Riches in Peverty

I remember growing up and wishing I was well-educated and rich... I remember thinking all the money in the world would solve all the problems... until I watched a few soap-opera's and took a good hard look around me.

All that glitters is not gold I've learned...

Of course, I don't think its wrong to be intelligent or to have money, and I don't think it's a sin to seek to acquire either or both of these assets.  What is wrong, though, is to be discontented with the will of God for our lives and to allow material gain, if we posses it, to hinder our love and service for Christ.

James treats a particular kind of wisdom--wisdom to endure and stand up under trials.  The rich and the poor believer also come in for discussion.  James gives instruction and warning about wisdom and wealth.

Part 1 (James 1: 5-8)

When I compare James 1:5-8 with verses 2-4, I'm prompted to ask, "what relation do wisdom and wealth have to the trying of faith through trials?".

I need to know how to regard trials joyfully.  I should know trials produce patience.  I need to know how to be patient in trials.  I ought to know how to benefit from trials and develop in maturity as the result of them.  But the truth is I lack the discernment to see God's purpose in trials and fail to exercise patience in light of God's purposes.

Therefore, James counsels me... and people like me, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" (vs. 5).  In the original language this sentence is prefaced by the word "but," which demonstrates there is a logical connection between verse 5 and the preceding verses.

Books on the subject of guidance are a dime a dozen these days.  No doubt you have heard many sermons or devotional messages on the subject.  Many different formulas have been suggested.  Surely the sage advice of godly men is valuable in determining the will of God and in getting to know the mind of God.  But James' counsel is still the best in my opinion..."Ask of God..and it shall be given."

But is it that simple?  Have not many people, godly people, asked God for wisdom without receiving it?  There are a few conditions attached to this apparently blank check on the bank of heavenly wisdom.  In verse 5 the tense of the verb "ask" means a repeated asking.

God expects persistence in prayer.  We tire too easily.  God gives generously to all--that is, He showers benefits upon all men--rain, sunshine, and harvest.  Surely, therefore, He will grant wisdom to those who ask for it.  God is neither poorer when He gives nor richer when He withholds.  But He does want His children to keep on asking.

The verb "ask" is the Greek word aiteo and is used of a request on the part of an undeserving suppliant.  We do not petition as equals with the Father.  We do not request by virtue of our worth.  We make no demands.

Why is it people seek other ways to find the will of God and to bear their burdens?  Some hope for a dream or a vision.  Some expect a special and personal revelation from Heaven.  Others run from one church to another, seeking a "spiritual blessing."  In the process they become church tramps.

What we need is to become more intimate with God, to appropriate the truth of the Word, and to grow in spiritual understanding. Still other Christians profess to determine the Lord's will by opening the Bible at random and taking instruction from the first verse that meets their eyes.

Without discrediting the ability of the Holy Spirit to make a verse or passage.."come alive".. and meet particular needs, I would suggest this isn't the normal way by which God provides guidance.  At least in my experience.. it hasn't been.  I think we as believers become more and more susceptible to God's direction as we breathe in an atmosphere of prayer and feed upon the living bread of the Word regularly.

James gives a second condition to be met for receiving divine wisdom.  "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed" (vs. 6).  This condition concerns the manner in which we ask for wisdom.

Every parent knows it often depends upon how a child asks for something whether he will get it or not.  Believers need wisdom, and we must ask God for it.  But how are we to ask God?  We are exhorted to "Ask in faith"--that is, ask with confidence that we will receive it.  When we really expect God to grant what we request, we are asking in faith.

Isn't this the most difficult prerequisite for receiving an answer to our prayers?  Hence, we need wisdom not only to face pressures and problems but also to know how to pray, to know what to pray for, and then to believe God will grant our petitions.

James adds another phrase about believing prayer--"without wavering."  Have you ever categorized in y our mind the subjects for prayer--the possible and the impossible?  That's "wavering" in prayer.  It doesn't matter what reasons we give, the fact remain we are not to doubt God if we want answers to our prayers.

Words of warning follow James' instruction about the way to receive wisdom (vs. 7,8).  God's people must not presume upon His goodness. To ask without confidence is to do just that.  God is not under obligation to give us whatever we ask for; He will not be intimidated.  The person who asks with wavering faith will not receive what he requests of the Lord.  Added to that, James says such a person is like a man with two souls.  He is double-minded.  He is Mr. Face-It-Two-Ways.

The world is filled with religious leaders like that today.  Depending on the audience, they can speak either as a conservative or a liberal.  Double-minded people are unstable in all their ways.  They cannot make up their minds about Scriptural truth.  Some people are like that about prayer.

Part 2 (James 1: 9-11)

I truly believe the less one desires in this world... the happier they will be.  All of the wealth cant buy a single day more of life---cannot buy back youth, cannot procure power to keep off the hour of death; and then what will all avail, when in a few short years at most one must lie down in the grave and leave it all forever?

In James 1:9-11, James plays upon extremes--poverty and plenty.  Jesus said, the poor always ye have with you" (John 12: 8).  Plenty of them were members of the church in James' day.  Those dispersed Jews had many among their number who were extremely poor.

The instruction James gives here sounds indeed like a paradox.  Believers of "low degree" are to rejoice in an "exalted" position; believers who are wealthy are to rejoice in that they are "made low".

I've attended church services for years now...and I haven't heard very many economically poor Christians rejoicing in their wealth or wealthy Christians rejoicing in their poverty. Usually people complain because they can barely make ends meet...(myself included).

The real reason for our constant "griping" is we have forgotten about or do not sufficiently value our position in Christ.  The Jews to whom James wrote were susceptible to this particular sin too.  Many of them who were poverty-stricken were discontent with their lot, forgot or minimized their riches in Christ, and began to envy rich Jews.  The problem became so severe, as the rest of the epistle indicates, even in the assembly they began to show partiality to the rich.

The world translated "rejoice" (vs. 9) really means "boast".  Strange how Scripture would urge Christians to boast.  We usually do that without being told.  But I don't believe this is an admonition to boast in self.

Careful examination will reveal something for different.  How did the financially poor believer arrive at his spiritually exalted position?  Certainly not through human effort.  And how is it that the financially rich believer could view his assets humbly and think of himself as "poor"?  The grace of God is salvation is the only adequate answer in both cases.  This is the source of boasting and rejoicing or of feeling lowly and impoverished.

Could it be in verses 9-11 James touches upon some of the very problems which were trying the faith of these dispersed believers?  I think that seems to be the case anyway.  These verses have relationship to the previous verses in this chapter.

The poor need wisdom in order to evaluate their true riches, and the rich need wisdom to prevent them from attaching too much importance to the fleeting treasures of the earth.  Without divine wisdom the Christian--rich or poor--cannot see anything in its proper perspective.

The rich are not to trust in their riches because earthly wealth is temporary.  James uses the picture of a fading flower and withering grass to illustrate the perish-ability of material assets.  Inherent in verse 11 is the argument if riches so quickly fade away, why, then, wear yourself out in trying ti acquire them and hang on to them?

All of a man's frantic efforts to amass a fortune are spent futilely.  I fear we fail when we chose not to see in all our circumstances the hand of God which does us good and provides for real happiness and joy.  I want to encourage you to give your energies to something enduring.  It's time to rejoice in our riches in Christ and to invest in projects which will bring eternal dividends.