Roger's Postings

Friday, December 10, 2010

James 5:7-10. Worth waiting for!! 12/12/10

(7) Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. {8} You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. {9} Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! {10} Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Be patient and keep your hopes up until the Lord comes. That is the call here. Christmas is coming. Not only has it come 2,000 years ago, but it has come ever since and is almost on us once again. Now I am sure you know that very well. But that is just the point; they have come and gone again and again, and each time it seems as though its significance is becoming less and less and the focus moves more away from the true meaning of it all. So Christmas has become a nice time, but a frustrating and at times meaningless toil. The peace, hope and joy of this season for many is simply a mask that covers a far different reality underneath.

But it is here into this situation that we are called on to remember that the Lord is coming a second time as well; so don't lose heart - don't give in. It will all work out in the end; in its proper time. The true meaning and significance of Christmas will all come to pass as has been promised, just as it did the first Christmas, followed by Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection three days later. So just be patient - just keep on keeping on.

But this is where we have trouble, isn’t it? That one quality most of us lack today is just that, patience. We want all that God has given and promised and we want it now. Our focus has turned in on ourselves and the result is that our patience wears very thin on many occasions: we very easily lose heart and want to throw the towel in. We want everything to go well for us and we don't like facing hassles and troubles. We don’t want what is good for us. Only what makes things easy and nice for us here and now. So our patience runs out time and time again, and it happens in every aspect of our lives.

Now to help us in this regard our reading here uses a farming scene as an example. Now I would like to modify it a little and place it right into what is happening today, to help us understand its message; and use different aspects of it to get its point for us.

The 20 plus bag wheat crop looked magnificent as it waved in the breeze with its heads dropping low from the weight of the grain. After years of drought, this looked like the year that would get them through. It was almost ready to harvest when the menacing storm clouds rolling in from the north, sending shivers down the farmer’s spine. As the clouds dump their water and hail, despair takes over, and the farmer’s patience runs out. However, in most cases, the farmer will keep at it next because he knows that eventually there will be a good harvest.

Or else, another illustration for us would be the young child at this time of the year. He has a present sitting under the Christmas tree with his name on it, which has been given to him early by his aunt and uncle. This young child doesn't want to wait to open this present. Christmas day is too far away. The present is too much of a temptation, and he wants to have a peek, so he pesters and pesters, hoping his parents will give in. He wants the thrill, the joy, the gift, now, not later. His patience and his parents patience runs very thin. But eventually Christmas Day comes.

So it is also, too often, for us, when it comes to the things of God. We want all the good things that he has promised and we want it now. Forgiveness, peace, contentment, healing, freedom from hassles, and health, wealth and happiness, as well as all those other things he has promised us in his Word. But when we can't see them: when we can't have it all right now; then we lose heart and start to give way to thoughts that it is perhaps not for real. We skip church because we have more interesting or important things to do; like work, sport, or time to ourselves or whatever. Then gradually these things become more and more of a habit; and life’s important issues get less and less attention. Then when we are questioned about it, we start citing instances when we have been let down by the Church or God, and our impatience, more and more, gives way to many other thoughts and failings.

But, yes it is not easy. I would be the first one to acknowledge that. It is so hard not to be caught up in this attitude; particularly in light of a lot of thinking that is about in our day and age, and devastation that the farmer must feel at this time. We are an "instant" society today - instant coffee, instant TV pictures, instant service, instant relief from pain, and I could go on. We are living in what one person said was an analgesic society: constantly looking for the quick fixes – the quick relief from the pain and hurts of life – the easy way out of a difficult relationship, and more. With a society like that, it is hard for us all. We too then get caught up with this thinking, and suffer as a result.

If God does not respond instantly to our need and prayer, we become impatient and forget that God has eternity in mind, and what is truly good for us and others. It is we who think in terms simply of here and now – to hang with the future. The Lord however is not in such hurry. He has eternity at his disposal, and he knows what is best for us and his kingdom in the long term. And everything fits into that plan. Here we need to remember that ultimately he has heaven in mind for each one us. That is his plan for you and me, and that he assures us is well worth the wait. Remember what Paul tells us – ‘the sufferings of this age are not worth comparing with the greatness of the next.’

That is why God can says and encourages us here us to be patient. The Lord's coming is not far off - not compared to eternity. Again, in this reading he encourages by way of an example from a life many of us know well. Again, the farmer when he sows his crop, doesn't instantly get the header out of the shed, ready to take the harvest off the next day. He patiently waits for the weeks and months to go by. Sure, he grizzles from time to time, as the weather turns bad or something else goes wrong. But he doesn't throw the towel in. He hangs in there; sprays when it needs to be done, and the like. He stays there through thick and thin, and doesn't give in half way through: In fact most of the time he looks forward optimistically. He knows there will mostly be a harvest; and quite often it will be a good one. So he looks forward in hope, even when the prospects are not looking good. He is still hopeful that the harvest will be better than expected.

Now that surely is the kind of attitude we can have in our spiritual lives as well. In fact, even more so; for there we have that certain hope of being with God in heaven, because we are connected to Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. Through our baptism, we are washed clean from our sin and joined to his family of faith.

Having become a Christians, doesn't however mean that we have heaven immediately. Nor does it mean freedom from the hassles of life in a sinful world. Nor does it necessarily mean that we will now have the very best in this life. However, now we can hang in there all the way through, knowing that the difficulties will still be there, but that no matter how bad they may be in this life, they are not the end. There is still further hope ahead for us.

All the way through we have that assurance that the Lord is with us and for us. His life, death and resurrection is our guarantee of it. At the same time, we also have work to do as his people, and that means that our life will be far from easy. We will need to take up the cross to do so. But as we worship every Sunday we will be strengthened and uplifted by God's Word and our fellow-believers around us. As we come to the Lord's Table and receive Jesus’ very body and blood, we will be further assured of his forgiveness and his presence with us always. That surely enables us to keep on going; to keep our hopes up; and so face the tasks and difficulties ahead, no matter how hard they might be. Each day with Jesus as the focus and basis of what we are on about, we are able to look beyond the short-term pleasures and quick-fixes: beyond the instant pain-relievers and instant church-growth principles: instant health, wealth and happiness; to that which is of greatest benefit to others; to God and to his kingdom.

At the same time knowing that the Lord will surely come again, and come as judge to vindicate those whose trust and hope is in Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection, and that he will take us home to be with him in heaven, surely is now both a comfort and encouragement for us to be patient and to persevere. No matter how tough life is, there is a better life ahead for those who look to Jesus and believe in him. But it is also reminder that if we believe in him, patience and perseverance in living out the Christian life will be there also. His coming as judge alerts us to the need of being diligent in who and what we place our hope and trust in, as well as how we live our lives each day: lest our haphazard - take-it- or leave it attitude catches us short, and our impatience and slackness leads us to finally forgetting what is ultimately important.

So don't lose heart as life continues to drag on, and things continue to be far from easy. Keep your eyes and heart set firmly on our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the sure hope of his coming again. As surely as this Christmas will come; so will he come again: Be patient then until he does. Hold fast to the Lord Jesus who holds you fast, and you will endure in him. Here again remember, that to him alone belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

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