OPEN: Today we are going to be talking about patience. That's what brother Jim wants to address as he is talking to his flock in the church at Jerusalem. This is one of those virtues that doesn't come easily to any of us. Everything about our life seems to be designed to test our patience, doesn't it? Think about the kinds of things that try your patience: Long lines at the grocery store. Having someone pull out in front of you on the highway and then drive extremely slow. Waiting for hours at the doctors office. Slow service at McDonald's. Long winded preachers who talk way too long. -- all will try your patience, won't it?
Ill: When patience is required! A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o'clock in the morning by a loud pounding on their door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger in the pouring rain is asking for a push. "Not a chance" says the husband- "It's three o'clock in the morning!" He slams the door and returns to bed. "Who was it?" asks his wife. "Just a drunken stranger asking for a push" he answers. "Did you help him?" She asks. "No, I didn't-it's three in the morning and raining out." 'Well, you've got a short memory" says his wife. "Can't you remember about three months ago when we broke down on vacation and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him." The man does as he is told and gets dressed and goes out into the pouring rain and calls out into the dark. "Hello-are you still there?" "Yes," comes the answer. "Do you still want a push?" calls out the husband. "Yes, please!" comes the reply from the dark. "Where are you?" asks the husband. The drunk calls out from the darkness, "I'm over here on the swing in the back yard. Can you give me a push?" There's just some times when we need a little extra patience.
I found this little poem which really condenses the struggle we all have with Patience:
Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.
Patience isn't a virtue that comes easy for any of us. We all know we need it, but none of us want to go through the process required to teach it to us. And there is nothing about our culture that helps us to develop this quality. Everything about our culture is oriented towards that which is fast. Fast is good. Slow is bad. We have fast food, quick print shops, faster and faster computers, express oil changes, expressways, one hour photos, instant messaging, instant cocoa, instant coffee, microwaves, overnight delivery, & e-mail. We think the faster life goes the better it is for us. I don't think God has that same mindset. He wants us to learn to practice patience. That's the problem isn't it? I'm in hurry but God isn't. The problem with developing patience is it's not instant. There's nothing "instant" about patience. It is one of those character traits that grows over time rather than being given to us overnight. We eat fast food and then want instant diet plans. I even read about a church that advertises a 30 minute church service. The Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock Arkansas is advertising its 30-minute church service "designed with you in mind" Remember the time when church services were designed with God in mind? There is even a church in Florida that advertises 22 minute services. Go there and they promise that in 22 minutes it will all be over, and you'll be out of there. The sermons are only 8 minutes long..." And our society applauds it! "That's the right way to do it -- do it fast and get on to something else." This is called a day of rest -- a day to rest in the Lord -- not a day of hurry up. This is a day when we step out of the rat race and find rest for our souls.
Context: You'll remember from the last time we were in this book that James has been talking about the topic of some of the people in his congregation being abused by others. The wealthy in the congregation were taking advantage of the poor in the congregation. Some were hoarding their money and not paying their employees. The rich were oppressing and persecuting the poor. How does James want them to respond to this situation? What kind of attitude are they to have? He says "Be Patient" In fact in this short passage, James uses the words "patient", "patience", "persevered", and "perseverance" six times in five verses.
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. (James 5:7)
The NIV doesn't do a great job with the translation here. Most translations have the word "therefore" (NIV uses "then" - "so then") "So then -- in light of the persecution and suffering you are experiencing - In light of the difficulty and problems you are experiencing, be patient." Now we have to understand what the word patience actually means. The word patience comes from two Greek words Makrothumia = (makros) which means "far away" or "large" or "long" and (thumos) which means "anger, heat or rage." It literally means -- "long anger" or long-tempered. Slow anger. Being a patient person has a great deal to do with controlling your temper. Having a long fuse, not a short one. It is the ability to face difficult circumstances and wrongs done to you without loosing your gentleness and humility. You don't blow up, you don't have a short fuse, you don't lose it.
- This is not a passive resignation, but an attitude of self-restraint that enables one to refrain from hasty retaliation in the face of provocation. The Bible says "God is slow to anger, full of compassion." We're to be the same. By the way I'm glad that God doesn't have a short-fuse, Amen? I'm glad he is patient with me.
Now again you have to put what James is saying into the context of what is actually happening. These guys are working and not getting paid. They are doing a full day's work but not getting a full day's wage. Not only that, but if you look at verse 6 some of them have actually been killed and murdered. The rich were often able to get away with those kinds of atrocities because they held the money -- and in those days, money was power. So if they wanted to put a poor man to death it was a simple task of buying off the local official with a bribe and justice for the poor was only a dream. James says to them, "Be patience -- don't get angry -- don't retaliate. You've been mistreated and cheated and taken advantage of --you are suffering greatly but be patient."
Now here's my question: Does that even sound doable? We've all experienced the hurt of mistreatment and misunderstandings from time to time, but I don't think any of us have actually faced anything this severe. Is this the counsel you would have given to them, in light of the suffering they were experiencing? We might have had difficult work situations, arguments with loved ones, difficult relatives, individuals who take advantage of us, friends who turn against us, neighbors who believe false things about us and dozens of other hurtful circumstances. What's our natural tendency? Our natural tendency is to retaliate, to return evil for evil, to get even, or to hold a grudge and become bitter. But there is a better way to respond to such hurtful circumstances and James as pastor of the church of Jerusalem reveals this to his congregation. Here's what he is saying: we are to overcome our natural reaction with a supernatural response.
The problem that many of us deal with is that we give ourselves license to express anger or frustration or even retaliate at the slightest intrusion into our plans. We want a pound of retaliation for every ounce of offense. We throw self-control out the window - we license ourselves to express anger and retaliate because we have been wronged in some way. That wrong might have been severe or might have been something simple - a careless thing that someone has about us. But whatever form the wrong takes -- the natural reaction is to rationalize why we no longer have to practice self-control. So we lash out at the other person. We give ourselves license to practice impatience far too easily. It's not easy to restrain retaliation. It's far easier to become bitter and resentful and take matters into your hands and lash out at the person who wronged you. Whatever the trial, whatever the problem, you must be patient. That's the standard. That's the righteous expectation of the child of God Being a patient person means you don't have to go through life taking up an offense for everything that goes wrong in your life. Why? James gives us the motivation for exercising patience in the same verse.
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming . . . You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. (James 5:7,8)
James says that the incentive to patience is "the coming of the Lord"- our incentive for patience is to be in anticipation of the return of the Lord. The word used here for "coming" is (parousia), which actually is the Greek word for "presence" or "advent." we look forward to His Second Advent, an event that became known simply as, "The Parousia." It's his arrival. The first advent celebrates his arrival in Bethlehem as a babe in a manger. The second advent looks forward with anticipation to his arrival as Conquering King, returning with all the saints who have gone before us and He will usher us into a new era of His kingdom reign. We're looking for the arrival of Jesus Christ. His coming in order to bless His people with His presence.
James is really talking about a path that leads to emotional freedom here. We don't throw self-control out the widow -- we don't give ourselves license to retaliate and strike back. We don't let anger enslave us. We don't get so overwhelmed with our troubles that we seethe with anger or give in to revenge. We don't get resentful and bitter and start to plan how we can hurt the other person who hurt us. (all paths to emotional enslavement and opposite of how we are to act as Christians) We can chose to focus on our problems and experience anxiety and tension and frustration or we can fix our eyes on the coming of our Lord and experience tolerance and compassion and understanding and acceptance -- and more than that -- we don't become enslaved to natural reactions to hurtful situations.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
(Titus 2:11-13)
When Paul writes to Titus he calls the return of Christ our "blessed hope." That's what we are to be fixed upon. That's what is to shape our perspective on our world. This is what should mediate our response when we suffer injustice and wrongs in our life.
Do you want to know what James is saying to his congregation? He's saying, "It won't always be this way." There is coming a time when there will be no more sorrow, no more trouble, no more crying, no more death, no more pain, no more tears. If you're going to endure whatever suffering comes, you've got to have your eyes on the return and the arrival of Jesus Christ. James doesn't go into any discussion here. He doesn't give us an eschatological chart. He doesn't give us eight paragraphs on the crescendo of human history. He doesn't give us any kind of insight into specifics. Don't judge the Lord by his unfinished work. Be patient till he unveils the perfect pattern in glory. God has made a promise that the work that he started in you will be completed. That work is finished when you enter heaven or Jesus returns to take the church home
Patience Requires That We Trust God For The Issues That Are Beyond Our Control
See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. (James 5:7)
What's the key concept in this verse? The issue of waiting. The farmer waits, that's how it is if you're a farmer, you plant and then you wait. And that conveys the idea of looking expectantly for something he can't control himself. He looks for that crop to come in. The harvest frankly depends on the providence of God. The farmer can plant the seed, but he can't make it grow. The farmer can cultivate the soil but he can't make it rain. The farmer has no control over the rain. What does the farmer do when he doesn't have enough rain to water his crops? Sit around his house and grumble and complain? Would that help any at all? All that would do is increase his anxiety. The farmer goes out to his field and does what he can and he learns to leave the rest with the Lord. The farmer takes responsibility for the issues that are within his control, and he doesn't take responsibility for the things that are beyond his control.
Do you understand that not acting on something and just waiting is a spiritual response to trials? Do you understand that sometimes God doesn't want you to do anything? Sometimes (probably more often than not) God wants you not to act -- he wants you to wait and give him room to do something you can't see. Patience requires that a person permits God to be God. There are a whole lot of circumstances in this life that are beyond your control and there is nothing that you can do about them -- and perhaps you shouldn't be attempting to "do" anything period. Perhaps what you should be doing is waiting -- because that thing that you are trying to force -- might just be God's responsibility and not yours. Learn to trust God for the issues that you can't control in life.
Why does the farmer wait patiently? Because the value of what is being produced by God in the soil of his field justifies waiting patiently. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. The value of what God is producing in the soil of your heart will be worth patiently waiting. The value of our reward justifies an attitude of patience in all things "Stand Firm" = KJV says "establish your hearts" (stçrixate) interesting word -- in its root it means to prop up - to prop yourself up. He says when you're about to collapse under pressure, prop yourself up with the hope of the Second Coming and be patient. Prop yourself up, stiffen your backbone, stand up straight. Establish yourself -- stand firm -- strengthen your heart. Impatience is a sign of instability. James wasn't a pastor that tolerated unstable immature people, was he? Remember what he said about the double-minded man in chapter one who was unstable in all his ways? Instability points to a lack of real commitment and maturity in a person's life. So he says, "you focus on the Lord's return and the reward he will bring for you when he returns -- establish that in your heart - you remain focused and committed on that it will enable your patient response to the problems you face.
How Can I Develop Patience In My Life?
You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! (James 5:8-9)
First James a picture of what it doesn't look like. The Bible gives us a very clear picture of impatience. What does James say in this verse that shows impatience? Grumbling against each other. When we are impatient there is a natural tendency to grumble against circumstances and attack each other. James says grumbling is a tell-tale sign that we are not practicing patience. In fact, it tells us just the opposite, we're on edge, we're mad. You can even hear it in the word.. "Grrrr-umbling." Living under stress can create all kinds of frustration. Most times we can't grumble against the person who is really causing our frustration so we begin to grumble against the people who are around us. You loose patience with everyone. I think he referring to misplaced frustration -- because the root of their adversity is not each other -- it's the wealthy people who are taking advantage of them. But what they are doing is aiming their frustration at each other.
Why does he say, "Behold the Judge is standing at the door!"? The idea there is you don't want to be found grumbling against someone else when Jesus arrives to claim His bride. We live in the light of the fact that Jesus could come at any moment. And you want to be sure that when he does come your not in the middle of a sentence murmuring something negative about one of his precious sons or daughters. You see, there is a double kind of motivation in these verses towards practicing patience. On the positive side, we practice patience because one day there will be reward when he returns -- then on the negative side, we are to practice patience because we don't want to be found with sinful attitudes and behaviors that accompany impatience when He returns.
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (James 5:10)
You need an example? You're going through problems, and you need somebody to look at as a model? Then take as an example the prophets. Jesus said in John 13:15, "I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." That's the purpose of an example - do what I did. Imitate the conduct of the prophets, he says, they suffered and they were patient. Let me read you a short excerpt from the 11th chapter of Hebrews: And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. They lived their lives as examples for us to follow. They persevered through great suffering and persecution and stress. They patiently waited on the Lord to accomplish in through
their lives what He purposed.
- So Christian -- What makes you think that you are any different? What makes you think that somehow they were called to that kind of patient endurance and you somehow you are not? Do you think you have it more difficult then they did? Here living in America -- the Disneyland of the universe -- you think you have a valid reason to be impatient? You really think you have a reason not to endure -- not to persevere?
Now what's really interesting is the very next verse when chapter 12 starts: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1) They had their race to run -- you have your race to run. They had their challenges and problems and unique circumstances -- you have yours. Their circumstances are going to be different from your -- but -- just like they practiced perseverance and endurance and patience in the midst of their race -- you are called to do the same. Noticed it's "a great cloud of witnesses" -- it's not just a few who ran with patience -- who ran with perseverance -- it a great cloud of witnesses -- not just the super saints. All of us -- everyone one of us - are called to patience and perseverance.
Determine to Persevere Through Your Difficulties.
As you know, we count as 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. What's the primary thought here? God blesses people who endure -- who patiently persevere through the difficulty they are facing. God isn't looking for a knee jerk reaction to the problems we face -- he's looking for endurance -- for perseverance -- for fortitude - for an attitude that says, "I'm going to patiently trust God as I go through this -- I might not understand it -- I might not have chosen this for myself -- but I am going to practice patience in the midst of it.
Everyone is familiar with the story of Job. Job was a godly man. Satan came to God and said, "I don't think You have even one man on the earth that will be true to You." He said, "Yes I do, Job." And He said, "Satan, you can't kill him but you can do just about everything else you want to him and I'll prove that he's a faithful man. I'll show you that I can have a man who is totally committed to Me." So Satan went after Job. Destroyed him in every way possible. Took away his family. Killed his children. Took away all his crops, his land, his possessions, everything he owned, gave him a severe disease. And in it all, Job never wavered. He endured. He complained now and then, but mostly about his dumb friends who were giving him stupid answers as to what was going on. His wife tried to get him to curse God and die, and he refused to do it. And he said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." He said, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Incredible man...he endured. He cried out to God in confusion. He listened to his friends give him all this stupid counsel. But he never cursed God. He never gave up. He never had this knee jerk reaction to his problems. He endured to the end -- He never really understood it but God blessed him because of his endurance.
Catch this: My patient perseverance is a statement of my faith in God.
The word "patience" doesn't even appear in the book of Job. Yet when people talk about Job they constantly refer to "the patience of Job." What reveals Job's patience? It was his perseverance through his trial, wasn't it? Patience is revealed in perseverance through difficult situations. But here is the question I have: Why did Job persevere? Why didn't he grumble against God? Why didn't he follow Mrs. Job's advice, "Curse God and die."? Because even in the midst of some of the worse situations imaginable, His understanding of who God is never waivered. He had staying power because of the depth of His faith. In chapter 19:25-27 Job says, "I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" That's what Job believed. His belief is what gave him patient perseverance.
Look back in your Bible at verse 11. Why does James say at the end of verse 11, "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy"?
After reminding them of the example of Job he immediately says, God is full of compassion and mercy. He's reminding his flock of who God is. "Yes, you're facing great difficulty and you've got stress and you've got problems -- and you're feeling overwhelmed -- "But remember your God." He's full of compassion and mercy. Don't get angry - don't cave in -- don't take matters into your own hands -- Don't grumble about others -- don't react naturally -- but respond with a supernatural patient endurance. God knows what you're going through. He's right there in the midst of it with you. He's got all the compassion and mercy and power and strength and wisdom and guidance and insight and kindness and grace and understanding - everything that you're going to need to persevere through the issues you are facing. Who knows -- maybe you were put into the midst of the circumstances that you face so that God could point to you and now there's a child of mine that's really faithful. Maybe the accuser has already gone before the throne of Grace and made the accusation about you -- "let me put a little stress in that person's life and let's see how faithful they are then." God looks at you and looks back at Satan and says -- "Go ahead -- I know they will have the patience in the midst of the trial to still trust me to carry them through what they are going to face." He'll bless you if you persevere.
- By the way -- that perseverance in the midst of your problem is a measurement of your maturity.
Look back at chapter, which is kind of a theme that runs through the entire book -- and you'll remember that James said Maturity Is Measured By Perseverance. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Close: What kind of pressure or trial or stress or problem are you facing in which you need to exercise patience and perseverance? How are you responding to it? Are you willing to wait? Are you acting when God is saying "Wait" Are you demonstrating patient perseverance in the midst of your problem?
