Prosperity, Patience and Prayer: this is the outline for James 5.
1. Prosperity: 5:1-6 This is a prophetic oracle against the rich oppressors.
Wow! Does that page in your Bible smell a bit like smoke? Here James steps into prophetic mode and writes with an imprecatory imagination of doom and gloom on the object of his words, which in this case falls on the materially wealthy. James doesn’t have a lot of positive things to say about rich people in this letter. There’s a reason for that. It appears that the rich he speaks of are causing lots of pain and grief to those Christians there who are poor. James refers to rich folks in at least three sections 1:9-11, 2:2-7, and lastly 5:1-6. That’s about 15% of the entire letter. His instruction and prophecy about the rich are very strong language against their abuse of power and position. On the other hand, James 2:5-7 he reminds us that God chose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love Him. God loves everybody, but He seems to have a special place in His heart for the poor, the widow and orphan. This hits the health and wealth gospel people who preach that if you have faith in God He will make you wealthy and healthy and enjoy the riches of this world right between the eyes. Here Jesus, Paul and James agree completely. Luke 6:24-26, 1 Cor. 1:26-31.
What’s behind such strong warnings to the materially wealthy? Let’s just admit it. Nearly everybody wants it. But wealth does strange things to us and others who see us. It is very easy to love money or the things money can buy, but that love is the root of all kinds of evil. It gives us the illusion of power and success. Worldly wealth, more often than not, negatively influences a relationship with God. On the other hand, it is also true that poverty can have a negative impact as well. But it is a rare thing to find someone in pursuit of poverty or loving poverty.
Proverbs 30:7-9 says:
7 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
As a Christian we can have the courage to pray to God, “Lord don’t give me too much or too little, but give me what you know is best. Teach me to trust in your provision.”
2. Patience: 5:7-11 This is what you practice while you wait on God’s judgment.
James gives the proper response to those living under the oppression of the rich: patience and trust in the Lord. Looking at the farmer, the prophets and Job as examples, James supports his point about patience.
This reminds us of his opening instructions in 1: 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
We are not called to be idle while we patiently wait, we must be careful not to grumble or swear while we wait on God’s judgment too. Keep in mind that God is the Judge and He is near. God is full of mercy and compassion and will work things out for our good. Patience is not about sitting and doing nothing. While we are patiently waiting on God to judge, we have a job to do. We have a faith to share and spread. We have a fellowship to grow with and care for and be involved in. God has called us to missions not cushions. God has given us important responsibilities of service and works of faith.
Instead of grumbling let us be grateful. Instead of judging let us practice justice. Let us follow in the footsteps of those who practice patience – the farmer, the prophets, Job, and most of all, Jesus.
*An interesting verse pops up in 5:12. It almost seems as if James was writing and this suddenly came to mind. Don’t swear! Here we have one more mouth issue to settle. He already mentioned grumbling in verse 9.
Just look at this, James does something here that surprises me. He puts a priority here that should give pause to all of us. The first two our three words in verse twelve are strong words: “Above all” or “But above all.” It is not surprising to hear the words “above all” in the Bible. But what strikes me as unusual is what James puts above all.
James says: “Above all, my brothers, do not swear…” Now, James could have said any number of things at this point that would not have surprised me. He could have said, “Above all, stay faithful to Christ,” or “Above all, avoid evil,” or something like that and I would have nodded and gone on to the next verse. But James picks a line out of the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus own words and puts them at top priority, above everything he’s mentioned so far.
Jesus’ words as Matthew records them are these: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not swear falsely, but keep the oaths you make to the Lord.’ But I tell you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God’s throne, or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, and do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no. Anything beyond this is of the evil one.”
James picks this statement from Jesus and says, “Above all, brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your yes be yes and your no, no, or… Or what? Or you will be… condemned.
Wow! Did you catch that last line??? Basically James says, “Don’t swear but tell the truth or YOU WILL BE CONDEMNED. You will be what? CONDEMNED. You mean that if I swear and lie I will go to hell? The Greek here in James is literally: in order that you will not fall under judgment or under condemnation. So, yes Virginia, according to James, if you do these things you will go to hell.
James is filled with instruction about what comes out of your mouth. Remember 1:26? James says, “Anyone who thinks he is religious but does not keep a tight rein on his tongue deceives himself and his religion is WORTHLESS.” Then he devotes almost an entire chapter to the dangers of the tongue in chapter 3:1-12.
You could say that this letter’s main focus is about the words and works of the faithful Christian.
Let’s talk about this concept of swearing for just a minute.
I read Guy N. Woods’ commentary on James and he spent about six and a half pages on this one verse. In his comments he reminds us of the seriousness of taking oaths, but also he talks about our use of euphemisms.
To swear, or take an oath, is to invoke the name of God to confirm a word is true or to seal a contract. The Jews of the first century had become both deceitful and technical in their practice of and teaching about oaths. With skillful use of words they could sound like they were taking an oath, but excuse themselves from being bound by the oath on a technicality. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 23:16-22. (read)
This was a form of lying or deceiving. That’s talking like Satan, not like God. But it drags God’s name or sacred things of God into it. Lying is of the devil. Liars go to hell, says Revelation 21:8. In James’ day, they were so used to this practice, they would probably be surprised at what he tells them here in verse 12. Just stop taking oaths or swearing, period!
Here’s something that may surprise some of us today. Guy N. Woods points out that there is another more common form of oaths that we may ignorantly practice today that is still an oath or profanity. It takes the sacred name of God or a thing associated with God and minces it into another word. These are called euphemisms, or slangs that we should take seriously and avoid. (Read Woods 202-204). Words are important. Jesus said we would be justified or condemned by our words. That’s strong spiritual medicine! So what should we do? Pray! That’s next in James.
3. Finally, Prayer: 5:13-20 The words pray or prayer occur 7 times in 5 verses.
Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray! When we pray we tend to be more careful about what we say. Perhaps that is why we should pray without ceasing.
James mentions at least three situations for our prayers: When we are suffering or in trouble, when we are sick, and when we are confessing our own sins or receiving confession of sin from another Christian brother or sister.
If you are sad, pray! If you are happy, praise! God’s word tells us that these are the best ways to speak and use your tongue. Do these and you are more likely to stay out of trouble with your language. If you don’t pray or praise, how can your words please God?
But if your words are full of prayers and praise, God will be honored by your language and you will avoid grumbling and swearing and the judgment and condemnation that go with them.
Let's close with the words of James that encourage us to reach out and restore straying Christians.
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
If there is anyone here today who has heard the voice of God through His word and needs to come home, we invite you now.
