JAMES 5:1-6
THE USE OF WEALTH / A Source of Spiritual Numbness
[Amos 5:11-27/ Mt. 6:19-21]
The last section dealt with arrogant self-centeredness. Arrogant self-centeredness is demonstrated by planning a future without placing God’s will first and it can lead to more dangerous possibilities. Those who begin to get absorb in a plan for future gain may become unjust, unscrupulous and unfair in order to fulfill their plot. Such a quest for wealth and power can consume all our energies and deaden us to spiritual and moral matters.
Nothing in the Bible exceeds the rebuke here unleashed against the selfish rich who live for material prosperity. He warns both the rich and poor concerning the numbing effects of total absorption in getting wealth and power. The prideful self-centered wealthy are anesthetized to the fact that Divine judgment will come upon them for their greed and misuse of wealth (CIT).
Neither money nor wealth is evil, but the love of money leads to all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). The aim of this warning is to awaken all Christians who are tempted to adopt worldly goals and standards rather than God’s goals and standards. The secondary purpose is to assure suffering Christians of the Divine judgment coming upon their oppressors.
I. HOARDING OF WEALTH, 1-3.
II. GREED GAINED WEALTH, 4-6.
James begins his warning in verse 1 with a forceful pronouncement of impending judgment. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
Having addressed the haughty self-confidence of merchants (4:13-17) James now sharply addresses wealthy landowners who live in arrogant disregard of God. Verse one indicates the severity and certainty of God’s coming judgment upon the self-absorbed rich. These rich (plouto, wealth and krateria, rule or power, thus meaning people ruled by the god of wealth-plutocrats) estate owners were not believers but were making life miserable for their victims, some of whom were Christians. They are called upon to weep and wail which represented a full and intense outburst at the realization that they have ignored God’s demands and now faced impending judgment. They would most certainly cry and howl if only they recognized their doom. (Howl is used 21 times in the O.T. to describe the violent grief of those who stood face to face with divine judgment).
The strong word miseries points to hardships, wretchedness, and difficult times which will strike the wealthy who had abused their financial power. The use of the present tense coming suggests that waves of successive judgment could be seen on the horizon. Like tidal waves, nothing could stop them.
James spoke with the authority and passion of an Old Testament prophet like Amos, Micah or Jeremiah as he sought to help oppressed Christians avoid the deceitfulness of riches.
Four sins precipitate severe judgment upon the wicked rich. They are condemned because their wealth was uselessly hoarded, unjustly gained, self-indulgently spent, and ruthlessly acquired. Selfish hoarding is addressed in verses 2-3. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. (3a) Your gold and your silver have rusted;
The ancient world accumulated wealth in three forms; food (Lk. 12:18), costly garments (Acts 20:33), and precious metals. From the stand point of God’s judgment (prophetic perfect) each had been already rotted, devoured and tarnished. James could see mildew rotting the people’s excessive food, moths gorging themselves on expensive garments and their precious metals tarnishing. Though gold does not literally rust it does lose its luster and should also be consider temporal.
These words are similar to Jesus’ who said, "do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Mt. 6:19-20).
"How dramatically life can cause money to lose its luster! Robert Hastings recalled the experience of American soldiers evacuating Cor-reg-idor during World War II. As they left the famous rock in the Philippines, everything that might have been of value to the enemy had to be destroyed, "including neatly stacked bundles of U. S. currency. The tired, battle-weary soldiers watched quietly. One soldier picked up a hundred dollar bill and used it to light a cigarette, saying, ‘I always wanted to do this.’ Time was running out on Corregidor, and money had very little meaning" in the face of the coming enemy.
Paul Geren’s Burma Diary detailed a similar situation of refugees escaping from Burma to India during the early days of World War II. Survival was their only concern. "Finding their money of no value, many of them threw it away." They realized that in order to escape, a given weight of food would do more to save their lives than the same weight of gold. As such, their precious riches rotted!
Modern American goldbugs might do well to ponder the refugees’ story. If the threatened calamity actually comes, how will they turn gold into food? If an ounce of gold suddenly is worth $6,000, who will make change for a loaf of bread? Any ultimate security short of God" is never adequate. (Gregory p. 99).
Godless wealth will even be a testifier and tormentor in Judgment. (3b,c) "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!"
The rust accumulated through non-use of their goods will testify to their greed and lack of concern. It will consume their flesh like fire. A terrible image of divine judgment on those who have made wealth their chief aim in life. Those who treasure up wealth may be storing up nothing but judgment.
While a missionary in Peru I gave food to a begging elderly woman. I saw the woman to whom we had given food share it with a young girl far more readily than I had originally given the food. I had a fleeting thought that the very poor give much more generous than the very rich.
From the days of the Old Testament prophets until now, many of the rich have exploited the poor. James warned his generation that the wealth of those who oppress the poor "will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire"
Even today, the rich contribute relatively little to charitable causes. While some multimillionaires are godly, generous, and kind, they are the exception rather than the rule. Popular author Vance Packard says that the USA has at least 8,000 people worth more than $100 million. How much do they give to Church and charity? Less than 2% of their income!
Wealth is to be enjoyed as a blessing from God and used to fulfill His will in meeting needs and advancing the gospel. Those who fail to do so will suffer judgment. I have sometimes wished I had wealth, thinking of all the good I could do with it. But would I? What do I do with what I now have?
Paul warned that coveting riches is a snare (1 Tim. 6:9). Realizing this, we should honor the wealthy who are generous. We should also thank God for the blessings He gives us, and then give as lavishly as we can out of that abundance.
Verse 3d, it is in the last days that you have stored up treasures indicates that they did so at a totally inappropriate time. Yes there is a time to gather wealth, but there is also a time to share it.
II. GREED GAINED WEALTH, 4-6.
The wicked wealthy had sinfully acquired their hoarded wealth. Verse 4, Behold, the pay of the laborers 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."
Laborers were hired and paid by the day and did not have any contracts and little legal recourse with their employers (see Mt. 20:1-16). God had given definite instructions for the daily paying of laborers (Deut. 24:14f, Lev. 19:13; Jer. 22:13). These rich men hired laborers and promised to pay them a specific amount. The men had worked but had not been paid. The tense of the verb withheld in the Greek indicates that the labors will never get their wages.
James personified the kept back wages. These wages cried out to God against the wealthy. What can be more unjust than those who labor so that we might eat not eating? Yet this beating a man out of his just do is far too common. People live their life thinking that the rest of mankind lives to make their life-style possible. But God says money wrongfully gained cries out to God for righteous retribution.
The one who hears the cries is the Lord of Sabaoth, or the Lord Almighty, who is the Lord of Armies. As we face our daily difficulties and hardships it is comforting to know that we have the Almighty God protecting us. Whatever needs we face we can expect the Lord of Hosts to be our helper and source of strength.
Their wealth was self-indulgently spent. 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.
The second sin charged against the rich is their luxurious and extravagant life-style. In contrast to the deprived poor, the unjust rich live a life of continuous seeking of self-indulgences. James is not condemning riches or rich people he is condemning the wrong use of riches. If you match character with wealth you can provide much good, but if you match luxury with wealth you produce self-indulgence. These rich lead a life of wanton pleasures. The word pleasures suggest a life of waste and hedonism or the wanton satisfaction of physical appetites (Lk. 12:15).
Fattening themselves in the day of slaughter describes oxen being fed ample grain in preparation for slaughter. The oxen greedily ate, unaware of what awaited them. The wealthy should have known better, but they acted like senseless animals, gorging themselves on excesses, unaware of coming destruction.
A few years back CORAZON AQUINO gained support of the Filipino masses to unseat president Marcos. After the election Mrs. Aquino refused to live in the extravagant palace, but she did open it so that the people could see its opulence. The people rebelled against a government they felt was living in wanton pleasure.
The ears of the Lord are open to the people. His desire for His people is that we live responsible lives. It is said that Ann Judson’s life was changed when she read, "She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives" (1 Tim. 5:6). Pleasures that give life come from serving the Lord.
Verse 6 states that their wealth was ruthlessly acquired. "You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you."
The final charge against the wealthy accuses them of violence against the poor or murdering innocent men. The phrase condemned and put to death the righteous, suggest more than murder. Jewish tradition taught that a person could murder another either by judicial murder or by depriving his neighbor of his living. Poor people who could not pay their debts were thrown in prison or forced to sell all their possessions. At times, they were even forced to sell their family members into slavery. With no pay or opportunity to work off their debts poor people often died of starvation. God calls this murder.
It is often the case that those who have wealth also have political power and can get what they want, even in the court system. The courts in James day were apparently easy to control if you had enough money. The poor could not afford expensive lawsuits so they were beaten down every time. They eventually gave up due to all the injustice.
CONCLUSION
Wealth may be a blessing, a gift from God bringing the opportunity to do good. But that can only be true of those who are also "rich in faith" (James 2:5) and "rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). If wealth is to be a source of blessing and not condemnation, it must not be uselessly hoarded, unjustly gained, self-indulgently spent, or ruthlessly acquired.
People cannot run rough shod over powerless and helpless persons without the inevitable consequences for such wrongs. [It is bad enough to gain wealth in a sinful way, but to use that wealth in sinful ways makes the sin even greater. Wealthy people may think that God has overlooked their sins, but they face future judgment from God.] God will correct injustice on the day of final Judgment.
Christians need to develop and maintain a proper view of money. How money is earned, how it is used and the place it occupies in one’s life are critical issues. A person can be consumed to amass wealth, use unjust means to get it or hoard it selfishly and it becomes their god, or one can work hard and honestly to earn money share it with those in crisis and to further God’s redemptive purposes.
What is you attitude toward your wealth?
With eyes closed and heads bowed listen as I read 1Timothy 6:17–19. "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed" (1 Tim. 6:17–19).
