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James 1:1-11 Title: BOASTING IS FOR THE RICH AND THE POOR

In studying this letter that was written by James we need to keep in mind who James was and the purpose for writing the letter. It is believed that he was one of Jesus brothers and that he was the leader of the church at Jerusalem. As pastor he wrote to instruct and encourage the Christians who were scattered from the church because of persecution. As we see in verse 1 the letter is addressed to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad. Verses 1 to 8 were already dealt with and now we are going to look at verses 9-11. Here he says: But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. The matters already addressed from the first eight verses are the fact that James describes himself as a bond-slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and as such he was duty-bound to do his masters biddings, but, doing his masters will was not out of a sense of fear or involuntary servitude, but in willing and joyful service, because he was owned by a loving and compassionate master who had his best interest at heart. The application was made that if we are Christs slaves we are to serve Him in that way also. It was also pointed out that slaves of the Lord are to expect trials; that those trials are to test their faith and that knowing that, they are to count it all joy to be considered worthy of being tested for their master. Additionally it was emphasized that godly wisdom is needed by the slaves, to enable them to cope with living to perform their masters will under any condition and that if that wisdom is lacking they should ask for it in faith, believing that God will give it unconditionally.

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Coming out of those things James addresses a situation that he knew would exist among the brethren. He knew that such a situation would be inevitable because of the classes of persons that Jesus brings into His church. James knew that Jesus brings people from every class, every social standing, and every strata in society into His church, making them members of His body. That is to say that there would be poor and rich, educated and uneducated, sophisticated and simple, skilled and unskilled, kings and peasants, people who are considered to have a standing in society, those who are considered to have none and people from every standing in-between. The situation that is addresses is that of members having to cope with poverty and riches. What are some of the most likely problems to develop in a church where there are both rich and poor people? Problems of envying, jealousy, despising, belittling, feelings of being inferior, self exaltation and boasting among others, may arise. You may say that the church is composed of the people of God and as such these things should not exist among them. While you may think that way, the fact is that these things do exist. They existed in the New Testament church at Corinth and had to be dealt with by the apostle Paul. These are his words as recorded in 1 Cor 11:19-22 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you. They continue to exist in the hearts of many of Gods people today. If you were to give a solution to that problem what will it be? Knowing that that problem exist in our church and you were asked to give a solution, what will be your solution for us? Will your solution be the same that James gives?

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Here is James solution. He speaks to both the poor and the rich and says that the poor must boast and the rich must boast. This is how he says it: Verse 9, But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. We just said that boasting is one of the problems that can arise but James is saying that boasting is the solution. In doing this he presents three things that make this possible. The first is exaltation, the second is humiliation and the third is a common motivation. Let us see how these are applied by pastor James. EXALTATION He says that the poor is to exalt, glory of boast in his high position. He is not to do this because he is poor but because in spite of his poverty, he has true riches that are not measured or valued by the goods or standards of this world. He has true riches that he could not buy or earn by long and strenuous labour. He could not acquire them by exercising skills or wisdom or the use of talents or special giftedness. He could not acquire them by the art and craft of men. He has true riches because it was given to him, not because he was worthy if receiving it, but because the giver of the gift loved him in spite of what he was. In this he must glory, in this he must exalt, in this he must boast because this is his high position. When he does this he will not pity himself because he is poor nor will he envy the rich brother and his riches. The poor brother, according to the wisdom given to him by God, is able to see that poverty is a test of life that the people of God go through. He is then able to boast in Christ because in Him he is exalted to solid joys and lasting treasures that none but the true child of God knows. The poor

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man is to boast in his high position in Christ. This is what true life and true riches are measured by. Consider: Psalms 149:2-5 2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King. 3 Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. 4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. 5 Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. HUMILIATION The rich Christian is to boast in his humiliation. Why is this so? It is so because the rich Christian must humble himself in order to live in dependence on God rather than in self dependence. Whereas the poor man may see himself as having no choice but to depend on God for his daily bread, the rich will be inclined to trust in himself and deny God. The wise man expresses this in Prov 30:8-9 where it says: . Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 that I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" The rich brother if he boasts in his earthly riches and considers that to be what makes him important and recognized by his fellow men, will be given to laboring to maintain that position and standing. His time and labours will be given to working hard to get more money in order to secure what he has. He will be of the mindset that it is by his efforts that he acquired his riches and no praise will be given to God. We need to see that this does not only apply to money or material wealth, but it applies to all human centered things. It applies to any earthly accomplishments, it applies to the talents we have, it applies to positions or status in the community, it applies to family name or standing and such like. When we see ourselves as up here and our brothers and sisters in Christ as down there, we are practicing the rich man/poor man thing. This is why we treat some of our brothers and sisters with such disrespect, this is why we look down upon them and treat them with disdain and dishonour.

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Those things being so, the rich Christian must humble himself in order to cope properly with his riches and serve God truthfully and faithfully in spite of it. Hence James says that the rich and we can include here the talented or gifted or the boasters in family name or boasters in position or in intellectual abilities, must be rid of these earthly securities and boast in his humiliation in order to deal with the unchristian mindset that he is inclined to. Concerning all those things James says they will not last. He indicates that they are of no heavenly or eternal value. They will perish in the midst of using them just as the flowering grass passes away in the midst of the noonday sun. Listen to the scripture: 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. The rich, just as the poor, is to boast in what he has been made into by Christ. He is to humble himself and boast in the fact that Christ reached out to him in spite of the riches that he has. He is to boast in the fact that the Holy Spirit of God graciously worked in him, enabling him to see that earthly fame and security is no security; that the wisdom of the world is foolishness; that the kingdoms of this word are of no eternal value and that true life and security are in Christ alone. He is to boast in being made humble by God. What is THE COMMON MOTIVATION? By nature we all hold on to things and make them our security blanket. The poor looks at his situation and says if only I can get more I will be okay, if only I can win the lottery or get a better paying job or if only I was better educated or had a better position I would be okay, I would be accepted and be recognized as being somebody of importance. The problem is that if they place their trust in those things they will never be satisfied. They will always want more because those things cannot provide lasting security. The rich is no different, he says I must hold on to these thing that I have because that is what makes me who I am. My riches, my achievements, my reputation, my name, my position, I must hold on to them; if I lose them I will be a nobody and I cannot afford that. I worked too hard to get where I am. But James says that those things provide no security because like flowering grass the rich will pass

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away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. This is not only true of the rich but also of the poor whose heart is focused on acquiring riches because when he gets there he will suffer the same faith. Both the rich and the poor Christian must see that their true security is in Christ alone. They must sacrifice all their idols in order to gain Christ. They cannot hold on to and depend on their idols and Christ at the same time. Christ calls on them to look to Him alone. It is only then that they can be his true disciple and He be their Lord and Master indeed. This is how the apostle Paul puts it in Phil 3:7-11 when speaking of what being a Christian meant to him. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Can you say this about yourself? For those who are not Christians, this is what God wants from you also. You must sacrifice it all and give yourself completely to Him. In order to live for Him on earth you must begin by admitting that your sin and sinful self dependence separates you from Him and keeps you on a straight course to hell. You must believe that He has provided salvation for you in Jesus Christ alone and you must abandon your sinful ways bow to Him in true confession, seek His forgiveness and totally commit yourself to live for Him only.