James 5:7-11 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
On Thursday I went to a place that I try very hard to avoid this time of year, the post office. The parking lot wasn’t overly crowded, and so I was hopeful that I would be able to get in and out without getting hurt. Once inside I took a slip and found a place to sit until my number was called. And then I waited.
I looked at the back wall with all the special stamps on display. And I waited. I watched the other people in line with packages of different shapes and sizes and wondered what was inside. And I waited. I stood on one foot and then the other, and walked around a little bit. And I waited. And then I finally heard that magic number, “98,” that meant it was my turn to approach the counter.
The final days leading up to Christmas are enough to test anyone’s patience. It doesn’t matter where you are going. It will probably take you longer to get there. And then it will take you longer than normal to do what you need to do once you arrive.
The person who came up with the phrase, “Patience is a virtue,” was on to something. Patience is noble, admirable, a quality that is very desirable. But describing patience as a virtue implies that it is something not so easy to achieve.
Even though James never had to wait in line at the post office in the middle of December, even though James was never concerned about the number of shopping days left until Christmas (by the way, including today there are nine), he understood how elusive patience can be.
That is why he repeatedly encouraged first century Christians to wait patiently for their Lord to return. That is why he encourages twenty first century Christians to do the same. And as we watch and wait for Christmas Day, as we watch and wait for the Last Day, James the brother of our Lord will help us remember that…
PATIENCE IS AN ADVENT VIRTUE
II. We can learn something from
those who harvested souls
The text begins with a direct command, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming” (7a), but don’t get the impression that James was on a power trip or that he was just barking out orders. He cared deeply about the people to whom he was writing. In fact, he called them “brothers” three times in five short verses.
James urged his brothers (and sisters) in Christ to
patiently wait for the Lord’s coming, but why?
After all they were only a few years removed from Jesus’ ascension (not
twenty centuries like us). They were
less than one generation removed from the angel’s promise that the Lord would
return (Acts
A survey of the rest of the book gives us our answer. In the second verse of the first chapter, James sets the tone for everything that follows: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (2,3). In the verses that come right before his command to be patient, James condemns the rich for corruption and extortion and even murder (6).
God’s people were being harassed and oppressed because they were God’s people. And maybe some of them were thinking to themselves: “If Jesus comes back today, we won’t have to deal with this stuff anymore. If Jesus comes back now, then all of our problems will be solved.”
That wasn’t a bad thought. It was actually a very good thought. But there was a problem. When they woke up each morning, nothing had changed. They were still there, and so were there problems. And so as they waited for the Lord to return, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into years, they began to get a little impatient.
To help his fellow Christians understand the importance of
patience, to help us understand what it means to be patient, James used an
illustration I think we can all understand: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its crop and how
patient he is for the autumn and spring rains” (7b).
Even for people who live in an era of agricultural science, even with the latest advances in genetic engineering, farming still requires one thing above everything else, patience. Plant too early and the seed won’t sprout. Harvest too early and the crop won’t reach its full potential. Farmers know this. Farmers know that patience is the key to success.
And what is true in agriculture is just as true in
Advent. James encourages us to imitate
the farmer: “You too, be patient and
stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (8).
Just because Jesus didn’t come today doesn’t mean that he won’t come tomorrow. Don’t give up. Don’t give in to your doubts and fears. “Stand firm” (the KJV translates this phrase more literally, “stablish your hearts”) because the Lord’s coming is near.
But what happens when that doesn’t happen? What happens when people become impatient? What happens when patience runs out and emotions run high? Sometimes people snap. Sometimes they snap at other people. And more often than not they take out their frustrations on the people they care about the most.
Did James see that happening? Instead of turning to God were God’s people
turning against each other?
Perhaps. Perhaps that is why
James follows his words of encouragement with strong words of warning: “Don’t grumble against each other,
brothers, or you will be judged. The
Judge is standing at the door” (9)!
I think that most of us would agree that grumbling is not a good thing. It isn’t positive. It isn’t constructive. It rarely, if ever, solves anything. But sometimes I wonder if we try to make special allowances for it. We rename it “venting,” and that makes it okay. We compare it to big sins like murder or adultery or stealing, and then it doesn’t seem quite so serious.
But grumbling is serious because it is a sin. It is a sin that condemns every person who commits it. It is a sin that everyone has committed. It is a sin that puts every one of us under the judgment of a holy God. And just in case we forgot, James reminds us that God the righteous Judge is standing at the door.
Before there were blue Advent paraments, the traditional color of the season was purple (the same as Lent). Like Lent Advent is a time for repentance. And because we are sinners we need to repent. We need to repent of our sins, including when we are impatient with God, when we are not so patient with our spouse or our sibling or the check-out clerk or the person who stole our parking spot. We need to repent of those countless times when we grumble and mumble and complain.
The good news is that God is more patient than we are. The good news is that God wants all people to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). That’s not just my opinion. I have hundreds of years of Old Testament history to back me up. And James points us to the same Old Testament, specifically to the Old Testament prophets, as examples of patient endurance.
“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (10). It would be impossible for us to examine in any detail all of the Old Testament prophets, so let’s pick just one. Let’s take a closer look at the prophet who wrote the Old Testament lesson for today. Let’s learn from Isaiah as an example of patience in the face of suffering.
No prophet proclaimed the good news of God more clearly or
more frequently than Isaiah. He
prophesied: “The LORD himself will give
you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and
will call him Immanuel” (
And seven hundred years before Jesus was even born, Isaiah
gave God’s people an amazingly detailed description of the promised Savior’s
soul-saving work: “He was pierced for
our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of
us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all” (53:5,6).
That is the gospel.
That is good news. But not all of
Isaiah’s news was good news. God also
commanded him to warn God’s people about the coming judgment, to condemn their
wickedness and to call them to repentance.
He told one of the good kings of Judah, King Hezekiah: “The time will surely come when everything
in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will
be carried off to
You can understand that this didn’t make Isaiah the most
popular guy in
Isaiah never saw any of his messianic prophecies come true. Isaiah saw most of his warnings go unheeded. H saw most of his homeland destroyed. And as a result, we might be tempted to look at Isaiah’s life and label him a failure.
But James didn’t see things that way. Instead of labeling Isaiah a failure James held him up with the other prophets as an example. And Isaiah continues to be an example of patience in the face of suffering. Did he see the fruits of his labors? Not really. Did his message turn people back to God? Not many. But in spite of the opposition, in spite of his perceived lack of success, Isaiah never gave up.
Using the most conservative estimates, Isaiah prophesied for over fifty years. Do you want to know how he did it? Do you want to know the secret of his longevity? Isaiah knew something James knew. Isaiah knew what James wants the rest of us to know: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (11). And our Lord’s compassion and mercy manifested itself in his perfect patience.
When his mother and father found in the temple after searching for him for three days, Jesus patiently explained that he had to be in his Father’s house (Luke 2:49). When his disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest Jesus patiently reminded them that greatness in God’s kingdom comes through service (Mark 10:35-45).
When Jesus prayed in the
Jesus endured the worst injury and injustice in the history of the world to forgive our sins, to save us from our sins. Not because he owed us. Because he loves us. Because that is who he is. Because our Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Advent is a season of anticipation, a time of eager expectation. Our Advent calendars tell us that Christmas is only nine days away. But we don’t know when our Lord will return. We don’t know if he will come back in two hours or two days or in another two thousand years.
That is why we need to be patient. Be patient like the farmer. Be patient like the prophets. Be patient because the Lord’s coming is near. Be patient because you have God’s promise that it will definitely be worth the wait. Amen.