James 1:9-11 | The Rich Man’s Boast
Notes
Transcript
SERMON TITLE: The Rich Man’s Boast
SCRIPTURE: James 1:9-11 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 1-25-26
TURN MIC ON / WELCOME
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
And we’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. We’ll be in James chapter one today. James chapter one — looking at verses nine through eleven. There we read…
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 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.
This is the first of a few warnings that James will give to the rich. And — immediately — our first thought is, “Well, I’m glad he’s not speaking to me. I’m not rich!” Be careful with that thought. Most of us are rich in James’ estimation. Either way — the principle James is teaching applies to the rich and the humble — interestingly — that’s the two categories of people James uses in our verses. The rich and the humble.
But where we’re headed today is we’re going to explore an echo of the Bible — I’ll explain what I mean by that in a moment. We’ll briefly look at two false gospels. We’ll face the fact that life is fading away. And then we’ll be amazed by Christ.
An echo of the Bible. Two false gospels. Life is fading. And Christ — that’s where we’re headed.
THE BIBLE’S ECHO
First — the Bible has an echo to it. By that — I mean — when you get to know the Bible better — you’ll find repeated themes throughout it. Echoes, if you will. Where something said early on in the Bible echoes later. And then echoes again. And again. And again.
James — if you recall — is writing to Christians of Jewish background. And — for the most part — the Jews knew their Bibles — what we call the Old Testament — really well. And they would’ve immediately recognized the passage that James is echoing in our verses.
Maybe you recognized the echo as well. It’s in his words about the rich when he writes…
10 because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.
The Old Testament passage that James is referring to — or echoing — is from the prophet Isaiah. For some context — the people of God have been in exile. They’re being punished for abandoning God who had graciously warned them to come back to him or face the consequence for their sin. You can imagine how demoralizing, depressing, and disheartening it must have been to experience being defeated and conquered by another nation. And it’s in the midst of this situation that the prophet — on behalf of God — says…
1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” 3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! 4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!” 6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” 9 O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. 12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? 13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14 Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? 15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. 16 All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. 17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. 18 To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? 19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? 20 Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down! 21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? 22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. 24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. 25 “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. 27 O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Even though the people are still in exile — God speaks words of comfort to them. He tells her that her sad days are over. Her sins have been forgiven. A path will be made which will lead the people back to God — back to the Promised Land — back from the wilderness to their home.
Yes — just like when they wandered in the wilderness during the Exodus — some of them will fade away — will die — but what will never fade away is the Word of God — it stands forever. The Word of God which declares — and says to shout from the mountaintops, “Your God is coming! He’s coming in power. He will rule and bring his reward with him. He will feed his people like a shepherd. He will carry the people in his arms. He will hold them close to his heart. He will lead them gently back to him.”
And the Word of God — which will never fade — says some amazing truths about God. Like…
He holds the oceans in his hands.
And has measured the heavens.
And knows the weight of the world.
Who is all-knowing and needs no one to instruct him on anything.
He knows what is good.
He knows what is just.
And all people and all of creation is mere dust compared to him.
Isaiah goes on and on and then concludes by asking…
And what compares to him? No one and nothing — that’s what.
And this is the passage that James is echoing in our verses. For he wants his original readers — who were living in exile — dispersed from Jerusalem because of persecution — and us — to remember and have great confidence in who our God is.
If you’re feeling weak — remember — your God is the God who gives strength. If you’re feeling powerless — remember — your God gives power to his people. For those who trust in him will find new strength. They will soar like eagles. Run and not grow weary. Walk and will not faint.
If you’re newer to Gateway — me mentioning memorizing books of the Bible may already make you think that I’m pretty weird — if you talk to folks who know me — they’ll tell you that I’m weird. One of my other weird habits is that I have what’s turned into a pretty long list of life resolutions. Statements of either who God says that I am in Christ that I know I’m prone to forgetting so I read them regularly to remember who I am — or they are statements of reminders of what it means to live as a follower of Jesus in this world full of trials and sorrows and joys and celebrations.
Resolution number twenty-seven is based on the passage from Isaiah that we just read — in fact — it’s based on the last verse. Resolution number twenty-seven is this: To be thankful during soaring seasons. Faithful in running seasons. And to persevere in walking seasons.
And the way you and I can be thankful, and faithful, and even demonstrate perseverance is by remembering who our great and mighty and powerful and saving God is.
TWO FALSE GOSPELS
Which leads us to two false gospels I want to point out to us. But — first — our verses again. This time in a different translation.
9 Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
Two false gospels that have been a constant source of division for the church are the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. A simple definition of the prosperity gospel is the teaching that God rewards faith with health and wealth and that Christians should expect God to bless them with health and wealth in an increasing way. The poverty gospel — on the other hand — is a false teaching that God requires poverty or denying oneself of material goods as a sign of spiritual authenticity.
Obviously our verses in James would be correcting those who believe the prosperity gospel — as the rich — in our verses — are given a warning. And the prosperity gospel — if nothing else — is about being rich. Yet our verses have the potential to be used to justify the poverty gospel — which like the prosperity gospel — is false. It’s a lie. It’s heresy and is to be rejected.
The Bible has much to say about the poor — but never is being economically poor a way to judge the spiritual state or maturity of a person. They could just be foolish with their money. Or they could be called by God to exercise the spiritual gift of generosity in a way that few have been called to. Their bank accounts may have the same sum total in them — but for very different reasons.
I bring these false gospels up to warn you to be careful with what you consume in books, podcasts, and sermons. There are many prosperity gospel preachers and teachers in our country today. They sell a message that entices our sinful desire to be rich. These false teachers also cause many people to be disappointed in God when he doesn’t live up to the lies they’ve been sold.
And — though not as popular — poverty gospel false teachers are also out there. And — ironically — they make quite a bit of money from their book sales even though their books tell their readers to denounce wealth and give everything away as a sign of spiritual maturity. Both the prosperity and poverty gospels can be quite lucrative for the false teachers selling such lies.
So remember — God calls his people to — one — love him and not money — because you can’t love both. Two — to be generous with our money — really I should say be generous with his money because it’s not really ours anyway — and generosity is one of the values we hope to see in all who follow Jesus here at Gateway — and I’m continually blown away by your generosity and what we’re able to do in being a generous church because of your all’s attitude towards money. And — three — remember…
9 The generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
We’ll reflect more on this truth in a moment.
LIFE IS FADING
But — first — life is fading. James tells us this a few times in our verses.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 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.
Passing away. Fading away — they both mean the same thing: The rich — and the poor — all of us are experiencing the fading away of our lives. I recently heard someone say, “I’ve got a lot of good years behind me.” That’s not how we expect that sentence to go, is it?
According to James, life is like grass in a field. The sun rises and dries out the grass and it withers and dies. The flowers wilt and the petals fall off. The flower’s beauty is gone forever. Later James will say…
14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
The morning fog is something we’re all familiar with living in Northwest Ohio. Growing up in Florida — I didn’t have fog delays when I was a student. But — here — we occasionally get a fog delay or cancellation. And — inevitably — when school is cancelled — the sun comes out — warms up everything — and the fog burns off leaving a beautiful day. Our life — James says — is like that fog. Here and gone.
In the Old Testament our lives are described as a handbreadth.
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
A handbreadth — if you don’t know — is this — four fingers. Essentially each finger represents a quarter of a person’s life. Some of us are under twenty years old. So this first finger — though not all the way up — hasn’t completely closed. Some of us are between twenty and forty. The first finger is down — and the second is starting its way down — but you’ve still got two full fingers of life left ahead of you. Some of us have passed forty — which is middle age by the way — not sixty. Once you pass forty — the third finger is starting to creep its way down. And when you pass the sixty year old mark — you’re on the last finger — and it’s started its way down.
And — in response to this truth — the psalmist says, “Selah.” Which means — pause, reflect, meditate on the reality of how brief your life is — for this is the only way to not waste your life — but to live it to the full.
Our culture wants us to not think about such things. Ignore your mortality. Ignore the wrinkles — botox them away even. We idolize youthfulness and despair when there’s nothing more we can do to cover up the fact that our life is fading away.
If you saw a picture of me from my twenties — you’d recognize it’s me — but you’d probably think, “Ew. What happened?” I remember a few years ago I quoted from a television show I watched growing up and someone said to me, “When you said that, I realized I never imagine that you were a kid. I just always think of you as being this same age.” I remember hearing a pastor lament because he was already up there in age when capturing sermon videos became a thing. He said something like, “People will always think I was an old preacher when I’ve been doing this for decades.”
But age happens. Gravity’s been pulling on my body for nearly five decades. I don’t dye my hair — so gray has happened. Life is passing away.
I’ve had to give up on many pursuits I once dreamed of accomplishing — there’s just not enough life left to pursue everything — which is good — because now what matters makes its way to the top of my priorities — at least I hope it is. Life has a great way — if you allow it to — to prioritize things for you.
And it’s to what should be the biggest priority for those who follow Jesus that we now turn.
CONCLUSION: CHRIST’S HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION
In our verses — two words kept sticking out to me over and over again. Humiliation and exaltation. The lowly — or the humble — are exalted. And the rich are humiliated. And here’s where my mind kept going to as I kept coming back to the humble being exalted the and the rich being humiliated.
A few weeks ago I read our Essentials of the Faith. Think of them as the standard of beliefs that Christians have always held to regardless of denomination, church affiliation, and so on. They unite us together with other local churches in Findlay — like Living Hope, Cedar Creek, First Naz, the Upper Room, and so on. Churches whose pastors I’m personally friends with and meet with on a monthly basis.
Yet — in our church tradition — we’re part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church if you’re newer to Gateway — in our church tradition we also hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith and its catechisms. Catechisms are documents in question and answer format which are very helpful as they cover many of the questions people ask me about in regards to the Christian faith.
What does any of that have to do with humiliation and exaltation? Well when the two words kept sticking out to me — where my mind went to was to the Larger Catechism. It’s called larger because it has more questions than the shorter catechism. And the forty-eighth question in the larger catechism is this.
Q. 46. How was Christ humiliated?
The answer.
A. For our sakes, Christ emptied himself of his own glory and took on the form of a servant, and so was humiliated in all the poor circumstances involving his conception and birth, life on earth, death, and after his death until he was resurrected.
Paul speaks of this when he writes…
6 [Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The next few questions are…
Q. 47. How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?
Answer.
A. Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth in that being from all eternity the Son of God in the bosom of the Father, it pleased him in the fullness of time to become the son of man, born of a women from a poor family and into conditions that were even worse than ordinary.
Q. 48. How did Christ humble himself in his life?
A. Christ humbled himself in his life by subjecting himself to the law, which he perfectly fulfilled, and by struggling with the indignities of this world, the temptations of Satan, and the frailty of his body, whether common to the natural human condition or particularly associated with his own poor situation.
Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?
A. Christ humbled himself in his death by being betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented with physical persecution. He struggled with the terrors of death and the powers of darkness; he felt and bore the weight of God’s anger. Finally, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death on the cross, he laid down his life as an offering for sin.
Q. 50. How was Christ humiliated after his death?
A. Christ’s humiliation after death involved his being buried and continuing in a state of being dead and under the power of death until the third day. This period is referred to in the words, He descended into hell.
Jesus — the Rich Man of Heaven — left his riches and humbled himself — in love — for our sake. What love displayed for you and me. What compassion towards us who were spiritually poor and broke. The Rich Man gave up everything for us.
Yet that’s not all. Remember — there were two words that stuck out to me: humiliation and exaltation. The last question we just read — on Christ’s humiliation — was number fifty. The next question asks this.
Q. 51. How was Christ exalted?
A. Christ’s exaltation includes his resurrection, ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and coming again to judge the world.
The catechism goes on to ask.
Q. 52. How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?
A. Christ’s exaltation in his resurrection began with his body not decaying, since it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. On the third day, he rose again from the dead by his own power and in the very same body with all its essential qualities in which he had suffered (but it was not subject to death and the other infirmities associated with this life), and it was truly united to his soul. By his resurrection, he plainly declared himself to be the Son of God, to have satisfied divine justice, to have conquered death as well as him who holds the power of death and to be Lord of the living and the dead. He did all this as a general representative of humanity and as head of his church in order to justify believers, make them alive in his grace, support them against their enemies, and assure them that they too will be resurrected from the dead at the last day.
Q. 53. How was Christ exalted in his ascension?
A. Christ’s exaltation in his ascension began after his resurrection when he appeared to the apostles a number of times, talked to them about the kingdom of God, and commissioned them to preach the gospel to all nations. Forty days after his resurrection, in our human nature and as our head, he visibly went up into the highest heavens, triumphing over enemies. There he receives gifts for men, raises our minds, and prepares a place for us, where he himself is and shall continue to be until his second coming at the end of the world.
Q. 54. How is Christ exalted by sitting at the right hand of God?
A. Sitting at the right hand of God exalts Christ as the God-man; he is advanced to the highest favor with God the Father with all the joy, glory, and power of this position over all things in heaven and earth. There Christ gathers and defends his church, subdues her enemies, provides his ministers and people with gifts and graces, and intercedes for them.
The Rich Man became poor for your sake. And — just likes James tells us — the lowly and humble man — Jesus Christ — has been exalted to the heavenly places. And because of all that he’s done in love — for you and for me — we are to exalt the name of Jesus together. Meaning — we’re to lift up the name of Jesus in song and praise and we’re to honor him in how we live and show the world that — though the flower fades and its beauty perishes — not so with Jesus Christ. Though you and I age and get old, and bare the physical scars of medical procedures and surgeries to help fight off sickness and diseases and decay — the Word of the Lord — the Bible — will never fade away — just as the Word of the Lord — Jesus Christ — though he bares the scars in his hands and feet from the cross — he will never fade away. For he considered his humiliation a small price to pay for saving his people from their sin so that they might experience being lifted up to Heaven where they will be with their exalted Savior for all eternity.
Wisdom has been speaking to us today on a variety of topics. Wisdom’s told us much about who God is, who we are, and what Jesus has done for us. How will you respond to what wisdom has said to you today? May you receive the advice that wisdom has gracious spoken to you today by turning to the humble — and yet — exalted Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
A
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
In love — Christ humbled himself for your sake. Therefore — in love — may you go and exalt his name by living for him. Amen
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
