Ripe for Harvest

S ESSION 2: P REPARE • 157

James 5.1-6 – Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. [2] Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. [3] Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. [4] Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. [5] You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. [6] You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Heb. 13.5 – Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Rev. 3.17 – For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

The specific teaching of the New Testament . . .

We cannot claim to be converted to God and not choose to be converted to the poor.

Mary’s Magnificat, her song of exaltation sung at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, clarifies her hope for the new Kingdom. . . . Five types of people are startled and surprised. In Mary’s vision, those at the top of the social pyramid – the proud, the rich and the mighty topple. . . . Meanwhile, the poor and the hungry, those at the bottom of the social hill, take a surprise ride to the top. . . . A poor Galilean peasant girl, Mary expected the messianic Kingdom to flip her social world upside-down. . . . [but] the Kingdom of God isn’t only upside down. It’s also authoritative for our situation. Kingdom values address current issues and dilemmas.

~ Donald B. Kraybill. The Upside Down Kingdom , Rev. ed. Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 1990. pp. 17-21.

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