Waiting for the Fruit
James 5: 7-11

 

 

          If you are a farmer in Israel today, the planting cycle has changed little for you from the time of Jesus. You sow just before the autumn rains of October and November. If you sow after those rains, the seeds won’t germinate. Then you wait. You wait for the spring rains. They usually come in April and May as the grain matures. You do not harvest until those rains have fallen. Never mind that three fourths of the rains in Palestine fall from December to February. It’s not the same. You must wait. You must be patient.

          James talks about patience and perseverance in the fifth chapter of the New Testament book bearing his name. He starts his letter with an appeal for perseverance and ends it with another appeal for patience.  The book is thought by most who think about such things as having been written by James the half-brother of Jesus, who became quite influential in the early church. He was often called the Bishop of Jerusalem.  Martin Luther didn’t like him, calling his book an “epistle of straw.” Luther thought that James’ pronouncement in chapter 2 that faith without works is dead flew in the face of Paul’s teaching that by grace are we saved through faith. Later theologians have come to realize that James and Paul had much more in common than their differences.  At any rate, James is concerned here with the parousia, the second coming of Christ. Parousia is a Greek term having to do with the coming of a king. Jesus promised return as a king, hence the parousia.

          James calls his audience here “brothers,” indicating that he is no longer talking to the rich, but now speaks again to the Jewish Christians reading the letter.  His use of the word “therefore,” or “then” indicates that he is referring back to the previous passage, which is about the rich who take unfair advantage. He cautions the lesser advantaged to exercise self-restraint.  He then compares the second coming of Christ to the more common analogy of a farmer having to wait for the precious fruit of the field. But this is not a passive activity. This is not the kind of waiting that is accomplished in a rocking chair on the front porch.   It is an active, pursuing, conscious waiting that engages in life and prays for that fruit to ripen. Waiting for Christ is done with an eye toward preparation, toward participation. Waiting for Christ is not a spectator sport.

          James warns his audience to “establish your hearts.” It is another way of saying “stand firm.” He encourages them to use long-suffering patience even in the midst of unfairness. James sees the second coming as imminent. Then James uses another example. He talks about the prophets and the patience they had to exercise. Jeremiah comes to mind. He was put in stocks, thrown in prison, lowered into a wet dungeon, yet he kept pursuing his ministry without bitterness. Jeremiah had patience. But Jeremiah had that active kind of patience which kept him moving toward righteousness. It taught him how to wait for God’s hand to guide him.  Writer Richard Hendrix tells us that “waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in Godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.”

          James gives us a third example. It is a lot like patience, but it is not the same. James uses Job to remind us of our need for perseverance. We often hear of Job’s great patience, but that really is not very accurate. While Job had a fair measure of patience, he had a lot more perseverance. He never quit believing in God, even in the face of one unexplainable disaster after another. Some translations call it steadfastness instead of perseverance. Either way,  the words convey similar meanings. Job stuck it out. And God rewarded him.

          Perseverance is not just a character trait.  It’s a way of life. Former Congressman Newt Gingrich once said that perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. Ivan Downing tells a story about perseverance I can relate to. A fellow who had been at it a long time decided to retire from the ministry. One Sunday he explained his decision to the congregation: “I wear two hearing aids and trifocal glasses; I have a partial plate, and sometimes I walk with a cane. It seems to me,” he concluded, “that the Lord is telling me it’s time to retire.” After the service, a white-haired lady told him, “Reverend, you have misinterpreted what the Lord has been saying to you. He’s not telling you it’s time to retire; he’s telling you that if you keep going, he’ll keep you patched up.”

          It is the season of optimism. It is the third Sunday of Advent, a Sunday in which we light a candle signifying joy. Can anything really be bad? Baby Jesus is about to be born. A magnificent choir of angels in heaven is about to sing its chorus. The star in the East glows brighter with each passing day. Jesus is coming. He can cancel our debts and cure our troubles.

          We know that the rejoicing of Christmas and the candles of Advent, the descent of the Christ child to Bethlehem, will all too soon be replaced with the ascent of our Savior to an unadorned hill where a Cross awaits. But that is for another day. It will come soon enough. And even in its tragedy lie the seeds of that long waited for fruit, the fruit of salvation. Today there is Joy. Let us be patient as the farmer and the prophet. Let us be persevering as God’s servant Job. For James reminds us that even now, the Judge is standing at the door.

          Are you ready? James instructed those early Christians to “Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord.” It is good advice even today. James didn’t know when Jesus would come again. Our Lord Jesus said that even he did not know. We do know this. He is coming. Praise God that he has waited these twenty centuries to continue the ingathering of his people. God is patient too, as more and more people are brought to a saving knowledge of his salvation from sin and death.  Be patient and persevere. He is coming.