Faith Through Circumstances

James 1:9 – 11

 

In 2020 Pew Research published an economic study that showed that the wealth gap in America had been widening over the previous few decades, and that gap was especially exacerbated by the bursting of the housing bubble in 2006.

 

According to the study, upper-income families had more of their wealth tied up in financial markets and business equities, meanwhile middle-income families were more of their wealth tied up in their homes, that’s why the housing market crash wiped out the wealth of many families.

 

I was barely an adult when what we call “The Great Recession” hit, but I did feel it’s impact. When you toss a rock into a pond, it creates ripples that continue on until they’ve spread across the surface of the water. The housing market was the rock that had a devastating ripple effect that carried over into all areas of our economy, including the dairy industry.

 

The effect the recession had on milk prices forced many dairy farmers to either change their methods, or sell out because their equity was drying up. My dad was one who had to sell out because he refused to embrace the necessary change to keep going.

 

If there is truly ever one thing that hard economic times teach us is that we should never set our hope on our earthly wealth. Jesus himself spoke about money more than virtually any other subject, including prayer and heaven!

 

16 out of Jesus’ 38 parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions. About 1 in 10 verses in the Gospels deal with money, that’s around 300 verses. While the Bible has around 500 verses on prayer, and another 500 on faith, it has more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.

 

Our relationship to wealth is important to God, and it has an impact on our faith, whether we choose to admit it or not.

 

We see in our passage from James today how James begins to deal with the dynamic between rich and poor in the context of faith and trials. Let’s read God’s Word together: James 1: 9 – 11.

 

In the context of James, who is writing to a body of believers that is as diverse as the world that the disciples carried the gospel into, he knows that the church is made up of both poor and rich, and still dealing with outside oppression from society’s elite.

 

It’s normal to touch on topics at the beginning of a letter that the writer plans to address in greater detail later. The topic of faith is a big one for James the half-brother of Jesus.

 

However, in the middle of this larger section, on persevering through trials and proving their faith genuine, James transitions to introducing the dynamic between poverty and riches and faith, that on the surface appears out of place. We’re going to see how it’s not.

 

• Humble circumstances lead to dependent faith.

 

James goes from telling believers to rejoice in trials, to telling believers who are struggling in this world to boast in their exaltation. These are people who have nothing worldly to boast about, yet here is James telling them to boast.

 

We had to ask ourselves last week why on earth would anyone count it joy when facing trials. Because trials produce faith. Now today we find ourselves wondering why the lowly brother should boast and wondering why he is exalted.

 

This is about one’s position in the current life in relation to the next. Another way to read “lowly brother” is “brother in humble circumstances.” For James, there was a close relationship between being humble in status and being humble in spirit, at least within the context of genuine faith.

 

We’re talking about believers with low social standing, especially those who were poor. You want to talk about trials of various kinds, these folks suffered trials. They were much more likely to suffer trials than their well off brothers, and they were certainly more likely to suffer trials than the rich unbelievers around them.

 

It’s hard for people to notice that they’re suffering when they’re sitting comfortably at home, with their feet up, their belly full, their a/c cranking, the tv on, and the bills are all paid up and current. That doesn’t sound like suffering at all does it?

 

If people are going to face trials of various kinds like illness, persecution, job loss, rebellious children, family strife, and such they’d probably prefer to do it in a comfortable home than out on the street.

 

But the reality of the Christian life is that none of those things matter. In fact, you’re better off with less. Poverty provides an arena for the testing of a believer’s faith in God. Poverty is a trial of its own kind, that’s why James includes this here in this section on trials testing faith.

 

On the surface, he’s introducing a topic of discussion, a theme throughout his letter. James addresses the relationship between the rich and the poor in greater detail later in his letter. But when you dig below the surface here you realize that poverty is a trial that can mature faith in the Christian.

 

The pressure of poverty leads a person to humble themselves before God and to place their total dependence on Him. The believer’s faith is tested in poverty, and if they let that trial have its effect, they will become the mature Christians that God desires.

 

• Genuine faith reverses a believer’s standing in this world.

 

One of the major themes that runs through the letter of James is the Great Reversal. It is a term used to describe what Jesus Christ began when He was on earth. Others refer to it as the kingdom of God being an “upside-down kingdom.” It is a theme that is prominent in the Gospel’s., especially Luke’s, and it is prominent in James.

 

The prophet Jeremiah relayed God’s own words to His people. In 9:23 – 24 He says, “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

 

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus responded to argument among the disciples over who was the greatest by telling them, “For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” And in the Gospel of Matthew, he tells them after the rich young man goes away sad that “many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

James is urging believers to really consider their status. They may be lowly in this world, demeaned, ignored, marginalized, poor, destitute, and rejected by the world’s standards. Yet, as believers in Jesus Christ, they are God’s chosen ones, given the right to be called the children of God.

 

As believers in Christ, we will be raised up together with Him, and those of lowest standing on earth have a drastic elevation change. That exaltation that is the result of genuine faith in Christ. In the words of Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Gal. 6:14).

 

The Great Reversal brought on by Jesus, not by the works of our own hands, that’s what the lowly brother should boast in. And James is also encouraging the church here to show the lowly brother how much they have to boast about.

 

Notice he says, let the lowly brother boast. That’s not just an exhortation to the lowly brother but to the church to celebrate with him in what his genuine faith in Christ has done to his eternal status.

 

This is a practical application of three of Jesus’ beatitudes from His Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, and “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” and blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:3,5,10.

 

The poor, the humble, and the persecuted all receive the kingdom and the earth. Those who have nothing and are brought low because of their faith receive the highest honor indeed. But the Great Reversal isn’t complete without the other side.

 

 

 

While the lowly boast in the exaltation from the great reversal, the rich should boast in their humiliation. What’s so humiliating about being rich? James may sound harsh, but he’s succinct. Regardless of their riches, they’re still going to die just like those who aren’t rich.

 

Notice in the earlier passage from Jeremiah how he says the wise man shouldn’t boast in his wisdom, the mighty man should boast in his might, and the rich man should not boast in his riches.

 

Those who have should not boast about what they have, but in the Lord who practices steadfast love. That is why Paul boasts in the cross of Jesus Christ. To us who understand and know God, that gruesome instrument of death is beautiful. It is a sign of glorious redemption, a real reversal of our real status in life.

 

It’s not entirely clear here if James is referring to rich believers or the rich unbelievers, scholars are divided on this. Really, it doesn’t make much of a difference either way, the point remains that worldly wealth is entirely worthless in the face of death and God’s judgement.

 

If it is indeed a rich brother, a well-off Christian, then he knows what’s coming in the end. He knows that his worldly riches can’t buy him any status in heaven and so he should boast that God humbles him.

 

The rich believer must place their hope, their trust, their faith in Jesus, not their possessions. They must boast in the fact that all that they have on this earth is meaningless in heaven, that he will be brought low from his lofty status. The other side of the Great Reversal.

 

• The rich person should not trust in their circumstances.

 

The faith of a rich man must be expressed in a radically different way from that of the poor man. Because the rich man’s life is so radically different, they must make themselves low. Remember that Jesus said in Luke 9:23 that if anyone would come after Him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him.

 

Faith doesn’t grow by default, when folks depend on their riches they get comfortable and complacent. The rich person has a lot more to deny than the average Joe, but that self-denial demonstrates the trust that God requires from our faith in Jesus.

Earthly riches themselves can be a trial for some folks. It is certainly tempting to build up wealth while we’re here on earth. I’ve seen this struggle in many Christians; there’s a reason Jesus talks about money so much.

 

Jesus’ parable of the rich young man from Matthew 19 illustrates this point so well. The rich young man comes to Jesus calling Him “Good Teacher,” and asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, and the young man answers that he has, what does he still lack.

 

That’s when Jesus tells him to go and sell all he has and give to the poor, and to come and follow Him. The young man couldn’t do it, instead he walked away sad because he had a great many possessions.

 

Jesus says that only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven, that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter heaven. Here, James uses a familiar OT image of fragility, the flower of the grass, to give those considered rich a warning.

 

Here in the valley, we have what’s called a mediterranean climate. It’s actually very similar to Israel’s climate, it’s why we can grow so many different crops that the rest of our country can’t. Every year, from about February to April we can look west and see lush, green hills.

 

I’ll never forget the first time I drove to SLO for my new student orientation at Cal Poly. It was early spring in 2011, and the hills were just popping with such a beautiful green color. But by the summertime that beautiful green was gone and instead it was brown and yellow, scorched by the heat and lack of water.

 

That same imagery is used by the prophet Isaiah when talking about how, even though the grass may wither and the flower may fall; the Word of the Lord endures forever. The same imagery from Isaiah is referenced here by James but applied to the rich man.

 

All the rich man’s pursuits in life will amount to nothing. He will inevitably fade away just like the flowers in the sun. Earthly possessions contribute nothing in themselves to kingdom of God. They can be used up for the kingdom while on earth, but they themselves don’t contribute.

The life of the rich and their wealth will fade away, which stands in stark contrast with James’ call to persevere and remain steadfast in the beginning of his letter last week. Because God is steadfast, you can grow your faith by placing your trust in God and not in your circumstances.

 

I touched on it last week and I’ll touch on it again today; God is the source of our faith. He uses trials to stretch, and test, and grow that faith into maturity. He allows our circumstances in this life to shape us too, to also grow our faith into maturity.

 

So, if you’re counted among those living in humble circumstances, don’t despair but rather trust in God, who sustains you and provides for you through it all. Trust in God who reverses your circumstances as he grows your faith. That’s something to boast about.

 

Boast because as a child of God you are lifted up and exalted with Christ. Boast because as a child of God you have an eternal possession, eternal riches, that is eternal life with God. You might not have anything to boast about on this of heaven, but you have plenty to boast about in Christ Jesus.

 

And if you’re counted among those living comfortable lives, remember life and wealth and possessions are all fleeting. They are here and gone tomorrow. Do not place your hope, your trust in them. They cannot do anything for you.

 

Humble yourselves, bring yourselves low to the point of humiliation and place all your trust in God, and not your wealth. None of it is ours really, it’s all from God, the good and the bad, so trust in Him, not your circumstances, and in doing so your faith proves genuine.

 

Let’s pray.