A well-worn dollar bill met a raggedy looking 20 dollar bill as they were about to be destroyed at the Federal Reserve. They twenty was telling the dollar bill of all the exciting places he had been in his long and full lifetime. After describing his great travels, the $20 dollar bill asked the $1 dollar bill, "What about you? Where have you been?" The $1 dollar replied, "Well, I've been to the Baptist church, the Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, the Episcopalian church the Church of God in Christ, the Catholic church, the Mormon church, the A.M.E. church, the Disciple of Christ church, The Wesleyan Church, the... "WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT A MINUTE !!", shouted the $20 dollar bill to the $1 dollar bill. "What's a church??"
GOOD QUESTION - What IS a church? What SHOULD it be? We have learning about that as we have made our way through James this Summer.
This morning we are going to study James 5:1-6 and examine our attitude toward material possessions.
I. THE PERSPECTIVE ON WEALTH, Vv. 1-3
The Bible nowhere condemns wealth. It just insists that the rich must be responsible, and aware of the perils of wealth. The most important aspect of money management is the control of our attitude towards it. Money is not “the root of all evil” as Paul is often misquoted. His actual words are, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). James did not consider it a sin to be rich. His concern was with the abuse of riches that caused God to be forgotten. Let me take a second and see what went wrong with the rich man.
• He hoarded everything he had. • Because he hoarded everything and would not give anything up, he cheated anytime he could so he could keep his wealth.
• His failure to pay his workmen resulted in their going hungry, possibly to the point of dying.
• He wasted his life on the goal of acquisition of wealth.
• He allowed possessions to consume his life completely.
Charles Swindoll in some of his writings pointed out there are different types of poverty:
First, there are those who are poor WITHOUT and poor WITHIN.
Second, there are those who are rich WITHOUT and rich WITHIN.
Third, there are those who are poor WITHOUT and rich WITHIN.
Fourth, there are those who are rich WITHOUT and poor WITHIN.
WHICH ONE OF THOSE DESCRIBES YOU?
II. THE PROBLEM WITH WEALTH, Vv. 3-6
James brings several charges against the unjust rich. He accuses them of insensitivity, injustice, indulgence and independence.
A. Insensitivity - vv. 2-3
James hated the insensitivity that failed to alleviate the needs of the unfortunate, while hoarding wealth for selfish pleasures or for no purpose at all. They were insensitive first, to proper priorities and values; and secondly to the needs of others.
There is the story of John G. Wendel and his sisters. Even though they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they were some of the most miserly people of all time, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves.John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Yet, her only dress was one that she had made herself, and had worn for 25 years.The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers. Even worse, they were like the kind of person Jesus referred to "who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). Daily Walk, June 2, 1993.Or take Bertha Adams. She died in 1976 at the age of 71, on Easter Sunday in Palm Beach, FL. Coroner’s report ... she died of malnutrition, weighing 50 pounds. Begged for food. Her home was a "pigpen .. big mess!" They thought she died penniless. Two keys found among her belongings were to a couple of safe deposit boxes. In one box they found 700 shares of AT&T stock and $200,000. In the other they found $600,000 in cash.
To stockpile wealth demonstrates insensitivity to priorities. Worse, it shows insensitivity to people. James said earlier, “Anyone...who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (4:17). What a colossal sin to see others perishing in bitter need while you store up goods you can never use. In the end your wealth is lost and the poor remain destitute. How can there be such callous disregard for others?
B. Injustice - vv. 4a, 6
These rich were guilty of great injustice. They not only defrauded the poor workers, they paid off the judges and undermined the courts of justice. James charged them with no less than murder.
The rich also used their influence and social standing to oppose the poor who brought charges against them. “Condemn” (v. 6) is a judicial term and suggests that they may have perverted the legal processes to accumulate property and wealth. The wealthy often have political power and can buy what they want. A joke says, “The Golden Rule is that ‘Whoever has the gold makes the rules!’” The destitute workers had the just cause, but the courts were controlled by the affluent. James says, “You have condemned and murdered innocent men....”
The Lord Almighty is a name for the Omnipotent God of all power. He is deeply concerned about justice for the poor and insignificant. He cares for the downtrodden. He cares so much that He sent His Son to dwell among insignificant people. Jesus was born of a poor virgin in a borrowed barn and was buried in a borrowed tomb. He knows all about injustice.
One unknown writer described His ministry:The preacher never stopped talking about money.The congregation clutched their billfolds and squirmed.He told them not to worry so much about stuff that’ll rot.He told them that the folding stuff was not the currency to buy meaning and happiness.He singled out one man and told him to sell everything and then give the proceeds to the poor.He had them shaking their heads when he said, “Happy are the poor.”Some of the best-dressed stomped out, their noses in the air.A few of the wealthy and powerful slipped quietly into a backroom and had a contract put out on the young preacher’s life.And it only cost them thirty pieces of silver.
Jesus knows injustice.
C. Indulgence - v. 5
These selfish rich were flaunting their wealth by buying luxurious stuff in the face of other's suffering.
D. Independence
We’ve heard of people like that. People who hoard every penny they have, but never have the joy of spending it or giving it away. In those days wealth consisted primarily of food, garments and money. The wealthy ate well, dressed well and spent lavishly. James says, “Your wealth (probably referring to food) has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded.” They carefully accumulated foods, fashions, and fortunes, only to find them worthless. Things were valued so highly that they had no need for God.
Those are the things that God – and everyone else dislike about rich people! It’s not their wealth it what it tends to do to people who put too much trust in their riches.
III. PROSPERING WITH WEALTH
A. Make God Your Source
Change your affections – “Where your treasure is…….”
B. Make Serving God Your Course
Change your attitude – IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!
C. Make Stewardship Your Force
Change your approach – Honor God with the tithe & offerings
In 1985, Chuck Colson was on the Bill Buckley television program, talking about restitution and criminal justice. A few days later he got a call from Jack Eckerd, a businessman from Florida, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. He saw him on television and asked him to come to Florida. He agreed Florida had a criminal justice crisis, would he come down and do something about it? And we did. We went around the State of Florida advocating criminal justice reforms, and everywhere we would go Jack Eckerd would introduce me to the crowds and say, "This is Chuck Colson, I met him on Bill Buckley’s television program. He’s born again, I’m not. I wish I were." Then he’d sit down.
About a year went by and I kept pestering Jack Eckerd about faith in Jesus. Eventually one day he read some things including the story of Watergate and the Resurrection out of my book, Loving God, he decided that Jesus was, in fact, resurrected from the dead. He called me up to tell me he believed. When he got through telling me what he believed I said, "You’re born again!"
e said, "Marvelous!" The first thing he did was to walk into one of his drugstores and walked down through the book shelves and he saw Playboy and Penthouse. He’d seen it there many times before, but it never bothered him before. Now he saw them with new eyes. He’d become a Christian.
He went back to his office. He called in his president. He said, "Take Playboy and Penthouse out of my stores. The president said, "You can’t mean that, Mr. Eckerd. We make $3M a year on them." Eckerd said, "Take them out of my stores." And in 1,700 stores across America, those magazines were removed from the shelves, because a man had given his life to Christ.
Colson called Jack Eckerd and asked "Did you do that because of your commitment to Christ?" He said, "Why else would I give away $3 M? The Lord wouldn’t let me off the hook." Isn’t that marvelous? God wouldn’t let me off the hook.And what happened after that is a wonderful sequel and a wonderful demonstration of what happens in our culture today. Jack Eckerd wrote a letter to all the other drugstore operators, all the other chains, and he said, "I’ve taken them out of my store, why don’t you take them out of yours?" Nobody answered him. So he wrote them more letters. Then Eckerd’s Drugs began to get floods of people coming in to buy things because they’d taken Playboy and Penthouse out. And so People’s Drug Store, and then Dart Drugs, and then Revco removed them from their shelves. While the pornography commission in Washington was debating what to do about pornography, across America, one by one, stores were removing them. And the 7-11 chairman, who sits on Jack Eckerd’s board, finally gave in, and 5,000 7-11 stores removed them. In 12 months, 11,000 retail outlets in America removed Playboy and Penthouse, not because somebody passed a law, but because God wouldn’t let one of His men off the hook. That’s what brings change.
Isn’t that an amazing story. Jack Eckerd risked losing $3M per year because a very wealthy man found true riches. That’s a great testimony about our faith in Christ and what we are compelled to do!
How about you? How is your heart toward you money and your material possessions? Do you own them or do they own you? Is your “stuff” more important to you than your salvation?
What would you have done if you were Mr. Eckard?
Are you trusting in your savings for your security? Do you spend more time checking the stock market than the Scriptures?
We are headed for economic times like we have never seen, wealth is going to disappear, everything you have worked for and depended on is going to be worthless,
What then?
TWO WAYS TO CHECK:
- YOUR DATE BOOK – How am I spending my time? What am I planning?
- YOUR CHECK BOOK – How am I spending my money? Am I a steward?
