The Glory of the Low Place
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
“He who dies with the most toys wins.”
Diagram the Logic:
(v. 9-11)
Lots of clarifying details.
about the flower of the grass
about withering and perishing
(v. 9-10)
“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation
and the rich in his humiliation...
b/c he will pass away.”
Contrast:
lowly brother v. rich
exaltation v. humiliation
(v. 11)
How We View Our Circumstances
How We View Our Circumstances
(Timer: ___ minutes left)
(Usually between 8:15 and 12:30 to get to 1st point)
Who are “the rich”?
Believers or non-believers?
“the lowly BROTHER”
next phrase, “the rich”
“lowly” - could mean poor in context of “rich”
Yet, the word used here is often related to the person’s significance (as perceive by the world).
Many commentators don’t see the merit in the position of seeing the rich as unbelievers here.
B/c to do so,
James’ words would be dripping with satire and irony...
as he tells them to BOAST in their coming judgment.
Now, while James packs a punch in this book,
that seems a bit to far for most commentators.
One footnote: James 5, where he tells the rich to “weep and wail of their coming judgment”.
There does seem to an indication of those being outside of the people of God.
But still, not certainly.
Remember who he is writing to...
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
These people were forced to leave their homes...
flee to surrounding areas...
and start over.
“tough financial situations as well as social dislocation and even ostracism.”
“Count in all joy, my brothers...”
“Modern materialism and consumerism often quietly or cynically mock spirituality; material self-gratification when denied only serves to occasion further doubts about God.” (Cain H. Felder)
App. God is no longer good
I must be doing something wrong.
My struggle couldn’t possibly be in God’s plan for my life.
Tim Keller:
James is teaching, the greatest trouble is to have no trouble. The greatest spiritual trial is to have no trial. The greatest trouble is to have no troubles. That’s the biggest spiritual danger there is. The greatest spiritual danger is a lack of danger. The greatest spiritual trial is a lack of trial. The greatest spiritual trouble is no troubles at all.
App. Deceptive nature of our wealth
Blomberg
“How many of us have fallen so in love with this world that, if we knew we were to die tonight,
we would experience genuine sorrow because of missed opportunities for various earthly pleasures?”
How We View Ourselves
How We View Ourselves
(Timer: How much time left?)
Both to the Rich and the Poor
The Rich is obvious.
Don’t think too highly of yourself.
The poor is not so obvious.
Think of yourself in light of God’s work in your life.
Overestimate yourself
Overestimate your importance
Overestimate your longevity
“boast not in his wealth or his elevated social position...
but in his identification with Christ and his people,
a matter of “humiliation” in the eyes of the world.”
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
“Believers must look beyond the world’s evaluation to understand who they are and look to God’s view of them.” (Douglas Moo)
Other people in James’ family:
The Virgin Mary prophesied the lifting up of the humble and the throwing down...
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Jesus’ teaching...
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"blessed are both the economically marginalized and those who trust in God as their only hope.”
Jesus’ parables, the rich fool (Lk 12:13–21) and the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31)
stand out as illustrating the danger of thinking one is a part of God’s covenant community
only to find oneself worshiping riches instead of God.
Keller:
You have hitched your heart to something that fades, so that when it fades, you fade with it. (Tim Keller)
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
App. Pride
Shame/Embarrassment
How We View Our Life and Eternity
How We View Our Life and Eternity
(Timer: How much time left?)
App. Transient nature of our wealth.
Setting our heart on things that will pass away...
fade away
Be destroyed.
Eschatological view
A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Jesus’ teaching of
The Rich Man and Lazarus… "promises spiritual, eschatological compensation for abject poverty among God’s people in this world. (Craig Blomberg)
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
ILL. People in Third World countries.
Meet them on missions trips.
They have very little wealth and means.
Yet, they overflow in the joy of the Lord.
** On Communion Sunday...
If after 10:30,
go straight to the Lord’s Supper.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
Benediction:
Benediction:
