One hundred years ago in Germany a man named Oskar was born
who would change the face of history for more than a thousand people. In his mid-twenties, after starting several
businesses, he went bankrupt. But then
in 1939, with the help of the Third Reich, he gained ownership of a factory in
Poland and began making a profit. The
first thing he did was hire a Jewish accountant named Stern and together they
began to make some serious money. Within
three years he was spending it as fast as he made it. You say, “On what? Homes?”
No. “Perks?” No, people.
He began buying people. He’d go to the commandants of the German concentration camps and offer bribes and payoffs
to buy Jewish prisoners to work in his factory.
Sometimes the price would be meager, other times it would be
exorbitant. Either way he’d pay it. By the end of the year he had spent his
entire fortune buying as many people as he could. By the end of the war he had risked both life
and fortune buying 1,100 Jewish men, women, boys, and girls and sparing them
from certain death.
When the last scene of Schindler’s
List was aired 20 years ago on NBC, the television audience was as large as
the first moon landing, some 60 million people.
There, standing before his factory full of workers, Oskar Schindler
announces the war is over, the Nazis are defeated, and everyone is free to
go. And as he bids them farewell, he’s
overcome by emotion. He cries out, “I
should have done more! If only I had not
wasted so much money. I could have done
more!” He looks over at his automobiles
and says, “I could have traded one of those for another 10 lives.” He looks down at a small gold pin on his
lapel and says, “I could have given them this and saved at least one more
life.” And at that moment Schindler
realizes something that most of us never realize - the difference between life
and death is often just a matter of money.
Years ago I remember reading of a couple who waited years to
have a child, and finally the day arrived.
But as soon as he was born, there were bills to pay. He cost them to get out of the hospital. He cost them food and clothing and
education. He cost them at every point,
“But that’s okay,” said his father, “because that’s what we’re here for.” But then at age 21 the boy died. And suddenly there were no more costs. The man said, “That’s when I learned it. I’ll never join a church that doesn’t want or
need my money. Death’s cheap. It’s living that’s costly.”
And of all the people in the New Testament, there’s one who
seems to get that more clearly than any other one, and that’s Mary. The Bible says she breaks open a flask of
expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ feet.
And in response to that act, Jesus uses a word that He never uses
anywhere else in the Gospels. He calls
it beautiful. Now the word beautiful is kalos
in Greek. It’s the same root from which
we get the word kaleidoscope. It speaks
of an endless array of refracted brilliance.
And Jesus calls what Mary does a kalos thing. Now notice it’s the giving of a gift of
treasure that provokes Jesus to use that word.
He says, “Truly I tell you, wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole
world, what she has done will be told in her memory.” Now why is that? James knows.
When you get to James Chapter 5 there’s no escaping the fact
that James has been with Jesus. He understands the meaning of wealth better
than anyone. Chapter 5:1-6 contains some of the most pointed words in all of
the New Testament regarding what true stewardship and discipleship mean. It’s
his second “Come now…” in six verses! He’s in the face of every one of us, because
his greatest desire is that we thrive in peace as disciples who are much more in
love with Jesus and others than ourselves.
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the
following:
- Who is James referring to in these 6 verses?
- What does “weep and howl” mean in verse 1?
- How do verses 1-3 relate to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-21?
- What two concerns is James pointing out in verses 1-3 and verses 4-5?
- Is he speaking only to owners and supervisors in verses 4-5?
- How does verse 4 compare to Genesis 4:10?
- What’s the heart of the issue in verse 5?
- What does verse 6 mean?
- The Greek says, “You have condemned and murdered the Righteous One..” Does that help you understand verse 6?
- How is Mary the antithesis of those James is writing to?
