James 5:7-11 - Good Things Come to Those Who Wait - December 11, 2022

Is there anything harder for sinners like us to do – and do well – than wait? Especially this time of year, and especially for children, waiting is a real challenge. And it’s hard to blame them, isn’t it? Christmas trees, lights, and yard decorations have been up for weeks already. The mailbox that’s normally just filled with junk mail and bills is now filled with glittery Christmas cards and mysterious packages show up on the porch. Christmas carols fill the air and Christmas movies fill the TV. It’s no wonder kids get so impatient – they are surrounded by the signs of what is to come and they want it to be here now. But it’s not just kids, is it? Maybe as adults we’re not fixated on Christmas presents, but we’re always waiting for something. We wait for test results. We wait for the end of the work week. We’re waiting for a raise, waiting for retirement, waiting for our children to grow up and move out. Waiting is difficult in a whole host of situations. This morning James helps us find patience in the most important waiting game: waiting for our Savior’s coming. James teaches us that Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Why, do you think, it seems to get easier to wait for Christmas the older you get? Is it because instead of fun toys we get to open up ugly sweaters or compression socks? Is it because we know how much we still have to do? Is it because we’ve come to understand that Christmas can never live up to the hype? Or, is it because when you have some years under your belt you have a better perspective on what Christmas means in the larger scope of life? Having the proper perspective makes a big difference in how we wait.

That’s James’ point: therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. In other words, take the long view. We’re anticipating the day we meet our Lord…so let’s fast forward and see what that day will look like. When he returns, he will divide all of humanity in half – the sheep on one side and the goats on the other. The sheep he will take to heaven and the goats he will cast into the fires of hell (Matthew 25:31-46). On that day, the list of what really matters grows very short. When a person is standing before their Judge only one thing matters: the presence or absence of saving faith in Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16). All the things that consume our time and attention now: wealth, possessions, prestige, power, pleasure, presents are put in their proper place – they either aided our faith or detracted from it. That is the end we all are looking forward to, a conclusion to life that no one will be able to avoid. Viewing all of life in light of that serious and significant moment will help us keep the present in its proper perspective.

In that sense, according to James, we’re all like farmers: see how the farmer waits for the valuable harvest from the ground, patiently waiting for it, until it receives the early and late rain. There are no shortcuts in farming. A farmer can’t do much to speed up the growth of his crops. In 1st century Palestine, the farmer counted on rain around the end of October to soften up the land so he could begin his plowing and planting. Then in March or April, when the crops were blooming, the farmer watched for the spring rains to come, to provide the moisture that would fill the heads with fruit. If either rain failed to fall, both crop and farmer were doomed. Therefore, the farmer learned patience. He learned to recognize that the timing was out of his control. He worked hard, but when he was done working he put it in the Lord’s hands. He knew that worrying and questioning God’s care and control wouldn’t squeeze even one drop out of the clouds – so, in view of the valuable crop that was coming, he was patient and waited for the Lord.

Likewise, James writes you be patient too. Strengthen your hearts because the coming of the Lord is near. We know that the Lord is coming. We know it because he has promised it (Revelation 22:20). We know he will keep this promise because he has kept all of his other promises. We know he’s coming and we anticipate it more than any Christmas party or present. But worrying about it or questioning God’s wisdom and love will not make it come any faster. We need to have the proper perspective. We need to take a page out of this farmer’s almanac and leave the timing up to God. We need to see life now from the perspective of our Lord’s coming – because we know, like the farmer, that good things come to those who wait.

But waiting often leads to other problems, doesn’t it? When people are stuck waiting in line at the restaurant or grocery store, their tempers get short and they get annoyed at little things. When children are idly waiting for Christmas Day they start to pick on each other and whine and complain. Is it any different as we Christians wait for the second coming of Jesus? Not in James’ experience, and, if we’re honest, not in our experience either. We know the Lord is coming. We don’t know when. We know we should be busy carrying out his work. We don’t always agree on how that should be done. We each face our own unique pressure that comes from anticipating something that most of the world regards as a ridiculous myth. And what happens? We grow impatient and frustrated. All day long at work we restrain ourselves only let loose on our families when we get home. We expect patience and understanding when from others but we hold our fellow believers to an impossible standard of perfection. Instead of building one another up and encouraging one another when they face trouble in life, we tear each other down.

Knowing human nature, James writes: Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look! The Judge is standing at the doors! James warns us against even the grumbling and complaining that we might consider minor. (“How could they do that, not do that; how could they say that to me, how could they not talk to me?”) Grumbling and groaning is the opposite of joyful and eager waiting. In fact, when we grumble against other believers, we are effectively pushing Jesus out of his place as Judge – which is what we are supposed to be waiting for together. When we are casting a critical eye towards others, do you know what we’re not focused on? Christ. To put James’ warning in different terms, he’s saying: “Hey guys, Jesus is coming back very soon and he’s bringing amazing gifts. When he does, do you think he wants to see his children fighting with each other when they’re supposed to be building one another up as members of his body, His Church? He’s almost here. Be patient – especially with one another.”

I think we all like to imagine that we’re patient people, and maybe to those who don’t know us well, we may even appear to be patient. But just ask those who know us best – our parents, spouses and children – they will likely paint a very different picture. If patience is such a rare virtue, what’s the secret to getting it? I hate to sound like a broken record, but the secret to patience is the Law and the Gospel. Law and Gospel that might be summarized in James’ words: the Judge is standing at the doors! How many times should that Judge have knocked down those doors, grabbed you by the throat and tossed you into hell this past week for your moaning, groaning, complaining and impatience with others? Did he? Your presence here today proves that he didn’t. But that doesn’t mean that the Judge hasn’t issued his verdict. He did. On Good Friday God the Father lost his patience with mankind and unleashed his rage on Jesus. God was far less patient with his own perfect Son that he is with us. He allowed him to be betrayed, denied, tortured, nailed to a tree and tossed into the depths of hell. That’s what it looks like when God’s patience runs out. The good news is that Jesus endured that impatience in our place – so that all that God has left for us is an enduring patience, yes, even though we continue to sin and rebel against him every minute of every day.

That’s why we need to be in the Word – in the Law and Gospel – every single day! In the Word we are reminded that the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy…he does not treat us as our sins deserve. He does not repay us according to our guilty deeds…as distant as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our rebellious acts from us (Psalm 103:8-12). If our holy God, faced with the enormity of our sin, is patient with us, putting up with our failures and graciously waiting to forgive us when we repent (2 Peter 3:9), then who are we to grow impatient with the weaknesses of others? Jesus has not come yet, not because he’s testing our patience, but because he is exercising extreme patience with us. As we wait for him, let us be patient with one another, building one another up, not tearing one another down – for good things come to those who wait…patiently.

Finally, waiting in a world that loves to persecute Christians demands perseverance. James has help for us here, too: brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering with patient endurance. See, we consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and have seen what the Lord did in the end, because the Lord is especially compassionate and merciful. When you think about the OT prophets, it’s hard to think of one who didn’t face persecution and yet, by God’s grace, persevered. Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. But the example James cites is Job. Job, the most righteous man on earth at his time (Job 1:1), persevered in faith even as Satan unleashed his fury on him. Satan robbed Job of his property, his health, and his family. His suffering was made worse as his friends and his wife tempted him to curse God and die (Job 2:9). And yet, even in the midst of almost unimaginable suffering, Job trusted God’s wisdom and love and handed his troubles over to God: the LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. May the name of the LORD be blessed (Job 1:21).

The difficulty for us is defining the suffering we as Christians living in 21st century America actually face. We can freely worship our Lord and Savior without fear. We can talk about Jesus with our family and friends and they probably won’t chase us out of town. Being open about our faith won’t lead to a prison sentence. We can’t really imagine life in the early church where Christians had to be careful about who they worshipped with for fear that they might be a government spy who would hand them over to be tortured and murdered. We aren’t black-listed from employment or refused service because we believe that Jesus is coming again to take us home.

But Job’s confession still serves as a pretty good summary of the struggles we face today: the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Sometimes the Lord gives us challenges to face. He gives us an immoral boss or back-stabbing coworkers, a rebellious child or financial struggle. Other times he allows comforts to be taken away. He takes away our dreams, our jobs, our loved ones. He takes away our hearing or sight or health or wealth. And, we face a trial that believers in the OT and the early NT didn’t: it’s been 2000 years since Jesus promised that he was coming back soon! Soon? 2000 years? This world of instant gratification teaches us to think that patient, perseverant waiting is for suckers. To silently endure pain and persecution, trusting that Jesus is coming soon to take us out of this world, sounds to most like utter foolishness. Satan pelts us with doubt; leading us to wonder if Jesus is ever going to return. In the face of it all, by God’s grace, we persevere. Not because we have super-human faith. Not because we completely understand God’s hidden hand in our world or our lives. We wait and we persevere because we know the good things Lord has brought about in the lives of the saints in the past, because he comes to us here and now in Word and Sacrament to give us good things, and because we know when he returns he comes bearing the gift of heaven. We wait and we anticipate the Lord’s coming and until that happens, we rest in his grace, because we know the Lord is especially compassionate and merciful. We persevere because of who God is. He gives us perspective. He sows patience in our hearts and gives us the strength to persevere.

Whether you’re 7 or 70, waiting isn’t easy. James reminds us that good things come to those who wait. It starts with perspective. View everything in life in light of the end – when the Judge returns in glory – for then you will be able to see what is truly important now. It continues with patience. Be patient with each other because God, our merciful Father, has been patient with you. And, right to the end, persevere. Trust that God has never left his children hanging and he won’t start now. May Jesus give us this rare combination of perspective, patience, and perseverance so that he finds us eagerly waiting for the good things he will bring when he returns. Amen.