Rich Man, Poor Man

“Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:  But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.  For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth:  so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.”  James 1:9-11

The book of James is believed to have been written by James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ.  There were two other notable men in scripture named James, both disciples of Jesus, with one being the brother of the disciple named John, and the other was the son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:2-3).  It is interesting to note that Jesus’ brother James did not become a believer in Christ until after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  Because the book of James emphasized the importance of a faith that is alive and is demonstrated by the believer by good works, it was reported that Martin Luther tore the book of James from his Bible because he believed James was teaching a “salvation by works” doctrine, but it was also reported that later Luther came to understand that James was only trying to convince people that a faith without works is a dead faith: “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works”.

In this portion of the book of James, he turned his attention toward two contrasting groups of people–the poor and the rich.  First, let me say that the lack of money or the abundance of wealth does not determine one’s eternal destination.  A poor man doesn’t go to heaven because he is financially poor, and neither does a rich man go to hell because of his wealth or vice versa.  It is what is in one’s heart that determines his or her eternity and not what is or is not in one’s bank account.  In light of that fact, James pointed out that the “brother of low degree”, that is, a believing poor man with little influence over the affairs of state, one who is deemed a common or ordinary man, and who may only be important to a relatively small group of family and friends, can rejoice because of his relationship with the Lord who raises him or her high above those who have rejected their only hope, that which is in Christ.  One who has Christ as Lord and Savior is rich with all that money cannot buy.  He or she is like the loyal servant to whom his or her employer leaves the entire estate, a home not made with hands.

If the rich man understands that his riches were a gift from God (for what do any of us have that we didn’t receive?–John 3:27), and realizes that riches are only temporary (here today, gone tomorrow), and because of his relationship with Christ uses his abundance for God’s glory and the upbuilding of His kingdom, then he, too, can rejoice because he also has a treasure in heaven just like the brother of low degree (the ground is level at the cross).  However, if one depends upon his or her riches rather than upon the Creator, he or she will be in for a rude awakening either in this lifetime or in eternity or both.  James compares the rich man who rejects his Maker to a flower, which, for a time, blossoms beautifully and is admired for its beauty, the beauty of which it did not create on its own.  But then the hot sun arises and the heat penetrates those delicate petals which cannot withstand the sun’s burning rays, and it withers, and the petals drop to the ground.  What was a gorgeous display of color and brightness becomes shriveled, dry, and brown only to disintegrate into dust which the wind blows away never to be seen again.  And so shall the rich man who rejects God disappear from this walk of life, foregoing the joy and peace of heaven for an eternity of pain and misery.

Scripture gives us accounts of those who were rich yet failed to find true abundance in Christ.  In Luke 12:16-21, we have the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to store his abundance, yet died apart from a relationship with his Creator, and all that he had became someone else’s possessions.  In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus told of a poor man, Lazarus, whom a rich man could have helped, but didn’t.  They both died.  Lazarus went to heaven, and the rich man went to hell wherein he cried out to Lazarus for water, but his cries did him no good.  (The fact that only those with a relationship with God pass into heaven upon death would indicate that Lazarus had a relationship with his Maker, but the rich man did not.)  Paul wrote in I Timothy 6:10 that the “love of money is the root of all evil”, and this overzealous love of money only leads to sorrow.  Money was the motive for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16).  Jesus told us that we cannot serve God and serve money (Matthew 6:24).  Greed is a killer, but to be rich in Christ is worth more than all the money in the world.  I would rather spend my eternity on the streets of gold than to spend my earthly life on Wall Street.