Introduction

James 5:1-6 ESV  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.

• I love the way the Believer’s Bible Commentary sums up this section of scripture… it says

“In one of the most searching and piercing sections of his Letter, James now launches into a denunciation of the sins of the rich. The words fall like hammer-blows, blunt and unsparing. In fact, the denunciation is so strong that these verses are seldom preached on.

James is here seen in the role of a prophet of social justice. He cries out against the failure of the rich to use their money for the alleviation of human need. He condemns those who have become rich by exploiting their workers. He rebukes their use of wealth for self-indulgence and luxurious living. Finally, he pictures the rich as arrogant oppressors of the righteous.”

• My favorite part of that summary is this line “In fact, the denunciation is so strong that these verses are seldom preached on.”
  • THAT… Mr. Believer’s Bible Commentary… is why we preach through Scripture here at CLC.
    • Because it forces us to preach on things that are seldom preached on…
    • And who am I to deny the truth of 2 Timothy 3:16?

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

• But the truth is, church, when I read these verses from James I immediately thought “Do I really need to preach on these? Haven’t we talked about the rich enough in James?”
  • I didn’t want to preach on these verses about the wicked rich… because man, they are just not that encouraging…
    • But God asked me to preach through James, and this is in James… and all scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training…
      • So we are going to trust the Lord this morning and believe that He is going to use this passage of Scripture to grow us, maybe to rebuke us, maybe to guide us… and I definitely believe He will use this passage from James to train us in righteousness… amen?!

• Come Now You Rich, Weep and Howl… Avoiding the Sins of the Wealthy.
  • You see James here is really laying into wealthy people…
    • But not just any wealthy people, but wealthy people who have used their money in incredibly sinful ways.
      • Nowhere in scripture does it say that it is a sin to be wealthy.
      • But many times, particularly in the new testament, does scripture warn us that wealth comes with a lot of issues…
        • For example… Jesus said this in Matthew 19

Matthew 19:23-26 ESV  And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.  (24)  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  (25)  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”  (26)  But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

• Only with difficulty will the rich enter heaven, Jesus says… it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to make heaven, Jesus proclaims… but with God all things are possible.
  • Verses like this one in Matthew and of course our key text from James should be of great concern to you, my fellow Christians… because these verses are about you… they are about me.
    • Because though you may not be the wealthiest person in Cedar Rapids, and you may not be the wealthiest person in this church… compared to the rest of the world, YOU ARE WEALTHY…
      • And the Bible was not written with a Cedar Rapids context in mind, it was written with a global context in mind…
      • You see you must understand that everybody in America is wealthy, even our homeless.
        • Now not everyone is Elon Musk, don’t get me wrong…
      • But in the grand scheme of things we are super-duper rich…
        • According to Gallup, the internationally renowned polling company, if you make more than $2,920 a year, you are making more than average person globally.
          • In otherwards, if you make more than $3,000 A YEAR… not a month, a YEAR… you are by definition, wealthy.
      • Y’all… food stamp benefits for a household of one is $3,372 a year in America… so even if you are homeless and living on foodstamps, assuming that is your ONLY benefit and source of income… you are wealthy compared to the rest of the world.
  • So do you have electricity? Running water? A Hot water heater? A Cell phone? Airconditioning?
    • Those are all luxuries that King Solomon, the riches man in existence, didn’t have…
      • Y’all I talked to a man from Ghana once and I asked “What is most surprising about America?” and he said “How rich you are?” I said “I mean we are not ALL rich” and he replied “YOU HAVE FAT HOMELESS PEOPLE!”.
        • It’s hard to argue with that logic yall…
• We are the 7^th wealthiest nation… listen, in Afghanistan, the average monthly income is 34 dollars… Homeless people can make more than that begging… in an hour!
  • WE ARE RICH… so these passages of scriptures… these warnings to rich people… they are for us… so lets head the warnings and avoid the sins that James here is calling out…

• Ok, with the idea in mind that we are all wealthy… let’s read these verses again…

James 5:1-6 ESV  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.

• So James calls out 4 specific sins that we as wealthy individuals, though we may not feel wealthy, here are 4 sins that we need to avoid…

• Four Sins Of The Wealthy to Avoid:The Sin of HoardingThe Sin of FraudThe Sin of OpulenceThe Sin of Oppression
• So today we are going to talk about avoiding these sins…
  • As American Christians… as Christians who, compared to the rest of the world and the rest of history are very wealthy indeed… we must avoid these sins… or we will be told to weep and howl for the miseries that will come upon us.
    • And, well, I don’t want to be a church that is weeping and howling and miserable…
    • I want to serve a blessed church, a holy church, a church of praising and rejoicing, a church that is blessed and above reproach… amen?!
      • So let’s avoid these sins, starting with the sin of Covetousness.

Point One – Avoid the Sin Of Hoarding

James 5:1-3 ESV  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.

• Now if you are just reading through scripture quickly you may not notice that James here is calling out a hoarding mentality…
  • You may think that it is God’s curse towards the rich that their garments would be moth eaten and their Gold and silver are corroded…
    • But actually it is not the curse, it is the sin being described here…
      • Because moths only eat clothes that are not being used.
      • And it is gold and silver that is stored away that get’s corroded… Otherwise it is easily polished and well kept.
• The problem here is that James is talking to wealthy people who, instead of using their wealth to advance the Kingdom of God, they hoard their wealth… saving it… but saving it for what?
  • Jesus talks about this same sin in His famous sermon on the mount… it sounds strikingly similar to what James is talking about here…

Matthew 6:19-21 ESV  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  (20)  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  (21)  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• Where your treasure is your heart is also… this begs the question, church, where is your treasure?
  • Is it in your 401k?
  • Is it in the property you own?
  • Is it in the job you have worked so hard to get?
    • Or is it somewhere else?
• Now don’t get me wrong… jobs are important, and owning property is certainly not a sin…
  • Nor is it sinful to have a healthy retirement plan…
    • In fact Proverbs says that a Godly man leaves an inheritance for his children.
• But is your job, or your property, or your savings account, or your 401k your treasure?
  • Here is a heart check… how does this story from Acts make you feel?

Acts 4:32-35 ESV  Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.  (33)  And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  (34)  There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold  (35)  and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

• How does that make you feel?
  • Early Christians sold their land and houses… chapter one says they sold their possessions… and gave it to the apostles to distribute as God saw fit…
    • What if the Lord had need of your house…
    • Or your car…
    • Or your property…
    • Or  your 401k?
      • Would you trust Him and give it as needed…
      • Would that be a difficult decision for you.
        • If you had to sell your car to fulfill your missions faith pledge… would you do it?
        • Or would you rather see Rebecca struggle to eat while on the Mission Field?
  • Do you care more about seeing people saved? Or do you care more about looking out for number one?
• Now, to be clear, I am not asking you to sell your house or car or whatever… I am just asking, where is your heart?
  • Because the victories you win for Jesus, those are victories that will never fade…
    • The treasures you store up in heaven, they will never be stollen or corroded…
• Jim Elliot, who was martyred preaching the Gospel in South America, is quoted as saying “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”.
  • Church, it is not that worldly possessions are in themselves evil or sinful…
    • In fact, God gives us many such possessions…
    • He blesses us, even financially and materially, as we serve and obey Him.
      • But God gives us these possessions that we may honor Him with them and do good with them…
      • He does not give them to us so we can sinfully hoard them up.
      • He does not give them to us that we would show them any kind of affection, affection that is meant for God and our fellow man.
      • And He certainly doesn’t give them to us so we can put our trust in those possessions or finances.
    • If we trust in the gift instead of the gift giver, we have committed sin… we must avoid the sin of hoarding… unless what we are hoarding is treasures in heaven, amen?!
• That brings us to point Two – Avoid the Sin of Oppression…

Point Two – Avoid the Sin of Fraud

James 5:4 ESV  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.

• Now I am guessing that most of you have never defrauded a lawncare guy…
  • You probably never told a guy you would pay him 40 bucks to mow your lawn, but then only paid him 20 bucks…
• But yet, I have heard people in this church brag about defrauding others…
  • One guy bragged to me about how “God blessed” him by having the cashier ring up the TV he was buying for the wrong price.
    • He said “I looked at the receipt and he had charged me for the 32 inch version instead of the 55 inch version… WHAT A BLESSING!”
      • WHAT?! What a blessing?! You might have just cost that kid his job…
        • You have defrauded him his wages…
    • YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN! YOU ARE HONEST! When someone else makes a mistake YOU ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY… you take it back and say “excuse me, I think you did not charge me enough for this TV”.
      • If God really wants to bless you then the manager will come out and say “Thank you so much for your honesty, you can just keep it for that price”.
      • Or maybe that won’t happen, and you will have to pay more… but you can walk around with your head high.
• Pastor, did you know you can get as many free burritos from Pancheros as you want, just sign up for rewards with a different email address each time… I have been eating free burritos for a month!
  • “What?! You mean you are using trickery to get for free what you are supposed to be paying for… there is a word for that…”
• “Never say ‘I am sorry’ if you are in a car crash… that is an admission of fault”
  • WHAT IF YOU ARE AT FAULT… You mean you are going to try to pin it on the guy who’s car you just messed up.
• “Can I donate this car to the church and have the church give it back to me so I can claim the donation on my taxes”… that is one I have been asked more than once…
  • NO! I will not commit tax fraud on your behalf… And I have looked it up, and this kind of thing happens all the time, and it is indeed tax fraud… just pay what you owe people…
• “I bought this dress on Amazon for the dance at school, I am going to return it after the dance… it’s an easy way to save money”.
  • Great, you saved 35 bucks… and it only cost you your soul!
• People think “If I am not robbing a bank or stealing from Walmart, then it is not sin”… but you are wrong, and you have set yourself against the Lord of Hosts…

James 5:4 ESV  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.

• The wages of the laborers cry out…
  • The wages of the Walmart employee cry out…
  • The wages of the Amazon worker cry out…
  • The IRS agent looking over your taxes cry out…
    • They all cry out to the Lord of Hosts…
• What does that mean, Lord Sabaoth… the Lord of Hosts?
  • It means the Commander of the Angels…
  • The God of Angel armies…
    • We sing that song “The God of Angel Armies is always by my side”…
      • Well not if you are living a life of fraud…
      • Live honorably church, it may mean spending a few extra bucks…
      • But God will be on your side… and that is worth more than anything you could ever save by defrauding people and businesses.

·       That brings us to point three… avoid the sin of opulence.

Point Three – Avoid the Sin of Opulence

James 5:5 ESV  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

• James says “You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter”
  • In other words… the farmer is out here ready to slaughter a cow, he is looking for the fattest, juiciest, meatiest cow to slaughter… and you are out here fattening yourself as much as possible on a life of luxury!
• Church, there is nothing wrong with wanting a little luxury in your life, ok.
  • I enjoy things like air-conditioning, fast internet, and a big TV.
    • I have decent cars, I have a nice home… I consider myself incredibly blessed.
    • But I must be careful that I do not start living for opulence…
      • I don’t start living a life where I chase after luxury… a life where all I care about is myself and pampering myself and treating myself….
• And as an American this is a very hard sin to avoid… and I felt myself being drawn in just this week as I was in Sioux City for the Youth Conference…
  • You see the main leader was a pastor named Pastor Brett Scudder… and 11 years ago he went to Uganda to preach the Gospel.
    • He was supposed to be there for only two years… but he wound up staying indefinitely…
      • And here is what I thought…
        • I thought “Man… you gave up air conditioning for 11 years? You gave up Amazon? You gave up good healthcare? You gave up so much… I don’t know if I could do it…”
      • “I wasn’t thinking ‘Wow, what a mighty man of God, how blessed he must be to be serving God in Uganda!”
        • Instead I thought “But how does his son play Call of Duty with his friends?”
    • That is really what I thought… to my SHAME… because I have let opulence precede Godliness and I didn’t even realize it.
      • NEVER LET OPULENCE PRECED GODLINESS.
• Paul talks about this very thing… Paul was incredibly wealthy, living a comfortable life as an influential Roman…
  • Paul knew what it was like to be rich, and he knew what it was like to be poor… and he wrote this while locked up in Prison:

Philippians 4:12-13 ESV  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  (13)  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

• Can you be content in ALL circumstances through Christ who strengthens you?
  • Or are you like so many spinless Christians who are happy to serve Christ as long as their life of Opulence is never challenged…
• On the other hand, there are some Christians who only serve God when they need something… but when they get the luxuries they are looking for, they forget God…
  • To be clear, luxury and pleasure is not forbidden by God… but they can easily become an Idol… we can put our focus on pleasure and in so doing forget God… This is exactly what God talks about in the Book of Hosea…

Hosea 13:5-6 ESV  It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;  (6)  but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

• Matthew Henrey, the great theologian…  sums up James 5:5 as such”

Some may say, “What harm is there in good cheer, provided people do not spend above what they have?” What! Is it no harm for people to make gods of their bellies, and to give all to these, instead of abounding in acts of charity and piety? Is it no harm for people to [disqualify] themselves [by forgetting] the concerns of their souls, by indulging the appetites of their bodies? Surely that which brought flames upon Sodom, and would bring these miseries for which rich men are here called to weep and howl, must be a heinous evil [for all men]! Pride, and idleness, and fullness of bread, mean the same thing with living in pleasure, and being wanton, and nourishing the heart as in a day of slaughter.
-Matthew Henry

Point Four – Avoid the Sin of Oppression

James 5:6 ESV  You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

• Something about hoarding wealth… something about living in opulence… something about living a life where you make little frauds to scheme your way into more money and more goods…
  • It all adds up to a person with a blunted moral character…
    • A dull morality… that is ok with hurting others in order to gain.
      • It starts with “No one is hurt if I don’t pay for this thing…”
      • And “I mean, they have so much money… what is it to them if I don’t pay the full price that I am supposed to pay”.
        • But it leads to…
        • “I don’t care who it hurts… I am going to get what is mine”.
          • This dull spirit that is ok by gaining through the oppression and persecution of others is a true form of evil…

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

• How many wars have been fought because of money?
  • How many murders have happened because of money?
    • How many dictators have committed genocide because of money.
• When you chase after wealth, when you horde wealth, when you live a life of fraud… it all builds up to oppression…
  • You realize that you can get more by hurting others, cheating others… or to the extreme that James takes it, killing others.
• And maybe you are sitting here thinking “I would never kill somebody”.
  • But is that true…
    • When we ask you to give missions Faith Pledges… do you pray and ask God what to give… or do you think “What can I give without effecting my lifestyle?”
    • When God tells you to help that homeless man, are you like the Samaritan neighbor… or do you just give the change in your ashtray…
    • When God calls you to missions do you say “Send me, I’ll go, even if it is the death of me!” like Jim Elliot did when he gave his life to reach an unreached tribe of native south Americans? Or do you think “I am not sure if I would like living there…”
      • Because Mission Faith Pledges save lives… they literally are an answer from God for some of our missionaries and it pays for their food and rent.
      • The money that we send to Nigeria literally goes to saving the lives of persecuted Christians…
      • Homeless people die all the time… according to KCRG over 30 homeless people die every year in Cedar Rapids… You could be saving their lives…
        • But more over, preaching the gospel saves souls.
        • Preaching the gospel saves eternal lives!
          • That Mission Faith Pledge goes to preaching the gospel…
          • That is what Rebecca is going to be doing on the mission field… preaching the Gospel and saving eternal lives…
          • That is what Pastor Musa in Jamica is doing…
          • That is what the Pastors of Kingdom Life and Prayer Ministries International in Seirra Leon are doing… they are saving eternal lives…
      • And to not save a life that you are well and able to save… to me that is the same as murder.
        • The Levite and the Priest who walked past the man who was robbed and beaten and left for dead… to me, that Levite and Priest are murderers…
• So let me wrap this thing up… if someone wants to come and play…

Conclusion

• Saints, I don’t want James 5:1-6 top describe anyone in this church…
  • Now this is not a set up for me to ask for money.
  • I am not collecting another offering or anything like that…
  • I am just urging you to check your heart…

James 5:1-6 ESV  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.

Matthew 6:19-21 ESV  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  (20)  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  (21)  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• Where is your treasure church? Where is your heart?
  • I know we ALL live a life of luxury to varying degrees.
    • I know we are ALL wealthy to varying degrees.
    • Are we living a life in pursuit of Christ… or in pursuit of those luxuries…
    • Are  we using our wealth for the good of God’s kingdom… or for the good of ourselves.
      • If we are honest, we probably all have room to grow in this area… and we all need to avoid these four sins…
      • We need to avoid The Sin of Hoarding
      • We need to avoid The Sin of Fraud
      • We need to avoid The Sin of Opulence
      • And we need to avoid The Sin of Oppression
        • If we do, I know the Kingdom will be better for it, and we will be blessed with riches only the Father can Provide…
• Speaking of riches only the Father can provide… Gospel Call

Aaronic Blessing