Sermon Tone Analysis

It is so good to see you! I’m so grateful for The River Church for allowing us this space to worship together as a church family.

However, what we are quickly being reminded about is that the saying is true: a church isn’t a building, it’s a people.

My prayer for us over the coming months is that we grow together as a church family and in fact grow as a church as people discover our community of Christians to be a breath of fresh air about how to live life following Jesus.

However, this means that we are going to have to face more ups and downs then what we have already faced.

Finding a more permanent place to meet.

Preparing that place.

Keeping in contact with our church family.

Dealing with loss.

Finding a place to do baptisms.

Celebrating growth.

Navigating ministry in a difficult economy.

The list could go on and on.

So as we move forward…how do we navigate the uncertainty?

It reminds me of this familiar story.

There was a wise man who lived on the northern frontier of China.

One day, for no apparent reason, his horse ran away.

When people in the community tried to console him, the man said, "What makes you so sure it isn't a good thing?"

Some months later, the horse returned, bringing a splendid wild stallion.

Everyone congratulated the man, but this man said, "What makes you so sure this is a good thing?"

The wise man's son loved to ride this wild stallion, but one day the wild stallion bucked, throwing his son off the horse, and the son ended up breaking his hip and he could not walk.

People in the community tried to console him, but the father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"

Not long after, nomads from across the northern border invaded the land and every able-bodied man was called up to defend the country.

This community ended up losing nine out of every 10 men, but because the man's son could not walk, he was allowed to stay home and care for his aging father.

This story illustrates that often we don't know whether something will prove to be a blessing or a curse, whether something is so-called "good luck" or "bad luck."

Scripture goes even further.

It teaches us that sometimes what we consider to be the best thing in the world turns out to be the very worst thing for us, and sometimes the things we consider to be the worst turn out to be the very best.

Losing our building to a fire is a sad, and an emotional thing, for sure.

However, what if it provides us an opportunity we never even imagined!

I think the same thing can be said for anyone here who finds themselves dealing with loss; loss of a relationship, a job, a dream.

It can be said for anyone who finds themselves in the midst of a struggle, with depression, anxiety, an addiction or unhealthy habit.

What are we to do when it feels like God has let us down and there are more obstacles against us?

What do we do as we stand in this space between what was and what will be?

God’s word gives us four words to live in this space.

Here they are: Be patient.

Stand firm.

Where do we find these words?

Well, before I left on vacation, we were beginning to wrap up our study of the NT book of James.

In it, we had been learning about how to practically live out a life of following Jesus well.

If you have a Bible, find James chapter five.

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In chapter four and the first part of chapter five, James was addressing some the injustices that were taking place amongst the Christians; the unfair treatment of people, in some cases among Christians, as well as the desire to let greed dictate how they hoarded their money while others went without.

James follows these teachings up with the honest truth that following Jesus isn’t easy.

Life in general isn’t easy, but devoting one’s self to Jesus adds another layer of struggle.

James gives important teaching for how the Christian is to live in that space of struggle, opposition and of waiting.

Here is what he writes.

We all long for better days ahead.

As Christians, we long for the return of Jesus to make all things right.

So wherever you find yourself right now, whether it’s dealing the loss, or the struggle of hurt, or addiction, or just frustration over the way things are, there is this longing for the return of Jesus.

As James points out, in this in between time…we must be patient.

In This In Between Time: We must be patient.

Patience doesn’t come easy for any of us…especially in a culture of now…of one click purchase, overnight delivery and instant downloads.

Instant gratification is at our finger tips.

However, it’s the attitude of patience that is paramount.

What James reminds his readers is that we are to be patient because even though it doesn’t feel like anything is happening God is at work.

James compares the situation to that of a farmer.

So whether you are a farmer or gardener, you understand immediately what James is communicating.

You can work hard to prepare the soil.

You can meticulously plant each seed right where it needs to be.

However, very quickly things are out of your control.

You patiently wait for the seed to germinate.

You trust the rain is going to come.

You pray for no hail storms.

You essentially wait an entire growing season until…harvest.

We find ourselves in a season of patiently waiting.

There is no way we are going to have a building built back anytime soon.

For some of you, there might be hurts you are dealing with or loss you are experiencing…some of those things aren’t going to just magically disappear and everything is going to be better.

So we learn how to be patient.

Because while we patiently wait…our good God is at work!

One of the biggest issues with being patient comes from dealing with those around you.

Notice what James says.

Before there were all of these devices to keep us entertained, we had to patiently put up with each other on long car rides.

Do any of you remember these moments?

On summer vacations we would have to patiently put up with our siblings while we traveled to our destinations.

There were a lot of accusations being thrown around, “He’s touching me!” “She’s looking at me!” “He’s breathing too loud!”

In our moments of patiently waiting, it’s not too uncommon to begin to point out the faults or behaviors of others.

There are few things more difficult then patiently waiting together.

James points out to the Christians suffering through hardships that they need to not grumble and complain about each other.

Instead, let the judge deal with the situation.

It’s not for your to point out other people’s faults.

Moving forward for our church, it’s going to be easy to criticize or complain about other people.

Be patient.

Remember who’s ultimately in charge.

James uses two other important words for us in this season of in between: stand firm.

Whey stand firm, why endure?

Because the Lord’s return is near.

Now, obviously the word, “near” is a relative term since this was written two thousand years ago.

However, what it means is that in the grand story of God’s work in this world, the next act will be the return of the King.

It’s next on the dock-ate.

So the point is, we stand firm, we persevere because the best days are ahead.

James gives a couple of examples.

One is of the OT prophets.

These men were the mouth piece of God, instructing Israel and what they needed to do, how they needed to repent…and for the most part they were completely ignored, chastised and persecuted.

Yet, they believed in their calling and stood firm.

Persevered.

That will be one of our greatest challenges going forward.

When things get hard, there will always be opposition, a variety of opinions and suggestions about what should be done.

The reality is we continue to live in a culture who has a different value set then what we have.

So we set our focus on our mission of making disciples of Jesus, who love God, love people and serve others.