Introduction
There's no denying we live in troubled times. Even if you abstain from the news, avoiding conversation about the troubled times in which we live is nearly impossible not to know we live in times in which many of us think, "Come Lord Jesus and come quickly." Weekly we hear of;
regular occurrences of multiple mass shootings in public places
corrupt politicians being exposed
the ongoing war in Ukraine
someone being diagnosed with a terminal condition
constant shortages of vital materials and items
the rising inflation in our country
Sitting with any one of these events can leave us feeling lost, anxious, and, at times, hopeless. Then add in our own troubles of health, finances, family, and work, and we can feel completely overwhelmed. All these hardships combined with our own personal suffering, our hearts may bow under the weight of deepened loss and grief. Life is hard.
So how do we survive and even thrive in times like these. Thankfully, God's Word offers us hope and even encouragement for the storms of life.
James 5:1-18 (ESV)
1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Scriptural Analysis
Verses 1-6
James is warning about an obsession and fascination with money and wealth. In verses 7-18, James is speaking to those who are suffering, who are oppressed. In these first 6 verses, he is talking to the oppressors. As persecution of the early church developed, many believers lost their livelihood and were further exploited by the powerful. The charges James makes against the rich are (1) they greedily hoard wealth when others are suffering, (2) they defraud others, (3) they live in extravagance and self-indulgence, and (4) they “murder” innocent men.
‘The rich’ are the Jerusalem elite—the Sadducees and the chief priests—who live in their fine houses and grow fat on the proceeds of pilgrimages and sacrifices brought by faithful Jews. Their job was to keep the peace for the Romans, and that means keeping a tight hold on what happened in Jerusalem and the Temple itself, including the finances. So when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, and famously ‘cleansed’ the Temple, most likely as a prophetic act which, like those of Jeremiah or Ezekiel, was meant to symbolize the Temple’s imminent downfall, he was treading right on their toes and pocketbooks. They reacted the way rich elites always react to such provocation. He, an innocent man, must be eliminated.
James condemns an attitude toward wealth that deadens the wealthy's hearts towards others and causes them to live in excess even as their brothers and sisters are in need. The possession of wealth is not evil. Abusing wealth by selfish living and by ignoring a hurting world is. They have not sought to use their wealth to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Even though the rich may have given thanks to God for their successes, their praises were proven to be a sham if they had neglected the needs of the poor.
James is clear that trusting in wealth is self-deception because trusting in wealth's value is trusting in a charade.
Verses 7-12
James 5:7–11 is a call to patient living under adverse circumstances. People in times of trouble naturally hope for release, and there is no doubt that many of the early Christians hoped for release from this world in the form of Christ’s return. James clearly understood that what we perceive as difficulty and trial God can and does use for his purposes and our spiritual growth, even if we find the experience painful and distressing.
James is counseling the poor to be patient and wait for the deliverance of the Lord instead of making deals that are questionable or wrong or swearing by God's name to do something. Be patient (v7), patient (v7), patient (v8), patience (v10), perseverance (v10), finally (v10). Be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
What does it mean to be patient until the Lord’s coming? It means to do what God also is doing: patiently enduring the evil of the world for a season. The imperative “stand firm” could be more literally translated as “strengthen your hearts.” That is to say, we are to patiently wait together and not grumble and complain while we wait.
We also see here the sobering truth about the nature of trials in the life of righteous persons: that God allows them to be tested in order to grow and develop their faith. This text gives insight into the basis for Job’s prominence and his standing before God. The whole structure of the Book of Job was meant to encourage Israel after the exile; although God’s justice seemed far away, and they were mocked by the nations, God would ultimately vindicate them and end their captivity. James is saying the same is true for us in the evil times we live in.
James also reminds us that as believers, are words should always be true and clear.
Verses 13-18
The key to this chapter is what James meant when he referred to the “sick.” Actually, there is no reason to consider “sick” as referring exclusively to physical illness. The Greek word used here literally means “to be weak.” This word is generally used in Acts and the Epistles to refer to a weak faith or a weak conscience. James is talking about the most important sickness we have, spiritual sickness.
James wrote to those who had grown weary, who had become weak both morally and spiritually in the midst of suffering. The weak are those who have been defeated in the spiritual battle and who have lost the ability to endure their suffering.
James is well aware that life, and especially the Christian life, is one in which we experience trouble. In that, we may feel tempted to call the goodness of God and of our fellow human beings into question. In such times James advocates neither anger, which can poison the spirit, nor Stoic resignation, which can dull the heart. Instead, he advocates prayer. It is the prayer of a righteous person that is effective. Prayer is the effective response and the only response to being spiritually sick or healthy. Prayer is always appropriate.
James is not advocating a prayer for the removal of the cause of trouble so much as for the strength to endure the present troublesome situation. James is referring to the believer who, through prayer, can be in good spirits because of a deep-seated trust in the trustworthiness of God, even when troubling times are difficult. The prayer offered in faith is a prayer based on the confidence that God can and wants to heal.
God's Word provides a promise that the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. This poses a problem because it is obvious that prayer does not always produce healing. We must always understand that this and every other promise of the Bible contain an implied condition. God will grant the prayer whenever it is in His will and aligns with His plan. Whenever God does not provide instant healing, prayer is still useful because it provides encouragement and help for the person who is sick and those around them. Prayer is always appropriate and useful.
TODAY'S KEY TRUTH
The Wise Approach Life With Patience & Prayer
Application
James begins Chapter 5 by condemning an unfeeling and selfish attitude toward the world. The problem is not having wealth but the fact that we often do not use our wealth to alleviate the suffering of others and that we view wealth as our savior. Faith looks to God for every provision because, in the end, our net worth is all the same: worthless. There are no wealthy or well-off people in a grave. Our combined worldly net worth after death is zero.
I have said before that everything you own, even that most prized possession, that family heirloom, the prize above all things, has a future date with a yard sale, Goodwill store, and a landfill. Wealth and possessions have zero net worth in the grand picture of life and eternity.
So if possessions and wealth really mean nothing, then what do we cling to, especially during difficult times?
We cling to God with patience and prayer.
We need patience when we face difficulty, disappointment, and dishonesty. God is always on time, every time, because He is on the throne all the time. But it is hard. Our only child might remain sick in the hospital, the thread our marriage hangs on might continue to unravel, or the hope we’ve held on to for years can fade with increasing speed. Having prayed fervently about whatever issue we are facing too many times to count, we can easily feel our bank of patience depleting. On these days, God's Word encourages us to continue to wait on God.
The experience of waiting on God reminds us that it is not our present circumstances that define our life. Rather, it is the truth of Christ’s love and life in us that defines our life. This gives us hope, as Romans 8:28 assures us that we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him. It is not in our abilities to know the time or way in which God will work things out. The Bible reminds us that the timing of God's plan rest solely in the domain of God’s knowledge. Our role is to trust the promises of God and wait with hope as God brings about to completion the good work he began in each of our lives. Our lives are not about our circumstances. While our circumstances may seem like forever to us, in the reality of eternity, they are fleeting. Our lives are defined by Christ's love and life in us. We might feel unable to continue to wait patiently on God as a storm in life seems to stall over us, but in fact, we have access to all the patience we need in Christ. We can trust the Spirit to give us the strength to bear our circumstances and enable us to use this time of waiting to grow in our intimacy with the Lord.
Earlier in James, James said this:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:2-4
It is difficult to have patience, especially when we need it most. However, instead of trying to find someone or something to blame or to get caught in the destructive cycle of complaining about everything, think instead of the times the people of God have cried out to him, and he heard their cries and delivered them. In the Bible, sometimes that took decades. God has always asked his people for patience because He is always at work in His grand plan to save and redeem humanity.
The Wise Approach Life With Patience & Prayer
Prayer is essential to enduring troubles. Prayer is such an unnatural activity because we have been taught the rules of self-reliance, self-sufficiency, human autonomy, and independent living. That independent, self-reliant approach is what we have founded our nation on. So prayer is foreign to our independent nature. But God, not ourselves, is the ultimate source of comfort.
Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon, once said, "Prayer is the most powerful form of energy one can generate. The influence of prayer on the human mind and body is demonstrable. Prayer is a force as real as gravity. It supplies us with a steady flow of sustaining power in our daily lives." Prayer is a mighty force.
Prayer is not a matter of persuading God to do something but rather a dialogue you have with yourself and God in order to foster a sense of inner contentment and hope. Prayer does have significant benefits for those who practice it. A recent study of people with depression showed that regular prayer leads to significant improvements in mental health conditions and overall levels of optimism. Prayer is important because it positions us to receive God's peace that surpasses all understanding. In life's hardest moments and even in the good times, prayer helps me stay focused on being close to God's heart.
The Wise Approach Life With Patience & Prayer
Conclusion
We often feel powerless when we endure hardships. But when we are patient and pray, life can change. Every time you patiently walk through a difficult time, maintain an attitude of patience and prayer before God. You will find your faith, your patience, and your love becoming stronger, more established, and more settled. That is the hidden power of patience and prayer working in your life.
Our biblical heroes give us great examples of patience and prayer
Abraham Patiently Prayed with COMMITMENT.
Moses Patiently Prayed with CONCERN.
David Patiently Prayed with CONTRITION.
Elijah Patiently Prayed With CONFIDENCE.
Daniel Patiently Prayed with COURAGE.
Jesus Patiently Prayed With COMPASSION.
Prayers are the moments when it is easiest to break through the veil to eternity and ask the Creator of all things for His help. Our culture sees asking for help as a sign of weakness, but it's not. It's a sign of strength. It is also a sign of righteousness when we turn to God with Commitment and Concern, Contrition and Confidence, Courage and Compassion. Likewise, it is not that prayer changes God or awakens in him purposes of love and compassion that he has not already felt. No, it changes us; it helps us patiently wait on God because we realize He is in control and He loves us individually.
Patience and prayer is the appropriate response for every situation of life, especially in times of oppression, suffering, and affliction. Life is such that either you've just come through a storm, one is on the horizon, or one is causing havoc in your life presently. I know some of you today are going through storms. Those storms seem to be never-ending. It could be your physical health. It could be a wayward family member. It could be financial. It could be emotional or mental. It could be the health of a loved one. It could be a combination of such things. I don't know what it is, but we all have the same choice. Complain, lament, and become bitter. Or turn to God with patience and prayer and become better.
The Wise Approach Life With Patience & Prayer
Our present circumstances don't define our lives. Our lives are defined by the truth of Christ’s love and life in us.
Trust God and be patient. He's in control. He sees all of eternity, and He sees you. He's got you and everyone in His hand. As individuals and as a church, though we want everything solved instantly and fast, patience reminds us that God is in control, working all things for the good.
Trust God and pray. Prayer helps us find hope for the future. It can remind us that God is in control and that he has a purpose for our lives. Through prayer, we can connect with the hope we need to keep going through difficult times. As individuals and as a church, let us continue to pray and connect with our good and loving Creator.
The Wise Approach Life With Patience & Prayer