James: A Faith That Works (14)
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One evening, a husband was balancing the checkbook, and after finishing he said to his wife: “You know the old saying, ‘money talks’? Well, ours just said, ‘So long!’”
We all know that feeling, right?!
H. Ross Perot — “Remember, if you get real lucky… if you make a lot of money… if you go out and buy a lot of stuff — IT’S GONNA BREAK!”
“You got your biggest, fanciest, mansion in the world… It has air conditioning… It’s got a pool… The air conditioning is going to fail… The pumps are going to go out… Go to any Yacht basin, any place in the world… Nobody is smiling, and I’ll tell you why. Something broke that morning.”
“The generator’s out; the microwave doesn’t work… THINGS DON’T MEAN HAPPINESS!” — ROSS PEROT
Brad Pitt once said in an interview in “Rolling Stone”: “Once you got everything, then you’re just left with yourself… it doesn’t help you sleep any better, and you don’t wake up any better because of it.”
The “American Dream” is just that… A “Dream!”
Material Wealth NEVER satisfies the soul!
We need to realize just how dangerous yearning for money and material wealth is to us spiritually.
Over and over again, the rich… the wealthy become the objects of scorn and condemnation in scripture…
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
Jesus said to the rich young ruler:
24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
Why is this?!
Why does the Bible seem to speak so harshly to the rich? Why does it condemn the pursuit of wealth?
It is NOT because it is a sin to be rich… nor is it saying that there is an automatic merit to being poor…
There is a spiritual danger we face in dealing with wealth.
Scripture tells us that God gives us — His People — the ability to gain wealth.
18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
It is God who CHOOSES to show favor on us by granting “an abundant increase of wealth.”
Abraham is an example of this… so is Job!
But… Scripture also tells us that sometimes, poverty is the result of laziness.
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.
12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
Both issues are EQUALLY condemned!
Scripture tells us that Money is the “Root of all evil”, amen?
That applies to both sides!
Can I tell you this: The issue is not money. It is the heart!
Money produces temptation.
In the poverty stricken… it can produce greed, envy, and lust, rooted in expectation… It reveals itself in the idea that the “rich” somehow owe us something… as though we are entitled to their wealth… and that produces “laziness.”
On the other side, money attacks people with a fierce temptation.
What do you think that is?
(Greed)
Pastor Jerry Cosper says: “It is usually the temptation to bank and hoard money instead of using it to meet the needs of the desperate and dying in the world.”
Let’s be clear… It is NOT a sin to be wealthy!
The Bible does not condemn ALL rich people… In fact, Jesus did not even condemn the Rich Young Ruler…
Scripture only condemns people who store up their wealth instead of using it to reach the lost… feed the hungry… clothe the naked… shelter the cold and homeless… nurse the sick… and in the process, share the good news of the Gospel with the world!
You see… It is not about whether we have wealth or not… it is about what we do with it!
We are NOT to put our trust in wealth, but in the God who gave it to us!
28 Those who trust in their riches will wither, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.
Jesus says:
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Look at James:
1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you.
2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
James is not “calling out” the rich just because they are rich!
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
James calls them out because they are using their wealth inappropriately and selfishly.
Riches can be a blessing… or a curse!
It all depends on how we gain wealth… how we use wealth… and what our attitude towards wealth is…
The entire world can be classified into four categories:
— poor economically and poor spiritually (most of the world)
— rich economically and poor spiritually (“rich and famous” AND “Christians”)
— poor economically and rich spiritually (some people)
— rich economically and rich spiritually (the smallest group)
You see… the terms “rich” and “poor” are relative terms…
We might think that neither applies to us, or… we might think that only one does…
Most of us would probably say that we are “poor”… amen?
Let me tell you: We are mistaken!
You see — We think we are poor, but we probably cannot even think of a time that we were extremely hungry… starving… and literally could not do anything about it.
How many of you remember the story about the little girl who went to the school for the kids of the movie stars, movie producers, and Hollywood elite?
Do you remember the “project” they had to do?
They had to write a paper about poverty… Do you remember what she wrote?
“Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor. Her mother was poor. Her governess (nanny) was poor. Her butler and chauffeur were poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor.”
Sometimes, we don’t understand what poor is… amen?
Let’s get back to James:
1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you.
Who are these rich people that James is speaking to?
Some say that they are most likely non-Christians… James doesn’t call them “brethren” he simply calls them”you rich people”…
They say that the reason James suddenly turns from addressing the Church to addressing those outside the church is to warn Christians against trying to be like them....
But… How does that make any sense?
How is James somehow now talking to people who most likely are not even around to hear what he has to say?
Look at verse 6:
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
Why would James say this to non-Christians? Why would they even care?
You see… James isn’t talking to a non-believing world… He is talking to the CHURCH!!!!
We are not supposed to put our trust in wealth… we are supposed to put our trust (our faith) in God!
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
The rich may SEEM comfortable and secure… they may have a lifestyle of luxury… but if they only “knew” the “misery” that lay ahead… they would “weep and wail”…
James 5:2–3 (NRSV)
2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
Verse 5 gives an illustration of what is really happening to them:
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Think about it…
Have you ever watched a pig eat?
The term “pigging out” is real!
They will happily gorge themselves on whatever you give them… They eat as though the food given to them was meant for their enjoyment, never once thinking that they are preparing themselves for their own demise!
Never realizing that they are fattening themselves for the day of slaughter!
Money will buy a lot of things… but it will never buy spiritual security!
2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
In our world, wealth is defined by three categories: food/shelter, toys/clothing, and precious metals.
James adresses each…
— food/shelter will rot
— clothes and toys will fall apart
— precious metals will corrode and lose their luster…
But, there is a worse thing that happens…
James 5:3 (NRSV)
3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.
James says: “If we hoard money… the passion to hoard more and more will burn within us.”
The more we have the more we will want…
That passion for more will consume us… We will never be satisfied and fulfilled in life… Passion and lust for wealth will consume and destroy us!
And I am not talking about simple greed…
I’m talking about a lust that consumes everything!
The lust for money… for wealth… will consume your life… the cost is HUGE!
— it will take your family
— your marriage
— your relationships
— your friends
— ....
Because it becomes all about material things and R.O.I…
Materialism… the pursuit of wealth will bring nothing but misery!
Because it breeds sin in your life.
9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
James identifies three of these sins:
4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
Injustice. (v. 4)
When you agree to pay someone for a job, and then do not pay them in a fair manner… when you cheat them, or refuse to pay… you condemn yourself!
14 You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.
15 You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.
Jeremiah says:
13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages;
And Malachi says:
5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
All over the world, companies and employers take advantage of their employees… they force them to work in unsafe conditions… for extremely low wages…
They take advantage of their customers… even cheating them with exorbitant charges… and bad products and services…
When we operate in the same way, we are no better then them, no matter whether we call ourselves “Christians” or not… and we become accountable to the same “judgment” from God as them.
James says that their “practices” “Cry out to the Lord” about them, and that God “hears” them…
They have become...
2. Selfish.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
The needs of others have become something that does not matter to them… unless filling them provides a return or themselves!
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
The rich man lived in a luxurious home… in a gated community… Lazarus was poor… sick… homeless… living on the street right outside his gate… yet the rich man had absolutely no concern for him.
It is so crazy easy for us to end up living just like the rich man… having no concern for the poor… selfishly spending our money on ourselves… Amen?
And here’s the worst part! We make excuses for it!
We cite 2 Thess. — saying they need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps!” or “They don’t have because they won’t work” (while we don’t offer them work)
Or my favorite: “God helps those who help themselves!” (That’s not even in the Bible!!!!!)
No matter how much… or how little… we have, do we spend it all on ourselves?
Or… Do we have a heart for others and a desire to share what we have with them?
Let’s be real — It can be challenging to consider how to best help the person standing on the street begging…
But I hope that we will become a church that puts the needs of others first… That has a heart of compassion for the lost…
— We talked about this in the Leadership meeting, and your leadership team agrees… We are called to be a church that walks into the darkest corners of Fannin county and reaches into the darkness… into the brokenness… into the loneliness… into the pure hell that is destroying people’s lives in this community… with the Love, Compassion, Mercy, and Grace that WE have received from God!
Christ commanded us to “go into ALL the world”… and to be a “LIGHT”… to share His Love and Compassion with those who need it!
John 4:35 (NRSV)
35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.
That is what we are called to do!
But it is not easy, is it?
19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.
Let’s make sure that materialism does not choke out the Word of God in our lives… Let’s make sure that we never fail to be a Church that allows the Word of God to grow in us… that reaches out with the Love, Grace, and Mercy that God has shown us… and pulls people out of the pit of despair and destruction that this dark world has put them in…
Because… if not… we are condemning them to death!
James says…
3. Materialism is MURDER.
There is an old Jewish saying: “To cheat a poor man and take away his living is to murder him.”
To take away the things that are necessary for him and for his family … no matter whether it is by cheating him, or not reaching out to him… is to take his life from him.
Now… Look what James equates that to:
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
There is only One who can be “the righteous one”… That is Christ.
When we cheat… when we mistreat… when we refuse to reach out and help…
AND… even when we do… if we do it EXPECTING a return… we are committing a sin against Christ!
40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
Unless we are willing to give EVERYTHING to Christ… for His use… we CANNOT follow Him.
A Faith That Works understands this…
A Faith That Works Reaches Out With ALL That God Has Given To Help Those In Need.
A Faith That Works Takes Greed and Materialism Seriously!
1 But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property;
2 with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?
4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!”
5 Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.
6 The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
It is not about what we have… God has given that to us already…
It is not about what we give… it is about our heart!
It is about “WHY” we give…
Greed has no place in our hearts!
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one.
Do we take the sin of GREED that seriously?!
Do we take it that seriously in our own hearts?
Money can buy a lot of things… but it cannot buy everything!
— …health and happiness
— … a good name
— … trust and respect
— … love
But MOST IMPORTANTLY… it cannot buy God’s favor or salvation!
Do you know what money does do?
It SHOUTS!
It Shouts about what is in our hearts and minds…
It Shouts about what we value and love…
What does your money say about you?
Is it saying you are cheating and exploiting others?
Is it saying that you are greedy and selfish?
Or… Is it saying that you are compassionate… generous… and rich toward God?
Let’s be a church that lives in such a way that our money says that we love and trust God!