“1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.
2 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.
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. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
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Do you consider yourself to be part of the middle class? Seventy percent of Americans do. Now there are doubtlessly some economic differences within this congregation, but I imagine that Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, would view us as very middle class gathering of people and a man spending the night at the Gospel Mission in Sioux Falls would view us as a very middle-class gathering of people.
There is a particular middle-class way of looking at things just like there is a particular view of life common in poverty and in affluence. When it comes to food, middle-class people ask, ‘did I like it?’ Wealthy people ask, ‘how was it presented?’ Poor people ask, ‘was there enough?’ to borrow from Ruby Payne’s work on the hidden rules of classes. I imagine that most of us judge a meal by how we liked it rather than how it was presented. I imagine that most of us appreciated the dinner we had this noon because we liked it rather than because, at least, there was enough for everyone.
We, who are predominately middle class, are about to consider the experience of people who are quite different from us and we need to acknowledge that. The experience of poverty is quite different from the experience of the middle class. You might know that first hand, but many of us don’t. The experience of the affluent is quite different from the experience of the middle class; you might know that first hand, but many of us don’t.
Seventy percent of Americans consider themselves to be part of the middle class. Ninety percent of the people of James’ day lived below what was needed to survive, on the brink of what was needed to survive, or slightly above what was needed to survive.
If you know that you don’t live on the brink of what you need to survive, examine yourself as we study these words. Perhaps you find that you have something in common with this ninety percent, but it is more likely that you will see that the temptations of the rich are your temptations too.
The way you use your money and think about your money matters more than you know. God takes the way we use our wealth very seriously. You need to take it very seriously. That is the claim of this sermon: God takes the way we use our wealth very seriously. You need to take it very seriously.
We see this in two points. First: the coming judgment. Second: the abuses and uses of wealth. First, in verse 1, we see the coming judgment. Second, in verses 2-6, we see the abuses and uses of wealth.
First: the coming judgment. Being affluent is not a sin in and of itself. Some Christians interpret passages like ours in such a fashion, but it is not the case. The Bible never equates wealth with sin. The Bible says that wealth is dangerous. The wealthy have peculiar temptations that are so dangerous that Jesus warned, “how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
It is so hard for an affluent man to enter the kingdom of heaven that, in fact, most don’t. There are and have been godly affluent men and women who excel in giving; they should be honored just as we honor Christians who excel in hospitality or in prayer. They, however, are not the majority. They are in such a minority that we know that James doesn’t include them when he says, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.” We know that when James uses the word ‘rich’ he is referring to the self-indulgent who live in luxury and have minimal if any regard for the poor because that is far too often the way of the rich.
The condemnation of such individuals is sure. Now such condemnation never seems sure. The condemnation of the .04% of the population who might have been called ‘the imperial elites’ was anything but obvious in James’ day. These were the men and women who were, by all appearances, in control. The condemnation of the self-indulgent who live in luxury today is anything but obvious. This condemnation is so hidden that by and large almost everyone envies the rich and the rich envy those who are richer than themselves. Sure, some people condemn the rich for being rich, but those same people often wish they themselves were rich. The rich are envied; not pitied. The condemnation of the rich rarely comes from within humanity because humanity is too busy trying to join the rich. The condemnation of the self-indulgent and affluent comes from God; “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.”
The rich who are envied in James’ day were actually to be pitied. They were blind to the misery in store for them. They never gave a thought to standing before God and answering for how they used their wealth; very few do today. The self-indulgent, affluent people of this world don’t make any plans with the coming judgment in mind; here is what they have in mind, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” The self-indulgent, affluent people of this world think that this life is about this life. They have no sense that anyone will hold them responsible in the next life because no one seems to be able to hold them responsible in this life.
The self-indulgent who life in luxury should be pitied because of the judgment to come. That is rarely how anyone looks at the situation. By and large humanity envies the affluent. The only proof you need is at your local bookstore; there are far more books about how to become rich than there are about how to avoid the dangers of riches.
James didn’t want his readers to envy the rich because the rich are not enviable. “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.” Those destitute men and women should not envy the rich and you should not envy the rich because the very things we tend to envy about the rich will be brought out as evidence against them at the final judgment. God might have prevented you from becoming rich to save your soul.
There is a coming judgment and one’s use of wealth will be one of the metrics used by the Judge. The rich will not able to influence God’s judgment. A man can influence quite a bit in this life with money, but he cannot influence God. Jesus was clear, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” James was targeting those who had gained the whole world and yet forfeited their souls; he told them that their wealth would prove worthless on the only day that finally matters.
This coming judgment is a warning for the rich. It might be a warning for you. In many ways the middle class shares the temptations of the rich. We have the opportunity to live in self-indulgence and luxury to a degree. We have opportunity to wind up under the judgment James pronounces. God might have called you into this sanctuary this evening to hear a warning that even though you aren’t rich, you have the same temptations, which we will see in a moment.
This coming judgment is a warning, but it is also a reason for hope. It was a reason for hope for the ninety percent of the population who lived at or near subsistence.
The coming judgment has always been a source of hope for those living on the brink. There is a reason that almost all Negro Spirituals are about the life to come—Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; Give Me Jesus; O Mary, Don’t You Weep. These songs were written about the life to come because for them this life was largely hopeless. If your only hope of escaping slavery is the end of this history, you will long for it. If your only hope for escaping subsistence living is the end of this history, you will long for it.
Most of us do not find ourselves in that situation and so we need to beware of the temptations of the rich. We see these temptations in our second point: the abuses and uses of wealth.
James has already declared the verdict upon these self-indulgent, affluent people of the world. Now he turns to the evidence. They have abused their wealth. Verse 2, “Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 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.”
The rich abused their wealth by hoarding it. The rotten wealth of verse 2 is most likely stored grain. For a variety of economic reasons, the wealthy were willing to let their stored grain rot rather than release it into the market place. Ninety percent of the people had just enough or less than enough, and it was a standard practice in James day to let what they needed rot for the economic gain of those who had more than enough.
The rich also hoarded clothes. Having more than one change of clothes was a sign of affluence in those days. Having clothes that were so seldom used that they were devoured by moths would be a sign of gross affluence.
The rich had more than enough food while the poor didn’t have enough to eat. The rich had too many clothes and the poor didn’t have enough. The poor didn’t have enough money and the rich had so much gold and silver that it was corroding. The problem here is that the wealthy hoarded what the poor needed.
Jesus pointed out the same problem saying, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.”
Lazarus would have been happy to eat what that rich man threw away and yet that rich man took no notice of Lazarus. The rich man never did anything to harm Lazarus, but that is not the point; the point was that the man never did anything to help Lazarus. The rich man probably had clothes to spare while Lazarus had only the clothes on his back. The rich man probably had gold and silver corroding in his home while Lazarus had nothing. The rich man felt no obligation to do anything for Lazarus. If you think that situation is acceptable, listen to the apostle John, “if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”
God’s love clearly didn’t abide in that rich man; that’s why Jesus said that the rich men went to hell. If you are unmindful of those in genuine need because you, like that rich man, are busy living for yourself, consider this word from God a warning for you.
This is often where the conversation tends towards legalism. I don’t know how many shoes is too many shoes in a world in which many people have only one pair; maybe you have thoughts on the matter. We tend to get caught up in legalisms on these matters in an attempt to justify ourselves, but the righteousness which we need lies far deeper; James pointed that out by reminding the self-indulgent that we live in the last days; “you have hoarded wealth in the last days.”
The last days of which James spoke stretch from the first coming of Christ until the second coming of Christ. To give just one example, you can look at the beginning of the book of Hebrews, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son…” James lived in the last days. You live in the last days.
Living in these last days should change the way you think of wealth. The Son of God has taken on flesh and lived as one of the poor. He was clear that a man treats him the way he treats the poor.
In these days since Jesus has walked among us, hoarding wealth is a damnable offence because at the final judgment Jesus will say, ‘“Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” 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?” He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”’
Now if you never encounter the hungry, or the stranger, or the needy, perhaps you, like that rich man, are too busy bettering your own life to notice Lazarus. Such encounters might be outside your comfort zone, but if your comfort zone doesn’t have room for Jesus, then you have some thinking to do.
Hoarding what others need is wrong. It is also very foolish. James’ brother Jesus said, “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.”
If you are wondering how little you can do for those in need and still be right with Jesus, then you can be certain that your treasure is not in heaven because it is clear that your heart is not there.
Change your treasure. Treasures in heaven are a far better investment than treasures on earth. You will spend 99.999999999 repeating percent of your existence in the next life and only 0.000000000 repeating with a 1 on the end percent in this life. Now if you don’t take the final judgment seriously, these words about treasures in heaven will seem like pious but rather impractical words. If you take James’ words seriously, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you,” then Jesus’ words about treasures in heaven seem like sound financial planning.
Now the fact that the wealthy hoarded what the poor needed was enough to condemn them, but the wealthy did worse. They hoarded what the poor were due. Verse 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. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”
The society of that day was full of day laborers. Employers and workers gathered early every morning in town, as it happens all over the world today. Employers would choose the number of men they needed or that day and pay them at the end of the day. The rich whom James had in mind didn’t pay what they promised on time. If you are living day to day, it matters that you get paid every day. The rich in James’ day weren’t sympathetic to that situation. The affluent probably had all sorts of reasons for delaying payment, as self-indulgent people always have all sorts of justifications for what they do, but these reasons were irrelevant because they were sinning by delaying payment.
God takes these matters very seriously. He was clear in the law of Moses, “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy… Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.”
Now it is very possible that you know that you have something in common with the poor of James’ day in this matter. You are honest enough to acknowledge that you’ve been tempted to self-indulgence; you might even have pinpointed some hoarding in your life; you are coming to terms with the fact that something others need really is just corroding in your storage and you want to make some changes. Now you see that you have something in common with the poor too.
It isn’t uncommon for contractors today to go unpaid for an undue length of time. Some of them carry material costs and other costs and have to badger for the money due work already done. It isn’t uncommon for small businesses to have to move funds to make ends meet not because they haven’t been diligent in their work but because others have not been diligent about paying for such work. I imagine that many of us in this room have had this experience. If you have, then you have a window into the cries of the day-laborers of verse 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.”
I imagine that Jesus knew. He worked as a carpenter for years. He could probably resonate with verse 4. You have no choice of whether or not to play your part in the economy. The Son of God did. Jesus didn’t need to identify with the ninety percent who had just enough or less than enough. If Jesus chose to live with the imperial elite that would have been a tremendous act of humbling on his part, but he didn’t. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Maybe you don’t know that grace and you think this life is truly about this life. Maybe you have been clawing your way towards living as indulgently and luxuriously as you can. That temptation can claim men and women of all economic classes. If this is you, please listen to Solomon, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? … Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.”
If you have a heart that longs to be filled by the things of this world, you need a new heart. You need a heart like Christ’s. He is willing to give you one. He is willing to give you a heart that would rather lay up treasures in heaven than treasures on earth. He is willing to give you a heart that would rather help than hoard. He will make it so that these desires come from the inside rather than being forced upon you from the outside. He will make you like himself if you ask him. He will save your soul if you ask him. The stakes are so high that even if you could gain the whole world, which you can’t, you would be far wiser to save your soul. Amen.