4 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
5 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your
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. 4 Look!
The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are
crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the
ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
Pastor Philip's sermon focused on five foolish choices he sees people make regarding their money and possessions, as delineated by the passage from James: leaving God out of one's plans, hoarding instead of sharing, reneging on debts, no generosity amid prosperity, and forgetting Jesus is the goal, not material gain. By not recognizing God's preeminent role in one's life, there is a tendency to become consumed with worry and control. By making the accumulation of possessions the top priority, greed fueled by continuous discontent (the "myth of more") and fear of the future due to lack of trust in God's provision both poison one's daily life. Also, refusing to honor debts owed others demonstrates that money is considered more important than people...and of course God. Following Jesus commands generosity, sharing, and responsibility...and consequently placing money and "stuff" in their proper, limited roles in one's life...
There is one section to this passage that wasn't emphasized in the sermon, and that was the part exhorting us not to boast about the future. Let's make our plans...yes, that is part of responsible, mature living...but make them with the acknowledgment that God is supreme and has the authority and power to change them according to his design for our lives...
Usually I post these sermon articles on Thursday, but I made an exception this week. Happy Thanksgiving!
