Introduction: The Status Game
Our world is obsessed with a game, and it’s a game we are all forced to play from the moment we are old enough to understand it. It’s the status game. We measure ourselves and we measure each other constantly, don't we? We notice the car someone drives into the parking lot. We see the brand of clothes they wear. We hear the job title they have or the neighborhood they live in. Our society creates a hierarchy, a ladder of success, and we spend much of our lives trying to climb it, or worrying that we are falling off it.
This game creates a massive spiritual chasm. On one side, there is the temptation for those with little to be crushed by a sense of worthlessness and despair, to believe the lie that their lack of material things makes them a nobody. On the other side, there is the equally dangerous temptation for those with much to be puffed up with pride and self-sufficiency, to believe the lie that their abundance is a measure of their own greatness. It’s a game that produces either anxiety or arrogance, and rarely peace.
Into this deeply human struggle, the Word of God speaks a radical, counter-cultural, and healing truth. James, having just told us to ask God for wisdom when we face trials, now applies that divine wisdom to one of the most common trials of all: our financial circumstances. He is about to flip the entire status game on its head. He shows us that in the Kingdom of God, our true identity and our reason for rejoicing have nothing to do with our net worth, which is fragile and temporary, but everything to do with our eternal position in Christ, which is permanent and secure.
I. A New Perspective for the Powerless (Verse 9)
1. James begins by addressing the person our world so often overlooks and undervalues.
"Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted."
The "brother of low degree" is not just someone without money; he is someone who feels the full weight of that lack. It's the person whose social standing is nonexistent, whose voice is never heard, and whose power in the world is zero. They are tempted every day to internalize the world’s judgment, to look at their circumstances and believe the devastating lie that they are worthless. This isn't just a financial state; it's a spiritual battle against despair.
2. But into that battle, God speaks a shocking and revolutionary command: "Rejoice!" The world says, "Mourn your poverty. Lament your powerlessness." God says, "Rejoice in your true position." And what is that position? "...in that he is exalted."
1. This is the great spiritual reversal. How is the poor believer exalted?
a. He is exalted because his true identity is not "struggling worker" or "welfare recipient," but "child of the living God."
He is a co-heir with Christ Himself (Romans 8:17)! Imagine an undercover prince, living in poverty for a time. Though he wears rags and eats meagerly, his royal identity, his inheritance, and his relationship with the king have not changed one bit.
b. In the same way, the believer of "low degree" possesses an eternal status that dwarfs any earthly measure.
While his earthly bank account may be empty, his spiritual account is overflowing with grace, forgiveness, mercy, and the ironclad promise of eternal life. He has an inheritance waiting for him in heaven that is, as the Apostle Peter says, "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
Application: To the person here this morning who is weighed down by financial stress, who feels invisible and forgotten—hear this good news. God does not see you as "low." He sees you as exalted in His Son. Your value is not determined by your paycheck but by the infinite price Jesus paid for you on the cross. This eternal perspective is a wellspring of profound, unshakable joy that your circumstances cannot touch. You are royalty in the Kingdom of God. That is your reality. Rejoice in it!
II. A New Perspective for the Privileged (Verse 10a)
Next, James turns his attention to the other side of the economic spectrum, and his command is just as radical. Look at verse 10: "But the rich, in that he is made low..."
1. This is the other side of the great reversal.
The rich believer is also commanded to find his reason for glory, but it’s for a reason that sounds insane to the world: he is to rejoice in his "humiliation," in being "made low."
2. Now, why would being "made low" be a cause for joy?
Because wealth is spiritually dangerous. Jesus Himself said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Wealth whispers the deadly lie of self-sufficiency. It tempts us to trust in our portfolios instead of in our Provider. So, for the rich person, being "made low" is not a punishment; it is a profound act of God's saving grace.
3. How is he made low?
a. He is made low spiritually. He has been brought to the life-altering realization that his success, his assets, and his accomplishments are worthless monopoly money when it comes to his standing before a holy God. He had to come to the cross just like the poorest beggar: as a spiritually bankrupt sinner, completely unable to save himself, utterly dependent on the free gift of God's grace. Salvation is the great equalizer; it demolishes our pride at the foot of the cross.
b. He is made low practically. The wisdom that comes from God teaches him to hold his wealth with an open hand, seeing it not as a source of identity, but as a temporary tool for eternal purposes. He is "made low" from the dangerous pedestal of the "self-made man," and finds his joy in being a "grace-made man," wholly dependent on the God who gives every good and perfect gift.
Application: To the person here who is comfortable, who has a successful career and a secure future—God has a word for you. Your greatest reason to rejoice is not found in your success. Your true glory is found in the fact that God, in His mercy, loved you enough to humble you, to rescue you from the deadly trap of trusting in your riches. Your greatest asset is not what you own, but that you are known and owned by Christ.
III. The Great Equalizer: The Frailty of Life (Verses 10b-11)
Now, James gives the foundational truth that underpins both of these commands. Why this great reversal? Because everything this world uses as a status symbol is fading away.
1. He uses a powerful, universal image.
He says the rich man, and the worldly status he represents, will pass away "...because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth..."
Picture a beautiful field in the morning. It's covered in dew, sparkling with vibrant, colorful wildflowers. It seems so full of life and beauty. But then the midday sun comes out, beating down with its scorching, relentless heat. In just a few hours, those vibrant flowers have wilted. Their heads are bowed, their petals are brown and shriveled. Their beauty, which seemed so real just moments before, has vanished.
2. James says that is a picture of a life built on wealth and worldly status.
It can look impressive for a season, but it is incredibly fragile and temporary. A stock market crash, a sudden health crisis, a global pandemic, or simply the inescapable reality of death—all of these are like the burning sun. They reveal just how temporary our earthly treasures are. The rich man, in his busy pursuit of wealth—his business ventures, his career climb, his investment strategies—"shall fade away in his ways."
3. Death is the great equalizer.
No one takes their bank account with them. In the end, both the CEO and the janitor stand before God with nothing in their hands. To build your identity on something so flimsy is to build a beautiful house on a foundation of sand. The only thing that lasts is who you are in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: Finding Your True Status
So, what is the message for us today? It is a call to exit the world’s status game and embrace the reality of God's Kingdom. It is a call to find your identity in the only thing that is eternal.
The poor brother is commanded to look past his empty pockets and rejoice in his eternal, spiritual riches in Christ.
The rich brother is commanded to look past his full bank account and rejoice that God has humbled him to depend on grace alone.
Both are called to find their ultimate value not in their temporary circumstances, but in their permanent standing as children of God.
So I ask you to look into your own heart right now: What defines you? When you feel a surge of pride, what is the source? Is it your accomplishments, or is it your adoption by God? When you feel a wave of anxiety, what is the source? Is it the fear of losing your earthly status, or is it the fear of losing your eternal security—which, by the way, is impossible in Christ?
If you have found your security and worth in your wealth, the Lord calls you today to repent of the idol of materialism. If you have been living in despair because of your poverty, the Lord calls you today to repent of believing the world's lie about your worth.
Let us rejoice together this morning—rich and poor, powerful and powerless—not in our circumstances, but in our Christ. For He is the one who makes the poor rich in faith, and He is the one who teaches the rich that their only true and lasting treasure is found in Him alone. Here, in the family of God, our earthly labels fade away, and we stand together as one, defined only by the glorious, eternal status of being beloved children of God.
