ILLUSTRATION
Bob Russell told the story about a GREEDY rich man on his DEATHBED who was determined to take his WEALTH with him when he DIED. He told his wife to get all of his MONEY together, put it in a big TRASH BAG, and then hang the BAG from the RAFTERS in the ATTIC.
He said, “When my SPIRIT is caught UP to HEAVEN, I’ll GRAB the BAG on my way UP.”
A few days later the man DIED, and his WIFE raced UP to the ATTIC, only to find the BAG of MONEY still there. Shaking her HEAD, she said, “I just knew I should’ve put the BAG in the
BASEMENT.”
A. Have you ever had a problem with COLLECTING too much STUFF?
1. Why is it that another word for TOO MUCH STUFF . . . is JUNK?
COMMENT:
If you took an honest TOUR of your HOME, would you say that you have MORE, I mean, WAY MORE, than you really NEED? I believe that most of us would be GUILTY of that. Frankly, we Americans ACCUMULATE a lot of STUFF that we WANT but not necessarily NEED.
2. Now, this doesn’t mean that it is wrong to have MATERIAL things or that having WEALTH is sinful.
a. There is a MISCONCEPTION among many Christians that God is AGAINST MONEY and
POSSESSIONS.
b. We have taken PASSAGES like our James text that contain WARNINGS to the RICH and have concluded that God is against people with LOTS of MONEY and that the truly BLESSED are the POOR.
B. No where does the Bible teach that.
1. Deuteronomy 8:18a- “Remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce
WEALTH…”
COMMENT:
Throughout the Bible we find God BLESSING his children with WEALTH. He’s not going to GIVE you SOMETHING that is SINFUL.
2. The SIN comes in with the WAY we RELATE to our MONEY and/or ACCUMULATE our MONEY.
a. Paul- “The LOVE of MONEY is a root of all kinds of evil” not having MONEY- 1 Timothy 6:10.
b. MONEY itself is neither GOOD or BAD. In fact, if used the way God intended, MONEY can be
a tremendous BLESSING.
3. However, the “LOVE of MONEY” is always BAD.
COMMENT:
LOVERS OF MONEY are SELFISH not SELFLESS. LOVERS OF MONEY place HOPE in their WEALTH not in GOD. LOVERS OF MONEY are never SATISFIED with what they HAVE,
and will often STOP at nothing to GET MORE—no matter who gets HURT in the PROCESS.
a. LOVERS OF MONEY are the ones Jesus is referring to when He commented, “It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven”- Matthew 19:24.
b. It is this ATTITUDE about MONEY that James addresses in our text.
4. HOW DOES JAMES SAY WE SHOULD HANDLE OUR MONEY?
MESSAGE:
I. DON’T HOARD IT GREEDILY—MANAGE IT WISELY- James 5:1-3 (READ)
A. Remember, James is referring to people who are MISUSING their WEALTH and not merely
condemning them because they are WEALTHY.
1. In the first century there were three common ways that people would ACCUMULATE wealth.
a. BARNS full of GRAIN—FOOD PRODUCTS.
b. STORAGE of EXPENSIVE CLOTHING and CLOTHS.
c. COLLECTING of PRECIOUS METALS and COINS.
2. But notice that when James refers to these three kinds of WEALTH he adds the ELEMENTS of TIME and DISUSE—“the FOOD is ROTTING, the CLOTHING is MOTH-EATEN, and the
GOLD and SILVER are CORRODING.”
COMMENT:
You probably know that GOLD and SILVER cannot RUST or CORRODE. The point that James is making is, “You are not USING your WEALTH.” They are not using their WEALTH for themselves or anyone else, they are merely HORDING their WEALTH, and by doing so LOSING it in the PROCESS.
I believe when James says “you have hoarded wealth in the last days”, he is reminding them that in DEATH they cannot take their WEALTH with them—they will LOSE it all.
ILLUSTRATION:
There is the story of John G. Wendel and his sisters, whose eccentric and tragic lives are chronicled in an article written by Lori Chambers entitled: The Fabulous Wendels. Even though they had received a huge INHERITANCE from their parents, they were some of the most MISERABLE people of all time. They spent very little of their MONEY and did all they could to keep their WEALTH for themselves.
John was able to INFLUENCE five of his six sisters NEVER to MARRY, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister, Ella Wendel, died in 1931, her ESTATE was valued at more than $100 million (that is equivalent to over billion-and-half dollars in today’s currency). Yet, her only DRESS was one that she had MADE HERSELF, and had WORN for 25 years.
The Wendels had such a greedy COMPULSION to hold on to their POSSESSIONS that they lived like PAUPERS.
3. James views this type of HOARDING as sinful because it CORRUPTS and CORRODES life.
B. Do understand that James is not teaching against SAVING MONEY for EMERGENCIES or building
a NEST EGG for a comfortable RETIREMENT.
1. The Bible teaches that we are to SAVE.
a. Proverbs 21:20- “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man
devours all he has.” (The wise man SAVES; the foolish man spends FRIVOLOUSLY.)
b. Saving a little from each PAY CHECK is a WISE WAY to MANAGE your MONEY.
2. James is merely condemning HOARDING—the accumulation of more and more MONEY just for the sake of having MORE MONEY.
COMMENT:
These people are not SAVING for EMERGENCIES, they are not SAVING for RETIREMENT, they’re not HELPING needy people with their MONEY . . . they aren’t even using the MONEY for THEMSELVES. They are simply HOARDING it—where it’s not being USEFUL to ANYONE or any CAUSE.
3. God gives certain people the GIFTS, ABILITIES, and RESOURCES to make MONEY, but if it’s not being USED to His GLORY it is SINFUL.
II. DON’T WITHHOLD IT DECEITFULLY—EARN IT HONESTLY- James 5:4 (READ)
A. These RICH MEN that James is referring to are getting RICHER by ROBBING and CHEATING
their EMPLOYEES—withholding their SALARIES for which they WORKED HARD.
1. The day LABORER in first-century Palestine lived on the very verge of STARVATION.
ILLUSTRATION:
His WAGE was SMALL—usually just enough MONEY to put FOOD on the TABLE for he and his family just for one day. It was impossible for him to SAVE anything, and if the WAGE was withheld from him, even for ONE day, he and his family simply COULD NOT EAT.
2. That is why God’s law again and again insist on the PROMPT PAYMENT of one’s WAGES to a
HIRED LABORER.
a. Leviticus 19:13b- “…Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.”
b. Deuteronomy 24:15- “Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.”
3. Do you see what’s happening here?
ILLUSTRATION:
Here is a STARVING family, and the husband, WEAK with HUNGER, desperately tries to find WORK to FEED his WIFE and CHILDREN. Early every morning he goes to the MARKETPLACE hoping that someone will HIRE him.
One day a LANDOWNER calls him over: “Hey, FELLA. If you come WORK in my FIELD today, I’ll give you day’s WAGE when the WORK is done.” A DENARII was a day’s WAGE. It wasn’t much, but you’ll do anything to FEED your FAMILY.
So, all day long under the HOT SUN the WORKMAN labored longing for the evening to come when he’d take his WAGE home to his WIFE and CHILDREN and buy some FOOD so they can finally EAT. But at the end of the day the WEALTHY LANDOWNER turned up with some of his BOUNCERS and said he didn’t have the MONEY right now, and “COME back TOMORROW.”
But TOMORROW is too late for their BABY, who DIES of STARVATION in the middle of the night. The man and his wife CRY uncontrollably over their LOSS. Yet those heart-wrenching WAILINGS from a bereaving FATHER and MOTHER that mean absolutely nothing to the wealthy LANDOWNER . . . have reached Heaven’s THRONE ROOM.
4. James reminds his readers that God hears the CRIES of those who have been CHEATED.
a. In fact James uses a SPECIAL NAME for God— “The Lord Almighty!”
b. This is one of the MAJESTIC NAMES for God and portrays Him as the COMMANDER of all
the HEAVENLY ARMIES.
COMMENT:
James wants his greedy RICH READERS to understand that “If they ABUSE and CHEAT the POOR, it gets the attention of the SUPREME COMMANDER of the UNIVERSE.” I guarantee you—I don’t want “The Lord Almighty” ANGRY with me. People MELT when God gets ANGRY!
B. This verse also TEACHES the importance of making an HONEST LIVING.
1. That’s what the HIRED LABORERS were trying to do, and that’s what James wants these RICH LANDOWNERS to do also.
2. Throughout the Bible God stresses the IMPORTANCE of doing honest WORK to make an honest
LIVING.
a. Proverbs 10:4- “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
b. 1 Thessalonians 3:10b- “... If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat.”
c. Ephesians 4:28- “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in
need.”
COMMENT:
God wants you to make as much MONEY as you possibly can, just as long as you EARN it HONESTLY, don’t HOARD it, and GIVE to HELP others.
III. DON’T SPEND IT SELFISHLY—SHARE IT GENEROUSLY- James 5:5-6 (READ)
A. Here James is describing those who use their money SELFISHLY.
1. They LIVE in LUXURY and INDULGE themselves with more and more STUFF and
DELICACIES, and yet, all the while, IGNORE those around them who are in DIRE NEED.
a. Again, this is not an INDICTMENT against WEALTH—living in nice HOMES, driving a nice CAR, wearing nice CLOTHING, but an indictment against how much POWER money has over us.
b. James is referring to those who are CONSUMED by MONEY—where one’s WEALTH is
most IMPORTANT—placed above GOD and above PEOPLE.
COMMENT:
They CARE for no one but themselves. Whatever they WANT, they TAKE, and they don’t CARE who gets HURT in the process.
2. But, God CARES.
a. Look again at what James says in the latter part of v. 5- “the SELF-INDULGENT and the GREEDY are only FATTENING themselves for the day of SLAUGHTER.”
b. In other words, JUDGMENT is COMING.
COMMENT:
Remember “The Lord Almighty” doesn’t take lightly the MISTREATMENT of the POOR.
B. If God has BLESSED us with FINANCIAL MEANS, we are not to HOARD it, we’re not to USE it ONLY on OURSELVES, we’re not to TAKE ADVANTAGE of PEOPLE with it—we are to
SHARE IT.
1. 1 John 3:17 (READ & COMMENT)
COMMENT:
Now, I realize that I am talking to people in this church who, for the most part, live from PAYCHECK to PAYCHECK. Believe me, I’m right there with you. But that doesn’t mean we are EXEMPT from helping people who are LESS FORTUNATE than ourselves.
ILLUSTRATION:
You may remember a few years ago during announcement time I was sharing with you about a young man who had attended our church, Josh James, whose Dad had passed away. (In Josh’s brother passed away just a few weeks ago.) Josh and his brothers had no money whatsoever to BURY their Dad, and the FUNERAL HOME was not going to work with them until they came up with several hundreds of DOLLARS for the DOWN PAYMENT.
I wasn’t asking for anyone to GIVE to help this family, but only to PRAY for them during this difficult time. As I was sharing this information, our sister Kari Fox reaches out and hands me a $5.00 bill. Now, I know Kari has a small fixed income, and that $5.00 could have been used for something she really needed (in fact, at that time she was caring for her 4 grandchildren). But she wanted to help Josh and his brothers.
And if you recall, others of you started HANDING me MONEY. Then someone grabbed an OFFERING BASKET and passed it around, and by time it got to the last person there was enough money COLLECTED for those boys to BURY their Dad.
2. God BLESSES those who SHARE with others- Proverbs 11:24-25- “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
COMMENT:
Corrie Ten Boom, the HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, once said, “I have learned not to hold on to things in this life too tightly because it hurts when God pries my fingers loose from them.” How true that is.
CONCLUSION:
Matthew 13:45-46- “…the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
Charles Swindoll in his book: Improving Your Serve presents a CONVERSATION between a man (who represents you and me) and God, based on this parable. The PEARL represents the Kingdom of Heaven.
“How much is the PEARL? Does it cost me anything?”
“Well,” the Lord said, “it’s very expensive.”
“But, how much!” we ask.
“Well, a very large amount.”
“Do you think I could obtain it?”
“Oh, of course, everyone can obtain it.”
“But didn’t you say it was very expensive?”
“Yes.”
“Well, how much is it?”
“Everything you have,” says the Lord.
We make up our minds, “All right, I’ll take it,” we say.
“Well, what do you have?” he wants to know. “Let’s write it down.”
“Let’s see, I have ten thousand dollars in the bank.”
“Good?ten thousand dollars. What else?”
“That’s all. That’s all I have.”
“Nothing more?”
“Well, I have few dollars in my pocket.”
“How much?”
We start digging. “Well, let’s see?five, ten, twenty. Twenty-eight dollars and 32 cents.”
“That’s fine. What else do you have?”
“Nothing. That’s everything.”
“Where do you live?” He’s still probing.
“In my house. Oh, yes, I own a house.”
“The house, too then.” He writes that down.
“You mean I have to live in my camper?”
“Oh, you have a camper? That, too. What else.”
“I’ll have to sleep in my car.”
“You have a car?”
“Two of them.”
“Both become mine. What else do you have?”
“Well, you already have my money, my house, my camper, my cars. What else do you want?”
“Are you alone in this world?”
“No . . . I have a wife and two children . . .”
“Yes, your wife and children become mine, too. What else?”
“That’s it. I have nothing left. I am left alone now.”
Suddenly the Lord exclaims, “Oh, I almost forgot! You yourself, too! Everything becomes mine?wife, children, house, money, cars, camper?and you too.”
Then He goes on. “Now listen?I will allow you to use all these things for the time being. They are yours to enjoy. But don’t forget that they belong to me, just as you do. You’re just borrowing them. And whenever I need any of them you must give them up, because
everything that you have is mine.”
