Turning James 5 On Its Head!

Our passage on Sunday was a challenging one, one that sounds like bad news, but is really Good News.  Just as James pronounces judgment on the rich oppressors, he is also describing for us the opposite of what you and I are to become as followers of Jesus.  First, let's re-read James 5.1-6:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Next, let's turn James 5 on its head.  What might the passage look like if the rich were doing what God wanted, instead of what God hated?  What does God love, in other words?  You can write your own, of course, but here's my version:

Now listen, brothers and sisters, you who have been materially blessed and do what is right with all that has been entrusted to you.  Rejoice that your good works are pleasing to God!  Your wealth is as secure as treasure laid up in heaven.  It has not rotted, but has been kept safe.  Moths have not eaten away your clothing.  Your gold and silver are pristine, kept safe from corrosion – as is your very life!  You have generously shared what you have been given and because of that, you have truly laid up for yourselves treasures in heaven!  Look!  The fair and timely and just wages you paid those who worked for you shout praises to God Most High!  The choices you made to live just and caring lives honor his name!  The workers you treated with compassion, mercy and justice celebrate your faithfulness to God’s ways and character!  You have lived on the earth modestly and in selfless sacrifice for the needs of others.  You have nothing to fear when Judgment arrives!  Instead of taking life, you have preserved it!  Instead of opposing Christ, you have served him well and partnered with him in the building of his Kingdom!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Jesus now says to you, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world."

May each of us live fully into God's compassion, mercy and justice and one day hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"  Amen.