2019-02-17 JAMES 1:9-11 TRIED AND TRUE (3): WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY

TRIED AND TRUE (3): WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY (James 1:9-11) February 17, 2019 Read James 1:9-11 – Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks said: “Because that’s where the money is.” Love of money can lead us astray, right? Less clear to most of us is that lack of money can do the same thing. That’s why Solomon said in Prov 30:8b: Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ 10or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” Solomon realized temptation lay on all sides of the money issue. So does James. Why, in the midst of teaching on trials, does James go off on rich and poor? Simple. In seeking to illustrate trials, he can find no better subject than money – or the lack thereof. Money poses one of life’s greatest opportunities for success or failure. And either rich or poor is a trial! Now, most of us see ourselves as neither rich nor poor. But this is still for us. Why? Because most of us want more than we have. We think poor! For those of us who have a little, tho we may not be rich, the temptations are the same. So, I want to look at the rich poor and the poor rich. Money trials are to help the two to meet on equal ground in the middle. Every trial has 3 parties – God, who is testing to improve us; Satan -- tempting to destroy us; and us – who determine the outcome. Money poses both temptation and test whether we have it or not. So, how to be tried and true when it comes to money. I. The Rich Poor A. The Temptation of Poverty – First, the “lowly brother”– lowly from this world’s perspective because he does not have much. It’s not his fault; he works just as hard as the next guy, but in God’s providence, he’s poor. That’s his life and it’s not going to change. It’s a temptation -- and test. How’s poverty a temptation? Because it can fill one with discontent. At its worst, it leads to a life of crime. It doesn’t really matter whether it is out-andout robbery or white or blue-collar scams. Anyone who is cheating in order to get what belongs to someone else has yielded to the temptation of poverty. 1 Someone said, “You know you’re in trouble when you report losing your luggage at the airline counter – and the guy behind the counter is wearing your clothes.” Someone yielded to the temptation of poverty, right? It doesn’t matter if the robbery happens at gunpoint in a dark alley, thru a sophisticated internet scam or taking paper from the office supply room. Satan just won. I remember an old cartoon character who used to say, “I’m like Robin Hood. I rob from the rich to give to the poor. That’s me!” He failed the poverty test. But the temptation actually goes a lot deeper than that, right? Why? Because God looks on the heart. So, it’s not just stealing that’s wrong; it’s entertaining the idea in my mind thru covetousness or jealousy or envy. Such thoughts festering in our minds show we’ve been had by the temptation of poverty. Covetousness seems tame. Who knows and who cares? But John Chrysostom said, “More dangerous than the sins of the flesh is the sin of covetousness.” Lust can be temporarily satisfied, but covetousness never is. It never lets up. Augustine illustrated from his own childhood. “There was a pear tree near our vineyard. One stormy night, we rascally youth set out to rob it. We took off a huge load of pears, not to feast upon ourselves, but to throw to the pigs, though we ate just enough to have pleasure of forbidden fruit. It was not the pears [I] coveted, for I had plenty better at home. What was it that I loved in that theft? It was this. The desire to steal was awakened simply by the prohibition of stealing. The pears were desirable simply because they were forbidden.” That’s where the temptation of poverty will lead us – lusting after things we do or do not need simply because we do not have them. To the extent we harbor covetousness, the temptation of poverty has us in its grasp. The temptation of poverty extends beyond money. And it can even happen to pastors. F. B. Meyer was a fine English preacher. But his Christ Church in London had Charles Spurgeon on one side at Met Temple, and G. Campbell Morgan at Westminster Chapel on the other. Meyer found himself envious of their larger crowds until God moved him to pray for them. “God bless my big brother Campbell Morgan. And God bless my big brother Mr. Spurgeon.” He said he figured he’d sure get a blessing as the overflow from their larger buckets filled his little one. That’s the spirit God wants. B. The Test of Poverty -- If the temptation of poverty includes jealousy, bitterness and covetousness – what is the test of poverty? Where is God pointing us? Can one try to improve one’s lot? Absolutely. Ambition that is second to love for Christ and others is a commendable pursuit. 2 But we dare not let ambition define us. Ambition without contentment is idolatry. I Cor 7:17, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him…. 21 Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” Be content with being the best that God allows you to be. That’s the test. But James points to an even higher test. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation.” Exaltation? What exaltation? He’s poor -- at the bottom of the human barrel and can’t seem to get higher. So what exaltation? Well, see that word “boast” (καυχαομαι). Listen how else it’s used in the NT: Rom 5:11: “More than that, we also rejoice (lit – boast) in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” I Cor 1:31: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” II Cor 10:17: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Phil 3:3: “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory (boast) in Christ Jesus.” And further: Gal 6:14: “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Paul didn’t boast in himself, but in the relationship he had with God, bought and paid for by Christ. Everything else he had paled by comparison. So what is the poor person’s compelling boast? That he knows God and is fully accepted by Him, in Christ. He is “in Christ”. That is his boast. James 2:5: “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” What an identity! “In Christ” you’re an heir of His whole kingdom. That’s pretty rich! That’s a future exaltation to boast about! Think of it this way. Try entering the White House based on your millions in the bank. You won’t get past the front gate, right? But if you know the pres and you’ve got the “get in free” card he signed yesterday, you’ll soon find yourself in the Oval Office, right? So let the lowly man be content while striving to improve his lot, but let him really glory in his relationship with Jesus. This is the rich poor – poor physically; rich in eternal things. My dad was rich poor. Smart. Started college. But the Great Depression hit. His mother had a breakdown, Grandpa lost the farm and Dad came back to help out. Worked hard at farming and construction the rest of his life – sometimes two jobs at a time. But his financial struggles never defined him. 3 He left a legacy of hard work. But what was priceless was the spiritual legacy he left – always exalting in his relationship with Jesus. The world didn’t give him a second thought, but Xns consistently exalted him for his faith in Christ. That was his identity; he and mom passed the poverty test with flying colors. II. The Poor Rich A. The Temptation of Riches – What’s the temptation of riches? What would make a rich man spiritually poor? Two things: He’s tempted to make riches his identity. And he’s tempted to trust riches more than God. If he lost them, he’d be lost. He is what he has, and when it’s gone, he’s gone. Riches are a huge temptation. That’s why God can’t trust very many people with wealth. When you’ve got a lot, this world looks more real than the next. Riches distract from what lies beyond this life. Naturalist J. Henry Fabre did an experiment with processionary caterpillars – so called for their penchant to follow one another. He set a group of them on the edge of a flower pot. They followed each other around that pot for 7 days until they died of hunger. All the time their favorite food – a branch of pine, lay within easy reach. That’s the temptation of riches. The attempt to get and keep them soon distracts us from the most important things in life. It happens to believers just as to unbelievers. During Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome he writes in Col 4:14, “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas,” Two or 3 years later during his last imprisonment he writes in II Tim 4:10, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” Riches sidetracked Demas. That is the temptation of riches. Plays right into Satan’s intention in giving people money. B. The Test of Riches – So, the temptation of riches is to trust them and become distracted by them. But what is God’s test? How does He intend us to view the riches we have? How can they build us up? Three things. 1. Savor them – Enjoy them. Know that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (Jas 1:17). God gave it. But He’s put fire into your hands. How do you keep from getting burned? “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected IF it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (I Tim 4:45). Enjoy it, but thank God for it, and use it in accordance with God’s word. 4 2. Share them – They are not to be stockpiled. A reasonable retirement? Sure. Prov 30:25: “The ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer.” Save for a rainy day, but not a rainy eternity! I Tim 6:18: “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Failure to share with others is failing the test of riches. God gave us extra to give some away to those who need it more, and build eternal treasure. 3. Subjugate them – Either they will rule us or we will rule them. V. 9: Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation,” What is the humiliation of having? Paul explains: “10) because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” The poor man’s boast is what he doesn’t have here, he’s got in spades there – in eternity. When he leaves, it leaves. If that was his pursuit, it’s all over. “So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” Palestine’s wind is a sirocco; in LA a Santa Ana. Hot winds rush relentlessly off the desert for days making ground so hot you can’t walk on it. Plants not watered at night turn brown within days. In light of eternity, that’s how fast our things will disappear. So, do you have your money, or does it have you? Are you going to fade away in the midst of pursuing the ever elusive more, or will you treat your riches as temporary? Boast in your humiliation – that you’ll leave as you entered – with nothing – but having sent plenty on ahead! Riches seduce. Like Little Rascal Stymie who built a cart and had a goat to pull him. A harness held a carrot just out of the goat’s reach. As the goat kept reaching for the carrot, he pulled the cart along. But he could never quite reach it. That’s exactly the picture when your riches have you. The question is, have you subjugated them. Are they firmly under your control or have you found your identity in always reaching for just a little bit more? In the end, both the lowly man and the rich man leave this life in exactly the same way – with nothing. The temptation is to see that differently. Passing the test sees things as they really are and sends it on ahead. Either man can do that. Hopefully both are doing that – giving out of whatever abundance of time, money and energy they have to serve God and serve others. 5 This trial is the great equalizer. II Cor 4:18 “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” If we do that, the lowly brother will boast in his exaltation –unseen treasure in heaven; the rich brother will boast in his humiliation – having sent ahead that which will not last here. John Wesley passed the test of poverty and riches with flying colors. He made a lot of money from his books, but he said, "Money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart." He gave away virtually everything he earned with the goal of leaving nothing behind when he died. Conc – James’ point is, eternity is the great leveler. When they leave this life, rich or poor will take exactly the same thing – nothing. But both can invest in eternity and send it on ahead. Thus the lowly man can boast in his exaltation – that is what he is laying up in heaven by his humble and Godly living. And the rich man can glory in his humiliation –his recognition that he can take nothing with him, but can forever enjoy what he sent ahead. If he has sent nothing, he could hardly enjoy that he will soon lose it all. At the 2004 Olympics, Matt Emmons was one shot away from winning a gold medal in the 50-meter, 3 position rifle competition. He didn’t even need a bulls eye – just needed to hit the target. But then he made a gigantic mistake – extremely rare in elite competition. He fired at the wrong target – standing in lane 2 he aimed at the target in lane 3. He hit it, but got a zero score, ending up in 8th place – all because he aimed at the wrong goal. So James is urging, rich and poor alike – aim at the right target; aim at eternity. When it comes to money, to be tried and true is to be more focused on there and then than here and now. Let’s pray. 6