Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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There was a boy who asked a girl to the school dance…
She agreed… so he went to rent a tux, but the rental store had a long line… so he waited and waited, and finally got his suit…
Then he decided to get flowers, but the flower shop had a long line… so he waited and waited, and finally, got his flowers…
He picked her up and they got to the dance, but there was a long line to get in… so they waited and waited, and finally… they got in…
He asked her if she’d like something to drink… She asked for punch…
So he went to the punch table… and thankfully there was no punch line!!!
Ok, ok… I know… that was a bad dad joke!
But…
Do you realize how much of our lives we spend waiting?
It is estimated that we spend about 1/3 of our waking hours … waiting!
— waiting in line
— waiting on traffic
— waiting at the doctor’s office
— waiting for a phone call
— waiting for test results
— waiting to graduate
— waiting to get a job
— waiting for the right man (or woman)
— waiting to start a family
— waiting to buy a house
— waiting to retire
— waiting.......
We wait a lot!!!
But… have you noticed the one type of waiting that we don’t like… and usually refuse to do (or at least complain about the most)?
Waiting on God… Spiritual waiting…
— Waiting for our loved ones to come to Christ…
— Waiting for the prodigal to come home…
— Waiting for God to answer a prayer…
— Waiting for Christ to return…
We will wait for that promotion at work… we will wait in line for those tickets… or that sale price… we want, but… we don’t like to wait on God!
Many of us would rather do the wrong thing than wait.
because at least then we are doing something…
and then 41:1 says:
Listen… One of the secrets to life… is learning to wait in the right way.
We are told all the time to “wait on the Lord”…
But… What is waiting?
What does it mean to wait?
We might think that it is nothing more than passive resignation… or giving in to our circumstances… throwing up our hands in despair and walking off the field…
Many of us don’t wait for the Lord, because we think “waiting” is giving up… that we have to “do something” about it…
But… From a Biblical perspective, waiting isn’t “passive”… It is the most proactive thing we can do!
To “wait” on the Lord means to TRUST Him… and to get out of the way so He can act.
Why must we wait?
Why does scripture repeatedly tell us to “patiently endure” the hardships we face?
Because… Patient Endurance produces strong Faith.
A Faith That Works… Trusts God!
When Jesus stood before His accusers, He did not retaliate, He waited on His Father to accomplish His purposes… He waited for His Father to dole out justice and mercy.
Is that what we do?!?
Do we wait on God… KNOWING that He will dole out justice and mercy in our situation?
One of the marks of Christianity — one of the things that sets Christians apart from the rest of the world — is patience.
Patience is right there!
Right there in the middle… Right there in the midst of those characteristics that are supposed to characterize Christians!
Michael Walters says: “If materialism and its accompanying dangers are barriers to true religion, so is impatience.”
But, What is patience?
(I think we really need to understand it)
Warren Weirsbe states: “Patience means ‘to stay put and stand fast when you’d like to run away.”
You see… instead of running away… instead of avoiding the situation, or trying to escape it… we stay… we “stand fast” and wait on God!
Psalm 46:10 (NRSV)
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
For James… a lack of patience means a lack of maturity… a lack of control and dedication… a lack of True Faith!
Keep in mind… James is writing to believers in the first century… these were people who were poor, struggling, and suffering… they were scattered across the Roman Empire.
These Christians had been (and were being) abused, lied to, misused, and exploited…
They were at the mercy of the rich and powerful… who both figuratively and literally “got away with murder.”
And there was nothing they could do about it!
You can bet… They were asking, “Why does a “loving” God allow this?”
Everything James has dealt with in this letter deals with this issue… everything written here is meant to help them — to help us — develop a Faith That Works!
A Faith that carries us through the darkest trials of life in this world!
If you think that God has abandoned you… that He doesn’t care about your situation… You Are Wrong!
God gives us the guidance… the encouragement… the answers we need to face any situation this world throws at us!
He didn’t abandon Daniel… he didn’t abandon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and He won’t abandon you!
What does the Word of God say to those who are cheated?
How do we respond in a Godly fashion when we are mistreated?
How do we keep our faith alive when hard times hit and we cannot see the “light at the end of the tunnel”?
James says, “Learn to wait on the Lord.”
The operative word is “learn”.
Waiting does not come naturally… or easily.
No one wants to wait when our loved ones are suffering…Or, when we are being cheated…
Yet, often, that is what we must do.
Sooner or later, we have to come to grips with the FACT that Life isn’t Fair!
And… that unfairness makes us want to shout, “I didn’t sign up for this!”
(In fact, that is why a lot of people leave the church… )
The Truth is: We did sign up for this!
When we became Christians… when we gave our lives to Christ… we did “sign up for this.”
We told God that we would TRUST Him.
We told God that we would FOLLOW Him… that He would have ALL of us!
That means that we MUST have patience.
Let me tell you something… you see we often make a mistake… we pray for patience…
We shouldn’t PRAY for patience… we should PRACTICE patience.
But how?
How do we PRACTICE patience?
I. Wait Expectantly
James tells us to consider the farmer.
Farming is a noble profession, wouldn’t you agree?
We wouldn’t eat without farmers to grow crops and tend the herds.
Farming is hard work… which is why not many people want to do it today!
Today… Farmers must be economists, financiers, business executives, and computer experts… as well as knowing how to grow crops and tend herds…
Farmers have to have an “extra dose” of patience… because impatience will cause them to lose…
James says “think about the farmer”… “He waits expectantly for the rain”…
— He digs the ground and prepares the soil…
— He plants the seed… and pulls the weeds…
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