人似乎都沒了希望。我們都違背了神的律法。我們都沒有以愛待人。如果神是公義的,又是必須饒恕罪惡的--我在罪惡之中--那麼我的希望在哪裡? 千萬不要錯過雅各在本段(第13節)的最後一句話。他簡單明了地說,“憐憫原是向審判誇勝!” 對於雅各在這裡所表達的意思學者們一直爭論不休。難道他只是在要求人們停止按照外在樣式來判斷人?難道他是在說:“你們必須停止審判人,你們必須讓憐憫勝過審判”?或者,他是在給予人們希望--提醒他們神對我們的憐憫,已經找到了一種方法來勝過定我們罪的審判? 讓我來告訴你們我是怎樣理解這句經文的。在13節中,雅各引用了一句格言。他藉此說,“這是神建立世界的方式,即,真正的憐憫有辦法勝過審判。”而且,記住這一點,這正是神所做的。我們都犯了罪--我們不愛人。但是,神的本質是:祂的憐憫勝過審判。而且,一個耶穌掌權的教會也將致力於此,也就是說,要想方設法讓憐憫勝過審判。這意味著,即使我們覺得人們做錯了或者冤枉了我們,我們也要去尋求方法給予他們憐憫和寬恕,正如神所做的那樣。換句話說,我們不會無視不義和邪惡。我們是正義的團體。但是,我們會找到一種方法來寬恕和修復。 上週我和Matt Barnes談到這個,他用這個問題向我質疑:當神在我們中間做工時,一個公義憐憫的團體應該是什麼樣的? • 我們在參加敬拜或小組聚會時會有這樣的時刻,我們是不完全的,因為我們意識到有尚未處理的罪。 • 我們小組中會有人督促我們負責任地過聖潔的生活--認真嚴肅,卻不驕傲。 • 我們在教會中必須遵守紀律--永遠以修復重建為目標。我們會看到人們在某一時刻承認了他們的罪,然後又重新回到團契和服侍中來,因為--憐憫勝過審判。 • 我們會發現,世界上的一些人,他們知道自己的生活需要改變,卻又不知道如何改變,會來到這裡,因為他們會聽到關於我們生活中的改變的故事。 • 我們將樂意一起領受聖餐,因為我們知道,十字架是公義和憐憫結合在一起的地方--接下來是今天的聖餐儀式。 當我們領受聖餐時,我們認識到神是如何找到一種方法同時兼具公義和憐憫的。如果邪惡不得到審判就不可能有公義。神已經宣告,他不會讓罪逍遙法外。神也宣告,親愛的弟兄,不要自己伸冤,寧可讓步,聽憑主怒。因為經上記著:“主說,伸冤在我,我必報應。”(羅馬書12:19)與此同時,神宣告說:“如今在耶穌基督裡的,就不定罪了。”(羅馬書8:1)但是,我們都犯了罪,罪的工價乃是死(羅馬書3 :23; 6:23)。所以,今天,在這個聖餐桌上,我們感恩,因為我們知道,神已經宣告祂與我們同在。但是,我們有一個問題:神怎麼可能做到即是公義的同時又不定罪人的罪呢? 這就是我們要在這聖餐桌前記住的。神自己來到這個世界,並擔當了我們的罪。神是公義的,所以邪惡將被審判。神是憐憫的,所以祂找到了一種方法,使我們與他建立關係。請聽彼得前書2:22-24:祂並沒有犯罪,口裡也沒有詭詐。祂被罵不還口,受害不說威嚇的話。只將自己交託那按公義審判人的主。祂被掛在木頭上親身擔當了我們的罪,使我們既在罪上死,就得以在義上活。因祂受的鞭傷,你們便得了醫治。 今天領受聖餐時,我們要記住:憐憫原是向審判誇勝!
格雷格博士
主任牧师
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2014, Lake Avenue Church
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2014, Lake Avenue Church
Study Guide
A Community of Justice and Mercy - Week 1 - Study Guide
A Community of Justice and Mercy
James 2:8-13
- This week's passage in James is rooted in Micah 6:1–8. Read Micah 6:1–5. In what ways had God shown himself to be just and merciful in his dealings with his people in the past? (God mentioned two specific historic events in vv. 4 and 5.)
- How did the people respond to God's Word as recorded in Micah 6:6–7? How would you describe their attitude? What would this be like in our day?
- Micah 6:8 is one of the Bible's most beloved verses. Put each of its three-fold requirements into your own words:
• Act justly (or, to act in a way that brings about what is right)
• Love mercy (or, to long for restored relationship with someone)
• Walk humbly with God - God said that his own acts had demonstrated justice with mercy in Micah 6:8a. How have you experienced God's showing you justice mingled with mercy?
- In James 2:8–13, James says that, although the people might argue that they have never broken his commands by doing things like murder or adultery, they have done so by failing to keep the "royal law," i.e., to love your neighbor as yourself. How had they done this? (See 2:1–7.) How might we do this in our day?
- The sin of breaking the royal law should bring about judgment if justice will be done. But notice how James ended this section in v.13. How has God made mercy possible to those of us deserving justice for our sins? See Romans 3:21–26, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and 1 Peter 3:18 to guide you.
- What is the most important lesson you hope to apply to your life from this study?
2013 Study Series • Copyright © 2013, Lake Avenue Church