By Ed Holland, Retired pastor of Connect Church, Akron, OH
Read James 5:1-6.
Unfettered greed is like the carbon monoxide that weakens the canary in the coal mine and stops it from singing. So, too, toxic levels of foolish self-centeredness will silence our song of faith. Growing in God’s wisdom is the antidote to the odorless poison of materialism and allows the believer’s life to be a beautiful melody of praise.
Growing in God’s wisdom is the antidote to the odorless poison of materialism and allows the believer’s life to be a beautiful melody of praise.
Come now, you rich, weep, and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! (James 5:1)
Jesus reserved some of His harshest words for those who foolishly chose to love stuff over a love for God and people. James warns us that justice is coming.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. (5:2)
Those who foolishly choose the temporal wealth and material possessions of the world over lives of generosity will see their schemes for riches come unraveled.
Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. (5:3)
Few aspects of our lives demonstrate a faith that is growing in wisdom more than how we see and deal with the stuff of this world. This is a witness to who we really are.
Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. (5:4)
God clearly hears the cries for justice as the unjust use their power to defraud those who are powerless. Never forget that God sees everything, and He cares.
You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. (5:5)
Just as livestock engorge themselves, not knowing they will one day be slaughtered, so too is the fate of those who choose pleasure over generosity.
You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. (5:6)
Jesus showed us how to deal with the evil abuse of the unjust. Only by growing in our faith can we follow our Lord’s example.
Contemplate how Bernie Madoff, infamous for his Ponzi scheme, and Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX cryptocurrency fraudster, practiced greed and rejected God’s wisdom principles. What did James say would be their future?
Those who foolishly choose the temporal wealth and material possessions of the world over lives of generosity will see their schemes for riches come unraveled.
Reflective Questions:
- How does the metaphor of the canary in the coal mine relate to unfettered greed and its impact on faith? How does materialism poison our faith and hinder our ability to grow in wisdom?
- Do you love people and use stuff, or do you love stuff and use people? What are examples to prove your conclusion?
- How does our attitude towards wealth and possessions reflect our faith and wisdom? How does this passage encourage believers to follow Jesus’ example in dealing with injustice and abuse of power?
Memory Verse:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! James 5:1
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for the life You have given me. Thank you for all the stuff You have blessed with me. Help me to love you and not the stuff. Give me the wisdom I need to fight the poison of materialism.
Related Scriptures:
Matthew 19:20- 22; Matthew 5:39-42; I Timothy 6:9-10; Proverbs 11:28; Matthew 6:19-20; Job 13:28; Romans 2:5; Leviticus 19:13; I Timothy 5:6; I Peter 2:22-23
This is great Ed. Th