Patience and Waiting(3)

James, Faith and Works

Wait and Pray

James 5

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this beautiful day that the Lord has made! We are obviously in the middle of Summer aren’t we! Wow, heat and humidity all wrapped up in one. I grew up with humidity, but the hottest I remember when I lived in East Texas was about 102. Here we are with West Texas heat and East Texas Humidity! Please, please, stay hydrated.

But enough about the weather. We are here to talk about Jesus. Before we dive into the final message of James, I want to share a little bit about the message we will be starting next week.

Collide

Ladies and gentlemen, we are on a collision course! It has actually been this way since Jesus time and before, but we are on a collision course with culture. Yes, we have had culture wars in the past, but as we look back we see the changes in culture as a generational thing, or maybe even an era thing. Culture changed with the Dark Ages, and the Middle Ages spanning more than a millennia… and it changed with the Renaissance period that spanned Centuries… Culture changed with the industrial revolution that spanned more than a generation. As we moved into the modern ages culture changed every few decades. Today, culture changes every few years.

In the past, the culture wars were at most a generational argument, but today, we are having to deal with radical changes to the society we live in at a rapid pace.

I don’t know, maybe it is the advancement in technology, or the ability to communicate in mass media in a split second… What I do know is that we are dealing with more change and more pressure to change than ever before. That has put our faith on a collision course with culture.

So, we will start a series next week called “Collide” where we look at how we can keep our faith grounded in the midst of this collision with culture.

Series Slide

But, before we get there, lets take a few more minutes to wrap up this letter from Jesus, brother. OK, I know, some of you want to remind me that James was only Jesus’ half-brother… or some may have been taught that Mary never had any other children and the men and women listed in the Bible as Jesus’ brothers and sisters were actually relatives, like cousins, but not from the same parents as Jesus. That isn’t the point of talking about James. What we know about James is that he knew Jesus personally. He grew up with Jesus. If the legends of Jesus forming birds from mud and breathing life into them and the bird flying away are true… James likely saw it happen. If the story of adolescent Jesus restoring life to a bully are true… then likely witnessed it as a child.

James knew Jesus in a way the ‘Disciples’ never did and it changed him. James became a pastor of the people in Jerusalem during a time of intense persecution.

And James wrote this letter to his churches telling them to persevere through the problems, to listen to God’s Word and do what it says, to overcome prejudice and love our neighbors, to put our faith into action – because without action our faith is dead, and last week we saw James remind the people of Jerusalem and those of us reading today that we need to be careful with our words… that they need to build up rather than tear down, that our language needs to be that of glorifying God and sharing the love of God with others.

Sermon Slide

So, today, we wrap up this great letter, this book of the Bible, with chapter 5 and how we are called to wait and pray. You remember, James was writing in a time where many of the people he was teaching and preaching to lived during the time of Jesus. They expected Jesus to return any moment – just like we do today – but they were having to deal with life and death persecution as they waited. They were dealing with life and death decisions about their faith and the faith of their families.

I doubt any of us will ever face life and death persecution, but we do face times of struggle. We face times of heartache, we face times of pain and suffering from a multitude of things… and it is in these times that we learn that patience and prayer are two of the most powerful forces in the world.

So, let’s dive in.

Turn with me to Chapter 5 of James and we are going to start with verse 7.

James 5:7-18 (NLT)

Sermon Slide

“Dear brothers and sisters, be patient...” What a way to start, amen.

Patience is one of the 8 fruits of the Spirit Paul shares with us in Galatians 5:22.

I’ve heard it said that “Patience is letting your motor idle when you feel like stripping the gears.”

Grandma always told me, “Patience is a virtue”.

Momma always said, “Good things come to those that wait”

And I’ve never been good at patience or waiting, but sometimes we have no choice.

James reminds us to look to the farmers… some of you know what he’s talking about, we have to plant the seed and be patient. Let the rains come, let the seed come to life, let it bear its fruit. Sure, there is some scientific advancement here or there that helps speed up the process, but even with that, it takes time, we have to be patient.

James talks about the Prophets of God. They spoke of the coming of the Messiah and the people waited some 700 years for the prophecy to come true.

They suffered for their message and they persevered.

Look at Job, a man of God who suffered greatly, but patiently waited on the Lord and he was rewarded.

God moves in mighty ways when we wait.

President Abraham Lincoln was known to be a man of unusual patience. There are numerous stories of Lincoln and others clashing over patience. Here are a couple about one individual …

Based on what we know, no one treated Lincoln with more contempt than his opponent Edwin Stanton, who denounced Lincoln’s policies and called him a “low cunning clown.” Stanton had nicknamed him “the original gorilla” and said that explorer Paul Du Chaillu was a fool to wander about in Africa trying to capture a gorilla, when he could have found one so easily in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln said nothing in reply. In fact, Lincoln made him the Secretary of War because Stanton was the best man for the job.

When the horrors of the Civil War were hovering over the capital, the Generals did things that neither Lincoln or Secretary Stanton approved of. Lincoln would take a long time to ponder over those situations, but Stanton would, at times, lose his temper and explode.

One day Stanton came to see Lincoln about something a general had done. Listening quietly, Lincoln let Stanton show his anger, and when the latter exclaimed, “I would like to write him a letter and tell him what I think of him!” Lincoln remarked quietly, “Well, why not do so? Sit down and write him a letter, saying all you have said to me.”

Stanton was surprised because he figured Lincoln wouldn’t allow it.

Two days later he brought Lincoln the letter he had written, and read it to him. When Stanton had finished, Lincoln smiled and remarked, “That is all right. You have said all you told me you would. Now, what are you going to do with this letter?”

“Why, I am going to give it to him, of course.”

“I wouldn’t,” replied the President quietly. “Throw it in the waste basket.”

“What, after spending two days on it,” exclaimed Stanton.

“Yes. It took you two days to write it, and it did you a lot of good. You feel a great deal better now, and that is all that is necessary.”

The letter went to the waste basket, and Stanton learned an important lesson… but there was no evidence that he liked the President any more than before.

Then, the fateful night came when an assassin’s bullet pierced the scull of the president. In a room off to the side of the theatre where Lincoln’s body was taken, stood Stanton. As he looked down on the silent, rugged face of the President, Stanton said through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.” The patience of love had conquered in the end.

Patience is a virtue, and it changes lives. It did 2000 years ago, it did 150 years ago, and it does today.

Waiting isn’t easy, and in this fast paced immediate gratification world we live in, I suspect waiting is a distant afterthought for most of us. Why wait when we can fix most of our problems with a few simple mouse clicks? Why wait when there are things like same as cash financing, or YouTube, instant coffee, and minute rice? We’ve built our entire culture to be efficient, precise, and productive. And amazingly, we are no closer to being peaceful, content, and satisfied than when we began.

But the word has some powerful encouragement for those who find themselves in prolonged seasons of waiting;

Isaiah 40:30-31 (ESV)

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalm 27:14 (ESV)

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Waiting isn’t passive. Waiting is powerful. And adopting a posture of patience is a strength, not a detriment to all of those who profess to be followers of Jesus.

And there are some other things we do in the midst of waiting that make it even more powerful. They supercharge the waiting you could say. James tells us not to grumble against one another, not to swear by heaven or earth, and finally, to be prayerful.

James 5:13-18 (NLT)

Wow. Paul said it a little more succinctly, “Pray without ceasing”

But James puts it in perspective when he says,

If your suffering… Pray.

If your happy… sing a song of praise, and pray louder.

If someone is sick… call the leaders together and pray.

We live in a church culture… I know, I’m talking about Collide next week… but even in the church we have a culture that is at times at odds with our faith!

How many of us have said, “Well, sister Suzy, all I can do is pray.” Or, we start or end a meeting with a “quick prayer”

We get busy and prayer and quiet time with God is the first thing that we let slip.

Contrast this modern thought on prayer with that of the great church reformer, Martin Luther who said, “I have so much to do today that I must begin my first two hours of the day in prayer.”

James starts wrapping this letter up with these words, and this is where we will end today:

James 5:16

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

We, the pastors of the Global Methodist Churches across the nation and the world… We the staff of First Methodist Church begin our meetings sharing together, confessing together, and praying for one another.

Sermon Slide

Each of our Cabinet Meetings, each of our Staff meetings, each of our Covenant Group meetings begin with a question from Wesley’s historic questions for Class Meetings or something similar.

We are asking each other questions like:

“When was the last time you shared your faith with someone?”

“Does Christ dwell in you richly?”

“Are you enjoying prayer?”

“Did you study the Bible today for your own benefit – not for the benefit of the church?”

“Do you have secrets that you are keeping from others?”

What am I saying? A few years ago, we weren’t asking each other these questions. We weren’t confessing our sins to one another and praying for each other in this way.

We also weren’t seeing spontaneous revivals break out.

We also weren’t seeing services of healing and anointing with oil in Methodist Churches.

But, things are changing.

God is moving in a mighty way across the nation and the world.

And, if you and I want to see that movement here in Brownwood, we need to be confessing to one another and praying for one another. We need to be holding each other accountable for sharing the love of Christ in this community. We need to realize that the prayers of the righteous avail much.

We need to live out our faith in our homes, in our social groups, on our jobs, in our schools.

Simply put – our faith needs to make a difference in the way we live – the thing things we think, say, and do.

And when that starts happening… hold on tight! Because we will be rattling the Gates of Hell and snatching souls from the grip of the devil and placing them in the grip of grace…

And that is the church I believe God wants us to be!