Week 10 of the Book of James
In the last few
weeks of our study on the book of James, we have seen how the author warns
against both worldly wisdom and worldly faith. This week, James shows us that
how we use our finances is a great indicator of the type of faith we have. We
are called to be a people who are generous with our finances, prioritizing the
things of God over the comforts of this world.
If you were given a million dollars, what would you buy?
What is the most selfless financial act
you have ever seen anyone do?
The Point: Wise
Christians make eternal investments.
James
5:1-6
Come now, you rich,
weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have
rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded,
and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.
You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers
who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against
you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of
hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have
fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered
the righteous person. He does not resist you.
The Holy Bible:
English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), James 5:1-6.
Study
Notes
Throughout our
study on the book of James, the author repeatedly warns against the folly of
worldly wisdom. Scripture consistently describes that our finances reveal not
only what our hearts are fixed upon, but also who is Lord over one’s life. In
James chapter five, the author strongly rebukes believers for their misuse of
riches and financial gain for individual pleasure and selfish ambition.
However, it should be noted that many interpreters see these rebukes on the rich
as addressing non-believers rather than believers. Individuals holding this
interpretation will point to the fact that nowhere does James refer to these
people as “brothers” as elsewhere in his letter, as well as the fact that there
is no call to repentance, as is the case in the preceding exhortation. No
matter how you interpret who James is addressing, there are key principles
which every believer should heed with great diligence.
Foolish
Christians Keep What They Should Give
Earlier in his
letter, James says “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father
is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.” The rebuke of the rich in chapter five is the
opposite of this. The individuals addressed were storing up earthly riches and
possessions, hoarding them and unwilling to share with the believers in need.
Scripture presents three types of wealth in the ancient world: grain, gold, and
garments. Verses 2-3 reveal that these individuals were hoarding every type of
wealth, storing these riches to the point where they were rotting, being
corroded, and destroyed, yet the rich do not give to the poor. It’s not riches
itself which causes people to sin, but the posture and outworking of the heart.
Foolish
Christians Make Bad Investments
Jesus says in
Matthew 6, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal.” With this in the back of James’s mind, it’s as if
James emphasizes the simple fact that to live in the way the rich were living
is to heap judgment and condemnation on your head. This is revealed in the use
of the divine title of “Lord of Hosts’’ in verse 4. In so doing, James says
that the outcries of those wronged and oppressed reach the ears of the one who
commands Heaven’s armies, the one who is in control of all riches, all power,
and all glory. Thus, living a life of indulgence—with a lack of concern for the
needy, the lost, or the will of God—proves their hearts allegiance and forfeits
all of the riches promised to those who place faith in Christ.
We must be a people
who are more concerned with the Kingdom of God, the mission of God, and the
things of God rather than the pleasures, the worries, or the things of the
world. When our hearts and minds idolize the fleeting riches of the world, we
lose sight of the eternal riches found only in the crucified and risen Jesus.
To live a life of authentic faith means we care for the outcasts, the
marginalized, the lowest and poorest in society. Wise Christians make eternal
investments.
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
What stood out to you in this passage?
Why is judgment (or
“miseries”) falling on the rich in this passage?
How should a wise
believer invest in eternity? How should they do so with their finances?
Read James 4:4. How
are the wealthy in this passage choosing to be friends of the world rather than
friends of God?
Is it a sin to be
wealthy in and of itself? Why is it so easy for those who are wealthy to become
self-indulgent and unconcerned about the things of God?
Read v. 4. How is
the promise of believers’ future vindication encouraging for a life of
faithfulness now?
END
Teacher Notes:
How do you look at money?
Or
What do you think God desires
of your wealth?
(answer this)
James repeatedly
warns against worldly wisdom and friendship. He calls it spiritual adultery and
says friendship with the world makes us an enemy of God. Why, you even make
plans for tomorrow, the next day, and the next year without God.
Why would we do
that if we weren’t closer to the world?
James says our
worldliness really shows up in
how we use our
money.
Matthew
6:19-24
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.
The eye is the lamp
of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve
two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew
19:16-24
Just then a man
came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal
life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only
One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which
ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your
father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have
kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want
to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this,
he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
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.”
For this rich young
ruler, his god was money, and he couldn’t turn away from his wealth to truly
follow Jesus and be saved.
What’s
your
“One Thing”?
What if the rich
young ruler came to our church
for an answer to
eternal life?
What would our
church tell him?
In James chapter
five, the author strongly rebukes believers for their misuse of riches and
financial gain for individual pleasure and selfish ambition.
James
5:1-6
Come now, you rich,
weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted,
and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and
their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.
You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers
who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against
you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of
hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have
fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered
the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Are these farmers
inside the church (professing believers) or outside the church (nonbelievers)?
Our money
is not our own;
it is
God’s.
Psalm 50:10-11
says, “For every wild animal in the forest belongs to Me, as well as the cattle
that graze on a thousand hills. I keep track of every bird in the hills, and
the insects of the field are Mine.”
Everything is God’s
— our finances, relationships, homes, spiritual gifts, and natural talents. We
are just stewards, and one day Christ is going to return to judge our
faithfulness or lack of faithfulness.
Why does God give
believers wealth?
What are some good
strategies for wisely using God’s money to provide for ourselves / family
(including retirement), supporting ministries, and those with needs?
What are some
dishonest practices people commonly use to gain wealth?
To live in
self-indulgent luxury is to disobey God’s greatest commands — to love God with
all our heart and to love others as ourselves.
When living in
luxury, we are loving ourselves alone and not God or anybody else.
Is it a sin to be
wealthy in and of itself?
Why is it so easy for those who are wealthy to become self-indulgent and unconcerned about the things of God?
How do we know if we are guilty of living in selfish, indulgent luxury?
Bruce Goettsche,
pastor of Union Church in La Harpe, Illinois, in his published sermon on James
5:1-6, lists 4 indicators of living in self-indulgent luxury for us to
consider:
- We are probably guilty of living in self-indulgent luxury when we assume that our money should always be used first to meet our own needs before God and others. Remember the greatest commands are loving God and others, not loving ourselves.
- We are probably guilty of living in self-indulgent luxury when we waste, destroy, or discard what others could put to good use.
- We are probably guilty of living in self-indulgent luxury when we become prideful about what we have and others don’t — maybe a watch, phone, other electronic toys, a house, or car.
- We are probably guilty of living in self-indulgent luxury when we invest in things purely for status rather than usefulness. This can be true of our clothes, car, home, where we shop, or where we get our education from. If we’re thinking about how others will approve (or not approve) when purchasing something, it’s not a good sign.
This was the
problem with the ancient Jewish Christians James wrote to in James 5:1-6.
Apparently, they were wealthy farmers with booming businesses. They had even
employed some of the poor Christians in the congregations, but they were
abusing the money and the people. Because of this, James wrote a very scathing
rebuke — declaring that they were going to be judged by God.
A faithful steward
of wealth, avoids self-indulgent luxury.
In what areas are
you tempted to live in luxury?
How is God calling you to guard your heart and spending in those areas?
When we understand
that God has given us wealth not to be reservoirs but channels of His blessing,
then we’ll start to prayerfully and critically consider our spending.
We will ask
questions like, “How much should we spend on a phone?” “Which car or house is
too extravagant?” “How much should we be eating out?”
How have you seen people abused in workplaces because of overwhelming workloads or expectations?
We must be more
concerned with the Kingdom of God, the mission of God, and the things of God
rather than the pleasures, the worries, or the things of the world.
When our hearts and
minds idolize the fleeting riches of the world, we lose sight of the eternal
riches found only in Jesus.
Strategies given for maintaining a balance with our stewardship:
- Trust in God instead of the security wealth brings - 1 Timothy 6:17-19
- Practice being generous with our wealth - 1 Timothy 6:17-19
- Focus on eternal dividends instead of temporal ones - 1 Timothy 6:17-19
- Learn to be content with what God has given you - 1 Timothy 6:6-8
