Trekking through the Scriptures is an adventure. Feel free to comment here, or email me personally.

Friday, October 7, 2011

James 5:1-6


"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you."
                                                             wealth misused
                In a letter written to Christians, why might James have included a whole paragraph addressing non-Christians? The clue is found, I believe in the following paragraph (addressed to “brethren”) and gives reason for the encouragements that follow in verses 7-11.  Now you may consider yourself a Christian but it would be foolhardy to think yourself above the sins into which the rich have fallen:
1.        Selfish hoarding of money (5:2-3)     
2.        Defrauding of workers (5:4)                    
3.        Self-indulgence (5:5)                                   
4.        Persecuting the innocent (5:6)       
Seeing the unhappy end of those who selfishly enjoy the rich life on earth should serve to help divert any envy that Christians may feel toward those who now have what appears to be the “good life”.  This ‘end’ is not a temporal earthly experience, but rather a final condemnation and punishment that awaits them on the day of judgment.  One aspect of judgment is that Christians can have confidence in ultimate justice.  Personal revenge is unnecessary. It would likely be inaccurate, incomplete and ill-fitted to the true offenses.  It is much better to trust God to give to each according to their works.   Ironically, all the selfish storing up and saving of worldly riches, is in reality a storing up of God’s wrath if the needy have been neglected.
This is not to say that wealth in itself is evil, but selfish misuse of wealth is evil, leading to judgment and punishment.  The Old and New Testaments both often speak on the matter of wealth and poverty.  Here are some trends found throughout scripture:
1.        God has concern for the poor, the downtrodden and the outcasts
2.        God’s people must show similar concern for helpless people
3.         God’s people are to identify with the poor, the pious,  and the righteous
4.        The rich and powerful will often identify with the wicked
“...he does not resist you” implies the one who is mistreated and ill-used, is either unwilling or unable to retaliate.  This makes the sin against them even more deplorable.  If you are in the U.S., (chances are you are), then by global comparison, you are probably quite wealthy. So here is the question:  Is God’s heart seen in your use of wealth?
Read and Pray:  Psalm 49, Proverbs 1:10-19, I Timothy 6:6-12

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