Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent 3

December 12, 2004

James 5:7–10

*Why So Long?*

After S.  Johnson

*Visuals:* cup of soil and a seed

            Today, boys and girls, we’re going to see a miracle of God happen.

We’re going to plant this seed in this soil and watch it grow.

/Plant seed under the soil.

/Any second now we should see this seed spout, right?

/Look and watch.

/I don’t understand.

Why is it taking so long?

I’m beginning to think this seed will never sprout.

Do you think this seed will sprout?

/Wait for responses.

/Of course, this seed will sprout—if we just leave it alone and allow it time to grow.

We have to be patient!

Jesus has promised that one day he’ll return to this earth, and when he does, he’ll take all of us who believe in him to be with him in heaven.

That’s exciting, isn’t it!

God gives us lots of neat things to do here on earth every day, but being with Jesus in heaven will be the best!

I can hardly wait!

Sometimes people begin to think Jesus is taking too long.

Some might even begin to think that he’ll never return at all.

But he will come back.

Someday soon he will come back for you and me.

But why is Jesus taking so long to come back?

It is because there are still people who don’t believe in him as their Savior.

Jesus loves all of us, every single one of us.

He died on the cross for all of us.

He wants all of us to believe in him so that we can spend eternity with him in heaven.

Jesus is waiting, then, so that you and I can tell others about him, so that they can come to believe and be saved too.

This is a great time of year to do that.

Tell your friends about the true meaning of Christmas.

Tell them that Christmas is about the birth of our Savior, the one who came to earth and died on the cross to take away our sins, to take us to heaven.

Then invite them to come and join us in worshiping him here at church.

*So Long but…“Until Then .

.  .”*

During Advent we reflect on the “coming” of Christ; we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Christ as an infant who was laid in a manger, but we also look ahead to the second coming of Jesus.

We prepare during Advent not just to celebrate Christ’s birth, but also for his return at the end of time.

Part of this preparation includes patient waiting.

Our text from the Book of James reminds us of Christ’s return and gives us insight for what we are to do as we wait patently for him to come back.

Waiting patiently has always been hard to do.

In our Gospel lesson John the Baptist was waiting and wanting to know that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah that was to come.

The /Old Testament Reading /also gives an encouraging message that follows the theme: “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come.

.  .  .

He will come to save you’ ” (Is 35:3–4).

Waiting is especially difficult when we are living in circumstances that are not as good as we would like them to be.

It is hard to wait and be patient when we are sick or suffering or in any kind of pain, both physically and spiritually.

This was true for those Christians whom James writes to where believers were suffering at the hands of the wicked.

Especially in times of suffering, we look forward to Christ’s return, when the suffering of this present world will end and we will be taken to be with Christ in the glory of God’s heaven.

During times of suffering James exhorts us to be patient and to stand firm.

/            Introduction: /Waiting and having patience are hard to do.

Ask any kid at this time of year about the long wait for Christmas.

When I was a kid, December was the month that seemed like six months.

Would Christmas ever come?

I thought.

Waiting and patience are still not my strong suits.

Ask my wife.

If I get a bug about something I want or want to do, my focus is on those things until they happen or until I get them.

I’ve got some hunting pants in mind right now.

But my wife reminds me…wait, and be patient.

Gardening is another story.

I sometimes help Linda get the garden ready.

She does most the planting, or perhaps I should say all the planting.

The seeds are planted, — green beans, lettuce, carrots, pumpkins, onions and potatoes.

For awhile I check to see if anything has sprouted.

But soon enough, I forget all about the garden.

It was just taking too long!

Of course, God on His timetable caused those seeds to sprout.

The seeds did grow, but so did the weeds.

Seemed like a lot of work to me…so I let Linda do most of it.

Some gardener I was!

The same sort of thing can happen to us spiritually.

Christ has promised to return, but it seems like he is taking so long .

.  .

Why hasn’t he come back already?

We are tempted to grow impatient.

But God says to us in our text, “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” (James 5:7 ESV).

When God tells you to do something in his Word, he also gives you the spiritual power to do it by the grace that comes through Jesus Christ.

That’s certainly true as we wait for Christ’s return at the end of the world.

Until Christ’s return, God will help us stay strong in our faith and share that faith with all the people we can.

Still, many grow impatient of waiting.

So many people get distracted by the busyness of their lives and the pleasures of the world.

Christ loses his appeal.

Jesus seems so far away that it’s easy to lose Him as we live our hectic lives.

In the parable of the sower Jesus warned us that this would happen: “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures.”

Some even abandon the faith altogether.

“Oh, well, I can always repent later” is the attitude of many.

“I’ve got plenty of time,” they think, having long ago lost any awareness that they’re waiting for a returning Lord.

Many leave Christ behind in their pursuit of worldly pleasures.

Those who do face God’s judgment: an eternity of punishment in hell.

Sometime our impatience takes on other forms.

As kids wait for Christmas there patience with other people isn’t always what it should be.

They become less tolerant to be around.

This impatience can sprout within Christian congregations.

Even within James’s congregation, there were growing signs of impatience: members grumbling against one another, impatient with each others’ faults, placing blame, groaning as if their fellow believers were simply intolerable to be around.

Though we live by the Spirit, we are still sinners and get on each other’s nerves.

James tells us that the farmer waits patiently.

James exhorts us to be patient.

As the farmer must be patient waiting for the harvest, so we must be patient.

The farmer plants his seed and waits.