Share Your Wealth.

James was concerned about the exploitation of the poor by "rich people." The Bible nowhere condemns wealth in and of itself. Material possessions are in fact often viewed as blessings from God (Prov. 10:22). Poole says, "he speaks to them not simply as rich, (for riches and grace sometimes may go together), but as wicked, not only wallowing in wealth, but abusing it to pride, luxury, oppression, and cruelty." James generalizes that the rich are susceptible to the temptation to exploit the poor or to ignore their legitimate needs (cf. Jas. 2:2, 6-7; cf. Psa. 73). Those who fail to be charitable promote oppression. They will receive God's severe judgment (Luke 6:24). Richardson states, "Only certain passages in the Gospels anticipate the kind of condemnations leveled here against the rich (e.g., Matt 19:23-24; Mark 10:25; Luke 1:53; 6:24; 16:19-31; 21:1-4)."

Taking a prophetic tone similar to that in 4:4-5, 9-10, James calls the rich to weep and wail at the impending judgment of God (Isa. 13:6; Isa. 15:3; Amos 8:3). Unlike his call to repentance from sins of speech, James does not offer any options of return, restitution or reconciliation. Those who fail to be generous and cheat their workers face miseries from judgment (cf. Lk 6:24), because they have chosen friendship with the world instead of friendship with the God of the oppressed.

Righteously acquired wealth is a blessing from God (i.e. Job). However wealth should not be hoarded. Kistemaker makes the point that "God has designed nature in such a way that every growing season brings forth a new supply of food for man and animals. Supplies, then, ought not to be hoarded (Luke 12:16-20); they are subject to decay. What God has provided in nature should be used for the daily sustenance of his creatures (Matt. 6:19). With proper distribution of these supplies no one needs to be hungry, for God's bountiful earth produces sufficient food for all."

Sinfully hoarded wealth is a cause for God's judgment.

Again, echoing Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:19-20), James underscores the corrosive influence and definitive end of misused wealth. In sharp contrast to the immaculate garments and shining jewels of the rich, the result for those among them who ignore the cries of the weak (cf. Lk 16:19-31) or who decide to withhold wages from their workers or pay them unjustly is to experience their own miseries in judgment.

Failure to pay wages to others is a violation of the law of God. Wages are not only to be paid but are to be paid on time (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15; cf. Prov. 3:27-28; Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; ). In today's society this means paying overtime and equal benefits to all. See WLC 142.

We know Vincent Van Gogh was a famous a post-impressionist Dutch artist. However, he was reportedly a man of deep personal faith in Christ. He was the son of a Protestant minister, Theodorus Van Gogh. Van Gogh served as a Methodist minister's assistant as a young man. Earlier in his life, he translated passages of the Bible to English, French, and German. He studied for a brief time at a protestant missions school near Brussels and from there went to the missions field. In 1878, he took up a temporary missionary position as an evangelist in small mining community in Belgium. Van Gogh being distraught with the kind of poverty he witnessed committed to live a poor meager lifestyle amongst the mining workers in order to 'be all things to all men.' He even gave away his clothes to the poor, which disturbed people around him. His pious lifestyle was not well received by the local priesthood. They accused him of "undermining the dignity of the priesthood."

In 1880, Vincent moved to Brussels. He decided to become an artist, feeling this was his last recourse at doing God's work. During Van Gogh's Dutch period (1880-1886) he created works in which his overriding concerns for his fellow man were growing. The subjects of his work were poor people, miners, peasants, and inhabitants of almshouses (Paintings: The Poor and Money, The Potato Eaters, Enclosed Field with a Sower in the Rain, Quay with Men Unloading Sand Barges, Field with Factory, Carpenter's Yard and Laundry, Peat Field, The Loom, etc.). He never seemed to be able to reconcile what he understood about God with what he perceived in the Church.

James paints the portrait of the rich man who defrauds, God's people, his Church, and his Kingdom. How many of God's people have been tortured - as Van Gogh was (alcoholism, depression, mental illness, etc.) - by a Church that does not care for and minister to the poor!!! While a man is responsible for his own sin, how much has his sin been influenced by a corrupt "rich" Church? While the rich now pay millions for paintings of the poor, the poor still suffer at the rich man's gates! Oh, the hypocrisy - "The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty."

The withheld and unjust pay of the laborers cries out against the rich, because it is a direct violation of God’s Law (Lev 19:13; Deut 24:14-15). Moses commanded those who hired laborers to pay wages on the same day that the work was done. Finding excuses not to pay them, keeping no written records which many workers could not read, day laborers had little recourse in the courts, which often sided with the rich, who could afford bribes. The cries of the workers is reminiscent of Abel’s blood (Gen. 4:10) and the outcry of enslaved Israel (Ex. 2:23).

Calvin in "A Harmony of the Gospels" states, "Not for nothing does the Lord by His prophets throw sharp words at those who sleep on ivory couches, who pour on precious unguents, who entrance their palates with sweetness to the notes of the zither, to all intents like fat cattle in rich pastures. All this is said to make us keep a perspective in all our creature comforts; self-indulgence wins no favour with God."

The rich are likened to animals being fattened in preparation for slaughter. The contented livestock are oblivious to the disaster awaiting them. For the unbeliever, every blessing turns ultimately into a curse, because for each good thing received from God's providence without a response of gratitude and honor, there is a corresponding increase of guilt and judgment.

Reminiscent of Jesus’ description of the rich man and Lazarus, James describes how the luxury and indulgence of the rich has prepared them for judgment like a fattened calf for slaughter. By failing to provide fair and timely wages the rich have killed the poor.