James 1:9-12 Rich & Poor
For the past several weeks we have been looking at trials, difficulties in life and how Christians are to respond to the difficulties that come in life. This morning I would like us to look at a trial that we are all familiar with. A trial that demonstrates what we really think about God, the trial of finances. Open your Bibles, please an turn with me to the book of James.
- Read James 1:1-12.
Consider it great joy brothers and sisters, when you experience various trials. We examined the difficulties we experience because of trials. We’ve looked at the importance of making God for wisdom in the midst of our trials, but one of the greatest tests of our faith, one of the greatest trials of our faith is the area of our finances, and how we handle money.
Verse 9 says, “Let the brother of humble circumstances, and then verse 10 begins, but let the rich. The humble verses the rich. You know, that is one of the areas politicians are trying to divide us today, trying to get those with little to be jealous of, or to covet what those with more have, and desire to take it from the.
Why do we have a separation of rich and poor in the first place? Why do we have differences in economic status between people anyway? Honestly, there have almost always been disparities between the economic conditions of people.
Remember when the Israelites left the captivity of Egypt? They had all been slaves in Egypt. Then, on the night they left Egypt, the Egyptians gave the Israelites all of their money and jewels to entice them to leave, so they were all wandering the desert, jewels in the their luggage, and no place to spend it. They were all given inheritances in the promised land, and yet even there we read in Deuteronomy 5:3-5,
> Deuteronomy 15:3-5, “You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. 4There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, 5if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.…”
If only you obey My commands. They didn’t and so there were poor among them even then. Jesus said in
> Mark 14:7 & Matthew 26:11, “The poor you will have with you always.”
Why is that? There are a number of reasons why people have unequal financial situations.
I. WHY PEOPLE HAVE UNEQUAL FINANCIAL SITUATIONS
1. Unequal gifts - One reason there are differences in peoples’ financial situations is because of unequal gifts.
Let’s face it. Some people are more gifted than others. Some of ya’ll are familiar with GEL Recycling in Orange City. You’ll see their garbage trucks around. That company was owned by Gene Evans. I knew him way back when he only had Dixie Septic Tank in Orange City. I remember growing up, it seemed that everything that man touched turn to gold.
He started with Dixie Septic Tank, then he had the Orange City Landfill, then recycling services, then one business after another. It seems that everything that man touched turned out well.
And it wasn’t because of inherited money. His dad worked for him. He was an alcoholic who lived in Enterprise, and was drunk within an hour of getting off of work each day.
Some people do well because they are unusually gifted.
2. Unequal work ethics - Let’s face it, some people end up with differing outcomes because of unequal work ethics. Let’s be honest, some people will always have an excuse for why they cannot get ahead, or why someone else has it easier. They take off early on Friday and call in sick on Monday.
> Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Some of ya’ll are familiar with Hardy Construction. You see their signs around. I grew up with the man who owns that company, Thad Hardy. He had a step dad he couldn’t get along with, so while he was in high school he moved out. Many times in high school he lived on just Publix Mac and Cheese.
Started working clearing land. Bought one tractor then another, and grew his company. He worked while the guys he went to school with were playing and partying.
Some folks pursue hobbies and sports on Saturdays, while others spend many of their 6th days working.
Some times there are unequal outcomes because people have unequal work ethics.
3. Unequal savings - Sometimes there are unequal outcomes because there are unequal savings. There are those who always have to have the best of everything. They are concerned about what others think or they are concerned about comfort, and because of their concerns they have unequal savings.
How many young people start out thinking they have to have the same kind of automobile their parents have, after their parents have saved for years? How many young couples feel that they have to have the newest and nicest furniture so they go out and finance nice furniture for their new homes, so they will have furniture like what their parents have spent a lifetime building and collecting, so the young couple spends years digging themselves out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves?
I know a woman who lives in Jacksonville. She came to this country as an illegal. Brought 2 children with her. She’s worked as a waitress all her life, most of the time at IHOP, where she works now. Working as a waitress, at an inexpensive place like IHOP, she now owns a home in Jacksonville and another in Columbia, where she’s from. How? She saved.
Unequal perspectives on saving can cause unequal outcomes.
4. Unequal spending - Unequal spending can cause unequal outcomes.
I remember growing up, many of our friends took nice vacations to the mountains, or nice trips. We couldn’t afford that. For most of my early years, our vacations, our trips were camping trips with family. That’s what my parents could afford.
I remember on one trip, my brother Dusty and I thought we had hit the big time, because on vacation that year, my dad bought us 2 comic books each on several days of the vacation. We had never seen such a thing, and we thought our dad had won the lottery or something.
Compare that to folks who finance their vacations, and end up having to pay it off over time.
Unequal spending can cause unequal outcomes.
5. Unequal opportunities - Unequal opportunities can cause unequal outcomes.
Let’s face it. Some folks have a step up, an advantage when they are starting out. Their folks are able to save for their college, or are able to give them a new car when they turn 16. Some folks inherit the family business. Others come from families that have connections and know people, “Hey, my son needs a job. Can you hook him up?”
Let’s face it, who your parents are can make a world of difference in your opportunities.
6. Unequal setbacks - Let’s face it, some people have unequal setbacks.
a. There are physical setbacks -
- Read Mark 5:21-34
Let’s face it, not everyone have the same physical setbacks. Some people end up being sick through no fault of their own, and the medical bills, combined with their inability to work, saps their resources.
b. There are economic setbacks -
There are mothers and dads, who have been abandoned by a spouse who takes 1/2 of everything, because they have found someone else, and leaves that single parent alone trying to make ends meet, through no fault of their own. Or the spouse trying to make ends meet, after they have been forced to leave because their spouse is addicted, or becomes abusive physically.
I know a guy in Mississippi, who was having trouble in his marriage. So, his wife maxed out all of the credit cards and walked out the door. He had to file for bankruptcy, and spent years digging himself out of that mess.
There are economic setbacks.
c. There are religious setbacks
The folks James is addressing in this letter are Christians who have been scattered all over the place due to religious persecution. They have lost everything and have been forced to start again in another place because of religious persecution.
That still happens today. I have a friend who has worked as a missionary in Laos, slipping over the border from nearby countries. He tells me of villagers who are kicked out of their villages, who lose their homes and their farms because they become Christians. If you care to look, and care to know, there are web sites and publications reporting on religious persecution around the world.
You can be placed in a difficult situation because of your religious beliefs, and my friends, that time is just starting here and it’s going to get worse.
That’s what’s happening here. James is addressing people who have been scattered and who have been impoverished because off they religious beliefs.
So what does he tell them? He tells them, “Hold a grudge and plot your revenge. Hold a grudge and let it eat you up inside. Hold a grudge and stay bitter the rest of your life because of how unfair life is.” Does he say, “Vote in socialism. It’s not fair that some people have more than other people?” No. Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.”
No. Those are not the answers. The answer is getting a correct perspective on money.
Look there again at James 1:9.
> Read James 1:9-10.
There will be inequities in financial distribution, but the key is in seeing that those inequities are trials, tests, to help gain correct perspectives on this life and the next. Both poverty and wealth can be problematic.
II. FINANCES ARE A TRIAL
> Proverbs 30:7-9 “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 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.
Finances are a trial. They test us. They help show what really matters to us. And let’s face it, either poverty or wealth can lead us astray.
And by the way, the Bible does not say that money is a sin, or that having money is a sin. Many of God’s great saints were wealthy. David was wealthy. Abraham was wealthy. Solomon was wealthy. Matthew was wealthy before Jesus called him. Joseph of Arimathea, the one who proved the spices to prepare Jesus’ body and whose tomb Jesus rested in, he was wealthy.
The Bible, does not say that being wealthy is a sin or the root of sin. No it says, “
> 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
So, how can the brother of humble means boast? He can boast because he avoids some trials the wealthy have.
1. He avoids some trials the wealthy have
> Matthew 19:23-30 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for someone rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now, I’m not gong to try to decipher Jesus comment about the camel and the eye of a needle. Some suggest the eye of a needle was a small, low gate in Jerusalem, used after dark, for safety reasons, that necessitated the camel having to unload its pack, and saddle, and to crawl through on its knees. Others suggest that Jesus is speaking pictorially, like He did when He spoke of someone having a beam in his eye. In either case, Jesus said, “It is difficult for a rich person to get into heaven.” Why is that?
It is because rich people often feel that they don’t need anything. They have everything they need and their wealth, or prosperity is an indication that they are doing everything right and the Lord is blessing them.
I remember my mother talking with our accountant years ago. He said that people from a certain denomination didn’t think you had to be rich in order to be saved, but if you were save the Lord would prove it by making you wealthy.
But lets face it, if you are poor, if you are in need, if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from or how you’re going to pay the rent next month, you are much more likely to turn to God and ask for help. That’s one of the reasons that Christianity first spread so rapidly among the slaves and the poor in the Roman empire. Any of those people had nowhere else to turn, so they turned to the Lord asking for help.
2. He avoids some worries the wealthy have
- Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Let’s face it, the more you have, the more you have to worry about. The more you have the more you have to insure, the more you have to pay taxes on, and the more income you have to worry about making in order to take care of your stuff.
My word, have you seen the number of you store it places being built and filling up in our area. Gladys and I were driving by the Sanford airport the other day, and there’s a store it place out there, 2 of them actually, with boats and Rvs, and campers parked all over the place. Stuff to worry about. Stuff to insure, and stuff to pay to store.
Those of humble means avoid some of the worries the wealthy have.
3. He avoids some of the expectations the wealthy have
In America, the average person says he would be all right, he would be comfortable if he made $20 to $40,000, more than he makes now. Doesn’t matter how much he makes. He could be making $30,000 a year. He could be making $150,000 a year. If I only made $20,000 or $40,000 more than I’m making right now, I would be comfortable.
Many people believe that more money will make them happy. That is not the case.
Some people believe that money will make them happy. (1) Money cannot buy happiness.
ii) Last year, Gladys and I went to California for the first time, to attend Drew and Sarah’s wedding shower. After we left we heard that people had commented that they had never seen people in love like we were, holding hands when we were walking, kissing before we went to do different things. Let me tell you my friend, Money can buy marriage, but it cannot buy love.
iii) Money can buy four years of college, but it cannot buy an education.
iv) Money can hire a doctor, but it cannot make you well.
v) Money can take you almost anywhere except to Heaven.
vi) Some people believe that money can bring security.
(1) There is no security in money.
The Bible speaks of the deceitfulness of riches and that they can be wiped out so easily.
Ya’ll may remember me telling you about the man I met at the campground outside Zion National Park in Utah. At that campground, if you wanted to use your cell phone, you had to go up near the camp store, or the game room. There was almost no signal anywhere else.
While there I got to visit with a man who used to live in Florida. He told me that he used to be a contractor, and built homes and subdivisions in Florida. He was in the midst of building a subdivision when the hurricanes hit in 2004. He said, almost all of his help left because they could make more money doing hurricane repairs than they could working for him. So he lost almost everything he had.
He had just about gotten his business going well again, had a luxurious house and all of that, when the economy took a downturn. He was hit again. He and his wife lost everything. When I met him he was living in an RV, sweeping floors and cleaning up several days a week to pay his lot rent.
Oh my friend, finances, both too little and too much are trials. They are tests to prove us, to test us, and to grow us. Oh, and when we pass that test, we get 2 things.
III. THE RESULTS OF PASSING THE TEST
1. We get to see the Lord work here - First, we get to see the Lord work here. When we trust the Lord with our finances, we get to see the Lord work here.
I told you about the single mom I know in Jacksonville, who on a waitress’s salary now owns 2 homes. Well, some of you may remember a number of years ago when we ran a church bus here. We ran 2 kids clubs each week, one at Meadowlea, and another at an apartment complex in Sanford.
We had the kids clubs on Wednesdays and Thursday, and then each week we would pick the children up and bring them to Mission Possible Camp.
One year, that single mom and her daughter decided that they were going to throw a Christmas party for the children at the apartment complex. They didn’t know the children or anything. They just asked how many there were and what their ages were, and they got together a bunch of gifts.
An hour or so before the party, the director of one of the clubs asked the children what they wanted for Christmas. One boy, about 12 years old, said what he needed was clothes.
We passed the packages out randomly, and you know, when that boy opened his present it had a shirt in it, exactly his size!
Oh, how many times have we seen the Lord provide, when we trust Him and don’t look at the finances.
I remember the first year of Christmas in the Country. The church didn’t have any money, we were scratching together the best we could afford.
I went to Lowes to buy some PVC to construct some arches, and when I approached the checkout carrying a few pieces of PVC, a man approached me that I had never seen before. He said, “You need PVC? I have some at my house I’ll give you.” I put up what I was about to buy, followed him to his house, and he gave me some PVC, some extension cords, and some lights. Several trailer loads of stuff.
Oh my friend, how many people have seen the Lord miraculously provide when they trust the Lord instead of worrying about the finances? Families seeing bills paid. Food miraculously appearing.
I’m reminded of the woman who was praying telling the Lord that she didn’t have any groceries, and asking Him to provide. Her atheistic neighbor next door, overheard her praying, and went and got a couple of bags of groceries, that he placed on her doorstep. He rang the doorbell and hid in the bushes.
The woman came to the door, saw the groceries, and started praising the Lord. The atheist neighbor jumped out of the bushes and said, “Your God didn’t give you those groceries. I did!” The woman exclaimed, “Lord, You provided the groceries I needed and You even had the Devil, pay for them.”
Oh my friend, when you pass the test with your finances, you get to see the Lord work down here.
2. You get rewarded in Heaven
Second, you get rewarded in heaven.
- Read James 1:12
Blessed is the brother who passes the tests. Some are tested with poverty, while others are tested with wealth. Regardless of the test, the Bible says that the person who passes the test will be blessed.
The word translated as endures, means that we stand steadfast. We trust the Lord in the midst of both little and much. In the midst of all of the trials we continue to trust the Lord.
Those who trust, receive a crown. This crown is not speaking of salvation. That comes from placing our faith and trust in the Lord and asking Him to forgive us of our sins. The crown spoken of here is an additional reward.
And did you notice the resource for enduring these trials?
- Read James 1:12
It is a love for the Lord Jesus. One of the reasons so many people are distracted by the love of the world is because they love Jesus so little.
Let me ask you, do you love the Lord?
Plan of salvation
