The Weak and the Wealthy (James 1:9-11)

This sermon was preached to Canon Court Evangelical Church on 17 August 2025. The manuscript for the sermon can be found below.

Once upon a time, there lived a man who was very very rich. Indeed, he was so rich, he wore the most expensive clothes and feasted on the finest food every day with all of his other rich friends. This rich man lived in a luxurious mansion, with a long private driveway and large gates at the bottom of the drive to keep unwanted visitors away. However, at those gates, on the side of the main road, you would often see another very different kind of man sitting. His name was Lazarus and not only was he very sick, with his skin covered in all kinds of rashes and blisters, but he was also very very poor. In fact, that was why he lived there at the side of the road next to the rich man’s house. For the only hope he had of getting food was to wait for the rich man’s servants to wheel the bins out for collection, as Lazarus could then quickly rummage through to find some leftovers from the latest feast. Indeed, he often found himself looking there alongside the local scavenger dogs, rummaging through the rubbish together, just to try and survive. Given his diet, and many diseases, it is unsurprising that this poor man didn’t last very long. For the locals woke up to find Lazurus lying dead outside those same gates one morning. However, as the story goes, his fortunes soon improved. For it is said that the angels carried poor Lazarus up to heaven. On the other hand, when the rich man in the luxurious mansion died, his fortunes immediately faded, for he was sent to Hell instead.

If you have read much of the Bible, that story I have just told may sound very familiar to you. And that is because is a version of a story that Jesus himself told in Luke 16. It is unclear whether the story is true, or simply made up by Jesus to illustrate a truth, like many of his other parables. Nevertheless, even if it is as a parable, the point is clear. Jesus used it to teach that the story of our life may have a twist in the tale, a change in fortune. That there will often be a contrast between our present position in this world, and our future fate in the next. It’s a point Jesus often made, for example, by famously saying, ‘The last will be first and the first will be last.’ And I wonder if these sayings and stories, caused James, the author of our passage tonight, to write these words here.

As we heard this morning, James was not only an early follower of Jesus, but he was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and likely one of Jesus’ younger brothers, a later son of Mary and Joseph. He was around during the ministry of Jesus, and he perhaps heard that story about the rich man and Lazurus. However, whether he was familiar with it or not, it is obvious that Jesus’ story, and this section of James’ letter, share a common perspective, cause us to ponder similar points, consider the contrast between what life is like for us in the present, and what it may be like for us in the future. This evening, we are going to reflect on these verses in two points. First of all, we are going to take time to consider: (1) Your Present Position. What is your status in this life? And then we will go on to spend most of our time this evening focusing on our second point, as we carefully think about: (2) Your Future Fate. What will your status be in the next life? How could your fortunes change for better or worse? [...]

1.     YOUR PRESENT POSITION

This is of course the starting point for what James says here in 1:9. Addressing his readers, he writes, ‘Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation...’. James immediately draws a contrast between two very different positions in the present. The first one he mentions is a general category, for he speaks of those who are ‘lowly’. That is those of low position, of little significance in the eyes of the world. These are the kinds of people who don’t have many Facebook friends or Instagram followers. They weren’t popular at school, don’t draw a crowd, never make it onto TV. They are easy to overlook, aren’t considered important, impressive or influential. Now, James doesn’t tell us why these individuals are of a low position in the present, but it doesn’t take much to imagine some possible reasons. For our world often overlooks or undervalues certain kinds of people.

Indeed, perhaps you are here this evening and you know this by personal experience. As you have got older, you have found it harder to make friends, and noticed that people are less and less interested in you. A recent survey by Age UK found that 1 million people here in the UK over the age of 65 say that they are lonely. That is, the world around them, modern society, largely just ignores them. And perhaps those of you who are older feel that sometimes, that you just aren’t seen as important anymore, even that you just aren’t seen at all! Maybe it isn’t your age, but your family status that makes you feel left out, overlooked. You are single, or widowed, and it just seems that everyone is busy with their partners or families, and you don’t really have anyone to be close to. Or perhaps you have never had children, and it feels that everything is always geared towards those who do. Maybe it is your health that causes you to be looked down on, because you have a chronic illness, or disability. Perhaps it is your lack of a higher education or a professional career that seems to suggest to others you aren’t really that important. Or maybe it is ethnicity or your nationality that makes you feel left out. There are all kinds of reasons that might mean that you are seen as unimpressive, less influential, not as important in the eyes of the world.

We live in a culture that is fixated on celebrities and social media influencers. And yet, most people in our world are of a relatively low position, easily forgotten, perhaps even deliberately avoided or overlooked. That is exactly who James is speaking about here, and maybe that is the low position that you find yourself in this evening for whatever reason.

On the other hand, of course, James speaks of another group, a more specific status, that is at the very other end of the spectrum. For in 1:10 he speaks of the ‘rich’. And he seems to view the rich as the very opposite of what it means to be lowly, of a low position. That makes sense, because of course one of the quickest ways to drop to the bottom of society, become overlooked and left out, is to become poor. To be poor is often the epitome of being powerless. Poverty is linked to all kinds of negative outcomes: bad health, lower educational attainment, higher crime rate, less family stability. The only people that are probably more overlooked than the elderly, are the poor. And the opposite is also true, for the quickest way to the top of society is to accumulate wealth. Money can buy you education and airtime, political power and celebrity status. Money not only makes the world go round, but it also makes the world sit up and take notice of you! Which is why, when Jesus selected characters for the story in Luke 16, he picked a rich man in a mansion and a poor man on the street, for it is harder to think of two people who are further apart in their present positions. Perhaps you are here this evening, and you are rich. Now of course, none of us would actually call ourselves ‘rich’, for there is always someone who is far more wealthy than we are! And yet, if we honestly assessed our position, we would have to admit that we are fairly well off. Not only do we have all we need, but we generally have most of what we want as well. If we see something we like, we buy it. If we think of something we want to do, we generally do it. If we hear of a nice holiday destination, we go there. Maybe that describes you this evening? Well, if so, then James is highlighting here that you find yourself at the far end of the social spectrum, that your experience in this world will be very different to someone of lesser means or less desirable characteristics. Those are the two groups that James highlights, two positions he points to in the present: the weak and the wealthy.

And yet, if we pause and think about these verses a little longer, we will see there is a more important underlying division that James is trying to bring to our attention. For did you notice that he doesn’t just refer here to the lowly and the rich, but to the lowly ‘brother’ and the rich. Did you notice that? In 1:10, he simply refers to a rich person. But in 1:9, it is to a lowly brother, that is, not just someone who the world looks down on, but a specifically a Christian that the world looks down on. And by doing so, James is going to show us that the greatest distinction in life is not between the weak and the wealthy, but between a Christian and a non-Christian. If you are familiar with the Bible, you will know that this is something we read of time and time again. Indeed, it is something Jesus stressed in his teaching, telling us that there are only two paths in life, only two groups you ultimately belong to: the righteous or unrighteous, the wise or foolish, God’s children or his enemies. And which spiritual group you are in is going to matter so much more than whatever social group you are in, for that is what will determine the direction of your story, seal your eternal fate. The lesson of Jesus’ story in Luke 16 is not that rich men go to Hell, and poor men go to Heaven. That would cut against everything else that Jesus taught. Rather, it teaches us that you could be the richest man on earth, most popular kid in school, most impressive employee at work, and it will count for absolutely nothing in the end. For money does not matter when it comes to deciding your eternal destiny. You cannot buy or barter your way into heaven. On the other hand, you could be the most overlooked and least impressive person imaginable during life, and yet receive a royal welcome by the angelic hosts when you die. Friends, Jesus in Luke 16, James in our verses here, teach us that our status before God is more important than our status before the world. How you are seen in God’s eyes matters far far more than how you are seen in the world’s eyes. For while the world gets to pick your position for the present (whether you are weak or wealthy), it will be God who gets to finalise your fate in the future (decide whether your home will be in Heaven or in Hell).

Your present position. What is your status in the eyes of the world this evening? Are you weak or wealthy? And more importantly, what is your status in the eyes of God? Are you a brother or sister, part of his family, or not?

2.     YOUR FUTURE FATE

Every year in August, these weeks are of course important ones for our teenagers, as they get exam results back and find out which direction their lives will take. Will they go on to A-Levels or get into that training course? Will they start an apprenticeship or go on to university? And the advice we often give to young people at this stage of their lives is that if they work hard and do as well as they can in their exams, they will reap the rewards of that down the line. And we say similar things in other areas of life as well. We are told to look after our bodies now, so that we can enjoy good health into old age. Or to put money away into our pension, so that we can be provided for in retirement. Work hard at school, advance in your career, care for your health, invest your money wisely, and your future will be bright! That is generally what we say to our children, and how we approach life ourselves.

Which is why our verses seems so strange to us, for they paint a very different picture. Teach us that even if this life goes well for you, the next life may not. Even if you find yourself at the bottom of the ladder in the present, you may still ascend to the top in the future. For as James says in 1:9, those who are low in the present, will be exalted in the future. And in 1:10, those who are held in greatest honour right now, will be humbled then. And not only does he say that this will happen, but that we can be so sure of it happening that we should boast, even glory in it! Friends, this is not simply a truth you should know, but one you should be regularly rejoicing in!

If you are a Christian here this evening, I wonder if you do that. Are you more likely to grumble about the present, or glory in your future? For James says here that if you are lowly in this life, you should boast in the life to come! If you have nothing to lift your spirits in the present, then you need simply lift up your eyes and look at the future. Is your body deteriorating and health failing? Then think of the new body to come. Are you often lonely or do you miss departed loved ones? Then fix your eyes on your heavenly family and the eternal reunions awaiting you there. Are you impoverished? Do you feel unimportant and unimpressive in the eyes of those around you? Then just remember that story Jesus told in Luke 16, about the rich man and poor old Lazurus. For isn’t it strange that despite all his prominence, we are never told the name of the rich man. And yet, Lazurus’ name is recorded for us. In the story, it is the rich man whose name is forgotten, and the poor man whose name is remembered. Brothers and sisters, that’s true in enternity too. The history books of heaven will remember the names of many who have been forgotten or overlooked here on earth. There in 1:11, James tells us that the rich and powerful fade like flowers, the wealthy will wither away. And yet, to paraphrase Jesus in Matthew 13, even the lowest brother or sister in Christ will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. In the future, the wealthy will fade, while Christians flourish. And so, we should stop grumbling about our present, and start glorying in that future!

James says that if we are low now in the present, we can still boast about being exalted in the future. However, on the other hand, he says in 1:10 that if you find yourself at the top of the pile in the present, then you can boast in your future fall, that is in your humiliation. Now I don’t think James means that you should be glorying or rejoicing in this, but rather he means it ironically, tells us that if we boast in our wealth or strength now, then we are on shaky ground, for the things that we are most proud of will soon perish and fade away. As he goes on to explain in 1:10-11: [READ]. James is saying that wealthy man who boasts in his riches in the present, is like the maker of the titanic boasting in its design before it set sail. That is, setting himself up for an embarrassing fall. Or rather, to use the very illustration that James turns to here, it is like a beautiful flower boasting in its attractiveness, only for the same flower to be scorched brown by the sun a few days later. James is reminding us here that the very things that are most valued and desired by the world, ultimately do not last. And James ends 1:11 by stressing the foolishness of spine man who goes after such things, for even as he runs after them, he stumbles and falls, fades away on the midst of his pursuit. Which clearly echoes that other story that Jesus told in Luke 12, about the farmer who spent all his life building bigger and bigger barns to store more and more crops so he could have a comfortable retirement, only to die on the very night that he was about to begin to enjoy all his wealth.

I wonder whether that might describe you tonight. Are you living for something that will not last? Pouring your life into something that you will never see finished, get enough of? It might be wealth, like the man in Jesus’ story, or here in James’ verses. But it could be other things as well. For so much of what we focus on in the present will not make it into the future. Friend, your soul will last longer than your stuff. Your relationship with God will go on, far longer than any relationship in this world. And so James is urging you to give the most attention to that, to stop focusing on the flowers that fade, and to instead live for the eternal God who will exist forever. As the prophet Jeremiah put it in Jeremiah 9:23: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.” Friend, as Jesus’ story in Luke 16 teaches, it is far better to be a beggar and end up in Heaven, than to be rich and end up in Hell.

CONCLUSION

Of course, if you are familiar with that story in Luke 16, you will recall that that is not where it ends. For Jesus goes on to tell us about how the rich man is so tormented and anguished in Hell, that he begs for a drop of water to just quench his thirst, and then pleads for a chance to go back and to tell his loved ones of the terrible mistake he made. He wanted to make sure that they had a chance to know that there was another way to live, he wanted to warn them of the terrible fate that awaited them in the future if they kept running after riches like he did, and refused to repent.

And you, if you are here tonight and you are not a Christian, currently outside of God’s family in the present, then that is exactly what I want to tell you about as we close. For there is another way you can live. There is something else that you can run after apart from riches, or relationships, or whatever else it is you are pursuing, are proud of, boasting in. For, as we were thinking about in our service this morning, the Bible tells us of the one who was rich, truly rich, rich beyond all splendour, perfect in every way, set in the highest position above all creation, and yet in love, for your sake, became poor, stepped down into the lowest place, took on human flesh, and even died on the cross for your sins, so that if you repent, turn from sin and trust in him, you can be saved. Like Lazarus, regardless of how hard your life might get in the present, you too can enjoy heaven in the future, find yourself welcomed in by the angels, seated with Christ himself, who is now exalted on high, reigning and ruling over all.

Friend, whatever wealth you manage to accumulate in this life will whither, whatever strength you might have in your body will eventually diminish, whatever relationships you build in the present will have to be left behind, whatever beauty you maintain will fade away, as surely as the flowers fade in the fields all around us. But in Christ, in the Son of God slain for your sins, you have a reason to rejoice forever, a ground for boasting in for all eternity. The riches of faith in Jesus are more than enough to sacrifice whatever you may be clinging onto here on earth. Don’t make the mistake of that rich man in Jesus story. Don’t take pride in the things that are passing away, as we see here in James. Rather, base your life on Christ, fix your heart on Christ, and no matter what your present position may be, your future fate will be glorious.