Sermon Tone Analysis

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!
Until Then: Living Until the Lord Comes (James 5:7-20)
Runners would confess that the most grueling race is the 400 meter run.
Longer races are run, but the 400 meter is the longest sprint.
No runner can sprint indefinitely.
As runners reach 390 meters, their hearts pound and their lungs feel as if they will explode.
Were the runners not sure that the 401st meter promises rest, they could not endure.
James 5:4, 6 describe the tribulations that materially poor believers faced in the race of faith.
Crushed by the unrighteous rich, they could not resist.
Yet, James assured them that they would not have to sprint forever.
God would intervene, but they had to learn how to live until the Lord comes.
James gave three basic exhortations on how to live until then.
Believers must live with long-suffering, steadfast endurance (5:7-12).
Christians should live with appropriate, effective prayer in all circumstances (5:13-18).
Christ's followers should spend the time until Jesus comes rescuing those who lose patience and wander from the way (5:19-20).
!! Until Then: Live with Patience (5:7-12)
A single expression casts its shadow over the remainder of James's letter: "be patient."
The conjunction "therefore" looks back to the trials that the poor believers experienced at the hands of the unjust rich (5:1-6).
In essence, James wrote: In this age, believers can /do little about/ their enemies.
/Do not/ resist, much Jess avenge yourselves.
/Therefore, develop the spiritual discipline of patience.
Let that/ virtue ripen until /the Lord comes.
Don't get even; get patient./
The English word patient weakly translates James's original word.
"Long-tempered" would be a better translation.
English has the corresponding phrase "short-tempered."
James combined the Greek word *makro* (long) with the word *thumia* (anger).
*Makrothumia* means to be long-tempered.
It reflects self-restraint that does not retaliate easily or quickly.
With people, it means never to lose patience or hope.
With events, it means never to admit defeat.
The term could be defined as long, careful thought before one acts or responds emotionally.
*Makrothumia* contains another shade of meaning.
It indicates someone who has the power to crush by retaliation but refuses to do so.
How often do we tell ourselves: I've got him where I want him now?
For people to be long-tempered indicates a refusal to retaliate, even when it would be easy.
Sometimes, little puppies play around an old hound.
They may nip his ears or scratch his nose.
With one swipe of his paw or snap of his teeth, he could kill or maim the pups, but he does not.
He has the power to retaliate, but he refuses to use it.
Repeatedly, the Bible attributes the attitude of long-suffering to God in His relationship to persons (Ex.
34:6; Neh.
9:17).
When people act with patience toward others, they only are imitating God's attitude toward them.
The patient attitude is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal.
5:22).
It is the uniform of the Christian life that one should put on daily (Col.
3:12).
No one can sprint forever.
James set a limit to endurance: "until the coming of the Lord."
The phrase indicates Jesus' second coming.
James used the word that Jesus used three times in Matthew 24 to describe His return.
The word indicated a ruler's state visit.
Our King is coming!
That is the reason for patience now and the reward of patience then.
Not even Christianity tells one to be longsuffering forever.
An end is in sight when faith will be vindicated.
Patience is a Christian virtue.
James gave three concrete examples to help us until then.
!!!
The Patient Farmer: Wait for the Harvest (5:7/b/-9)
"Behold, the farmer" (v.
7/b)./
James called on his readers to ponder and reflect on the life of the Palestinian peasant farmer.
The small farmer planted scarce seed and hoped for the best.
During the last weeks before harvest, his whole family could suffer hunger.
Year by year, the family's entire life depended on the harvest.
A bad year could result in the loss of the land, hunger, or death.
In patience, he recognized that the harvest was "the precious fruit of the earth" (v.
7/b/).
That phrase suggests that the whole process rested outside his power.
After he had planted the seed, nothing he could do hastened the harvest.
As he watched with affection, emotion, and constant expectancy, he only could be patient.
The whole process led to nothing unless the crop received "the early and the late rain" (v.
7/b/).
That phrase magnified the human helplessness and the farmer's absolute patience.
In Palestine, the early rain started in October or November.
It softened the brick-hard soil that had baked under the relentless sun.
Unless that rain came, the farmer could not plow; and the seed would not germinate.
The latter rain that matured and ripened the crop fell in March and April.
Unless that rain came, the crop would be stunted or nonexistent.
Expanded Jewish law contained regulations for prayer about the two rainfalls.
Imagine the careworn face of the Hebrew farmer whose concerned gaze moved from the bone-dry soil to the faces of his hungry children.
Only patient prayer to God could provide hope.
The 1980's might be called the /Now/ generation.
We want physical fitness, financial success, and peer group approval now.
Many people demand happy homes, fulfilling careers, and rewarding leisure time immediately.
Yet, on every hand, signs point out that this attitude toward life is not working.
Drug abuse and stress-related illnesses indicate that life without patient waiting on God does not work.
Recently, a cardiologist entitled his book /Is It Worth/ Dying For?
He argued that "hot reactors" respond to every frustrating situation with angry stress which constricts their coronary arteries.
He counseled people to be "cool reactors," which is only another way to say, "Be patient."
Twentieth-century medicine demonstrates the practicality of first-century Christianity.
In contrast to the life of patience, James prohibited an attitude of irritation: "Do not grumble, brethren, against one another" (v.
9).
Constant pressure of oppression from the outside can cause believers to murmur against those closest to them—fellow Christians.
The word grumble suggests a moan, groan, complaint, or surpressed feeling of ill will.
Bickering and fault-finding undermine the community that waits for the Lord's coming.
James warned against believers' mutual recrimination against one another.
Such carping, criticizing Christians should realize that "the Judge is standing at the doors" (5:9).
That refers to the certainty, suddenness, and nearness of the Lord's return.
The day will come when an angelic messenger will cry, "All arise."
The Judge of the universe will enter His judgment hall.
How ashamed will be Christians who are caught indulging in petty criticism!
Many Christians do not grasp how seriously God takes their grumbling criticism against other Christians.
Patient living demands a radical refusal to complain about other believers.
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