Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. (James 1:9,10,11)
I recall my husband Dan and I visiting Monument Valley in Utah one spring to help the little hospital located there to repair some equipment. (There used to be a mission with a thirty-bed hospital located at Rock Door Canyon. The next nearest hospital was over a hundred miles away, so people came here, were stabilized, and often taken to the larger one as needed. It served the Navaho people for many years.) In the desert in the spring, there are flowers, and they are intensively beautiful. The purple, deep scarlet, achingly deep oranges, almost iridescent yellow, and purest white flowers seem to cover the ground, climb up over rocks, and die quick, so you need to take pictures while you can because the sun comes after the rains and they are gone.
This verse reminded me of that good time of service and the image comes back to my mind’s eye as I imagine James writing his letter, thinking of the flowers in the fields.
There was a problem developing back then in the church that still exists today between the wealthy in goods and the rich in spirit.
There is a difference between financial poverty and spiritual poverty. Financial poverty is inconvenient but it passes; the true Christian knows there is a reward later and if he gives up something for God, and uses resources here for God, he will be repaid by God a thousand times. The financially wealthy have trouble with the hereafter, being so much worried about the here and now. They sometimes seem to forget that, though they have been greatly blessed here by fiscal riches, when they pass away, it stays.
James starts here to help his church family understand that God treats everyone in His care equally. You can’t buy God, you can’t sell God; you can only serve and accept Him and His leading. That leading will impel you to help others. There are different kinds of poverty. One of them is the act of being so proud of yourself and your accomplishments you forget just how inconsequential you are in reality.
There is a native tale told called “the Beaver”.
Long years ago, when the eagle flew to watch and report to He-Who-Creates-with-a-Thought (in Lenape, Kishelëmienk) those things that happened here on earth, he spied something odd, landed in a tall pine and studied for a while, then flew way up into the Skylands to speak to the Creator.
“You must come down and look,” he sputtered. “I do not believe what I see.”
So Kishelëmienk shrank himself to the size of a small mouse and came down on eagle’s back. The eagle brother landed by a pond. Kishelëmienk got off his back, walked over to the pond, and knelt for a drink.
Suddenly, up splashed Beaver with a mighty shout. “Stop! Who goes there! Why are you drinking from my pond? I built this pond. Not even the two-leggeds can build like me! You need my permission to drink this water.”
“But surely the Creator made the water,” meekly rebuffed the Creator who was small as a mouse.
“He made it and He left, and I control this water! Now either bow to me or go away thirsty.”
And then He-Who-Creates-With-a-Thought grew and grew until he was tall as a mighty pine tree. He reached down and grabbed the little beaver with his thumb and finger by the tail and held him up.
“Oh, beaver! What am I to do with you? You do not own the water or the earth. You were made to be of service to all, not lord it over people because you have done one thing well.” He shook the frightened animal a moment and then smiled. “There, that will mark you now, go along and tend the dam and stop this nonsense.” Creator had squeezed his tail flat.
And if you look at a beaver’s tail today, they have the fingerprint of Creator on their tail; they are shy creatures who dive and hide instead of bragging. You should not brag, for who knows what Creator will flatten on you to make you understand you are a servant?
The wisdom tale gives us pause and makes us think: God does not want us to judge each other over our material goods. He wants us to be rich in His gifts, love, joy, peace, long-suffering – all the spiritual gifts He gives as we need them. The wealthy man should not take comfort in the power that wealth gives him for a little while; he should be humble. And the poor man should be happy that so many times, Jesus while on earth used the poor as a lesson to others: the widow’s mite, the lilies of the field, Blessed are the poor… and He speaks in His word about helping the poor always. Poverty is inconvenient, but life is short. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the web of acquisition, of finding things we want and spending our time on those things, we run the risk of driving away what is really important, the eternal riches of God.
And as a therapist, I can tell you that those who are content with what they have and are not always striving for just one more of something, have peace of mind and quiet in their hearts. They withstand crisis easier because they have a view of what is beyond it. A problem happens and they trust in God and in each other to get them through it. Real faith really is joyful even when life is hard. Don’t allow life’s problems to steal your joy, don’t allow greed to drive your work, don’t submit to the idea that one person is better than another before God; they are all urban legends, so to speak, myths sent us by the devil himself to disquiet our souls.
James is not saying we need to redistribute wealth here; he is suggesting that we use it more wisely, in such a way as to honor God and not ourselves. He’s also not suggesting we should rub the magic lamp of faith and make a wish for riches and power and fame. Those do not come automatically to the Christian, and they ought not to be that big a concern as we make them. In these first few verses of the book, he tells us that true faith has joy even in trouble, he tells us that true faith asks for wisdom to face such trouble, and here in these verses, true faith accepts God’s perspective on what is wealth and what is poverty. He is showing from the very beginning of the book ways to test one’s own faith – not someone else’s; that’s not our job. But we should look at ourselves and measure ourselves against the tests James puts here; do we ask for wisdom? Does crisis destroy our joy? Do we know what is needed and what is simply wanted? Do we live according to the principles of heaven or earth? Those are things to consider as you go about your day.