Until the Late Rain Falls
James 5:7-8
One of the greatest theologians of the Protestant Reformation (J. Calvin) said: “Hope is the foundation of patience.” We know this is true of difficult circumstances. James made this point in the first chapter. He said, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” [Jam. 1:3-4]. This verse refers to circumstantial trials in life. But what happens when the greatest trial in your life isn’t an impersonal circumstance or a natural calamity… but it’s a person or a group of people who are making your life unbearable?
Imagine that someone in your life is gathering information on you in order to make you look bad in the public eye; that they’ve wiped you out financially and even caused you to lose your job; then, on top of that, they also took you to court and bribed the judge to rule against you. Would you still have hope as the foundation of patience? Would your relationship with Christ be strong enough to endure that kind of personal trial? The Christians to whom James was writing didn’t have to imagine this scenario… they lived it. All of these things were happening to them.
When something of that magnitude happens in your life, how likely would you be to comfort yourself with thoughts of Jesus returning in all of His glory? If we’re honest, most of us would have to admit the answer is, “not likely”. In our take charge, do-it-yourself culture, the watchword is “vengeance”. I saw a bumper sticker in Memphis that said: “I don’t get back… I get even!” We believe in “Pay-day, someday”, but we want that day to be right now or at least first-thing tomorrow morning. But at that very moment when you’re hurting, confused, and tormented because of an impossible human relationship, God says: “Be patient…” There’s good news for you; and the good news is something about Jesus.
This is the message God spoke through James to people who were in that very situation; they were dealing with some very unrighteous people who were making their lives unnecessarily miserable—and no one seemed to care. Even worse, God didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. So God has a very comforting word to His people in that situation, especially when difficult people are making your life unbearable simply because you’re a Christian without judicial, political, or economic power in your favor.
James 5:7-8. In honor of God and His Word, let’s stand for the reading of these verses. Keep in mind that verses 1-6 of this chapter were all about the miseries of unrighteous abundance. There were wealthy people who were economically depriving these Christians and were then judicially murdering them through the court system. This is God’s Word to them (and us) through James…
7 Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. [NASB]
[Prayer] In these two verses, the imperative “be patient” occurs three times. We have three principles to observe about godly patience. Our patience is not to be grounded upon pleasant circumstances or even loving human relationships – our patience is grounded upon our confident hope in the promises and provisions of Jesus Christ. James reminds these hurting believers of the certainty of the coming of the Lord. So here’s the first principle…
I. Godly patience is possible because we have assurance of the Lord’s coming (7a, 8).
Verse 7a and verse 8 are like bookends and essentially say the same thing: “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord… 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
The patience in view here is godly patience for the cause of Christ. This is counsel to believers who were being severely persecuted by powerful and unrighteous social overlords. For most of us, it never gets quite this bad; but when it does, aren’t you glad that Jesus has a word for His people when wicked aggressors are at their worst? The Christians in Sudan know the power of this truth! The Christians in Iran and Iraq and North Korea know the hope of this reality! The reason we know James is referring to adverse people is not only because of the context, it’s also due to his word for patient.
He uses the word macrothumia which literally means long-tempered. This is a different word from the one used in chapter one about endurance during trials. The word macrothumia is used of patiently enduring difficult people. This is just as important as godly patience during difficult circumstances. But the personal pain of evil human intent toward us makes this kind of trial much more difficult to bear, I think, than an impersonal hurricane or an earthquake. I don’t take the storms personally. There’s no emotion or volition in them. But with people, it’s different.
The foundation for this hope is the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of the Lord is mentioned three times in this section (vv. 7, 8, and again in 9). So how does the return of the Lord act as a patience fortifier for believers? Here’s what strengthened the hearts of first century Christians under severe persecution: first, they firmly believed in two worlds and that this present world was the harsh, temporal, and brutish one; the second world was the perfect City of God (Heb. 11:10), whose architect and builder is God.
Several years ago, Ted Turner was quoted as saying, “I only believe in one world. You live right now and this is all you get!” That’s the pessimism of an unbelieving heart. The Christians in James knew they were headed to the City of God based on the promise of Jesus. Second, they firmly believed that Jesus, the righteous Judge, would perfectly settle all accounts for His beloved people. The wicked oppressors were far too powerful for these poor, weak Christians to oppose – but they are no match for King Jesus! The poet James Russell Lowell put it like this:
Careless seems the great Avenger,
History’s pages but record
One death-grapple in the darkness,
Twixt old systems and the Word.
Truth for ever on the scaffold,
Wrong for ever on the throne –
But that scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadows
Keeping watch above His own
These Christians knew that Christ was keeping watch! They knew He would fight on their behalf and would more than recompense their temporal suffering for His name. Godly patience is possible because we have assurance of the Lord’s coming. Second…
II. Godly patience is strengthened by confidence in a loving providence that controls both natural and human subjects (7b).
Verse 7b: “Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it…”
I have tried to distinguish natural subjects (like crops, winds, and rains) from human subjects. James is talking about dealing patiently with difficult human subjects, but his analogy is from nature. It’s about a farmer who waits for the precious produce of the soil. The coupling of these two images reminds us that it’s a loving Providence that controls both natural and human subjects. The same Lord who gives sunshine and rain to the farmer’s seed is also sovereign over the hearts of rebellious men and women.
God is not less involved in the lives of people than He is with the course of nature. To the farmer, the seed is valuable and vital to his livelihood; he calls it “the precious produce of the soil” or as the NIV renders it: “its valuable crop”. God takes care of the farmer’s seed, not because He’s so concerned about the seed and the crop, but because He cares for the farmer and the people that farmer will feed. To God, His people are precious and valuable to Him! James is writing to the Bride of Christ and Jesus is always concerned about the well-being, the honor and purity of His beloved Bride! Imagine the horror that awaits those who abuse and take advantage of the Bride of the sovereign King of Creation! As Charles Wesley wrote of the Great White throne: “Every eye shall now behold Him, robed in dreadful majesty; those who set at naught and sold Him, pierced and nailed Him to the tree, deeply wailing, deeply wailing, shall the true Messiah see.” For them, justice will mean anguished weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The farmer in this illustration is patiently waiting for something that’s beyond his control. He has done all within his human power by the sweat of his brow to till and sow the crop… but now the hand of God must move to provide the sun and rain. The labor requires long patience. There are some bad years when the harvest doesn’t come at all. There may have been a drought or the blight of some destroying insect. But the farmer has about as much control over the forces of nature as you and I have over the hearts of those who persecute us.
James says when you realize this truth, smile! Smile because the good news is that the Lord who chose you and called you has absolute control over both. This is true even when you seem to be between seasons. This is still true even when the blight is followed by a drought. This is true even when oppressive unbelievers have made your life miserable because you’re a Christian. The Great Avenger, as Lowell put it, may seem to be careless especially when we feel oppressed and dismayed without relief. But don’t you believe it! Godly patience is strengthened by confidence in a loving providence that controls both natural and human subjects. And finally…
III. Godly patience acknowledges that God’s purpose always has a process (7c).
I get this principle from that last phrase in verse 7 about the early and late rains. Now hear the whole sentence in verse 7: “Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.”
It’s so easy to forget the process within the purpose of God. How often do we rejoice over the early rains and expect this to be the season of God’s richest blessing for us as His people. Those early rains are such a welcomed sign of God’s goodness and care for us. But after the early rains, there comes a time when it appears that nothing is happening. After a while, we begin to wonder if God has forgotten about us. Those early rains were great and refreshing times, but it’s gotten hot and dry lately. We wish God would make it rain again to renew our faith during the meager dry seasons of life. At this point we may wonder if the best years are behind us.
The early rains were like the honeymoon period of a marriage. Everything seemed positive and headed in the right direction. We were hopeful and idealistic about the future. This happens in relationships; it happens in business partnerships; and it also happens in churches. The early rains are an exhilarating sign of hope and progress. But after the early rains there always comes a period of delay before the later rains. The problem for us as Christians is when we begin to doubt or alter our theology between those two periods. We forget that faith grows during long times of patience and waiting for things that are out of our control.
Until the late rain falls… remember that Jesus knows exactly where you are in His plan this morning. Until the late rain falls, be comforted by the fact that Jesus is coming again and He will settle all accounts; His glory will be vindicated and His Bride will be fully redeemed. God’s purpose always has a process and you are in that process right now. When you suffer for being a Christian, your enemies are really His enemies; so don’t take vengeance into your own hands. Jesus is more than able to compensate His people for all they have relinquished in this life to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Him. Until the late rain falls… be patient.
Let’s pray.
(c) Charles Kevin Grant
June 23, 2006