Fracture
Part 12- Patience…What’s That?
James 5:7-11- Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
How many of you consider yourself to be pretty impatient people? I know I do. (Conversation with mom about the beaming system). How cool would that be, seriously? I know I am definitely spoiled by being an American. I mean how many countries can you go to where you can step outside your door and be within a mile or 2 from anything you could possibly want in life. While achieving the American dream is a tremendous goal for everyone it has, as I spoke last week, created in us a sense of arrogance and entitlement in this country. We think because we are Americans that we deserve the best and we deserve it instantly. And we are catered too in that way. How many commercials and advertisements do we see each day that tells us how much we deserve something and how we need to reward award ourselves and how instant everything is? I have hit on this a few time in this series but want to bring it all to a head today as we finish out James.
We want everything quick, we want it easy, we don’t want to wait, and we don’t care what it cost. If we have to wait in line we get angry, if the shipment is a day late we throw a fit, if the store is out of our product we scream for a manager, if the restaurant runs out of an item we tell our friends not to eat there. When version 1 of the latest toy comes out we rush out to get it. Then doesn’t it seem like technology moves so quick that right when we are in the middle of reading the instructions to version 1 they announce version 2? So we discard version 1 because well version 2 is way better. Even though it’s like a month older. We are incredibly impatient. The American Dream has created monsters of impatience. Not really the American Dream but the tolerance of sin and the feeding of our sin has created the monster.
Let me show you what I mean…Let’s start with food- McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Hungry Man, Ramen Noodles (the food for the college kid). How about shopping- Wal-Mart, Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, Babies R Us. How about technology…Coffee maker, iPod, iphone (edge vs. 3g). And just in case we don’t have the cash to pay for it all don’t worry because Visa will come to your rescue.
Now the question is why is it so bad that we have all these things at our disposal? Well, it’s not. What is bad is when we let ourselves get so used to it that we expect it and we get impatient when we don’t get what we want when we want it and how we want it. This sin of selfishness and impatience destroys people. And what happens is when we let even a small part of selfishness creep in to one part of our life then it will begin to creep into all parts of our lives.
Our marriages will become unrealistic. We will place expectations on the other person that are not fair and they can’t possibly live up to. We will expect them to do all these things for us because well “I make the money” and they should just do this. And we get impatient when it doesn’t happen. We will lose patience with our kids. We have all these toys and things we want to play with and we don’t want to spend time with our kids and be patient with our kids. We want to do what we want to do when we want to. And we brush them off and tell them to go play with all the Christmas toys we just bought them instead of bothering us.
We get impatient at church. We want the service to last 1 hour, period. If service starts going late we start getting a little squirmy, we start checking our watches, we start thinking about what’s for lunch. See we didn’t come to church today to focus on God and give him time we came to put in our time and get out. Get in, get out, and get on with our lives. That is what impatience does to us.
Even God is not immune from our spirit of entitlement that we deserve what we want. Last week I made a brief mention that we are praying for the wrong things. When we go to prayer we go to God thanking him for the nice day, and then we jump right into our “list”. It’s like a wish list. God, “Give me this, grant me that, if you provide this I’ll do that.” Jesus taught us how we should pray. Matthew 6:9-13, Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Jesus taught us to pray in such a way that our prayers are focused on God, the awesomeness of God and the righteousness of God. His prayer is one that request God not for things we wish we had but only to supply us what we need for that day. His prayer is focused on repentance for our sins and to help us forgive others. And his prayer is focused on putting our faith and trust in him to help us overcome the daily temptations that we face as Christians that could lead to sin if we aren’t leaning on his promises.
When we pray, we usually pray selfishly. And when our prayers aren’t answered the way we want them and how we want them then we get mad at God. We don’t stop to think that what we are praying for might not be that important, what we are praying for might not be what God wants and what we are praying for might hurt us more than we know so God says no, or what we are praying for is the right thing but God is not ready to make it happen. We think we can see it but we don’t see the big picture like God sees it. All we see in our prayers is the end product. We always fail to see the 500 steps that it will take to get to the end product. But God sees all those steps and so that is why he works in his timing and not ours.
Ecclesiastes was right that there is nothing new under the sun. The impatience and selfishness we battle against today as believers is the exact same selfishness that the church of James time was battling against. The passage we read in the beginning was again written to believers. James is trying to encourage them to keep enduring their continued suffering. The early church was mostly the poor. Jesus spent his 3 years speaking primarily to the poor and the sick. So it makes sense that his ministry would spread more quickly to that group of people rather than the rich and powerful who would be blinded by greed and pride. But the poor were greatly persecuted especially by the rich. The return of Christ was promised by Christ himself and it was often repeated in the letters of the apostles that Christ was returning. The problem was people assumed that Jesus meant he would be returning really soon, like in their lifetimes. And the longer they are having to wait for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom, the longer they are having to suffer and die for their beliefs and the more impatient the church is becoming. Christ promised he would return but he didn’t say when. In fact we know that Jesus didn’t even know when he would return. Only the Father knows that.
James spends this portion of the letter encouraging the church to endure. His heart in this entire letter is to see the Jewish-Christian community united. There had to be incredibly temptation for them to rise up and rebel against their oppressors but James urges them to hold fast and be patient otherwise their impatience will lead to sin and if they allow themselves to fall into sin then they will not be ready when Christ does return.
Let’s split this passage of scripture up into 3 sections this morning. Go back to verses 7-8, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James starts this passage by trying to encourage his readers. James tells the church slow down and be patient. Christ is coming again just not yet. The word patience can be defined as a calm endurance based on the certain knowledge that God is in control.
The key there is that God is in control not we are in control. When we try to do it ourselves, answer our own prayers, or make things happen quicker more often than not we make things worse. Instead of waiting on God’s timing our impatience gets the better of us and we create a big mess. Our impatience plants the idea that God doesn’t care or God didn’t hear our prayer. James says, “Wait just a minute. Don’t get discouraged, don’t get defeated, I know you are suffering, you are being tortured and even dying but you can’t see what God is doing behind the scenes so just sit back and let God do His thing. Trust in God’s timing.” The very fact that we have hope in Christ returning should drive us to live patient lives.
One Christian author says, “The hope of Jesus’ return to the earth as Lord and Judge has been the fondest hope of true believers from James’s day to our own. This hope is the source of all Christian patience. It is the reason we can refrain from anger and vengeance, knowing that the only righteous Judge will take care of those matters in His own way and in His own time. This will be the crowing moment of justice in human history.” J. Michael Walters
The Old Testament is about a people patiently trusting in God and waited for a coming Messiah who would bring Justice in the midst of their suffering, and the New Testament is once again about a people who are patiently awaiting the return of the Messiah to bring justice to their suffering. But this time his return will be to establish his kingdom forever. James is urging his readers to not rebel, to not take vengeance and to not try and hurry things along because Christ is not coming in their timing. To illustrate this he points us to the farmer. The farmer’s job is to do the planting. He cultivates the land and he plants the seed. But the farmer has no control over the weather. He doesn’t make the sun rise or set, he doesn’t bring the rain or cause the wind to blow. Instead the farmer has to plants the seed and then sits back and waits. God does the harvesting while the farmer does the planting. God is working hard while we wait.
This is the same with our prayers. We plant the see, we present the request, and then we let God do the work. We wait patiently for his answer and we accept what He gives because what he gives is right whether its what we wanted or not. It’s the same when we share our faith with others. If the farmer tries to harvest the crop too early, before its ready he will destroy the crop and all the work will be for not. The same is said when we share our faith. Our job is to plant the seed. We are to share our faith, to tell others what Jesus has done for us and how they can be saved. We are then to sit back and wait patiently. Let God do his work. If we try to force it along we will only turn people off from God’s love because it won’t be God’s love they feel it will be our impatience. So we are patient and we let God work. Wives you cannot change your husband only God can. So you plant the seed of grace and mercy in his life. You get on your knees and pray for God to move. You wait patiently and let God change him not you. Husbands you cannot change your wives. You plant the seed in her. You live righteously and holy, you pray for your wife and you let God do the harvesting. Singles you cannot force a man or woman to come into your lives. If you do it will be the wrong one. You will be unequally yoked. You are to live your lives, planting seeds, living righteously trusting in God and his timing and if it is his will He will bring the right person into your life. He is not going to let you miss them.
James encourages us to wait, for Christ is coming again. Just plant the seeds, be holy, be patient and trust that God is working. We should never take matters into our own hands. When we take matters into our own hands we are rejecting the life of trust and faith in God to deliver His people in His own time. We are essentially saying that God doesn’t know what He is doing. James starts by encouraging us to trust. Knowing that Christ is coming again should be a great motivator for us to trust and be patient.
James Instructs- VS. 9, “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” James instructs his readers to be ready because Christ is standing at the door. Meaning he could be here any minute. Martin Luther once said, “Christians should live every day as if Jesus was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and was coming again tomorrow.” How different would the church look if we lived that way? We live life like we have all the time in the world, but James tells us life is short. Live righteously now because your time may be done in 10 seconds. Christ can return any minute. James warns us to not grumble. Grumble in the Greek means to groan. The people were groaning of their undesirable circumstances. They were suffering and dying for their faith. We groan all the time don’t we? The one-thing believers and non-believers alike never run out of is complaints. Complaining is the opposite of patience. When we complain we don’t feel love. We don’t feel grace and mercy. Instead we feel anger, frustration, discouragement, and resentment.
If anyone has anything to complain about it’s God. How many times do we fail Him yet He continues to forgive, continues to show mercy, continues to bless, continues to be patient with us so we will finally believe in Him for eternal life? There isn’t a person in this room who hasn’t experienced being put in a less than ideal situation, which resulted in you growing increasingly impatient with people around you. James instructs us to anticipate and avoid the negative emotions that result from these situations. Avoid be caught up in a situation that results in your grumbling or complaining because the Judge is at the door. How embarrassing would it be for Christ to return in the middle of our complaining?
When we grumble against others we are standing in judgment of them which has been prohibit in this letter. When we judge we have to be careful to remember that we will be also be judged by THE judge and James says that judge is standing at the door. All believers need to let the reality of coming sink in and let it motivate us to stay away from the temptations of grumbling and complaining against another believer. God has been immensely patient with us and so we must likewise be patient with others.
To illustrate this point James points to some examples. VSS. 10 and 11 say, “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
James points to the example of the prophets of the Old Testament. People who were great examples of patience even in the face of suffering. Hebrews 11 says the prophets of old were in fact tortured. The were mocked, beaten, scourged, chained up, imprisoned, sawn in two, tempted, destitute, ill treated, stoned and put to death. Yet they remained faithful and patient waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled. What we learn from the prophets is that those who endured the most suffering for God were always the most patient. They did not give up despite their suffering.
James first example of the prophets fits with the overall theme of his entire letter. Remember back in 1:12 where James says, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12 The truly blessed person is the one who patiently endures even the most difficult of circumstances. They come out of them with even greater faith in God. To persevere in the Greek literally means to stay put. Stand firm. Do not waiver.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
Hebrews 12:7 says, “As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?” The OT prophets and Christ himself knew what it meant to endure, to persevere, and to be patient during times of trial. James wants us to look to their example of faith to remind us of the greater goal that awaits us when we patiently endure our difficult times. The blessings that we receive from God should never be measured by material wealth. The blessings of God come to those who stand firm until the end.
James closes this section of scripture by giving us one more example in Job. Job is the ultimate example of patient endurance. What we have to remember about Job was that he was human. Yeah, he finished well but he also didn’t always respond with patience or understanding. At times he was discouraged and he said things he would regret. Basically Job was human. Job’s time of testing, brought about perseverance, which would bring about maturity. His faith was steadfast no matter what happened around him. He endured and he trusted God. He waited for God to win the day. He didn’t do it perfectly but he finished well.
These are some great examples. The problem is our human spirit is not naturally steadfast. We like to believe that we can take matters into our own hands and solve our own problems and change things how we want them to be changed. The trying times of life bring a great temptation to turn on others, to be rebellious, to become angry and jealous. James is urging his readers to remember that patience, perseverance must reign in us. We have to keep our hopes fixed on the merciful Judge who will reward those who are steadfast with the crown of life.
Some of you this morning feel like giving up. You feel lost, you feel hopeless the weight of the world is against you. Persevere. Put your faith in him. James actually tells us what to do in the final verses of this letter. He says in 5:13-18, which says, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.” God says the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Pray in all circumstances. God hears us and will answer our prayers.
What you struggle with now will only happen for a little while, what brings you pain will not last. The more we hurt, the more we suffer, the more we struggle the more we need to pray, the more we need to lean on the fellowship of believers, the church, and the more we need to go back to His promises. He will never leave you, He will never forsake you. Trust in him all people and he will make your paths straight. Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and He will bring Joy to your life and give you the faith to endure the darkest of times.
Altar Call
