In China many years ago there lived an old man, with his son and a horse. Back in those days, having a horse was like owning a car today, so you can well imagine how valuable a property the animal must have been. One morning, when the man went to his field to feed the horse, the animal was gone. People in the village said, "What bad luck to lose a horse!" But the old man said, "Good luck or bad luck, who’s to say. The horse happens to be gone, and we’ll leave it at that." The people thought the old man silly, and wondered, "How could losing a horse not be a bad thing?"
A couple days later, the horse returned and brought with it a beautiful mare. People came by again. "You were right. Not only was your horse not stolen, it brought you another horse. How lucky you are!" But the old man said, "Good luck or bad luck, who’s to say. It’s not always a good thing to have another horse. The fact is, now I have two horses, and we’ll leave it at that." This time, his neighbors just shook their heads. "How could it not be a good thing to get another horse for free?"
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the old man’s son, while trying to break in the new horse, fell and broke his leg. When the neighbors learned of the incident, they said, "You’re right. Since the new horse caused your son to break his leg, maybe it wasn’t exactly a good thing to get another horse. In fact, you might say it was unlucky for you that another horse showed up.
Same as before, the old man was indifferent about the whole thing, and said, "Good luck or bad luck, who’s to say. My son fell off and broke his leg, and we’ll leave it at that."
This time the neighbors thought that maybe the old man was right, and went back home. A few days later, a war broke out and a government official came into town. He conscripted all the able-bodied young men to go and fight in the war. However the old man’s son was made exempt because of his broken leg.
I think that James would have liked that story. He seemed to enjoy an ironic twist or two as he began his letter with such a challenging thought as "consider it pure joy when you endure trials of many kinds." This week as we come to verses 9-11 of that first chapter, he gives us another ironic turn of a phrase.
(Read James 1:9-11 slowly)
I have to be honest, with a quick read that passage is tough to understand. When I first read it, I wasn’t sure what it was saying. It is obviously talking about rich and poor people, but I just wasn’t sure what he was saying about them.
After a little pondering and study, I came to understand what I believe James wants us to recognize. The fortunes of God’s people cannot be determined simply by their financial status. That is a good lesson for those of us who live in 21st century USA to learn. Our culture tends to believe that if a person is wealthy they have it made, while those who are poor face difficulties and pain because of their poverty. James turns that kind of wisdom on its head as he challenges us to recognize that neither poverty nor wealth is a means of determining the fortunes of a person.
In verse 9 James points out how fortunate the people we think of as unfortunate in this world really are. It’s pretty common for people whose situation in this world is not too great to find encouragement in the reward that God has in store for them. The Hebrew people, living in the wilderness during the exodus must have eagerly anticipated living in the Promised Land. The exiles during their captivity in Babylon longed to have their homeland back. The slaves in the 1800’s yearned for the freedom that heaven would bring so they sang songs like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Comin’ For To Carry Me Home." They tell me that if you really want to get goose-bumps, go to a funeral of a black believer in the poor end of a city. The descriptions of the pleasures of heaven supposedly will make both your mouth and your eyes water. I have personally sat with people struggling with terrible pain and hardship, and when you talk to them they long for the blessing of heaven in a way that a healthy person doesn’t truly understand. Out of hardship comes the deep desire for the blessing of God, and there is a blessing in that understanding that can’t be experienced by someone who is wealthy or healthy. So, when we read verse 9 "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position," I think James is challenging those who are going through tough times be grateful for the blessings that can only come from difficulties. I think this is something of what Jesus means when he says in Luke 6:20-21, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." There is something fortunate about suffering misfortune, and James points that out in verse 9.
Verses 10-11 are a little tougher to get a clear read on for me. (Read verses) The commentaries were quick to point out how riches were temporary and passed away like a wild flower. They would explain the image about the flower and the sun in Judea. You see in the cool spring flowers come up and bloom beautifully, but then the Summer arrives. The Middle East is especially known for Sciroccos, scorching winds that are like a convection oven. With little water and blistering heat and wind the flowers are baked and destroyed. The commentators made one of 2 mistakes. They either said that was what would happen to riches that people gathered up. "Moth and rust would destroy them" like Jesus said. While that is true, that isn’t what the verses say. (Read vv. 10-11) James says the rich person will fade away.
Others picked up on that and said that James must not be talking about rich Christians. Some of them did a little rich person bashing. They quoted Jesus saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of heaven," and determined that James was talking about the eternal punishment due the rich.
But I couldn’t go for that, because I knew that some of God’s most honored servants were rich. Abraham was incredibly wealthy. Job ran an upper-class household. David as king lived in a palace. Even Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea, Zacchaeus, these were all rich people who did God’s will and God seemed to be pleased with them. It doesn’t seem consistent to believe that God automatically condemns rich people for their wealth. Besides the passage is best understood that James is talking to both rich and poor brothers.
But the more I pondered the passage, the more I listened to it, the more I looked to the context of the passage, the light began to dawn. You see, James has never quit talking about suffering in his letter. Remember the first couple of verses in chapter 1. In that ironic twist of words, James told us to rejoice in trials and suffering. Then he talked about wisdom and how to deal with trials wisely. Now he is talking about two different types of trials, the trial of poverty and the trial of wealth. That sounds foreign to our 21st century ears, but hang with me and hear what he is saying. Then he concludes this discussion in v. 12 he comes back and says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
You see, James is talking about the fortune of those who are unfortunate in this world and the misfortune of those who seem very fortunate in this world. He’s playing with words to get us to grasp an eternal concept. The fact he is trying to get us to understand is that both being poor and being rich have their own type of trials that go along with those circumstances.
Not having enough money is the easiest to understand. We can see how not having food or clothes is tough. But in our culture it is difficult to grasp the fact that being rich is a trial. We have been taught that if you are wealthy enough, you can buy happiness. Just a little more will give you everything you want. If you want to be satisfied, gain a little more material possessions and you will be able to buy satisfaction. But it isn’t true. The real truth is that wealth has a tendency to so confuse a human being’s perspective that it can be eternally damning. Money is one of the most seductive idols of our time, and the desire for it leads millions to believe that they are fortunate if they have it and unfortunate if they don’t. That is a false perception that can ruin your life if you aren’t careful.
As a matter of fact you and I have to be very careful living in this culture to keep our priorities straight. We live better than the kings of years gone by. Caesar couldn’t have contacted anyone in the world on a moment’s notice. King Solomon didn’t have access to 1/10 of the knowledge we have at our fingertips. In the scope of world history, we are among the wealthiest 1%, the elite of history.
And that is why some of the truths of Scripture are hard for us to grasp sometimes. That is why we misunderstand the words about the rich, because they are speaking to us. You see, the trial that rich people go through is that they, we, tend to believe ourselves to be self-sufficient. We tend to trust in ourselves so much that we can’t bring ourselves to trust in God.
We tend to think we can gain happiness and security by our own means rather than the way God says, so we work harder, buy more, gather and store, collect and spend in an effort to find fulfillment. But in the end, both rich and poor suffer the same fate, death. I think James mentions it about the rich just because they needed to be reminded of it. This life doesn’t last forever, it will fade away. He’s warning the rich "You better glory in eternity rather than getting too hung up in the here and now." And that is really hard. You see when your hands and pockets and garages and basements and safety deposit boxes are full, it is difficult to say "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
But Paul writes in II Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." Jesus Christ died so that everybody might have the opportunity to know the fortunes of being members of God’s people. You and I, whether rich or poor can become members of the wealthiest people in all eternity. We can know the fullness and satisfaction of true eternal wealth. You see, if you are a Christian, your fortune is not determined by your checking account balance, or the trade in value of your car, or the equity of your property, or the size of your portfolio. Your fortune is determined by the glorious riches of your Heavenly Father. Listen to what Paul prayed for us in Ephesians 1:18-19. "I pray …that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Do you see what Paul is saying? We are given a great inheritance because of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. But far too often we get so hung up on material wealth that we miss out on the blessing of fully understanding and appreciating what God has done for us. In our culture, we are so prosperous that when we think of riches our minds flash to the green of our currency rather than the true gold of our eternal inheritance. We miss out on the blessings of being children of the King of the universe because we are so involved in the matters of gaining wealth for ourselves. But God has so much more in store for us.
Imagine you are sitting at home and the doorbell rings. At the door are two guys in dark suits who tell you "We’ve got bad news and good news." A distant relative of yours has died and they left you inheritance. There is reason to believe it is large, but right now we know for sure it is around $5,000.00. If you would like, you could join them in investigation to learn the scope of inheritance.
Now $5,000.00 from nowhere is nothing to sneeze at, and you are thrilled to get it. You decide to go along with the investigation on the chance that it is worth more than that. Before long you learn that your part of the estate is worth at least $50,000.00. Now you’re really getting interested. You continue to investigate and 1 year later the tally is at $500,000.00. The deeper you and them dig, the greater you find your inheritance to be. You think to yourself, "What if I had been satisfied with the initial $5,000.00. What would you have missed?
That is the way it is when you become a Christian. At first you are thrilled with the idea of not going to hell. Far too many people never get past that. But the deeper you go, the more you come to understand the fullness of God’s riches and the depth of His love for you. You study His Word and come to know Him better and better. Before you know it there is a richness and a depth to your spirituality. It’s not that life gets any easier or smoother, but you learn how to handle it better. As you continue to grow in your faith you discover there is a depth to your relationships with other people that you never knew was possible. Before you related to others superficially, "Hi, how are you?" but now there is a fellowship in which you really know people and you allow them to really know you. Life isn’t just going through the motions any more. Your life becomes really significant as you become purposeful in pursuing the cause of Christ in your work, your family and even your leisure.
Do you know what is happening here? You are coming to understand "the riches of your glorious inheritance in Christ." You haven’t even gotten to the heavenly portion, you have only scratched the surface of this endless supply of blessing that God has in store for you, and yet the more you invest yourself in it, the more there is for you. What an incredible blessing the grace of God is!
But don’t forget, that grace did not come cheap. Remember that passage from 2 Corinthians I read earlier. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich." Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to give us eternal riches. The truth is that without accepting his gift of grace it doesn’t matter what your checkbook balance or your equity is, you are living a life of poverty. Without him, everything you have will dry up and blow away some day.
But the truth of the gospel is that if you are willing to bow your knee and suffer the humiliation of saying "I don’t have a clue about this life or about eternity without Jesus as my Lord," then you are on the road to riches that will last forever. It seems to me that James is saying that a person’s fortune is not determined by the quality and quantity of their assets, but by their relationship to Jesus Christ. From an eternal perspective, that is all that really matters.
