From the Desert to Glory James 5:7-10

Advent 3 (12^th December 2010)

Text: James 5: 7-10    

 

I put our theme for today as “From the Desert to Glory” but I am going to talk about “patience”, because that is the virtue that will move us out of to glory.  The reason we need patience is because God is not going to put right all the wrong's in this world, until Jesus Christ returns. Thus believers are encouraged to patiently endure and expect suffering. Our life as Christians is not meant to be an easy and comfortable one because we are still living in the world where sins abound.  Jesus has reminded us through his words in John 16: 33 that, "in the world you will have tribulation".  

So it is our hope that Jesus returns one day, and that event brings our eternal rewards.  But God is not going to let it happen just yet because he also has plans for our grand-children and great-grandchildren. So, meanwhile we must patiently endure hardships and problems until Jesus returns. That day when Jesus returns will be the day when our oppressors deserve what they get, and it will be a day of glory for us and all believers in Christ.   But while we wait for that Day, there are things that need our patient and enduring attention.

Our Epistle reading begins with verse 7 like this: “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.”  The advice is simple: there are things that are within our control – so we do what we can about them.  And are things beyond our control; so we can only wait in patience - just like the farmer who waits for the rain to come.

The original word in Greek translated into English as “patience” is a compound Greek word “Makro” which means “long”; and “Thumia” which means “temper” or “anger”.  It literally means long-tempered – giving an idea of a person who is self-restrained and not quick to retaliate. It is a picture of a person who has the strength to live in difficulties without complaining, giving up or striking out. James was telling the believers to be ready to endure affliction without complaint and to remain committed in their obedience to God. The Christians were suffering at the hands of the Jews and the Roman government, but they must trust God to bring about justice and to punish those who cause them hardships.  (Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30).

To further reinforce the point that believers need to wait patiently for the second coming, James describes a familiar scene using a simple, concrete example of the farmer to help us learn patience. The hard working farmer can prepare the soil, plant the seed and weeded the grass, but he cannot make his crop grow. To magnify the farmer's helplessness and his patience dependence on God the Bible points out that he must wait for the early and late rains. The weather is completely beyond the farmer’s control. Rain is needed to get the crop to come up and grow. But too much rain destroys the crops, and too much sun causes them to wilt. The weather helps the farmer develop patience.

James tells his readers, “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near (v.8).  If the weather helps the farmer to develop patience, the trials faced by believers should also help them to be patient. Both the farmer and the Christian must live by faith, looking toward the future reward for their labours.  Just like the farmer, every believer should show patience and courage because of the belief that the coming of Jesus is near.  When we look around, there is not much that can give us encouragement: the number of non-believers seems to be growing, while churches are declining in countries where Christianity used to be strong.  It is easy to be discouraged when we see so many things going against us; but we don’t use these things to be our measuring stick: we must keep reminding ourselves no matter what happen in this world – Jesus is coming again soon

James MacArthur made this comments: “…the more persecuted a church is the more eagerly it anticipates the return of Jesus Christ; conversely, an affluent, indulgent, worldly church has little interest in the Lord's return."  We must not allow events that seem to favour non-Christians to dull our hope in Jesus' return.  We must not be content just to seek to the transform the society with our Christian values. We must believe that Jesus will come personally.

This was the hope that gave the early Christians strength as they faced hardship (Heb. 9:28). We must not look at time just from our own viewpoint: we need to look at things from the viewpoint of the God for whom a thousand years is only a day (2 Pet. 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:16-18). Even though more than two-thousand years have passed since Jesus promised to return, we must not think that it is a failed promised.  

The second part of verse 9 is important.  It gives us a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Judge about to enter the hall of justice. This verse reminds us that a complaining attitude hinders us from developing patience and long-suffering. It is easy to allow hardship to cause us to become despondent.  Or it may cause us to blame our troubles on one another.  It can cause us to question the devotion or commitment of other Christians. ⁹Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

The clear teaching here is that God will judge and punish "grumblers." Grumbling is a serious sin; and I know that I am also at fault because I grumble sometimes when things are not right or when things are slow. This morning we are reminded that such an attitude is a direct contradiction of the true spirit of Christianity. We must not be spending our energy fighting one another when the imminent return of Christ is certain.  We should live in readiness for His coming.

To further encourage believers to endure unjust suffering, James pointed out in verse 10 the example of the prophets who had endured suffering with patience.   Jesus also used the prophets as an example of victory over persecution (Mt. 5:10-12). Note that they suffered for speaking in the name of the Lord.

Why is it that those who speak for the Lord endure difficult trials? It is so because their character must back up their messages. In and through suffering God does His greatest work. When one suffers for doing God's will it is strong testimony to other's that God's will is worth suffering for.

Many Christians today give up on Christ so easily. We quit when we get offended by someone in church; or because our ideas got rejected by the majority.  There are people who quit the church because of disagreement over minor issues, like the colours of the walls or types of furniture used, or over songs and music.  When we compare our excuses to the lives of the prophets who face harassment, intimidation, persecution, torture and death for their faith, how pathetic do we sound!

The advice of James is important and timely. We also live in a time when challenge and crises of life can tax us to the very limits of our strength and at such times it is easy to give up. But the Bible offers the followers of Christ another perspective. It says that while life is a battle, it is also a blessing.  We can find encouragement and the power to persevere in life's darkest hours-power rooted in God, who is compassionate and merciful. Even, when life is painful and hard, we can persevere because God is there.

If there is nothing to endure we cannot learn endurance. We cannot persevere unless there are trials in our lives. Without battles there can be no victories; there can be no peaks without valleys, no joys without sorrows; no strength with out trials; and no blessings without sufferings. So if we want the blessing, we must be prepared to carry the burden and fight life's battles.

It is not easy to be patient because we live in a world that is characterized by impatience and a love of ease. People want immediate rewards and success without hard work.  In the spiritual realm, people look to leaders who promise immediate healing and wealth as rewards for faith. We need to return to the old-fashioned Christian virtues of patience and perseverance in all we do! These are virtues that bring God's blessing.

Quitting is easier than enduring, but it produces a pattern that is hard to break. So if you have been thinking that life has been hard, I want you to remember that you develop resiliency by remaining faithful in situation you don't like and can't change. Remember that God gives great honor to those who endure.

Patience and endurance are twin virtues that eventually will bring God's blessing. In times of trial and hardship we must put aside the human tendency to grumble, complain or manipulate and commit ourselves to "God's will.  If we truly believe that Jesus is coming back, we have good reason to be patient. We can endure knowing that ultimate and absolute justice is just around the corner.  Leaders after leaders have appeared, promising that they could bring change and goodness into this world. Is there any better hope than to know that Jesus is coming again to set everything right? When Jesus comes, all that we have suffered for Him will be nothing compared to the blessing which we will receive.

Like the farmer, we look ahead with hope. The farmer plants the seed and waits patiently for the harvest. Likewise, we wait for the time when God will judge evil men and women and reward Christ's followers. He has given us His word that He is coming back.  Although circumstances may seem bleak at present, the Bible tells us that there is a better day coming. The hope of Christ's coming can keep us going through the desert to glory. So we must keep praying, keep trusting, keep waiting, keep watching: Jesus may return tomorrow.