JAMES 2:5-7
GOD’S CALL TO THE POOR
[1 Corinthians 1:26-27]
Preferential treatment of the rich is wrong. James makes his case that biased judgment is wrong through four rhetorical questions he will ask, expecting an affirmative answer. Those who have entered into a faith relationship with Jesus Christ must not let social distinctions and differences continue to find a place in their lives. He that loves Christ must love all His relatives.
Poor Christians are special people to God. Discrimination against them is therefore an affront to God. It defies His will. Masters and slaves (Eph. 6:9), rich and poor are alike before Him. He saves each of us on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross and not because of anything that we are or have. But the poor are more receptive to the gospel message therefore they seem favored by God.
I. RICH IN FAITH, 5.
II. WHO OPPRESSES, 6-7.
Verse 5 shows how God views the poor. Listen my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
This does not mean that God’s choice has been limited to the poor nor does it mean that all poor have been chosen. But as a matter of fact the poor have been more receptive and more responsive to the Gospel. James seems to teach that this was not just chance but the result of the way fallen creation works (1 Cor. 1:27). Jesus even asserted that to fulfill His messianic mission He "preached the Gospel to the poor" (Lk. 4:18, 7:22).
Verse 5 outlines three blessings which God bestows upon persevering poor believers. 1st, they are called out by God, 2nd, they are rich in faith and 3rd they are heirs of the kingdom. God’s call to repentance is a call to recognize one’s spiritual poverty. It is God’s will that all people come to repentance and be saved (1 Tim. 2:4) but only those who recognize their need become part of His chosen. God has determined to call out through the Gospel to the poor of the world.
In His sermon on the plain Jesus declared, "Blessed are you poor for yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk. 6:20). The first sermon Jesus’ preached [in His hometown synagogue] concerned His mission and began with the testimony, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor" (Lk. 4:18). Jesus identified the Spirit’s anointing in His ministry with God’s concern for the poor. When John the Baptist tested the authenticity of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus sent him this evidence, "the poor have good news preached to them" (Lk. 7:22). When the Apostles confirmed Paul’s ministry they asked that he "should continue to remember the poor" (Gal. 2:10).
From the first, Jesus had a small number of affluent adherents. Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Joanna, and others ministered to the Lord from their substance (Luke 8:2). However, the central appeal of the gospel was to the poor people of the land. Without question the early church consisted largely of poor people. The Palestinian poor people were experiencing particularly dark days. Crises ravaged the peasants and depressed wages crushed the laborers. Palestine and possibly other parts of the world experienced famine (AD 46-48). Their circumstances made the poor more responsive to the message of salvation.
The second blessing to the poor who heed the Gospel is the opportunity to be rich in faith. They are rich because of the eternal treasures that salvation by faith bestows on them and rich in exercised faith for daily living. They have great opportunity to grow in faith due to their poverty because they must depend upon God not monetary possessions for their daily needs. Then when crises do come there is no one or any where else to turn but God and as God answers they grow in faith concerning God’s faithfulness. This faith in God is what makes one truly rich. It is the uplifted open hand of the soul which receives all the bountiful supplies of God. Worldly wealth is subject to fading, defiling and perishing influences, but the eternal riches gained by faith are stored up in the imperishable vaults of heaven, the kingdom God.
The third blessing that the poor (and the wealthy) have to look forward to is their inheritance as sons of the King. The Kingdom of God signifies God’s reign which Jesus inaugurated in His first coming. To be an heir of the kingdom is to possess it and have it possess you. All heirs of this kingdom share in both the earthly and eternal blessings, privileges, and responsibilities of its Risen King. This kingdom of Christ is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. (1 Peter 1:4).
Please note God promises His kingdom to those who love Him, not to those who love this world and its riches. Most person’s whether rich or poor love this life, not God and His life.
W.A. Criswell related a life-changing encounter with the poor that encouraged his downtown church to continue reaching out to all people. Not long after he became pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, he went to the church early one morning. He noticed a group gathered around one of the doorways of the sanctuary. Curious, he worked his way through the crowd. He saw a man on the steps with his hands stretched out toward the church door. The man was dead. He died reaching out to the church in the heart of the city. This caused W. A.Criswell to design a whole spectrum of "Good Shepherd" ministries to reach the neediest and poorest people in the community.
How many other churches have responded to reach the poor? Racial prejudice has diminished but economic prejudice is stronger than ever. The poor have become an embarrassment rather than an opportunity for ministry. Thus churches gear their programs to reach the middle class and largely ignore to poor. One must ask: what am I and my church directly doing to reach the poor? Jesus said He was anointed to preach the Gospel to them. Reaching the poor with the Gospel is an earmark of authentic Christianity.
II. WHO OPPRESSES YOU, 6-7.
Verse 6 presents the church’s low regard for the poor. But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
In the first part of verse 6, James charges his readers with attitudes and conduct which are contrary to God’s. Christians contradict their calling when they favor the affluent and ignore the poor. Christians are to give the poor person respect and grant him a place as a fellow child of God. Proverbs 14:21 say "He that dishonors the poor sins."
In the second part of the verse James asks us to consider who are the opponents of true Christianity? It is the rich people whom they court who oppress, dominate, intimidate, exploit and wrongfully abuse evangelical Christians. Favoring the rich is not in the best interests of Christians. Not only are Christians oppressed, but these godless affluent exploited the needy to whom the Christians were reaching for Christ so that they could pad their pockets even farther.
The economically powerful also used the legal system to get their way. They would get outspoken Christians out of their way on trumped up civil or criminal charges. They would use the court system to snatch away the wages, savings, rent and property of the poor. Just as in Old Testament times (Ezek. 18:7f, Amos 4:1, 8:4-6), in Jesus’ time and still today it is the affluent of society that are opponents of true Christianity.
Verse 7 continues to warn the church to be wary of the actions of the rich. Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
The Bible holds the most serious accusation until last. They were not content with oppressing the poor. They insulted the Lord Jesus by belittled His Word and rejecting His claims. The good name of Jesus is beautiful, attractive, noble and honorable. Jesus is only name truly worthy of great distinction and praise. One can readily imagine the godless rich undermining Jesus as distorted the purpose and mission of Christianity and the church. Our Lord was poor and He was a victim of injustice perpetuated by the wealthy leaders of His day.
If they blaspheme Christ they are blaspheming all those called Christians for that is the name by which we have been called. How can you honor those who dishonor your Christ? To do so is to dishonor His name.
Robert E. Lee "was approached after the Civil War by the managers of the infamous Louisiana Lottery. He sat in his old rocking-chair, crutches at his side, and listened to their proposition. He couldn’t believe his ears: he asked them to repeat it, thinking that he couldn’t have heard them correctly. They said they wanted no money from him. All they wanted was the use of his name, and for that they would make him rich. Lee straightened up in his chair, buttoned his old tunic about him, and thundered, ‘Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything in the war except my name. My name is not for sale, and if you fellows don’t get out of here I’ll break this crutch over your heads.’" For some, a good name is all that they have left. James believed that Christians should respond to an attack on Jesus’ name. When he wrote that the rich blasphemed Jesus’ name, he expected that his statement would motivate his readers to a high degree. More than one’s own name, one must seek to honor Jesus’ name.
Believers belong to Jesus, not to rich exploiters. Jesus has promised the Kingdom of God to these who love Him. There is no greater offer that could be offered by any rich person, the most rich person, or all rich people together.
Yet before we conclude let me balance our message a little. Poverty carries no guarantees of spirituality. A.W. Pink maintained: "Worry over poverty is as fatal to spiritual fruitfulness as is gloating over wealth. "Poverty more often makes people bitter rather than better. Christian commitment does not flourish in the nation’s slums. Both poverty and affluence must be sanctified at Christ’s feet. Neither one carries an automatic blessing or a damnation."
CONCLUSION
If we really believe that the ground is level at the foot of the cross and that any and all must be saved by God’s grace, we will be forced to relate to all people in Christian brotherhood and not on the basis of social status. Are you impressed by status, wealth or fame? Are you partial to the haves while ignoring the have nots? This attitude is sinful.
Let us heed the Bible’s condemnation of favoritism. Though we would rather identify with successful people than with apparent failures, let us learn to treat the poor as we would the impressive. As James has reminded us, the impressive may have gained their way and their significance at the expense of others.
Identify more with Jesus who came as a humble servant without even a place to lay His Head. God views all people as equal, and if He favored any group of people it is the poor and the powerless. We should follow His example. Let us share the gospel with them and make sure they are welcome and accepted in our church.
