No Paycheck On Wednesday - James 5:7 Series

James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See, the farmer waits for the valuable crop of the land, being patient until he receives the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, so that you will not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of suffering and patience take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about, that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment.

Introduction

Patience. Those of you who know me well probably heard the Scripture reading and thought, Darrell Ferguson is going to teach us about how to be patient? Is that supposed to be some kind of joke? Patience has never really been my specialty. I would like to play a quick recording for you. It was a conversation I had that was recorded without my permission, and without my knowledge. It was recorded 45 years ago. My mom was making an audio letter to send to her mother, and while she was talking I came and made a polite request.

Did you notice the impact it had on me when mom made her suggestion about waiting a few minutes? Zero impact. It was an excellent suggestion, and yet it ricocheted off my little two-year-old skull like a bb off a steel bunker. The only impact it had was it made me instantly start hyperventilating.

In this section of the book, James is telling us to be patient until the Lord’s return. Have you ever been anxious or hurried or impatient or upset about some delay, and someone said to you, “Be patient,” and that helped?

“Oh thanks. That just fixes everything. I was feeling really anxious, but now that you told me to be patient, I feel great.”

I think for most of us, being told to be patient results in us being even less patient than we were to begin with. So if that’s the case, how is this passage actually going to be helpful to us? Actually it is extraordinarily helpful, because James doesn’t just tell us to be patient; he teaches us how by giving us three inspiring examples.

Definition of Patience

But before we look at those, let’s make sure we understand exactly what patience is. When we tell our kids to be patient, usually we just mean, “Calm down and stop asking if we’re there yet.” But there is much more to patience than that. How would you define patience? Is it just passive resignation?

“Oh well – que sera sera – whatever will be will be.”

Is that what patience is?

Not Passive Resignation

No. God is patient with the wicked, but He is definitely not passively resigned to their behavior. He is not up in heaven saying, “Oh well, can’t do anything about it so … whatever.”

Not Moving Slowly

Patience is not passive resignation. Nor is it simply moving slowly and never being in a hurry. Sometimes people miss opportunities in the name of patience. Or they justify sloth or inactivity or lack of faith in the name of patience. They are so overly cautious – they will never move ahead on anything until every duck is in a row, every possible contingency is covered, and every potential problem is planned for. They can’t trust God for any of that, and so they never do anything. By the time they get all that squared away, the opportunity is long gone. Instead of moving out on faith or seizing an opportunity, they say, “I’m being patient. I don’t want to get out ahead of God on this.” And the reality is God is so far out ahead of them that they have lost sight of Him. They are worried about getting ahead of God, and God has been waiting for them to move for the last year.

Not Inactivity

And we know that patience is not inactivity or idleness, because the first example James gives us for patience is the farmer. Farmers are incredibly patient, but they are definitely not inactive or idle.

Adjustment to God’s Deadlines

So if patience isn’t passive resignation, and it’s not erring on the side of always moving slowly or never being in a hurry, and it’s not inactivity – what is it? The most basic meaning of the biblical term is to simply give more time for the resolution of a problem. The two men who were in arrears in paying their debts in Matthew 18 both had the same request: “Be patient and I’ll pay you everything.”