"Suffering Patiently"
James 5:7-11
Introduction
We are looking at a passage today that has two words I personally would prefer to avoid. One word is suffering and the other is patience. These are not my favorite topics but they are very real to life. All of us will suffer to a degree or another and our patience will be tried.
James has already commanded us to "consider it (trials of many kinds) pure joy" so that we might be made complete. He has also said blessed is the man who "perseveres under trial" because we "will receive the crown of life." Now James informs us to be patient in that suffering. He says in v. 7-8,
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Patient Suffering
The word for "be patient" is "makrothumesete oun", which means to "catch your wind before a long race". It means in context that the Lord God will soon set things right. The time will come when the unjust (described as the rich and wicked) will receive their due and the just will receive theirs. The accounting of the books will be made and the Lord will right all wrong.
We get a real world example of this patient waiting from the farmer.
See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains
The farmer plants the seeds and waits for life to take its course. The crop doesn’t automatically come to being, it is a process of growth, a balance between rain and sun, soil and seed until finally the crop comes to fruition. It takes a great deal of patience and prayer to wait for ones livelihood to literally grow over time.
Examples
You may ask, "Where do I get the suffering part?" Look at the examples we have in the next few verses. It says in 10-11,
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
The prophets are the first example in the face of suffering. They were rejected, beaten, killed, as they proclaimed the message to Israel. Each one obeyed God and suffered for Him.
Next we have Job, need I say more. Job suffered to the point that he sat in his own oozing puss, scrapping the skin to get the infection off. Why did he suffer, because the Lord had blessed him in every way. Even his friends and his own wife were no relief. They badgered him often to get him to repent where there had been no sin and his wife simply told him to "curse God and die".
What kind of suffering is James talking about? Let me give you an example of what happened in the first century.
Because the city of Pergamum was the capital of Asia it was the administrative home of the Roman Governor. Roman governors were divided into two categories those who had the “Right of the Sword” and those who didn’t. Those who had the “Right of the Sword” literally had the power of life and death, on their word a person could be executed on the spot. The pro-consul who had his office in Pergamum had this right of the sword and at any moment could use it against the church. Apparently it was used against Antipas.
John Stott describes the probable scene this way, "It is not hard to reconstruct the scene which probably saw the death of Antipas. Known to be a Christian, he was summoned before the Proconsul of the Province. This civil leader was also chief priest of the imperial cult. A bust of the emperor was set on a plinth, and sacred fire burned before it. To sacrifice to the genius of Rome and the divine Emperor was a simple matter. All he had to do was sprinkle a few grains of incense on the fire and say, "Kurious Kaisar," (which means) Caesar is Lord. Then he would be released. But how could he deny Christ’s name and faith? Had he not at his baptism been proud to affirm his faith? Had he not at his baptism been proud to affirm his faith in the simple words, "Kurious Iesous", "Jesus is Lord." Had he not been instructed that God had exalted Jesus to His own right hand and set Him far above all principality and power and every name that is named, and given him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father? Had his teachers not assured him that to say "Jesus is Lord" was a sign of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, whereas no man can say "Jesus be cursed" when speaking by the Spirit of God? Such thoughts as these will have invaded the mind of Antipas as his Christian faith was exposed to its supreme test. Whether he wavered or not we cannot say. All we know is that he was given more grace to stand firm, to hold fast Christ’s name and not to deny Christ’s faith. He would indeed render to Caesar the things that were Caesar’s but he must also remember to render to God the things that are God’s. (Antipas) could not bring himself to give to Caesar the title that belonged to Christ. Christ was his Lord, not Caesar, even if it meant the whip, the sword, the lions or the stake. And because Antipas would not deny Jesus, he was killed.”
In America, Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. In the rest of the world Christians pray for stronger backs so they can bear their suffering. It’s why we look away from the bag lady on the street and to the displays in store windows. Why we prefer going to the movies instead of to hospitals and nursing homes.
But, there is suffering in America. People have diseases and debilitating illnesses. They wait for the cure only to find that there is none. People are suffering but we don’t often see it in our worlds. I think of the women who wait at home when their husbands and fiancés go off to war. Some of you may have experienced such waiting in your own family.
What is it that keeps a woman in waiting for her fiancé while he is overseas fighting? Love? Yes. There must be love, but there must be something more as well. She must have faith that someday he will return. In order for that woman to wait patiently for her fiancé to return, she must truly believe that he will return.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in a letter to his sister, it is good to learn early enough that suffering and God are not a contradiction but rather a unity, for the idea that God himself is suffering is one that has always been one of the most convincing teachings of Christianity. I think God is nearer to suffering than to happiness, and to find God in this way gives peace and rest and a strong and courageous heart. He was executed by the direct order of Heinrich Himmler in April 1945 in the Flossenburg concentration camp, only a few days before it was liberated. It was the fulfillment of what he had always believed and taught: “Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his master.
Why do we suffer as believers? It purifies our faith, it trims away the fat in our lives, and it makes us usable in the Lord’s work in a way that is mature. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God can get the most out of us.
A bar of steel is worth five dollars. When it is wrought into horseshoes, it is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars. If wrought into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars. And if it is wrought into springs for watches, it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth a higher value. But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered, and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.
Why?
How do we remain faithful in the midst of such suffering and pain in life? The word gives us several helps in staying the course even in the midst of suffering.
First, realize for us, "The Lord’s coming is near". For us, the believer, it is temporary while we wait for the reward. We have such a great reward coming even the streets are described as streets of gold. The kingdom of God where there will be perfect love, perfect peace, where every tear wiped away so there is only joy, it is coming soon.
People waited for hours to ride one ride at Disneyland. The line was long, the sun was hot, and it was muggy and crowded, filled with screaming children so why would anyone endure that misery, for a few seconds fun.
Job was blessed beyond belief after his suffering. It was temporary and yet he was rewarded seven times over. Everything the Lord restored plus.
Dos
What are we to do? We stand firm and don’t let the suffering change our position. Stand firm, means to simply stay where we are in Christ. It means we stay on course, in His will, and never give up because He is in control anyway.
Also, we are not to change our attitude. James mentions grumbling against others. It means we become critical in spirit. Rather, we should stay as encouragers as the Word commands.
Finally, don’t allow suffering to waver your faith in Christ. You have said yes to Jesus Christ and him alone. Even if horrible circumstances should befall you, keep your eyes on Jesus alone. Don’t try some new belief or stop believing, or even trust in anything for the future. Let your yes be yes and your no, no.
One of the most powerful prayers in the midst of suffering I have read was uncovered from the horrors of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Ravensbruck was a concentration camp built in 1939 for women. Over 90,000 women and children perished in Ravensbruck, murdered by the Nazis. Corrie Ten Boom, who wrote The Hiding Place, was imprisoned there too. The prayer, found in the clothing of a dead child, says:
O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: Instead remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering, our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.
“Although I do not know why God allowed evil, I do know that he wants to destroy it. That is why there is hell.
Although I do not know why God allowed pain, I do know he wants to wipe every tear from our eyes and give us joy for eternity in his presence. That is why there is a heaven.
Although I do not know why God allowed suffering, I do know God is a suffering God who became human in Jesus, suffered and died on the Cross in order to forgive you and me.”
Invitation
