Evil Roots

James 5:4-6 says



"For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven's Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who did not resist you."



When I read this I immediately thought of large American corporations. Those who have been acused of violating human rights and child labor laws with their overseas manufacturing. Taking advantage of third world poverty allowing manufacturing at pennies on the dollar for the sake of wide profit margins. I think of the poultry company chronicled in the documentary Food, Inc. that would bus in illegal immigrants to work at below poverty wages....then seasonally when they were no longer needed, would call immigration authorities to have them arrested and deported. Or, for that matter, the companies and small businesses all over the country that employ undocumented workers at very low wages enticing them to illegally cross borders to create a better life for their family at the risk of their own life and risk of arrest. I also think of the AG giant also chronicled in Food, Inc that created patents on their seeds that puts small, honest, hard working farmers at risk of going out of business, or worse, criminal charges.



I think of BP, who hoard massive amounts of money, have record setting earnings and are able to drill for free off our shores yet don't spend the money to take precautions against enormous environmental disasters that destroy God's creation and put small businesses out of work and then refuse to direct all their efforts and finances towards creating a solution.



It makes me mad and I stand in righteous indignation with James and figuratively plant my hands on my hips, give a disapproving stare and shake my finger while taking comfort in the fact that they have "fattened themselves for the day of slaughter".



Unfortunately, God doesn't let me off the hook quite so easily. I always feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit to view Scripture as a mirror into my own life.



Where do I put my resources to work? Safely in my 401k plan? In a High Yield online savings account? In a safe in the house (no, for those of you ready to search my closets), in fine clothing or nice vehicles? In a nice home that fulfills some culturally imposed dream? On vacations and frivolous recreation? Or worse, investing in stock of the very corporations that commit the above mentioned atrocities? Or do I invest my money in financing the advance of the Kingdom of God (love, peace, mercy, justice, feeding and clothing the "least of these") by tithing and donating to worthy organizations. Do I set money aside to meet the needs of people that God brings into my path specifically to be blessed through me? Do I take my occasional excesses and share them? Do I pack a lunch to take to the city to give a homeless person? Do I take my leftovers from a restaurant meal and give them to someone needy, as the Old Testament commanded farmers to leave the corners of their field unharvested so the needy could be taken care of?



I am reminded of this by my father's Facebook post this morning.



"Spoke to someone yesterday who had tons of money. I commented that I have not done well for myself towards retirement. He said "Oh yes you have. I have money, but I have done nothing of significance with my life. You have impacted people and that is worth more than what I have." Just a reminder that eternity is more important than temporal wealth"



John Calvin once said



"They who abound in wealth seldom keep within the bounds of moderation, but abuse their abundance by extreme indulgences. There are, indeed, some rich men as I have said, who pine themselves in the midst of their abundance. For it was not without reason that the poets have imagined Tantalus to be hungry near a table well furnished. There have ever been Tantalians in the world. But James, as it has been said, does not speak of all rich men. It is enough that we see this vice commonly prevailing among the rich, that they are given too much to luxuries, to pomps and superfluities. And though the Lord allows them to live freely on what they have, yet profusion ought to be avoided and frugality practiced. For it was not in vain that the Lord by his prophets severly reproved those who slept on beds of ivory, who used precious ointments, who delighted themselves at their feasts with the sound of the harp, who were like fat cows in rich pastures. For all these things have been said, for this end, THAT WE MAY KNOW THAT MODERATION OUGHT TO BE OBSERVED, AND THAT EXRAVAGANCE IS DISPLEASING TO GOD."



Bernard of Clairvaux says:



"O vanity of vanities....Every part of the church shines, but the poor man is hungry. The church walls are clothed in gold, while the children of the church remain naked....What is gold doing in the holy place? To speak plainly, greed is the root of all evil...for the sight of these sumptuous and amazing vanities encourages man to give rather than to pray. So riches attract riches, money attracts money...The more the abundance of riches, the more willingly men give."



Hmmmm







Clement of Alexandria says:



"The Lord ate from a common bowl, and asked the disciples to sit on the grass. He washed their feet; with a towel wrapped around His waist - He, who is the Lord of the universe! He drank water from a jug of earthenware, with the Samaritan woman. Christ made use, not extravagance, His aim."



Am I allowing myself to become useLESS due to my use of finances? Or am I willing to buck the system, fight the norm to submit my finances to God and allow use, not extravagance to be the target at which God can aim me?



How about you?