LIFE OF A LIVING FAITH
A. A rebuke of the ungodly rich
1. (James 5:1-3) The rich and the illusion of wealth
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
In Chapter five, we see the second of two warnings. Last week, we saw the first warning ("Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit'" (James 4:13).) Both warnings begin with "come now..." Both also deal with the pride of life, and the arrogance or living apart from God's will. In the first warning, the believer was at risk of offending God through a life of sin that either avoided God's will or ignored it. But now, James's second warning, becomes even more serious.
Come now, you rich: Rich here means rich in every sense of the word. It means to be financially wealthy in power, knowledge and status. James has developed the idea of the need for complete dependence on God. How naturally he now rebukes those who most likely live independently from God--the rich.
While Jesus counted some rich people among His followers such as Zaccheus, Joseph of Arimithea and Barnabus, we are compelled to observe that riches present an additional and significant obstacle to the kingdom. ("And Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, 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.' When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, 'Then who can be saved?' And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'" (Matthew 19:23-26).)
It is also true that the pursuit of riches is a motivation for every conceivable kind of sin. ("For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10).)
James speaks to the wealthy as not simply rich (for riches and grace may sometimes go together), but he speaks to them as wicked. They not only wallow in wealth, but they also abuse it to oppress, gain luxury and cruelly treat others.
Howl and weep: In the style of an Old testament prophet, James tells the rich to mourn in consideration of their destiny (the miseries that are coming upon them). In the life to come, their riches will be revealed as corrupted, moth-eaten and corroded.
James probably refers to the destruction of three kinds of wealth. Stores of food are corrupted (or rotted), garments are moth-eaten, and gold and silver are corroded. Each one of them comes to nothing in their own way.
More than that, James adds that the rust will devour their flesh like fire. They will are so bound up in their greedy gains that when their wealth perishes, the rich will perish with it, eaten away in burning pain.
Will be a witness against you: The corruptible nature of the wealth of the rich will witness against them. On the day of judgment, it will be revealed that they have lived their lives in the arrogant independence of God James previously condemned. They are heaping up treasure in the last days, when they should have been heaping up treasure in heaven. ("'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also'" (Matthew 6:19-21).)
Now, James gives examples of how these corrupt people obtained their wealth.
2. (James 5:4-6) The sins of the rich are condemned
Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of the Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
The pay of the laborers who mowed your fields: First, the wealthy cheated day laborers who worked for them. Mowing fields refers to men who harvested the stalks of grain. These men would typically work for one day at a time. They expected to receive their wages for each day at the end of the day. They would use these daily wages to buy food and other goods they needed to get through the next day. However, at the end of the day, the rich would use some technicality to deny them their wages.
In the Torah, God states two times an employer must pay his employee. In the book of Leviticus, we read: "Do not withhold that which is due your neighbor. Do not let a worker's wages remain with you overnight until morning" (Leviticus 19:13). And again in the book of Deuteronomy, we find: "Do not withhold the wages due to your poor or destitute hired hand, whether he is one of your brethren or a proselyte living in a settlement in your land. You must give him his wage on the day it is due, and not let the sun set with him waiting for it. Since he is a poor man, and his life depends on it, do not let him call out to God, causing you to have a sin" (Deuteronomy 24:14-15).
In the Talmud (a compilation of Jewish commentaries on the Torah), it is stated that paying a creditor is a mitzvah (commandment).
The outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth: The title "Lord of the Sabaoth" should not be confused with the similar title, "Lord of the Sabbath" used in Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5. Instead, it is a translation of the idea behind the Hebrew term "Lord of Hosts", which means "Lord of armies". It specifically has a sense of heavenly and angelic armies. It describes God as a warrior, the commander-in-chief of all the heavenly armies.
The use of this title was meant to give the unjust a sober warning. The cries of the people they had oppressed had come to the ears of the Lord who commands the heavenly armies--the God of might and power and judgment.
You have condemned and put to death the righteous man: To top off everything the wealthy have done, they put to death the righteous man who did not resist their injustice. Take it either literally or metaphorically, the extortioners not only rob, but they ravish the poor that have fallen into their nets. Moreover, often those who are poor and without power in this world have little satisfaction from justice. Yet, God hears their cries. He is the one who guarantees to ultimately right every wrong and answer every injustice.
Today, we are still confronted by those in the church who use their wealth and leadership roles to take advantage of others. When we see these injustices taking place, it is only natural to react against these people. We either speak in a critical way against them or even rise up against them in some way.
I am not talking about self-defense but rather retribution. When we find ourselves in these situations, we need to consider our response carefully. James says those who were persecuted did not resist their oppressors; yet, they still experienced death.
Paul gives a stern warning about repaying the oppressors in this lifetime:
"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is writeen, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,' says the Lord. 'BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THRISTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.' Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no autority except from God, and those which exist are established by God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves" (Romans 12:17-13:2).
We are to leave revenge to God. We can trust that He will bring about justice. But we need to understand true revenge and justice is not achieved in this world. It will happen in eternity. We can actually interfere with God's plan of retribution when we try to take matters into our own hands.
Even if God's plan does not take effect until after evil men have put us to death, it is still a better plan than the one we can enact on our own. We may win the fight in the moment, but what we are risking eternal loss because we resisted authority or did not leave room for the wrath of God.
When we refuse to take matters into our own hands, we acknowledge a form faith in God's sovereignty over our situation. We leave room for the wrath of God, Who can do far more in revenging injustice than we could ever do. Our kindness in the face of injustice against us brings further condemnation to those who are intent on harming us. It is an act of faith to withhold retribution.
James has addressed the sins of the rich who persecuted the righteous, but what should the righteous do in response to these men?
No comments:
Post a Comment