Rich Fools

*The sermon manuscript below was generated from the recording by AI…

So let me ask you, have you switched off already? It’s so easy, isn’t it? One of those ones talking about money. And there’s normally 2 reasons why we’ll switch off, isn’t it? 1, “Oh, it doesn’t apply to me. I’m not rich.” Yeah, that’s the first one, “It doesn’t apply to me,” and then you’re probably thinking, “Oh, I hope so-and-so’s listening. Oh, pity so-and-so isn’t here, because if they heard it, it really should be talking to them.” So it’s the old must be someone else, isn’t it? Well, the other one is, “Oh yeah? Having a go at me again. Another one of those ones.” And part of the reason is probably because the last thing converted on any Christian is normally their wallets, isn’t it? It’s the last thing, reality, ’cause many of us hold money as an idol. It’s one of the last things to be taken away.

But, no, I And just also let us, let me reassure you, I’m not preaching this because the leadership of the church asked to talk, me to talk to you, because they’re worried about the financial giving or, no, no. They, they had no say in what I was preaching. They didn’t ask me what to preach. As I said, I’ve been preaching through it in Dargaville, and this happened to be the one come up, and so this is the one here. So we trust that this, by the Lord’s grace and by His blessing, He’s brought it here for you to hear what He has to say. It’s unusual when you look at this, ’cause the letter of James, I don’t know if you know, James was This is the half-brother of Jesus, ’cause Joseph was his father. And he was the leader in the church in Jerusalem, and he’s writing to what’s called the, the, uh, the wi- the Jews of the 12 tribes in the dispersion. So Christian Jews or Jewish Christians who were dispersed all around, so he’s writing this pastoral letter to them. And he’s been talking and all this, he’s been warning about different things, and all of a sudden, he comes, the last section he’s just finished talking about is talking about, “Who are you to plan for the future? You can’t control.” Then all of a sudden, he comes and goes bang, and he talks about riches.

Now some people have looked at this and said, “Well, really it’s not really talking to the Christians. It’s like one of the Old Testament prophets, you know, warning against those out there.” But sadly, if you look at it, you’ll see through this passage, I don’t know if you noted, it’s all about you. You, you. Who’s he talking to? The very people who received this letter when they received it. He’s talking about you. He’s talking about me, Christians in the Kingdom of God. And he’s warning them, and the warning is applicable, and it’s really serious. Why? It’s got eternal consequences. Did you see it? “Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming on you. You’ve laid up treasure in the last days. You’ve fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.” And what’s the other piece there? “And will eat your flesh like fire.” What’s that picture? It’s got eternal consequences, and that’s why it’s important for you and I to pay attention to here in case it applies to you.

But as I said, this is talking to you, ’cause he first addresses the rich. And it’s easy for us to look around and say, “Well, I’m not rich, I don’t have a super yacht or my own jet. You know? I don’t even ha- you know, I’m lucky to own my own house. I’m just renting. So I’m not rich. Who am I?” And we always look at others in our society are way up there, don’t we? Go back to the Bible. When this is written to these people, what was the norm? Remember John the Baptist preaching? They say, “What do we do?” He says, “You who’ve got 2 tunics, give one away to one who doesn’t have one.” What was a tunic? It’s your inner robe, the one worn close to the sh- to the body, and the other one that had a cloak over the top, which they used for keep them warm and use as a blanket at night, keep them warm as that. You’ve got 2? Give one away.

We’ll look at that a bit more closely, but if you wanna really look at it closely, how many of you have been to a third-world country? Now, most of you probably know, as you need to know we had missionaries in Papua New Guinea for 11 years. Now, anyone here count missionaries as being particularly rich and well off and really, you know, they really got it all? Anyone? No, it’s not regarded as that. But when we go there, we work with the reformed churches of Papua New Guinea, and I’d have to say 99% of the Christians there would have regarded us absolutely as rich compared with them. We had all our needs.

See, the reality is when you walk in there, you go to their houses, and if they’re living in the city, it’s a made up like a shantytown shack. And all they use that building for is to sleep in and get changed and keep their meager belongings in. You live outside, and every day they come home, if they’re blessed enough to have work, they’ll buy their daily food, just daily food. They’ll buy their bit of kumara, a bit of grains, and maybe a bit of maggi stock, you know, for a bit of flavoring, and they’ll cook that up on the open fire, and if they’re lucky, they’ll have some left over for the next day. But if someone hasn’t got any, then they’ll be obliged to share with them, so, you know, wait ’til the next day for more food. If they’re lucky, they’ve got maybe 2 sets of clothing, the ones they wear around, and then if they’re lucky, they might have a nicer set for church. That all comes from the secondhand clothing store which is, uh, rejects come from Australia and New Zealand sent over in bales and sold over there. Compared with them, are you rich?

See, the reality, we look at that, but then we’ve got to look where do we find out whether we’re rich or not? We gotta go to the word of God, is it not? And so we start looking through here, and it starts talking about it, doesn’t it? It talks about riches having rotted. Now, that riches is probably more likely their grain. Remember the parable of the rich fool, you know? Had all this produce, put it in the barns, I’ll store it up. That was his riches, his grain. The impression there is about riches, about food, so much food that’s going to waste. You’re not getting around to eating it. Let me ask you, supermarket closes, you get another lockdown, you can’t go out. How long would you survive in your house? Days, or is it weeks? How much food, even with refrigerators and freezers gets wasted, goes off?

Clothing. In the Biblical times, what were the clothes made out of? Generally what? Linen and wool were woven together, natural products. And the moths love those, don’t they? Anyone got a Merino jersey, you know, you got in the cupboard there and you go to get out Aha, you got a couple of holes from moths being busy. They love eating them. We don’t get as much ’cause we’ve got synthetic clothing. But let me ask you, before you came to church this morning did you just grab this ’cause it’s all you got, or were you looking like me? And I must confess, you open it up and you say, “Which shirt shall I wear today? What color? Which set of trousers?” Ladies, was it which pair of shoes or do you only have the one pair? Or what handbag matches that? Isn’t that the reality? And if we look in our linen cupboards Think about it.

And when it talks there about gold and silver corroding, now I don’t think we have to be a scientist to understand they don’t rid- Do they corrode? Do they rust away? You know, they’re precious. They last. What’s it talking about? Ladies, you’ve got a bit of silver stuff you got from Grandma maybe, you know, sitting up. What happens if it stays up on the shelf? What are you gonna do after a while? Silver polish? Because it tarnishes, doesn’t it? See, when those things sit in a while, they stay there, but you can imagine. What the picture is, you’ve got money which is not being used ’cause when you’re using money, it’s being passed from one person to the other, in the pocket, out the pocket, out the bag, in and out. It’s being used. It’s being polished through use. This is money in those days would have been like in a bag, you know, stacked up at a corner. You know, Jesus talked about the other strong man trying to keep the one out and all that sort of stuff, the thief coming. They didn’t actually have banks, did they? It’s money which is not used for your daily needs, set aside for the rainy day. It’s talking about the savings, the investments, that extra which is not needed and which is put aside and basically just sits there. Oh, yes, you gain interest, but that’s it.

So when it’s looking at that, the question is, so what? Well, when you look at that, the first question is, are you rich? And, well, I’m not the judge whether you’re rich. It’s not the world, how you compare with other people. It’s not even yourself. But Lord willing, through this you will come to understand that. Who’s the one to judge whether He’s richly blessed and provided for you? There’s only one just judge, is it not? And who’s provided all you and I have? Everything. If He’s provided it, is He going to hold us to account with what we did with it? Did we waste it? Did we sit on it?

And there’s gonna be a court case. There’s evidence gonna be projected, and that’s the second point here. It’s about the evidence. When you start looking, what happens? Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you. They’ll be held up at evidence against you. Imagine a court and the lawyer comes up, “Look at all this. It just corroded. It wasn’t used. It sat in their bank accounts. It wasn’t being used.” What does that remind you of? Remember the parable about the talents? You know, the ones What’d they do? They took what they’d received and they used it for the glory of the Master and the benefit of the Master, was it not? What’d the other one do? “Oh, you’re hard. I’d better hide it. Keep it. Dug it. Put it in a hole. Oh, here it is. Here, it’s available.” But we know what happened to him, don’t we?

So that’s the first evidence, is the very things that are rotted, wasted, corroded, sat there deteriorating because it’s not really needed, that’s held up as evidence. And the second one, uh, evidence, it talks there about, “The wages of the laborer who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud are crying out against you.” And where are those cries heard? God hears, but it’s not necessarily the workers. It says the very money itself that you have, those things you have by fraud. I don’t know how many of us actually have workers. Some of us may be in a position where we have people as, you know, under us, and certainly there’s a call there for us to look after their welfare and do what is good and right, is it not? But here’s also for those of us who aren’t, there’s other ways where you see the word fraud. You see, every time you hire a contractor to come do some work for you, how often do we sit there and negotiate? You know, screw it down so we get the best deal. Sadly, sometimes when we do that, it doesn’t leave him enough there to provide for his needs and his family, but he’s desperate for that work so he takes the job. But we can also do it on the internet, can’t we? Trade Me, all those other things where you’re selling something. You know, you go to buy something and it’s an orange, but we find all those faults and make it look like a lemon so we can get it, you know, cheaper. Or the other way, you sell a lemon and make it sound like an orange, isn’t it? Because we want it. But ultimately who’s been sold a lemon? Those people who’ve bought that and where you’ve been transacted and where your word has ne- not been right and true, that’s fraud and God hears. And it’s actually all recorded for you to hear and to be held up against you.

And the other one is there, the evidence will be the way you use what you received. You see that there in verse 5 where it talks about you’ve lived in the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. Aren’t those terrible? Imagine that, God saying to you, you have lived a life of luxury and self-indulgence. Who are you not thinking of? Who does that remind you of? Jesus told another parable. Anyone know it? Which one am I thinking of? The rich man and Lazarus, dressed in fine raiments, who feasted In the parable it says, “Feasted sumptuously.” Self-indulge- And what did he not notice? Lazarus outside his gates, afflicted with sores, hungry, just wanting the crumbs, but the rich man was too self-indulgent to think about anyone else but himself. Is that you? Is that me?

But in this text there is comfort. There’s words of comfort. think, “Where?” Anyone ne- See it? Anyone notice it, those words of comfort there? Hmm. Here’s the first one. You see, it talks there about the people who mowed the fields, who had their wages kept by- back by fraud, what happened to their cries? Where were they heard? In heaven. You see, for a person who’s been maligned, who’s suffered Remember I asked who’s bought a lemon? God hears. When someone’s mistreated you, God has heard and what will happen to that person who’s done it? He will hold them accountable. We don’t have to seek justice. We can leave it in the hands of Almighty God. He’ll make all things right. Remember Lazarus and, uh, the rich man. Didn’t God make it right? Yes. Where’d Lazarus end up? Bosom of Abraham. Where did the rich man end up? Well, he’d had his comfort. He had the opposite. He was the one who was weeping and howling with misery.

But there’s another group of people who cry out to God. It talks there about the fact about the cries of the harvesters having reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. And yes, there are You could say, “Yes, that’s workers, working in our fields, working for us, just like the people who mowed our fields,” but I think there’s another picture there. Harvesters. What did Jesus say? “Look up. You see how the fields are ripe.” For what? For harvest. Pray that the Lord will send out workers into the harvest field. I believe this is pointing at the people who are working in the Lord’s harvest field, and they cry to God, “Lord, I’ve heard your call. I’ve gone out. I have needs. Please provide it. Lord, there’s this work to do, but we need this support. We need this to enable us to do You put it in our hearts, but we need these things.” Isn’t it? There’s workers in the harvest field, both here, near, and far, who cry out to God in prayer, “Lord,” and they trust and depend on him. But when they cry to God, how does God provide for the workers in his harvest field? Does he send it from heaven, or does he use his people to support the work of hi- their fellow brothers and sisters, calling people out of darkness i- to his marvelous son, Jesus Christ? They can’t do it without our support.

How would you feel? You’re working on the mission field. You’re struggling. Your organization says you need this certain amount, w- of support. Otherwise, “Sorry, you’re gonna Not gonna be able to come back, or you’ll have to go.” It does happen. We’ve seen it in Papua New Guinea. I know they don’t do it, but how does God feel when he sees their brothers and sisters sitting on the things that could be used to keep them working and serving there? And yes, God will provide, kingdom wil- won’t grow. We pray, “Lord, you know, your kingdom come,” but how does it come? Yes, by His Spirit, but God uses people, and those people need support.

But, as I said, we have the comfort there, because those workers there, their cries are heard in heaven, and God will provide. Yes, he’ll provide with or without you and I, because he’s God. But their cries are heard. The Gospel will go out, and people will be saved. That will be heard.

There’s something else when you look at our text. As you notice when you’re going through there, it’s all in past tense. “Your r- riches have rotted.” It’s all in the past. That’s good news. Why? You see, the first part starts, “Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.” What does that mean? God is speaking to you and I and saying, “This has happened. These cries have gone up.” It’s a warning. It’s an opportunity for us to what? Repent. Isn’t it? You see, we’re called here to weep and howl in repentance for what we’ve done. call out for God for mercy, and change, and say, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” We’re not to be like the rich fool. We remember the one, not the rich fool, the rich young ruler, you know? “Sell it all, give it up, follow me.” Oh, no, he loved his money too much, didn’t he?

You see, we’re more likely to be like the shrewd manager. You’ve understood that strange one, you know? Give the master’s money away, waste it. Jesus was teaching us. The world look at what you and I do with our money and say, “What a waste. Why would you do it?” But we’re doing it for eternity, to provide a place of comfort for the time after here. We can waste God’s money. While the world would say, “It’s wasted,” God would say, “No, that’s what I want you to do with it.”

You see, all we have received, we receive from God, we will give an account. This is not about This is about attitude. God provides for our needs, and if He provides us h- extra, there’s a purpose for it, for His glory. Have you ever heard anyone giving too much to the Kingdom of God? Anyone ever heard of someone who’s been short and destitute because they were generous to God’s people or for the kingdom for missions? I’ve never heard of it. I’ve heard someone say, “You can’t out-give God.” I’ve heard people try to give so much away, they g- gave their car away and someone gave them one back, and then they kept on giving it away, and God repla- kept on replacing it. It’s just amazing how God works.

You see, we don’t trust our money. We trust the God who provides it. That’s where our trust and hope is. But as we look at this, we come to the last verse, which I haven’t actually mentioned, where it says, “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” And we think, “Oh, have I condemned someone? Have I killed someone?” Well, we could do that because there’s needy people around us. And by us failing to have a heart, and a generous heart, giving and helping them A bit like what happened to Lazarus. Remember? The sores and the there? And you could do it like that. But it talks there about the righteous person. Who here is truly righteous in and of themselves? Anyone? See, that’s the point. None of us is truly righteous. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There’s none righteous, not even one. Well, there was one. There’s only one truly righteous man. Jesus Christ, son of God and son of man. And because we’ve failed in so many sins, not just here, many other things, we condemned him and had him murdered. It’s true. Because if he was not condemned and killed, you and I would still be lost in our sins. Your and my sins demanded that he had to die. Remember? He lived a life that we could not. He died the death that we deserved. We condemned him. And did he resist? Jesus, who had all the riches of heaven, humbled Himself, became poor. He gave it all up for you and I and even gave up His life for you and I.

So when we look at this, it’s not the fact that we’re looking, what are we going to do to money to earn? No. We’ve received our riches, but where are our riches? Where are our true riches? In Jesus Christ in heaven. He is our riches. That is where we have our riches laid up. So let’s not lay up riches here on Earth, which do no good. Let’s take what the Lord has done. Yes, use it for our needs, but when we’ve got extra, let’s use it for the sake of Jesus Christ. What did he say? “When you do it to the least of these, you do it to me.” That’s what we do out of thanks, out of appreciation.

I don’t have to talk about you laying up treasure. Well, are you gonna do it, brownie points and everything? No. If we’ve got Christ, we’ve got it all. All the rest is just purely Let eternity sort that out. All we have, we receive from God by His grace. The greatest thing we received is salvation, a faith in this wonderful Savior, and God provides us all our needs. What do we do with that? Just like salvation, Jesus is there. If we don’t take it and receive it and use it, it is of no good. Is it? See, Jesus can die, but if we don’t accept Him as our Savior, it does us no good. gotta go from head. It’s got to go to heart, to apply to our hearts and our lives. And the same with the things we receive. It’s no good just sitting there doing nothing. It’s not about leaving an inheritance for your children. The greatest inheritance you can leave for your children and your family is a godly upbringing and love for Jesus Christ in a selfless way, not self-indulgence and luxury, even though that’s all nice. Give me my comforts in heaven, is it not?

So, my brother, my sister, don’t you hate those sermons about money? But this is a call, not for me to judge you, but to go to God in prayer. Lord, what have I received? Am I using it in a way which is good and right and pleasing to you? What would you rather have, God’s smile or His frown? What cries go up to heaven about you? Is there money crying, saying, “We’re wasting doing nothing”? Or is it, “So disappear fast. You’re being a blessing,” so that God’s people and those who receive the benefits of you using what God has given you for His glory, so that they bring praises to our Father in heaven and glorify Him, that God is willing to use you and I for His purpose?

I mean, I don’t like preaching about money. You probably don’t like hearing a sermon about money. It’s uncomfortable. Like I say, money’s, you know, the hardest thing, but may God give us the grace to ex- hear what He’s got to say, to examine our attitudes, to look at what we have and say, “I have to give an account for that.” We’re all gonna stand before God. We will. Gonna give an account. You’ve heard the parables, you know, they called them up and what did they do? What do you want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or, “Depart from me”? May not be. May each one of us hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You used the little things I have. Come. Enjoy the glory in my presence.” Amen.

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