James 5:1-6
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
Money is on everyone’s mind. Well, it’s on the minds of at least most people in the world. Someone once joked that, “If money talks, all it ever says to me is ‘goodbye.’” Having addressed the selfish pursuits of the businessmen of James 4:13-17, James now turns to the wealthy in the scattered Christian community who are gaining their wealth by taking advantage of others. We live in a time and culture in the United States of America where even the average person is blessed with more wealth than 99 percent of people have had in human history. We are all “wealthy” to varying degrees, comparatively speaking. While we may not be the upper one percent of our society, the message James has is more applicable to us than we may think. There are four truths and principles that we can draw out of this text by way of application of how believers are to use, or not use, their wealth.
First, we learn that wealth is not to be sinfully stored. While James 4:13-17 focuses on the transient nature of human life, James 5:1-3 focuses on the passing nature of worldly wealth and material possessions. Here, James addresses wealthy individuals who have sinfully hoarded their wealth and possessions. He calls on them to “weep and howl,” actions associated with mourning and repentance. He is calling on them to experience true sorrow over sinful actions. In this case, it is the fact that they have stored up goods for themselves in abundance at the expense of other people. He tells them that these things that they have come to put their trust in will rot and rust. Ultimately, we know that the entire world is going to be purged with fire (2 Peter 3:9-13). Therefore, all material possessions will one day pass away. To trust in or invest ourselves in them for this life is to miss the purpose of life and waste our lives. Further, it is a sin against God when all of those things could be used for His glory.
Next, we learn that wealth is not to be shamefully stolen. They had not only hoarded their wealth, but we find that they acquired it through sinful means. They had acquired their wealth by withholding wages from day-laborers. In that time day-laborers made up the vast majority of the paid workforce in society. They essentially worked each day for a specific wage, usually in an agricultural context. They harvest a field or perform a task for a day and were paid at days end for their work. They relied on that day’s wage to provide for themselves and any family that they supported. To withhold their wages was to essentially rob them of essential provisions of life for the day. James points to the cries of those workers reaching God’s ears. “The Lord Sabaoth” comes from the Old Testament and is translated “The Lord of Hosts” or “The Lord Almighty.” It essentially describes God as the commander of the most powerful army, heaven’s armies. It describes God as the most powerful and most authoritative ruler. He is all powerful and sovereign. If earthly kings and rulers would fail to bring justice to these day-laborers, the wealthy need not think that they have somehow escaped judgment for there is a greater judge than any earthly king. While we may not deal with day-laborers, we can be guilty of dishonest and unfair business practices and dealings with other people. We can cheat the IRS by not reporting income properly. We can lie to our employer about how many hours we worked. We can underpay employees or be unfair in dealing with them. We can run a business without a license. This principle applies in any area of our lives where we would acquire wealth or benefit financially from sinful or dishonest practices. Wealth itself is not sinful. Wealth that is acquired in a sinful way is condemned by God.
Thirdly, we learn that wealth is not be selfishly spent. The phrase “lived in pleasure” means “self-indulged.” It is describing someone living in selfish excess. The same concept is used to describe the rich man in Jesus’s parable in Luke 16:19-31 who “fared sumptuously everyday” while Lazarus lived near starvation. The concept describes the attitude of the wealthy man who had an abundant crop and decided to build bigger barns and take the rest of life easy (Luke 12:19). While so many around each of them were suffering, they wasted and spent their wealth that could have helped them. This attitude and these actions demonstrate an attitude and life without self-denial and true compassion which are essential parts of true faith (Luke 9:23; James 2:14-17). As a result, they have “nourished,” or “fattened,” their hearts for a future time of judgment. Everything we have has been given to us as a stewardship from God. What we do with our possessions matters. James addresses the lack of compassion toward someone else as a mark of false faith in James 2:14-17. Do we use what God has given to us for others or ourselves?
Lastly, we learn that wealth is not to be spitefully secured. Not only had this group exhibited the misuse of their wealth and acquiring it sinfully, but they also used it to their advantage to prosecute anyone who spoke or stood against them. In that time, and similarly now, money afforded great advantage in the political and judicial system. Whereas the poor could not afford to go to court and adequately defend themselves, the wealthy had many more resources at their disposal and used their wealth to take advantage of and prosecute their opponents, i.e. the workers who would cry out against them. In so doing, they were guilty of the same sin as Cain who hated and murdered Abel who was innocent. What we trust in inevitably influences our actions. Because they trusted in their wealth, it led them to use their wealth to sinfully prosecute innocent people. While we may not do this exact thing, we may mistreat people or break the law because we think we have enough money to cover us if we ever get caught. Trusting in wealth produces pride. It could be that our pride will lead us to think that we are better than others and therefore not subject to the same rules as everyone else. This doesn’t necessarily have to come from wealth. It could merely come from pride and self-sufficiency.
Our wealth and how we use it speaks to who we are before God. What will our wealth say about us at the Judgment Seat of Christ one day? Do we mistreat others? Are we dishonest in our business dealings, our finances, or taxes? Are we faithful, consistent workers and employees? What does our work and money say about us?