7 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.
- James 5:7-10, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
It seems quite fitting to have a message from God’s Word on patience today. It is a timely topic because, with Christmas less than a week and a half away, it is easy to become impatient.
What I mean is this. Many of us have overscheduled lives the way it is, so any task or function or situation that takes up more time than we think it should – especially at this time of the year – can provide the impetus for us to “lose” our patience. So maybe it’s a good time to talk about the whole subject.
On the basis of our text from the letter of James, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. James talks to us today about patience. However, he’s not just talking about patience in the face of trivial matters like long lines or heavy traffic or unavailable gift items. The patience he advocates is an enduring quality that is to be worked on, prayed for, and modeled in Children of God.
In very practical terms, James asks us as disciples of Christ to live out our lives
PURSUING
THE PRACTICE OF PATIENCE
“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. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” The immediate context for these words is found in the previous verses (chapter 5:1-6)...
There James issued a strong warning to the unbelieving,
non-Christian, rich people of his day because they were exploiting and oppressing
poor Christians. Now, the people James
addressed probably didn’t care (or even know) that he was directing such potent
words toward them, but the Christians did.
And for them it was a commentary on a verse the Apostle Paul would later
write to the Galatians: “Be not
deceived, God is not mocked.” In
other words, a day of reckoning was coming.
And on that Day the Lord will take care of matters justly and
efficiently. Until then, James’ counsel
to believers – especially in times of trial, difficult circumstances and
difficult people – is: “Be patient.”
Let’s talk about patience. We have heard it said that “patience is a virtue,” one that is genuinely possessed by few, yet sought by many. Patience is a rare enough quality that we often take note of those we think have it. We might also recall that patience is the very first description of Christian love in 1 Corinthians. So... patience is a highly valued, God-pleasing commodity.
But what exactly is it? How do we define it? In the original Greek, behind this word is the idea of “a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation.” The Greek dictionary I consulted also said that in some other languages the word picture behind “patience” is to “remain seated in one’s heart” or to “keep one’s heart from jumping” or to have “a waiting heart.”
One Christian commentator puts it this way: “Patience is the art of enduring someone whose conduct is incompatible with that of others, and sometimes even oppressive.” So his take on the subject is that patience is something that must primarily be practiced toward other people. Another commentator writes: “Patience is the self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong.” His definition equates patience with self-control and the ability to endure wrong, at least up to a point.
This is similar to the way in which the King James Version of the Bible often translates this word. There the term is “long-suffering,” which doesn’t necessarily mean to suffer for a long while, but to tolerate someone or something or some condition for a long time. Patience would be the opposite of being quick tempered.
However we wish to define it or translate it, it is perhaps most significantly a term that the Bible repeatedly uses to describe and characterize God. God is patient and longsuffering. Christ is patient and longsuffering. (The ultimate example of this is the Gospel message. Sinners though we are, God didn’t “get mad” at us. He patiently loves us and sent Jesus to be our Savior.) Consequently, patience is a quality and characteristic that God’s children and Christ’s disciples will desire to cultivate in their lives. (And the way in which any fruit of the Spirit is cultivated and grown is through contact with Word and Sacrament. The Means of Grace provide the soil for growth in faith and Christian living...)
Now that we know what it is, how long are we to be patient? James tells us to pursue the practice of patience until “the Lord’s coming.” The reference, of course, is to the return of Christ in His Second Advent.
That being said, James uses an agricultural illustration to get his point across. A farmer in the first century wasn’t all that different than a farmer in the 21st century: both depend upon the weather. A farmer in Israel could count on spring and fall rains. During the dry season, the rain was something to look forward to. But it didn’t come until the appointed time. And until it came, they simply had to wait.
James makes two points of comparison for us here. #1: Just as rains are sure to eventually come, so Christ is sure to eventually come again. #2: Just as waiting for the rains called for patience, so does waiting for Christ’s return.
Allow me to underscore a comment which has been made a number of times in a number of different ways already this Advent season. So often we talk about the nearness of Christ’s return that it almost seems we’re like the boy in the story who kept crying wolf. Nevertheless, reminders of the imminence of Christ’s return such as we have here are not hollow “wolf” cries. They are real. The return of Christ is not a theory, but a reality... a living hope... a daily possibility...
... And it is in light of this coming reality that we can be patient. Our present circumstances could come to an end at any time. And the proximity of Christ’s return serves as our motivation for patience. Therefore James ends this first section with the double plea: “Be patient” and “stand firm” (literally, “strengthen your hearts”). That is, don’t get discouraged by the trials of life, but focus on Christ’s return when all problems will be replaced by joy. And while we are waiting, stay strong through contemplation of the Words and promises of God.
In this next portion of our text James flips things around and moves from a plea for patience to a warning against impatience. “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” What’s the connection? As noted here, impatience often manifests itself in grumbling and complaining against others. Let’s talk about impatience for a moment as we did about patience. Why do we become impatient, and what are we really saying by our impatience?
As to the first question, we usually become impatient because things don’t move as fast as we’d like. You’ve heard it said many times that we live in an instant, fast-food society, and we’ve become accustomed to immediate results. (One of the most insightful cartoons I’ve seen is a man shouting at his microwave: “Hurry up!)
When things don’t go the way we want them to or as fast as we’d like, we become impatient. And when we become impatient about things, we’re really indirectly indicting God. We want things on our timetable, not His. The Psalmist tells us to wait on the Lord, but too often we may want the Lord to wait on us. Impatience then becomes the breeding ground for grumbling. And grumbling often feeds itself on finding fault with others.
But the bottom line is this: grumbling and complaining is the direct opposite of being joyful and thankful, which are to be identifying marks of the Christian. In fact, grumbling and complaining and impatience is, as we’ve alluded to, essentially taking a shot at God and telling Him that, in our estimation, He’s not doing a particularly good job in managing our lives.
So there is an important equation here. The more we hold the cross of Christ and the promises of God before our eyes, the more content and serene we become. The more the cross of Christ and the promises of God become obscured because of the busyness of life, the less content and serene we become. And the less content and serene we are, the more we are likely to become whiners, complainers, grumblers, and fault-finders.
Knowing we have that tendency, James preaches the Law to us when he reminds us that “The Judge is standing at the door!” In other words, the sinner is only a heartbeat away from meeting his or her judge. The words of the Advent hymn come to mind: “Oh Lord, how shall I meet you, how welcome you aright?” With a heart focused on Christ and His love and a life which seeks to put that love into practice, or a condemning, grumbling heart which will itself be judged unacceptable by Christ? The answer is obvious. But sinners that we are, James wants us to be aware of our sinful tendencies – so we can repent and go forward in newness of life.
Finally, James directs us to examples we can emulate and imitate in our pursuit of the practice of patience. “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” Ah, the durable Old Testament prophets. Some are better known to us than others. And none were perfect. But all are exemplary in one way or another.
We think of Noah, building a monstrous ark in his back yard at God’s command. It is entirely possible that from the moment he began to build that boat until the moment the rain began to come down Noah lived with the understanding that, with the exception of his family, everyone thought he was a lunatic. Yet he patiently endured the ridicule and steadfastly carried out God’s plan.
We could go on. You know that list of strange sounding names at the end of the Old Testament? They all have a story to tell. Without exception, they patiently endured the hardships that came along with the territory of being true children of God. All of them are illustrations of how to live in a world and society that didn’t particularly care to hear what they had to say or tolerate who they were. Yet they remained firm. Because, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one.” And there they now rest from their labors.
Today we are told that kids aren’t growing up with heroes or role models. Well, whether we’re a kid of 9 or 90, James presents us with models of strength and perseverance; real-life heroes of faith who were not perfect, but who remained firm and steadfast. Believers, who, with God’s help, pursued the practice of patience in their lives.
Today is the third Sunday in Advent. Christmas is less than a week and a half away. In a purely behavioral, superficial way, we may need to be patient as we add holiday preparations to an already busy life in the days ahead.
But on a far deeper level, may we seek God’s help to cultivate the patience James talks about. The patience to persevere in life, come what may. The patience to apply ourselves to spiritual matters even in the midst of all kinds of distractions. The patience exemplified by the prophets of old.
And let us rejoice in the motivation for such patience. Christ comes. Soon as the Babe of Bethlehem. Sooner or later, as the King of Kings. In the meantime, may God enable us to pursue the practice of patience – for our blessing and to His glory. Amen.