Test Your Faith (James) No.18- The Money Test

GraceLife Sarasota

I want to start off today with a warning to any & all the KC chiefs fans out there who may hear this sermon. Something’s been bothering me. I've had enough of your constant bragging about Patrick Mahomes & all your winning. This is a firm warning to all of you, to tone it down, and depart from your arrogance before it’s too late. You always boast about how good your quarterback is, and your Super Bowl rings. You think you’re the king of the NFL. But let me tell you about another group of people who once felt invincible like they owned football—Patriots fans. With Tom Brady & Coach Belichick, they were unstoppable, winning Super Bowls even bending the rules—allegedly. In the end, what happened? Judgment day arrived. Brady left New England, and suddenly, the dynasty crumbled. And where did Tom end up? That's right, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team with the worst all-time winning % in history. And what happened? Oh yeah…. WE WON THE SUPERBOWL THAT YEAR! So, listen up you pompous, smug Chiefs fans. One day, it will be Mahomes jetting off to Tampa, and we'll be the ones celebrating. So, you should prepare for it now. Dispense with your arrogant cheering, and let it turn to weeping and mourning. Judgement day is coming. Your trophies will tarnish. You’ll join Patriots fans in bitter sorrow & jealousy when in the end, we prevail. What you just heard is a modern-day example of a literary tool used often in Jewish wisdom literature, called a diatribe. In a diatribe, the author addresses a hypothetical 3rd -party directly & forcefully to teach a principle to his real audience. My diatribe was directed towards Chiefs fans who aren’t in the room, designed to encourage righteous Bucs fans, like me, to stay loyal, stay faithful, because in the end we will win another Super Bowl. James uses a diatribe to expose the seductive power of wealth & why the faithful can’t allow money to become an idol. (James 5:1-6) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.