The Perspective of Rich and Poor – revisited (James 1.9-11)

This week we focus on James’ admonitions to the ‘poor’ and the ‘rich’ brothers scattered throughout the world.

Introduction

We talked a couple weeks ago about viewing the Epistle of James as a manual designed to help believers become mature Christians. We discussed how James, in the first eight verses of chapter 1, stresses the importance allowing spiritual wisdom, coupled with an attitude of single-mindedness toward God, to mature us as believers, often through the vehicles of various sorts of trials. These trials, we observed, should not necessarily be limited to just formal or informal persecution of Christians by non-believers. This is by no means to minimize persecution, for certainly persecution was something that James’ immediate audience faced, and something that believers all over the world still face today to varying degrees.

But rather, I believe that trials are often much more ordinary events, for example, an illness or death of a loved one, the failure of a friendship or a marriage, or financial hardships, in short any circumstance which tempts us to be double-minded toward God. Trials can cause us to pause and wonder whether God is really with us and watching over us, whether He really knows or cares what we are going through, or whether He even exists in the first place and rewards those who seek Him. In the face of such trials James urges his audience to have endurance, understanding that endurance develops within believers a proven character, the ability to stay the course, which in turn produces certain hope, that the God who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. As endurance works to transform us, we develop over time the ability to go through hardships with the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.

James 1:9-11

On first inspection James seems to switch subjects in verses 9, 10, and 11. I say “seems” because I believe that to a large extent, James is continuing his thought from the verses before. Listen to what James writes:

9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

We will spend our time tonight looking in more detail at what James says here.

The first thing we notice about these verses is that James gives advice to both rich and poor believers in their turn regarding the things they should glory in. The Greek adjectives for “lowly” and “rich” are not absolute terms; they do not carry with them any criteria for determining whether a person was rich or poor. Instead I suspect that these adjectives get their meaning relatively; it is by comparing one person’s earthly situation to another’s that one seems rich and the other lowly.

The Greek adjective translated in the NKJV as “lowly” can also mean “brought low with grief, depressed, or humble,“ but the context here – James giving advice to both poor and rich - suggests that either “lowly” or “humble” is the proper rendering. It is interesting the Greek word translated in the NKJV in verse 10 as “humiliation” is closely related to the word translated as “lowly” in verse 9. The Greek verb has the meaning of “to be brought low, to be made humble, or to be spiritually abased.”

James addresses first the brother whose circumstances appear more humble, telling them to rejoice (or glory or boast) in their exaltation. To be exalted literally means to be lifted up. We see this occur in practice when the members of a football team lift onto their shoulders the kicker who just booted the winning field goal. After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus was exalted when He was lifted up into heaven, given a name above all names, and seated at His Father’s right hand, a position of distinction and authority.

But when, and by whom, will the lowly believer James in addressing be exalted? Putting aside the linguistic difficulties associated with literally lifting one’s self up, the poor man could certainly strive to make a name for himself during his life, perhaps even by boasting about his humbleness. James does not give us the answer here in our passage tonight, but if we look ahead in the Epistle, to James 2:5-6, there we read the following: “5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” It is God who exalts the poor of the world, who will one day take him up into heaven, give him a new body, together with the gift of eternal life.  I am confident that believers could agree that to be exalted by God in this way is preferable to being exalted by any man. God’s exaltation of us is certainly something any believer could rejoice in.

Notice that James 2:5-6 states that God exalts the lowly brother in a couple different ways. First He makes the lowly to be rich in faith, that is, strong in their faith. It is not our earthly treasures but our faith that saves us in the first place. It is our heavenly treasures that make us rich in God’s eyes. For this reason, in the letter to the church at Smyrna in the Book of Revelation, Christ tells the church at Smyrna that they are rich despite their poverty (Rev 2:8-11). It is through faith and endurance, the author of Hebrews tells us, that we inherit the promises of God (Heb 6:11-12).

Second, God makes the lowly heirs of the kingdom (of heaven) which He has promised to those who love Him. We see this same promise to bless the lowly in the Sermon on the Mount in Luke 6:20-23 where Jesus says:

"Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man's sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

The earthly circumstances of the lowly brother are not indicative of what is in store for him. He may be poor here on earth but one day he will be raised up (exalted) into heaven where he will be face-to-face with His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In heaven, his rewards will be determined on the basis of his spiritual treasures not his earthly treasures. The lowly brother should, therefore, view his earthly circumstances as something temporary to be endured as much as possible with joy, as a trial which is helping to perfect him. He should not despair if he is poor but rather endure his poverty, and wait upon the Lord, who has pronounced blessings upon those who are poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, reviled, or cast out for Jesus’ sake, and has promised them that their reward is great in heaven.

In a similar way, the earthly circumstances of the rich brother are not necessarily indicative of what is in store from him. James warns the brother who appears better off to rejoice in his humiliation, or literally in his being humbled or made low. Just as a beautiful grass flower withers in the hot sun and scorching wind, so too the riches of the rich brother will lose their luster. We may not see this happening but it does occur, one way or another. Like this world, wealth itself is temporary. Over the course of his life the rich brother might consume his riches or lose them to misfortune, thieves, moths, or rust. And even if he dies wealthy, the rich man will certainly not take his earthly treasures with him into heaven (Ecc 5:13-15). Instead whatever he accumulated will be left behind, to be enjoyed by others, perhaps by his family, perhaps even by strangers.

His reward in heaven will depend solely on the spiritual treasures he has stored up. Shortly before His transfiguration, Jesus plainly told His disciples that at the Second Coming He would reward each according to his works:

Matthew 16:24-27

24 …"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

In 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 Paul tells the church at Corinth more about how that judgment will occur. There is only one foundation on which a believer can build, and that is Jesus Christ. There will come a Day, Paul warns, when each person’s work will be tested, to determine of what sort it is.

9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

We need to be clear that there is nothing inherently wrong with riches. Like every good and perfect gift, riches come down from the Father of lights (Ecc 5:19). The problem is not money per se but rather the love of money. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul warns us that

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

There are temptations associated with riches, so much so that Jesus would tell His disciples that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt 19:23-24). It is critical that the rich believer must not let money become an idol for him or begin to trust money to solve the problems in life.

I believe that in our passage this evening James is telling the rich brother to inoculate himself against the love of money by humility. Rather than rejoicing either in his riches or the things that riches can buy, and rather than being tempted to become prideful and exalt himself because of his riches, both of which put him at risk for a fall, the rich brother instead to rejoice in being humbled.

We also need to be clear here that neither being humbled nor being humble necessarily imply becoming poor. Fundamentally, being humble is a condition of your heart and mind: it is understanding who God is and who you are relative to Him. Being humble is knowing that your riches are a gift from God, and giving Him the glory and credit for them. Being humble is realizing that your wealth was given to you not only for your enjoyment, but also for you to bless others with, and living accordingly. Being humble is loving the Giver of the riches more than the riches themselves. And being humble is looking to and relying upon the Lord for your provision rather than your wealth.

The wealthy believer who is wise will look to humble himself, for indeed those who exalt themselves, Jesus teaches, will be humbled and those who humble themselves, exalted. Listen to the parable Jesus teaches to the Pharisees when He has been invited to dine with them in Luke 14:7-11:

7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8 "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;  9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.  10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.  11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

And when he is humbled by events that happen in his life, the wealthy brother who is wise will see the hand of God behind it and rejoice, as much as he is able, knowing that whom the Lord loves, He chastens (Prov 3:11-12).

In the end, our earthly condition should not be a reason either to despair or rejoice. The trials and tribulations we experience are, as we have seen, part of the Lord’s refining process whereby we are conformed into the image of Christ. In Romans 8:18-25 Paul describes for us the attitude we should strive for regarding the trials and tribulations we experience:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

And just as believers ought not to despair about their earthly trials and tribulations, so too they should not be quick to rejoice about their earthly accomplishments. Writing to the church at Corinth, Paul tells them that what they ought to glory in, is the Lord:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption —  31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

The message of God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Speaking to the nation of Israel through His prophet Jeremiah before their Babylonian Captivity, the Lord had this to say:

Jeremiah 9:23-24

 Thus says the Lord:

"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight," says the Lord.

The things of this world are not where believers should find their treasure. Like the seventy disciples Jesus sent out, we are tempted to delight in what we can do - that the spirits are subject to us - but our delight should be that our names are recorded in heaven (Luke 10:20).

In summation, let me leave you with some food for thought that I believe James desires to impart to his audience with these verses. As always, I counsel you to be Bereans, and test everything you read and hear against scripture, because the words of God are like fine gold and sweeter than honey  (Psalm 19:9-11) while the words of man are just that, man’s words.

First, the appearance of earthly things is not an indication of the spiritual reality. God neither looks at nor judges the appearance but instead the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Those believers who seem of low estate in this life will upon death inherit the kingdom of God, and those who are rich in this life will surely lose their earthly riches when they die, if not before.

And second, believers are to neither glory in nor despair about their earthly condition. Their attitude should be one that looks to the Lord. On earth, we should glory in heavenly things. In heaven, the earthly playing field will be leveled and our rewards will be based on our spiritual treasures, not our earthly treasures. If some of us receive more crowns than others, I suspect that if we are wise, we will behave like the 24 elders In Revelation 4 and cast them before the throne of God (Revelation 4:9-11), the only one in whom we ought to glory.

Let me close this evening by reminding us of the warning that the Apostle John gave to those he affectionately called “my little children”:

           1 John 2:15-17

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.