James 5:1-6 - A Generous Life
James - Essential Wisdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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James 4:13–5:6 (CSB) — 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. 1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous, who does not resist you.
Context for the Culture:
Jews were scattered abroad, likely from christians experiencing persecution.
Jews were facing economic pressure. Likely being ostracized and rejected because of their faith in YHWY.
James reminds us that our hearts are being tested and purified through our circumstances.
it’s easy to lose sight of Godly wisdom and chase after worldy ways…what the world calls wise or frugal is really just control and spirit of fear. what we call passions, perhaps God calls selfish ambition.
They are laying plans that God did not make, claiming an ability to control life which they do not have, and boasting about the good deals they will make. This is no more and no less than love of the world. A one-line proverb drives the point home. These people are in the church and certainly each one knows the good he ought to do. Why not consult God and ask him what ought to be done with the money? Perhaps they do not do this out of fear that God would ask them to share it with others. They do not do that good, so they are sinning. There is no theft or immorality or other crime staining their hands. They are just honest businessmen, but they sin just as much in failing to do the good they could as if they actually committed evil acts. In either case God’s teaching is being ignored.
we contribute but we don’t control our life and it’s outcomes
self-reliance produces sin not salvation.
Selfish Ambition produces all sorts of evil:
1) Leads us to live with closed hands and self-reliance (Jam. 4.13-17)
2) Grows greed that erodes real joy and eternal perspective (Jam. 5.1-3)
3) Feeds our allegiance to materialism causing us to be consumer minded and mistreating others (Jam. 5:4-6)
Selfish Ambition produces all sorts of evil:
1) Leads us to live with closed hands and self-reliance (Jam. 4.13-17)
2) Grows greed that erodes real joy and eternal perspective (Jam. 5.1-3)
3) Feeds our allegiance to materialism causing us to be consumer minded and mistreating others (Jam. 5:4-6)
God is after our whole heart and life, fully surrendered and loyal to Him.
God is after our whole heart and life, fully surrendered and loyal to Him.
Like our words, actions, surrender and worship, our money management reveals who is King in our life. God or Me?
+ bitter envy and selfish ambition are exposed in the way we manage, view and talk about money.
+ James tells us improper view of money leads us to withhold, mistreat others, and walk in self-reliance.
We must open our hand in surrender, and release the grip of materialism through active generosity.
We must open our hand in surrender, and release the grip of materialism through active generosity.
Difference between Human Philanthropy and Biblical Generosity.
one focus on track record of organization; the other hinges on trust in God.
one feels good for us; the other is a response to God’s goodness to us.
does practical good; does eternal good
gives from abundance; gives from need
James got his views on money from Jesus.
Jesus frequently discussed money and possessions in his teachings, with one count suggesting he mentioned the topic in 288 verses across the Gospels, which is about one in ten verses1. The Bible contains over 2,000 verses on money and possessions, more than on prayer or faith, indicating its spiritual significance1
He is lifting quotes from Mat 6 teaching on money/treasure. I think that “destructive language” echoes the teaching in Malachi 3…devourer not being rebuked
How we see God and How we see money matter to the health of our soul. “eyes are healthy” was colloquial way in their culture to talk about your view of money”. Abundant and generous perspective of God and money or is it stingy, scarce, & fearful way of looking at money & God?
Wisdom from scripture regarding wealth:
seed for sowers, bread for eaters (bread you get from someone else, seed helps you grow your own)
borrower is slave to lender
God gives us ability to create wealth
it all belongs to God, and we steward it but will be judged by our stewardship
love of money is root of all evil.
Give what you have, God multiplies AFTER we give
it’s more blessed (joyful) to give than receive
world gets larger for generous, world shrinks for stingy
Greed and love of the world choke out the abundant life of God within us.
tithing is a biblical principle; it s not an explicit NT command. But sacrificial generosity is commanded and modeled.
giving affirmed by Jesus in both systematic and sacrificial approaches.
Shrewd Manager was a parable about being smart financially so you can benefit other people.
illus: Money is a-moral, but it is not NEUTRAL and it is animated by the spirit who uses it. What you do with it and and how you interact with it determines if we move toward generosity (being filling with God’s goodness) or greed (being filled with the demonic spiritual force of mammon).
VIDEO (20 min)
When we open our hands in surrender through active generosity, we release the grip of materialism on our hearts.
When we open our hands in surrender through active generosity, we release the grip of materialism on our hearts.
Difference between Human Philanthropy and Biblical Generosity.
one focus on track record of organization; the other hinges on trust in God.
one feels good for us; the other is a response to God’s goodness to us.
does practical good; does eternal good
gives from abundance; gives from need
When we choose to be generous, we find joy. When we find joy, we grow strength to be loyal to the King.
When we choose to be generous, we find joy. When we find joy, we grow strength to be loyal to the King.
Biblical concept of giving is way beyond the percentage you give… most concerned with your ongoing growth, surrender, ongoing moving away from greed and investment in Kingdom Living.
*generosity is more than just giving money, but not less than that.
*generosity is the pathway to rich joy. Materialism is the pathway to greed and unsatisfying life.
illus: Amber has been trying an online program that generates recipes you select and then it adds the needed items to make it to your walmart pickup order. So are having many different meals and portions vary. So we keep having extra food after our meal. What do we do with that? She has started to give it away.
We find ourselves thinking, “i’m not wealthy or rich”.
It’s easy to think that it’s too little to do anything with, or it seems insignificant. But God specializes in taking our “insignificant” and making it multiply into significant for others. When we give together, God makes it blessed and multiplied as it leaves our hand,
WHERE DO WE START?
WHERE DO WE START?
1) Act generously.
1) Act generously.
take a step toward being generous. buy someone’s lunch, what happened within you? buy groceries for someone. Cook extra food at dinner for neighbor. give regularly. increase your systematic giving to church. setup a budget and find way to be generous with the “margin”. giving is an animated act of spiritual protest to the demonic power of greed.
2) Acknowledge God as the provider.
2) Acknowledge God as the provider.
Every time you spend money this week, say the following “Father, thank You for generously providing this for me.”
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PRACTICING THE WAY
As disciples of Jesus, we know our allegiance to Him as King is expressed in our daily practice. We are not pursuing perfection but want to practice our faith each day. These practices will point you toward spiritual formation as an apprentice (disciple) to Jesus.
(1) Start the Bible Recap reading plan.
(2) Recite this prayer/liturgy daily: Every time you spend money this week, say the following “Father, thank You for generously providing this for me.”
(3) Talk it Over (with friends, a spouse, or your Group)
The message was about resisting selfish ambition that leads to demonic evil of greed. What is one idea from Sunday’s message that impacted you?
Read James 4:13-5:6. What does this passage teach about God?
What does James mean when he writes about life being like vapor in James 4:14?
How does the context of persecution faced by early Christians in James' time influence the interpretation of his teachings on wealth?
What impact does selfish ambition have on our joy and perspective according to the sermon?
What are some common views about money in our society? How do those correlate or contradict the teachings of Scripture regarding money?
How can we practice the idea of 'surrender' in our everyday financial decisions?
