We are in the last chapter of James, and he’s been speaking about a variety of topics for the first 4 chapters. Many of the topics dealt with wealth and poverty. James spoke about having faith to see beyond our current situations. In James 1:9-11 James talked about how the poor man should take pride in his high position, not his high position on Earth, but his high position since he is part of God’s Kingdom and has been redeemed and adopted into God’s royal family. Likewise a rich man should take pride in his low position, that he will be humiliated and die some day, since if he is Christian will see greater glory in God’s Kingdom. In James 2, he talked about how we shouldn’t show any sorts of favoritism between rich and poor, and we should treat everyone the same, because we are all a part of something much larger than ourselves. Last post, we talked about James 4, where he discussed how covetousness can tend to destroy our sense of peace. We quarrel and fight because we don’t have the things we want, and we want things that serve our own purposes and our own pleasures. We boast about our arrogant schemes and in doing so, deny God His sovereignty. James is continuing in the first half of Chapter 5 with a warning to the rich. James 5:1-3

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on 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.

So James is saying, if you’re rich, listen up. He’s hitting the fast forward button on life, and saying look ahead. You may be comfortable and living large now, but misery is coming on you.

Someday your wealth will be rotted, your fancy clothes will be eaten by moths. Everything you enjoy will be dead or rotted, or moth eaten, or corroded. Everything that looks or seems nice now will reach a point where it doesn’t help you anymore. On the last days, are you going to have tarnished silver and threadbare designer labels? And what testimony does that give to the world? James’ brother, our savior Jesus, said don’t store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moths and rust will destroy. Store up treasures in heaven. James took Jesus words to heart, and is now retelling that message. Let’s say, best case, your clothes DON’T wear out, and your gold and silver DOESN’T tarnish. When you reach your last breath, how will it help? You will be dead and someone else will enjoy the fruits of your labor, like in Luke 12:16-21. This was Jesus parable about the rich foolish man who built bigger barns.

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

At that point, a minute after your final hour, it’s someone else’s gold, and your nice outfit will be adorning a corpse. And what’s more, it just tells a story about how you spent the little precious time you had on this earth.

How hard you worked in these last days, how much time you wasted in these last days, or how much wealth you hoarded in these last days just so your dead body will look nice. Did you care more about looking good and profiling, or did you put your wealth to use in a way that is more long lasting? Did you store up treasure on earth or in heaven? Were you rich towards yourself or God? So you have two choices. 1 of 2 things will happen. #1 Maybe all the things that you spent your life accumulating will just lose their luster or rot away. The nice outfit you bought or the nice car you paid a premium for will eventually just fade or rust away. You outlive your stuff. Or #2 Maybe your stuff outlives you, and someone else enjoys it. But either way, eventually nature wins. Eventually Time will be the ultimate victor. James wants to ask where you’ll be then.. Do you fade away faster than the possessions or do the possessions fade faster than you. Either way, everything that you can see is fading away. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

So what testimony do we leave? What do our life choices say about our relationship with God? I love God, but I also love comfort? I like church for 2 hours a week, but for 40-50 other hours I will work, and for another 40-55 I will sleep. What about the remaining 60? perhaps 20 I will entertain myself. We are always making choices and trading one thing for another.. But there is only one non-renewable resource and that’s our time! What are we trading ours for? We are in the final hours of a visible and seen life that’s temporary. And we are standing at the edge of an unseen eternal, permanent life. Let’s read on. And see another problem with the rich in James’ time.

4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers 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.[a] 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Remember last time when I talked about how we have no right to covet the Bill Gates Foundation wealth? God didn’t choose me to be the steward of a billion dollars. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation made that money fair and square. Based on contracts with many people who weren’t forced into the arrangement. As a result of millions of voluntary exchanges both with Microsoft employees and also customers of Microsoft products. The company grew huge, and the owners decided to give many of the shares of that company to a foundation to help the world. Quite differently, rich people in James’ time were not playing by rules. Look at verse 4. They weren’t fulfilling their contracts with their workers. Their “yes” was not a real true “Yes”. Their “no” was not a real “no”. You hire someone to plant and harvest your fields, and they do their job, but you fail to pay them. Why? The reason was not because they failed to do their jobs properly. They grew the crop, and got through harvest. Right? They did their agreed upon job, and they did their job well enough that there is a tangible product. A Harvest. So the rich weren’t withholding wages because of poor work. They were holding back the fair wages so they could have more for themselves. Not a little bit more, but luxurious excess. They were holding back wages so they could have it easier. So they could indulge themselves. James says “you have condemned and murdered the innocent one who was not opposing you.” Maybe the rich weren’t literally killing people, but in a way they were. If someone has 80 years of life, and spends one harvest season or a year working for you, and you don’t pay them fully, it’s like taking 1/80 or 1.25% of their lives. The rich were literally stealing wages from their workers, and that robbery is kind of like murdering some worker’s precious time. How is that any different than killing a man a year before he was supposed to die, and cutting his life short by 1 year? Even if you don’t agree with that logic that stealing is kind of the same as murdering, James did say that if you break one commandment, you are lawless and break all of them. Either way, the Rich people were sinning by oppressing poor people. Those poor people were their employees and partners; exactly people who they should have been protecting. Some people think those first 6 verses are written for the rich and the next 6 are for the poor. I think the next 6 can be encouraging to anybody who suffers, whether they’re rich or poor. Reading on:

7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James is telling the readers to be patient. Be patient until the Lord’s coming. We all experience suffering in some form or another. In this world there will be suffering. We will have to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus. There may be persecution. There may be hardships. In James 1 he said to consider it joy when we face trials. Testing of our faith produces perseverance. That’s all well and good, and perseverance is a great thing. But if I tell somebody “just hang in there, things will be better soon,” it’s not the same as what James is saying. Most of the time when we encourage each other we don’t talk the way James does. Our perspective is still earth and human centered. We say, “this brother or sister is going through something and needs prayer”. That’s fine to say, but the implication is that help is on the way! I call 911, and they send an ambulance, immediately. We make the request, and will see the effect and connect the two. When we pray to God, it looks different to us. From our perspective it can be discouraging sometimes. God hears our prayers and sends help. He gives us comfort and blesses us immediately too, but we might not notice the effect like when an EMT shows up with a stretcher. God’s help can work like that, but it usually is something less physically evident and more spiritually hidden. God strengthens our resolve, builds our patience, bolsters our faith.. and he does these types of things using his Holy Spirit, which dwells inside us and therefore works within. Not externally. So when we get the help from God, it’s easy to believe that we solved the problem ourselves. And frequently, the time table is not the same as a 911 call. James tells us to be patient until when? Until the Lord’s coming. What does that mean? So the Lord’s coming is basically a term that means when Jesus returns. Or when we return to Him in our death. James gives no real promises that we will stop suffering in this lifetime, on this side of Heaven. Farmers wait patiently until the rains come, and we should all wait patiently until the Lord returns, or we are dead, whichever happens first. There are some miraculous immediate conversions, like Saul to Paul, or healings like the lame beggar. God is capable of them. But many more times, there are thorns in our sides that we pray year after year for, and we don’t see the change or growth. But James says be Patient. God’s not finished yet. And He won’t be done with you as long as you are breathing and your heart is beating. And when people are testing our patience, remember God’s not finished with them yet either. They’re still alive. We need to be patient until our time on Earth is over in one way or another.

10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Verse 11 mentions Job, so let’s talk about Job briefly.

He suffered greatly and cried out to God. He wanted to bring his case before God, and many times asked God why he had to suffer, why did he even continue to live, and when would his life be over? Job wanted to bring before God his case and his arguments; he was angered by the sin in the world that he saw all the time. In Job 24 he wanted to know why there’s no set time for the judgement, why the end isn’t something we know. People rebel against the light, the murderer rises up and kills the poor, the thief steals at night, the adulterer waits for dusk. Job despised those types of people who were unrepentant sinners. People who he described as “for all of them, midnight is their morning.” The book is full of beautiful and poetic writing and it raises all sorts of questions that people wrestle with when thinking about God and suffering. It raises questions about justice, righteousness, death, illness, humility, morality, compassion.. Job was frustrated that he suffered and did his best to do the right things, while others who DIDN’T suffer thought little of God, or worse were actively sinning against God. In Job 31, we learn how much Job did care about God’s laws. Job didn’t indulge in lust. Job didn’t treat workers dishonestly, and paid them in full. He treated his servants with justice, and was compassionate towards the poor, he didn’t put his trust in gold and didn’t rejoice in wealth. All the warnings that James gave to the rich were warnings that Job paid attention to. Job feared God, and yet He suffered. Job’s story ended in compassion and Blessing from God. For Job, that blessing happened and was experienced on this side of heaven, in the long and prosperous life that God blessed him with. But that’s not always the case. James tells us to pay attention to the prophets in James 5:10. He said to look to the prophets as an example of patience. This reminds me of Hebrews 11. That’s the chapter that begins almost every verse with “By Faith” Let’s read Hebrews 11:32-40 real quick:

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

When you want to see an example of patience, look to the prophets. These prophets were talking about God to a people who didn’t want to hear about Him. These people were called to condemn sin, to stand up against an entire world of people where they were strangers. They were citizens of God’s kingdom and listened to God, not the culture around them. They said to come to the light and repent and turn from sin. They were people who were trusted to speak the very words of God. Speaking the word of God should be like bringing an oasis of water into a dry desert. But we know they don’t receive a hero’s welcome. These people were mistreated. They were sawed in two. They were stoned and killed. They didn’t live lives of prosperity and ease. They were destitute, poor, wandering between caves and holes in the ground. Impatience says to tell your audience what they want to hear. Impatience says give up, give in, or compromise. But they stuck to their faith. And the reward they received?

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect

The reward of sticking to the message? The reward of keeping true to God’s Word? The prophets were commended for their faith, but NONE OF THEM RECEIVED the promise. On this side of heaven, they didn’t see the fruits of their struggle. Why not? Well because the fruits of their struggles are still growing. In Hebrews 11:40 “only together with us would they be made perfect.” We are still part of the fruits that the prophets struggled for. We are still part of the “something better” that God had in store for them. The patience of the prophets is still being and will continue to be rewarded as long as the Church of Jesus Christ exists on this Earth. We shouldn’t read the Bible and think, “it’s all about me” because it isn’t. We aren’t the center of the story. The story is about Christ and His Church. It’s NOT all about me, but it IS all about us. That “US” is not just this church, or this city or state or nation. Christ’s church, His bride includes the people of God, Israel, together with the Prophets. Together with the Apostles. Together with evangelists. Together with pastors in tiny churches in the middle of nowhere. Together with members of any church that believes in the Bible and the Grace given to us by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. When you are tempted to give up, or give in, remember the prophets. Remember that the story is still not over. Remember patience will be rewarded. Job persevered and was rewarded even though he felt deep frustration and temptation to Give up, curse God and die. The prophets pushed on even though they never saw their rewards on this earth. When you are tempted towards impatience, remember the prophets of the Old Testament. Remember the final prophet, Jesus Christ, who spent His whole life in obedience, and suffered greatly. Jesus Christ, who lived with the utmost patience, pouring out His entire life for a future promise. Instead of receiving a reward on this side of Heaven, Jesus experienced being forsaken by God in His last moments on this Earth, dying on a cross. Jesus endured all of these things for a reward that is still being revealed to this day.