TOPSY-TURVY STATUS

TOPSY-TURVY STATUS James 1:9-11 September 26, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Successful and rich British style writer Neil Boorman has decided to burn every branded thing in his possession. "I am addicted to brands," he confessed in a magazine article: From an early age, I have been taught that to be accepted, to be loveable, to be cool, one must have the right stuff. At junior school, I tried to make friends with the popular kids, only to be ridiculed for the lack of stripes on my trainers. Once I had nagged my parents to the point of buying me the shoes, I was duly accepted at school, and I became much happier as a result. As long as my parents continued to buy me the brands, life was more fun. Now, at the age of 31, I still behave according to playground law. Boorman finally realized that the happiness found in his possessions is hollow and short-lived, leaving him with a "continual, dull ache." So he's taking drastic action and turning to a life of simplicity. He summarizes: The manner in which we spend our money defines who we are.… In this secular society, where family and church once gave us a sense of belonging, identity, and meaning, there is now Apple, Mercedes, and Coke.… So, this is why I am burning all my stuff. To find real happiness, to find the real me. (Honestly, how many in this room were thinking, Why burn it? He could have given it to me!) How about it—does Mr. Boorman have the right idea? His theory is that if he gave up his riches, only then would he be truly rich. But, if he did give up his riches, he’d be poor, wouldn’t he? Being rich and being poor can be topsy-turvy statuses. Especially when you let God’s Word teach you the clear principles of the Kingdom. Our first two studies in James had to do with what to do when overwhelmed with the trials and problems of life. Verses 2-4 instructed us to trust God when overwhelmed. That deep trust believes that God is fully aware of our trials and has approved them before they ever get to us.   Moreover, we are to trust God to use our trials to help build perseverance, and ultimately maturity, in us. With that trust firmly in place, we are actually able to count it all joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. The second thing to do in the midst of trials is ask God for wisdom. This is a logical extension of trusting God—to pray for His wisdom to lead us. We need to hear from Him in order to gain godly wisdom, and we need to pray in faith so that we will know Him and draw near Him. We are going to do our best in this series to follow the flow of thought in the letter from James to the scattered churches to whom he wrote. Most scholars say of James’ letter that it is a loosely organized series of unrelated exhortations. But, if we read carefully, I think we can discern an underlying stream of thought. For example, in verse 2 James speaks of various kinds of trials. Now after he exhorts us to trust God and ask God, he picks up on that theme by tackling the problems faced by the rich and the poor. They are, after all, part of the variety of trials. And, if you’ll notice after these three verses, verse 12 picks up the same topic again: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. You probably find it easy to understand that the poor among us have to face trials because of their status of less means. But you might find it difficult to conjure up problems rich people may have. After all, they’re rich, right? The Bible makes it clear that the problems of prosperity are just as difficult as the problems of paucity. When you think in spiritual terms, the rich man faces far greater challenges than the poor man. That will turn conventional wisdom on its ear, won’t it? Read James 1:2-8 together. The two groups both face problems—they have that in common, even though the problems the face are different, and they are both told by James to take pride in their statuses. That’s odd, too. Telling the rich to take pride in their status doesn’t sound right. And telling the poor to take pride in their status sounds silly.   We’re going to have to trust God and ask God for wisdom to understand these counter-intuitive ideas. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to use the Word He revealed to James to give us understanding. Prayer. Now, this morning’s text (verses 9-11). The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. Here is the point that James wants to make to both the poor and the rich believers: You are to see yourselves in the light of spiritual reality, not in the materialistic and temporal perspective of the world. We simply must keep life—our lives—in the perspective of eternity. In this way, we are given grace to cope with the difficulties of our circumstances. With a kingdom mentality, the poor is able to survive and even thrive in the face of having little of this world’s riches. And with a kingdom mentality, the rich can survive the overwhelming temptations of greed and avarice that come against them uniquely. An Exhortation to the Poor To the poor (the brother in humble circumstances) James says, Take pride in your high position. Here we have an example of what it means to look at our circumstances in life with an eternal point of view: poor people are the ones who are in a high position—the ones who are most privileged. Well, how can the down-and-out poor be considered the privileged ones?   From a spiritual and biblical perspective, the poor can come to God and stay devoted to God more easily than the rich. As we read earlier, Jesus said it is hard for the rich man to come into the kingdom—as hard as trying to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle. Why is it hard for the rich, and easy for the poor? Because riches mesmerize those who have them. When lion trainers enter the cage with their wild beasts, they carry a whip for helping to get the lions moving, and they carry a four-legged stool, with the legs of the stool pointed toward the lions. The lion-tamer keeps this stool moving to attract and keep the lions’ attention. The legs on the stool are a threat to them, especially when they are jabbed in their direction. The lions are captivated by trying to watch all four legs on the stool at once, their eyes darting from one wooden leg to the other. Pre-occupied with the stool, they are not likely to jump their trainer. As long as they look at the stool as a threat, they’re not looking at the trainer as dinner. Satan captivates humans with riches, or even the prospect of riches. He knows sinners very well. He understands that we have a proclivity to greed, to self-centeredness, to “ownership.” So, if he can capture our attention, and keep us focused on pursuing and keeping material possessions, we will take our eyes off the Lord and His kingdom. Jesus agreed, warning: You cannot serve God and money, because you will always choose only one and ignore the other. The worst lie we can tell ourselves is that we can have it both ways. I’ll maintain my love for God and simultaneously amass riches for myself. It doesn’t work. Because at the heart of the matter, my security is going to either be in God or in stuff, but never can it be in both. No man can serve two masters, Jesus said. In our current economic downturn, banks have coined a new term: “toxic assets.” It refers to the large number of failed mortgages and repossessed homes. Each home they foreclose on brings them ownership of another expensive asset. But they are in business to receive interest-paying payments against those assets, and to own them without active loans on them is expensive and counter-productive. They are toxic assets. The Bible warns that anything we have that takes our attention from God is a toxic asset. James is saying that poor people have less toxicity when they have less material wealth, and it is easier for them to give rightful devotion to God. They’re better off, privileged, in a high position. Especially those to whom James writes, because they are those who have given their lives to Christ. James says the poor should take pride in this exalted position. Pride carries a strong negative sense. The word he uses here is probably better translated in our vocabulary as exult, or be delighted. In other words, since they are less distracted by possessions and worldly wealth, poor Christians have reason to thank God and exult in their position. Listen to the wisdom of the prayer in Proverbs 30:8-9 – …give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Other- wise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or, I may become poor and steal, so dishonor the name of my God. I want to add a clarification here. In no way am I saying that being poor guarantees a righteous and saved relationship with God. James is not saying that, so neither am I. Every person needs to come to personal faith in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Being poor won’t get you there without faith. Nor am I or the scriptures teaching that every rich person is damned. I am reminding you strictly what the scriptures teach: it is hard for the rich man to enter the kingdom. Do you remember what the disciples said after He said that? Who, then can be saved? Jesus answered them, With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible, reminding us that it is God who saves any of us. And His express will is that those who receive Him, who believe on His name, He gives the right to become children of God. An Exhortation to the Rich The remaining two verses speak to the rich believers in the churches. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. We’ve seen how the poor Christians are actually in a high position because they’re poor. And the rich Christians are in a low position—namely, because of the difficulty they have in maintaining undistracted devotion to God. But why should that rich Christian exult in this low position? What benefit is there in facing such difficulty as struggling with their materialistic temptations? James answers: because [the rich Christian] will pass away like a wild flower. What? How does that make any sense—or answer why the rich believer should exult in his low position? The unique struggles with materialistic temptations that the rich Christian faces is mercifully short. In surprising language, James says to the rich person It may be hard for you to maintain devotion to God under this kind of pressure and the strong lure of materialism, but there is good news: you’re going to die soon and all your possessions will rot! That sounds strange, doesn’t it? Hey, rich man! Good news! You’re not going to live very long and all your stuff will soon be meaningless! For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; Its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. If you are rich, you have a very clear understanding of the struggle with greed and selfishness—how hard it is to keep your focus on Christ and the kingdom with the strong magnetism of your riches. You fight a daily battle with your tendency to work yourself to death making more. You’re driven by these things, and as a person of faith, it is your biggest enemy, and the poor around you can’t understand. All they see is how good you have it. They don’t know the way you have to fight to stay spiritual. What Solomon prayed is so real to you: give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you… No one sees that war within. They think you have it made, because you have so much of what they feel they want and need. And that unmet desire in them is every bit as materialistic and unspiritual as it is in you. You desire it and you have it and still want more. They who don’t have it greedily desire it, too, but their carnal grabbiness is no less avarice than yours. D. James Kennedy tells a story of a man who came to Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the Unites States Senate, with a concern about tithing. He said: "I have a problem. I have been tithing for some time. It wasn't too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I could afford to give the $2,000. But you see, now I am making $500,000, and there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year." Dr. Marshall reflected on this wealthy man's dilemma but gave no advice. He simply said: "Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray about it. Is that alright?" The man agreed, so Dr. Marshall bowed his head and prayed with boldness and authority. "Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to tithe." So why should the rich believer exult in the low position of vulnerability to materialism? Because life will be over quickly—this whole monopoly game of gaining and losing that now captivates you so easily will come to an end, like the short-lived daylilies, and your struggle will be done. So, fight the good fight, war with your enemies—avarice & selfishness. God will save you through it all, so do your best to squeeze that camel through the needle’s eye in the limitless power of the Holy Spirit in you! The Lord has made it clear how the rich disciple can win in this ongoing struggle, by the way. There is a secret weapon available only to the rich that they can use to win against possessiveness and materialism. GIVE IT AWAY! That’s right—the very hardest thing you could ever be asked to do—to willingly part with your stuff. But the wise counsel of God for you is stubbornly there in the Word. Whether it’s Jesus challenging the rich young ruler (that guy with whom you reluctantly identify) to sell everything, give the money to the poor, then come and follow Him (and in that order). Or whether it’s the Spirit-inspired counsel of the apostle Paul who told young pastor Timothy what to tell the rich people in his church. He said, Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides everything for our enjoy-ment. Command them to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Conclusion It’s not only the rich who struggle with materialistic desire, is it? All of us who wear mortal flesh in this fallen world are plagued with the burden of a self-serving lust for more. And there is only one way to resist its power. It’s what James has implied several times over in chapter one: fully devote yourself to God, and don’t say NO to anything He wants you to do, knowing it is for your own good and maturity. In his classic, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote these sobering words: Christ says, "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours." We will never understand the kingdom of God with worldly perspective. In the wisdom of God, everything is topsy-turvy. So, it’s really not that weird that the Lord would tell us through James that the poor should exult in their high position and the rich exult in their low position. He is the one who said that the one who would be great must become servant of all. He said in giving we gain, in humility we are exalted and in dying we live. All that from the Lord of the universe who died as a criminal for you and me—Who, though perfect in holiness, in His death became sin for us, that we sinners might become the righteousness of God.         [ Back to Top]