Right on the Money!
Text: James 5:1-6
Introduction.
Sometimes they are people who can never get enough of a good thing. Now that maybe money or what we call doe. A guy goes into this little Italian restaurant, a Mom and Pop shop, and he orders dinner. These owners run their business with pride and they aim to please their customers.
This customer loved bread and he thought one piece wasn’t enough, so the waiter apologized. The next night the customer came back for dinner and the waiter made sure he had two pieces of bread. The customer said the food is great, but 2 pieces of bread just isn’t enough. The next night he comes back and the waiter said, “Hey! Three pieces of bread for him. After the meal the customer said “Still not enough bread.”
Mom and Pop said they would solve this problem. The next night the customer came back and Mom and Pop had baked this special piece of bread. They brought it out to him. It was six feet long and three feet wide and they laid on a big table in front of him. He looked at it and said “So, we are back to one piece again uh!”
Sometimes some people can never get enough. In James’ day, and I’m afraid in our world to, this usually involves “MONEY”.
Now listen to what James has to say to some of the rich people of his day. Now we might say, “Who is he talking to?” That’s a good question, because James is writing a letter, so who is writing to?
James 1:1
---1---“James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
So it’s too the twelve tribes but when we read verse 2 and 3 it gets more specific about who in the twelve tribes he is addressing.
James 1:2 & 3
---2---“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
---3---knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
It says “your faith” so I have to conclude he is talking to Christians of the faith.
I bring this up because some say that James at this place in his letter is now addressing the rich people of the world. I don’t know why, because they wouldn’t read his letter anyway, they couldn’t care less.
No I have to believe that James is talking to Christians, and some are very well off financially! James’ big point in this letter is how Christians could become authentic, and so he tells them how to live their life as opposed to those who live after the wisdom of the world. Some of these Christians have money, and it seems to me James is telling them how the world’s rich lives, so they won’t fall into that trap with their wealth.
Let’s read what he says and you can decide what he is saying for yourself.
James 5:1-6
---1---“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
---2---Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
---3---Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
---4---Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your field, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
---5---You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
---6---You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
We view rich people in a lot of different ways in our society. In a lot of ways we view them as bad guys, because some are.
In the movies we watch where the plot is some version of good vs evil—the evil person—the bad guy—will often be filthy rich. We remember the movie “It’s a wonderful life,” the good guy is George Bailey struggling to help the whole town makes ends meet, while the evil Mr. Potter has so much money he can buy banks after the stock market crash of 1929.
In Disney’s 101 Dalmatians the good guys is the poor song writer and his wife who are trying to make a good home for all those cute little spotted puppies. The bad guy is the filthy rich skunk, Cruella DeVille.
We can look at the James Bond movies and there is always an evil genius with enough billions to finance the construction of some secret base from which he plans to take over the world.
When we read the scriptures and we read about wealth and people with wealth we have to ask ourselves the question, “Is having money a blessing or a curse?”
Well the answer could be either one! It depends on our attitude toward money and how we use it.
The Bible teaches us that if we make “Money” our purpose in life, and we live to amass great wealth there’s a very good chance that we could find ourselves on the side of the “bad guys”.
Jesus said that someone who pursues riches can find themselves in a difficult situation.
Matthew 19:23
---23---“And Jesus said to His disciples, “TRULY I SAY TO YOU, IT IS HARD FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.”
Some say this scripture says that Jesus is saying that all rich people are evil people, but I don’t think that is what he is saying. As I read through the whole Bible I find where God blessed certain people with wealth.
His man Job had everything a man could want, and God blessed him with family and property. This lead to Job’s testing about what was really important in life.
God blessed Abraham, David, and surely Solomon who was the richest man who ever lived.
We come over to the New Testament we read about Joseph of Aramethea who took Jesus’ body off the cross and gave Him a tomb. Some might ask well how do you know he was well off—because of the fact that he had a tomb to give—unusual for the average person of his time.
We might consider Lydia who was the first Christian convert in Europe. She gave her house for the church to meet. Well how do we know that this woman was well off—because of the fact that “a woman owned a house to offer the church, unusual for her time!
Then there was Barnabas who sold property to help finance the early church in Jerusalem. Well, Barnabas has to be doing fairly well even to own any property to sell.
So there’s nothing necessarily “UN-CHRISTIAN” about being financially well off. The problems that come with vast riches have to do with how you relate to your wealth—how you use it!
Charles Swindell points out that a “PROPER” biblical perspective helps us to see that are four ways that people relate to money and things of this world.
1st—There are those that are poor on the outside and poor on the inside.
These people have little of the world’s goods, and at the same time they know nothing of Jesus Christ or God’s love. They are the most to be pitied.
2nd—There are those who are rich on the outside and rich on the inside. We might think these people don’t exist, but they do. Harold Taylor told about a couple that moved to new town and placed membership in a local congregation. The Elders asked “In what area of this congregation do you want to serve?” Ethel said, “I like to teach the young children in Sunday School, so the Elders said “that’s great.”
Homer said, “Well I don’t know—I’m not an outgoing person, and it seems that all I’m good at in life is making money.” The Elders said “Yeh! That’s great too, because our work requires some money!” This is consistent with how the Apostle Paul told the church in Rome to use their gifts to serve the Church.
Romans 12:6
---6---“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly:
---8---“or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality:…”
3rd—There are those who are poor on the outside and rich on the inside. These people don’t have a lot of the world’s possession, but they are rich in the things of God. And then finally, we come to those people that James is talking about.
4th—These are the people who are rich on the outside and poor on the inside. If these people are Christians then James is telling them that they are focusing their life on earthly wealth. They must have been similar to the type of people Paul was talking about when he wrote to the young evangelist Timothy on how to put the church in Ephesus in Order. Paul described them in 1st Timothy 6:9-10.
1st Timothy 6:9-10
---9---“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
---10---For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Now we should notice that Paul did not say money was evil, but he said the “love of money” was evil. James is very specific about this kind of evil.
First of all, instead of using their wealth for some constructive purpose they “HOARDED” it. In his day wealth was found in 3 basic varieties: Grain or food, clothing, and gold or silver. Well James says none of these things last, because the grain stored in barns rot, the clothes in your closet are moth-eaten, and your gold and silver has rusted.
The Bible teaches us that God gives material wealth to use—not to hoard. We are to take care of our family and advance the Kingdom. We are not to amass fortunes in our barns, closets, and bank accounts with no regard for God’s will. Evidently some of those people in James’ day were trying to do that.
These people were even cheating the people who worked for them. Finally their evil was such that they condemned and murdered innocent men.
Is there an application for us in what James is writing? Can the things that he said help us avoid a mistake? How can we resist the seductive lure of money? How can we be “RIGHT ON THE MONEY”?
The answer to these questions are found in the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 6:19-24. Listen to the Son of God, the Savior of the World, and what He said.
Matthew 6:19-24
---19---“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
---20---But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
---21---for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
---22---The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
---23---But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
---24---No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Grey Lafferty says there are 3 things we need if we are going to avoid the mistakes of the Christians in James’ day. There are three things we need to do to be “Right on the Money”.
1—We need the right “storehouse”
In other words, to be “Right on the Money”, everyday of our life we’ve got to be “investing” in the right place—and the Bible says this place is HEAVEN. You see, money is not inherently evil, because we can do amazingly good things with it, if we invest it in things that have eternal significance. This is what the Apostle Paul is talking about when he told Timothy
1st Timothy 6:17-19
---17---“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
---18---Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
---19---storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
We need to make HEAVEN our “storehouse”. Why is this the right “storehouse”? There are 3 reasons.
Well, 1st, is the issue of “safety”.
You see, everything we “invest” in HEAVEN is absolutely secure. James says the wealth of this earth can never be secure, because it will rot, become moth-eaten, and rust. When we invest in the things of the world we receive what the world receives. Jesus said what this would be in Luke 6:24-25.
Luke 6:24-25
---24---“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
---25---Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”
We have to consider how safe our money is when it is invested. Well, we can see the wisdom of that since the World Trade Center and 9/11 can’t we? The people who have been invested in the stock market can tell you about security in this world. It is only a word!
I love the commercial on T.V. that shows a postman trying to give this man a letter on the conditions of his 401K. He hides from the mailman because he doesn’t want to see how far down it is.
Well, will it all come back, I pray daily that it will, because we need that money to live on and advance the Lord’s Kingdom. The point still is that nothing on this earth is really secure. Does that mean that I shouldn’t invest in the stock market? No! History shows that that’s a good investment of our money for long-term, because we can make more money in the future. It’s good if that money is used for God’s purposes.
Our recent history does show that any money invested on earth is not totally secure. We can use the stock market to advance our financial goals, but we can’t consider it our “storehouse”, because ultimately the only “secure” “storehouse” is in HEAVEN. Not only should we invest in God’s storehouse because of security, but the 2nd reason we must invest in the things of HEAVEN is the issue of “YIELD”.
People use to say this about money, “You can’t take it with you,” and that’s true. Today they’re adding something else to that. They are saying, “You can’t take it with you, and today it’s difficult to even keep it when you’re here.”
When I use the word “yield”, people who know money and investing know what I mean. It’s easy for me because most of those years I taught school, I taught “Senior Economics”. So I, and those people, know the importance of “yield”.
We all should realize that things invested in the Kingdom of God are not only safe—they also pay the highest possible return! A good investor might want 20% return on his money, and an average one would say that he felt good about 12% yield on his money.
If we search the scripture about % God returns to his own, we are going to read about 30, 60, or even a hundredfold return. That’s the examples. Do you know what kind of yield that is—it would be 3,000; 6,000; or 10,000 percent. Now beat that!
3rd—the third reason it makes sense to use the “storehouse” of Heaven, is not only because of the yield, but it is the issue of “TIME”.
We should put our money in the right place because of SAFETY, YIELD, and TIME.
Now how do we explain TIME? Maybe like this, suppose you are going to France for a vacation for 2 wonderful weeks. Now you have got your credit card and enough cash, or certified checks to last for 2 weeks, and that’s enough to do everything you want to do. It’s going to be a great two weeks! Then you think, “Hey, why don’t I get out all my credit cards and all my cash out of the bank, even empty my savings account, and cash in those CDs, and cash in my 401K and retirement plans, and I can have a “GREAT” time in France for 2 weeks.
Now no one is going to do that. Why? Because you are only going to be in France for 2 weeks, not all of your life.
Then the question comes to us, “How long are we going to be on this earth?” Well maybe 70 years or by strength more, and maybe, just maybe less than 70 years. What is 70 or more years compared to eternity with God?
Why should we store our treasure in Heaven’s Storehouse, because of safety, yield and Time.
To be right on the Money we need the right storehouse.
2—And to “Be right on the Money” we need the right STANCE, the right perspective, the right mental and emotional posture before money.
In verse ---22--- Jesus says, “…the eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”
I believe that Jesus is saying that materialism has the peculiar effect of blinding us spiritually. It distorts the way we see things.
I think GREED is different from other sins in that it is what you might call an “eye Sin”. Jesus never said to anyone, “Watch out, you might be committing adultery.” Because adultery doesn’t happen that way. You don’t look on the other side of the bed and say, “Oh, my goodness, you are not my wife!” It doesn’t happen that way. But I believe Jesus is saying, “Watch out you may be greedy”. Greed can blind us like adultery and other sins might not. Paul explains it this way to Timothy in 1st Timothy 6:10, he says, “They wandered away from the faith…”
You see the stance we take toward God and money is determined by our vision—by what we are focusing on in life. We heed the right stance with our eyes focused on the Kingdom of God.
3—And then finally we need the right SOVEREIGN
Now it’s interesting that Jesus could have used 5 different words for money but chose an old Aramaic word for riches—“MAMMON”, with a Capital “M”. No one else in the New Testament used this word for money. Jesus used it three times in Luke 16 telling the story of the unfaithful steward. The word is akin to the old Hebrew word used in Genesis 43:23 and now he personifies it in Matthew 6:24. It carries the meaning of having Faith in unrighteous riches, and Mammon takes on a life of its own.
Jesus was referring to money as if it were a living thing. He could see things the rest of the world could not. Jesus saw that money is not just a neutral medium of exchange but rather something that we could very easily lift to idol status. Jesus knew that money could take on a “Power” and “life” of its own.
So like Paul told Timothy in 1st Timothy 6:10 that money is not the problem. It’s when we love money to excess and it takes on a personality and Power of its own.
Solomon referred to this principle in Proverbs 30:8.
Proverbs 30:8
---8---“Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion…”
So the Truth is, to be “right on the Money”, we have to make a choice. We have to pick a Sovereign—“GOD or MONEY”.
Are we “Right on the Money”?
Invitation.
