Many Topics James Ends With - James 5

5:1-6 - It seems like many in James’ audience are men of means, or of riches, and it’s kind of an interesting cycle because when we are righteous one of the blessings God can give us is physical wealth, especially when it comes to paying tithing. But then that wealth can create different spiritual problems for us if we don’t see it for what it is, a gift from God given to us as stewards to care for others. There is also another concept I was talking to my brother about concerning wealth and righteousness. He has left the church and something he said to me makes a lot of sense and that is that in the Church there’s a culture where wealth has been linked to someone’s righteousness. Meaning that people look at the wealthy and think, “that person must be very righteous for God to bless them with so much money, so we should listen to what they have to say.” That gives added influence to those who want to use their wealth to only benefit themselves and gives a free pass to the charlatans. It also implies that the opposite is true, that if someone is poor it is because they are not righteous enough for God to bless them with money. It’s a tricky balance because “riches” can come as blessings through righteousness, but it can also come from wickedness, dishonesty, etc. So I guess the only way to be sure that you are judging someone’s accumulation of wealth correctly is to not. Meaning that we should give respect to all people regardless of their wealth or social status and decide that someone’s financial situation is between them and God. Remember that Lot was rich and then he became poor and it was through no fault of his own. And we should give the greatest influence in our lives to the prophets and the Spirit. James comes out swinging warning, “ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” At first I thought that he was just giving general warnings, but the IM says, “James specifically identified three ares of concern: (1) hoarding wealth (see James 5:2-3), meaning accumulating so much material wealth that it sits unused and decaying; (2) failing to pay wages to employees (see verse 4); (3) living a luxurious and self-indulgent lifestyle (see verse 5)… In verse 4, James wrote that the cries of those defrauded by their deceitful employers ‘are entered into the ears of the Lord.” This is pertinent to issues that the US is facing today like with Jeff Bezos being worth so much money that he goes into space instead of helping others or employers to fail to pay a proper wage to their employees. It’s just interesting the benchmarks that James puts here. He doesn’t say “you’ll go to hell if you’re rich,” because ultimately that can’t be true is wealth can be a blessing of righteousness. But what he does say is that riches need to be used in certain ways to help others or else those same riches will testify against us “in a day of slaughter.” 5:7-9 – Even though those who are taken advantage of by their employers might not see immediate punishment, but James urges patience and uses an analogy that most of his ancient Christian audience would have been familiar with but that was pretty far removed from my understanding today. I have always struggled with the concept of Jesus coming 2,000 years ago and saying, “I’ll be back and then it will be great.” I always thought, “why not just make it great right now,” but even though I am not an ancient farmer, this analogy helped my understanding. James says that waiting for the Lord is about having “patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” I had no idea what this meant, but the IM explains that in the planting season, there are rains that come early, right after the seeds are planted then the seeds spend the rest of the season growing, then the late rains come the plants get the last little needed bit of nutrition to become great ripe food for the harvest. The IM quotes Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Our Lord’s return is like the planting and harvesting of crops by an husbandman. The seeds are sown at his first coming and are watered by the early rains so that they sprout and take root. Then after a long wait, attended by much patience and endurance on the part of the saints, amid the latter rains, the rains that ripen the harvest, he comes again to pluck the fruit of his vineyard and to reign on earth a thousand years with those who have kept the faith.” This helped me understand more about the world not being ready for Christ’s kingdom on earth when he came the first time. It’s difficult to understand but it helped me put it in a little bit more perspective. 5:10-15 - All of the concepts that James has addressed can be overwhelming, but James notes “take, my brethren, the prophets… so an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.” Jesus Christ is our absolutely best example and who we should strive to be like. But there are a lot of different circumstances in which we might find ourselves that Jesus didn’t encounter during his earthly ministry. For instance, Jesus didn’t live alone after his whole nation had been slaughtered and wandered in the wilderness for 27 years without any other friendly human contact, but Moroni did. Jesus wasn’t a rich, influential man with 10 children who were killed in a windstorm and then he lost all his wealth and became destitute, but Job did. The list goes on and on of people we can learn of who kept the commandments in the face of adversity and were patient and endured. James specifically mentions Job, and the IM mentions Joseph Smith and these are great examples, but there are literally hundreds of people’s lives that we can look to for examples of both what to do and what not to do. James continues encouraging the “brethren,” or as I take it, all of us, to be simple and honest in our communications with each other, to sing and pray, and to “call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick.” Again, this is another concept that I struggle with because there’s no amount of faith that will negate God’s will. If it is God’s will that we die, then no blessing will save us, or if it is God’s will that we endure disease, no prayer can take that away. So why then do we make healing contingent on a blessing from a Melchizedek priesthood holder? I’ve heard many accounts where a sickness was promised to heal and it didn’t or a pregnancy was promised to continue and then she miscarried. So does that mean the person giving the blessing was unworthy? Does it mean the person being blessed didn’t have enough faith? Probably not. The IM quotes Dallin H. Oaks as explaining, “When elder anoint a sick person and seal the anointing, they open the windows of heaven for the Lord to pour forth the blessing He wills for the person afflicted.” Sometimes that is physical healing, sometimes that might be peace of mind and spirit. I have a friend whose mother died when she was very young. After the mom was diagnosed with cancer and told she didn’t have very long to live, her husband (my friend’s dad) prayed and prayed for her to be healed and the answer that came to him was “SHE LIVES!” He was convinced that this meant that there would be a miraculous recovery for her, but there wasn’t and she died a very short time later. It took years for my friend’s dad to see that answer in a different way than he did initially. Eventually he was able to see that answer in the eternal perspective, that even though her body died, her spirit remained and always would. Sometimes we have to take our blessings and prayers in that way too, the eternal perspective. 5:16-20 – Not only can we look to the prophets for examples on how to endure in faith, but also on the power of faith. James assures the people, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Elias was human just like everyone else, but he was able to build his faith until “he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.” Then he prayed again and “the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” Finally, James ends his epistle by reminding the people sharing the gospel with others is so important because “he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” We don’t share the gospel because we get extra heaven points or any special privileges in church. And there is something to be said to the idea that we want people to join the church because it subconsciously validates our own choice, but I think that we should remember that we share the gospel not for us, but for others. We love Jesus and the gospel and want that happiness for others as well. That’s the pure motivation that we should have and I’m sure that Jesus would be happy to help us refocus if we ask Him too.