Patience, Peace and Prayer

Patience & Perseverance

This week, as we conclude James, our focus is taken away from the non-beliving rich oppressors to the oppressed believers. They are being instructed to remain patient in their suffering and injustice. Remember, last week we saw that the cries of the oppressed have reached God, those who are on the recieving end of injustice have God on their side. Those who oppress them have been warned about a coming judgment, or more graphically, slaughter.

It doesn’t take much to look around at Pinhoe Road for an example of patience. Our new entrance bought someone to tears yesterday, having waited so long to see it happen and finally getting there. This experience has, if we chose to apply it this way, lead to depth and maturity for all those involved.

Jasmes uses an image far more applicable to his audience for whom famring was a way of life. To get farming right meant survival for the farmer in question! The early rains watered the freshly planted crops and the late rains preceded the harvest. But this is not just a practicasl illustration, it is a theological point. The regularity of the rain was a reminder of God’s faihtfulness to his people. So the justice they had been promised would come as surely as the rain, they just needed to be patient. They needed to wait and wait well…

James gives a practical challenge here that in the wait for the return of the Lord, which was considered to be nearer now than ever before (although not necessarily immediate), they should not grumble against one another. With the proximity of the Lord, standing at the door and knocking, were the door to fly open would our speech be such that Jesus would want to hear what we are saying, or would we be speaking against the people God has called us to be in community with? I think we know the answer and can therefore appreciate the challenge.

Not just patience, but perseverance! Stand firm. Dig in. Be resilient. Sounds like something we’ve had to do in the last 18 months!

Illustrated by the prophets and Job. We see what perseverance looks like. Despite all that was thrown at the prophets they remained faithful to God, continuing in the ministry they had been called to, pressing on even in the backdrop of hostility. We too will survive and thrive if we remain faithful, dig deep, and stick near to God through change and trial!

Culturally this is a challenge for us. We are impatient. TREOH illustrated this for us… There is a problem of impatience! But we should be challenged, just like James’ recipients were - James is saying: ‘You worship these prophets and Job as heroes in the faith, so why not follow their example!’

In the West we have a privilege problem - we expect everything to go well! But that isn’t what we should expect. We live in a sinful world, in all its brokenness, we have to expect difficulty. So our experiences are actually nothing new, we are just the latest in a long line of God’s people to go through hardship - personally or corporately.

Job serves as a reminder that our current situation doesn’t define the outcome.

James continues to highlight the need for an integrity of Christian character. Our words should be trustworthy without needing an oath. We should not lie or deceive. James doesn’t unpack it, but he says to not have integrity of speech means we will fall under condemnation. This should make us take our speech (and keyboard conduct!) seriously. Again, we are looking at the root problem of the tongue and fights/quarrels: a sinful, bitter, corrupted heart. We need to be aware that our difficult circumstances might explain our propensity to grumble and speak badly of people, but this does not excuse it because the challenge here is to live by a higher standard.

James = directly quoting Jesus.

Matthew 5:33-37 ““Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

Jesus = ultimate example of suffering and we follow in his footsteps:

Cross = humility/humiliation. Salvation from suffering. Defeat becomes defining moment of victory over sin/death.

Confession & Prayer

not all sickness is a result of sin. But sin can make us sick.

John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.””

John 9:1-13 “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and s…”

What difference will patience and prayer make in this next season?

PATIENCE: As we settle into a new way of doing things!

PRAYER: As we seek God to do incredible things in and through his people at Pinhoe Road.