THE IMPERATIVES OF PATIENCE
James 5:7-11
The New Testament mentions at least five men with the name of James. Two of these were among the original twelve disciples of Jesus: James, the son of Alphaeus; and James, the son of Zebedee, whose brother John was also one of the Twelve, and who wrote the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation.
The Letter of James, however, was likely written by James the half-brother of Jesus. After the virgin birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had other children. Their other sons included James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. Jesus also had half-sisters.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, was the leader of the First Christian Church of Jerusalem. According to ancient tradition, he was murdered in Jerusalem in 62 A.D. This was a time of growing persecution for Christians—and explains why James opened his letter with the words: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Amid such persecution, James urged his readers to be patient.
Patience is a recurring theme in Scripture. For example, Psalm 40: “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.” Or Proverbs 14: “Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.” Or Colossians 3: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Or 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind.”
Yet, the biblical call to patience is not restricted to persecution. It is also meant for any opposition or task faced in life: sickness, pain, loss, loneliness, financial or marital difficulties, and even teaching. Paul told Timothy to “be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction,” 2 Timothy 4:2.
While we long to live a trouble-free life, the reality is, as Jesus explained in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” And this being the case, all of us need patience. But where do we find it? Today’s text provides four answers. And each answer appears as an imperative verb; that is, a verb of urgency and importance. Hence the title of this message: THE IMPERATIVES OF PATIENCE.
THE FIRST IMPERATIVE: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming,” James 5:7. Why until the Lord’s coming? Because when the Lord returns in glory, patience will no longer be necessary. Problems will be gone. Tears will be dried. Illness, pain, and death will be destroyed. Faith will become sight.
However, until the Lord comes, patience is necessary. We live in a sinful, fallen world, where things go horribly wrong; where the best of dreams become the worst of nightmares; where people deliberately and inadvertently hurt each other. So yes, patience is needed—needed for the thoughtless driver who took your parking place; needed for the rude shopper who cut in line; needed when caring for elderly parents or dealing with youthful folly and arrogance or enduring chronic pain and illness.
“Be patient,” said James. But what did he mean by patience? The Greek word he used, MACROTHUMEO, literally means long-suffering and slow to anger; the very opposite of what we mean by saying that person has a “short fuse” or is “quick-tempered”. Simon Peter used this same Greek word of God, writing in his Second Epistle: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is PATIENT with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” 2 Peter 3:8-9.
So, in God, we see the perfect example of patience; of what it means to be slow to anger and long-suffering. In fact, these attributes of God are frequently emphasized in Scripture. For example, Exodus 34:6, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Think of the millennia our gracious God has endured the wickedness and rebellion of sinful humanity in His patient desire that all come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Think of the ways we daily sin against God. Think of how difficult it is, at times, to even say the Lord’s Prayer without our minds wandering to the latest worry or to the next NFL football game.
Have you ever met a truly patient person? For years, my Grandpa and Grandma Weis took care of my Great Uncle Bill, who had Alzheimer’s Disease. As this conditioned worsened, Uncle Bill lost all conception of time. Throughout the night, he repeatedly got up and dressed, thinking breakfast ought to be ready or that he had a chore to do or some place to go. And each time, my Grandpa Weis would get up with Uncle Bill. “No, Bill,” he would say. “It’s not time to get up. Take your shirt off, Bill. That’s right. Now your trousers. Now your socks and shoes.” I heard this late-night conversation every time I slept at my grandparents. And every time I heard it I marveled at my grandpa’s patience. I marveled that he never raised his voice.
“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming,” wrote James. Until, not if; because His return is a biblical fact—attested by twenty-four of the twenty-seven New Testament books. Living in view of the Savior’s return allows us to recognize and appreciate the truly important things in life. In view of the Lord’s certain return, is money all that important? Are possessions all that important? Is losing a parking place to a rude driver all that important? In view of the Lord’s certain return, is there anything we cannot endure for the sake of Christ?
This is the meaning James 5:7, the example of the farmer waiting for his crops to grow: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how PATIENT he is for the autumn and spring rains.” Once the farmer planted the seeds, he had no choice but to wait. He had no power to make the rains fall or the seeds grow. Yet, that which enabled the farmer to patiently wait was the certain knowledge that eventually the rains would fall; and that when the rains did fall, the crops would grow and the farmer’s patience would be rewarded.
And so it is with us and the coming of our Savior. “Behold, I am coming soon,” said Jesus in Revelation 22:12; and, “My reward is with Me.” And when Jesus returns, His reward will prove itself to have been worth our wait. This is what gives us patience. This is why Paul told the Christians in Rome: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,” Romans 8:18.
THE SECOND IMPERATIVE: “You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near,” James 5:8. The nearness of the Lord’s coming is also a predominant theme in the New Testament. Paul wrote in Romans 13: “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.” Peter wrote in his First Epistle: “The end of all things is near.” John wrote in his First Epistle: “Dear children, this is the last hour.” And Jesus said in Revelation: “I am coming soon.” The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes the nearness of Christ’s return; and this nearness should fill us with joy, hope, and patience.
I have a vivid memory of standing with my nose pressed against a cold glass window, staring out into the darkness, waiting for my mother to return home from a visit with friends. My 12-year-old mind, still feeling the wounds and uncertainties of my parents’ divorce, devised all sorts of catastrophic scenarios. My mother had been kidnapped. My mother had been killed in an automobile accident. My mother was never coming home. I can still remember the relief I felt when the phone rang and my mother said: “I’ll be home soon.”
Jesus has told us much the same. But unlike a well-meaning parent who may voice these words and yet still be delayed, the words and promises of God are certain and unbreakable. For James, the nearness of Christ’s return was so important and so powerful and so certain—he used it to comfort Christians in danger of dying for the sake of Christ.
Yet, there is more to this second imperative of patience. Even though James is clearly talking about the nearness of Christ’s second coming—the Greek word translated as “coming” in James 5:8, PAROUSIA, always refers to the visible and personal coming of Jesus Christ; still, it is proper to mention how near Jesus us to us in other ways. He is near us in our troubles. He is near us in our humanity; that is, one with us and one of us. Immanuel means “God with us”.
Isaiah wrote of Jesus: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” Jesus Himself is the living proof that the living God understands all our sufferings. And this is why the Letter of Hebrews says of Jesus: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”
Friends, do you realize how near God is to you this very moment, as you hear His holy Word? Scripture says, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him,” Psalm 145:18. And again, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,” Psalm 34:18. And again, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming,” Romans 10:8. James himself write in 4:8, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Over and over and over Scripture reminds us: GOD IS NEAR. This reality is what enables is to “be patient” and “stand firm”.
THE THIRD IMPERATIVE: “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door,” James 5:9. The Greek word translated as grumble in this verse literally means “to sigh, groan, or complain”. And when are we most likely to sigh, groan, and complain about others; whether spouses, children, coworkers, fellow Christians, complete strangers, and even God? When we are impatient, of course.
This imperative of patience is the only negative imperative in the text. Is it more of a warning against impatience than a call to patience. But we need to hear warnings from God too. This warning needs no explanation. When we are impatient with others and complain about their faults, we must remember that we have faults too. And God sees these faults clearly. When we are tempted to be impatient with others, we need only consider what our fate would be if God were impatient with us.
THE FOURTH IMPERATIVE: “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord,” James 5:9. My father always told me: “Mark, when you are tempted to feel sorry for yourself, look closely at the problems of people around you.”
James tells his readers much the same. He mentions the prophets of God as examples of suffering and also as examples of patience. “If you think things are bad with you, take a close look at the prophets.” In Greek the phrase “in the face of suffering” is more literally “suffering bad things”. And the prophets of old did suffer bad things, as they brought messages from God to kings and authorities and the wayward Israelites.
Isaiah ministered for sixty years. According to ancient tradition, he was killed by being sawed in two. Jeremiah labored for forty years, and throughout that time was despised and persecuted by his countrymen. Ezekiel was carried captive to Babylon. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. The prophet Habakkuk wrote: “Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” John the Baptist was imprisoned and then beheaded. And we recall the words of Jesus, as He wept over Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,” Matthew 23:37.
Yet, James holds these individuals out to us not only as examples of suffering, but as examples of great endurance and patience. Through tears, fears, jeers, and often years of suffering, these people of God nevertheless patiently endured. How? There is no mystery. The Letter to the Hebrews provides the answer twenty-two times in its eleventh chapter: “By faith. By faith. By faith.”
James also refers to the example of Job. If you’ve read the account of Job in the Old Testament, then you know how this godly man suffered enormous tragedy. One day life was great. The next day Job lost almost everything he loved or owned: his possessions, his wealth, his servants, all ten of his children, and finally his health. As problematic and sorrowful as our lives may have been, can we even imagine the extent of Job’s grief and suffering? Like my dad said, “Look closely at the problems of people around you.” Or like James said, “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”
Yet, James reminds us not only of Job’s suffering, but the God-appointed end of that suffering. And what was the result of Job’s suffering? The Book of Job closes with these words: “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first,” Job 42:12. And in verses 16 and 17: “After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.”
Dear friends, none of us enjoy suffering. None of us want problems. But when we go through difficult times, we too can rejoice in the knowledge that God in His infinite faithfulness will use even our sufferings and sorrows to strengthen our faith and fill us with hope, joy, and peace; that God will never allow us to suffer more than we can bear; and that at the end of each struggle, as was true of the end God brought about for Job, our lives will be doubly blessed. Indeed, the lesson we learn most from our sufferings is this: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
So, live your life in the certainty of Christ’s coming. Strengthen your heart in the knowledge that Christ will soon return. Don’t grumble about others, because the Judge of heaven and earth is standing at the door. Consider the lessons learned from suffering. And through these Spirit-inspired imperatives of James 5:7-11, may the God of patience fill each of us with patience, as we face the problems and challenges of the days, months, and years ahead.