Oppressor/Laborer

I have been told that I have an issue with being too frugal. And it isn’t just me being a dad, I have always spent very little money, even on things that needed it. I don’t need nice furniture or decorations in my house. And I would be happy just to eat at home everyday and eat leftovers from the day before. That wouldn’t bother me at all. I have just always been able to get by with the bare minimum and be okay, but I recognize that not everyone can live this way. And for those of us who are frugal, you will know that it has nothing to do with the amount of money that you have. Look no further than Warren Buffett, worth $100 billion yet he lives in the same house that he bought for $31,500 in 1958. He will buy hail-damaged cars so that he can get a better deal. And he also is known to go to McDonald’s every day before work. And do you know how much he spends? $3.19 on a sausage, egg and cheese. On a good day he will spend $3.89 on a bacon, egg and cheese. He has even been known to use coupons when he goes.

See, no matter how much money we have, even as a billionaire, there will always be a struggle for more. Each of us will deal with different issues regarding money. Where it is spending too much, or being too frugal, having too little money, or not knowing what to do with the money that we have. Each of us will find ourselves dealing with one money issues or the other.

In our passage today, James is dealing with the issues of treasures. And he is asking those he is talking to, “where do your treasures lie?” In fact he goes back to the words of his brother, Jesus. “Where your treasures are, there your heart will be also.” What this statement is saying is that whatever you desire to attain, is what you will spend your life seeking to find.

Now as you read this you may ask “is he talking to believers or unbelievers? And the answer is unbelievers. Then you may ask “well how will they hear the words that he is writing to a church?” Well, he is hoping that just like the prophets in the Old Testament that those who hear this message may spread it so that others may hear. It may also be to those who are sitting in the churches gatherings but have not believed.

James gives a warning to these rich people. He calls them to “weep and wail” for their sins. Specifically their sins of hoarding wealth and ignoring the plights of those in need. But his warning is not one calling for repentance but one proclaiming impending judgment. He hopes that they may hear this rebuke and be willing to turn from their ways. But in speaking to the church he may also be hoping that the believers listening don’t seek to envy the fortune of these pagans but rather recognize that in in the midst of suffering and difficulties they can do so with peace recognizing they are inheriting a greater treasure for themselves.

James in his rebuke seeks to do three practices that the rich are exhibiting. James wants to warn them about consequence of their practices, and he wants to encourage the believers to greater faithfulness towards Christ rather than exhibit the prideful behaviors of the unbelievers around them. And before I get into this any further I want to make something clear. This message isn’t “never take a vacation, never spend money on nice things, never do something that is just for yourself”. What James is asking is, “what is your relationship to these things?” Is there a balance? Or is it all about you? So don’t take away from this message “Austin told me I can never spend money on myself ever again”. But what you should ask yourself is “am I exhibiting behaviors of the love of money?”

What practices are the rich exhibiting?

James issues with the wealthy is not that they are rich, rather than in being rich they are exploiting others in ways that the OT law would call them not to do.

1. Selfishly hoarding wealth

James tells them that rather than being generous with their wealth, they have hoarded it all for themselves. Even as they see others who are living on the streets and who are struggling to afford a meal for their family they decide to keep money that they can’t even spend for themselves. This would rather use their wealth as a status symbol rather than offer it to others. And this is not just about money, it is about possessions. They have clothes in their closets that they haven’t worn in years, items sitting in the garage catching dust, and items sitting in the attic that they forgot existed.

We live in a society that isn’t just okay with accumulation of wealth and resources, but one that desires and admires wealth. To have money in the bank, to have a 2nd house, to have the luxury car, to go shopping just to spend money even when you don’t need it, to go on the nice vacations. These are all seen as ways to gain respect, influence, and even of good moral character. Many would believe to have wealth is to be blessed by God. That if God really loves you He would want you to have that promotion, that He would want you to have the newest and best things, that He would understand you needing to get that status symbol. But God doesn’t work that way. In fact, the Bible makes clear that wealth is incredibly dangerous to the life of the believer. That money is the root of all kinds of evil, that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a need (essentially saying that it is impossible). In fact, we see in this passage that James calls those who are the ones being oppressed by the rich the “righteous”. So we must consider what role wealth and possessions are playing in our life. Are they the main figure? Is it what is driving us? Or is it a blessing from God that we seek to give back?

2. Defrauding workers

Next, James says that they are defrauding their workers. Oftentimes this would look like paying someone’s wages a few days later. Or they would find a legal loophole to keep from having to pay someone exactly what they are owed. And in doing so James says they have defrauded and robbed their workers. These workers who are counting on this money to care for their families.

Now I would say most of us have not refused to pay someone their wages or sought to defraud someone. But I bet many of us have tried to get a free meal because something minor was missing. Or tried to prove someone missed a part of a job they did for us so that we had to pay them less. Or pay someone the minimum rather than what they deserve. I’ve heard musicians before say that people will ask them to do a gig for them, but they wouldn’t be able to pay them but that it would be “good exposure” as if that was the same thing as getting paid. Now we should certainly desire to see a job done right, and negotiating is not a sin. But we do have to ask ourselves “Am I treating them fairly for the job they have done?”

3. Self-indulgent lifestyle

Rather than see others who are in need they use their wealth to enjoy all the passions that they seek. It is about the next vacation, and the good food, and the luxurious clothes, There is very little consideration for others, it is always on to the next thing that they can enjoy. But you don’t have to be rich to live a self-indulgent lifestyle. If you are sitting on your couch everyday when you come home from work and do nothing else, that is considered self-indulgence. Where is your extra cash going? Are you always saving up for the next great adventure? For that next shopping day? What are your spending habits on food? Is every day a cheat day? Or are you seeking to manage how you spend on food? Because that is what self-indulgence is, looking towards how you can use money for yourself while not considering how others may be in need.

4. Oppressing the righteous

In seeking to bring themselves wealth they have not just neglected but they have actively sought to bring pain and suffering on the poor and needy. They have forcibly silenced some, they have murdered others, and they are willing to go to any lengths to make sure that their lifestyle is not in jeopardy.

Have you ever noticed that whenever there is a financial crisis often it isn’t the rich that have to pay for it, it is the poor? Most of us remember the 2008 financial crisis. A crisis that was caused by virtually unregulated mortgages with low-income home-buyers that led to financial bubble which popped in 2008 (and if you are into the stock market, please don’t tell me what I got confused about this because I promise you I will not understand). And do you know who had to pay for that? Not the banks who gave out the loans, because they were bailed out with $700 billion dollars. No the ones who were left dealing with the crisis were the people with upside-down mortgages who didn’t have anywhere to go.

It says in a Jewish proverb "to take away a neighbor's living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood." James said earlier that they "kill and covet, but cannot have what you want". It shows that the are willing to do anything for a buck, but in the end they are still unhappy.

Because even though you may not consider yourself as “rich”, in regard to the world you are. If you have a refrigerator and a television in your home, you are automatically in the top 8% of the world. You already come with more extra income than most of the world. We live in a country that has its central goal of minimizing the amount of effort that we must put in. We want our order at a restaurant or at Starbucks to be exactly how we want it. We don't want to have to wait in lines, or be inconvenienced in any way. And if we are inconvenienced we will write a review or tell people on Facebook how terrible our experience was. We try and find every loophole to make things as cheap as possible for us and we do everything we can to not lift a finger. so we do as Christians have an obligation in this to care for those in need. Because there are those whose lives are marked by severe inconveniences.

But James doesn’t speak to their practices, he tells tells them why their lifestyle is foolish.

Warnings to the rich

1. Your wealth is temporal

It will rot, it will be eaten by moth, it will rust

James in v. 2-3 focuses on the fleeting nature of wealth and possessions. He calls on their accumulation and hoarding of wealth as what will condemn them in the last days. In speaking of the last days he is not referring to the day of judgment, but he is speaking of the time after Christ has been revealed to the world. The "already, not yet" idea in the NT, that the Lord may return any day. He is stating that while they should be seeking to prepare themselves for the return of Christ they have decided to hoard everything they can and enjoy every desire before Jesus returns. Rather than repent of their sins and seek to put the wealth God has blessed them with to glorify Him and caring for others, they have decided to save every penny for themselves. He shows that since their wealth and possessions will not last that they will have nothing to show before God when they are called to give an account.

The way that James refers to the wealth of these people is that although they haven't yet seen the corrosion of their possessions that their wealth is already starting to lose its luster. That it will fade away in the life to come.

He is asking them the question. “What are you storing up wealth for? So that you can enjoy the last 10-20 years of your life in peace, or are you seeking peace for eternity?

2. Your wealth is useless

It can’t help you inherit anything in the kingdom of God

Their focus on earthly treasure and hoarding of this has come at the expense of their heavenly treasure. It shows where their heart really is, and shows that they were not generous with how they used their wealth. That they will not be able to pay their way into heaven, they will not be able to have enough possessions to give. They will not have enough food to satisfy them.

Ancient Egyptians practiced “mummification” and they built these grand, extravagant tombs. We mostly know of the Pyramids, but there is also the Valley of the Kings which is the tomb of many famous pharaohs like Ramesses and Thutmose III. But one was made for each pharaoh and each contained all of their possessions and wealth. But their possessions did not stop at gold and silver, or vases. It went to their pets, and wives who would sometimes be forced to stay with them in their tombs.

See, an Egyptian saw their life as seeking to accumulate as much wealth as they could to take with them into the afterlife. The goal of this world was to gain possessions so that they could enjoy them later. But what James tells us here is that we can’t take them, that they have no value after this life. In fact, if we seek to gain those possessions we lose the real possession in heaven.

Those who have wealth now may live luxuriously on earth, but their fortunes will be reversed when they are in eternity, that the poor in Spirit are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God.

3. Your wealth will condemn you before God

It cries out against you and it will eat your flesh like fire

In speaking of their wages as "crying out against you" it has an imagery of workers "crying out" against employers in Deut. 24:15, and Abel's blood "crying out" to God for justice over his death, and "crying out" to the Lord while in captivity in Egypt. The picture being portrayed is that while they may think that they have gotten away with their crimes or gotten away with their sins, the Lord hears and sees all that they have done.

He says the "Lord of Armies" has heard these cries. This title reveals the authority and power of God and the judgment he can place on people. It pictures God as the general of a vast army who could place judgment on any who come against him. This description of God is often used in prophetic books of the Bible to describe God's judgment against oppressive nations. Nations that have wronged the poor and made themselves rich.

He also says that they have “fattened your hearts for the day of judgment.” You can imagine an animal that is fed good food every day, that is treated well by its owners, and each day gets fatter and fatter, each day leading closer to the day that it will be slaughtered. All of our income is centered around making our lives as comfortable as possible. It is all about self-indulgence, our motivation is our own pleasure. In doing so we can be fattening ourselves up for the day of judgment.

One commentary said this. Those who avidly accumulate wealth are particularly sinful because they utterly disregard the demands made upon people by the displace of God's grace in Christ, and especially foolish because they ignore the signs of rapidly coming judgment.

Because as James has made clear throughout his letter, the issue is not wealth, it is not enjoying the pleasures of life, it isn't desiring to have nicer things. But that God "opposes the proud" (4:6) and "judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful" (2:13) and to know that which is good and not do it is a sin (4:17) and they live bitter envy and selfish ambition (3:14). Therefore, the admonishment isn't that we can't enjoy living out our lives. But in fact, to remember what Jesus says "why do you worry about clothes and food...consider the bird of the sky and the grass of the field. They don't gather into barns, they don't spin thread and labor...yet your heavenly father feeds them." So why should we live our lives seeking earthly security rather than invest in a heavenly treasure?

Because that is what James is calling us to look at, is our heavenly treasure. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What is spiritual treasure? Spiritual treasure are things that can go beyond the grave. Obedience to God’s commands, seeking to save the lost, investing in spiritual relationships, and caring for the poor and needy. We will be drawn to the thing that we treasure, to the wealth that we believe will satisfy us. So we must ask what wealth we are seeking to invest in. So what are the practices that the righteous should exhibit, and how does Christ teach us to exhibit these.

What are the practices of the righteous?

Don’t exploit the worker and laborer

In fact we should seek to do the exact opposite. We should be desiring to give above and beyond. We should give cheerfully so that they know that their work was appreciated rather than have to justify why we had to pay so much. We should tip not because we have to but because we know that the few extra bucks will mean more to them in the jar then it will to us.

Christ was exploited for the sake of us

Isaiah 53:5-6

Isaiah 53:5–6 CSB

But he was pierced because of our rebellion,

crushed because of our iniquities;

punishment for our peace was on him,

and we are healed by his wounds.

We all went astray like sheep;

we all have turned to our own way;

and the Lord has punished him

for the iniquity of us all.

Christ was willing to be exploited, he was willing to live a life of pain and suffering so that we may be forgiven of our sins. He was willing to lose all that He had so that we may inherit eternal life. See, we deserved to have our sins be exploited before God, for Him to see our every fault, for Him to know all that we have done. But Christ removed that because the Lord punished him for the iniquity of us all. Therefore, why would we exploit others, why would we seek to use circumstances toward our advantage when so Christ so clearly refused to consider his own advantage? Rather he decided to consider us. Therefore our lives should not be marked by seeking to get the better of others, but being willing to let others treated better than they deserve.

2. Generous with their wealth

Christ gave up heavenly riches for us

2 Corinthians 8:7-9

2 Corinthians 8:7–9 CSB

Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us—excel also in this act of grace. I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

God’s Word makes clear as it discusses the love of money and warnings to the rich that wealth is incredibly dangerous to the life of the believer. So in order to avoid those dangers we must be characterized by extravagant generosity. not a generosity that has no cost, but one willing to sacrifice what we have for the sake of others.

Give without a desire for public recognition

Christ was only seeking the recognition of His heavenly Father

Philippians 2:5-8

Philippians 2:5–8 CSB

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

And in John 8:50 Jesus says that he does not seek His own glory, but His Father’s

Jesus also says in Matthew 6 that we should be careful not to practice our righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise we have no reward with our Father in heaven. And those who do, well, they have gained their reward because their reward is public recognition. But He says “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.