A comedian said, "If money talks, all it ever says to me is, good-bye! As we began the study of James I pointed out that James jumps around and covers many topics and deals with some very practical subjects. Money is part of our everyday lives, whether we like it or not, and our money says something about our faith.

Last week we looked at the final verses of the last chapter in the practical letter of James. Perhaps some of you noticed that I skipped some important verses at the beginning of the chapter. Today I want to have us look at these verses as we begin our fall stewardship campaign. On November 15 we plan to have one Sunday morning worship service instead of two. We encourage you to consider your financial commitment to our church for next year and plan to come that service prepared to fill out a card letting us know your financial commitment for 2010. We will also be asking you to make reservations to gather for a celebration meal following the worship service that morning. Please make plans to come to worship and share in our meal that day.

What is your money saying by

I. How You Obtain It?

James addressed the rich, (Christians, or nonchristians?) getting their attention. Since many rich Nonchristians would not be likely to read this, it could also be a roundabout way of telling Christians, especially poor one, not to envy the rich, lest they fall into the snare of letting their wealth become too important to them.

The Bible does not tell us that it is wrong to obtain money. The Mosaic Law includes some rules about getting and securing wealth. Jesus' teachings indicate respect for personal property and private gain. Consider some of the parables He told.

The question is, "How do we obtain our money?" The Old Testament Prophets spoke messages of judgment against the selfish rich who took advantage of others.

James pointed out two wrong ways that some were acquiring their wealth. Read verse 4. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

One was that they were holding back wages. Generally the laborers back when this was written were hired by the day without any legal contract. Often these day laborers were so poor that they were living on the verge of starvation, so when his wage, even for a day, was withheld from him, he and his family might not be able to eat. For this reason the Old Testament Scriptures taught that the hired laborer was to be paid promptly. Deut. 24: 14, 15; Lev. 19:13; Mal.3:5; Jer. 22:13.

These laborers spoken of by James had mowed the fields and completed their work, but they had not been paid. This was the same as stealing and cries of persons who have been cheated have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, that is the Lord of Hosts. He is concerned about the common people and all of us.

I am grieved when people tell me of professing Christians who fail to pay their bills, at least not promptly. And some live as if they have not intention of paying them.

I don't care to borrow money unless it is absolutely necessary - but many years ago when I really needed to get a better car, I went to see my friendly banker, who was also a member of my church. Before I left his office with a small loan I heard about the pastor who left town. He owed money to several people and businesses in the community, including that bank. He never paid most of his financial obligations. I realized vividly my responsibility as a Christian to pay what I owed. I paid off that loan for a year in seven months.

We are a poor testimony for the Lord when we fail to promptly pay those to whom we owe money.

In James' Epistle he mentioned another way wealth was being wronging obtained. Verse ⁶You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

The wealthy were controlling the courts. It often seems that those who have wealth have the power to get what they want. Sometimes this even happens in the church. A question was asked in a comic strip years ago. What is the Golden Rule? The answer given was, "Whoever has the gold makes the rules."

Apparently in James's time courts were controlled by those who had the money while the poor workers were beaten down. The poor workers had a just cause, but they were not given justice, so they called on the Lord for justice. Of course, we know that this sometimes happens in our land and it is even worse in some countries. James is speaking here with blazing social passion.

You may be asking, "What does all this have to do with me?

If you are an employer, do you pay your workers properly and fairly? Are you concern about their needs?

If you work for someone, do you give your employer and honest day's work? Do you get to work when you are expected? Do you stretch breaks from your allotted time? Do you do your work well, or just good enough to get by?

Business people, including farmers, do you make deals honestly and fairly? Do you ever make shady deals?

How well do you represent Jesus in the way you obtain your money?

After I graduated from college and was teaching high school in a small school I was in an adult Sunday School class. One of the older persons in the class told the story of how he and others in the military service had obtained money through a dishonest and immoral business enterprise. He tried to sooth his conscience that since they used the fund for a worthy cause it was okay. He knew better than that! The end does not justify the means! This leads to another question.

What is your money saying by

II. How You Use It?

James not only wrote to those who obtained their wealth sinfully, but made matters worse by using it sinfully. Read v.3. ³Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days

They stored it up. Saving is not wrong, but these people were hoarding grain, gold, and garments while they owed money to their employees. Rather than laying up treasures in heaven by using their wealth for God's glory they were selfishly guarding it for their own security and pleasure. Within ten years after James wrote this letter Jerusalem fell and all their wealth was wiped out.

Another wrong way James mentioned that they use money was by keeping others from benefiting from it. We may recall the story of Robin Hood robbing from the rich to give to the poor. What James is writing about is actually the rich robbing from the poor, by not giving their employees what they owed to them. No, the rich were not snatching the money from their hands, but some of their wealth did not belong to them at all.

As Christians we are stewards of God's wealth. All that we have is a sacred trust from the Lord for us to use and manage. Do we faithfully give God 10% or more of what already belongs to Him directly for His work in the church? If not, in the words of the prophet Malachi we are robbing God and keeping others from benefiting from the Good News of Jesus. Are we using our resources, large or small to lay up eternal treasures?

Verse 5. ⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. James addressed the problem of people who lived in luxury which he defined as waste and called waste sin. It is a form of self-indulgence that often ruins a person's character. My friends, I do not believe he is talking about enjoying God's blessings. We are encouraged to enjoy God's blessings, but not to live extravagantly as slaves to money.

This might be compared to an old Quakers saying, "Tell me what thou does need and I will tell thee how to get along without it. Jesus said, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has abundance does his life consist of His possessions."

Misusing riches will result in misery and judgment now and in the future. Riches here today, are gone tomorrow. They will rust, vanish or erode. James tell us that their corrosion will eat their flesh like fire. One may lose their opportunity to be a good steward, to do what we can and use our resources wisely for the Lord.

Conclusion:

With this strong warning I'm sure James hoped that Christians would realize that how they obtained and how they used their riches carried a message to the people around them.

Let me close by sharing a couple of stories of how our money can say what God wants it to say.

The first person I have in mind was a woman who turned down 1000 proposals of marriage, many of them from rich men, including a prince who followed her for years and begged her to marry him. Even after she reached the age of seventy she was still getting proposals by mail, so many that her secretary didn't bother to show them to her. When she was forty years old she rode a wild horse that she had bought cheap because the previous owner was afraid to ride it. At age sixty-three she did some fancy driving and swam across Lake George in four hours. During much of her life she slept with a pad and pencil beside her bed to make quick notes if she awoke. She had dark red hair,that was later streaked with gray, but still sparkling, blazing with enthusiasm. Can you guess her name? I was describing Evangeline Booth, daughter of the founder of a great army, the Salvation Army, armed with thousands of officers feeding the hungry and spreading the gospel in eighty languages. She had some money and used it to serve her and her Lord. Money did not master her.

Ed Studd was wealthy sportsman in England who began his relationship with Christ through interesting circumstances. He had purchased a new horse and told a friend that he should put some money on him in a race because the horse was a winner.

A few weeks later Ed met this friend and asked him if he had bet on his horse which has won the race. When he reported that he has not Ed said, "You're a bigger fool thatn I though, but to show you I'm a sport I shall take you to dinner and afterward we'll go anywhere you like.

What Mr. Studd did not know was that something earthshaking has happened to his friend since they'd last met. His friend had gone to Ireland on business, had missed that last train home, had seen a marque - Moody and Sanky, had thought it was an American vaudeville act, and had gone to kill some time. However, there he had been introduced to the Lord by D.L. Moody, and had come out of that theater never to be the same.

After dinner Mr. Studd's friend said he would like to go to the Queen's Theater where D. L. Moody was to be speaking. When they arrived the place was so crowded they could not get in. Studd's friend scribbled a note to for the usher saying that if they did not get in he would not be able to get his friend to such a meeting again. So they got folding chairs on the platform right under the speaker.

That night Ed Studd was transformed by the Lord and his sense of values was turned upside down. He began to let the Lord use him and his wealth to accomplish much for God's kingdom in the next few years.

What does our money say by how we obtain it and how we use it?

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