I have a little quiz for you that I would like you to participate in. I have the little quiz in the bulletin, or you can participate by listening to me. How would you fill-in the blanks for the following statements? Statement 1: “I want it .” What did you put there? How did you answer it? Next one: “I said, ‘Do it .” Third one: “Not next week, not next month, not next year, not tomorrow, but .” Four: this is a common prayer we might hear, or say, “Dear God, give me patience and give it to me right .” Or, as my roommate used to say, “Serenity .” What is the answer to these questions? NOW! We live in a world of now! We live in a world of instant gratification and instant satisfaction. It is hard to wait! As a result of this, patience in the basic spheres of everyday life can be a challenge. It can be difficult to wait in light of adversity and suffering. We want it to end…now!
James’ audience is facing persecution. They are being wrong and mistreated, and those who are doing it to them are prospering! And what does James preach to them? Patience. Patience? Yes, James preaches patience! He preaches patience in adversity and suffering by pointing to Christ’s second coming. As we hit the half-way point of Advent, James teaches us about patience. We learn how it is produced, the perspective of it, and the promises for it.
James calls and encourages his people to patience. He says, “Be patient…see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about….” “You also, be patient. Establish your hearts….” “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets….” James calls his people and us to patience, which is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit produces patience in us. Through our baptism, and the working of His Word, the Holy Spirit is making us to be like Jesus. He is reshaping our hearts, minds, lives, and attitudes to be like Jesus’. He prunes our words, moving us to use our words to build-up, encourage, and support, rather than to insult, tear down, curse, and destroy. He nudges our thoughts, shifting them from thoughts of self to thoughts of others. He guides our actions, using our hands and feet as His own in a broken and sinful world. He fans the desires of our heart to pray, read, and study His Word. And in Galatians, Paul says the Spirit produces a plethora of fruits and virtues in us. They are things like love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and…patience. The Holy Spirit helps us to trust Him, God’s Word, and God’s promises. He increases our trust to wait in our Father’s timing and provision.
On August 16, 1501, Renaissance sculptor and painter, Michelangelo won a commission from the Operai to finish chiseling a block of marble that was 17 feet tall, and six feet wide. Roughly a month later, on September 13, he began working on this block of marble for two years. Every day, Michelangelo would pull out his tools, and he chiseled away. He formed, crafted, and transformed this block of marble into a breathtaking work of art. At the end of two years, he had finished the world’s most famous sculpture, David. It is amazing to think that it was originally a hunk of rock!
And that is the Holy Spirit. He is like a stone sculptor. You are the stone block being chiseled, and He is like Michelangelo, who is taking that stone block and making it into something beautiful, and breath taking. His chisel and tools are the Word and Sacraments. The Spirit masterfully uses the Law to create repentance within us, chipping away at those rough spots and imperfections. He uses God’s grace to go back over those rough spots, and to smooth, fix, and restore. He uses our baptism to keep reshaping and chiseling away. He uses the Supper to strengthen and fortify. He uses the Word to keep molding, shaping, and forming us to be who He wants us to be in Christ. The Holy Spirit daily creates patience within us, forming it, developing it, enhancing it, and deepening it. He is the producer of it, not us. As James says, “Be patient!”
As James continues teaching, he moves to the perspective for patience. One of my favorite lines from Star Wars is when Yoda appears to Luke Skywalker in a moment of regret and despair. Yoda tells him, “Skywalker, always looking to the horizon, but never to the knee in front of your nose.” Luke is so fixated on the past that he cannot see the present. He looks everywhere, except the present, that which is before him. Yoda helps to move Luke forward from that.
Has anyone ever told you something like that? Have you ever been told, “Take one day at a time?” It is usually spoken to us when we are thinking too far ahead, or when we are stuck in the past. It is told when we are anticipating future issues which might never come to be, or when we want change overnight, whether in us, for us, on behalf of us, or because of something done to us. These words of encouragement are meant to help us focus on the present. For if you are dwelling on the past, or thinking about the future, you won’t be able to fully live in the now.
James says, “I politely disagree. Sometimes, looking at one day at a time isn’t enough, or far enough.” Sometimes, you have to look past the knee in front of your nose. Sometimes, you have to look to the horizon. And what do you see? James tells us: “You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” Jesus is coming, and James focuses our eyes on the horizon.
Our Lord’s coming is a good thing for Christians. It means our salvation and vindication. It means the end of suffering, stress, pain, heartache, and loss. It means a new heaven, a new earth, a new body, and the reunion with our departed loved ones in the Lord. What Jesus is doing tomorrow gives me confidence for today. What Jesus is doing tomorrow gives me strength for today. What Jesus is doing tomorrow gives me hope for today. James gives a perspective for patience: Jesus is coming!
James points us to the horizon because we will not always see proof of God’s power, authority, and plans. In the short term, we often see proof of the opposite: that it seems that Satan runs the show, that we are on our own, that there is no end to the pain, suffering, and trials we are going through. But Jesus’ return proclaims the opposite, and confirms God’s promises. We have promises and God’s Word that proclaims God’s truth, love, and power will endure forever. We have His promise that His forgiving mercy in Jesus will never fail. We have his promise that His angels attend us to guard us in all our ways. We have His promise for daily bread and provision. We have His promise that He will return; we can count on it! Jesus’ coming changes everything for today. Look to the horizon, and not at the knee in front of your nose. James gives the perspective for patience: Jesus is coming!
And to help encourage us, James then gives an example of a person who did that, one who looked to the horizon. James shows us the (two) promises in patience: the purpose and mercy of God. That’s why we go back to Job. For 37 chapters, God is silent, and seems absent. But, finally, God showed up, and that is James’ point. “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job,” Job was angry, mad, crushed, disappointed, and despairing, but he held on. “and you have seen the purpose of the Lord”. God was working things out for Job. Job 42:12 “God blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first.” Did you catch that? The rest of Job’s life was the best of Job’s life. God showed up for Job. God put things right for Job. God showed that He cared for Job, that He loved Job, that He had the power and authority to take what was so rotten and to make it right again. Job’s trials were transitory. He doesn’t face eternal despair. We have the same promises and hope in Jesus. God can and will take all things, and use them for our eternal good in Jesus. Our sufferings are temporary. They will end. They serve His purpose, which gives us patience.
And James ends with the other promise in patience. “You have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” In our patience, we see the true character and nature of God. We have a God who is truly merciful and compassionate towards us. And to convey this, James uses two special words. The word that James uses for “compassionate” in our text is only used here in the entire New Testament. The word is polusplangnos, which means “compassionate,” but carries with it the image of the internal churning of the organs at the sight of suffering. It is a deep compassion that wells up within Him. The other word is oiktirmos, which means “mercy moved to tears.” James shows us a Savior whose very essence is so touched by the suffering and plight of His people that He is ready and willing to relieve it. Our God cares about us and what we are going through. He cared so much that He gave His Son to save and forgive us, and to show us God’s mercy. God cares so much that He is with us in our sufferings and problems, just like how He was with Job and the prophets. We are blessed, because in Him, we will persevere. James focuses our eyes on a God Who cares, who is purposeful, and Who is merciful and compassionate.
As we continue on our Advent journey, hold on to James’ teaching about patience. The Holy Spirit is the producer of it, the coming of Christ is the perspective for it, and the purpose and mercy of God are the promises we hold to in it.