Date: 29.10.17
Text: James 4:13-5:12
Place:Rhema
Title: Watching God’s clock
File: James 4b
Preacher: Stephen Taylor
The Doomsday Clock is currently set at three minutes to midnight. What is the Doomsday Clock you might ask? It is a symbolic clock face that represent a countdown to possible global catastrophe. It started in 1947 and the big issues at that time was war and nuclear weapons and so in 1947 it was set at the time of 7 minutes to midnight. But since then nuclear war implications and climate change concerns has pushed it even closer. In 2014 it was at 5 minutes to midnight but in 2015 it moved two minutes closer. And at the start of this year, the panel in charge kept it at just 3 minutes to midnight.
In doing this they released this statement. "Three minutes (to midnight) is too close. Far too close. We, the members of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, want to be clear about our decision not to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock: That decision is not good news, but an expression of dismay that world leaders continue to fail to focus their efforts and the world's attention on reducing the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change”.
These dangers “threaten the very existence of civilization & therefore should be the first order of business for leaders who care about their constituents and their countries."
Do you hear what these scientists are saying? The existence of these factors has to influence our behaviour now. The clock is ticking. The time is running out. We might only have a short time to ensure the survival of the planet.
But friends at the same time that the Doomsday Clock is ticking, so God’s clock is also ticking. The Lord’s second coming is now closer to happening that at any time in the history of the world. Jesus will soon come and bring us to the time of God’s judgement. And that must affect how we behaviour today. That’s what James will be telling us as he nears the end of his letter. Four times he asks us to look at God’s clock before urging us to put our faith into actions before it is too late. Let’s look at the first warning about
- The Coming Disappearance.
13Now listen,you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Did you notice James first warning? Your life is just a mist. It appears for a little while and then vanishes soon after. I was down at the Blue Mountains a while back and I remember looking out across the Megalong Valley and all I could see was this white fog. A thick, white mist. It was below me in the valley and it blocked everything. But a couple of hours later, the sun had burnt it off. There was nothing there. It was here one hour, gone the next. And James says that is our life, your life. We are here one day and gone the next.
And yet we act as if we are in control of the future. Look at the person James is talking about. When were they going to set out to do their business? (“today or tomorrow” )
Where would they do it? (“this or that city” ). How long would they be gone? (“spend a year”)What were they going to do? (“do business”).Why? What was their objective? (“to make money” ). They have got it all worked out. They have a decent business plan in front of them. Except they left one thing out. God. God was nowhere in their plans.
I don’t know about you but I grew up with Dr Seuss books. And there are so many great Dr Seuss stories and poems. Let me read one entitled “The Places You’ll Go.” Part of it goes like this “You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself any direction you choose.You’re on your own.And you know what you know.And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
You’re the boss. You’re the captain of your ship. You can go wherever you want. So we do something similar don’t we? I’ll get a part time job. Save some money. Buy a car. Go to uni. Study hard. Get a degree. And bingo a job, a marriage and a great life will follow.
Yes we make our plans but where is God in all of these plans? Where is the fact that our life is a mist and can be here one day and gone the next. Last year I buried my wife’s 25 year old cousin. Just driving into Newcastle late one night, hit a tree and he’s gone. Who knows when our number is up? So why do we live as if we will live forever?
James says 15“Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,we will live and do this or that.”16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil”.We can’t afford to be boastful about the future. We can’t afford to presume what will happen. To be arrogant, self absorbed, self confident.For it all depends upon God’s will. Whether you will go to this place, or make this money or get that degree is all up to him.
Now please note that James is talking to the Christian. James expects non-Christians not to factor the one true God into their planning. But James is talking to Christians who are not factoring God into the stuff of their lives. God is isolated on Sunday night for an hour, but, in the business of life He doesn't factor. There's no mention of God. There's no indication of prayer. There's no humility about what might or might not happen tomorrow. James is describing a person who is not factoring the most important factor in all of life, God.
Now, James is not saying we can’t plan. He's not saying, “Don't budget.” is talking about a way of life that can invade our own thinking and can affect our speech if we are not careful. Where we forget we are ignorant of the future, we just don’t know what is around the corner. Where we forget we are weak and frail but fortunately God is strong and in control. And so we don’t depend upon God, we depend upon ourselves.
So if we were to live with reference to God’s clock knowing that one day we would disappear off the face of this earth then we wouldn’t be arrogant or self absorbed. Instead we would be open to God’s plans. We would be prayerful including him in all our thoughts about the future, in all our plans for work and love and friendship. And we would seek to include him in everything we do. Let’s continue verse 1.
- The Coming Condemnation.
“Now listen,you rich people,weep and wailbecause of the misery that is coming on you.2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.3Your 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.4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workerswho mowed your fields are crying out against you. The criesof the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselvesin the day of slaughter.”
There is a day when we will disappear from this earth and there will be a day when if we have misused our wealth then we will be condemned. So James says you rich people look at God’s clock. You will mourn &cry because a time is coming when you are going to lose it all.
In the first century Middle Eastern culture, wealth was measured in three ways: grain, garments and gold. But here the rich had so much food that it was rotting in their bins. They had a lot of fancy clothing that was filled with holes caused by moths. And their gold and silver, the most durable forms of wealth, had lost its lusture because it was hidden under piles of other stuff that they had too much of.
Now the problem that James has is not with riches itself. God will not condemn us just because we are rich. But the problem in verses 2 & 3 is that they have hoarded their wealth. Not used it wisely. Actually not used it at all so that rust and moths have spoiled it. Then in verse 4 the problem is how they got their riches, it has been at the expense of the poor. They failed to pay the workers who have mowed their fields. They have exploited the most vulnerable. And in verse 5 they have been self indulgent. Lived in luxury while their neighbours are poor and don’t have enough.
As Lignon Duncan an American preacher puts it. “The giving of a significant proportion of our wealth for the Lord Jesus, a giving of a significant proportion of our wealth for the aid of the needy, (and lastly) a moderate and modest self use of our wealth, are all three conducive to our resisting sin in these areas”.
Now James is not talking to us is he? None of us here today are rich are we?Well let’s think about that in three ways; historically, globally, and personally. Historically, it is simply a fact that we live in one of the richest nations in the world, and we live in one of the richest nations in the history of the world, which means we are some of the richest Christians in the history of the world. We are rich by comparison to those who have lived in the past.
Think globally as well. Amongst the Christians who live on this planet right now, we are without question among the wealthiest Christians on this planet and we have brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world who are starving right now. And personally we are probably as rich today than we have ever been before in our lives. So we need to make sure that we have not been blinded by our riches. And we need to realise that God’s clock is ticking and we will need to give an account of all that we have done with our riches.
So are we hoarding our wealth? Do you have cupboards worth of stuff that you don’t use and that it getting spoilt by being unused? Why not unclutter those cupboards. Don’t just throw them out but give them to others who might be in need or give them to a charity. And let us not just buy more and more things. Can we work to live more simply? Less dependent upon things, not having to have the latest clothes or phone or technology.
And how have we gained our wealth? At the expense of others? At the expense of the tax man? Have we just worked for cash and then not declared it? Have we ripped someone else off in amassing our money? Have we paid people a fair rate when they have worked for us? Have we been ethical in our investments? Have we only supported companies that pay fair wages and that provide safe working conditions?
Actually it might go deeper than that as well. Look back at James 4:17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. Sins are not just what we do wrong but what we didn’t do right. Have we been concerned with the world’s poor? Are we interested in those who have fallen through the cracks of our society? Are we generous with what we have been given? Are there things we have failed to do with our money?
Preacher Randy Alcorn has said, “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving.” So how is our standard of giving?Friends if God will condemn the rich if they have hoarded their wealth, trodden on the poor and been self indulgent with their possessions then we need to keep an eye on God’s clock so that we are ready for Jesus to coming again. We must be content whether we are full or empty and honest in all our financial dealings.. Because the Lord is coming. Look at what James says next.
- The coming Lord
7Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s comingis near.
God’s clock is ticking. The Lord’s coming is near. The harvest of souls is almost ready. Just as the farmer plants his crop, waits patiently for the rain and has little control over whether the crop will be small, large or a bumper one so we need to be patient as we wait for the Lord to come again.
And part of that waiting will involve suffering. Look at what he says in verse 10. 10“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophetswho spoke in the name of the Lord.11As you know, we count as blessedthose who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseveranceand have seen what the Lord finally brought about.The Lord is full of compassion and mercy”.
The Christian life is not about amassing the most toys we can fit into our lives and removing ourselves from the pain of everyday living, it is about living in the light of the Lord’s coming. Growing the Kingdom of God. Being involved in people’s lives. Life wasn’t meant to be easy. The Christian life is far from easy. And if you are going to stand up and be one of God’s people there will be a target placed on your back. If you are faithful to God’s commands you won’t get immunity from suffering you will actually get more suffering!
Looks at the prophets, Jeremiah was hunted by the men of his home town specifically because they wanted to stop him from speaking in the name of the Lord (Jer 11:21). Ezekiel’s wife dies and God uses it as a prophecy to his people. God allows Hosea’s marriage to break down, Jonah is sent to a cruel and heartless people.
James mentions the story of Job, a good man, a righteousness man who was tested to within an inch of his life by Satan. He lost his kids, his home, his wealth, his friends, his dignity. Everything but his faith. But here was a man who was patient in his suffering. Persevered through his trials and found out that God was full of compassion and mercy.
In the midst of suffering you might be tempted to throw in the towel. To give up, even to grumble. But look to God’s clock. Remember the Lord’s return and be patient. So if life hasn’t turned out the way that you had hoped it would turn out. If you are being poorly treated by friends, you can’t find a life’s partner, or you had a life’s partner but have now lost them. You are struggling mentally or fearfully. You can’t get a job or your future is uncertain. Then stand firm. Be patient. The Lord’s coming is near.
Slide 20
- And the coming judgement will be soon.
9Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters,or you will be judged. The Judgeis standing at the door!The Judge is right now at the door. The time of judgement could be any moment now. So if you are suffering, remember this suffering will not last forever. The judge will come and relieve you of that righteous suffering. If you are poor and being exploited by the rich, hang in there a little longer. They will be judged for all the wrongdoing they heaped upon you. If you are waiting patiently for the crop of righteousness to be gathered in or if you have been spreading seeds for the Kingdom and nothing seems to be happening, don’t worry. The judge is standing at the door.
But remember that judgement is a two way street. And you will be judged as well. So watch your mouth, James says, “don’t grumble against each other”. Don’t gossip behind other people’s backs. Don’t judge someone before you have walked a mile in their shoes because you will be judged justly for all the words that come out of your mouth. And the measure you use to judge someone else is the measure that the righteous judge will use on you.
Someone who seems to me to do that was missionary Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission in the 1860's. He believed fervently in the impending return of Christ. His belief influenced him to make the evangelism of unreached areas of China His primary aim. His beliefs about Christ's return gave him direction and urgency in the establishment of the mission.
He once said "Our belief in the return of Christ can provide us courage to face difficulty. It can give us stamina to endure persecution. It can deepen our hope that God will provide us reward and recognition to vindicate our actions."In short keep your eye on God’s clock. Its three minutes to midnight and we want to show our thanks for what Jesus did for us by giving our all to him. We want to live in the light of what might happen any minute now.