Text: James 5:1-6, Luke 12:16-20
By: Bro. Ezekiel Oghenekaro
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Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches [a]are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [b]Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [c]luxury; you have [d]fattened your hearts [e]as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. James 5:1-6.
The term wealth is a noun which means an abundance of valuable possessions or money. Or simply put in another form is the plentiful supply of a particular desirable thing. Being wealthy is relative, because what we may think or see as wealth to one man may not to another. In the community of the blind, a one eyed man is the king whereas elsewhere he is not seen that way. Similarly, in a family where everyone is uneducated, a man with a primary 6 or WAEC certificate is well respected and celebrated.
The crave for recognition and accumulation of resources today is making our society to forget the true meaning of wealth and today people celebrate those who can accumulate more without considering the source of such wealth. Just one Tuesday, I was told some young men just by the market were throwing money on the air, and people were picking and those picking such money do not bother to know the source of such money. What a world. It didn’t start today. It has been from time immemorial.
Our society is consumed by a passion for wealth and all the things that money can do. Every area of society is so much engulf with this crave for wealth, that today, when a man finds a lot of money and returns it, people starts asking if the man/woman is normal to return such money. We live in a society where our bookstores are crammed with books that have a variety of get-rich-quick schemes and where television entices us with the lifestyles of the rich and famous. This mentality affects all of us because who among us has not daydreamed about what our life would be like if we won Twenty million Naira.
A careful reading of Scripture indicates that wealth is not a sin. For example, Abraham was an extremely wealthy man, and he walked with God. He was used by God to bless the whole world. Scripture teaches that material possessions are entrusted to us, to be used wisely in our lives, in our service to God, and in our service to our fellow man.
In our text, James 5:1-6, we are shown the dangerous side of wealth and what money can do to us. James addresses himself to the wealthy, and he has some straightforward things to say about the use and abuse of wealth.
The focus of our discussion this morning is on the woes of wealth without God. A timely lesson for us is found in the parable of the foolish farmer (Luke 12:16-21). From this parable we learn the truth that the rich can be fools and fools can be rich. A man once asked the Lord, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” Because of covetousness, he saw in Jesus only a rabbi who could influence his brother. Many people today see in Jesus only a social or economic reformer. But our Lord is not only interested in man’s physical needs, He is also interested in man’s soul.
Jesus said a certain man had a field and it brought forth so plentifully that he did not have sufficient space to store his harvest. So he said to himself, “I will pull down my barns, and build greater.” Thus, here is the story of a very successful farmer. He was wealthy and prosperous. He had accumulated his wealth honestly. He hadn’t cheated anyone; he hadn’t defrauded anyone. But God called him a fool. People are wise in some respects and so foolish in other respects.
Though this man was very successful, the Lord said he was a fool. God’s epitaph (the writing or marker people’s grave) for his grave marker would have been: “Here lies a fool.” I am sure men thought he was exceedingly wise. He probably was held in high esteem by those who knew him. But he made some tragic mistakes. Those who accumulate wealth without God makes this common mistake just like the rich fool.
- THE MISTAKE OF LIMITED VISION
He made the mistake of a limited vision. He couldn’t see beyond himself, and he couldn’t see beyond this present world. These two thoughts run throughout the story. How many of us are limited in that we find difficulty in seeing beyond ourselves? Everything we do is for ourselves and this present world. We can’t see beyond the here and now.
- THE MISTAKE OF FAULTY REASONING
Another mistake this man made was that of faulty reasoning. The Bible says, “He reasoned within himself.” He didn’t reason with God. He really didn’t take God into account. He didn’t recognize that God had actually given him the success he had enjoyed. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “It is he [God] that giveth thee power to get wealth.” What about those people who are exceedingly rich but actually have no concern for God? God gave every man the power to get riches. But this man didn’t realize that truth. He saw the ground below, but he didn’t see God above. In Matthew 5:45 Jesus said, “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.” In Job 1:20 Job said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.” In James 1:17 we are told that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” So God is the giver of all things. But the man in our story didn’t see this truth. He made a terrible mistake.
- THE MISTAKE OF SELF-CE
