James 5:7-12
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
When I was in middle school, I remember being bullied by a kid who was four or five times taller than me. I was walking to class one day when this student smashed my ears with his hands. It completely discombobulated me. Since we were in “opposing” groups of peers his friends hated mine and mine hated his.
I didn’t retaliate or fight back or name call or anything. I was kind of dumbstruck. I couldn’t have fought back even if I wanted to. I just let tears well up in my eyes and wonder what I did to deserve that treatment.
That kind of bullying is called oppression. It weighs on you and it haunts you. It can come from the rich, like we read about last week, and it can come from unhealthy relationships with friends or family. It ultimately comes from Satan himself.
This can be seen in even one example in Scripture, though there are numerous places that talk abut Satan’s schemes.
Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan oppresses us by blinding the minds of unbelievers who don’t see the gospel.
Establish your Hearts
Establish your Hearts
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.
We are told to be patient until the Lord comes. We see God’s justice, but not in it’s fullness yet. James is talking about the rains because in Palestine, it rained very little, and you were grateful for what you received.
You know what would have been awesome. It would have been so cool if a teacher had seen that student hurt me like that. I think I would have stood a little taller knowing that someone would have stepped in for me. Jesus wants us to be patient because his justice is at hand. He wants us to trust him, to establish our hearts on him.
Stop your Grumbling
Stop your Grumbling
9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Admittedly, after I was hurt by the bully, I went and told my friends. It didn’t help the situation. They were looking for ways to get back at him for how I was treated. Honestly, I didn’t even know these guys very well. My grumbling caused more problems though. Not just the grumbling, but to “who” I was grumbling.
Sometimes when we experience hardship, we get frustrated and “need to vent” our opinions or frustrations. James talks about “taming the tongue” in chapter 3, and telling us not to argue or quarrel about our passions in chapter 4. Sharing how we feel is fine, but if we’re angry, hot, too quick, or we share in a graceless way, we don’t display God’s desire for us to act.
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.
It’s hard to trust the Lord when we suffer. We want to take situations into our own hands and be “justified” quickly.
The prophets were more loyal to God than I was in those moments, and they had some hard things to say and hear. But, James presents them as an example we should follow because they were loyal and obedience to God. Likewise Job is a great example. Job’s wife wanted him to “curse God and die” but Job didn’t, even though he grumbled against the Lord. He saw God’s purpose in his suffering.
Hold your Oaths
Hold your Oaths
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
Sometimes we can be tempted to protect ourselves by saying something deceptively. This verse is in a weird spot in the book of James, so there’s a lot of debate as to why it is where it is. I’m not going to talk about any of that tonight. I’ll say this though:
Jesus condemns oaths:
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Both Jesus and James are showing that all of our words should be truthful and forthright. You know in those court scenes when someone places their hand on the bible and says, “so help me God?” That’s an oath. I think what we would mean if we were to be really dramatic about it would be “As a Christian, Jesus my Lord calls me to complete truthfulness in all speech, but if you like, I will p[lace my hand on the Bible and swear/promise to tell the whole truth. Nevertheless, even when I do not take an oath, I am bound to the truth.” We shouldn’t violate our conscience though. If you’re convicted not to make those kinds of oaths, don’t do it.
Convicting thingie
Convicting thingie
Here’s what my challenge is for you as we go to our groups:
When you experience any kind of trouble, WAIT ON THE LORD. Of course, turn to a teacher, or parent, but use the proper means of helping your situation and trust that God will deal justly.
STOP GRUMBLING. You know when you talk about someone or something you don’t like.
Speak truth always. If you need an oath to prove something you are saying is true, then perhaps you need speak truth more consistently.