Walking through James (13)

Waiting patiently for His coming...

Have you ever been expecting somebody to come, and it just seemed to take soooo… long.

Maybe you have waited for something to come in the mail, and it seemed to take for ever. It always seems to take longer when you really need something.

I’m sure that each of us would have a story if time would permit. Just lately I was waiting for DNA on a bull, but it seemed to take so long to get done. What was supposed to take three weeks almost took three months.

I do remember one time when my Uncle Ken, Aunt Pearl, and cousin Lynette were supposed to come to our farm. They were coming from Regina. In those days, texting wasn’t an option, so to know how far away they were was out of our control as far as knowing their ETA.

I’m not sure how many times I rode my bike out to the end of the lane to see if they were coming down the gravel road, but every time I looked, I didn’t see a vehicle, and if a vehicle came, it wasn’t them. As a child I was getting tired of waiting but was still excited to see my relatives.

We are just coming into Advent, and Advent represents Jesus’ coming. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, but not only does Advent represent Jesus’ 1st coming, but it also represents His return or His second coming.

Let’s read

James 5:7–8 NIV

7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

James starts this section,

Be patient until the Lord’s coming...

Sometimes this is easier said than done. If you are struggling with your health or with loneliness, it can be hard to endure with patience.

When we see injustice going on around us, it can be hard to endure what we know in our hearts that things should be different.

Wouldn’t be a pleasure to live in a world where there in no war, no taxes, no hunger, no sickness, no death, and yet we might wonder if this is ever possible.

Sometimes we sit on the sidelines and do nothing because we think it’s out of our abilities to do anything.

James would say, “Be patient until the Lord’s coming...”

This doesn’t mean that we do nothing. This means that we persevere in our prayers and we do something when we see inequity around us. We may not be able to feed every mouth that is around us, but we can maybe help one person or one family that is in need.

God is not blind that He can’t see what you are going through. He hears each prayer and He hears each cry. He empathizes with us in our weakness.

I heard the story of a lady that turned 94. She made this comment to her son, “If I had known that I was going to live this long, I would have fixed the dishwasher.”

Sometime when she was in her mid 80’s her dishwasher broke down. Her parents had both died when they were relatively young, so she thought that there wasn’t much point in fixing the dishwasher.

At this, her son bought her another dishwasher and she enjoyed it for another nine years.

When i was growing up, there was a lot of preaching on the Second Coming of Christ. This means that as Christians, we believe that one day, Jesus is going to come back.

We don’t know the day. We don’t know the hour, but there are signs in the Bible that show us that Jesus return is getting closer.

But what do we do while we are waiting?

James used an illustration about a farmer planting a crop.

In Saskatchewan, we understand farming. Farming has changed a lot in the last 2000 years. We don’t take a bag with some grain in it and scatter a little bit of seed, we have huge equipment to get the crops in the ground. Even though the crops is seeded, the farmer still has to wait patiently for the seeds to emerge. The farmer doesn’t dig it up every day just to see if it has grown. A farmer must patiently wait for the rain to come to help the crop get established and them wait for the rain to come to help fill the crop so it yields a harvest.

Galatians 6:7–10 NIV

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

If I can encourage you tonight, it’s in this,

Don’t give up! Don’t become weary while doing good, because at just the right time, you will reap a harvest if you don’t give up.

James 5:8 NIV

8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Patience isn’t just letting life pass us by, but it’s not giving up. It’s when we keep on keeping on. John 16:33

John 16:33 NIV

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We need to Stand firm.

In Ephesians, Paul told us to stand firm by putting on the Whole Armour of God.

Ephesians 6:10–18 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

He closes with, we need to be patient and stand firm because we know that the coming of the Lord is near.

You are going to hear people say this, “We have heard this all of our lives and He still hasn’t come. The disciples believed that Jesus would come back in their lifetime, and it still hasn’t happened.

Romans 13:11 NIV

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Jesus coming is nearer today than when we first believed. It’s true that we don’t know the day or the hour but we do believe that He is coming soon.

2 Peter 3:8–10 NIV

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Don’t be afraid because Peter said that this earth will be destroyed. In the last book in the Bible, we are promised that there will be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. It will be here where there will be no more sorrow, pain, or death. Old things will be done away with, and we will be with Jesus because we have believed. We have hope that the injustice in this world will be no more.

Let’s close with

1 John 3:1–3 NIV

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Let’s pray!