The Patience of Allegiance

Welcome:

Good morning, friends! Good to be with you today! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve here as the teaching pastor at Lifepoint Worthington.

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Series Set-Up

We are continuing in our series this morning through the New Testament letter of James—so if you have a bible, meet me there in James chapter 5. We’ll be in verses 7-11 today.

As a quick reminder of where we've been:

The book of James was written by one of the first Christian pastors to followers of Jesus in and around Jerusalem.

He was writing into a divided and explosive cultural moment—some wanted to fight Rome, others wanted to blend in. Into that unrest, James offers a third way: faith.

But as we've seen, for James, faith isn't just belief; it's a deep trust that proves itself in loyalty; an allegiance that reshapes every part of our everyday lives.

Today, James turns to one of the hardest parts of that allegiance: what it looks like when our loyalty is tested by time, hardship, and the temptation to give up. He's going to talk about patience.

So if you have a bible, meet me in James chapter 5.  We’ll be in verses 7-11.

Introduction

As we get started this morning, let me throw out a question that I’d like you just keep in the back of your mind while we’re talking today.  

Are you a patient person?  

Honestly...are you patient?  What would your coworkers say?  What about your family...or your spouse?  Are you a patient person?

When you really stop and think about it, patience is a funny thing, isn’t it?  On the one hand, Everybody wants to be patient--or they’re is some sense that we ought to be patient, right?  Like we almost intuitively know that we should be patient with other people--if you’re married, you should be patient with spouse...with your kids...with your neighbors...friends...employees...and the list goes on because patience is good, right?! 

In fact, the concept of patience shows up--in some form--on nearly every list of virtues across the major world religions, philosophies and worldviews.  You ask anyone around you and the vast majority of people will tell you that they should be patient--and if they’re not, they at least want to get better at it! 

Everybody wants to be patient.    

But here’s the funny thing. 

PAUSE

Nobody wants to be TOLD to be patient! 

PAUSE

Think about that for a moment. 

PAUSE

Everybody wants to be patient, but nobody wants to be told to be patient!  

How many of you are in a relationship and have learned this lesson the hard way?  None of wants to be told that for the time being, we just need to wait!  

Why? 

Why is it that being told to be patient can cultivate some of the greatest angst that we experience?? 

A lot of times it’s because having to be patient reminds us that we are not in control, doesn’t it?  It reminds us that there is a situation going on right now that we are almost powerless to change--that no matter how frustrating, irritating, painful...we are not in control...and simply—need—to wait.  

And it gets harder because we live in an increasingly impatient world, don’t we?  

We live in a world where everything happens--or at least should happen--on our time table.  

We operate in a world of unending access and immediate response--and when one option isn’t fast enough we can find another that will accommodate our needs.  

And the irony is...that many of us are absolutely gripped by the Tyranny of the Instantaneous---and oblivious as to how deeply it actually affects us. 

It’s why my son can lose his mind when I tell that she has to wait for goldfish...and it’s not just kids. It’s why we can get so angry when someone cuts us off, or takes them too long to order...cause you got like 15 different variables in your Starbucks drink...and if it bubbles up to the surface over these small things, what happens when we’re not just inconvenienced...but when we encounter real seasons of waiting and hardship?  

When you’ve got a diagnosis that won’t go away and isn’t getting better...

When you’ve tried for years and you’re still not pregnant... 

When you still can’t find a job and you’ve exhausted all your connections...

When you you’ve spent all your emotional energy on a family member and they’re still not responding…

Yes, we’d like to be patient, but nobody wants to be told to be patient--because if we’re honest, we don’t really know what to do with patience... 

PAUSE

But what if we’ve misunderstood patience?  What if we’ve got the wrong idea of what it means to be patient especially when we’re going through these longer seasons of pain and hardship.  

In the text we’re looking at, James, the author invites us to rethink patience.  And what we’ll see is that patience is not passive resignation, but hopeful anticipation of what God is and will be doing in our lives.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to James 5:7-11. 

Let me read the text, then I’ll pray, and we’ll get started.

James 5:7–11 ESV

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. 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.

PRAY

Move 1: Patience is Possible

Alight, let’s get started.

For most of the letter, James has been talking about what true faith…true allegiance to Jesus…looks like in everyday life.  Toward the end of the letter, he focuses in on suffering; telling us how allegiance ought to shape our response TO suffering and oppression. [PAUSE]

Patience. [PAUSE]

Look with me at v. 7, “Be patient, therefore, brothers…”  Pause for a moment. 

How does that sit with you; that James would tell those who have experienced suffering and oppression...injustice...to be patient?

PAUSE

Now, the obvious question, is ‘What does he mean by patience?’ right?

Because a lot of us have different definitions of patience in our minds.  

Simply put, patience...is waiting.  

But here’s what we need to see--James is saying, Patience has an end date.  

Keep reading with me in v. 7, “Be patient, therefore, brothers...until the coming of the Lord…”

Coming of the Lord

What’s talking about? 

As Christians, we believe there is a time that Jesus will return to fully establish his kingdom here on earth, and that when he comes, He will finally put an end to ALL injustice--that there will be an end to pain and suffering, sickness and death.  That the wicked will be punished and the righteous delivered--all things made new, and all things made right!

Ultimately, as a follower of Jesus, this is the great comforting piece that James gives us!  He reminds us that we look forward to a day when the Lord will come back!  That He will right every wrong...that there will be an end to suffering as we know it!  

And some of you maybe need to be reminded of that this morning, that if you are a Follower of Jesus--what you are going through right now--will not last forever.  There is a day coming when your pain will be NO MORE.  When your trial will end...and when you will be restored!  

And what we have to see is that James says the basis of our patience...the reason we CAN be patient is BECAUSE the Lord is Coming back!   We do not have a blind patience--sitting back and hoping that things will work out.  Our patience is more than mere waiting, it is a HOPEFUL ANTICIPATION of the promise that Our God will make all things right!  

That Patience is only possible BECAUSE Jesus is coming back.  

Friends, you’ve got to see this, our hope is not that things might get better, but it is the confidence we have that there WILL be a day when Justice WILL roll like a mighty river and righteousness like an everflowing stream!    

And so James says, ‘Until that day...BE...PATIENT. 

The question we really need to be asking is: “how?”

What is patience supposed to look like for us, now?    

In the rest of the passage, James gives us three pictures of Patience...to show us what this patient allegiance looks like.  

Move 2: Pictures of Patience

The Farmer (Working)

Here’s the first picture.  

Look with me at the second half of v. 7.

James 5:7–8 ESV

7 …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.

In the first picture of patience James gives us, he tells that if we want to know what patience looks like, we need to look at the farmer.  And if we’re not careful we can COMPLETELY miss his point here!  

See, James is talking about the process of planting and harvesting--that the farmer starts off, right after the early rains which come down and loosen the soil--and then he goes to work with tilling the ground...planting the seed...and then waits for the second rainy season which gives the crop the boost it needs right before the harvest. 

But what we need to understand is that while the farmer waits for the harvest,  he is not sitting back and doing nothing, right?  He’s getting out there and preparing for the harvest.  He is out there, day in and day out to check on his crop--so that even while he’s waiting, he is working.  

And this is what James wants us to understand---that patience is not passive.  It doesn’t mean we sit back and wait for things to work themselves out--disengaging in the world around us!  Patience doesn’t mean you pretend there’s no problems. That you neglect the fact that you’re really going ‘through it’ right now!  

And I think this is one of the problems we have with patience--one of reasons we don’t like to be TOLD to be patient...is that we can think it means we sit back and do nothing...so much so that when someone tells us to be patient, it comes across as a little tone deaf, doesn’t it?  That they don’t really understand what we’ve got going on in our lives right now!

And let’s be honest for a moment, some of us use patience in this way, don’t we.  That when we’re asking people to be patient with us, it’s really just code for ‘Let this go...stop bothering me with this...you need to drop it.’  

"But we have to see that this kind of dismissive 'patience' is a counterfeit. It’s not biblical patience at all; it’s an act of self-preservation. It’s a way for us to try and control a situation by simply ending it. It's an allegiance to our own comfort.

James's vision for patience is completely different. It's not a passive 'stop sign'; it is an active, rugged expression of our allegiance.

This is why the farmer is his very first example. The farmer is the opposite of passive! He's not sitting on his porch, just hoping for the best. He has done the hard work of plowing and planting, and now he actively tends the fields, protects the crop, and watches the sky, all in faithful expectation of a harvest he cannot force. His patience is his work.

And in the same way, our patience isn't a call to disengage. It's a call to prove our allegiance to King Jesus by faithfully doing the work He's given us to do, trusting Him with the timeline and the outcome."

And so this means:

In patience, you write that code…run that spreadsheet…clean the house again..trusting that this faithful, repetitive work has dignity before God.

In patience, you don’t send the angry email. You wait. You pray. You rewrite with grace, trusting God with the outcome, not your own rhetorical force!

In patience, you re-read the same bedtime story for the 300th time, not as an inconvenience, but as the slow, holy work of forming a soul.

In patience, you still get to work! 

You see, in this first picture, James’ point is that the farmer is patient, not because he’s doing nothing, but because he knows that the harvest is coming--and that’s why James ends this first picture by reminding us that just like the farmer waits for the harvest, as followers of Jesus, we wait for the coming of the Lord.  James invites us to rethink patience to show us that our patience is not passive, but we are WORKING as we’re waiting. 

Transition:

But then James goes on to give us a second picture of patient allegiance.

The Prophets (Witnessing)

Look with me at v. 10: James 5:10-11

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.

In this second picture of patience, James does something really interesting.  But just like with the first one, it's really easy to miss his point here because James just flies over it so quickly!  

He says if you want to know what patience looks like, you also need to look at the Prophets.   

In the Old Testament, the prophets were the ones who spoke on behalf of God--they were in many ways the ones who were modeling what it meant to live a life of obedience to God!  And James’ point is that, in most people’s view, these were the people who should have been SPARED from suffering, right?  They’re doing good things...they’re calling people to care for the poor, the orphans, the widows...the most vulnerable people in society...calling people back to a lifestyle that’s honoring to God...

And yet--almost ALL of them were either rejected by God’s people, beaten, jailed or murdered…...for doing what God had told them to do!

James says here, ‘Look at the prophets’...because they knew what it meant to suffer...they were in it...they were going through something...and at the same time, James says, ‘But look at their patience..’

What’s he talking about? 

When you go back and read the stories of the prophets, like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Hosea, what is often so striking about them is that in the face of suffering--they continue to do what God has called them to do.  They continue to proclaim the message about God, they continue to call people to have a relationship with Him. In other words, in their patience, they persevere! 

I think one of the best examples of this we see in the bible is in the life of Paul.  You remember Paul is responsible for writing almost half of the New Testament with his letters to different churches that he’s started.  And yet, what we easily overlook is that a lot of what Paul wrote, he wrote while he was in prison.  Chained up and beaten.  

But look at what he says about this experience in his letter the church in Philippi, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel…” He says, I want you to know that what’s been going on with me...what I’ve been going through...the suffering I have experienced in prison…has allowed me to continue doing what God has called me to do! “...so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” [SLIDE]  

See just like the prophets, Paul did not see patience in his suffering as an OBLIGATION, but as an OPPORTUNITY...to continue doing what God had called him to do!  

And, you see, in the same way, James invites us to rethink patience in suffering, and begin to see it as an opportunity to be a WITNESS to the kindness, goodness, and grace of our God.  

And when we stop to think about it this way, we see that James actually hints at something quite profound ...that for some of you...the greatest opportunities you will have to share your faith...will come out of some of the most painful experiences of your life…

And that does not AT ALL mean you put a smile on and pretend like you’re cool with everything that’s happened.  In fact, it might take you years before you’re able to share your story…

But even through your frustration or question about WHY God is doing what he’s doing, when the rest of the world demands VENGEANCE but you are asking God for PATIENCE, that response is a powerful WITNESS to the transforming work of the Gospel...because apart from the Gospel, this kind of patience doesn’t make any sense! 

Ask yourself this: How might God use my story in a way that’s impactful and meaningful in the life of someone else?   How might my story be used to showcase the greater Story of the Gospel?

James says, in suffering, be patient...not to get you to stop talking about it...not to brush off what you’re going through...but because as a follower of Jesus, it is in your patience that you become a powerful WITNESS...for the greater hope you have in Jesus and in the Gospel! 

Friends, with this second picture, in telling us to look at the example of the prophets, James invites us to rethink patience and see it not as an OBLIGATION, but an OPPORTUNITY--to continue doing exactly what God has called you to do!  As Followers of Jesus, in patience, we are WITNESSING while we’re waiting. 

Transition:  

But James has a third and final Picture of Patience allegiance.  

Job (Worshiping)

Look with me at v. 11:

James 5:11–12 ESV

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.

In this third picture of patience, James focuses in on a specific person from the Old Testament; Job.  And he talks about Job’s steadfastness, or endurance...which is just another way for James to say patience.  

If you were to go back and read Job’s story, in the first few chapters of the book, we see what Job was going through--that in a matter of moments he not only lost his health, but all his wealth was drained, on top of that, suffered through the death of all 10 of his children. 

And the vast majority of the book is Job’s conversations with three of his friends and EVENTUALLY with God Himself as he does exactly what every single one of us would be doing...trying to make sense of what’s happened to him...asking God WHY!

And let's be honest: for 37 chapters, his 'patience' looks a lot like arguing, lamenting, and accusing God. He is not a passive, stoic victim. And this is a profound gift to us. It gives us permission to be honest. I've had my own 'Job moments'—maybe not on that scale, but seasons where I've looked at my life, or a situation, and my prayer wasn't 'I trust you,' but 'Why? This makes no sense, and I am angry.' Job's story reminds us that this honest, wrestling, frustrated faith is still faith. The 'purpose of the Lord' wasn't to get Job to shut up, but to meet him in that raw, honest place with His compassion.

But in the final chapter of the book, Job has everything he lost restored to him.  He has his health back, 10 more kids, and his wealth is doubled.  

But, isn’t it ODD that James would identify Job as a picture of patience?  He spends most of the book pretty FRUSTRATED over what’s happened to him!

But look again at what James says we see in Job’s story in v. 11...he says we see the purpose of the Lord--his Compassion and Mercy!  You see James is telling us that the most profound part of Job’s story is NOT that everything has been made right in the end--that everything he lost is restored, but that WHILE HE WAS GOING THROUGH all these things, Job experienced something with God that was unique to his suffering--he experienced the deep Compassion and mercy of God in a way that he could not have apart from his experience! 

For Job, his suffering is not meaningless...it’s not wasted time...but in suffering, Job’s patience is Worship.

And so friends, James invites us to rethink patience in the midst of suffering--so that we don’t see this as WASTED time but James, in this third picture, is reminding us that there are things we experience with God in our suffering that we do not experience apart from our Suffering. That God promises to meet us in our pain and suffering in ways that he does not promise in our comfort! 

Patience is NOT merely waiting things out. 

Patience is an invitation to WORSHIP.  

Friends, do you see that as followers of Jesus, like Job... it is our patience...our steadfastness...in suffering that can often be the greatest catalyst to Worship we experience!  

After all: 

It was the patience in suffering after the death and loss of EVERYTHING HE HAD that drove Job to speak the words, ‘THOUGH YOU SLAY ME…...STILL I WILL HOPE IN YOU!’

Gospel:

And friends, perhaps we need to be reminded this morning that in the same way, the greatest cause of Worship that we have has come through suffering--though it was not our suffering! 

See, God has not called us to do something that He himself has not first done for us!  

It is the story of the Gospel that reminds us of the Patience that God has first shown us.  

It is Jesus who lived the life we SHOULD HAVE but FAILED to live...perfectly patient,  perfectly obedient to ALL of what God had commanded us.  

That for the Joy set before Him, He patiently endured the suffering of the Cross—taking our brokenness, failure, impatience...taking our sin...upon himself as if it were his own! Dying the death we should have died IN OUR PLACE, FOR OUR SIN!  And yet rose again from the dead with the promise of new life for anyone who would trust in His work on the cross!  

Friends, the Gospel reminds us that Jesus was first patient in suffering FOR US, so that we are now empowered to rethink patience in our suffering.  

And as followers of Jesus we don’t see it as passive resignation, but as James shows us, in patience, we are WORKING while we’re WAITING, WITNESSING while we’re WAITING and WORSHIPING while we’re WAITING!

Ultimately, as when James tells us in the face of suffering, “Be Patient” we hear that not as the cold hearted utterance of God who wants us to stop bothering Him...but as the Word of a loving father who is producing something in us IN OUR PATIENCE that can simply cannot yet see!

Application:

So how do we grow in Patience?  

And I don’t want to be overly simplistic, but it starts with just asking God for Patience.

That he would produce a patience within us...James has told us already in a few different ways that we don’t have because we don’t ask.  

So that in what your going through right now, you can have confidence that as you ask, God will begin to produce patience in you--and a patience that is not a mere waiting for things to get better, but as an invitation to work, witness, and worship as you wait!   

But keep in mind that this is a dangerous thing to pray for because God will begin to give you more opportunities to develop patience...but ultimately, it is because God has been abundantly patient with us in the Gospel, we are now empowered to be patient in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, with whatever relationships we have! 

And the beauty is we can now bring that into every arena of our lives--from the mundane, everyday encounters…to the deepest, darkest pits and valleys we will experience in this life.  

When you husband has taken a nosedive into despair and can barely get himself out of bed in the morning and you’re wondering how you’re going to make this thing work, James say, “Be Patient.”

When the doctor comes back with the diagnosis and it’s worse than they thought, and you’re left wondering, ‘What now?’ James says, “Be Patient.”

When it’s been years after your timeline, and all the rest of your friends are married off and having kids, James says, “Be Patient.” 

Or maybe you need this in the slow daily grind of life.

When you are exhausted and are stumbling into your daughters room for the 6th time that night to rock her back to sleep, wondering how you gonna keep doing this...James says, “Be Patient.”

When your coworker is explaining something painfully slowly, James says, 'Be Patient.'

When you are stuck in the pickup line at school, and you're checking your phone for the 10th time, James says, 'Be Patient.'

When you are working on a project that seems to have no end, and your contribution feels invisible, James says, 'Be Patient.'

And Patience doesn’t mean things will always end up the way we want them too…

But when we rethink Patience, we don’t have to see it as a passive resignation, but as hopeful anticipation of what God is and will be doing in our lives!  That it is actually an invitation to Work, Witness, and Worship as we wait.

Would you pray with me?