If only I had more money then I could … (you fill in the blanks). If only I could win the lottery then I would give more to charity and help my family. We all have had those moments when our minds wander about what it would be like. If only. It is true that people have been helped by lottery winnings but there is also a dark side to riches. Reporters who have followed lottery winners also reveal those whose lives have been destroyed by divorce, murder, drugs, gambling, hookers, thieves, suicide and even government.

The writer James lived in a culture not much different than ours. There was a disparity between the wealthy and poor that created this unequal playing field of privilege and opportunity. The wealthy grew richer while the poor labored to make ends meet. Corporate capitalistic abuse is no stranger to history.

It’s not that Bible condemns wealth or the accumulation of it. What it does vehemently oppose is the accumulating of wealth at the expense of others, especially the poor. Living in “pleasure and luxury” (5) while denying the “laborers who mow in the fields or those who reap” (4) payment for work done is fraud and will not go unnoticed. Injustice will be exposed and judgement meted out. Even going further he speaks of the just being condemned and murdered. Either they refuse to resist or are powerless to do so (6).

James uses quite harsh words for the rich who abuse their wealth. “Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corrupted and their corrosion will be like a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days” (1-3). “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter” (5).

Throughout his writing James is an advocate of the poor and a protector of their rights, whether in the places of worship or in the marketplaces of business. He speaks loudly and with strong language against those who would position themselves on the backs of those who cannot or will not defend themselves.

Lotteries are built on people’s inherent desire to have the same “luxuries and pleasures” as those of wealth but with these come both instruction and a warning. With wealth are hidden dangers, like picking a colorful violet only to find beneath a coiled viper. Abuse of wealth answers to a higher court than simply a human court. The cries of mowers and reapers “have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth” (Lord of hosts – supreme ruler) (4) where the pleas will be entered and the verdict rendered.

Not every rainbow has a pot of gold.

Blessings!