In his three years of life, Bobby has seen an undue share of suffering. Born in Southern California to a drug-addicted mother, Bobby went through withdrawal at the age of two weeks. He has lived in two foster homes, barely survived a life-threatening case of spinal meningitis, and is now back with his natural mother despite allegations by her relatives that she has abused Bobby and his three siblings.
...Mary grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, in a home headed by her single mother, an alcoholic. By age 12 Mary had been moved into foster care. At 15, she was pregnant with her first child. She and the baby were then put into separate foster homes. At 16, Mary is pregnant again.
...These are children at risk. The dangers to them are formidable and tragic enough: threats of lifelong ill health—most likely not covered by any kind of health insurance; of dropping out of school; of going on the welfare roles and never getting off [Susan Champlin Taylor, "A Promise at Risk: Can America Rouse Itself to Conquer the Perils Facing its Children", Modern Maturity, August September, 1989, p. 32].
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Bobby and Mary are two of the 13 million American children who live in poverty. Children now make up the largest segment of America’s poor population.
The Los Angeles Times published a series of articles on L A’s slums. Penelope McMillan told of a young refugee who lives in a fleabag hotel in Los Angeles.
Maria Figueroa has bought cans of Black Flag to fight cockroaches, and set traps to catch mice. She has nailed boards across one screenless window—so the children won’t fall out. She has put a large piece of plywood over another window—to prevent stray bullets from fights in the street from shattering the glass above her bed.
The 22-year-old Salvadoran immigrant—one of perhaps 450,000 people who the city estimates live in slum conditions in Los Angeles—so far has refused to surrender to the challenges of living in a little square box of a room at the Cameo Hotel.
Most of her time is spent confined to this 12-by-12 foot space, which she shares with her two little girls and her two brothers, who recently fled El Salvador. She, Claudia, 1 1/2, and Yaritsa, 3, share the double bed while the brothers sleep on the floor.
”We find ourselves under these circumstances,” she says without a trace of self-pity, “but we can’t afford to get a better place.”
Figueroa and other tenants [actually] say the building is a much better place than it was a few months ago. The rats and maggots that fed on human excrement and garbage in the halls and stairwells are gone. So are the winos and addicts who crept in at night to sleep in the passageways [Penelope McMillan, "Life Inside L. A’s Slums: A Window on Despair," Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1989].
Former Los Angeles City Attorney and later Mayor, James Hahn brought suit against the hotel owners and their lending institutions. The charge was “milking the building for profit and failing to maintain it.”
The abuse of the poor is an age-old story. James addressed it in 46 A.D. Before we examine the first six verses of James 5, let’s get a biblical perspective on wealth and poverty.
I. A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON WEALTH AND POVERTY
The Creator gave the first human pair a whole world to enjoy, making it obvious that possessions are not wrong in themselves. The eighth commandment says, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15). One person, clearly, must own something before another can steal it. The Book of Acts tells of worship in the early Christians’ homes. Some in Acts 4 gave their possessions away, but those who retained their property were not considered as sub-par Christians.
The Bible nowhere condemns wealth. It just insists that the rich must be responsible, and aware of the perils of wealth. The most important aspect of money management is the control of our attitude towards it. Money is not “the root of all evil” as Paul is often misquoted. His actual words are, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).
Failure to prioritize is a great hazard of prosperity. Don’t ask, “How much can I make?” “How much can I spend?” “How important can I be?” The proper question is “How much can I bless with the wealth God has entrusted to me?”
James did not consider it a sin to be rich. His concern was with the abuse of riches that caused God to be forgotten. In chapter 4 he criticized plans that failed to include God. Now he advises those who use their wealth as if there is no accountability to God to “...weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.”
II. JAMES’ CHARGES AGAINST THE UNJUST RICH
James brings three charges against the unjust rich. He accuses them of insensitivity, injustice, and indulgence.
A. Insensitivity - vv. 2-3
They were insensitive first, to proper priorities and values; and secondly to the needs of others
In those days wealth consisted primarily of food, garments and money. The wealthy ate well, dressed well and spent lavishly. James says, “Your wealth (probably referring to food) has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded.” They carefully accumulated foods, fashions, and fortunes, only to find them worthless. Things were valued so highly that they had no need for God. They placed their faith in their resources. They disregarded spiritual realities and ignored the fact that they must give an account to God. They never considered God’s clock.
Jesus described another rich man as saying, “...’You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’” (Lu. 12:19). God called him a fool because he failed to reckon with the eternal.
It is a faulty priority that hoards wealth instead of using it. Time and disuse cause rotting, rusting and ruin. Riches are so uncertain. I lived in El Centro, California in the early eighties and watched the Mexican peso devalued. Instead of 24 pesos for an American dollar we got over 1500. It was heart breaking to see the human impact. Money markets and stock markets fluctuate from hour to hour. And it’s not exactly optimistic to think that your bank deposits are protected by an agency of a federal government that’s $2 trillion in debt.
Actually, gold does not corrode as iron does. James uses this word picture to show that their gold is losing its value. When food rots, and clothes are moth-eaten, and hoarded money loses its value, they have been misused.
Those who abuse their wealth will eventually suffer a reversal of fortune. Their comfort and privilege will cease, and that end is so certain that James describes it as already having taken place. He speaks of wealth already rotted, garments already moth eaten, and money already devalued.
To stockpile wealth demonstrates insensitivity to priorities. Worse, it shows insensitivity to people. James said earlier, “Anyone...who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (4:17). What a colossal sin to see others perishing in bitter need while you store up goods you can never use. In the end your wealth is lost and the poor remain destitute. How can there be such callous disregard for others?
We can fill our tables with good food, and too much of it, but the poor struggle for “daily bread.” We fill our closets until we can’t remember what’s in them. A local men’s store is having its semi-annual sale. I stopped by there yesterday to buy a pair of trousers. As I looked I was brought under conviction by this text. My clothes are not especially fashionable or of the finest quality, but I have a closet full. I had to turn and leave without a purchase. The poor never have to worry about moths — they wear the only clothes they own. We accumulate fortunes that lose their value, while the poor barely survive.
James hated the insensitivity that failed to alleviate the needs of the unfortunate, while hoarding wealth for selfish pleasures or for no purpose at all. These people remind me of John Jacob Astor who could hardly conceive of real need. He said, “A man who has a million dollars is as well off as if he were rich.” It is bad enough to be insensitive to unknown street people, but these were people with whom they had relationships.
B. Injustice - vv. 4a, 6
These rich were guilty of great injustice. They not only defrauded the poor workers, they paid off the judges and undermined the courts of justice. James charged them with no less than murder.
The day laborer in Palestine was very poor. Hired and paid by the day, he lived on the brink of starvation. Wages were so meager that it was impossible for him to save, so each day’s pay bought that day’s food. God established law to protect the laboring man from oppressive employers. He said, “If a man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession.... Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it...” (De. 24:12,15). “Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight” (Le. 19:13).
The fields were mowed, the harvest celebration was about to begin, but there was no joy among the unpaid harvesters. Their wages were due and payable, but the original language implies that they may never be paid. A new crop had greatly increased the owners’ wealth. The fields were not just garden plots. They were probably large estates. The neighbors were called for the harvest festival, while the poor workman, needing his pay for his family’s immediate needs was defrauded. What injustice! But the wrong was compounded.
The rich also used their influence and social standing to oppose the poor who brought charges against them. “Condemn” (v. 6) is a judicial term and suggests that they may have perverted the legal processes to accumulate property and wealth. The wealthy often have political power and can buy what they want. A joke says, “The Golden Rule is that ‘Whoever has the gold makes the rules!’” The destitute workers had the just cause, but the courts were controlled by the affluent. James says, “You have condemned and murdered innocent men....”
Perhaps some had actually died violent deaths, but many were deprived of their livelihood. The Jewish writings say, “To take away a neighbor’s living is to murder him, to deprive an employee of his wages it to shed blood” (Ecclesiasticus 34:22). If the poor died because of injustice, those who failed to pay them, according to James were guilty not only of neglect but of murder.
James deeply felt the burden of the victims, and could have dwelt on the theme of injustice. Instead, he chose to emphasize that, “The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” The fraud was not unnoticed by God. His ears heard the cries of His people. He is still sensitive to the sufferings of the oppressed.
The Lord Almighty is a name for the Omnipotent God of all power. He is deeply concerned about justice for the poor and insignificant. He cares for the downtrodden. He cares so much that He sent His Son to dwell among insignificant people. Jesus was born of a poor virgin in a borrowed barn and was buried in a borrowed tomb. He knows all about injustice. One unknown writer described His ministry:
The preacher never stopped talking about money.
The congregation clutched their billfolds and squirmed.
He told them not to worry so much about stuff that’ll rot.
He told them that the folding stuff was not the currency to buy meaning and happiness.
He singled out one man and told him to sell everything and then give the proceeds to the poor.
He had them shaking their heads when he said, “Happy are the poor.”
Some of the best-dressed stomped out, their noses in the air.
A few of the wealthy and powerful slipped quietly into a backroom and had a contract put out on the young preacher’s life.
And it only cost them thirty pieces of silver.
Jesus knows injustice.
C. Indulgence - v. 5
Though surrounded by need, the rich were extravagant and luxurious in their lifestyle. When luxury dominates life, it sabotages character. Character added to wealth has great potential for good, but self-indulgence supplemented by wealth equals sin.
We enjoy great luxuries and no one wants a return to primitive conditions. However, our character would benefit from the advice of the Quaker who told his neighbor, “Tell me what thou dost need, and I will tell thee how to get along without it.”
Those James addressed fed themselves on their riches while they starved to death. They were like pigs that eat themselves into the slaughterhouse. They concentrate on filling their stomachs and are oblivious to their destiny. Momentary contentment is their only concern.
Judgment could fall at any time. Instead of acting to avoid that judgment, they incur greater guilt by their selfish indulgence. They will be condemned for misusing wealth for comfort and lustful delight while failing to care for the less fortunate. If riches are made by stepping on the hands of the hopeless, judgment will follow. God will pass sentence on the way people make their money and the way they spend it.
III. THE POVERTY OF UNJUST WEALTH - vv. 1, 3b-5
“Weep and wail” is not a call for repentance. It expresses the despair the rich exploiters feel when judgment comes. They shriek with a misery that explodes through their lips. Smug in their plenty, they disregarded God’s claims. Now they realize that the greatest poverty is not that of empty pockets, but of empty souls. Poverty stricken, they face God in judgment.
The wheels of God grind slowly but they grind exceedingly small. Some get away with injustice for long periods of time. A lack of justice today does not mean a lack of judgment tomorrow. An unnoticed Observer knows the score. Judgment beckons. God’s accounts are accurate, and His book of remembrance has recorded every evil deed.
Unusual witnesses will testify against the unjust. Their rotten grain, tarnished money, and moth-eaten garments will bear witness to their selfishness. The unpaid wages will call for justice and judgment. The workmen will groan because of their suffering at the hands of ruthless employers. Their impoverishment prompts their cry, but they also sigh for vindication. The Lord Almighty, Who is on the side of the poor and helpless, and Who will destroy tyranny and oppression heard their call.
Within ten years of James’ letter Titus, the Roman general, destroyed Jerusalem. After he sacked the city, no rich Jews were left. They were either killed or put into slavery, and all the riches were destroyed or confiscated.
God never judges by a bank account, or a statement of worth. He probes the heart where no surgeon can reach. He looks for righteousness and where it is lacking, His judgment follows.
Riches in themselves are morally neutral, neither good nor evil. Wealth is like fire — very useful, but also terribly dangerous.
We must balance between prudent saving and sinful stashing. Material wealth will be worthless when our Lord returns, but we don’t know the day or hour of His coming. We must be ready when He comes, but if He delays His return, we are responsible to provide for the future. Place priority, not on your possessions, but how you use them. How large is your bank account? Would you be willing to let the Coming Lord look into you safety deposit box? He will do that someday. How are you using your riches?
