Patience Is the Key (Part 2) – James 5:10-12
August 26, 2012
Patience is the key of getting through life.
Have you ever hit the rock bottom where you just couldn’t go on any longer, when the worst thing that you could imagine happened and all you wanted to do was give up? I’m going to show a short video clip from the movie “The Patriot”. Mel Gibson, who plays the main character Benjamin Martin has fought against the British during the war of independence. He has fought with all of his strength and ingenuity, inspiring the American troops. But in one battle his son is killed and this video clip shows his reaction. (Show video)
How can we keep going when the world seems to be caving in on us? How do we patiently endure when the suffering we are experiencing is killing us? This passage tells us how. Read passage. Pray.
As we saw a couple of weeks ago this passage talks of patience but falls in two parts. It speaks of two different kinds of patience. The first, which we looked at two weeks ago, talks of the patience that is needed when waiting for something good to come. Specifically this good is the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verses 10-12, the theme is patience again, but it is a different kind of patience. It is the patience that is required to endure through pain and suffering. This passage gives us five motivations to patiently endure when we are experience suffering. The first motivation is this: Others have gone before us. Take a look at verse 10 (read verse). The example is the prophets who spoke the name of the Lord. What sort of suffering did the prophets encounter? They experienced suffering through persecution. When they brought the message of God to the people, it was often a message of condemnation and judgement. The people didn’t want to hear it, so they attacked the messenger.
In fact, let’s take a look at some of these prophets and what they went through. The first person with the official title of prophet was Elijah. Remember his story and what he had to go through? His story is found in 1 Kings 17-19 with sporadic mentions of his exploits until 2 Kings 2. When we first meet Elijah he declares that God is going to bring a famine on the land because of the sin of the king, Ahab and the people. Look at 1 Kings 17:1 (read verse). Right after that God sends him to live in a ravine to be kept alive by ravens. God sent him there so the king wouldn’t find him and kill him. After that the brook dries up and he is sent to live with a Gentile woman in a foreign town. When the time comes for Elijah to declare the end of the drought, he has a huge confrontation between himself and prophets of Baal. Fire falls from heaven to eat up Elijah’s sacrifice and the followers of Baal are rounded up and killed. When Jezebel, Ahab’s wife hears of this, she threatens to kill Elijah. In response, Elijah runs into the desert where he is so depressed he wants to die. Look at 1 Kings 19:3-4 (read verses).
Look at another prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He prophesied during the time when Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians and burned to the ground. During the time when Jerusalem was besieged, Jeremiah told the people that the coming of the Babylonians was God’s punishment of the people of Judah and that if anyone wanted to live they should surrender to the Babylonians. Of course this didn’t go over very well with the officials in Jerusalem, so they imprisoned Jeremiah and tried to kill him. Look at Jer. 18:1-6 (read verses). Could you imagine being in Jeremiah’s situation, being lowered in a black pit to sink and die in the mud? This is Jeremiah’s own words to the opposition he faced in Jer. 20:7-8 (read verses).
And there are other prophets that we really don’t have time to look at. God called the prophets to serve Him and as they served, they all encountered persecution and suffering. It may be a temptation to look at the prophets as extra spiritual people different than us. But look at what James 5:17 says (read verse). The prophets were exactly the same as us. They went through periods of doubt, fear and worry. They experienced pain and loss and suffering. They went through depression and failures. But what set them apart is they kept following the Lord, no matter what the circumstances. Just knowing that others have done it helps me.
I’ve run for a number of years. But I never ever really ran much past 5 km at a time. A couple of years ago I started running with a group in town called the Markham Centaurs. I thought I needed some extra motivation to keep running. But as I talked with some of the people in the running club I was amazed at what the people had accomplished. Just about everyone had run a marathon. Most had run several. There was one elderly couple in their 70’s who must have run over 50 marathons together. I talked with guys who competed in ironman competitions and people who ran ultra marathons. And all of these people were just regular men and women. They had jobs and families. They were just like me. After that I started increasing my running distances. I found that 10 km was a mental barrier for me. After I broke that I found I could run farther and farther. This October I have signed up for the Scotiabank Marathon downtown and I’m in training for it. It’s often when we realize that others have done it before us that we are motivated to do it ourselves.
I wonder about you. Have you ever encountered problems, struggles, and opposition when you’ve tried to serve God? You know for the prophets, most of the time they encountered opposition, not from the Gentiles, but from their own people, the Israelites. What kept them was the mission, the call that God had on their lives. They endured the suffering because they knew they were part of something bigger, building God’s kingdom. Similarly, sometimes when we try to serve God, the greatest conflict we face is from other Christians. What was your reaction? We are called to persevere, to show patience like the prophets. If God has called you to a ministry, then don’t ever give up. If God has called you, then don’t let anything move you. Don’t focus on the problems, focus on the mission. Persevere and God will build His kingdom through you.
The first motivation to patiently endure suffering is: Others have gone before us. The second motivation is: We will be blessed. When we choose to display patience, endurance and perseverance in suffering, then we will be blessed. Look at the first part of verse 11 (read 11a).
It’s true isn’t it that we are inspired when people overcome great hardships and challenges to achieve their goal. How many of you watched the Olympics? Which athletes impressed you the most? Wasn’t it the ones who persevered under huge hardships?
While competing in the marathon in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Steven John Akhwari from Tanzania cramped up due to the high altitude of the city. He had not trained at such an altitude back in his country. At the 19 kilometer point during the 42 km race, there was jockeying for position between some runners and he was hit. He fell badly wounding his knee and dislocated that joint plus his shoulder hit hard against the pavement. He however continued running. Let me show you a short video clip of the end of the race (show video).
When we look at people’s lives we are most impressed with those who stuck it out through the hard times. Think about the people who are the most admired in history. Think of Terry Fox who ran for 143 days and covered 5,373 kilometres. That’s over 37 kilometers a day. Think of Nelson Mandela who languished in prison for 27 years, but who never gave up hope and later emerged from prison to lead South Africa to a new future and democracy. Think of Mahatma Gandhi who endured great opposition and numerous prison internments to lead India into independence. And not only were these people admired, but they all accomplished significant things. They all had an impact on the world.
For us as Christians, patience, endurance, fortitude, perseverance is no less an important characteristic. In fact I think that patience and perseverance is one of the most important characteristics of the Christian. The idea of overcoming in the face of persecution and suffering is one of the key ingredients for God’s blessing. It’s when we stick with it, when we persevere for the long haul, that’s when we will see blessing. That’s certainly true in our own lives. It’s when we go through tough times, that’s when our character is formed.
A little piece of wood once complained bitterly because its owner kept whittling away at it, cutting it, and filling it with holes, but the one who was cutting it so remorselessly paid no attention to its complaining. He was making a flute out of that piece of ebony, and he was too wise to desist from doing so, even though the wood complained bitterly. He seemed to say, “Little piece of wood, without these holes, and all this cutting, you would be a black stick forever – just a useless piece of ebony. What I am doing now may make you think that I am destroying you, but instead, I will change you into a flute, and your sweet music will charm the souls of men and comfort many a sorrowing heart. My cutting you is the making of you, for only thus can you be a blessing in the world.”
And we not only are we blessed when we persevere, but God can accomplish great things through us. This is especially true in ministry. You need to spend time with people to build relationships and develop trust. That can’t happen if we begin in a ministry and then leave after a few months or a couple of years. I started out as a youth pastor and I made many mistakes. But one thing I did right is that I stuck with the kids. I remember one young man who seemed to me, was coming on too strongly with some of the girls in the youth group. I took him aside and asked him to tone it down. He acted like he was mortally offended. The girl who he was talking up came to me later and assured me that Kareem and her were just good friend and they always joked around like that. But from that day Kareem treated me like I was a leper. But I stuck at that church for years. And many years later when Kareem was graduated from college, he visited the church after a youth meeting. He was in a bad place, and I remember approaching him in the parking lot of the church and talking with him. Now I think he was a little drunk at the time, but he said that he wanted to thank me. All the other youth pastors and leaders had left, but I had stuck with them. When we persevere, when we stick with it through the tough times we bless others.
The first motivation to patiently endure in the midst of suffering is the knowledge that others have gone before us. The second motivation is that we will be blessed. The third motivation is there will be a reward. Look at verse 11 again (read verse).
Here the example of Job is given. We all know the story of Job. He was one of the richest men in the world. He had everything you could imagine, fields, livestock, family and respect. Then it all was taken away in one day. And then, at the devil’s prompting, the Lord afflicted Job with physical infirmities. He was covered with sores and in pain all day long. Job had to endure a lot, by anybody’s measure, but the emphasis here isn’t on what Job endured, but the result of his endurance. We come to the end of the story and we see the fruit of Job’s patience. We know the end don’t we? Job 42:12-17 says: “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. … (16) After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And s he died, old and full of years.” That is a great end to the story, but do you know what I think was even a greater reward than all of the riches, family and long life? I think the greatest fruit, the most valuable result of Job’s patience was that he saw God. When Job endured his suffering, he cried out to God and expressed his pain and voiced his questions. He asked for God to answer him. And the Lord did. Job saw God. That will be the end result if we endure patiently through our trials and suffering. If we are patient, if we endure through trials and persecution, if we keep following God even through the hardest times, then we will see God. If you remain faithful through suffering, I can’t promise that like Job, you will regain all the physical things you have lost, but I can promise you that you will meet the One who can meet all of your needs. You will meet God Himself. I can make that promise because I’m just echoing the words of Jesus Christ. He made the promise first.
I run and I’ve been ramping up my training for my upcoming marathon. But sometimes in my long runs I’ll come to about halfway through the course and my body just seems to die. My energy is drained, my legs feel like lead, all the aches in pains in my feet and joints start pounding and then usually right at that point I’ll come to a hill. It’s at those times that I’ll start thinking about the end of the run. I know there will be a nice cold Arizona Ice Tea waiting for me in the fridge. I think about getting out of the heat and into the air conditioning. And I think about the personal satisfaction that will come knowing that I have finished the run. Having a goal, seeing that there is a prize at the end, helps me to keep going. When we encounter trials and problems and persecution and suffering, in this life, remember this: There is a prize. We will see God where suffering will cease, every wrong will be made right and where the desires of our heart will be fulfilled.
What can keep us patiently enduring when suffering comes? First we have to know that others have gone before us. Second we know we will be blessed. Third, there will be a reward. And there is a fourth motivation listed at the end of verse 11. The Lord is with us through it. Look at the end of verse 11 (read 11b). “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” The Lord is not far off from us in our trials, even though it may feel that way. He knows and feels what we are going through and He is with us. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
I know you’ve probably heard this before, but let me show you a short video clip of the famous poem, “Footprints”.
One night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
...Mary Stevenson
That is a pretty familiar poem isn’t it? By why do you think that poem is so famous? People have it on key chains, they have it on plaques hanging in their bathrooms, and it is on the bookmarks in the latest book their reading. It’s so popular because the poem resonates in our souls. There is truth in it. We need Someone greater than us to carry us when we can’t go on alone. And there is Someone, Someone who is compassionate and merciful.
Joni Earekson Tada has been paralyzed from the neck down from 1967 when she severed her spinal cord in a diving accident. Let me show you a short video clip of what God accomplished through her, but also let me show you a little of her daily struggle (show video – 55:50-46:44). I don’t know what you are going through this morning, but I do know that the Lord is with you. He hasn’t left you. He can a will give you the strength that you need, if you run to Him. He is as close as a prayer.
How can we patiently endure suffering? First others have gone before us. Second, we are blessed if we persevere. Third, there is a reward. And fourth, the Lord is with us through it. There is a fifth and final motivation to patiently endure suffering. There will be punishment if we don’t persevere to the end. This passage on patience ends with a warning. Take a look at verse 12 (read verse). When I read this verse I wonder, how does it fit with the rest of the passage. I also wonder why the emphatic stress put on this verse. James says at the start of verse 12, “above all” to obey this command. Why does James stress this command over the rest of the commands he has given so far? And at the end of the verse he warns that anyone taking an oath will be condemned. Why so harsh a punishment?
At the time of this writing, Christians were undergoing persecution for their faith. In this context it’s easy to see the significance of not taking oaths. When the Christians were brought before the court they were given the chance to deny Christ and take an oath to worship Caesar and then sacrifice to him. That is why James stresses the importance of obeying this command. I wonder what I would do if I was confronted with the threat that if I didn’t renounce my faith I would be killed. There is the story of Cassie Bernall. Have you ever heard of her? There is some disagreement on what actually happened, but she was a student who attended Columbine High School in Colorado. She was also a Christian. On that fateful day two young men came in with guns and started shooting people. Cassie was in the library and she hid under one of the tables. One of gunmen came in and looked under the table. He asked Cassie if she believed in God. Cassie said yes, then he shot her.
I wonder what I would have done if I was in Cassie’s position. You may think that this will never happen, but I’ve recently read through the Book of Revelation and one thing comes out very clearly. There will be a time when those who believe in Jesus Christ will be persecuted unto death. Look at Rev. 13:5-10 (read verses). The truth is that there will come a time when all Christians will be persecuted. That is happening right now in different parts of the world. In Nepal a church that was bombed by Hindu extremists in 2009, killing 3 people just recently received more threats. Last week in Nigeria a Christian church was attacked by gunmen injuring several people including two policemen. On Aug. 6, at least 19 people were killed by gunmen in central Nigeria during a Monday prayer meeting. In Egypt, Christian families were forced out of their homes in the village of Dahshur, 40 kilometers south of Giza. Hundreds of Christians fled their homes after being attacked by their Muslim neighbors, who also targeted a church and Christian-owned businesses in the village. Countries where Christians are actively persecuted include: Cambodia, China, Columbia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Loas, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Sudan and Vietnam.
And even in Canada persecution against Christians is increasing. In the face of this rising persecution, what will our response be? The command is not to swear or take an oath against our Lord. When we said “Yes” to Jesus Christ, when we received Him as our Lord and Saviour and when we said that we would follow Him no matter where He would lead, no matter what would happen, then we must keep our promise. The call is to persevere. Jesus says this in Matthew 10:28-33:
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.
Whoever acknowledges me before me, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
This is a powerful motivation to persevere through suffering and persecution. No pain that can be afflicted upon us on this earth comes close to the judgement to come. It’s eternal punishment we should fear, not the attacks of men. But the encouragement is that God cares for us in our suffering and we must trust that He will give us the strength when the time of testing comes.
How can we keep going when the world seems to be caving in on us? How do we patiently endure when the suffering we are experiencing is killing us? We can find motivation from these five facts: First, others have gone before us. Second, we will be blessed if we persevere. Third, God is with us through it. Fourth, there will be a reward. And fifth, there will be punishment if we don’t persevere to the end.
We have to remember that suffering is more than just us. Let me show you the last part of the clip from the “Patriot”. Benjamin Martin is about to ride off, when he finds an American flag in his saddle bag. It’s the flag that his son carefully sewed together and proudly displayed when he went into battle. Let me show you the clip (show video). Benjamin Martin was motivated to stay the course, to get back on his horse and join the battle again, because he was reminded that above his personal pain and suffering, there was a greater cause, a cause worth giving his life for. In our suffering let me remind you, you are part of a greater cause, one worth suffering anything for. You and I are called to take God’s love and share it with people who are lost and dying. Whatever you’re going through, stick it through, stay the course, because we have a cause worth living and dying for.
