All creation is a tool for God's glory. People who trust in material things and worldly power cannot serve that glory. We trust the Creator, not the creation. James continues with a prophetic warning to anyone who takes comfort in their worldly wealth. The image of gold and silver corroding is not meant literally, but that they corrupt the heart. Western Christianity shares with the Pharisees a horrifying blindness to this truth: All you are and have when you turn to Christ becomes His. If you then die wealthy, it is hard to imagine you were obedient to Him. Call it what you will, but people in church who don't hurry to deploy their material possessions for the Kingdom, seeking to purchase His greater glory here below, aren't Kingdom people. James cries out in a warning: If you cling to this world, you will be owned by it, and perish when the Lord comes to destroy this world. Let Him return to find us broke because we were faithful stewards.
James points out the sins of wealthy Talmudists, always contrary to the plain command of Moses. They were obliged to pay day-laborer wages at the end of the day, not cling to it as if their work was nothing and the gold was precious. Even the Talmud referred to it figuratively as murder to deprive the poor and powerless of their just wages. This was just an example of the greedy, taking advantage of their power to buy justice when accused. God would not be so easily bought off when He comes to judge for eternity.
Yet, by the same token, James warns the poor not to be envious and wrathful. This world is evil; bad things happen and injustice is simply a feature of our existence. By no means was it right to use human power to fight back, but to rely on God to keep track of things. His justice is not always apparent on this plane of existence, but it never fails in Heaven. It will all be over soon enough. So we should be forgiving and patient with our brothers, because we are no better as we all stand before the Lord.
What is the proper response to the suffering of this world? Look how the prophets of old handled it. We say people who know how to suffer with aplomb are talented, gifted of God. Consider Job. His testing was inexplicable by God's Laws, but he remained faithful against all the lies of worldly men. It wasn't necessary for Job to raise up solemn ritual oaths that he was lawful; his record was established in Heaven. God knew. You don't need to worry what men think, just commit yourself to honesty before God. Yes means yes and no means no.
So when you are suffering and feeling down, pray humbly for mercy. Jumping for joy? Lift up your praises. Feeling sick? Let your elders know; it's their duty to attend to such needs with medicine and prayer. Notice how everything leads us back to prayer? It's not some sick joke to shut you up. Prayer works better than any of us know, but you have to take it seriously. Elijah would be the first to tell you he wasn't any better than the next man. Yet, when God was ready, his sincere prayer started a drought lasting three-and-a-half years, ending only when the same Elijah prayed for rain. It's all about the fruit of the Kingdom, not about the people involved.
Yet the greatest miracle of all is turning people from sin, and Elijah worked harder at that than any other thing. He would much rather have seen the people to whom he prophesied turn from sin and repent. If you can speak the truth and just one person repents, you have brought a dead soul to life, and buried all their sins. Now that is a pretty big miracle!
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By Ed Hurst
13 August 2011
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