Untitled Sermon

James (Bridging Contexts)

Let money carry the day, let the sacred office be given to one who came but yesterday with white feet into our city. For no god is held in such reverence among us as wealth, even though you, evil money, have no temple of your own, as yet we have raised no altars to money in the fashion that we worship Peace and Honor, Victory and Virtue, or Concord.

Juvenal: Satire

James 5:1–11 ESV

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Don’t Love Money

James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”

THis section deals with the wealthy, which can make us feel like it’s not about us. But is that true?

America is the 5th richest country in the world based off of median income.

The median income for the entire world, then is $5,621.54 for the year.

I don’t know much about your parent’s finances, but I know that they make more than that.

Beyond that, if you have food in your fridge at home, you have more than many people in the world.

We are the rich, this passage is about us!

Money Consumes, Don’t Let it!

We as a society have made money the most important thing, but this passage is pretty clear that money is all consuming.

Let money carry the day, let the sacred office be given to one who came but yesterday with white feet into our city. For no god is held in such reverence among us as wealth, even though you, evil money, have no temple of your own, as yet we have raised no altars to money in the fashion that we worship Peace and Honor, Victory and Virtue, or Concord.

Juvenal: Satires

In this passage, wealth isn’t actually the problem, it’s we do with it and what it does to us.

The wealthy in this passage weren’t in trouble because they had money, it was because they took advantage of people and didn’t help others when they needed it.

So, work to make money less important in your life.

Don’t go for a career just because it pays well.

Don’t make getting stuff the best part of the holidays

Help people, or at least acknowledge them.

Making wealth the most important thing is crazy, because it all goes away eventually.

Wait Patiently

We switch pretty drastically from talking about wealth to talking about being patient.

Essentially, we are told about how we don’t need to hoard wealth because Jesus is coming, and then we start talking about waiting for Christ to come.

Jesus is coming back, so live your life waiting for Him.

Every thing you do should be done with the expectation that Christ is coming back.

We wait like a farmer waiting for his crops to grow

Eagerly and patiently

Eagerly, because you want Christ to come back, we want to be free of sin.

Patiently, because we know that God works in His timing and He has a reason for not doing it yet.

Difficulties and suffering are a part of waiting.

In our waiting, you’re going to have difficulty, but that’s part of waiting for God,

In fact, a lot of times, our suffering leads us to growth.

Forgive

Christians are supposed to be forgiving people.

God is the one who judges who is right and who is wrong, we’re supposed to forgive them.

Even when they don’t ask for it.

This doesn’t mean let people walk all over you. Keep good boundaries, but forgive them.

We can forgive because Christ forgave us.