Rich in Faith

Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Chosen is the word, and it lands hard because of what James has just described. Two men walk into the assembly. One has a gold ring and good clothes; the other is in vile raiment. The congregation says, to the first, sit thou here in a good place, and to the second, stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool. James's verdict on it is not that they were rude. Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? They had constituted themselves a court and issued a ruling.

Then he asks the question, and the verb does the damage. Chosen. It is the word used all through Scripture of God's electing: Israel chosen out of the nations, the disciples chosen, us chosen in him before the foundation of the world. They had chosen too. That is exactly what the seating was. So James sets their choosing beside God's and lets the two sit next to each other, and you cannot read the verse without noticing that the congregation and God had picked opposite men out of the same room.

And read his final clause carefully, because it prevents the sentimental misreading. Heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him. The inheritance does not go to the poor as a category. Poverty is not a merit badge and James never says it is. It is simply the place where dependence is learned, and dependence is what faith gets rich on.

The promise, then, and it is a promise about God's judgement rather than about your finances. He has already chosen, and he did not choose the way the room did, and no seating arrangement any congregation has ever made has altered his list by one name.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 111 is Ashamed to Lift My Face (Ezra 9:6).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna