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December 16, 2007
A-Advent 3
James 5:7-11
Pastor Robert Raasch

Christian, Be Patient!

(James 5:7-11)  Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. {8} You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. {9} Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! {10} Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. {11} As 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.

Can you tell me, when was the last time you had your patience really tested?  This last summer, when I was coming home from my mom’s, there was like a 7 or 12 mile stretch of Highway 53 that had been reduced to one lane of traffic each way.  I’ve never seen so many orange cones in my life.  Because it was a construction zone, the speed limit had been reduced from 65 to 55.  At first, that wasn’t too bad; there was not a lot of traffic, so were moving right along.  But then this red Escort wagon comes down the on ramp right in front of me, and from that moment on, that car never cracked 45 mph.  Beautiful, sunny day, clear roads and we’re doing 45 mph for mile after mile after mile!  I can’t tell you how many times I thought about swerving through those cones to try to get around that car.  (Of course, about that time, there’s a dump truck coming the other way.)  Talk about having your patience tested!  I think the steering wheel of our car still wears the marks of where my finger nails were digging into it.  Tell me, can you relate?  Whether it’s slow moving traffic, or a long line at the grocery store; whether it’s being put on hold on the phone or sitting in the “waiting room” for what seems like hours; whether it’s dealing with a belligerent child or trying to get through to seemingly clueless parent—chances are, we’ve all had our patience tested. 

Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me, the score you got on the “test” of your patience was not exactly a passing grade.  So often we really struggle with being patient—especially in the face of trials and temptations, setbacks and delays.  Being patient is not so easy.  And yet, the fact is, patience is a virtue; it’s a mark of the Christian faith.  It’s something that God wants to have us display in everything we say and think and do.  And yet, patience is not only something that God demands of us—it’s something that, by his grace, he also develops in us. 

In fact, that’s the point of the Bible reading we have before us today.  Here the inspired writer James has a message for real life believers like you and me.  His message is simply this:

Christian, Be Patient!

1. As You Wait for the Lord’s Coming
2. As You Trust in the Lord’s Compassion

It should be noted that the people to which James originally wrote these words were in fact a group of Christians who were undergoing severe trials. Many of them had been forced to flee their homes due to religious persecution.  They were being oppressed by the rich and powerful. They faced economic hardships; they were being slandered and mistreated on every side—all of which had them being tempted to just throw in the towel, to say, “the heck with being a Christian.  It’s just not worth it!”

Well, it is in response to this difficult situation that St. James offers these words of encouragement.  He says, “Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.”  And again in verse 8, “Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”  James’ point is this:  “Christian, don’t get too wrapped up in your life here and now, because this is not all there is.  Life on earth is nothing but blink of the eye compared to our life in heaven.  The Lord Jesus is coming to take us home to heaven.  We don’t know when, but we know he will.  All we can do is wait.”

In that sense, James says, we are to be like the farmers.  Farmers can’t control when it’s going to rain, or how much it’s going to rain.  Even though they may have 10’s or 100’s of thousands of dollars riding on it, all they can do is wait for the Lord to provide rain according to his plan and timetable.  They must be patient.  Isn’t the same thing true for you and me?  We too must be patient as we wait for the Lord’s return.  We can’t dictate exactly when the Lord is going to return to this world.  Even though we’re maybe tempted to say, “C’mon God, how long are you going to let this unbelieving world get away with their godless behavior?  When are you going to rescue us from the pain and trouble?  How bad do things have to get before you bring it all to an end?”

God’s answer to all those questions is simply, “Christian, be patient.”  God Almighty has a plan and a timetable for this world.  And when God in his infinite wisdom determines that the very last person whom he has chosen to be his own finally comes to faith in Jesus—when God determines that every one else in the world is going to stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is their Savior, then and only then, will God bring this world to a crashing halt.  Until that glorious moment—glorious for some and horrifying for others—until that moment, God’s advice to his people is simply, “Be patient!”

And yet, it must be said that God is not only talking about patiently waiting for the Lord’s return.  He’s also encouraging us to be patient with others while we wait for the Lord’s return.  If you think about it, that’s the harder of the two challenges.  To wait for the Lord isn’t so hard.  To wait for the people around us—that’s what’s hard.  Which is why James says “Christian, be patient.”  Actually, the Greek for “patient” is interesting.  Literally, the word makrothumia means “long angered.”  You’ve heard of someone being “short-tempered?” Well, this word is the opposite of that.  Being “long-angered,” or “long-suffering” as it’s sometimes translated, is the ability to put up with something for a long time.  One commentator defined it as “that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation that doesn’t hastily retaliate.”  Hmmm.  The quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation.”  Tell me, how good are you at displaying that characteristic?  When people fail to live up to your expectations, are you quick to snap at them?  Are you easily frustrated by them?  Do you feel like people are always “pushing your buttons?”  Or are you someone who really doesn’t have any buttons to push? 

Even if don’t outright fly off the handle, are you one to have this kind of slow burn?  Did you hear what James says here in our text?  “Don’t grumble against each other.”  Actually, the Greek word used here refers to even the unintelligible groan or sigh.  You know, the “UGH.”  It’s that expression of impatience, frustration, even contempt or condemnation. 

And what makes this kind of thing so wrong?  Well, first of all because it displays such a better-than-thou attitude.  “Nobody is living up to my expectations.  I’ve got it all right and they don’t.”  What does Paul say?  “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Rom. 12:3).  Secondly, that spirit of complaining shows an attitude of ingratitude.  I’m not really thankful for what God has done for me, the mercy he has shown me, the second, third, fourth, fifth chance he’s given me.  

And maybe the worst of all, my complaining about others, my impatience with what’s going on in my life, is not only directed at the people around me.  It’s ultimately directed at God.  It’s saying, “God, how can you let this happen?  What did I do to deserve this?  God, you’re not being fair.”  Tell me, what is that but a lack of respect for God?  It’s accusing God of wrong-doing.

My friends, I don’t know about you, but when I think about how often I’ve been impatient with the people around me, how often I’ve complained about something someone said, how often I have in effect grumbled against God, well I find it amazing that God, that righteous Judge, who’s standing at the door, the one who hears and sees everything I say and think and do—it’s amazing that he has not put the torch to me.  I mean, why would a just and holy God put up with an impatient, ungrateful, self-absorbed sinner like me?  There is only one answer.  And James gives it to us here in our text when he says, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  And really, that’s the second key point that James makes in this section.  James says not only, Christian, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s coming.  But also, II. Christian, Be Patient as You Trust in the Lord’s Compassion.

Think of where you and I would be without the Lord’s compassion.  We’d be sunk!  Actually, that word compassion, in itself, is an interesting word.  Literally, it means someone with “big guts.”  Now, I realize that maybe conjures up an image of a good ol’ Wisconsin beer belly, but actually, it’s a reference to the fact that the Greeks always regarded the intestines as the seat of a person’s emotions.  It’s where our deepest feelings reside.  Well, in our culture, in the English language, we usually say that our deepest feelings come from the heart.  So instead of saying that he has big guts, we would say he has a big heart, or as the NIV translates it, “he is full of compassion.”  Well, that’s what the Bible says about God.  God is ful of compassion.  In other words, his compassion, his tender loving mercy just overflows.  It’s like a spring that never stops flowing.  God’s loves keeps pouring out of his heart, washing away the filth of our sins, cleansing our hearts like a warm spring rain washing the salt and grime off the city streets—so great is God’s compassion.  It’s a compassion that allows him to offer up his own son on our behalf, a compassion that causes him to sympathize with our weaknesses and carry our sorrows. 

In fact, you know when it is often most important to remember that the Lord is full of compassion?  It’s when we are being tested.  When we feel like things are going bad, when our faith is being challenged, when the illness lingers, the relationship falters, when we feel like we’re going from the frying pan into the fire—that’s when it’s so critical to cling to these words, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  The Lord is not a kill-joy.  He does not cause us to suffer.  Rather, he uses the hardships that come into our lives to train us, to lead us to own what we need to own, and in the end, draw us even closer to himself.

In fact, many times God does his best work, not through the good times, but through the hard times.  I mean, it’s easy to be patient when everything is going well.  The real test of patience, and therefore the real forming grounds for our patience is when things aren’t going well.  It reminds me of the young man who came to his pastor and asked him to pray that God would make him a more patient person.  The pastor said, “Okay, I’ll do that.”  And he asked the man to kneel down and he began to pray, “Heavenly Father, I beg you, please send every kind of trial and tribulation into this man’s life, disease, heartache and sorrow.”  The man jumped up and said, “Hey, wait a minute.  I thought I told you to ask God to give me patience!”  “Oh, but I am,” said the pastor.  “You see, God develops patience not through the easy times, but rather through the hard times.”