2019-09-29 James 5:1-6 MISERABLY RICH (2): JUDAS OR MARY
Notes
Transcript
MISERABLY RICH (2): JUDAS OR MARY
(James 5:1-6)
September 29, 2019
Read James 5:1-6 – Ray Hicks was a skilled storyteller with prestigious
awards from the Smithsonian and National Endowment for Arts. But he
constantly turned down invitations from Johnny Carson and others. Continued
to live in his remote mountain home – without modern conveniences. He said,
“I see’d what money done to others. I don’t want much. I just want enough
to do me.” That’s a valuable lesson that too many of us never learn.
Jas has harsh language for those who overvalue riches. Living for money may
be great now, there is a heavy price to pay later. It will “eat your flesh like
fire” (3), leading to a “day of slaughter” (5) – descriptions of hell. Yet his
audience is the church! He’s challenging whether or not their faith is real.
One telling sign? Overemphasis on money, loving it more than Jesus.
However good such people have it now, their end is “misery.” They may be
rich, but they are miserably rich. They seem to be privileged, but actually they
are 5-fold abusers. Last week we saw that I. Lovers of Money Abuse Their
Riches. By hoarding them. God doesn’t give wealth to hoard, but to distribute.
II. Lovers of Money Abuse Their Fellowmen. They build on the backs of
the poor. Rather than love others as themselves, they love themselves to the
exclusion of others. Now, today, 3 more ways money-lovers are abusive.
III.
Lovers of Money Abuse Themselves
V 5) “You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence.” So you
ask, “How could rich-living be called self-abuse?! Luxury; self-indulgence?
Sounds pretty good to me. Bring it on!” Read on. “You have fattened your
hearts in a day of slaughter.” How does a cow or a sheep feel when it is eating
away in a feeding operation? Splendid, right? Life is good! Don’t even have to
move BUT – where is it leading? The slaughter house! There’s going to be a
high price to pay for living the high life now. So with the miserably rich.
The Crime – So is it a crime to be rich. No – the crime is to use what God’s
entrusted to us merely to satisfy our own whims. Forty years ago a 23-yearold turned the advertising world on its ear with the phrase – “I don’t mind
spending more for L’Oreal – because I’m worth it.” Jas is describing is a
lifestyle devoted to the best because – I’m worth it. Sticks in your mind,
doesn’t it? It’s justified everything from jewelry to designer clothing to
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epicurean foods to palatial homes. I had one Xn young woman justify her
Rolex by saying, “God wants His children to have the best.” Now don’t go
hide your Rolex; it’s not the watch, it’s the attitude that condemns.
“Luxury”, from a root which means “soft”. It depicts a party lifestyle without
hardship, devoted to pleasure and revelry. “Self-indulgence” (τρυφαω) –to
“live beyond the bound of propriety” -- a person who pampers themselves to
as much as possible with little or no thought of others. The crime isn’t having
money – the crime is spending it only on ourselves. With thousands dying
daily of starvation; with over half the world’s population never having heard
the gospel of Christ; with more than half living on less than $2 per day, can
we justify self-indulgent lifestyles – before God? The crime isn’t having
money. The crime is using whatever we have for our own self-indulgence.
We have excuses. Poverty is such a big problem, I can’t scratch the surface.
Why try? One guy knew. Walking the beach, he came upon thousands of
beautiful starfish washed ashore, and dying in the sun, so he picked one up
and tossed it into the sea. Then another and another. Another guy spotted him:
“Why are you doing that?” He replied, “I’m trying to save the starfish.” The
other man laughed: “Are you crazy? There are so many it won’t make any
difference.” The first man replied as he threw another back: “It will make a
difference to that one.” You see, money’s not the crime. Living a selfindulgent lifestyle when there’s someone we can help – that’s the crime.
The Calamity – Near Term – But how is that self-abuse? It seems more like
self-preservation and certainly self-satisfying. But get ready for a shock. God
says in I Tim 5:6: “But she who is self-indulgent (our word) is dead even
while she lives.” Wow! The Bible says that? It does! God says, the selfindulgent person, pampering every whim with “I’m worth it!” is already
dead. How could that be? Bc he’s like the guy who fell from the Empire State
Building. Passing the 20th floor, someone hollered, “How’s it going?” He
yelled back, “Everything’s great so far!” Key phrase – really key phrase – “so
far!” He’s a dead man who doesn’t know it yet. So. the miserably rich. Things
are great so far, but there’s both near and long-term implications coming soon.
Fascinating, some of the most self-indulgent people ever on planet earth never
found satisfaction? Howard Hughes, a pleasure guru, from business to social
to sexual, died a hopelessly paranoid recluse. Jack Higgins, renowned author
of The Eagle Has Landed said, at the high point of his career, there was one
thing he wished he’d known as a little boy: “When you get to the top, there’s
nothing there.” Worldly success never satisfies. It’s like the Communist ruler
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who asked a farmer how things were going. “The potatoes from our harvest
will reach to God.” The official replied, “This is the Soviet Union. There is
no God.” The farmer replied, “There are no potatoes either.” See, we were
made for God; without Him there is no lasting joy. Money is no substitute!
Tennis great Boris Becker said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as
the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed.
… It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They
have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a
puppet on a string.” And the most self-indulgent man in history summarized
life this way: “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.” It doesn’t matter whether it is
houses, power, prestige, wine, women or song. In the end, it’s all vanity. Even
in this life self-indulgence can’t ultimately satisfy – to engage is to abuse self.
The Calamity – Long Term – But far worse is the long-term prospect. “You
have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” “Live for yourself,” Jas says,
“and all you’ve really done is made yourself fat for the slaughter – adding
new guilt against the day you’ll give account to God.” How could Jas write
that to believers? Bc believers have a judgment, too, right? I Cor 3:1315: “each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it,
because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each
one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives,
he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss,
though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” Self-indulgence
robs us of eternal reward! Enjoy it now, bc you’re spending eternity’s riches.
But Jas’ language describes the eternal punishment awaiting the unbeliever.
How can that be if he’s writing to the church? Bc he’s targeting professing
believers, who really aren’t. Their profession is a sham. True faith works. And
theirs is not. Their self-indulgent lifestyle exposes a false profession. So we
need to ask, could we be miserably rich? You don’t have to have a lot to be
miserably rich. You just have to want a lot – and then live a lifestyle devoted
to giving yourself all you can because “I’m worth it.” Jas is saying, “Enjoy it
now because the day of accountability is fast approaching.”
A London play was called “The Cupboard.” Clive Barnes gave it a three-word
critique: “The Cupboard? Bare.” Is our self-indulgence covering a faith that
is absolutely bare? Now’s the time to ask bc a self-indulgent lifestyle, teamed
with false faith, will in the end be the ultimate in self-abuse long term.
IV.
Lovers of Money Abuse Their Future
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Note the future of lovers of money. V. 3: Hoarding “will be evidence against
you and will eat your flesh like fire.” 4b: Using others results in “the cries of
the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” 5b: Self-indulgence
shows “you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” That’s not a
bright future. “The Lord of hosts” (emphasis on God’s power) is keeping tabs.
Hoarded wealth may bring feelings of security now, but later it will burn like a
branding iron. The illicit pleasures of today will merely increase the level of
judgment later. This is not a pretty picture.
Whatever God gives – big or little – can be wonderful if enjoyed according to
His instruction. I Tim 6:17) As for the rich in this present age, charge them not
to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18) They are to do good, to be
rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19) thus storing up
treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may
take hold of that which is truly life.” That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? What we
have isn’t just for us; it is for others as well; sharing it is the way to really
live; it’s a way to be rich in the life to come as well. Isn’t that a worthwhile
goal? But clutching it to oneself will lead to a disastrous future.
Charles Spurgeon used to tell of a maid on a great ship that hit an iceberg and
was about to sink. Heaps of gold coins had somehow spilled from the safe. So
she gathered up as much as she could, wrapped it around her waist and leapt
into the water where she sank like a millstone. Her joy was short-lived; her
self-indulgence only prepared her for destruction. That is Jas’ message. Love
of money feels good now, but leads to disaster later. The miserable rich don’t
know they are miserable, but they will when they have to answer to God for
how they had used His money. Their professed faith will be shown to be false.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne lived in the early part of the 19th century, but his
words are astoundingly appropriate for today: I am concerned for the poor
but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day. . . .
I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not
Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not
grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with
its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the
most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be
beggars throughout eternity.” Being rich, or even wanting to be, is a serious
disadvantage spiritually. As William Wilberforce once said, "Prosperity
hardens the heart.” It leads to a bleak future unless handled with great care.
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V.
Lovers of Money Abuse the Savior
V. 6: You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not
resist you.” Tough to interpret. Most take it as the final straw in the downward
path of the miserably rich. They actually go to court to condemn innocent poor
people to maintain their lifestyle. Overworking, underpaying, and finally, if
necessary, squashing anyone who tries to stand in their way but is unable to
resist them. It would be like the old cartoon where someone asks, “What is the
Golden Rule?” And someone answers, “The one with the gold makes the
rules.” That defines our world, doesn’t it? It could be the right interpretation,
painting a horribly degraded picture of someone in the clutches of the love of
money. We’ve seen them depicted on TV, and known some in real life.
But there is another possibility, stronger, I think. Literally the v. reads, “You
have condemned and murdered the Righteous Man who does not oppose
you.” It’s not saying lovers of money have killed poor people in general – it
says “the righteous one.” It doesn’t say “the righteous poor”, it says “the
righteous one.” It doesn’t say “who could not oppose you”; it says “who does
not oppose you.” It’s a voluntary word. It’s referring to Jesus.
Lovers of money forget the only absolutely perfect one who was betrayed for
30 pieces of silver, yet He did not resist. Why? Because He was giving His
life for us – to pay the penalty for the very sin of idolatry that the miserable
rich are practicing. They have forgotten the only One who can bring true
riches. And by their worship of money, they have made themselves part of
the lynching party that He submitted to on their behalf. All our other sins
pale by comparison to this one. We’ve crucified our Savior.
Remember a couple of days before Jesus died, His friends, Mary, Martha and
Lazarus, freshly raised, held a dinner. Jn 12:3-6: “Mary therefore took a
pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of
Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance
of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to
betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii
and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor,
but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help
himself to what was put into it.”
This perfume was very expensive – worth a year’s wages or more – probably
her life savings, and she pours it on the feet of Jesus. Incredibly extravagant.
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She’s figuratively saying, “All my worldly goods; all my security; all that I
have is yours.” Judas, meanwhile, protests the waste -- bc he wants it. And
shortly he sells Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The miserable rich contrasted
with the immeasurably rich. We must ask – which are we – not which do we
profess to be. Our actions show who we really are? Mary or Judas? Are we
still pounding in the nails of the righteous One driven by love of money, or is
it all submitted to His control? Who are we? Judas or Mary?
Conc – Years ago there was a movie, To Each His Own, for which Olivia de
Havilland got an Oscar. A real tearjerker! She has a baby out of wedlock,
gives him up in a complicated twist, but helps from afar, being around the boy
only briefly when he is 4 years old, never revealing her identity. Loves him
from afar, does all these wonderful things for him, sacrifices for him, but he
never knows. Near the end he’s grown, getting married and an older
gentleman friend of hers says to the boy, “Can’t you put this all together?
Don’t you know who this woman is? Don’t you remember you thought she
was your aunt when you were with her. Don’t you remember – and don’t
you realize who she really is.” Suddenly the light goes on. In the last scene
everyone is dancing. She’s just hoping he’ll have a happy life when he walks
over to her and in the last line of the movie says, “Mother, may I have this
dance?” He suddenly remembered, “Now I see who you are, what you’ve
done for me. I remember, and I want to honor you.”
And so we must remember the One who died for us. We must not let love of
money or anything else come between us and Him. Don’s abuse yourself;
don’t abuse your future; most of all don’t abuse the Savior. Make Him your
Savior. Mary – or Judas? Let’s pray.
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