The Exalted & Lowly Should Rejoice

James 1:9-11

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.(KJV)

This set of verses was a bit of a challenge for me and I had to go into the Greek to really get an understanding of what the apostle was saying. We will start out with a couple of definitions.

5011 tapeinos-low degree

1) not rising far from the ground

2) metaphorically:

a) as a condition, lowly, of low degree

b) brought low with grief, depressed

c) lowly in spirit, humble

d) in a bad sense, deporting oneself abjectly, deferring servilely to others

5311 hupsos-exalted

height:

a) used of measurement

b) used of place: heaven

c) metaphorically, rank, high station

James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low:

5014 tapeinosis-

1) lowness, low estate

2) metaphorically:

spiritual abasement, leading one to perceive and lament his (moral) littleness and guilt

James 1:10b. -11

10b   because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11    For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.(KJV)

From the definitions, it seems as though the low estate referred to is a status in life. For this one can rejoice because he also recognizes not only does he not have it all together, but he has to depend on God for his very substance, for his needs to be met.

The rich, on the other hand, -he is made low either by loss of status from being rich-losing his riches, but most of all by losing his dependence on his riches and coming to a knowledge of his utter dependence on God. One point is made that the rich person with his riches passes away just like flowers do and one can't depend on the rich people and their riches. Not even the rich person can depend on his riches. They fly away. If my husband and I had depended some stock we have for an income, we would be poorer than church mice because it dove in to the deeps from a very high price early last year.

In both situations-the rich and poor are equalized. Especially in the site of God. And notice that James says the (materially) poor man should rejoice

(KJV) boast (RSV) glory (ASV) in his high position or estate and the(materially) rich man should rejoice, boast, glory in his low position or estate. Why the rich man should take that position is explained in the next verse-for his material riches and life are tenporary and fleeting. Life is short folks. Very short. Some people enter eternity at a very young age.

You know, people who are materially poor often succeed in leaving their children a very good legacy. The descendents are not stuck with having to divide up the inheritance and wearing themselves out getting rid of stuff they don't want in the first place. I can tell you, after my mother took ill and had to move in with us, I had my hands full cleaning out her house and making it available for my sister to take it over. You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff my folks had accumulated over the years. Daddy was already gone, and he had left plenty of stuff too, and getting rid of the unwanted stuff is time consuming work, tiring, and in some cases rewarding. But I don't wish that amount of work on anyone.

I believe James was getting at the fact that in God's eyes, all believers are equal and that one's rejoicing should not be over postion in this world and riches of this world, but that their names are written in the book of Life. And that walking humbly with Him is the whole key to abundant living. Jesus made it very clear that abundant living does not consist in what you own materially speaking, but in a walk of dependence on God for all things. And our God does supply all our needs. And He supplies them when needed. He is our source of supply. Not our material riches, not our income, not our material inheritance or investments or bank account. As you saw by the September 11th attack, your whole means of making a living can be wiped out in a matter of minutes. As a matter of fact, you could disappear from this world in seconds any day. It is God who gives you breath and a heart that pumps the blood, and it is He who can stop it in a second's notice. James is trying to get the point accross to us not to depend on and glorify ourselves with material things, not to glorify having material things. What good is it to gain the whole world but lose your soul? Jesus asked us that question.

So let the materially rich person rejoice in that he is just like the materially poor person-dependent on God for all needs. God does richly supply.

I want to ask you something. Will you go and do your own study on these verses? You will really learn something here. Ask God to reveal to you what you need to learn from these verses. I am sure there is more to these verses than what I have covered.

May God bless you this weekend. The Good News Lady