How to Learn Patience

We're back this evening to the wonderful, gritty Letter of James. My title is 'How To Learn Patience'. And we've come to 5.7-12. Let me dive straight in to verse 7:

Be patient, therefore, brothers …

If you're eagle-eyed you'll see that there's a little footnote attached to 'brothers' there which makes it clear that it's not just the brothers who are to be patient, but the sisters too. So there's no loophole for the women there!

You'll also see that little word "therefore". That tells us, of course, that what James is about to say follows on from what he's already said. And it seems to me that rather than referring back, say, just to the early verses of chapter 5, James has in his sights the whole thrust of his letter up to this point, where now he begins to pull the threads together.

So the theme of this section – patience in suffering, as it has it in the section heading – is perhaps the key theme of the letter. That, after all, is where James begins back in chapter 1. Turn back a page and take a look at 1.2-4:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

"Count it all joy … when you meet trials of various kinds…" That is an astonishing thing for James to say – but that is exactly the lesson that he wants us to learn – how to meet trials of any and every kind with joy.

What are your own trials? Trials come at us in the Christian life from many directions. There are what we might call global and national trials – war, famine and disaster. There are church trials – whether physical persecution or social and psychological pressure. And there are personal trials – the personal equivalents of war, famine and disaster – that is, conflict, economic hardship and catastrophe, disappointment, sickness and in the end death.

The church trial of physical persecution is very evident around the world – not least currently in Iraq at the hands of Isis. Lord Alton wrote in the Times recently in these terms:

The last Christian has now been expelled from Mosul. The light of religious freedom, along with the entire Christian presence, has been extinguished in the Bible's "great city of Nineveh" — the centre of Christianity in Iraq for two millennia. This follows the uncompromising ultimatum by the jihadists of Isis to convert or die…Before pitilessly exiling the Christians on foot, Isis stole everything they had — homes, businesses, cars, money and even wedding rings, sometimes with the ring fingers attached. Churches have all been destroyed, shuttered or turned into mosques…Isis has taken a sledgehammer to the tomb of Jonah, replaced the cross with the black Islamic flag on top of Mosul's St Ephrem's cathedral, and beheaded or crucified any Muslim who dared to dissent.Even before the arrival of Isis, targeted persecution of Iraq's Christians, who still pray in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, was ignored. The numbers in Mosul have gone from 30,000 to zero.

We face different trials, but sometimes still severe. One of the privileges and perhaps burdens of being part of the family of this church long term is that as I look around I'm aware of the trials that so many of us either have been through or are going through. And I know that there are many others of which I'm not aware but which weigh heavily.

So this word of James is both profoundly challenging and also profoundly hopeful. The challenge is to avoid wrong behaviours and reactions in the face of trials. The hope is to lay hold on the source of joy in the midst of trials. "Count it all joy … when you meet trials of various kinds…"

And in the midst of trials – be patient. That's James' message. And he fills it out in these verses 7-12. He speaks of patience and steadfastness. And he speaks of behaving in a Godly way.

So let me just unpack that some more under three simple headings. First, be patient and steadfast in times of trial. Secondly, learn from good examples. Thirdly, be kind and reliable under pressure. So:

First, BE PATIENT AND STEADFAST IN TIMES OF TRIAL.

What are patience and steadfastness, and what, if any, are the differences between them?

Alec Motyer is a bible scholar whose teaching and example made a deep impression on me as a young man – so much so that I decided to go to the theological college where he was principal. He seemed to me to epitomise patience and steadfastness. Unfortunately by the time I arrived at the college as a student, he'd just left. But that's by the way! In his helpful book on The Message of James in the Bible Speaks Today series he gives these definitions:

… patience is the self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate against a wrong, and steadfastness is the temper [that is, character] which does not easily succumb under suffering.

Or to put it another way, patience is the longsuffering, loving attitude which we're to have towards others; that is, the focus of patience is on how we respond to people. And steadfastness is the strong, determined attitude with which we are to face difficult circumstances; that is, the focus of steadfastness is on how we respond to the things that happen to us. Steadfastness is staying power; a refusal to be blown off course or become embittered; endurance. As someone has commented, this is …

… not a meek, passive submission to circumstances but a strong, active, challenging response in which the satisfying realities of Christianity are proven in practice.[Douglas Moo, Commentary on James]

The call to patience is there in verse 7:

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord…

And again in verse 8, after one of the good examples we'll come on to in a minute:

You also, be patient.

For how long should we be patient? "Until the coming of the Lord…" says James. As long as it takes. To the end. Until the provocation that requires a patient response is no longer there.

The idea of steadfastness is there in the second part of verse 8, expressed in a slightly different way:

Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

And again at the start of verse 11:

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.

Why remain steadfast? Because Christ is coming soon. We should be patient until Christ returns; and we should be steadfast because Christ will return. That is our great, unshakeable hope. All will be well on that day. That day will be a day of glory for those who have put their trust in Jesus and are waiting for him.

I remember when my father gave my mother a special birthday present. She unwrapped a little package and in it were just some keys. At first my mother was a bit bemused and a bit crestfallen. My father isn't renowned in the family for his present-buying skills and she probably feared the worst. But then the light began to dawn – and she rushed outside and there on the driveway was the car that came with the keys. By faith in Christ, Christians have been given the keys to future glory – but we haven't yet taken possession of it. It's ours now, but we won't enter it fully until Christ returns. We possess it but we haven't yet taken possession of it. So we should be filled with eager expectation for the coming of Christ. .

Then we will be patient and steadfast because Christ is coming, and until that day comes.

Secondly, LEARN FROM GOOD EXAMPLES

James in these verses speaks of four examples that we can look to for encouragement.

The first of them is the farmer. This is in the second part of verse 7:

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.

Through drought and rain and drought and rain the farmer knows two key things that keep him going. He knows that the harvest is not yet. And he knows that it will come in time. He doesn't get irate that there's no grain on his crops just a few weeks after he's planted them. He doesn't expect his crop now. Confidence about the future and patience until the time is right is built into his mindset. He knows the harvest will come. In the meantime, he waits patiently. Learn from the farmer.

The second example is that of the prophets. Look at verse 10:

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Being a prophet was a tough job assignment. Take Jeremiah. Year after year he had to warn the people of God that disaster was coming. There was hope. But that hope lay at the end of a seventy year exile that was coming – way beyond Jeremiah's own lifetime. And that return to Jerusalem would be only a partial fulfilment of the promised hope. For the ultimate fulfilment Jeremiah would have to wait even longer. In the meantime his message would be met with unbelief, and physical and verbal abuse. His whole long ministry was a testing time of trial. It was a tremendous struggle. But Jeremiah came through. Learn from his patience and steadfastness.

The third example is Job. Verse 11:

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job …

Job experienced devastating suffering. He lost everything – his wealth, his family, his health. Even those friends who rallied round him were famously unhelpful. And, like Jeremiah, Job struggled. He cried out to God in his pain. But he didn't let go of God. And God didn't let go of him. God showed himself faithful. And in the end Job's life was restored to him. Learn from Job's steadfastness under severe testing.

Then the fourth and supreme example is the Lord Jesus himself. Look at the second half of verse 11:

… you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Jesus was despised, rejected, abused, and in the end killed. But he was always purposeful. He sacrificed himself for the sake of others. He was always compassionate. He was loving towards others – friend and foe alike. He was always merciful. He forgave others – even as he was treated without mercy himself. Learn from the example of the Lord Jesus.

So be patient and steadfast in times of trial; and learn from good and Godly examples who can help us. Then finally and:

Thirdly, BE KIND AND RELIABLE UNDER PRESSURE

James has identified various wrong behaviours throughout this letter that he's urging us to avoid. Unrighteous anger. Hearing the Word but not doing it. Self-serving discrimination against the poor. Dead faith without works. An untamed tongue. Covetousness, quarrelling and fighting. Malicious talk. Arrogant boasting that we control everything, without reference to God. Exploitative and oppressive abuse of wealth and power.

In a life full of both blessings and trials – which is what life is like for most of us – these are some of the deadly dangers and potentially lethal pitfalls that strew the path before us.

But, says, James, instead of falling into these traps, we are to behave in a Godly way in the face of all kinds of trials. And characteristically he focuses that call to Godly behaviour on how we speak – how we use our tongues, both when we're speaking about one another and when we're speaking to one another. Don't grumble; and don't swear. Instead, be kind; and be reliable.

Verse 9:

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

Don't grumble and belly-ache. Instead, do the opposite – be kind to others. Why? Because judgement is coming. Jesus the judge is just outside the door. If we're trusting in Christ then by grace we'll be safe on that day. But our words and our works will be tested by fire. So be kind.

And verse 12:

But 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.

As the 39 Articles of the Church of England make clear, that doesn't apply to the swearing of an oath in court, required by law, that you will speak the truth. Nor is this primarily about bad language – though in a secondary sense it certainly does apply in that way. Rather, in the first instance this is about voluntary oaths, many of which were used in a deceitful way to evade responsibility. But we are not to be like that. What we say is to be straightforward. If we say we'll do something, we should do it. It should be clear to people that they can rely on what we say.

Be patient and steadfast in times of trial. Learn from good examples. Be kind and reliable under pressure.

Patience and steadfastness, then, are fundamentally matters of faith. By faith we become confident of the coming of the Lord. By faith we become confident of the future harvest. And by faith we become confident of the compassion and mercy of Christ.

Let me say that the example of faith-full patience and steadfastness that is uppermost in my mind at the moment is one of our oldest friends. She's not from here. She has long been a disciple of Jesus. She recently fell ill, and found out that she has an aggressive cancer. She has now had long and serious surgery. Her prognosis is uncertain. The day before her surgery, she wrote this to those who are praying for her:

Some of you have asked me how I'm doing today. Physically, the answer is that each day I feel worse than the one before. Especially in the afternoon and evening I find it hard to walk … I hobble around bent over. Food and movement give me abdominal cramps, and I have no appetite anyway …Emotionally and spiritually I am still doing well. I am at peace and still not afraid. I expect I will have moments of fear and I don't like it when the cramps come. I have confidence that God will be with us all in this, and I have confidence in His love and His healing power – whether miraculously, through doctors, or in Heaven.

That peace, that confidence, that lack of fear, that patience and steadfastness, are the fruit of long years of trusting in Christ in times of trial. That has made her ready for this biggest of all trials.

So let me close with a reminder of that challenging and hopeful command with which James begins his letter and which he unpacks here at the end. This is 1.2-4 again:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.