Patience, Kindness, & Prayer - James 5
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An elderly man visited the doctor for a checkup.
“Mr. Smith, you’re in great shape,” said the doctor. “How do you do it?”
“Well,” said Mr. Smith, “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and the good Lord looks out for me. For weeks now, every time I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he turns the light on for me.”
Concerned, the doctor finds Mrs. Smith in the waiting room and tells her what her husband said.
“I don’t think that’s anything to worry about,” she said. “And on the bright side, it does explain what’s been happening in the fridge every night!”
How wonderfully patient and kind that wife must be!
For the last several weeks we have been reading through the book of James.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the study.
The book of James is a book of instructions for daily living. For James faith means action! In fact, the entire book is a series of examples that show faith in action in wise and practical ways.
His advice was clear and to the point, here’s what we’ve covered so far in the book:
If you are poor, don’t despair!
Don’t give up when your faith is being tested.
Don’t get angry quickly.
Don’t favor the rich over the poor.
Do good things for others.
Control your tongue and desires.
Surrender to God and rely on his wisdom.
Resist the devil.
Don’t brag about what you are going to do.
If you are rich, use your money to help the poor.
Tonight we are going to focus on the last three thoughts in the letter verse 7-20: Be patient, be kind, and pray for others who need God’s help.
Let’s read the last several verses of the book:
7 My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow.
8 Be patient like those farmers and don’t give up. The Lord will soon be here!
9 Don’t grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door.
10 My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer.
11 In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.
12 My friends, above all else, don’t take an oath. You must not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. “Yes” or “No” is all you need to say. If you say anything more, you will be condemned.
13 If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises.
14 If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.
15 If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them.
16 If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.
17 Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling.
18 But when he did pray for rain, it fell from the skies and made the crops grow.
19 My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back.
20 If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.
Be Patient
Be Patient
7 My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow.
8 Be patient like those farmers and don’t give up. The Lord will soon be here!
Being restless is a real thing in our walk with the Lord.
People in James day were hoping for the Lords return at any moment. People had even sold everything, quit their jobs, and were waiting for the Lord Jesus to return for the church. They had no clue about God’s timing.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church about the return of Christ.
15 Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won’t go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.
16 With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life.
17 Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever.
18 Encourage each other with these words.
This was a massive promise. Especially to people who were being persecuted.
I can remember watching a movie called thief in the night.
We didn’t want Jesus to come back because we had so much to live for.
James was writing to believers who were being persecuted for the Lord. They WANTED Him to return.
Paul reminded them that it was impossible for them to know the hour or the day:
1 I don’t need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen.
2 You surely know that the Lord’s return will be as a thief coming at night.
James is telling them the same thing. To be patient.
You and I need to think about the coming of the Lord and ask a couple of question:
Are you ready?
Do you feel the urgency the early church felt?
The problem is that the Lord has waited for what seems like eternity. Why?
If He promised to return, why has He waited for so long?
That’s a tricky question because, yes, it’s been a long time, but no it really hasn’t been a long time.
God doesn’t operate in time like we do.
8 Dear friends, don’t forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day.
We are bound to time, but God isn’t! But still, why hasn’t Jesus returned?
The simple answer is that He is full of grace. If the Lord would have returned before we surrendered our lives to Him then we would be lost.
Don’t forget that God LOVES His creation.
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.
17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!
In our patiently waiting for the Lord to return we are called to work for this great news!
Roger Shelton, a pastor from Nashville, Tennessee, was in Pusan, Korea, on an evangelistic mission. With an interpreter, he visited a man who had creeping paralysis. Both of his legs were paralyzed and the disease threatened his life if no cure could be found.
Entering a dimly lighted room, Shelton found the man crouched on the floor. Speaking through the interpreter, he told the stricken man he had come to talk with him about Jesus Christ. The Korean replied, “I know. I have been waiting for you a long time.” The interpreter responded by saying they had arrived at the appointed time.
The Korean explained. “That’s not what I meant. My people are Buddhist, and I have been a Buddhist. But Buddha gives me no comfort.” Then he pointed to a Korean Bible. He noted that he had read through it twice. “It tells of a great one. I have waited for someone to come and tell me more about him.” He said that he had believed that if the Bible was true, God would send someone to tell him.
Shelton told the man about Jesus. He readily believed. As they were leaving, the man thanked them for coming. Shelton said, however, that the man’s final words shook every fiber of his emotional being.
“You almost waited too long.”
While we are waiting we must know that God want’s us to reach people. When we wait, we must remember it’s not all about our comfort. We are here at a specific time to advance the kingdom of God.
If you are going through difficulties in life, and you’ve been serving the Lord, please find hope in the words of this scripture.
Keep on planting. Because the crops are going to grow!
8 Be patient like those farmers and don’t give up. The Lord will soon be here!
Don’t give up! Even in the face of trials!
10 My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer.
Then James reminds us of Job. He was stripped of everything that mattered to him and yet he didn’t curse God. He was patient and eventually was rewarded.
We don’t deserve the kindness of God.
11 In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.
The Lord withholds the judgement that we deserve.
Which leads us to the next section of the study for tonight.
If God has shown us such great mercy, shouldn’t we show mercy and forgiveness?
Be Kind
Be Kind
9 Don’t grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door.
God’s will is that we live in harmony with each other. Harmony comes from God conflict and strife comes from the Devil AND our selfish desires.
1 Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn’t it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body?
James is telling believers that if they REALLY believe that Jesus is returning that we should not be getting involved in petty conflicts.
You remember what would happen when the teacher left the room? Spit balls would fly, pranks were pulled, and all sorts of goofy behavior. But when we heard the footsteps or the doorknob was turned, everyone sat up straight and tall in their seats.
If we believed that Jesus was returning in the next few minutes then we would be getting things in order.
Forgiveness seems much easier when you KNOW you’re about to face the ultimate Judge. We’ve all been given the gift of forgiveness, but we’ve all been guilty of holding back our forgiveness to others.
God wants believers to put aside differences and show the world that we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds and hearts that happened when we surrendered to Jesus.
Jesus could not have said it any more plain than this:
34 But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you.
35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.
Love and kindness go hand in hand. We are FIRST told to love each other which results in kindness that shows the world that Christ has changed us! We no longer are motivated by our selfishness, we are motivated by the love we have experienced in Christ.
One way we walk in love and kindness with other people is by showing grace to those who have once followed Christ but for whatever reasons they have fallen away from the truth.
19 My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back.
20 If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.
The word for “wandered” in the greek means someone who has missed the path and is hopelessly lost.
People like this need to be brought back!
There is a difference between evangelism and restoration.
Part of our responsibility as followers of Christ is that we learn not only to share the good news, but to become ministers of restoration or reconciliation.
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you in Christ’s stead: Be reconciled to God.
This is love and kindness - that we reconcile or restore one who has lost their way. The worst thing we can find ourselves doing is TALKING about a person instead of talking TO that person!
That’s not productive.
1 My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don’t be tempted yourself.
Our hearts should break for those who have been taken away by the enemy. We, in kindness, should pray and fast and work to do everything in our power to bring restoration.
We had a squirrel stuck in our chicken coop the other day. We could have looked the other way, but we worked to get him free. He made himself more stuck. Got all cut up, but we didn’t give up on him.
The act of rescuing is important. Our Savior said he was willing to search for that one lost sheep and so should we!
8 Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.
The love of others should be so strong that we don’t see the many sins - we see a soul in need of a touch from the one who can set them free.
James tells us that we should be patient, kind, and finally we should
Pray for Others
Pray for Others
So here comes the absolute climax of this letter from James. He ends this letter with an emphasis on prayer.
Prayer is the single greatest thing we can do to assist another believer.
13 If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises.
14 If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.
15 If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them.
16 If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.
Prayer is the “hotline” to the One who can provide for any need no matter how complex or impossible it may seem. To share in prayer, a believer must have a sensitivity to someone’s needs, engage in diligent prayer and meditation for those needs, and recognize the significance of those needs.
Verse 13 tells us to pray and sing praises. Maybe this was a weakness in the church back then, I would say it is certainly a weakness in the church today.
My view is that the reason for these weaknesses may be insensitivity. There is so much need for prayer and there is so much need for praise.
Both actions take us into the presence of our HOLY God!
Whether we are suffering or prospering, we should pray and bring praises to God because He is worthy.
Prayer should be our first response.
I want to point out verse 14 for a minute:
14 If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.
There is some times a misunderstanding of this scripture. Some people teach that full physical health is just a prayer of faith away. I do believe God heals, and I know that James believed this as well, but he is also referring to a different kind of sickness that is very important for us to understand.
The sick he is referring to was not exclusively physical. The word sick literally means “to be weak”. This word was used throughout the Gospels to describe physical sickness that Jesus healed, but it is also used to describe people who were weak in faith.
James was telling us to pray for the sick. Physically sick, yes! Spiritually weak, yes!
People grow weary in the walk if they aren’t actively pursuing God. The enemy can use time and circumstances to wear people down.
I read a book one time that stated a thought that really stuck in my mind. Preachers can “burn out” when they are always relying on an old experience with God. It’s like we all have a spiritual tank. Some people fill it up one time, and they live life without actively pouring more in. What happens is that once it’s used up then they get tore up!
What are we told to do for those of us who are weak? We are to pray. Ask the Lord to fill them, heal them, and set them on the right path.
You know, I think one of the saddest things is that when we are weak, we don’t want other people to know we are weak. And because we hide it so well, we can end up dying in our weakness.
16 If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.
We should have people in our lives that love us enough that they won’t cast judgement on us, instead they will pray with us!
Restoration is a beautiful thing.
We owe everything to Christ who brings that refreshing touch of new life to what was dying inside of us!
Why does prayer work?
15 And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.
12 The Lord watches over everyone who obeys him, and he listens to their prayers. But he opposes everyone who does evil.”