Sermon Tone Analysis

Inactive Oppression vs. Active Faith

Do you believe God favors the wealthy?

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.

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.

u 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

God’s judgement will come to those.

Does God only use the wealthy?

3 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him.

He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.

5 The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.

The rich man also died and was buried.

23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers.

Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

”

1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job.

This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.

He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.

James Chapter 5 dives deeper into these passages

5 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.

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.

u 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

God’s judgement will come to those.

This is a radical message at a time where Wealth was believed to be indicative of God’s favor on your life.

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.

Many rich people threw in large amounts.

42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.

44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.

Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.

The rich man also died and was buried.

23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers.

Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

”

We don’t believe God favors the wealthy today.

Or do we?

Lets go back to James 5

Your wealth will not last, physical possessions will waste away.

The extravagance of your life will show your heart.

This sounds like James is speaking out against being wealthy, but lets look closer.

James is

The wealthy have hardened hearts in this case against the needy.

They are cheating people that are doing honest work for them

These hard working people are crying out to God for relief because they aren’t receiving any relief here on Earth.

James is not saying that if you are wealthy you are a sinner

This speaks more to legacy than wealth.

SO WHAT

If you amass great fortune through solid stewardship where are you using it?

Are there areas where you could be more fair?

Are there areas where you could care or give more?

Are you being stingy with your money and also your heart?

How can we live this out well?

-Tithing

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty.

12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

-Generous giving

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.

2 The LORD protects and preserves them—

they are counted among the blessed in the land—

he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.

3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed

and restores them from their bed of illness.

26 People curse the one who hoards grain,

but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.