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.
Have you ever noticed that many times in those movies where the plot is some version of good verses evil-the evil person-the BAD GUY-will often be filthy RICH? I mean think about it. In Frank Capra’s, It’s A Wonderful Life, the good guy is poor George Baily striving to help the whole town make ends meet while struggling with the bad guy in this film: the evil Mr. Potter, who has so much money he can buy out the banks during the stock market crash of the 30’s. In Disney’s 101 Dalmatians the good guys are the poor song writer and his wife who are trying to make a good home for all those cute little spotted puppies and the bad guy is the filthy rich, skunk-hair-dooed Cruella Deville. And then, pick any James Bond film you want and I’ll show you an evil genius with enough billions to finance the construction of some secret base from which he plans to take over the world.
Now, why is it that we write so many screenplays like this? Why do we tend to associate the pursuit of evil with money? Well, I think it is because you and I are wired to think this way. We are created in the image of God. He has “programed” our minds to reflect His way of thinking and we know how God thinks when it comes to money because He has given us His mind on this subject over and over again in His book, where we read that if we are not very careful, the love of the things of this world-the love of money-will lead us into sin. The Bible very clearly teaches that if we make it our purpose in life to amass great wealth there’s a very good chance that we will find ourselves on the side of the “bad guys.”
This is what Jesus was getting at when He said that it is hard for someone who pursues riches, “…to enter the kingdom of heaven.” In fact He went on to say, “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23) Now-please don’t misunderstand me here. Jesus is not saying that RICH people are evil people. In fact God’s Word cites several examples of RICH Godly men and women down through the years-people who LOVED our Heavenly Father-people who sought first His kingdom, and because they did-because of their spiritual maturity, especially when it came to material things-God entrusted them with great wealth.
The truth is the Bible records the fact that several of the KEY players in God’s Kingdom down through the centuries have also been very well to do-people like Abraham, Moses, David, and Job. The wise men who visited Jesus as a toddler apparently had vast wealth at their disposal and they were some of the first to recognize Him as the King of Kings. And what about Joseph of Arimathea? He was a very rich man and he donated his tomb to Jesus. Tradition says that he eventually became a Christian and played a key part in the growth of the early church. The church of Philippi was started by a wealthy woman named Lydia-who allowed those Christians to use her home as their first facility. Paul’s companion, Barnabas, was apparently a rich man. We know this because the book of Acts records the fact that he sold some of his land and gave the profits to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, an example that inspired other wealthy men and women to do the same.
So-there is nothing necessarily UNCHRISTIAN about being rich. The problems that come with vast riches have to do with how you relate to your wealth-how you use it. In his commentary on James, Charles Swindoll points out that a PROPER biblical perspective helps us to see that there are four ways that people relate to money and the things of this world.
A. First, there are those who are poor WITHOUT and poor WITHIN.
These people have little or none of the world’s goods, and at the same time they know nothing of Jesus Christ or God’s love. They are poor without and within. And, of all the people in the world, they are the most to be pitied.
B. Then, there are those who are rich WITHOUT and rich WITHIN.
These are people like Abraham and Barnabas and Lydia and the others I mentioned who have a great deal of material wealth but who also maintain a rich, full relationship with God. I have known people like this-as have you. In fact several times I have been astounded at the generosity of Christians like this. The selfless giving of people who are rich WITHOUT and rich WITHIN has helped us to do amazing things to help further God’s kingdom.
C. Third, there are those who are poor WITHOUT and rich WITHIN.
These people have little in the way of possessions but they are growing Christians and as such are rich in the things of God. And then finally, there are people like those James mentions in our text for today and they are the TRUE bad guys in our world….
D. …for they are rich WITHOUT and poor WITHIN.
Now, the men and women James is speaking of here in chapter 5 were probably Christians, but they were poor in their faith because like the church at Ephesus, they had forgotten their first love and had given their heart to the things of this world. As a result they had made it their life focus to accumulate EARTHLY wealth. They are like the people Paul described in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 when he said, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction…for the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all kinds of evil.”
Now James is very specific when he describes the KINDS OF EVIL their love led them to practice. Do you remember what he said in this text?
First of all, instead of using their wealth for some constructive purpose they HOARDED it.
James points out how foolish it is to do this because all earthly wealth is temporary. Now, in his day wealth came in three basic varieties: Grain or food, clothing, and gold or sliver. Well James says that of course none of these things last. Grain hoarded in barns rots as does clothing left hanging in closets. Even gold and silver eventually crumble to dust because ALL the things of this world-even those things we value the most highly-are temporary. Also-the Bible teaches that God gives us material wealth not to HOARD but to USE. Our money is to be spent, not only to provide for our families but also to advance God’s kingdom, to win the lost, and to care for those in need. In short, those who name the name of Christ are not to amass a fortune that is uselessly stashed away in barns and closets and bank accounts with no regard for God’s will. But that is what these people in James’ day did. They selfishly hoarded. They ignored the needs of others around them and closed the doors of their estates and lived in the lap of luxury while their neighbors were cold and hungry.
Second, these rich men had cheated the people who worked for them by not paying them their wages.
They hired men to do specific jobs-like harvesting their fields or making their clothes and then when pay day came around they refused to distribute the payroll so their personal bank accounts could remain full.
Finally their evil was such that they condemned and murdered innocent men.
In the same way that Ahab and Jezebel twisted justice so they could get Naboth’s vineyard these guys corrupted the courts such that the innocent were killed, so these bad guys-these lovers of money-could then get their property to add to their own.
To sum it all up, these wicked, foolish Christians loved their wealth-they loved the material things of the world so much-that they became one of the bad guys of the world. And I’m sure you’ll agree then, that when it came to money, they got it all WRONG.
Well, how can we avoid their mistake? How can we resist the seductive lure of money? How can we be “right on the money?” The answer to this question is found in the words of Jesus-words that obviously inspired what James says in chapter 5. They are found in the 6th chapter of Matthew’s gospel. Take your Bibles once more and turn there and let’s read verses 19-24.
19 – Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 – But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 – The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 – But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 – No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
In his commentary on this text, GREG LAFFERTY, pastor of Christ Community Church in St. Charles Illinois, points out that with these words Jesus taught us that there are three things we need if we are going to avoid the mistakes of the Christians in James’ day-three things we need to be right when it comes to money. Let’s review them together:
1. First of all we need the right STOREHOUSE.
In other words, to be right on the money, every day of our life we’ve got to be “investing” in the right PLACE-and the Bible says this place is HEAVEN. You see, money is not inherently evil. We can do amazing good with it if we invest it in things that have eternal significance. It’s when we start using it ALL for things of THIS WORLD that we get into trouble. People who get things WRONG when it comes to money are those fools who attempt to buy a little piece of heaven here on earth, at the expense of genuine heaven in the life to come. This is what Paul is getting at in 1 Tim 6:17-19 when he says, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
Now exactly why is it so important for us to make HEAVEN our “storehouse?” I mean, what makes it the right “storehouse?”
A. Well first of all there is the issue of SAFETY.
You see, every thing we invest IN HEAVEN is absolutely secure. And, we know that you can’t say that about things that you invest here ON EARTH can you? As Jesus says, the things of THIS WORLD are susceptible to rust and moths. In fact, even the best this world has to offer eventually crumbles to dust.
A good example of this principle is seen in money invested in the stock market, which these days can disappear in an instant. People used to say, “You can’t take it with you.” and that is true, but these days it is difficult to even keep it even while you are here! Well, this is not true about things invested in Heaven. They are absolutely safe.
You know, about once a year I get a statement from the Annuity Board, telling me how my retirement funds are doing. For the past few years I have dreaded getting this statement in the mail because the worth of the stock has continued to drop. I always open the envelope and then moan and groan when I see the figures. Well, in verse 1 James says this is what the rich Christians who are investing in the things of this world are going to do at the judgement-only they will moan and grown a lot more! James says when that great day comes they’ll “weep and wail” as they see how foolish they were to invest in the HERE AND NOW at the expense of the THERE AND THEN. This reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 6:24-25 when He said, “Woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall morn and weep.”
People who invest in the things of this world-the pleasures of this world-WILL moan and weep when they get to heaven, for they will realize that their investment did not last, that they laid all their treasures in STOREHOUSES where moth and rust corrupted and where thieves broke in and stole. They’ll see that their investment was not safe.
B. And this leads to a second reason we must invest in the things of Heaven-the issue of YIELD.
You see, things invested in the Kingdom of God are not only safe-they also pay the highest possible return! Here on this world we like to invest our money and get a 10, 15, or even 20 percent return-when the economy is really healthy and strong. Well, Scripture talks about heavenly investments yielding a 30, 60, or even hundredfold return. That’s 3,000 6,000 or 10,000 percent! Think of it this way. When you and I get to heaven, we aren’t going to care about how our retirement funds did. We’re not going to care about how big a house we owned. We will care less about how nice a car we drove or how much we were able to travel and play golf when we retired. All we’re going to care about when we die and get to heaven are those things we invested in the kingdom of God. For example, those people we meet who will THANK US for leading them to the Lord.
This week I visited with ELLEN GERMAN. Many of you have known Ellen for years and know that she has worked with teens for most of her life. Well Ellen is in her 60’s and enjoying her golden years now. She’d probably tell you she is too old for lock-ins and youth retreats. And, as many of you know, Ellen has had a hard time physically lately. She was hit by a car while walking in a MacDonald’s parking lot & then had a stroke that has paralyzed her right side. In fact, my visit with her took place in a rehabilitation hospital in Montgomery Village. Well, as we visited we enjoyed talking about old times and one thing that stood out was her comment about a recent visitor. In fact her face lit up as she told me that one of her former youth came to see her. She said when he was a teen in her youth group decades ago everyone considered him a real problem because in his adolescence he was doing things he shouldn’t do-engaging in sinful behaviors. But Ellen didn’t give up on him back then. She no doubt invested a lot of time and even money in the life of that rebellious teen. Ellen told me that this kid eventually became a Christian and today he is happily married, has a great job, active in church…and he came by and spend the entire day with her this week.
Now, if I were to have said, “Hey Ellen, let me ask you a question. If you could go back in time and decide to invest your time and money in something other than that kid. Let’s say instead of working with him you and Billy could have taken a cruise or something…you know spent a week or two seeing the Caribbean…would you do that? I mean think of the fun you could have had!” Well I know for a fact that Ellen would say, NO WAY because investing her time and money in that teen has paid a much higher return! I don’t think she would change that for the world!
Well, it’s the same with you and me. When we get to heaven the only things that we will care about are the things we did for God. We won’t care about our stock portfolios-only those things we did to further His Kingdom.
You know, as a pastor, I’ve stood with people facing serious surgery and even people who knew they were dying. I’ve been with people who were facing heartbreaking situations of all sorts and never once have I heard anyone say, “I wish I could buy one more stock option or that beautiful ring I looked at last week, or added on that extra room to the house.” No-like Ellen they have drawn strength from the things they did with and for God.
C. And then a third reason it makes sense to use the “storehouse” of Heaven is the issue of TIME….because that’s where we will SPEND most of our lives.
You see the fact is we’re only here on Earth for 70 years or so…but we’ll be in eternity with God forever!
As you know, this summer I went with our team on a mission trip to Kenya. We had to travel in three groups and my particular group had a 14 hour layover in London. We left Philadelphia at 9PM and arrived in London early the next morning. Our flight for Nairobi didn’t leave until about 10PM that night so several of us planned to do a little sight-seeing. Now, I had plenty of American money with me but to get around London for 14 hours required me to change some of that money into English pounds and shillings. Well, I figured that by using my credit card for one of those double-decker bus tours, I could get by for a day in London with about $50 dollars so that’s all I converted into British currency. Now, I’m not a rich man, but I have significantly more than $50 at my disposal. I could have taken much more with me into London that day. If I wanted to, I could have taken all my money-even to the point of cashing in my retirement fund.
Well, why didn’t I do that? Because I was knew I was going to be spending 14 hours in London and the next 30 years or so in the United States. It would have been foolish to cash all my money into British pounds since I was only going to be there a short time. Now, as I said, I’m only going to be in the US 30 years or so but since I’m a Christian I’m going to spent billions and billions of years-all eternity-in Heaven. So, it only makes sense to invest in things that will benefit me there doesn’t it!
Well, for these three reasons Jesus told us to STOP investing in the things of earth and instead to invest in things of eternal significance. He told us to put our money in the right storehouse. As our “eternal Stock Broker,” Jesus has advised ut to STOP spending your money on things you won’t need in heaven and START investing it in things of His kingdom. Now please understand. Jesus is not making an argument here about MORALITY. His argument is for WISDOM. Lafferty writes, “If you’re building up treasures on earth, it’s not so much that you’re wicked…it’s that you’re stupid.”
To be right on the money we need the right storehouse.
2. And then we also need the right STANCE…the right perspective, the right mental and emotional posture before money.
This is what Jesus is talking about in verse 22 where He says, “the eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Now, let my try and explain what Jesus is saying here. There’s a great deal of light in this room-thanks to our new fixtures-and if your eye works, which means if it takes the light in, the light will enable you to see so that you can move our body through the room. You’ll see where the aisle is and where the chairs are and you won’t stumble or fall. But if for some reason you eyes aren’t working, even though there’s light around the rest of your body, your whole body is in the darkness. If your eye is not working, your whole body is in darkness even if the whole room is flooded with light.
Well, Jesus is saying that materialism has the peculiar effect of blinding us spiritually. It distorts the way we see things. When we love money we stumble around in life blind to the really important things of life. Materialism or greed has this affect on us. In fact, it can cloud the way we perceive everything.
You know, greed is different from other sins in that it is what you might call an “eye sin.” I mean Jesus never said to anyone, “Watch out, you might be committing adultery.” because if you’re committing adultery, you know you’re committing adultery. You don’t look on the other side of the bed and say “Oh, my goodness, you’re not my wife!” It doesn’t happen that way. But Jesus does say, “Watch out you might be greedy!” because Greed hides itself. It blinds you in a way that adultery and other sins don’t. It warps your vision so that before you know it you have wandered into sinful actions.
This winter I’ve been doing my jogging indoors on my treadmill. It’s much warmer that way plus it’s easier on my aging knees! But running on a treadmill also has it’s disadvantages. I mean, it get’s boring pretty quickly. There’s no changing scenery-no other runners to wave to. So, to combat boredom I watch TV while I run. The problem is, due to the size of the room where I keep the treadmill, I have to put the TV off to the left. And as I run, if I get too involved in the TV-since I’m looking left, my feet start going that way and pretty soon I hit the side of the treadmill and stumble and fall. This happens because my eyes have taken my body off course.
Well, that’s what the Bible says happens when our eyes are focused on money. 1 Timothy 6:10 puts it this way, “The love of money is a root of all kids of evil. Some people eager for money, people with their eyes on money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” You see the STANCE we take toward God and money is determined by our vision-by what we are focusing on in life. “Good” eyes in this context means singular eyes…eyes focused on one object of desire-CHRIST and HIS KINGDOM. “Bad” eyes wander from God toward the things of this world. And Jesus says that people who focus on the things of this world may think they are enlightened, but actually they are darkened. The light within them is actually darkness. They think they’re smart and wise and going down the right road, but they’re filling their whole life with darkness. This is what Jesus is saying. So, we’ve got to look at our money-at the things of this world-from the right perspective, the right stance. We have to “SEE” that we are STEWARDS who are soon going to be evaluated by our care of the things God has put into our hands. Matthew Henry a great Bible commentator said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.” And he’s right. We need to LOOK at our days with this stance.
So, to be RIGHT on the money we need the right STOREHOUSE and the right STANCE…
3. And then finally we need the right SOVEREIGN.
Now, Jesus did an interesting thing here in Matthew 6. He gave money a Semitic name: “Mammon” – with a capital “M.” No one else in the culture of Jesus’ day had ever given money a name like this-as if it were a living thing-But Jesus did, because from His sinless perspective He saw things the rest of the world could not. Jesus saw that money is not just a neutral medium of exchange but rather something that we very easily lift to idol status. And when we do this-when we love it to excess-Jesus knew that money could even take on a “power” and a life of it’s own.
But please understand. It is not the AMOUNT of money that is the problem. Idolizing MAMMON is not a practice limited to those who are wealthy. The poor and middle class can just as easily slip into this practice. John Michael Talbot is the general Minister of The Hermitage, a community of monks, nuns, and families belonging to a religious order called The Brothers and Sisters of Charity. Everyone in the group is committed to living a simple life, and has relinquished all but the most necessary possessions. Talbot writes, “Taking a vow of poverty is not a cure for materialism. Many people come to this community and go from being selfish with thousands of dollars to being selfish with a coffee mug.” So, you see, our problem with things is not how much we have but how much they have us! As I said a moment ago when I quoted 1 Timothy 6:10 MONEY is not the problem. It’s when we love money to excess-not matter how much or how little we have-that it can take on a personality and power of it’s own. In Proverbs 30:8 Solomon referred to this principle when he said: “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
So the truth is, to be RIGHT on the money, we have to make a choice. We have to pick a SOVEREIGN: GOD or Money. Jesus says it can’t be both for, “No one can serve two masters.” The idea of dual lordship is an impossible one. You might be able to have dual citizenship but never dual Lordship. Deitrich Bonhoefer once put it this way, “Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing devotion, and we can cleave to only one Lord.”
Now, the Bible says the way to break MAMMON’S hold. They way to say, “I choose GOD as my Sovereign!” is to use our money to further His kingdom-to give of our tithes and offerings to that people’s physical and spiritual needs can be met. You see GIVING is a very powerful tool for foiling money’s grasp on our lives. This is what Gordon Crosby meant when he said, “To give money away is to win a victory over the dark powers that oppress us.” And this is true. Every time I tithe to this church, every time I give to someone in need, I remind myself that God is on the throne of my life-not money. Tithing is a way to say, God is my Lord and I’m going to trust Him to provide for my needs.
You know, it is not easy for me to write my tithe check every payday. I look at the pile of bills and the pile of offering envelopes and I think, if I skipped my tithe I could pay more bills. So every time I write that tithe check, I consciously decide to trust God…to put my faith in Him as sovereign Lord and provider of my life.
So the right STOREHOUSE, the right STANCE, and making sure God is the only SOVEREIGN.
These three things will put us right on the money.
We come now to the close of our service and as we do I want to point out that in a very real sense, the offering is not limited to what we do in the middle of our service each week.
It is also what we do now-at the end of the service. We sing a closing hymn each week to give each of us an opportunity to offer-TO GIVE-our lives to God in some way. Today that offering may involve your joining this church. It may involve a commitment to begin tithing. It may mean deciding to become a Christian…surrendering your life to God as you repent of you sin and embrace the forgiveness that Jesus offers. We invite you to share any public decision with us now, as we stand and sing by coming forward and sharing that decision with me.