September 27 2009    Reading:  James 5

 Theme: Patience and prayer

According to a traditional Hebrew story, Abraham was sitting outside his tent one evening when he saw an old man, wearied from long journeying, coming toward him. Abraham stepped out, greeted him, and then invited him into his tent. There he washed the old man's feet and gave him food and drink.

The old man immediately began eating without saying any prayer or blessing. So Abraham asked him, "Don't you worship God?"

The old traveler replied, "I worship fire only and reverence no other god."

When he heard this, Abraham grabbed the old man by the shoulders, and pushed him out of the tent into the cold night air.

When the old man had gone, Abraham heard God speaking: He asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, "I threw him out because he did not worship you."

God answered, "Although he dishonours me I have been patient with him these eighty years. Could you not put up with him one night?"

Patience

The apostle James writes this letter to groups of believers who were in difficult situations........

James’ message in this letter is that

it’s under pressure, in difficult situations,

our faith in Jesus Christ is shaped and forged

in the middle of all the pressures on us

we can rely on God. On His love and the strength and guidance He supplies !

even if, as the psalmist says,

the waters flow over our heads........

our foot slips and we fall back into the sinking ground.........

God still holds us secure, holds us up

in these desperate moments

the living God............. through His Son Jesus...........

Now, past all the stern words, the direct instructions that James has written in his letter,

James closes this letter, not with a great final crescendo of the orchestra, and clashing cymbals

but with two beautiful, last, flowing, quiet notes

about patience and prayer:

patience and prayer............

And in fact, these two are part of one another

You see, in order to have patience, we need deep, heart deep prayer in which we call on God

and through calling on God in prayer, trusting Him for all things, and in all things,

we learn patience, we learn to wait for Him

Patience

Well, in many of the churches the stressful situation showed in the way people

treated each other, as you might expect under stress,

there were disputes, and occasionally arguments v.9

But James had seen what was happening,

the situation itself was beginning to overwhelm them........

the question many of the believers asked, and its one we often I am sure ask ourselves in a difficult situation,

how long is all this going to last ?

and if we realise that a situation is going on far longer than we expected...... then we become frustrated,

or impatient.............

but James puts before his readers a picture of patience: as Jesus so often did........

a picture of a farmer

the farmer who sows and then waits, -

nothing seems to change,

another day passes, another week, nothing changes

the situation is still the same...........

but in fact something is happening all the time

....... the seed is growing in secret,

soon that seed will come to fruition,

the harvest will come..........

but, the farmer needs patience..............

James says......... be patient.......

That’s what the prophets were like, says James.........

verse 10, and 11, take Jeremiah. Jeremiah was given a word from the Lord of what to say...... to Jerusalem

about the wickedness of Jerusalem

and how one day soon the city would be destroyed.........

for the city continued in its wickedness, despite what Jeremiah said,

and refused even until the last day, to accept its walls would fall.........

yet Jeremiah was patient, and trusted and waited on the Lord.......

Or Job, this good, righteous man, who lost so many of his family, and then was struck down by terrible illness yet, so patient in the midst of personal grief and suffering

that’s patience, says James.

when our situation hardly changes from day to day...........

it is then we begin to learn patience, the little candle flame of patience begins to burn brightly in us,

Eugene Petersen says:

If I want potatoes for dinner tomorrow, it will do me little good to plant them in my garden tonight.

There are long stretches of darkness and invisibility and silence between planting and reaping.

Christian patience comes into its own in slowness

James points us to

patience, waiting on God ......

Let us turn to prayer........

Prayer

In these last verses of his letter James unfolds some of the wonders of prayer, lets list them:

v.13 in trouble prayer brings strength: in times of trouble,

says James, you will find strength and peace to face the situation,

v.14 In sickness - prayer brings healing, in times of illness

you will find God’s powerful healing hand moving,

in healing of body, and deep within our souls

v.16 in our sinfulness, prayer brings cleansing, relieves the burden of

guilt

Dr. Paul Tournier wrote about modern life:

We need to see ...that innumerable throng of men and women laden down with their secrets, laden down with their fears, their sufferings, their sorrows, their disappointments, and their guilt. We need to understand how tragically alone they find themselves.

They may live years without finding anyone in whom they have enough confidence to unburden themselves. In prayer we can brings our burdens to Jesus Christ.........

and lay them down before Him.

in weakness, prayer is the source of power

prayer has a powerful effect..............

here is a man, Elijah, just like you and me,

who prayed for rain, for his land, for his people,

for the harvest that would come,

and after years of patient waiting.........

one day clouds could be seen on the western horizon,

and with them came the blessing of rain, cool refreshing rain...........

prayer has a powerful effect.............

Patience and prayer............

The Lord Jesus Himself has walked every step of the way before us through this troubling, troubled, troublous life, we see His wonderful patience....... Isaiah says He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly he never said a word like a lamb about to be slaughtered, he never said a word,

The patience of our Lord Jesus.........

and if we look at Jesus we see the richest, fullest prayer in his life.......

we see Jesus withdrawing to a lonely place in hours to be in the Father’s presence

we see Jesus speaking to His Father, listening to what His Father says

we see Jesus living in unbroken communion with God,

we see Jesus in Gethsemane, praying in the hour and power of darkness

receiving untold strength, hope, courage from the Father...........

prayer is the very breath of His life, of Jesus’ life

James’ message is that

it’s under pressure, in difficult situations,

our faith in Jesus Christ is shaped and forged

in the middle of all the pressures on us

we can rely on God’s love and the strength and guidance He supplies !

that however long our situation seems to be lasting,

we find the strength to be patient,

rooted and grounded, anchored, in Jesus Christ through prayer

And greater yet, than this,

the Lord Jesus Christ, has ascended into heaven, and is hidden for the moment beyond our sight

but prayer is still the very breath of His life, of Jesus’ life

now there is in heaven, we have One who understands us, and our situation,

and He prays for us. He holds us up by name, he holds the Church up,

before the Father,

and prays for us, that we too might receive

untold strength, hope, courage from the Father...........

that prayer may be the very breath of our lives too.........

AMEN