James 5:1-12 Living With Injustice – standing up in a fallen down world
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday April 26, 2009
Living with injustice – standing up in a fallen down world
James 5:1-12
1-6 the rich oppressors
Not all rich men are to weep and howl (James not rebuking riches) - only those who oppress the poor – those who don’t follow Jesus - even if they say they do. Three reasons to weep and howl.
Riches can’t prevent your judgment 1-2
Coming upon – not prediction of future judgment, statement of present judgment. Right now you are experiencing some of the judgment of those who place their trust in other than God. Riches can stop a lot of things, but not the judgment of God.
What are these miseries? Your wealth doesn’t shine as bright as you thought it might – rotted. Wealth not exempt from march of time/ravages of circumstance. Many have lost much in current financial meltdown. Riches can’t prevent many things from unraveling – health/marriage/family/character. Riches can’t prevent your judgment and…
Riches can’t prepare you for the judgment 3
Going to N. Pole & pack for Hawaii – not prepared. Even as a Tommy Bahama shirt can’t prepare you for the N. Pole, so riches can’t prepare you for the judgment. The Greek word for rust also describes bad fruit on a tree. Bad fruit can’t nourish a body and rusty wealth can’t nourish a soul. The wealth of a selfish man will bear witness against him as to what kind of man he was.
The tree doesn’t live up to its potential -when you thought you would have food, you don’t. Even as bad fruit can’t nourish, so rusted wealth can’t transform you – change your character. It will bear witness against you as to the kind of person you are. Riches can’t prepare you for the judgment and…
Riches won’t preserve you in the judgment 3
Rusted means that they are useless. Money has no purchasing power in heaven. If someone were to bring shiny beads to the cashier to purchase a pair of pants/shoes – no luck. Even as bad fruit has no value in the marketplace, so rusted wealth has no value in the judgment.
The multi-millionaire is accustomed to access to all the best places – swanky clubs/high-end restaurants/exclusive golf courses/A-list parties. Wherever he goes he’s in. When you stand before God, no amount of wealth will buy your way into heaven. Overheard at funeral: “How much did he leave behind?” “Everything.” Only the blood of Jesus will gain you entrance to heaven. You can’t buy heaven, heaven has to buy you. Jesus purchased you on the cross...
* Here’s why miseries are coming upon you:
You’ve turned a deaf ear to justice – ignored employees 4
Dennis Kucinich recently sent out a round of letters to top Treasury officials questioning how much they knew about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives that totaled $3.6B, nearly 22 times the total bonuses paid to AIG executives. Kucinich points out that unlike AIG, the bonuses were not locked in by preexisting contracts and were performance bonuses, as opposed to retention bonuses. They were also very large relative to the TARP monies allocated to Merrill. The Merrill bonuses were the equivalent of 36% of TARP monies Treasury allocated to them. To be eligible for the bonuses, Merrill employees had to have a salary of at least $300,000 and attained the title of V. President or higher. This in the light that ML stock has gone from about $60 to $10 in 2008 and the securities firm had a net loss of $27B in 2008. The money going into the pockets of the execs is money taken from the shareholders/ investors.
Enron's bankruptcy, under the l’ship of Ken Lay, the biggest in U.S. history when it was filed in December 2001, cost 20,000 employees their jobs and many of them their life savings. Investors lost billions."
Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors $50B. Many have lost everything.
Tell your boss you found a place in the Bible that talks about him!
You’ve turned a deaf ear to mercy – ignored the poor 5
You have lived for pleasure. The less you mercifully give/more you selfishly keep to insure a comfortable/pleasurable life. Please note: the Bible nowhere says that what the rich man selfishly keeps is to be forcefully taken by morally superior gov’t. The rich man is not to be punished by unjust taxation – he is to be punished by God at the proper time. The Judge is near, even at the door.
You’ve turned a deaf ear to God – ignored the prophets 6
Greatest commandment – wicked rich are in line w/ neither.
The righteous man does not resist you – more on this next week as we head into vv7-12.
You are to use your money in a just, compassionate manner. You are a steward, not a consumer. This passage isn’t meant to lead us to think: ‘O, those nasty, godless rich men.” you are the rich man! You are extremely wealthy compared to most of the world’s population. Use your money justly/mercifully/godly.
Justly: husbands toward wives/vice-versa
Mercifully: have you signed up to support a child in Nepal, a worker in India, a ministry in Africa? Honor your commitments.
Godly: listening to the voice of God
The ungodly rich man has hardened himself against men and God. His money has allowed him to disengage - he is deaf to the pleadings of the poor, the testimony of conscience, and the truth of the gospel.
James warns in v3: You are in the last days. James says of the selfish rich man, “You are acting insanely.” Prepare yourself for the great day of God that is coming. Standing at the N. Pole in nothing but a pair off short pants and a Tommy Bahama shirt is as effective as standing before God in the judgment holding nothing but a bag of gold. You can’t buy heaven, heaven has to buy you.
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Living with injustice – standing up in a fallen down world
James 5:1-12
1-6 the rich oppressors
Not all rich men are to weep and howl (James not rebuking riches) - only those who oppress the poor – those who don’t follow Jesus - even if they say they do. Three reasons to weep and howl.
Riches can’t prevent your judgment 1-2
Coming upon – not prediction of future judgment, statement of present judgment. Right now you are experiencing some of the judgment of those who place their trust in other than God. Riches can stop a lot of things, but not the judgment of God.
What are these miseries? Your wealth doesn’t shine as bright as you thought it might – rotted. Wealth not exempt from march of time/ravages of circumstance. Many have lost much in current financial meltdown. Riches can’t prevent many things from unraveling – health/marriage/family/character. Riches can’t prevent your judgment and…
Riches can’t prepare you for the judgment 3
Going to N. Pole & pack for Hawaii – not prepared. Even as a Tommy Bahama shirt can’t prepare you for the N. Pole, so riches can’t prepare you for the judgment. The Greek word for rust also describes bad fruit on a tree. Bad fruit can’t nourish a body and rusty wealth can’t nourish a soul. The wealth of a selfish man will bear witness against him as to what kind of man he was.
The tree doesn’t live up to its potential -when you thought you would have food, you don’t. Even as bad fruit can’t nourish, so rusted wealth can’t transform you – change your character. It will bear witness against you as to the kind of person you are. Riches can’t prepare you for the judgment and…
Riches won’t preserve you in the judgment 3
Rusted means that they are useless. Money has no purchasing power in heaven. If someone were to bring shiny beads to the cashier to purchase a pair of pants/shoes – no luck. Even as bad fruit has no value in the marketplace, so rusted wealth has no value in the judgment.
The multi-millionaire is accustomed to access to all the best places – swanky clubs/high-end restaurants/exclusive golf courses/A-list parties. Wherever he goes he’s in. When you stand before God, no amount of wealth will buy your way into heaven. Overheard at funeral: “How much did he leave behind?” “Everything.” Only the blood of Jesus will gain you entrance to heaven. You can’t buy heaven, heaven has to buy you. Jesus purchased you on the cross...
* Here’s why miseries are coming upon you:
You’ve turned a deaf ear to justice – ignored employees 4
Dennis Kucinich recently sent out a round of letters to top Treasury officials questioning how much they knew about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives that totaled $3.6B, nearly 22 times the total bonuses paid to AIG executives. Kucinich points out that unlike AIG, the bonuses were not locked in by preexisting contracts and were performance bonuses, as opposed to retention bonuses. They were also very large relative to the TARP monies allocated to Merrill. The Merrill bonuses were the equivalent of 36% of TARP monies Treasury allocated to them. To be eligible for the bonuses, Merrill employees had to have a salary of at least $300,000 and attained the title of V. President or higher. This in the light that ML stock has gone from about $60 to $10 in 2008 and the securities firm had a net loss of $27B in 2008. The money going into the pockets of the execs is money taken from the shareholders/ investors.
Enron's bankruptcy, under the l’ship of Ken Lay, the biggest in U.S. history when it was filed in December 2001, cost 20,000 employees their jobs and many of them their life savings. Investors lost billions."
Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors $50B. Many have lost everything.
Tell your boss you found a place in the Bible that talks about him!
You’ve turned a deaf ear to mercy – ignored the poor 5
You have lived for pleasure. The less you mercifully give/more you selfishly keep to insure a comfortable/pleasurable life. Please note: the Bible nowhere says that what the rich man selfishly keeps is to be forcefully taken by morally superior gov’t. The rich man is not to be punished by unjust taxation – he is to be punished by God at the proper time. The Judge is near, even at the door.
You’ve turned a deaf ear to God – ignored the prophets 6
Greatest commandment – wicked rich are in line w/ neither.
The righteous man does not resist you – more on this next week as we head into vv7-12.
You are to use your money in a just, compassionate manner. You are a steward, not a consumer. This passage isn’t meant to lead us to think: ‘O, those nasty, godless rich men.” you are the rich man! You are extremely wealthy compared to most of the world’s population. Use your money justly/mercifully/godly.
Justly: husbands toward wives/vice-versa
Mercifully: have you signed up to support a child in Nepal, a worker in India, a ministry in Africa? Honor your commitments.
Godly: listening to the voice of God
The ungodly rich man has hardened himself against men and God. His money has allowed him to disengage - he is deaf to the pleadings of the poor, the testimony of conscience, and the truth of the gospel.
James warns in v3: You are in the last days. James says of the selfish rich man, “You are acting insanely.” Prepare yourself for the great day of God that is coming. Standing at the N. Pole in nothing but a pair off short pants and a Tommy Bahama shirt is as effective as standing before God in the judgment holding nothing but a bag of gold. You can’t buy heaven, heaven has to buy you.
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