Living in Joy

Who here considers themselves a patient person?

Every year heading into Christmas we all know how stores give lot of deals to draw you in to shop at their stores, Well every year I always tell Arika, how I am going to go out on Black Friday and get all of these amazing deals.

Heres the issue almost every year I will go out at some point during day and I pick out what I want, but then I get frustrated with the line get angry and leave.

And then I come home and Arika goes “what did you get?” and I say “not a whole lot...”

In fact this pass year Biggby had this deal where you got all of these extra things with your drink and they were packed, and I waited in line 3 separate times and left the line three times changing my mind.

I mean I am not a patient person because I just get frustrated and make poor choices where I end up waiting an hour for a mug and have nothing to show for it.

But you know the truth is a lot fo times we are people that we do not like being patient,

We are not a big fan of waiting in lines, we do not like waiting in traffic, If I told you the potluck after church is starting 2 hours from now you would probably not be a big fan of it.

And we have talked about how the focus of this time leading up to Christmas is this waiting for and looking forward to Jesus coming.

And today we are looking at a passage that talks about how we wait, but then it tells us how we can have joy in the middle of waiting.

So we are going to be focused on James 5:7-11 and look at this first part with me. It says this:

James 5:7–9 (ESV)

Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

So the very first thing we are told is to be patient for the Lords coming, and this is really building off of what we talked about the past couple weeks of how we live in this time where we have a taste of the kingdom of heaven, because Christ has come, but we still have not had the full thing.

And James who writes this is saying be patient for the that day when Jesus comes,

But I want you to notice how He tells us to wait, because how many of you have flown recently?

When you go to the airport you will notice their are two people

There are the people who are kind of doing this unproductive waiting (I am in this category)

I mean these are the people who maybe they bring a video game to play, maybe they walk around to the overpriced shops, maybe they sit on their phone and scroll through Facebook.

But then their are people who go to the airport and I mean they are waiting for their flight, but they bring their laptop and they are doing work until the second that plane takes off.

And James in this passage actually has us picture a farmer,

I mean when we picture a farmer, we do not just picture lazy person who they plant the seeds and then they take a few months off right?

No! Because they are working hard, they are monitering things, making sure weeds are not growing, they are preparing fertilizer, and everything they are doing is actually preparing for this harvest of their crops.

And James is saying you know while we are in this waiting period, our lives should be where we are preparing for that day when Christ returns.

And so the question becomes how right?

Because I can say prepare for Christmas and some of you go I need to clean the house, some of you think get gifts, some think church stuff

And I like this passage because we are told how to prepare while we live life. Look at verse 8

Because the first thing James says is to establish your hearts, and this is really important,

Because some scholars say that this could be translated as “dig your heels in the ground”

Basically while we are waiting our heart should not be giving way and slipping further from God,

And heres the thing because when you dig your heals into the dirt there are thins that can push you, but as they push you your heals get pushed further in the dirt.

And Jame is saying our lives should be where the the circumstances we live through, the good, the bad and the ugly should be things that are actually strengthening our walk with God.

And we will come back to this at the end, but look at the second thing James tells us to do

Because in verse 9 he moves to saying do not grumble against one another, and right after he mentions how the Judge is standing near.

And you know last week we talked about this idea of living in peace with others and this kind of builds,

Because we don’t think about this to often but when we are complaining about the people around us in a toxic way so often what we are a lot of times doing is we are making ourselves the judge over them.

Because we are going whats wrong with that person they shouldn’t do that, and what can happen is we end up shaming them.

And this is a problem.

I mean imagine if I was driving downtown and I noticed your car was parked longer then 3 hours (because there is a 3 hour parking limit)

And so I go and find you and I go listen I need you to come with me, because I am taking you to jail.

And you would go what?! First off you do not have that authority second the fine is 25 dollars, not jail time.

And with all seriousness I kind of get nervous sometimes that we place ourself in the position of Judge,

And we are handing out these harsh punishments, where we are shaming people and pushing them further from God.

And sometimes I wonder how much healthier we would be if we said I am not the judge, but God is.

And I am going to love on the people around me and it might be talking about things that are toxic but we should never be a people that are acting as the judge.

And look at this last part of the passage and this part is so important. It says this:

James 5:10–11 (ESV)

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

You know James in this last part points out that in waiting a lot of times there is suffering

And can I just be honest this is probably the hardest part of the passage right here, because there are times in life where while we wait and while we live life where there is suffering.

Maybe it has been trying to get pregnant and the thoughts filled your head what if this never happens

Maybe its the waiting to see if the cancer has spread

Maybe its the long waiting period of watching a loved ones health decline

I mean you do not have to live in the world very long to know there is suffering from disease, financial hardships, pain and hurt.

But the part that challenges me this morning is that James writes in verse 11 is that the people that stay steadfast are blessed.

And you think what are you talking about, because we do not feel very blessed when these circumstances in life happen.

We do not feel this joy when things have gone sideways. Do we?

But here is what I want you to get Joy is not found in a circumstance (happiness is), but Joy is a state of being.

And James talks about a guy named Job, but as we close I want us to think of Mary. Jesus’s Mom.

Because next week we are looking at her becoming pregnant with Jesus.

And from a outside perspective her circumstance was awful.

Because she was pregnant outside of marriage

Which meant there was a good chance her fiance Joseph would leave her

And not just that but she would have been shamed and potentially even stoned

And really aafter she gets pregnant she has to travel far to Bethlehem while very pregnant, and there is obstacle after obstacle for her.

But whats amazing is not to far after she discovers she is pregnant she sings this song in Luke 1:46-56

and I want to read it this morning. It says this:

Luke 1:46–56 ESV

46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

You know I read this and I think whats going on?

Does Mary not understand all the judgemental glances she will receive,

does she not understand, her life is at risk?

Does she not realize that she might get to bethleham and they might be out of room and she has to give birth in the Biblical equivalent of a barn?

I think she knew the risk, I think she knew the situation, but I think the reason her reasponce is so joyous is because she understood who was in her!

And I imagine her heart was established

This morning you may feel broken, you may feel hurt, you may feel like there is a lot of suffering and you are asking how could there be joy here?

I don’t want to take away from those painful situations, but I do want you to know that there can be joy, hope and peace even in the most broken place.

Not because of the circumstance, but because of who goes with you.