Reframing God’s Judgment

Warning to Rich Oppressors
5 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

This passage in James is both a warning to those who have been self-indulgent, and an encouragement to those who have lived a life of suffering and loss. Why is James addressing these two very different types of opposites? It’s because both groups have some very extreme outcomes when it comes to the Lord’s coming judgements; one is a judgment leading to condemnation, the other, rewards for faithful perseverance.

Judgment is something we often don’t care to think about. It tends to make us uncomfortable, fearful, afraid or even defiant, especially when it involves something that will be, well... eternal. The problem we have is that we fail to realize that our mindfulness of God’s coming judgment is actually a good thing. Our anticipation of God’s coming judgment is as helpful and important, just as the fire alarm sounding in the middle of the night is when we are fast asleep. As terrifying and awful as that sound might be, it is the very thing that we need to get our attention to focus on what matters the most in that moment – saving our lives. Our recognition of God’s coming judgment is even more necessary to keep front and center in our minds and daily routines, when life begins to distract and discourage us with things such as what James described in this passage: wealth, luxury, self-indulgences and acts of cruelty towards others for our own selfish needs and gains. On the other end of the spectrum, we are also subject to lose our focus because of losing patience and hope when suffering, including “grumbling against one another,” or essentially causing strife within other believers who are the body of Christ, when “the Judge is standing at the door!”

If you are not yet a believer in Christ, let this passage of scripture clearly tell you, or perhaps remind you, that a day is coming that you will face judgment for how you lived your life. While you may not have lived your life to the fullest extent of selfishness, debauchery and cruelty towards others as James illustrated, the Word of God is clear that no one is worthy of salvation and eternal life apart from faith in Jesus. (See 1 John 5: 11-12). If you have not yet made a decision for Christ, consider this your invitation and opportunity to do so right now, before that day comes.

If you are a believer in Christ who is experiencing suffering of any kind, let this passage remind and assure you that judgment for your salvation has already been paid for by Christ. However, Christ, the Judge, is also “standing at the door” of your life, soon to come again, with rewards for you when you persevere through trials and sufferings in His name, just as Job was rewarded for his perseverance. (See Job 42:10-15). As the end of the passage of James emphasizes, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

Prayer:
Lord, teach us to live with the knowledge and expectation of Your coming judgment, so that we may have a right focus on what we need to change, let go of, and hang on to, so that You will be highly exalted and glorified in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!