Epistle for December 11, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
James 5:7-10
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The letter of James is one of the 23 out of 27 books of the New Testament that mentions the Second Coming of Jesus.  This is interesting because we don’t think of James as a “theological” or “doctrinal” book.  James deals with practical matters concerning faith and works, the dangers of the tongue, impartiality concerning the rich and poor, etc.

But here, James (who is identified as the brother of Jesus and the first bishop in Jerusalem) takes it for granted that the Lord will return.  What he counsels, as the church waits for Christ’s kingdom, is patience.

He draws an analogy between the patience of a farmer and the patience required of a believer.  The farmer must wait on the early and late rain in order for the crops to grow.  So must the believer trust in something that he/she cannot control — but wait with patience.  However, there is also this exhortation and assurance:

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

Then James gives practical advice for how they may establish their hearts:

Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

As with other aspects of James’ advice, his concerns for the Christian community are about relationship.  He knows that grumbling, and the misuse of the tongue in gossip and poisonous speech can tear the community apart.

Finally, he reminds them of their spiritual predecessors from the Old Testament:

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

APPLY:  

This is a helpful word for Advent.  Like the growth of crops and the eventual harvest, the coming of the Lord is inevitable.  But also like the farmer, we must be patient until the time is right.

It is so important to remember that the coming of the kingdom, like the growth of crops, is not something that we can control.  What we can control is our own actions — for example, not grumbling about one another as we wait.  Other passages remind us to love one another, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, etc.

And we are not only to emulate the suffering and patience of the prophets — we are also to speak in the name of the Lord until he comes!

RESPOND: 

Although I’m not a farmer, I am somewhat acquainted with how farmers think. My mother grew up in West Texas in a family of cotton farmers.  And over the years I have occasionally served in churches located in the Arkansas Delta, with a high number of farmers in the congregations.

I admire farmers. I learned that farmers are extremely versatile and resourceful. They know how to operate heavy machinery; they can fix most things that break down; they understand seeds and soils; and they are astute about markets and commodity prices.

And they are also patient.  I might even add, whimsically, they are longsuffering.  But what inspires that patience, ultimately, is faith.  The farmer has faith that the processes of nature and growth will continue.  The believer has patience because we have faith that God will keep his promises.

Lord, when the world around me seems to be falling apart, remind me to have patience — your kingdom is coming!  And give me the power to treat others according to your teachings.  Amen.   

 PHOTOS:
"James 5:7b" by Sapphire Dream Photography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for December 15, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
James 5:7-10
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The letter of James is one of the 23 out of 27 books of the New Testament that mentions the Second Coming of Jesus.  This is interesting because we don’t think of James as a “theological” or “doctrinal” book.  James deals with practical matters concerning faith and works, the dangers of the tongue, impartiality concerning the rich and poor, etc.

But here, James (who is identified as the brother of Jesus and the first bishop in Jerusalem) takes it for granted that the Lord will return.  What he counsels, as the church waits for Christ’s kingdom, is patience.

He draws an analogy between the patience of a farmer and the patience required of a believer.  The farmer must wait on the early and late rain in order for the crops to grow.  So must the believer trust in something that he/she cannot control — but wait with patience.  However, there is also this exhortation and assurance:

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

Then James gives practical advice for how they may establish their hearts:

Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

As with other aspects of James’ advice, his concerns for the Christian community are about relationship.  He knows that grumbling, and the misuse of the tongue in gossip and poisonous speech can tear the community apart.

Finally, he reminds them of their spiritual predecessors from the Old Testament:

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

APPLY:  

This is a helpful word for Advent.  Like the growth of crops and the eventual harvest, the coming of the Lord is inevitable.  But also like the farmer, we must be patient until the time is right.

It is so important to remember that the coming of the kingdom, like the growth of crops, is not something that we can control.  What we can control is our own actions — for example, not grumbling about one another as we wait.  Other passages remind us to love one another, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, etc.

And we are not only to emulate the suffering and patience of the prophets — we are also to speak in the name of the Lord until he comes!

RESPOND: 

Although I’m not a farmer, I am somewhat acquainted with how farmers think.  My mother grew up in West Texas in a family of cotton farmers.  And over the years I have occasionally served in churches located in the Arkansas Delta, with a high number of farmers in the congregations.

I admire farmers. I learned that farmers are extremely versatile and resourceful.  They know how to operate heavy machinery; they can fix most things that break down; they understand seeds and soils; and they are astute about markets and commodity prices.

And they are also patient.  I might even add, whimsically, they are longsuffering.  But what inspires that patience, ultimately, is faith.  The farmer has faith that the processes of nature and growth will continue.  The believer has patience because we have faith that God will keep his promises.

Lord, when the world around me seems to be falling apart, remind me to have patience — your kingdom is coming!  And give me the power to treat others according to your teachings.  Amen.   

 PHOTOS:
"James 5:7b" by Sapphire Dream Photography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for December 11, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

James 5:7-10

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The letter of James is one of the 23 out of 27 books of the New Testament that mentions the Second Coming of Jesus.  This is interesting because we don’t think of James as a “theological” or “doctrinal” book.  James deals with practical matters concerning faith and works, the dangers of the tongue, impartiality concerning the rich and poor, etc.

But here, James (who is identified as the brother of Jesus and the first bishop in Jerusalem) takes it for granted that the Lord will return.  What he counsels, as the church waits for Christ’s kingdom, is patience.

He draws an analogy between the patience of a farmer and the patience required of a believer.  The farmer must wait on the early and late rain in order for the crops to grow.  So must the believer trust in something that he/she cannot control — but wait with patience.  However, there is also this exhortation and assurance:

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

Then James gives practical advice for how they may establish their hearts:

Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

As with other aspects of James’ advice, his concerns for the Christian community are about relationship.  He knows that grumbling, and the misuse of the tongue in gossip and poisonous speech can tear the community apart.

Finally, he reminds them of their spiritual predecessors from the Old Testament:

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

APPLY:  

This is a helpful word for Advent.  Like the growth of crops and the eventual harvest, the coming of the Lord is inevitable.  But also like the farmer, we must be patient until the time is right.

It is so important to remember that the coming of the kingdom, like the growth of crops, is not something that we can control.  What we can control is our own actions — for example, not grumbling about one another as we wait.  Other passages remind us to love one another, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, etc.

And we are not only to emulate the suffering and patience of the prophets — we are also to speak in the name of the Lord until he comes!

RESPOND: 

Although I’m not a farmer, I am somewhat acquainted with how farmers think.  My mother grew up in West Texas in a family of cotton farmers.  And over the years I have occasionally served in churches located in the Arkansas Delta, with a high number of farmers in the congregations.

I admire farmers. I learned that farmers are extremely versatile and resourceful.  They know how to operate heavy machinery; they can fix most things that break down; they understand seeds and soils; and they are astute about markets and commodity prices.

And they are also patient.  I might even add, whimsically, they are longsuffering.  But what inspires that patience, ultimately, is faith.  The farmer has faith that the processes of nature and growth will continue.  The believer has patience because we have faith that God will keep his promises.

Lord, when the world around me seems to be falling apart, remind me to have patience — your kingdom is coming!  And give me the power to treat others according to your teachings.  Amen.   

 PHOTOS:
"James 5:7b" by Sapphire Dream Photography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.