All Flesh is Grass (James 1:9-12) [2025-9-21]

If you would open your Bibles to the book of James, we'll

continue our study of James that we started a few weeks back and

we haven't made it far. This morning we're going to be

in verses 9 to 12 and we've kind of been going at a pace of about

four verses each week, give or take.

This morning we'll be in the next 4 verses of 9 to 12.

The title of the sermon is this All Flesh is Grass.

So let's read the text, open us our word of prayer, and then

we'll jump to the sermon. James one beginning in verse 9.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in

his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will

pass away. For the sun rises with its

scorching heat and Withers the grass.

It's flower falls, and it's beauty perishes.

So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his

pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains

steadfast under trial, For when he has stood the test, he will

receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who

love him. He will pray with me.

Father, this morning as we look at a text about our our

mortality, we look at a text about the contrast between the

lowly brother and the rich. And we look at a text that is

about trials and how blessed it is to be steadfast through them

and the reward that awaits us on the other side of our mortality,

the crown of life. What I pray for all that are in

this room and those that still come into it, that we all one

day would wear this crown. I pray Lord, that that everybody

here would one day wear this crown, and that now today we

would boast in that day. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen,

The land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do?

I have nowhere to store my tops. And he said, we'll do this.

I will tear down my barns and I will build larger ones, and

there I will store all my grain goods.

And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for

many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of

you, and the things that you have prepared, whose will they

be? So is the one who lays up

treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

You see, this rich man forgot one ubiquitous truth.

All flesh is grass. He believed he had riches for

many years to come, forgot that he was grass.

That's what the sermon is about this morning.

I'm going to start off with the next vision of the text.

Look at this verse by verse, and then I'll give application.

I think I have 7 exhortations for us this morning.

Let's start looking at it so we can understand what James is

teaching us this morning. Let's start in verse 9 where he

writes to us. Let the lowly brother boast in

his exaltation. So far in our sermon series we

have talked. James has talked about joy and

trials. He's talked wisdom and faith and

this morning he's going to transition to riches and

mortality. James starts with this

statement. The lowly brother boast in his

exaltation. Let's first ask who was the

lowly brother? We didn't know who we're talking

about here. I want you to notice that James

is calling this person a brother.

So he's talking about a Christian.

This is a fellow Christian in the faith.

And he says to them, Let the lowly brother, What is lowly

mean in that sentence? The Greek word for lowly has

three different definitions. Here they are #1 pertaining to

being of low social status or relative inability to cope,

lowly, undistinguished, of no account here's #2 pertaining to

being servile in manner, pliant, subservient, abject, and here's

#3 pertaining to being unpretentious or humble.

Now which of the three does James intend here?

We will see in verse 10 that lowly is being contrasted with

rich. You see that contrast or being

contrasted which tells us that this is someone who is not just

necessarily poor. They have a low socioeconomic

status in the eyes of the world, not in God's eyes, but in the

eyes of the world. They have a low socioeconomic

status. Remember, James is writing to

Jewish Christians who have been dispersed.

He's writing to the dispersion, and many of them have been

dispersed because of persecution.

They're living outside of the promise and because they've been

driven from it because of persecution.

And what happens when you get driven from your home?

Often you have hard Financial Times.

You might even have social ostracism because you're not

with your people. You're living in foreign land

among the Gentiles. And so James is exhorting them.

He's letting, he's telling them, let this lowly brother boast.

What does that word boast me? Just take pride in something to

glory in something to pride oneself or to brag.

Now why would James tell to boast?

Isn't boasting sin? Why would he tell them to boast?

The Greek word for boast 2 points are in order.

The Greek word for boast can also be translated.

Rejoice or glory can also be translated that way.

A lot of times you see the word rejoice or glory.

It's the same Greek word for boast.

It can mean to rejoice in something, to glory in

something, and B. The Bible teaches us that not

all boasting is sin. There is a righteous kind of

boasting. I'll give you some examples.

First Corinthians 131 Let the one who boast, boast in the

Lord. This comes from Jeremiah 2nd

Corinthians 12/9. Therefore I will boast all the

more gladly of my weaknesses, or Galatians 614 But far be it for

me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So here another example. James is exhorting this lowly

brother to boast in what? To boast in his exaltation.

Now what does that mean? That word exaltation?

It literally means high place or height.

Literally like a literal high place or height.

So it's being used as a metaphor here.

It means a position of high status.

Now is James's being paradoxical here?

If he's lowly, how is he both seen any in his high status?

Isn't he lowly? What is James saying here?

Or remember what Jesus said? So The Who last will be 1st and

the 1st will be last, for everyone who exalts himself will

be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

James is writing to these dispersed Christians and he's

telling them, Listen dear brothers and sisters, you may be

lowly now, but it will not always be this way.

One day you will be exalted. Boast in that.

Look at verse 10A and the rich in his humiliation.

So the lonely brother is boasting in his exaltation, but

James exhorts the rich to boast in his humiliation.

Now we need to 1st ask who are the rich, right?

Anytime we talk about the rich, anytime you ever talk about rich

people, it's always tricky right?

Because riches are relative aren't they?

See the reality is compared to America, we might be middle

class or maybe upper middle class, but compared to most of

the world, most of us if not all of us are rich.

James says let the rich boast in what?

Boast in his humiliation? What is that?

Interesting enough, this word humiliation is the exact same

Greek word as lowly in verse 9. It's just a noun instead of an

adjective. This word means an experience of

a reversal and fortunes humiliation as an experience.

Now why would the rich boast in his humiliation?

Why would they do that? There are two options here, and

it depends on whether we think that James is talking about a

rich brother or a rich lost person.

It's not clear if James is talking about a rich brother,

Douglas Moo writes. James is saying the rich are to

boast and his identification with Christ and his people a

matter of humiliation in the eyes of the world.

Oh, James is saying that if this is a rich brother, this rich

brother should not boast in his riches or his high socioeconomic

status. He should boast in Christ that

but in the eyes of the world that is a humiliation that is

not seen as a good thing in the eyes of the world.

If James is referring to a rich lost person, then James is being

ironic, IE all this rich person can truly boast in is his future

humiliation in the judgement. And James is being ironical

here. It's not clear.

I'll come back to that. Look at 10 B Because like a

flower of the grass, he will pass away.

James here gives a simile that I believe is intended for both the

lowly brother and the rich. Like a flower of the grass.

Literally a wildflower of a Meadow.

That's literally a wildflowers. Is is how it translates.

Like a wildflower, he will pass away.

Now, what does that mean? Like a wildflower, he will pass

away. You ever been to see the

wildflowers at Mount Rainier? If you live here and you've

never done that, let me highly encourage you.

It is gorgeous. It is beautiful.

Take some time. I don't know what season is

June, July, something like that. I don't remember what it is.

But if you've never been to see the wildflowers, go see them.

We like to think of ourselves as mountains.

Mount Rainier has been there for thousands of years.

But the reality is, is that we are not like mountains.

We are like the wildflowers on the mountains.

Our lifespan is very short and in the grand scheme of things,

very insignificant. Look at verse 11.

For the sun rises with its scorching heat and Withers the

grass. Its flower falls, its beauty

parishes. So also will the rich man fade

away in the midst of his pursuits.

James continues with descriptions of his simile.

The sun rises with its scorching heat and Withers the grass.

If you've ever taken a flower, take any flower.

Put it in direct sunlight on a 90° day.

It doesn't take very long for it to die.

It'll die very quickly. It's flower falls.

It's beauty perishes, right? God has made some very beautiful

flowers. Roses, orchids, cherry blossoms,

Lotus, Tulip, hibiscus, dahlia, peonies.

They all lose their beauty. They all die, James says.

So will the rich man fade away and die?

James gives the picture that the rich man dies right in the midst

of his pursuits. Pursuits of what?

Pursuits? Of more money.

I saw that Elon Musk is now worth $415 billion.

Predictions are that maybe one day he'll be the first

trillionaire, and yet all of those billions cannot prevent

his death. It is coming and he can't stop

it. Look at verse 12A.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.

Now, what is the connection between verses 9:00 to 11:00 and

12:00, right? He talked about riches and

mortality, and then he switches to blesses.

Man who remains steadfast on the trial.

What is the connection there? I think the connection is this.

Money is often a means to keep us from trials, isn't it?

See, people want money for all kinds of different reasons.

Some people want money because they want to flaunt their

wealth. Some people want money to to

provide stability and security. Some want money to keep them

from going through trials. But James is saying here that if

we want to be truly blessed, the path is not through riches but

through steadfastness. Blessed is the man who remains

steadfast under trial. Now, what is the word there for

steadfastness? Hoopo meno.

It's the verb form of hoopoe Monet.

James has already told us in verse 2 that we are going to

fall into trials. He says you're going to fall

into trials. And when you do, we have an

option. We all have an option to veer or

to persevere, and James says that we will be blessed when we

persevere. Why look at the B?

For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of

life. Notice the condition of that

statement When when that's the condition.

Meaning only after this condition has been met, when he

has stood, the test has stood. The test is one word in the

Greek. It means to pertaining to being

genuine on the basis of testing, approved, tried and true.

If you remember a few weeks ago I pointed out that all trials

are test, right? And when God gives you a trial,

he's testing you, He's testing me.

All trials are test. And we could argue that the

entire Christian life is 1 giant test, right?

This whole life is just one giant test, and at the end of

it, there will only be two outcomes.

Pass or fail. There's no grading on a curve,

but he gets an A or AB. It is pass or fail.

And James says that the one who perseveres through trials will

pass the test, and his reward for passing the test will be the

crown of life. Now what is that?

That is a metaphor for eternal life.

Look at verse 12 C, which God has promised to those who love

him. So not only is there a condition

here, the condition is when there's also a promise.

The one who passes the test will receive, will receive.

That's a future indicative future means that will be given

at a future date. You know, we, we would love to

be able to wear this crown right now, right?

We want that kind of assurance where I put this crown on, I

walked around and everybody knows I'm saved.

I know that I'm saved. I know I got it.

I have the crown in hand. We don't get it until a future

date. Nobody gets the crown of life.

Now you get it at a future date, but it is certain indicative.

It is the mood of reality. It's an indicative you will

receive the crown of life. God has promised it.

He says right here, which God has promised to whom?

To those who love him. Now why did James ward it that

way? Why doesn't he say to those who

believe in him? Why didn't he say to those who

trust in him? Why does he say to those who

love him? I think it's the same reason as

the argument that James will later make in chapter 2.

James will write that faith without works is what what

church family dead? And I think in the same vein,

faith without love is dead. God will only grant the crown of

life to those who love Him. Now stop their exposition.

Application of the text. I have 7 exhortations. 7 #1 The

way to be somebody is to know somebody.

The way to make a name is to know a name.

Most of the world is trying to be somebody.

Much of the world is trying to make a name for themselves,

aren't they? People accomplish this through

various means. Politics, business, social

media, sports, music, religion, education.

Most of the world is trying to be somebody, trying to make a

name for themselves. But then we come to Jesus and

it's no longer about being somebody, but knowing somebody.

It's no longer about making a name for yourself, but knowing

the name, James writes. Let the lowly brother boast in

his exaltation. What is he getting at?

I think he's getting at this. If we feel inadequate in any

way, maybe we're not as successful as our peers.

Some of you struggle with this. You look at your peers, you see

that they're more successful than you.

You graduated the same class, you had about higher GPA than

them. You know you're smarter than

them and yet they are more successful than you are.

Why? Because they're working right

now and not a church. Maybe we don't have as much

money as our colleagues. Maybe we don't have as many

followers or likes or subscribers.

Maybe we're not as talented as the next artist or athlete.

Maybe we don't have a prominent role in our church or our

community. Maybe our parents are not as

proud of us as they are our brother or our sister.

Maybe we simply feel invisible or unwanted or unneeded.

James says The way to fix this is not to fix it.

The way to fix this is not to fix it.

It is to boast in the fact that we know Jesus Christ.

Rejoice in the reality that one day you will wine and dine with

the King. Is that enough for you?

Is that enough for you too? Riches are relative, but we

should all acknowledge that most of us, if not all of us, are

rich. Riches are relative, but we

should acknowledge that most of us, if not all of us, are rich.

Whenever I read the category rich in the Bible, when I go

through my Bible and I read this category, Jesus talks about the

rich, James talks about the rich, Paul talks about the rich.

Whenever I read that category of rich, I often distance myself

from that term, right? The rich is for millionaires and

billionaires, not me, right? I might read this and be like

the rich boasts. Oh that's not me.

I looked up how much can a family of 6 make because we have

6. How much can a family of 6 make

in Seattle and still be considered middle class?

You know how much $240,000? That's crazy.

You can make $240,000 family OF6240 and still be considered

middle class. I was watching a YouTube

documentary the other day about porters, people in DePaul who

carry supplies for those hiking on Mount Everest.

They hike up this rugged terrain literally where it's like 1 slip

and you're dead. And on their back they're

carrying this huge heavy loads. I mean, the load is like 3 times

as wide as them and it like extends in the back and they're

walking like, and I'm like literally they take one wrong

step. They're dead.

They're hiking in the rugged terrain.

They, they, they, they sleep in these rugged makeshift hotels.

They work six days a week, often 12 hour days.

Do you know all of this? Do you know for how much money?

Between 15 and $30 a day. Many of them work for $15 a day.

BT how much net worth do you need to have for each each socio

economic class? This is net worth right?

So not not liquid assets necessarily net worth.

How much do you need? Here's what it gave.

Poor is between euro and 10,000, lower middle class between

10,000 and 100,000, middle class between 100,000 and 500,000,

upper 500,000 to 2 million. Affluent or wealthy 2 million to

10 million, high net worth 10 million to 30 million.

And then it goes on. And I was like, look, if if you

got more than that in our church, where's your tie been?

Now, I don't know where that puts you.

I don't know where that puts you, but the median net worth in

America, the median net worth in America, the 192,000, that's the

median net worth in America. Do you know what the median net

worth is for the world? 8500 with half of the world

having less than that. More than half the world is

worth less than $8500. Now, why do I give all these

statistics? This is why riches are relative.

They're relative. But we should acknowledge that

most of us, if not all of us, are rich.

We want to be careful that we don't distance ourselves from

the category of rich in the Bible simply because we don't

have millions compared to the world.

We are rich. We are.

Which leads to #3 My fellow rich brothers and sisters, boast in

your humiliation. My fellow rich brothers and

sisters, myself included, boast in your humiliation.

I mentioned earlier that if James is contrasting the lowly

and the rich as being saved and not saved, then James is being

ironical. He's saying that the rich can

boast and their future humiliation, IE their

condemnation. In other words, they can boast

in the fact that they gained the world only to forfeit their

soul. But I'm not sure that James is

necessarily saying the rich is lost here.

I'm not convinced that he is. I think he may very well be

saying this. My fellow rich brothers and

sisters, boast in your humiliation.

Now how do we do that? How do we do that?

Let's contrast this with the world.

When the world gets wealth, they typically boast in one of two

ways. Typically, they display it or B

delay it. They either A display it or B

delay it, A they display it. They display it in their homes,

their cars, their clothes, their furniture, their jewelry, their

bodies, their travel, their art or B.

They delay it. One thing I learned years ago,

especially in Asian culture, is that just because a person looks

poor doesn't mean they are. Many delay their wealth.

They save, save, save, save, save, and then they retire and

join endless cruises and buffets or playing golf.

Or they give it to their kids and their kids display it.

James is saying that as Christians we stood boast in our

humiliation. Now what does that look like?

Do you remember what the woman did who anointed Jesus's feet?

She broke a bottle of very expensive nard, poured it on his

feet. Do you remember what the

disciples said? When the disciples saw it, they

were indignant, saying why this waste?

They humiliated her in front of everybody, and she was gladly

humiliated. Remember what Zacchaeus did.

Behold, Lord, that half of my goods I give to the poor, and if

I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.

How many of his friends called him a fool after this?

You wonder if his wife called him a fool.

You wonder if his kids, that was their inheritance, called him a

fool. The Apostle Paul was certainly

wealthy before he became a Christian.

Most Pharisees were, and he went from being a Pharisee to a

prisoner, A prisoner who was often humiliated.

And we all remember Moses, Moses who refused to be called the son

of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the

people of God than to enjoy the fleeing pleasures of sin.

He considered the reproach, or we might say humiliation of

Christ, greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt.

My fellow rich brothers and sisters, boast in your humility,

for time is relative, but we should all acknowledge all flesh

is grass. Not only are riches relative, so

is time. Time is relative, but we're all

acknowledge that all flesh is grass.

In this passage, James is clearly pulling from Isaiah 40

where Isaiah writes all flesh is grass and all its beauty.

Like the flower of the field, the grass Withers.

The flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it.

Surely the people are grass. You see, the problem with time

is that it's relative, right? If I asked you the question is 1

hour long. Depends.

It's to load a web page. Yeah, that's a long time.

It's a long for a sermon. I don't know.

Relative to what is 1 hour long? Relative to what?

In what context? See, one of the things we

realized that people's perception of time varies.

People's perception of time varies.

Someone will say to me, I'll ask you how long they've been

dating. Oh, they've been dating a very

long time. How long?

At least six or seven weeks. I sometimes will ask my boys,

how long ago was that? It was a long time ago.

Like long. Turned out it was last week.

Time is relative. It can feel like we have a lot

of time, right? Sometimes life just feels like

it's dragging on, feels like we have all the time in the world.

It's just right. Sometimes life feels fast,

sometimes it feels slow. And yet James that the reality

is that he will later write what is your life for you are a mist

that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

This is why Moses writes, teach us to number our days that we

may gain a heart of wisdom. You see, what James is getting

at is that we can spend so much time working for something,

striving for something, chasing something, spend so much time

trying to get something and then it's gone.

Why? Because we are gone.

We're gone, Solomon writes. Then I consider all that my

hands had done in the toilet I had expended and doing it, and

behold, all was vanity. It was a striving after the

wind. Now why does he say that?

Why does he say everything is vanity?

It's striving after the wind. Well, here's here's one example.

It would be like if there was an abandoned warehouse that was

scheduled to be demolished. We could just use that, that one

right there, right that that grocery store that you, that

imagine if you took your life savings, that thing is going to

be demolished. They're going to build an

apartment complex there or something there.

That's what I even said. It's it's scheduled to be

demolished. I don't know when.

Imagine if you took your life savings and you renovated it.

You started painting it and putting up pillars and and and

fixing the glass in and doing. You took your whole life

savings, poured it when it's going to be demolished, but it

will be. How vain would that be to pour

your life savings into renovating a warehouse that's

going to be demolished? Yet how many lost people and

Christians alike pour their efforts, all their efforts, all

their striving, all their money into a life that will be

demolished? How many of us pour everything

we have into our life or the life of our children and it's

going to be demolished? Time is relative, but we should

all acknowledge that all flesh is grass. 5 Blessing is not the

absence of trials, but the steadfastness through them.

Blessing is not the absence of trials, but the steadfastness

through them. Word blessed can also be

translated happy. That's how some translate it,

and then that Bible translates it.

Happy is the one who remains steadfast.

You can translate it that way. Typically when we think about

whether we are happy or not, a large determining factor on

whether we're happy or not is whether we're going through

trials. Isn't that right?

I mean, when we're going through a trial, we typically feel

discouraged, we feel anxious, we feel fearful, we feel bitter, we

feel resentful, we feel envious. And it's only when we don't have

any big trials in our life that we feel happy, you know?

And that kind of what somebody asked me, you know, Hey, man,

how you doing? My first thought is, well, then

how many trials I'm good. Or if my knee is hurting and

man, how are you doing? Can't play today.

My knees hurting. How we think, right?

We immediately go to whether I'm going through a trial or not.

And yet James doesn't say blessed is the man who was

removed from trials but remains through them.

Now, what James is getting at here is not a subjective emotion

of when we can, whether we can consider it joy or not.

He's not saying that. Well, blessed if you can have

the subjective emotion of, of, of considering a joy with this

trial. James is saying there is an

objective blessing when someone has a trial and they persevere

through it. There's an objective blessing in

this. You know, that phrase, blessing

in disguise. I've always hated that phrase.

Someone goes through a breakup and your girlfriend, girl goes

through a breakup and her girlfriend meets up with her and

she's like, you know, I think this is a blessing in disguise.

Somebody loses their job, you meet up with them, you're like,

you know, I think this is a blessing in disguise.

James is saying there's no disguise.

You don't have to look for a silver lining in your trials.

That's kind of what that phrase is.

Let's try to find a silver lining in this.

You don't have to look for a silver lining.

The blessing lies in the fact that God has kept us standing.

The trial did not destroy us because God persevered us.

That's the blessing. If you went through a trial and

you're still a Christian, you are blessed.

If you still cling to God, you are blessed because you haven't

fallen. 6 The world can offer crown, royal crown jewels and

crowning achievements, but there is only one who can give a crown

of life. The world can offer a crown,

royal, crown jewels and crowning achievements, but there's only

one who can give a crown of life.

Are not something unique to Christians.

The world goes through trials. Not just Christians go through

them. The world does.

The way that the world typically copes with trials is usually one

of three ways. Fun finances or fulfillment, or

another way to think of it is Crown Royal Crown jewels and

crowning achievements. The world can offer us Crown

Royal fun, pleasure, enjoyment. There is no trial that can't be

fixed by crown denial. What can wash away my trials?

Nothing but a bottle of crown denial.

The world can crown jewels, finances and fortune.

With enough money, you can buy your way out of trials.

As Ariana Grande said. Whoever said money can't solve

your problems must not have enough money to solve them.

And the world can offer us crowning achievements,

fulfillment through accomplishments and success.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

The way to solve trials is just more blood, sweat, and tears.

As Beyoncé says, I'm going to work harder.

I'm going to work stronger. The world can offer Crown Royal

and crown jewels and crowning achievements.

There's only one who can give you a crown of life, James

writes. When we have stood the test,

because God has kept us standing, we will receive the

crown of life. Jesus said to the church in

Smyrna, do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,

that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have

tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I

will give you the crown of life. You know what he's saying there.

If you start to doubt and while in prison, they give you the

option to say you know what? I'm not.

I was just kidding. I'm not really a Christian.

Can I get out? Yeah, sure.

Come on. You'll get out of prison only to

enter an eternal prison. Be faithful unto death and I

will give you the crown of life. 7th last point, To be a

Christian means to not only believe in Jesus and follow

Jesus, but also to love Jesus. There are millions of Christians

who believe in Jesus, who follow Jesus but do not love Jesus.

There are some in this room. One of the most important

questions that we must ask ourselves and others is this.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

We can answer that question with these kinds of answers.

It means to know Jesus. It means to believe in Jesus.

It means to trust in Jesus. It means to follow Jesus.

It means to fear Jesus. It means to confess Jesus.

And those are all true. The problem is, you can do all

of those and not actually be a Christian because the Bible says

that knowing and believing and trusting and following and

fearing and confessing must must manifest themselves in loving

and a spiritual affection for Jesus.

If you say what you know, you know what love looks like.

Don't tell me you don't know what love looks like.

James is not the only one who makes this point.

Deuteronomy 79 The faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast

love with those who love him. Nehemiah 15 The great and

awesome God who keeps covenant instead, that's love with those

who love him. Psalm 14520 The Lord perseveres

all who love him. Daniel 94 who keeps covenant and

steadfast love with those who love him.

Romans 828 for those who love God.

All things work together. First Corinthians 29 What God

has prepared for those who love him, church, family, the crown

of life gets placed not on a head that knows him, it gets

placed on a heart that loves him.

So I want to ask you the same question that Jesus asked the

Apostle Peter. Do you love him?

Let's pray.