FOR RICHER OR POORER
James 1:9-11
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21
INTRODUCTION
1. Those of us who are married took vows before God and witnesses to take on certain responsibilities in our new homes.
2. Most of our vows included loving our spouse, “For richer or poorer.”
3. This indicates our commitment to one another did not rely on our financial position.
4. We love our spouse whether we are multi-millionaires or penniless beggars.
5. Our love transcends the issue of money.
6. James is calling on that same commitment in our text for this lesson.
7. (Read text)
8. There are some physical implications we must explore in this text.
9. There are some spiritual implications we must examine in this text.
10. It is the goal of this lesson to help us learn to overcome our dependence on earthly wealth and depend on spiritual prosperity.
TRANSITION: Let us find out what it means to be rich.
I. Definitions of rich and poor.
A. Rich- Possessing great material wealth; having great worth or value; magnificent; pleasantly full; containing a large portion
1. Riches are precious possessions.
2. Being rich possesses those precious possessions in large quantities.
B. Richness can be different for different people.
1. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
2. For a man who restores old car, a 1957 Chevy with no windows or tires and some rust holes is a potential gold mine. To his wife it is just another eye-sore in the yard.
3. To the worldly minded, a big bank account is the most prized possession in the world.
a. He may step on other people to get it
b. He may neglect his family
c. He may neglect his physical health
d. But if he amasses a great fortune he thinks it is all worth it.
4. To the Christian, a rich faith and hope in God supercedes all the money in the world.
a. He will help people.
b. He will love and encourage his family.
c. He will attempt to remain healthy.
d. When he gets to heaven, it is worth it all.
C. Poverty and poorness
1. Poor- Lacking desirable elements; undernourished; lacking in value; destitute
2. Poverty- Deficiency in amount; unproductiveness
3. Poverty means not having the necessary means to operate.
4. Not being able to do the necessary things day to day needed to survive
D. I know there are people in Mississippi, and here in Theo, that by our standards are poor.
1. They do not have as much as some others.
2. They struggle much more than some who are more affluent.
3. Many times when you struggle to make ends meet you hate to hear people say things like this:
a. But the poorest people in the United States
b. Would be rich in any third world country
c. Where they eat fish, heads and all, not wasting a bite
d. They live 6-8 in a single room house; if they are lucky enough to have a place to live.
e. Where a bathroom in a house is a luxury that you only dream about
f. And you do not have a car, much less one for every driver
4. Physical poverty is a relative term.
E. Spiritual poverty is the same for everyone.
1. Either you have the means necessary to enter heaven, or you do not.
2. All men have the same opportunities.
3. Those opportunities do not depend on you but on God.
a. Your skin color does not change your opportunity.
b. Your social standing does not change it
c. Your financial status does not change your opportunity
d. God calls all men unto obedience (Romans 1:16)
e. Regardless of your place on earth
4. If you come to him, to obedience and love for God, you get rich in grace and mercy.
5. If you refuse him you are wrought with spiritual poverty and have not the means of salvation.
TRANSITION: Being rich is having means and being poor is not having means. Here is the physical implication of James 1:9-11.
II. Physical implication
A. The brother of humble circumstance, the poor, should glory in his high position.
1. Many say that this is solely focusing on the physical station in life.
2. If you are poor and become rich, see glory in that.
3. Not glorying that you are rich, but that God has blessed you with material gain.
B. And the rich man is to rejoice at his humiliation.
1. A man that was rich and lost his fortune
2. Rejoice in that you have this trial to face and conquer.
3. How many people at the stock market crash of 1929 rejoiced?
a. Scores of men jumped from tall buildings in New York.
b. They saw no reason to rejoice.
C. Remember the larger context of this passage.
1. “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.”
2. Losing your fortune on earth will create a tremendous trial for you.
3. Especially if that is your greatest treasure.
4. If your main drive is money
a. You are one who steps on others
b. You neglect your family
c. You focus on getting more money, fame, or power
d. When that is taken from you, you have nothing left.
5. To find joy in that trial, you must know that there is something else, something better waiting for you.
D. So we give thanks to God if our economic station is improved from rags to riches, and we count it all joy if our economic station is lowered from riches to rags. Because we know God is in control.
E. Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am.”
1. He says, “I have had lots of money and I have been broke.”
2. Through it all, I learned to be satisfied with my financial status and praise God with my life.
3. Because all that will, “Pass away like flowering grass” and he will too.
F. Just as the hot sun and scorching wind kill the grass and it withers away, so too will man.
TRANSITION: True wealth must transcend the grave.
III. Spiritual implication
A. When the flower of man passes, that which is left must possess true value.
B. The poor man should glory in his high position.
1. So a poor man has a higher place than a rich man in heaven. (Look at the rich man and Lazarus.)
2. Galatians 3:28-29, “For there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
3. There is no caste system in Christ.
a. There is but one body.
b. All members of that body are equally important.
4. So where is his high position?
a. In Christ.
b. In the love that he has for us.
c. When the 99 sheep are in the pasture, they all are in the same pasture.
i. Regardless of color
ii. Regardless of status
d. When the one strays, it makes no difference which one it is, Christ still cares for and longs for its return.
e. Whether it is president of the United States, or a homeless hobo, his return causes great celebration by the angels in heaven.
f. That is high-esteem and to be honored.
C. That is fine for the poor man, but what does it say for the rich man?
1. He is told to glory in his humiliation.
2. So God will not exalt him like the poor man.
3. Galatians 3:28-29 goes both ways.
a. We are all equal.
b. If we accept him we are all joint heirs. (Romans 8:17)
4. His humility is the same as that of Jesus in John 13.
a. Jesus girded the towel of servitude.
b. We humble ourselves to service to others.
c. Loving them and honoring them.
d. Not condescendingly, because we are equals.
e. Lovingly as brothers.
D. See, the money we or you or he may have came from God and should be used for him.
1. If I think I am better than you because I have more money
2. I have forgotten the source of those blessings and must reconsider.
3. Or I will be like the farmer in Luke 12 who said, “I have succeeded; now I can enjoy my own accomplishments.” In essence, “I do not need God anymore.”
4. The Lord told him, “You fool! Tonight your soul will be required of you.”
a. If we have taken glory and credit for what we have
b. We allow some meager success to go to our heads
c. We think we are better or more worthy than someone else because we have more money
d. We are in the same shape as this fool and may not have a great fate to look forward to
E. Understand James 1:17. Everything good in our lives comes from God, the source of all blessings.
1. Enjoy them
2. But do not think they make you something better than those of us who have less than you.
F. We will all fade away, along with our carnal pursuits.
G. We must have value after that.
TRANSITION: Let us put this all together
IV. Application
A. The Proverb says in 30:7-9,
Two things I ask of thee;
Deny me them not before I die:
Remove from me falsehoods and lies;
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with food that is needful to me;
Lest I be full and deny thee and say, “Who is Jehovah?”
Or lest I be poor and steal;
And use profanely the name of my God.
B. James’ point to this discussion is that though wealth is seen as a trial from a worldly view, the Christian may view it otherwise.
1. The poor should not grudge his poverty.
2. The rich should not take pride in his wealth.
3. Just as the poor and rich are not to allow their state to influence their thoughts, others should not allow their position to impact their impression of those they meet.
a. When dealing with people, do not look first at their clothes and car.
b. Look at their life and attitude.
4. There will be people who dressed well in heaven and hell.
5. There will people in both places that did not have money for shoes also.
6. Maintain fellowship based on light, not sight.
CONCLUSION:
1. Richness and poverty can be relative.
a. When thinking financially, they are relative.
b. Poverty in the United States is extremely wealthy in Haiti.
2. Richness and poverty are the same in heaven.
a. There is no distinction.
b. So we should not create one.
3. Remember that all we have came from God. Do not become so blessed you depend on yourself and forget God.
4. Do not look at your trials in poverty and turn your back on God.
5. Because all who endure life’s trials with their faith in tact receive the same reward.
