Wealth: Beware of It, Be Wise With It

[James 5:1-6]

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

To those who don't want to hear another message about money or to those who think they don't need to hear it, you need this message. Be willing to be confronted with blind spots, hidden sins, pride, and our unwillingness to learn.

James is a book on faith. It talks about what real faith looks like. This text is saying that our faith is reflected in how we spend out money. James is very harsh to both Christians and non-Christians. There are non-Christians who were oppressing the poor and powerless. There were also Christians being oppressed. This passage speaks to both of them.

Three reasons the wealthy are condemned

A foolish trust in fleeting wealth

Earthly wealth is fleeting. There's no guarantee that we will keep it. It is foolish to hoard earthly treasure knowing that God is coming. American culture tells us otherwise. It tells us MONEY is what you need. You need money to weather all the ups and downs. It will give you security. So store it up. That is the message our culture tells us. At face value, this doesn't sound that bad. But behind it is an attitude, a posture of idolatry. We devote our lives to the master called money. Both the wealthy and the poor can fall into this trap. But money cannot save us from cancer, from car accidents, from anxiety, or our marriages. We were made to trust in God, not in money.

Self-indulgence Excess

James says that they only use their money for their own comfort and pleasure. They spend excessively on their selfish desires. This is the opposite of hoarding wealth. These people fulfill their desires regardless of how much it costs. They deny themselves nothing. Shopping is normal. But the problem is really what lies in the heart... we find more pleasure and fulfillment in purchasing than in God. Idolatry again. At some point, luxury no longer matters.

Oppressing the poor

These wealthy landowners were becoming rich off the backs of the poor workers. The landowners were taking advantage of them out of greed. The poor had no power, no way to fight back. Do not in the name of greed, oppress the poor, powerless, & needy.

Generous Justice by Tim Keller

In order to provide justice, we should provide rights to the powerless. Anything that takes away rights from these, is injustice. It also means not exploiting the poor. If we do not actively share our resources with the poor, it implies that we are robbing them. This is not supposed to be a guilt-trip. For the Christian, our motivation is the gospel. Jesus came to us, the helpless. He became poor so that we could become rich. He gives us what we cannot get for ourselves... a way to heaven and eternal life. We are earning to give and share. That is the heart of Christ.

Like Father Like Son

[Matthew 1:18-25]

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

When the angel of God told Joseph to take Mary as his wife. God was asking for Joseph's reputation and status. for life. People then could not just move away. They grew up and died in the same village/city. There were only two possible reputations that Mary and Joseph would have. First would be that they were fornicators. Joseph and Mary had sex before marriage, which was unheard of in those days among those people. Secondly, Mary had sex with another man while she was betrothed to Joseph and Joseph was a fool to marry her. When God called Joseph to throw away his life, it was no small thing. Even into the adult years of Jesus' life, this reputation would still hang over the whole family. People would come up to Jesus and accuse him of being a bastard.

This is the same call that God makes to every Christian. We are called to follow God at the cost of our lives. Our reputations. our goals/dreams/desires. To pick up our cross and follow God. This is not a call only for missionaries. Or only for pastors. When Joseph was told to marry Mary, verse 25 tells us how he reacted: "When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded..." He quietly and faithfully obeyed. No complaints are voiced. Just quiet obedience. Joseph is foreshadowing for Jesus. Jesus also went to the cross at the cost of his life. Like a lamb before her shearers.

Joseph is called a "just man." What does being just mean? Before the visit of the angel, Joseph was resolved to quietly divorce Mary. Why? He had just found out that Mary obviously had been unfaithful. But consider that he could have had Mary stoned to death for adultery. He could have divorced her publicly to shame her. Consider that justice is different here. It is not the form of justice we see often. It is not retribution. It is not an eye for an eye. It is not a stiff application of law. The same punishment for all. But rather it is compassion for the weak and broken.

"He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope." - Matthew 12:19-21

This is the heart of Joseph. Not justice in terms of only punishing those who have done wrong. But avoiding shaming and causing additional suffering for those who have sinned against us. It is justice that is compassionate as well. It covers over our shame. We are called to be gracious even when we have been sinned against.

Application

We are called to sacrifice anything and everything, if God calls us to it.
If we are honest, this is impossible without God.

We are called to pay the cost of sin... there will be costs to our family, our finances, and our time and energy. Honestly, this is also impossible w/o God.

What then?

This only points us again to our constant need for the Gospel in our lives. We are continually seek the presence of God, the God who is with us. We are called to die to ourselves. To remember our immediate and immense need for Christ. The one who has already come and who dwells with us.