The Quiet Ones pt 3

(outline of my horrible, no good, very bad week…lol)…leading to Ella’s comment about me preaching on patience...

We are told not to pray for patience. You ever heard that before? Don’t ask God to make you patient because that will lead to trials. There is one problem with that, it assumes trials are not already here.

I think if we are all honest with ourselves and each other we would admit that we all have challenges and trials. In every life, there are problems that would call for patience. So I would tell you this morning, that you SHOULD pray for the Lord to make you patient, because in a broken world you are going to need it.

As James, the brother of Jesus, brings his letter to a close, he pleads with the church to practice patience. He uses a variety of images and stories to make his point. But, his purpose remains the same, in an impatient world, patience is vital- and it will make us people who wait on Lord, which is the key to being a patient people.

The Message of James The Fruitfulness of Patience (5:7–9)

James’ doctrine of the Christian life is a doctrine of process or growth, and patience is its central requirement. We neither drift into holiness nor are we wafted there by some heavenly visitation; we grow to holiness and, like every harvest, it is a process.

(Read James 5:7-8)

James opens this call to patience with a command. “Be patient.” It is not given as an option or suggestion. It is a calling. And the word “patient” here means to be “long suffering.” On the surface, that doesn’t sound very pleasant. It sounds like a lot of work. And painful work at that. But he has a specific end in mind. They are to be patient for an arrival- Jesus’ arrival. He is coming.

So often in the midst of our trials and struggles, I know I pray “go ahead and return Lord Jesus.” I am ready. And yet, as we discussed a few months ago in our study of Mark, that is a selfish prayer. Jesus delays His return to save as many as possible. So His delaying His return is for the benefit of others.

Yet that does not mean God is not in the showing up business. The delivering business. He is coming to our aid, even if He is not returning to earth yet. He is present. He shows up. And His return is in His own time, when all that needs to be done is complete.

That is particularly pictured in the example James gives in verse 7. The farmer.

My granddaddy was a farmer. He planted seeds. He worked fields. And he did all of that in faith that if he did the work on his end, the seeds would bear a harvest at the appropriate time. That’s the kind of patience James is calling for us to have- the farmer’s patience. That God will produce a harvest from our long suffering when the time is right.

James The Nature of Christian Patience (5:7–8)

James is telling the brothers to be patient over their trials to gain maturity and completeness until that process is crowned with the glorious coming of the Lord. The parallel is that farmers must be patient over their labor to gain the fruit of the soil until that fruit receives the coming of the rain. Do you want to learn patience? The first step is a choice of values. Set your heart on becoming “mature and complete” and having “the righteous life that God desires.”

So what do we do while we wait? Verse 8 says we “establish our hearts.” What in the world does that mean? It means to ground, or set our anchors, into something. What do we establish into? A faith that Jesus is coming to deliver us. And how do we do that, we lean into Him- prayer, scripture, teaching, the list goes on. How do you draw closer to God?

James The Nature of Christian Patience (5:7–8)

God has promised Christ’s return; therefore believers can be patient in their hardships. Do you want to learn patience? Contemplate the hope of Christ’s return.

James The Nature of Christian Patience (5:7–8)

Do you want to learn patience? Since you have set your heart on becoming mature and complete, and since you hope for Christ’s return, now choose to stand firm. What that stance will mean in actual behavior is described in the next three verses

James: An Introduction and Commentary (2nd Ed.) C. An Encouragement to Endure Patiently (5:7–11)

What is commanded, then, is a firm adherence to the faith in the midst of temptations and trials. As they wait patiently for their Lord to return, believers need to fortify themselves for the struggle against sin and difficult circumstances

What happens when we lose our patience? Look at verse 9.

Lack of patience leads to dissension. When we lose patience, we have to blame someone for the situation. We rarely blame ourselves. (me in a car…true confession- Austin)

To grumble against one another is to set us against each other. To divide. To create factions and disagreements. How often do we fall prey to this? At home? At work? At church? Being impatient leads to never being satisfied. We refuse to be content in what God has given to us or provided for us. And we take out that dissatisfaction on other people, AND it affects our relationship with God.

James The Practice of Christian Patience (5:9–11)

Christians lose patience with each other under these pressures, and the church becomes infected with a readiness to criticize and blame. James would correct the problem with a renewed vision of the imminently returning Christ, particularly emphasizing that he comes as Judge.

When we are impatient with God, that’s a trust issue. Do we believe God is withholding His best from us? When we are “established” in His truth, we can lean into what we know about Him and His character, but when we are not, we will substitute what we know of His character with what we WANT from Him- in the moment.

Against this impatience, James closes with examples from history- of people whose patience was rewarded and remembered.

(Read James 5:10-11)

The examples James gives are suffering prophets and Job. They remained steadfast, despite what they faced.

James: An Introduction and Commentary (2nd Ed.) C. An Encouragement to Endure Patiently (5:7–11)

For although Job did complain bitterly about God’s treatment of him, he never abandoned his faith; in the midst of his incomprehension, he clung to God and continued to hope in him (cf. Job 1:21; 2:10; 16:19–21; 19:25–27). As Barclay says, ‘Job’s is no groveling, passive, unquestioning submission; Job struggled and questioned, and sometimes even defied, but the flame of faith was never extinguished in his heart.’

Stop and consider that for a moment. That’s one reason why reading the Word is so crucial. It gives us some perspective. We are able to evaluate our circumstances against what others have endured. That DOES NOT MEAN that God sees your circumstances and shrugs. He is not in the comparison game. But it should be an encouragement to us that others have seen God’s work, and waited patiently for Him to arrive, in much worse circumstances and He has still proven faithful. (Gospel presentation here)

James: An Introduction and Commentary (2nd Ed.) C. An Encouragement to Endure Patiently (5:7–11)

The idea, then, is probably either patience in the face of suffering (see also NLT) or ‘endurance of suffering’. With this meaning kakopatheia would denote the fact that the prophets endured affliction; patience (makrothymia) would describe the manner in which they endured it.

Even more, what do we learn from waiting patiently for God?

James names three things we see in waiting patiently for the Lord:

Purpose- when we are patient we more easily discern what God is doing- that’s because we take TIME and apply FOCUS. We are really seeking God’s voice when we are waiting patiently for His intervention

Compassion- when we are patient we experience God’s compassion- He sustains us BEFORE He delivers us. And this builds compassion in us for others as well- who better displays compassion than one who has experienced it?

Mercy- when we wait patiently for God’s arrival, we experience His mercy. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. We do not DESERVE to be delivered. We deserve what we get. God arrives because it is His good pleasure to do so AND because He takes joy in being there for us. How much should that mercy call us to be merciful to others?