Title: Let's Get Rich (James 05:1-6)
Contents Today or tomorrow, I say a word to those who say they want to go to any city and stay there for a year to make money by doing business. You don't know what life and death will be like. It is said that we are nothing more than a mist that appears briefly and then disappears. Therefore, we say that if the Lord allows, we will go to any city and do this and that and that and that. And yet, we are now exulting in vanity and making promises. All these rumors are evil. The idea is that if people don't do the good things they know they should do, it's a sin.
This time, a word to the rich. You are told to weep and weep over the misery to come. Your riches are corrupted, your clothes are mothed, and your gold and silver are rusted, and this rust will be a witness to you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have amassed wealth in the last days. Mobo, the ears of the Lord of hosts have heard the cry of unpaid wages to the laborers who have harvested in your field, and the weeping eagles of the reapers. You have lived in luxuries on earth and contacted them, yet you have made your hearts fat in the day of the slaughter. This is the plot of the verse we read today.
As I prayed and studied these words, I was so shocked. Here the author is speaking to the rich. Here material is said to be worthless. Wealth is, after all, nothing compared to the soul. It is said that those who only accumulate wealth are really foolish. It is to expose the hateful nature of being a slave to wealth. This is a rebuke of a foolish person who puts hope only in the riches of the world. Wealth is not the goal. It is a warning to the rich to fear the judgment of God in the last days when you think about what you have done. In the last days you will weep and weep.
In the Old Testament, weeping refers to screaming and crying at God's judgment (Isaiah 13:6, 14:31, 15:2-3, 16:7). will be I live under the illusion that everything I have is mine. You also need to learn to be grateful. I also ate well at meal time. You two need to know what to say. Today, around Thanksgiving Sunday, I would like to share the grace with you by saying, “Let’s become truly rich.”
I read this article in the Chosun Ilbo on August 5th. There is a university called Northwestern, a prestigious university in the Middle East. There is one alumni that the university is proud of. The man's name is Edward Spence. One night in September 1860 after a terrible storm. At the same time, a ferry sank in Lake Michigan. 287 people were killed. Former swimmer Spence went to a boat 800 meters from the water and swam 16 times, saving 17 lives. But he falls from exhaustion. And it doesn't recover properly.
British world author Shakespeare said, "It is worse than the heart of an unthankful person than a fierce winter blizzard." Gratitude is the right thing to do. There are so many congratulatory thanks. This person is tired. It seems that today is a society that does not know gratitude. It is like a society that does not know grace. God, of course. Do you know the grace of your parents? Do you know your master's grace? These days, the word ingratitude is real. I got really sick. This is a sick society. It is a disabled society. It is a disabled society. Physical disabilities are not scary. But mental gratitude is really hard to do with a disability.
God gave His Son for us. But if you don't know gratitude, you're worried Is our gratitude really this much? It really takes my breath away. God will be very disappointed. Let's get rich God is love. God is all of us. Let's always give thanks for God's grace. Gratitude is our sincerity. It is our sign of grace. Is it really our sincerity? If so, I'm very happy. We have received everything from God. None of it is mine. Everything belongs to God. Yet we are mistaken. I mean, it's all mine. There are many stupid people like this.
Look at the rich here. He is wealthy. They don't even pay the workers' wages. And then one day I want to go to another city to make money. That is why God is sad. That's why you said it was stupid. We must live God's way. Wisdom is to think deeply once in a while when something doesn't go right. Is there really anything I haven't done well to God? If there is no problem for me, God must have other plans for me. Indeed, we live by the love of God. I live by grace.
These words are not made up by me. This is a sermon that I pray a lot. If we take God's grace from us now, we are beggars. Without knowing this, we are living foolishly. Gratitude is our pride. It is also obligatory. Every day we have nothing but gratitude. Thank you all. Still, people forget gratitude and live their lives. Like Silverstein's fairy tale "The Giving Tree", in St. Francis, Goethe's poem The Lame Flower, who said he was grateful for living as a barefoot beggar with a single set of rags that gave out all he had I don't feel any shame as it withers. They sing that they enjoyed the reward of being born as a flower because they were trampled on by an innocent and pure virgin instead of being broken by an evil man.
If I could stop one's heart from being ripped
my life is not in vain
If I could ease one person's pain
If only one person's pain could be cooled
help a stunned robin
If I could make you come back to the nest
my life is not in vain
-Poems by Emily Dickinson-
Let's get really rich in this age. There are many kinds of rich people: rich in money, rich in wisdom, and rich in love. But let us be rich in gratitude. Gratitude is not just for those who have grandeur. Too many people are happy even if they have little. I've seen the Human Age on a certain TV program. I have a disabled father. I can't speak. I can't even move. They have three daughters and a 12-year-old son. But my eldest daughter is 24 years old. Probably a college student. But the student is very tired. In fact, it is the most.
You have to start a family. I got 150,000 won from a part-time job. He likes it so much. I'm trying to figure out how to spend that money. He agrees with this, paying 15,000 won in tithes. I almost lost my mind when I said the 20,000 thanksgiving offering. I'm worried about living right now. Still, he always tries to make his father happy. I get along well with my siblings.
So, don't we have too much? Do we really have to worry about Guinea like this student right now? How beautiful is that young heart. Oh, this is the man with the heart of an angel. How many things do we, too, want students to write while working part-time? However, I value the heart of paying tithing. I think that those parents really did a good job of home education and religious education. There are many spiritually uncomfortable people who hold too much and cannot let go. The rich fool here is just trying to raise more money.
A person who does not know gratitude. So they call him stupid. He is poor even if he is richer. The above student is really rich. In a world dried up by selfishness and hypocrisy, there is no need for difficult words such as love, morality, recognition, and dedication. Such a beautiful belief makes such a beautiful rich man. How much time do we have left now? No one knows. Of course I don't know. It's normal not to know. But this rich man thought he had a lot of time left. What do you do when you live like that? If you use it well, you are rich. It's a harsh, bloody, stingy world. How good would it be to give a little generously?
Now let's live with gratitude. The opportunity is right now. The protagonist is not an elder. Not a butler. I am myself. Let's love and live, let's be happy. Give, give thanks, this is a small but big love. I dedicate this I give you this. and thank you The economy is difficult. However, it is more frightening that the hearts of modern people are gradually getting colder. The economy never rules society. People are too arrogant. The joy of giving is greater than the joy of receiving. You experience the joy of giving to others. That's right.
I would like to close my message today. There are really a lot of rich people in this world, and it is only when you read a newspaper that some political party has a lot of money in their offices that they really have a lot of money. I did. Many people are still starving to death. A lot of people worry about eating. We see things like what a rich man put out in the newspaper. That person is really rich. A rich man is not the kind of person who lives a lavish life. There are rich and poor people. But there are people who are poor and live rich. The true rich are those who are poor and give thanks to God. Let's thank God for allowing us to celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday this year. Let's get rich Let us always thank God and become more wonderful people and become a victorious family in the Lord
(2005-06-23 12:05)