THE PLIGHT OF THE POORJames 5:1-3

JAMES COMES FULL CIRCLEIf you give special

attention and a good seat to the rich person (2:2)

Look here, you rich people

(Jas.5:1)

JAMES 5:1-6 THE PLIGHT OF THE RICH

Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless.

The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment.

JAMES 5:1-6 THE PLIGHT OF THE RICH

For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

WHY BE SO UPSET ABOUT POVERTY?

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds…

“Only a small fraction of hunger-related deaths [are caused by famine] The majority of those who die of hunger, and most of them are children, do so because they are poor…

Source: UN World Food Programme

Chris Bryer in The Hunger Machine, Jon Bennett

The equivalent of dropping a Hiroshima bomb every three days.

WHY BE SO UPSET ABOUT POVERTY?

“They, like us, live in a world of plenty, where more food is produced than is consumed. As Europe destroys its food mountains and America stores un-saleable grain, Brazil, Sudan, even Bangladesh either have surpluses of their own, or are capable of producing them. People are dying, not because there is not enough food, but because they are too poor to buy it and have no land where they could grow their own.” ibid.

GOD’S VIEW OF OUR WEALTH

Everything we have is on loan: Psalm 24:1

A responsibility, not a privilege Consider the “Parable of the Talents”

Some invested for the Lord. One hoarded for himself.The earth is the Lord's, and

everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; Psalms 24:1

SAFETY

GOD’S VIEW OF OUR WEALTH

Everything we have is on loan: Psalm 24:1 A responsibility, not a privilege Consider the “Parable of the Talents”

Some invested for the Lord. One hoarded for himself.

God is an advocate for the poor

For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5:4

Where’s the compassion?

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

Planning is not the problem…

What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” …

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

Planning is not the problem… Planning without regard to God is the problem…

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to…”

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

Planning is not the problem… Planning without regard to God is the problem…

It’s the difference between a steward and an autonomous owner…Otherwise you are

boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

SAFETY

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

2. Buried in apathyRemember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:17

SAFETY

GOD’S VIEW: WHERE’S THE COMPASSION?

1. Smothered in a false sense of security

2. Buried in apathy3. Replaced by exploitation…You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. James 5:5-6

God’s View: Consider Exploitation of the Poor

In Central America, 50% kids die before 6 yrs old

The USA…1. has 6% of the world’s population, 2. holds 50% of the wealth, 3. uses 35% of the world’s resources.4. How much does it give to poverty

relief?

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

% of GNP

Norway

Netherlands

Denmark

Sweden

France

Finland

Canada

Australia

Belgium

West Germany

Italy

Switzerland

U.K.

Japan

New Zealand

U.S.

Austria

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

% of GNP

United States0.25%

“State of the world’s children” UNICEF 1995

God’s View: Consider Exploitation of the Poor

In Central America, 50% kids die before 6 yrs old

The USA… The Church…

Gives $700,000,000 / year to missions. But takes in $78 billion Less than 1% given to foreign helpHow hard have we tried to save others? The $700 million per year Americans give to mission agencies is no more than they give for chewing gum. Ralph Winter "Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle," Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader 814-818

CHRISTIAN INCOME VS. GIVING

Personal income Total Giving Missions Giving $-

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

3.3% 0.2%

Barrett

Billions

a world ofsmall troubles a world of

staying alive

a clean, friendly world

a filthy, ugly world

a world of entertainment

…unimaginabl

e suffering

a world of comfort

a world without

hope

a world of arts & crafts

James 2:15,16 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

watches her

children die…

ARE WE GUILTY?

Are we “withholding the workman’s wages?” Are we “fattening our hearts in a day of

slaughter?” Have we “hoarded wealth in the last days?” Have we “lived on the earth in luxury and

self-indulgence?” Have we given sacrificially to help the poor?

OUR DECISION…

Stewards?• “Our wealth is a problem…”or Owners• “My wealth is not enough…”

It isn’t wrong to be rich…

• Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 1 Timothy 6:17-18

A PLAN FOR ACTION

• Useless, temporary, emotional guilt• Or flushing gobs of money “out there”

somewhere…

Avoid hand-wringing,

lunging guilt…

• Decorated, look cool, feel-good…but unreal.

• Handout Twinkies in the inner-city…

Avoid ginger-bread houses

•You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Understand the ethics of

generosity

INTRODUCING OUR BUDDING, YOUNG “SERVICE MINISTRY”Mark Michalek & Kalie Sheehan Brooks