1. Several guys were in the locker room of a private exercise club. They were all talking when a cell phone lying on the bench rang. One man picked it up without hesitation, and the following conversation ensued:
"Hello?"
"Honey, It’s me."
"Oh, hi dear!"
"I’m at the mall two blocks from the club. I saw a beautiful mink coat. It is absolutely gorgeous! Can I buy it? It’s only $1,500."
"Well, okay, if you like it that much."
"Thanks! Oh, and I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked. I spoke with the salesman, and he gave me a great price."
"How much?"
"Only $60,000!"
"Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options."
"Great! But before we hang up, there’s something else. It might seem like a lot, but, well, I stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning, and I saw the house we had looked at last year. It’s on sale!
Remember? It’s the beachfront property with the pool and the English garden?"
"How much are they asking?"
"It’s only $450,000! It’s really quite a bargain, and we have that much in the bank accounts to cover it."
"Well then, go ahead and buy it, but make an offer for only $420,000, okay?"
"Okay, sweetie, thanks! I’ll see you later! I love you!"
"I love you, too." At that the man hung up the cell phone, closed the flap, and raised it in the air. "Does anyone know whose cell phone this is?"
2. There isn’t a subject on the planet that will get folks more worked up than talking about money. People are very passionate about their material possessions, and when you start to get close to someone’s wallet you are getting very close to their heart.
3. One evening a husband was balancing the checkbook and said to his wife, “You know the old saying, ‘money talks’? Well, ours just said, ’Good-bye!’”
4. James 5.1-6
5. Wrongs in Riches:
I. We Can Wrong Self (1-3)
A. Choosing the Wrong god (Joshua 24; 1 Kings 17)
1. Money for Security
2. Money for Joy
H. Ross Perot in Fortune Magazine, “Remember, if you get real lucky, if you make a lot of money, if you go out and buy a lot of stuff –it’s gonna break. You got your biggest, fanciest mansion in the world. It has air conditioning. It’s got a pool. Just think of all the pumps that are going to go out. Or go to a yacht basin in any place in the world. Nobody is smiling, and I’ll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator’s out; the microwave doesn’t work…Things just don’t mean happiness.”
3. Misery of Wealth
Brad Pitt said in an interview for the Rolling Stone, “Once you got everything, then you’re just left with yourself…it doesn’t help you sleep any better,, and you don’t wake up any better because of it.
a. Wealth was displayed in: Food (Herod and John Baptist); Clothes (Rich Man and Lazarus); Spending (Herod’s building Projects)
b. Fleeting – gold corrodes; spoiled food; clothes rot;
One day, a housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweatshirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to his wife, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?" "It depends," she replied. "What does it say on your shirt?" He yelled back, "Texas A & M."
4. Money is America’s main Idol – Christians are not immune
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. Proverbs 11.28
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
B. A Call for Repentance and Right Choice (Joshua 24; 1 Kings 17)
1. Weep – as Peter’s weeping bitterly in Luke 22.62
2. Wail – coming judgment – Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Isaiah 13.6
3. Woes – Luke 6.24-25
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
4. To insensitive, self-centered rich believers – not all wealthy believers are bad
According to Forbes’ richest list, 72 year old Carlos Slim Helu and family from Mexico are the richest people in the world at $69 Billion, which he made from a company called Telecom. CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates is still number two and very rich with $61 Billion. 81 year old Warren Buffet is third at $44. He’s a self-made billionaire. Is he a wicked rich person? I don’t think so. Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1940 to Maronite Christian parents. I think he considers himself to be a Christian, that is, a Maronite Christian. What’s that? Maronites are part of the Catholic Church. It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. If he truly believes in Jesus as the Son of God then he’s not a bad guy!
Egypt's former 84 year old ruler Hosni Mubarak. On 13 April, 2011, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that Mubarak and his family might be worth up to $70 billion due to corruption and kickbacks.
II. We Can Wrong Others (4-6)
A. Injustice (4)
1. Hoarding
a. To Care for Helpless – Acts 2.42ff
b. Purpose of giving as prospered (vs. tithing) – 1 Corinthians 16.1-2
11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. Matthew 26.11
Cf. Deuteronomy 15.11 – 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
Hetty Green, nicknamed "The Witch of Wall Street" (November 21, 1834 – July 3, 1916), was an American businesswoman, known for her frugality during the Gilded Age, as well as for being the first American woman to make a substantial impact on Wall Street.
She was born Henrietta Howland Robinson in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Edward Mott Robinson and Abby Howland. Her family were Quakers who owned a large whaling fleet and also profited from the China trade. At the age of two, she was living with her grandfather, Gideon Howland. Because of his influence and that of her father, and possibly because her mother was constantly ill, she took to her father's side and was reading financial papers to him by the age of six. When she was 13, Hetty became the family bookkeeper. At the age of 15, she went to a school in Boston.
When her father died in 1864, she inherited $7.5 million ($107 million in 2010 adjusted for inflation) in liquid assets, against the objections of most of her family, and invested in Civil War bonds.
There are many tales (of various degrees of accuracy) about Hetty Green's stinginess. She never turned on the heat nor used hot water. She wore one old black dress and undergarments that she changed only after they had been worn out. She did not wash her hands and rode an old carriage. She ate mostly pies that cost fifteen cents. One tale claims that she spent half a night searching her carriage for a lost stamp worth two cents. Another asserts that she instructed her laundress to wash only the dirtiest parts of her dresses (the hems) to save money on soap. Her son Ned broke his leg as a child, and Hetty tried to have him admitted in a free clinic for the poor.
2. Withholding Wages
a. A BIG Deal to God
14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin. Deuteronomy 24.14-15
b. God Hears the Outcries
1) As Abel’s blood – Genesis 4.10
2) Israel in Egypt – Exodus 3.7
B. Selfishness (5)
1. “Lived” = living a life of ease/revel
2. Luxury = soft lifestyle potentially leading to immorality [David and Bathsheba
3. Idea of extravagant; wasteful/Self-indulgent – Prodigal son
C. Murder (6)
1. Attacking the innocent
2. Defenseless – not fighting back
3. Ahab and Naboth’s Vineyard – 1 Kings 21
III. We Can Wrong God
A. Misuse of His Gifts
50 top-earning American athletes features 19 NBA players, 17 baseball players, eight NFL players, three NASCAR drivers and three golfers. Here are some on the list:
- Tiger Woods at 62 Million
- Phil Mikelson (golfer) at 61 Million
- LeBron James (basketball player) at 44.5 Million
- Peyton Manning (football player) at 38 Million
- Alex Rodriguez (baseball player) at 36 Million
- Kobe Bryant (basketball player) at 34.8 Million
We know a little about their income. What about their lifestyle? They live high and live in big houses!
Four-time boxing champ Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield reportedly made over $250 million in cash during his boxing career, but despite this he reportedly is flat broke. Holyfield lost all his money by making “smart” business decisions look really foolish. You thought buying a house was a smart move? It normally is, but not when you buy a house the size of Rhode Island. Holyfield bought a $20 million house with over 54,000 square feet and 109 rooms. The house has 11 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a movie theater, a bowling alley and an Olympic-size swimming pool. Imagine how much it must cost to cut the grass on all 235 acres! Evander Holyfield is just one example of high living of luxurious and self-indulgent living! Many wicked rich people live in the lap of luxury and think nothing of the poor and needy around them. This is what James is talking about.
1. Hoarding – 1 Talent Man
2. Not Investing (especially in others) as the 2 and 5 talent men
3. Gift of giving (Romans 12.8b – the one who contributes, in generosity;)
B. Misuse of His People
1. Any time we wrong people we wrong God, especially the down trodden
2. With God, it is not about money – it is about priorities
1. A Summary Passage – Psalm 73.1-14, 25-28
2. To Do:
a. Invest in the world to come
1) It is safe – money market accounts are not
2) It has a high yield – 100 times – Matthew 19.29
3) Emphasis on Time – brief here, invest in the longer place
b. Develop a proper perspective on money
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me, Proverbs 30.8
c. Remember, Money is neutral – it can be positive or negative depending on attitude – Rich Young Ruler vs. Abraham or Job
3. [Bible study in Abilene with college students on this passage – one of the young men looked up with a pained look and said, WE Americans are the rich of the world.
4. The death of C.S. Lewis in Nov. 22, 1963 has for years been overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the same day. While the anniversary of Lewis’ death seldom gets much press, throngs of people crowd into Arlington Memorial Cemetery to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and climb the hill to Kennedy’s eternal flame. My friend even though our lives will be overshadowed by the rich and famous of this world, you need to know we are not living for this life. We are living for a reward and home that will last forever.
