James 5:1-6 PEOPLE OVER PROFIT Rev. Dr. Bruce Boria, Senior Pastor Bethany Church
SERMON NOTES: JAMES 5:1-6 QUESTION: What lessons can we glean from those being judged for their mishandling of wealth? James 5:1, Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. LESSON: Wealth Carries Responsibilities James 5:2-3, Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. LESSON: We Cannot Afford to IGNORE God s Will Luke 12:15 21 15 Then he said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 16 And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. 18 Then he said, This is what I ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I ll say to myself, You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. 20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 21 This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. He thought his wealth was a SAFEGUARD for the future He thought the abundance was for HIM Our WEALTH MANAGEMENT will be judged Matthew 6:19 24 (NIV84) 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 moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Ignore God s will and you ll SERVE the wrong master
James 5:4, Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.... 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. LESSON: Treat Others JUSTLY, Mercifully, Humbly Matthew 25:31 46 37 Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? 40 The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.... 44 They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? 45 He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 46 Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. James 5:5, You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. LESSON: We OVERINDULGE Ourselves Deuteronomy 8:6 18 6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land... 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God,... 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.... 17 You may say to yourself, My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...
Insight #1: A fruitful way to respond to life s trials is to embrace God s process; lean into the trial; maintain an eternal perspective; acknowledge the true root of our struggle; trust God s character and provision. (James 1:1-18) Insight #2: In the midst of trials we need to exercise restraint: be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. Listening involves accepting the truth of God s word and acting on it. (James 1:19-27) Insight #3: Confronting the challenge of favoritism, James challenges his readers to exhibit the faith taught and modeled by Jesus: a faith informed by the truth of God s word, guided by the grace of God, and that loves our neighbor as ourselves. (James 2:1-13) Insight #4: The faith God accepts is a faith expressed in deeds; a faith that is more than adherence to a creed; a faith validated by obedience to God s will. (James 2:14-26) Insight #5: An errant tongue can only accomplish much harm. The influence of God in our life will help us to use our tongues for good. (James 3:1-12) Insight #6: The wise person s life reflects the wisdom that comes from heaven. The harvest of peace shalom will comes from living the Good Life. (James 3:13-18) Insight #7: The cause of conflict is placed at the feet of our misplaced desires. The solution calls for repentance. (James 4:1-12) Insight #8: We will avoid faithless, presumptuous decisions when we know our limitations, know God s will, and offer no excuses. (James 4:13-17) Insight #9: To guard against mishandling wealth we must remember that wealth carries responsibilities; we can never ignore God s will; we are to treat others justly, mercifully, humbly; we must refrain from overindulging ourselves. (James 5:1-6)
CONNECT GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE: JAMES 5:1-6 OPENING The handling of our finances is always a challenge. James singles out a group of individuals who have abused others financially and over-indulged their appetites. Can you recall some contemporary illustrations of this attitude in our day? GOING DEEPER James 5:2-3 provides insight into God s view of wealth when it is hoarded. James sharply focuses on the tension involved in spending our resources on ourselves and spending our resources to serve the needs of others. Jesus presented a story of a wealthy landowner (Luke 12:15-21) who viewed his resources as an opportunity to eat, drink and be merry and as a safeguard against the future. Jesus pointedly summarized this story by saying 20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 21 This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. Again, Jesus in Matthew 6:19-24 says, 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... The motivation to do the one or the other is discovered when we examine the object of our devotion. Jesus states it plainly: You cannot serve both God and Money. So, what does it mean to be rich toward God and store up for yourselves treasure in heaven? What are the direct implications on the way we manage our resources? Leaders Notes: James s command to weep and wail carries a prophetic tone. See, for example, Isaiah 13:2; Ezekiel 30:2. He wants these rich oppressors to weep and wail now, in repentance, before they will weep and wail because of their sure and certain judgment. The vivid images in verses 2-3 are also prophetic. See for example, Psalm 39:11; Isaiah 50:9. Picture the revolting image of these people s abundant possessions rotting, moths eating their clothes away as they wear them, all their metal coins corroding away (note that this is normally impossible, since gold and silver do not naturally corrode), and their flesh rotting from their bones. Again, James wants these enemies of God to imagine themselves in this condition now, before they experience it in judgement. Verse 4 also carries a prophetic tone. See, for example, Jeremiah 22:13; Malachi 3:5. The Law of Moses was very clear regarding the payment of wages due, along with the warning that God will hear the cries of the victim. See Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15.
CHALLENGE What have you learned from James to help you handle your resources in a manner that honors God?