James 1:9-12
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will
pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its
flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in
the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under
trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which
God has promised to those who love him.
James by the authority of God, has already to us that
joy ought to be the normal experience of every Christian regardless of his earthly
circumstances. This joy is informed by the unchanging character of the goodness
of God. Some of you have been in the Prosperity Gospel[1] circles
long enough. So you may have imbibed their common philosophy that material
prosperity and happiness sleep on the same bed with a Christian always. They
also confidently assert that poverty and misery are Siamese twins, which a
believer, who is a child of God must never have. That is, it is not the will of
God for his children to suffer sickness or poverty. They must always be
healthy, wealthy and prosperous here on earth. Is this true? This letter shows
that it is in will and purpose of God to send trials our way so that we may be
perfect and complete lacking in nothing (v.4). As if this is not enough, James
tells us again that he is blessed who goes through trials steadfastly, for when
he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised
those who love Him (v.12).
Undoubtedly, trials
of life come in sorts of colour, manner and shape. They are various kinds of
trials (v.2). James in this passage, identifies economic status as one of the
gates that trials come to us. There are those who are poor materially. There
are those who are rich materially. He gives both the exhortation, ‘boast in his…’ different circumstance.
The point is that these outward economic circumstances are temporary, and could
be trials. So he gives us two opposite life circumstances (vv. 9-11). In these
two cases, he instructs them to act in the opposite, what we call paradox. He
also has one common circumstance of remaining
steadfast under trial (v.12).
1) Poor brother is
eternally rich (v.6)
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation
Pastor James, was a
very caring pastor. He watched over the flock with a keen eye. So he did not
want poverty-stricken Christians, who were part of the flock that he had charge
over, whom he fondly refers to as brothers,
to think of themselves as second-rate or unimportant in the church. Believers
are to interpret their present circumstances as if they were already residing
in glory.[2] Not by
wishing them away, but by looking at them as the highway leading to glory.
You can imagine how
one would feel, with the economic pressures of life, with no steady income. One
is not sure of one meal in a day. There is only a pair of threadbare clothes;
living in a slum. One is scared of landlord and of debtors. One is unable to
face the children because of the struggles. In every sense, the sense of human
dignity is faded.
Who wants to face
his children in the evening without food for them? It is not interesting to
explain to the children why you cannot pay school fees. Or one is unable to
afford medication for his wife – it is not interesting to see her writhing in
pain. This is real life in the third world country we live in. No wonder impostor
preachers have been born in their scores to deceive people into utopia. This poor
state, is not any worse than the situation of persecuted Christians, who were
destitute in every sense – some were homeless, with no means of livelihood. The
people James wrote to, went through terrible circumstances as they faced the
sword all the day long, lost their property, and were killed because of their
faith.
We know that
because of the persecution of Christian Jews in the first century, many were
left impoverished. Because they were economically low, they were low in the
eyes of the world and, no doubt, in most instances low in their own eyes. Their
poverty produced lowliness of mind.[3] Like the
10 of the 12 spies who were sent by Moses to Canaan, it is too easy to seem to
oneself like grasshoppers and this mindset communicates that one would appear
to others in the same manner. Therefore, James, just like Joshua and Caleb,
presents a very balanced and Biblical view of things from an eternal
perspective.
James knew this too
well and so he encourages them to glory or take pride in their exalted position of being brothers, that is, being children of
God! This privileged position is higher than that of the angels. So high it is
that Peter tells us that believers are beneficiaries of such great divine love
that the angels long to look (1 Peter
1:12). God has given us His Son and His Spirit and made us His heirs and
co-heirs with Christ in glory (Romans
8:17). This is the most exalted position, the world cannot take us higher. And
God has brought us to the highest point of being His children.
Yet remember that,
no matter how detested we are in this world, no matter how low and despicable
we appear to be, we actually enjoy the highest of all privileges, namely being
part of the family of God.[4] You
belong to Christ! So do your circumstances, for they are within the orbit of
His plan for your ultimate good, your full salvation.[5]
The paradox of
grace is exhibited in the most striking form. Amid the depressing influences of
poverty, the Christian is to keep his eye fixed on his real dignity, and glory
in it. His present low position is merely in external things, and consequently
temporary, and is appointed him because his heavenly Father sees poverty to be
needful for the good of his soul; his dignity belongs to the man himself,
considered apart from surroundings, and is thus unending, like himself.[6]
2) Rich Brother is
eternally humble (v.10)
… and the rich
in his humiliation. We
must first acknowledge that grace and wealth are not strange bedfellows. Wasn’t Abraham the father
of faith rich in silver and gold? Wasn’t David, a man after God’s own heart, a
wealthy king? What about Job before and after his affliction, wasn’t he rich in
wealth and grace? What about Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, and John
Mark’s family, and Dorcas, and Lydia, and Cornelius, and Priscilla and Aquila and
many others? Were they not rich both in the earthly wealth and in the earthly
treasure?
While it is difficult for the rich to enter the
Kingdom, it is not impossible. While it is true that that those who desire to
be rich in this life fall into
temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge
people into ruin and destruction, the rich are not beyond the reach of grace.
But they must not love money, for if they do, they will get into all kinds of evils,
and perhaps wander away from the faith and pierce themselves with many pangs.
They must know that godliness with contentment is great gain.
It is not obvious in
this passage that if the person who is rich is a Christian or a non-Christian. At
the time when James was writing, the rich people were usually seen as proud,
persecutors, exploiting the poor, and so uncaring as they lived in luxurious
lifestyle at the expense of the majority poor, and so would not be associated
with the Christian faith. Yet we know that some rich people like Zacchaeus,
Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus among others had come to faith.
But weighing all
the factors from the context, and the Greek construction, there are reason to
believe that this was a rich brother who was being exhorted along with the poor
brother to act in accordance to the Biblical perspectives, rather than the financial
value of his accounts. This rich man could only be a non-believer if James was
speaking ironically. Therefore, I go a long with Douglas Moo and many other
good commentators, who say,
While the evidence does not all point in the same
direction, we think that the balance shifts toward the view that James in these
verses addresses two Christians, a poor one and a rich one. He exhorts each of
them to look toward their spiritual identity as the measure of their ultimate
significance. To the poor believer, tempted to feel insignificant and powerless
because the world judges a person on the basis of money and status, James says:
take pride in your exalted status in the spiritual realm as one seated in the
heavenlies with Jesus Christ himself. To the rich believer, tempted to think
too much of himself because the world holds him in high position – things that
are doomed all too soon to fade away forever – but, paradoxically, in your
humble status as a person who identifies with one who was “despised and
rejected” by the world. The point of this passage is, then, that Christian must
always evaluate themselves by spiritual and not material standards.
Maintaining such a perspective in a world that so insistently confronts us with
a very different standard of measurement is not easy. But if the church is to
be the kind of “countercultural” society that Jesus intended to be,
establishing and propagating such a perspective is essential.[7]
(Emphasis mine)
The rich Christian
is in a very slippery and precarious position. He is not careful, he could stop
to depend on His Saviour and depend on His wealth. He is reminded that life
does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Reading the newspapers, you
see wealthy people who have recently died. They left everything behind,
including their children and possession. Their grave clothes do not need to
have pockets! To put what?
Therefore, this
brother and those of you who fall under this category of financial ladder are
warned by their Saviour to think of two things that bring him to a humble
position:
a) The
brevity of life
… like a flower
of the grass he will pass away. No
man shall live more than 130 years. The lifespan is basically 70 years and it
could come earlier or later, but no one will be forgotten. The problem is that
while people know this, they still conduct themselves in a manner that ignores
this fact. Life is brief. Death is coming. Grave is ready for you, wouldn’t you
be ready for it? Be ready by putting on an eternal perspective. As a flower
fades before the scorching heat or wind of Palestine, so shall the rich man
pass away in death. There is no doubt that just as the flowers of the field are
attractive to look at so is the riches of this world. We are told by Dr. Luke that,
“…the poor man died… the rich man also died” (Luke 16:22) (Emphasis
mine). Yes there is a time to be born and a time to die, for the poor and the
rich alike. Certainly he will pass away.
b) The
temporary nature of possessions
The
rich die and their wealth are also fleeting. As a flower fades
before the heat of the scorching sun, so shall the rich man fade away in his
pursuits. His possessions, his projects, his counsels, and his managements
for this world, are called his pursuits or business. For this reason let him that is rich rejoice,
not so much in the providence of God, that made him rich while in a temporary
earth, but in the grace of God in the glory of eternity. This ought to make and
keep him humble. He must be humiliated in that insurance cannot prevent
accidents or disease and death. These occur to the rich as well as to the poor.
For the rich also cry!
Therefore, a Christian who is rich must be
careful so that his joy must not come from the possession like the rich fool
who thought that because his barns were full, his joy was complete. For that
same day God removed him from enjoying his wealth and others were left to
plunder his labour.
We all should
remember that we are not immune to the dangers of wealth. The power of material
prosperity must not be underestimated. Materialism is charming and seductive. The
riches of this world have such a power to allure and entice us to fix our eyes
on the temporal instead of the eternal. The ogre called idolatry does not call
itself Monster Idolatry, it calls itself Miss Comfort. The comforts of this
life are attractive to the flesh, but the spiritual eye will know when in
Vanity Fair.
Yet, we must bear in
mind that even when one has overflowing bank accounts, and platinum medical and
insurance covers, this does not guarantee happiness or heaven. Robert Jones’s rightly
observes on his meditations on Isaiah 40:6
The primary application to be drawn from these
scripture references comparing man to grass, and his glory to a flower of the
field is the forcible reminder of the brevity of his life, and the perishing
nature of his greatest attainments upon earth.[8]
3)
Blessed brother
under trials (v.12)
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,
for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has
promised to those who love him.
Both the rich and
the poor of verses 9 and 10 could be included in this category. They are
blessed if they remain steadfast under the weight of the unique trials of their
lives. What does it mean that they are blessed?
This word, makariotj,
means more than happy, for it means supremely fulfilled and satisfied in the
enrichment and endowment of the Lord. It is the word the Lord employed in the
beatitudes. That is, God is at work in all this business of trial and
persistent endurance, God is imparting blessing all the while as guiding us
toward the great, ultimate blessing of approval.[9]
The blessed man endures suffering with patience
and faithfulness. Afflictions must not make us miserable, if it is not our own
fault, and if it is our fault we should repent. This is because we know that a
blessing may come from them, and we may be blessed in them. Trials upon a godly
man will make him even more godly and faithful. Trials will be the hedge upon
the narrow way leading to the Celestial City where he will receive the crown of
life when he is approved.
One can only be approved
when he has stood the test of love. For
God has promised to those who love
him. Love for God with the whole of soul, heart, mind
and strength even when under the intensity and immensity of trials of life is
the basis of approval. Faith works in love. Trials will usually strengthen love
for God for a believer, and not by any means weaken it. Our enduring temptations must be from a principle of
love to God and to our Lord Jesus Christ, otherwise we are not interested in
this gracious promise. Every soul that truly loves God shall have its trials in
this world fully recompensed in that world above where love is made perfect.
This means that when his virtues and graces
coming from a genuine, living and working faith are found to be true and of the highest worth, just as gold is
purified by the fire then he will receive the garland from the Father. When his
integrity is manifested, and all is approved of the great Judge as genuine,
then the Lord will reward him accordingly.
To be approved of God is the great aim of a Christian
in all his trials. This will be the standard of one’s blessedness at last, when
he shall receive the crown of life. The tried Christian shall be a crowned one:
and the crown he shall wear will be a crown of life. It will be life and bliss
to him, and will last for ever. We only bear the cross for a while, but we
shall wear the crown to eternity[10].
[5] Gordon Keddie, The Practical Christian, James simply
explained, (Darlington, Evangelical Press, 1989), p. 42
[6] Robert. Johnstone, James, Geneva Bible Commentaries,
(Edinburgh, Scotland, Banner of Truth Trust, 1871), p. 50-51
[8] Robert
Jones, Let God be Magnified, Meditations
from Isaiah 40, (Shoals, IN, Old Paths Tracts Society), p. 28
[10] Matthew Henry, Commentary On The Whole
Bible, (Peabody, MA. Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), p. 1934
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