James Study - Part 11

“The Wicked Rich”

James 5:1-6 (Message #11 in James Series)

INTRODUCTION:

            Our text for this morning is right off the front page of the Oregonian and hundreds of other newspapers, as well as all sorts of electronic news media. For weeks now we have been hearing of protests across the nation after the model of “Occupy Wall Street.” There are many such “Occupy” movements here in our own state going on right now—in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Corvallis, Medford, Bend, La Grande, and Tillamook, plus in many smaller towns. While there is certainly a mixed message coming from these protesters, there is also a recurring theme: “We are unhappy because the rich are getting richer, while the poor and oppressed are getting poorer by the day. Banks and corporations are stealing our wealth and not paying their fair share. They are getting away with murder!” In other words, these thousands of protesters are rising up and reacting to the social class they call, “THE WICKED RICH.”

            While most of us are also frustrated with the way our government has been handling things, the majority of Americans is also very sceptical about the efficacy of these demonstrations in the streets of our cities to effect any changes in Washington, D.C. However, they still serve to illustrate a point. Most people know instinctually that there are two kinds of wealthy people: (1) those who made their money through hard work, long hours, and much sacrifice; and (2) those who either inherited it, or got rich through dishonesty or taking advantage of other people.

TRANSITION:

            The Bible has a lot to say about wealth, including the right way to get it and the correct attitude that we Christians should have toward it. People often misquote the Bible and ignorantly repeat the old saying that “Money is the root of all evil.” But that is not what the Bible says. Nowhere does the Bible allege that money per se is evil. Rather, the apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

            This morning we want to exam what the Bible teaches us about wealth as seen through the eyes of James in James 5:1-6. In verses 1-3 James explains that possessing riches can turn out to be a curse. In the verses 4-6 he warns that pursuing riches can be an even bigger curse.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 

• Many commentators claim that James was not speaking here to Christians but to unbelievers. I am not so sure about that. Up until now in this letter he has been speaking to Christ’s followers, so why would he suddenly switch gears? Why would he even bother to give this teaching if it did not apply in some way to believers? No, I think the warning given here applies to all men, believers, and nonbelievers alike.
• Throughout the NT we find warnings to the rich, not that possessing wealth is in-and-of itself immoral but because the Bible places a greater stewardship upon rich people, puts them under a greater burden of responsibility. This goes along with Jesus’ warning found in Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” From God’s vantage point wealth is not intended for selfish exploitation.
• I believe that the “weeping and howling” here in verse 1 are not signs of repentance and sorrow for their wrongs, but the expressions of the rich of their frustration and anger in the face of God’s impending Day of Judgment. God wants their wealth invested for Him in His Kingdom, not hoarded for their own pleasure and security.

Verse 2: Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten.    

• Notice that both verbs in this sentence are in the perfect tense: “…have rotted… have become moth-eaten.” To God it is already a done deal. Biblically speaking, wealth is to be used for righteous purposes, not hoarded, or stored up for a rainy day. That goes along with what I said a moment ago about the stewardship of riches. Besides, money does not store well. According to Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 it rusts, rots, gets stolen, and becomes moth-eaten. Listen: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 
• Some of us know what it feels like to have the moths eat our money. Over the past couple of years many of us have lost 401Ks and other investment monies. The money we have been socking away for years so that we could retire someday has pretty much gone up in smoke. For that reason, many of us can certainly relate to James’ words here about our wealth rotting away and becoming moth-eaten. Money is just not something you can count on. It can disappear in a heartbeat!

Verse 3: Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 

• If you leave metal objects laying out in the weather, they will surely rust. I have accidently done that a few times with tools—left them laying on the deck or someplace where they got wet. Very quickly they begin to rust. The rust leaves a stain on whatever the tool happens to be sitting on. Even after you take the tool away and store it where it belongs, the rust stain is there as a reminder of your foolishness.
• Do not get lost in the metaphor here. We all know that gold does not rust or corrode, although silver does tarnish. We also know that rust does not normally work like an acid and burn the skin.  But here James says that in the Day of Judgment the rust from the misused wealth will “consume your flesh like fire.” He is using figurative language to say that the rust of the hoarded wealth will serve as a witness against the rich, because God meant for their wealth to be used for the good of mankind and for the glory of God, not to be selfishly hoarded and stored up for them.

Verse 4: Behold, the pay of the labourers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 

• Starting here in verse 4 through the end of verse 6 James points out that the pursuit of money and riches can turn out to be a curse.
• In verse 4 James is obviously speaking about unfair labour practices—a rich farmer refusing to pay his workers what he owes them, withholding their just wages. The labourers protested and asked for what they rightly had coming but the farmer just turned a deaf ear. However, James says, God was listening to their cries. Their pleas reached His ears. He was paying attention and saw everything the farmer did to them. “The Lord of Sabaoth” means “the Lord of Hosts [referring to heavenly hosts]” or “the Lord of the Armies.” It is a title that emphasizes God’s power, authority, and sovereign omnipotence. He is not a God to be messed with! And He has a very tender spot in His heart toward the poor and does not like anyone who hurts them or threatens them. This was made clear in the Law of Moses way back in Deuteronomy 24:14-15, “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. ¹⁵ Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.”
• Likewise, in Ezekiel 18:12-13 the prophet talked about the fact that the wicked rich will be judged by the Righteous Almighty One: “He [the wicked rich man] oppresses the poor and needy. He commits robbery. He does not return what he took in pledge. He looks to the idols. He does detestable things. ¹³ He lends at interest and takes a profit. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.” Now that is what I call a “heavy-duty threat.”

Verse 5: You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 

• Another sin of the rich in this indictment was their extravagant, luxurious living, implying that this was going on while they were surrounded by people living in poverty all around them. But James says that all this pleasure was just fattening them up for the day of slaughter, much the way we fatten up cattle on corn and tasty expensive feed to get them ready for the butcher. I believe that James is basing his comment on Jeremiah 12. In verses 1-2 of that passage Jeremiah expresses his frustration with the Lord allowing the wicked to prosper: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? ² You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” Then, down in verse 3 the prophet begs the Lord to give them what they have coming: “Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter!” I believe that it is this Day of Judgment to which James is referring.

Verse 6: You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you. 

• Some commentators have tried to spiritualize this verse and say that James is speaking of Jesus when he says, “You have condemned and put to death the righteous man.” They say that this verse refers to Isaiah 53, which speaks about Jesus who opened not his mouth before His accusers, nor resisted His attackers.
• However, this interpretation does injury to the text because it is not supported by the context. We have no right or authority to pull a verse out of its natural setting and make it say whatever we want it to say. And that interpretation simply does not fit the context, nor go along with what James has been saying up to this point. By “the righteous man” James is referring to the workers up in verse 4 who have a just cause before their unjust employer. They are “in the right” and their unjust boss is “in the wrong.” James is not talking here about the poor man’s salvation but about his right to receive what he has worked for.
• “You have condemned and put to death the righteous man.” James is speaking here using hyperbole (exaggeration or overstatement). He has already talked about how poor people were being dragged into debtor’s court and charged unjustly (cf. 2:6). Now he is pointing out that when a poor man is hauled into court, he has little recourse and can do nothing to defend himself. He is completely at the mercy of the unscrupulous rich man. Yet even in the face of this mistreatment, the poor man does not resist. In chapter 34:21-22 of the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus there is a statement that serves to illustrate James’ argument: “The bread of the needy is the life of the poor; whoever deprives them of it is a man of blood. To take away a neighbour’s living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood.” 
• James is here pointing out the ultimate viciousness of greed and fraud: it often ends in murder because avarice will stop at nothing.

CONCLUSION:

            I believe that James had several purposes in mind for writing these six verses. First, he wanted to show us the utter worthlessness of all earthly riches when compared to real spiritual wealth. Secondly, he wanted to show the despicableness of those who possess earthly riches and squander them on their own pleasures rather than invest them in the Kingdom of God. In so doing he hoped to prevent his readers from putting their hopes, aims, and desires on earthly things rather than heavenly things. And thirdly, I believe that James was reminding those among the Christians who were wealthy that God holds them to a higher standard of stewardship. Frankly, there are not very many rich Christians. I think that is because God cannot trust most of us with money. When we get a few extra dollars, we get all stupid and start making bad choices.

            But whether we have a lot or a little, it really all belongs to Him, not to us. We need to be good stewards of whatever He entrusts to us. But beyond that, Christian employers have a special obligation to be fair, and just, and honest in their dealings, both with their workers and their customers. A Christian boss who cheats on his taxes, rips off his workers, and lies to the government is an embarrassment to Christ and His Church and will one day have to give an account before Almighty God. And woe to him on that day!