“9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. ”
I want you to imagine a church. One member of this church is planning her will. She wants to best divide her assets among her children and various charities. Another member can’t go out to eat without first looking at her checking account online to make sure she has enough money. One member inherited most of what he needed for his farm. Another member wasn’t able to receive any help from his parents. I don’t think you need to imagine that church. My guess is we are that church. Every church is that church.
In most American churches there are members who are well to do and members who are in some degree of need. Churches often include people who were once in need but are now well to do. Churches often include people who are those who were once well to do but are now in need. In most American churches there are members who take vacations to exotic lands and members who can hardly afford to take any time off from work.
That was the case in the church to which James wrote. That church contained rich and poor members. That church contained members who were rich and were now poor. A farmer can’t flee with his assets. A merchant can move his assets far easier than a farmer. Wealth was not equal in the early church.
These differences can quickly impact the life of a church. Envy can smolder. Pride can take root. Cliques inadvertently develop based on lifestyle choices and lifestyle choices are often based on money. What can we afford to do together? We so easily identify ourselves according to our income.
When I was in high school, I wanted a particular pair of jeans. This was when carpenter jeans were in style and there was a pair made by Ralph Lauren with the word ‘Polo’ on the carpenter strap. That might not seem like much to you and it doesn’t seem like much to me today but in 1996, it seemed like everything. They were stylish, but more important they were enviable. If I wore them to school, I would be an enviable person –someone to envy, someone to emulate, someone you wanted to be or to be with.
That’s a lot to expect from a pair of jeans but we tend to expect a lot from wealth. Do you expect too much from money? Is it one of your primary means for comparing yourself with others?
We do it in almost unavoidable ways. Expensive clothes tend to be more flattering than less expensive clothes. The woman who can afford them appears more put together and so we give her more esteem. The family with more money can buy pricier food. What ten-year-old doesn’t want to be friends with the kid who has Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the freezer?
I imagine that we as a church would like to think that money does not differentiate us. That is a proper goal. The man with the lowest income has every right to be the elder of the richest family provided he meets the Scriptural qualifications. The girl with designer clothes truly has no status above the girl with hand-me-downs in the church of Christ.
That is the truth, but that’s not often how it works. The girl in the hand-me-downs sometimes considers herself insufficient. The man with the new truck sometimes considers himself superior when he parks next to a rusty car in the church parking lot.
That’s not a godly situation. That’s not a good situation. James shows us a better way forward. Instead of looking at our wealth, we are to look at our position. That’s the claim of this sermon: instead of looking at our wealth, we are to look at our position.
We will see this in two points. First: the humble brother. Second: the rich brother. First, in verse 9, we see what the humble brother must do. Second, in verses 10-11, we see the what the rich brother must do.
First: the humble brother. James has two Christians in mind in this passage –a brother in humble circumstances and a brother in wealthy circumstances. James tells the brother in humble circumstances to consider his high position. Verse 9, “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.”
James doesn’t direct this man’s attention to what he lacks; ‘you don’t have much money, but money doesn’t matter.’ That would be an insufficient answer. Not having enough money is a trial. Money does have consequences for this life. James hasn’t put trials on the backburner.
James doesn’t pretend that having too little is easy. Rather, he directs his brother to what he does have. He reminds the humble brother that he has unimaginable assets in Christ. This humble brother really has a very high position.
“In love, [the Father] predestined you for adoption as a son through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given you in the One He loves. In [Christ] you have redemption through blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on you.” That is true for you even if your sister has a much nicer house than you have.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on you, that you should be called a child of God! And that is what you are!” That is true for the man who just realized that his retirement account is woefully insufficient.
“God raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to you in Christ Jesus.” That is true for the teenager without designer jeans.
James relativizes financial wealth not by redistributing it but by focusing our attention on greater wealth.
The brother who owns a rusted out, oil spilling Chevy Blazer, who can only fill up his gas tank with whatever money he happens to have in his wallet –that brother is a son of God who will be lavished with riches of love, honor, and everything necessary for this life and the next. That man is sitting very pretty.
The disciple who buys her clothes exclusively from the discount rack, who gives home-made crafts as gifts not only because they are meaningful but also because they are the only ones that are affordable, the woman who wants her daughter to be able to do gymnastics but doesn’t know where the money will come from—that sister can take pride in her high position. Her position is second to none on earth. She has a commitment from God Himself that He will do all within His expansive power to do her good. She has been adopted by a Father who makes the most attentive dad on earth seem distant and uncaring. “If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?” This daughter of God is sitting very pretty, and James tells her to remember it.
James tells her to “take pride in her high position.” The Greek behind this phrase ‘take pride’ is actually the word for boasting. James wants this woman to boast in her high position. She is to boast in God. This comes from Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast in his strength or the rich man boast in his riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that he knows me, the Lord.”
That is rightly one of the most famous passages from the prophets. This boasting rearranges the metrics of this life. We Christians only boast in what is best. We boast in God.
Michael Jordan’s net worth rose $350 million over the past year alone. “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast in his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he knows me, the Lord.” Marilynn Vos Savants has an IQ of 186. “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast in his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he knows me, the Lord.”
If you are in humble financial circumstances, you need to learn to boast in the Lord. You need to remember your high position in Christ. You need to keep leaning in to that because this world wants you to assess yourself by your smarts, your wealth, and your body.
How do you remember your high position in Christ? Here are three ways. First, you pray that your riches in Christ would be more valuable to you than earthly riches. If, in your heart of hearts, you think that a new house on a golf course would make you happier than forgiveness, God’s guidance, and God’s promises then you will fail to appreciate your position in Christ. There is nothing wrong with that house, but where is your satisfaction?
Second, you remember your high position by considering those who have Christ as rich and those who don’t have Christ as poor. Rather than measuring others according to the standards of the American dream –what opportunities do your children have, where are you able to go on vacation—you will begin to measure life by the standards of Christ’s kingdom.
The kingdom tells you that the one who has banked all on Jesus is the happy man, the woman who mourns over the brokenness of this world is the blessed woman, the young man who has renounced all his rights and instead hopes in Christ is the man to emulate, the child who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is the blessed child. In short, the man of the beatitudes, ‘blessed is the man…” that man is really rich and the man who lacks those qualities is in fact utterly destitute. Who do you consider to be well off? Who do you consider to be in great need?
Third, you remember your high position by hearing God tell you about your high position. You have to keep hearing about your riches in Christ and you hear about them in His word. We have a children’s book by Max Lucado calledYou Are Special. It is quite a good book. It’s about little wooden people, Wemmicks, who give each other gold stars of approval and black dots of disapproval. One of the Wemmicks, Punchinello, wants to get rid of his black dots. He goes to Eli, the woodcarver, who created all the wooden people. Eli tells him that what matters is not what others think, good or bad, but what he thinks. The dots and stars will fall off, but only if Punchinello follows Eli’s instructions and these instructions are easy to follow, “for now,” Eli said, “just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care about you.”
You remember your high position, your riches in Christ, by hearing God speak to you every day. Like Punchinello, you need to hear from God every day to be reminded of how much He cares about you. Read your Bible. Read as a family. Read in preparation for the sermons. Hear God speak to you. Let His voice remind you of your high position as a child of God.
James also has a message for the brother in well to do circumstances. That’s our second point: the rich brother.
This well to do brother is also a Christian. He has this same high position in Christ but that is not where James tells him to focus his attention for the moment. James urges him to focus on his low position. That’s verse 10, “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position.”
Now while some of us are in relatively humble circumstances, I dare say the vast majority of us would be considered the richer brother. Compared with our brothers and sisters around the world, we are unimaginably wealthy. Would you be outraged if you didn’t have immediate access in your home to clean drinking water? Would you be frustrated if you couldn’t get decent medical care for your children? Then you would be outraged to live in much of the world in 2018. Compared with our brothers and sisters across church history you are fabulously wealthy.
I dare say that you have a house that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I dare say that you own more technology than it took to land a man on the moon. I dare say that you have clothes that you haven’t worn for quite a while. I dare say that it would take you an embarrassing length of time for you to write down every single item you own. I dare say you couldn’t remember half of what you own. You are on dangerous ground. Jesus told you so, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God!”
You need to listen to James, “the one who is rich should take pride in his low position.” How do you do that? Here are three ways.
First, you take pride in your low position by remembering your death. That’s what James says, “the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.”
The richest believer here this evening will die just like the humblest believer. This life in which we have possessions and insanely measure ourselves and others by them is but a blip on the radar of eternity.
No one in glory will say, ‘oh, that’s Ron; he was the CEO of that pharmaceutical giant back in the last life.’ No one will say that. As Psalm 49 puts it, “Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them.” This is humility for a proud age.
Death relativizes the importance of wealth. You would do well to keep that in mind. You might have a house with remote controlled window shades, but one day soon that house will have nothing to do with you. You might have an enviable retirement package. You might never get to enjoy it. Even if you do, that enjoyment will soon be over. You will die. You will die and no one, no one, will care how much money you had. They might care about that money, but they won’t care that it once belonged to you.
Consider your lowly position by considering your death. Go to funerals. Go to funeral visitations. You might find them uncomfortable. That’s one of the reasons you should go. Ecclesiastes urges you to attend saying, “death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” Put thought into your own funeral service. Make a will that reflects the kingdom values that you’ve come to value. Plan ahead as if you will die because you will. Remembering that will show you your lowly position.
Second, you take pride in your lowly position by recognizing that you are united with your humbler brothers and sisters.
One day I, who live a rather charmed life here in America, will meet a fellow disciple who has lived his whole life on the run in North Korea. He won’t care about my DVD collection. He will care about me because he has the Spirit too. One day you, who live in relative affluence, will meet a disciple who lived her whole life in absolute poverty. She won’t care that she never could have afforded to be your neighbor. She will care that you have the same love for Jesus as her.
Recognize your unity with these brothers and sisters now. They are content with what God provides. So many of our brothers and sisters in Asia and Africa can say with Paul, “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Can you say that? Do you know the joy of being one with them?
You need to fight for that contentment. You live in a culture that is awash in greed. You live in a culture that lives not by bread alone but every advertisement that comes from the mouth of Mammon. You must fight for contentment in what God has already provided you.
Here’s one way to do that. Until Thanksgiving, write down three things that you are thankful for each day. Now you are no more obedient if you do that and no less pleasing to God if you don’t; it’s just one idea to help you. Write down three thanksgivings each day. Learn to be content with what you have.
Take pride in your low position. Take pride that you are one with these brothers and sisters. Learn about them. Read missionary biographies. Listen to lectures about missionaries online. You just have to search for them. Hear about Amy Carmichael’s sacrifices in India. Hear about Hudson Taylor living on whatever God supplied that month. Hear about George Muller funding orphanages through prayer alone. You will begin to see the great riches of God and the great poverty of your earthly wealth. Your earthly wealth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. That’s wisdom in a foolish age.
Since you are one with these believers, you will want to help them. ‘Suppose a brother is without clothes and daily food. If you say to him, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?’ One Christian giving money to another Christian who needs it is not above and beyond giving. It isn’t worthy of going viral online. Such Christian giving is akin to a heartbeat on a monitor. It is a sign that you are alive.
Third and finally, you take pride in your lowly position by identifying with someone who is far wealthier than you and became far poorer than you could ever imagine. You are to have the same attitude in you that was in Christ who being in the very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped unto, but instead made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant.
Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus? “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Paul, “that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Take pride in your lowly position. You are so lowly that Jesus had to become poor for your sake. The Son of Man had no place to lay his head. Remember that tonight when your head hits your comfortable pillow. Jesus took a position lowlier than yours for your sake.
Don’t take pride in your wealth. Don’t think that something which Jesus didn’t have could ever make you better than anyone else. Take pride in your low position. You are a sinner in need of grace.
If you are in a high position of wealth, consider what Christ did from his high position. “For your sake he became poor.” If you are in a low position, remember what Jesus did from that low position. “For your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Remember your high position. Remember your low position. Remember Christ’s generosity. You exist to become like him. You don’t exist to get rich. You exist to become like the one who became like you. Your whole life, every life, is heading toward the moment you meet him and stand before him. That’s what every life is racing toward. Amen.