Generous Me! Series

Generous Who?

James 5:1-6

July 30, 2023

A man was a regular diner at a restaurant. One day he complained that he only received one piece of bread with his meal, so the waiter promptly brought him 4 slices.

The next time he came to the restaurant he wasn’t satisfied with the 4 pieces, so he received 6 slices with his supper.

The next time he came in he commented they were being frugal with their bread, so they gave him a basket filled with bread. But the complaints didn’t stop.

Finally, the owner decided to end this for good. The next night he baked a colossal loaf of bread baked. It was 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. It took 3 people to carry it to the man. They laid it on the table and stood be the man smiling, knowing they did all they could.

The man looked at the gigantic loaf of bread and said,

“So, we’re back to ONE piece again?”

This is where we’re at with our study of the book of James. To be honest, James has nothing good to say in this section. In fact, as you think about what James has been writing about, he sounds like he’s not too happy.

He’s talked about our need to suck it up when going through trials, he’s questioned our faith, if there’s no actions, he’s talked about the destruction that comes from our tongue, our coveting, our arrogance and now, he’s getting on us about our desire for wealth.

Geesh! So, with all that in mind, let’s dive into what James is telling us, and then we’ll look at a solution.

James tells us - - -

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth - eaten.

3 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.

4 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.

5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self - indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. - James 5:1-6

That’s inspiring! So, let’s start on the negative side first - - -

If you took an honest tour of your home, would you say you have more than you need? Most of us would be guilty of that. Of course, having stuff, also known as junk, or having wealth is NOT wrong. Nowhere does the Bible condemn people who are wealthy - - - - and neither does James.

James looked at the 3 greatest ways people in his day demonstrated they were wealthy. They showed their wealth through — grain, clothing and jewels. James says all of them will decay. The grain will become rotten, the clothes will be eaten by moths (they didn’t have moth balls in those days) and most importantly, James says their gold and silver will rust. Until I did a little looking, I found out that gold and silver do not rust, so what is James point about these jewels?

His point is that whatever you’re banking on will not last, even our most precious and indestructible things are doomed to decay. This rust is proof of impermanence and ultimate valuelessness of all worldly things.

It’s also a warning, James goes on to say that our desire for such riches can eat away our body and soul. James uses extremely vivid imagery to bring that point home when he says “the corrosion of the jewels will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.”

That’s pretty tough language by James. We’ve all known people who desired wealth and their drive to accumulate it, or to accumulate more stuff, ate away at them. In some ways it ate at their soul. And that’s really what satan wants to do us. He wants us to believe that we need to have the most toys, because the one with the most toys wins, right? Wrong!

We’ve heard of people who have won the lottery. And so many of them eventually file bankruptcy or squander their money, they no longer talk to family members, and life has become joyless. Why? Because they valued their wealth more so than a relationship with Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 19, a rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to inherit the kingdom and have treasure in heaven. Jesus told him - - -