James 5:13 – “Whatever”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³Is anyone among you troubled? Let him pray. Is anyone happy? Let him make music.

What a blessed little verse! It’s so simple, I’ve always read it too fast. Now that I finally took the time to stop and ponder on it, I’ve found a little treasure. I’ll try to record here what I mean.

First of all, and I think this observation goes clear back to Thomas Manton (ca. 1650), we can observe from this verse that in all the twists and turns of life, God is inviting us into His Presence. Here are the two extremes – troubled or happy. If I find myself afflicted in any way (sickness, bereavement, disappointment, health problems, financial problems, weariness, persecution, betrayal, overworked, etc.), what should I do? Pray.

Here’s where I miss the blessing reading too fast. Think about it again. What should I do? Pray. Notice that doesn’t just mean “Say your prayers.” It isn’t recommending some dispensing of a duty. Let the full depth of this command sink in. Pray. What does that really mean? It means to enter into the Presence of God, to go to Him, to remind ourselves again that He is our Savior, Friend, King, Healer, Master, our Rock, our strong Defender, our Hope, our Peace, our Refuge from the storm. It is to remember that our every moment is from His good, wise, and loving hand, that He rules, that He has allowed this, that He has allowed it for our good, that it will only last as long as it needs to to accomplish His good and wise intentions, that it is His strength, not mine, that matters, because His strength is made perfect in my weakness. This is our God. So if we are afflicted, what should we do? Pray. Enter into the Presence of our Almighty God and Friend.

But, what if I don’t feel troubled at all? What if I find myself today sincerely feeling happy? What if my lot today has truly fallen in pleasant places? What should I do? Make music. Sing psalms. Sing praises. Once again – enter into the Presence of God. Take my happiness to Him. Acknowledge it is from His hand. Thank Him for it.

What a wonderful God and Savior He is. Here in this one simple little verse, He acknowledges that your life has ups and downs. He acknowledges that some days you will feel happy and some days you will feel sad. He’s okay with that. Knowing Him, believing His promises, having a relationship with Him does not imply that you’ll be “happy” all day every day. Some Christian music may give you that idea, but it didn’t come from the Lord. His prescription is not that you should strive to be “happy all the day,” but rather that, whatever your lot today, you should let it take you into His Presence.

Here’s another encouraging thought – you hear people say often, “The only time we pray is when we’re in trouble. That’s a bad thing.” But the Lord says, “Is anyone among troubled? Let him pray.” There is nothing wrong at all with feeling that sense that trouble drives us to prayer. That’s one of the reasons He allows it! So don’t beat yourself up, just go with it. Are you troubled? Pray. Just pray. Be thankful for that heightened sense of the need to pray. It’s all part of His beautiful plan. Just go with it!

On the other hand, do you find yourself happy? Don’t beat yourself up with thoughts like, “The only time I praise God is when I’m happy.” So what? What did He say? “Is anyone happy? Let him make music.” Once again, don’t fight it. Go with it. Once again, it’s part of why He’s allowed it – to give you an opportunity for praise.

God knows your life will have ups and downs. He’s okay if you respond to them in kind.

Now, of course, even in affliction, I will praise Him, just as in happiness, I still pray. But, I think this verse would free us to go with whatever state we find ourselves in. If I’m in trouble and most of my prayers are crying out to Him, He’s okay with that. If I haven’t been very “praising” lately then suddenly find myself happy, it’s okay if I just rush right into praise.

He knows our frame, that we are but dust. He made us. He knows us. He fully expects us to be human. And He’s okay with it.

I have to inject – of course it is entirely possible (and too common) that, in our troubles, rather than praying, we just whine and despair. It is also entirely possible (and too common) that, in our happy times, we forget to be thankful. But I honestly don’t think the Lord gave us this verse to beat us up. He gave it to us to very lovingly call us to let every circumstance of life invite us into His Presence. We saw in verse 12 the need to live in His Presence, to let even our words be tools that keep us mindful of Him, in awe of Him. It is His Presence which ennobles us. May we let the varied circumstance of our lives – whatever my lot -- be yet another tool to keep us mindful of that Presence. Whatever, He’s our God!

What a little jewel. Thank you, Lord!

James 5:12 – “Ennobled”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹²But, above all [things], my brothers, do not swear, neither by the heavens, nor the earth, nor any other oath; but let your yes [be] yes and no [be] no, that you might not fall under judgment.

This has been a really fun and very enlightening verse to study. It of course is a restatement of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:34-37). I have been very aware of both passages pretty much my entire Christian life and honestly never knew quite what to do with them. These passages draw one immediately into the debate of whether it is ever lawful for a believer to use an oath. That debate is invariably what everyone takes away from these passages and there have been mountains of ink spent on it. Now having slowed down to really study James 5:12, I think that debate misses the whole point. There are far more profound issues at stake than whether or not you can ever say, “I do solemnly swear …” Let’s see if I can relate what I think I’ve learned.

The “no swearing” crowd points to the plain words, “Do not swear,” and say, “There, end of issue.” Certainly as a Christian I don’t ever want to dismiss the very plain meaning of the Lord’s words. However, the minute you take that position, you can hardly read the rest of the Bible without having your position challenged. Consider the following discussion taken from the Expositor’s Bible Commentary:

“But further investigation does not confirm the view which is derived from a first impression as to the meaning of the words. Against it we have, first, the fact that the Mosaic Law not only allowed, but enjoined the taking of an oath in certain circumstances; and Christ would hardly have abrogated the law, …without giving some explanation of so unusual a course … In Deuteronomy we read, “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; and Him only shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by His Name” (Deuteronomy 6:13); and, “to Him shalt thou cleave, and by His Name shalt thou swear” (Deuteronomy 10:20). The Psalmist says, “The king shall rejoice in God: every one that sweareth by Him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped” (Psalms 63:11). Isaiah says, “He that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth” (Isaiah 65:16), and still more strongly Jeremiah: “Thou shalt swear, ‘As the Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness’” (Jeremiah 4:2); and, “If they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, ‘As the Lord liveth;’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of My people” (Jeremiah 12:16). … An absolute prohibition of all swearing would have been so surprisingly at variance with these passages of Scripture that it is difficult to believe that it would have been made without any allusion to them.

Having studied this, there is no question in my mind that both Jesus and James are referring to the casual, flippant use of oaths throughout our daily human interactions. For God’s people going about their daily lives, our yes ought to be yes and our no no. In other words, we should simply be truthful, honest, and forthright in all we do and therefore there is no need of oaths. In fact, it is possible, I suppose, that a genuine believer could live their entire life and never ever take an oath. Biblically, an oath is a very solemn thing to be undertaken only in situations calling for such a formal expression of intent – such as in court when we are called upon to “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God,” with our hand laying on a Bible; or when someone takes a public office or enters the military. The whole idea of those occasions is to emphasize the solemn importance of the activity we are undertaking.

And that leads me on into what I think is the far more important lesson of this verse. It is not even intended to be a debating ground about exactly which words we form on our lips in this situation or that. Here’s the deal -- in the 3^rd Commandment we have all often read, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he who takes the name of the Lord in vain shall not be held guiltless.” What “swearing” is all about is calling ourselves into the presence of God. That Presence is what ennobles mankind. It is and should be a very sobering thing to pause and remind ourselves that we are in the presence of God, that He is hearing the words of our mouths, and that He will hold us accountable to be true to our word. Not just in the case of oaths, but this sincere awareness of His Presence raises all we do to the very highest level of integrity and grace. And having said all of that, what is the absolute worst thing that can happen to any human being? It is that he or she should forget God, that they should minimize God, that they should take God for granted. Once that is allowed, the way is wide open for us to degenerate into naked savages with bones in our noses.

That is the problem with “swearing.” Apparently the middle-eastern cultures were and are consumed with saying everything with an oath. In America, of course, people throw out “By God …!,” use His name in vain, and similarly fill their conversations with flippant, casual references to God all day every day in every possible situation. And what does that do? It deadens their very sense that He is real. And that, as related above, is one of the absolute worst possible scenarios for human beings. As He said in Deut 6:13, “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; and Him only shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by His Name.” The best thing in the world for us is to live our lives in awe of Him and of His presence.

And so I take away from this verse not some new rule for what I can or cannot say, but rather a renewed, even heightened, realization of the importance of acknowledging God in my life. I should be a totally trustworthy, truthful person (yes yes and no no) precisely because I acknowledge God. If I’m ever called upon in court or on some other solemn occasion to repeat an oath, I am perfectly free to do so … in the solemn and mindful presence of God.

I really, really like this. As usual with Bible study, everyone ends up in one ditch or the other throwing stones at each other and debating this and that. What I invariably find studying is that the Royal Highway down the middle is something far better, far more significant to the life I live amongst people and under my God.

Lord, help me to live even more aware of Your Presence everywhere I go all day every day. And may those moment by moment choices to see You raise me to a far higher integrity and grace than I have ever known. And may my awareness of Your Presence so change me that somehow it help others see You. May others know what it means to be ennobled.

James 5:10,11 – “Fishes”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁰Brothers, take [for] an example the suffering and the patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Look! We consider blessed ones who endure. You have heard of the endurance of Job and you have seen the outcome of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and sympathetic.

Suffering and patience.

The Lord certainly knows what we need! As I have studied these two verses for the last several weeks, it seems like He has opened the very windows of Heaven to teach me and show me and help me. It has been very sweet to ponder suffering and patience and endurance, considering them alongside the “outcome” of the Lord, that is He is very compassionate and sympathetic.

As I embarked on these very verses my own workload went from impossible to utterly beyond impossible. My usual nature would have been to finally and completely freak out. But, as I was studying these verses, it was as if the Lord was giving me a calm in my soul. It was all so far beyond impossible, there was no point in freaking out, or anything else for that matter. There was only one possible hope and that was to simply trust Him who laid it all on me, to go and do what I could, and simply trust that somehow He would make the rest work out. And that is exactly what He has done. As I’ve (He’s) quieted my heart and I sincerely contented myself to simply do what I could, in one situation after another He’s blessed my little fishes and loaves and accomplished what I could not.

I know I’m famous for being brave when the battle is distant, that the second I get clobbered again, I’ll probably collapse in yet another fit of faithlessness; but I actually feel in my soul that He really has changed something inside me. “I used to hear Him with my ear; now I see Him with my eye.”

“Stars only shine in the night.” A diamond must be cut. Jewels must be polished. Arrows must be sharpened. To be reared in the lap of luxury only leaves us soft and weak. It takes a storm to prove a ship seaworthy. “The flames will not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” Job got to see “the end of the Lord” only because he endured. We only know his name because He suffered. “He who strikes us with one hand, supports us with the other.” The Lord is very compassionate – He cannot ever, ever, ever be cold-hearted or disinterested. He is very compassionate and sympathetic – that is His nature, that is who He is. He knows it better that we gain character than that we should be comfortable – and loves us enough to order our lives accordingly.

A couple of things the Lord has particularly used to help me – right at this moment when I was being crushed, my boss lent me a book that counseled people to take one thing at a time – no matter how much I think I have to do – to pick that which was most important and focus on it. Along with that, the book counseled people to keep only one project on their desk at once. Engineers’ desks are typically mountains of files and plans and projects and mine is no different. Only one project on my desk at once??? That would seem almost impossible except that I’ve actually seen it. My very first boss out of college was the very finest of engineers, a man named Dave Hawkins. When he would call me in to his office to review a project, it would seriously be the only file on his desk. It would be the only thing in the entire office “out of place.” I found that utterly amazing (and admirable) back then, but it was and always has been only that – something to be admired, but not something that I could ever be – for me it has only ever been something to be aspired. But somehow – and maybe because it was all so utterly and beyond impossible – the Lord helped me do just that, to very deliberately look at all the assignments, pick the most important, and then, with Him calming my soul, just to do what I could. I found it actually worked!

The other thing that really helped me was something I read, and I don’t know who the author was, but he said that Christians “ought to keep from restlessness.” He said we need to guard against “the restlessness that keeps going to the door, or looking out at the window, and so takes us off the duty of the hour. We cannot do our work well while we keep a restless state of mind. If we are expecting an arrival at our home, but are uncertain of the precise time, it altogether spoils our work for the day; it compels us to do nothing, if we allow ourselves to become restless … we shall undervalue our present work, and think lightly of our present responsibilities; and instead of spending our strength in service, we shall spend it in worrying and restless watchings … [we should be] actually found at work when the master returns.”

That really helps me too. I want to do good work. I don’t want to waste my energies “going to the door, and looking out the window.” I don’t want to be “restless” while I work.

Another quote I want to record is similar. This might have been from Spurgeon, but I’m not sure. It is from the Biblical Illustrator and is actually commenting back on verse 7 about the farmer, but is still helpful here: “He, indeed, knows not which field shall best prosper, or whether both shall be alike good; but he quietly, and without distraction, waits the arrival of spring, when the tender herb shall appear. And shall he be wiser in his worldly ways than you, who are the husbandmen of the Most High? In providential concerns you are perplexed, and your fears are many; but why be careful for the morrow? Of what avail is this tumult of mind, this agitation of spirit? Under tedious delays, does this rebellion of heart do other than increase your misery? Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord; observe how the husbandman waits, how deep is the conviction that impatience will never accelerate his harvest. Moreover, in your case, your hopes are delayed by this temper. Suffer not your fears-I had almost, but for pity, said, your follies--to triumph. You are no proper judge of the length of time you have waited: every minute has been to you as an hour, or as a year. You misjudge the motive of his delay; it is, that he may commend your patience, as well as reward your labours.”

All of this seems to have fallen together at the same time such that, again, I feel in my soul He really has helped me. Maybe I am actually a little more mature. Maybe I really can do a little better job just being confident in Him. My heart is deeply inclined to fear “what’s next?” but I hope whatever that is that maybe I really can do a better job of facing it calmly and trusting God through it. Richard Baxter is reported to have said from his deathbed, “Lord, when Thou wilt, what Thou wilt, how Thou wilt.”

“He must increase; I must decrease.”

James 5:9 – “Don’t Be a Grouch!”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Brothers, don’t groan against one another, that you may not be judged. Look! The Judge has taken His stand before the doors.

Beginning in verse 7, James has called us to live in patience even as we face the hardships of life. Then he adds this admonition of verse 9 not to “groan against each other.” I have found the precise meaning of the verse a little difficult to pin down given the word which I’ve translated “groan.” The verb “stenazo” means something like “to groan, to sigh inwardly, to sigh heavily.” It expresses internal emotions, not necessarily outward expressions. So what is the Lord specifically asking us not to do here? The NIV translates it “Don’t grumble against each other.” The NASB translates it, “Do not complain against one another.” The thing I’m not sure about is that words like “grumble” and “complain” are more outward, actually verbal expressions, where “stenazo” is more inward.

From my resources, I can’t tell for sure whether the word embraces those outward expressions but I get the impression it does. He is clearly calling us not to get impatient with each other, but I guess I’m not sure if He is here specifically calling us to check the problem inwardly or outwardly. Practically speaking it probably doesn’t make any difference. If my thoughts are making me “groan” against other people, then what I express to them will be some form of irritation or grumbling, complaining, etc.

All that said, I think the overall point is obvious. Knowing we will face hardships and difficulties in life, the Lord is saying, “Don’t take it out on each other.” We could probably express the thought by ideas like, “Don’t be a grouch,” or “Don’t be impatient with each other,” or “Don’t let your own troubles make you treat others badly.”

Wow. I’ve been thinking a lot about this as I’ve been studying. Life is of course painful for all of us. Just working through a run-of-the-mill day there are many challenges and situations we find trying – from something as simple as a lid that won’t quite screw on right, to annoying noises, to other people’s driving, clear up to sickness, heavy workloads, or even outright oppression and injustice. As I mentioned above, the word isn’t primarily an outward expression, so it is certainly first of all calling us to keep watch on our hearts in all these troubles and the Lord is recognizing that one way we “fail” under trial is by (whether inwardly or outwardly) taking it out on each other. He doesn’t want us to do that.

I have found this a lot more challenging than I might have guessed. For myself, my own workload seems to only get heavier and heavier. I am fearing not being able to meet our client’s deadlines. All the while I just flat don’t feel good. I ache all over and am really tired. I don’t like winter – and we’re headed into snow and a deep freeze. I’m sure I’m no different than anyone else in all of this. Life is just plain hard. But somehow He wants me to not let my own fears or weariness degenerate into meanness or even just plain unpleasantness to others.

I guess I’ve never noticed before how easy it is to let my own troubles turn my heart against the people around me. I like expressing it as “Don’t be a grouch.” Somehow, I suspect, we all think it isn’t that bad to be a grouch – that it’s just “natural” if I’m struggling myself. But the Lord is very clearly telling us not to be grouches. That is precisely what this verse and its context is about – not letting our own troubles make us impatient with each other. Isn’t that what “being a grouch” is all about? And the Lord is calling us not to do it.

I like this. Don’t be a grouch. I’ve been trying to learn to just love God and others all day every day. But I don’t think I’ve ever let that thought include the temptation to be a grouch. It makes sense. If I’m going to be a loving person, I’ll have to do it even while I’m suffering myself. The fact that the Lord calls us to it assures us we can do it by His Spirit. He has given us the freedom to love others even as we suffer.

Don’t be a grouch!

James 5:7,8 – “Unshaken”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Look! The farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being patient upon it, until he receives [the] early and latter [rains]. ⁸You, also, be patient and establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.

In my studies, I ran across this quote from F.B. Hole, commenting on these verses:

“His coming is our hope, and these words of exhortation ought to come to us with tenfold force today. Are we tested, our hearts oppressed with the burden of unrighted wrongs? “Be ye also patient,” is the word for us. Do we feel unsettled, everything around and within seemingly insecure and shaking? The message comes to us, “Stablish your hearts.” Does it seem as if we are everlastingly sowing without effect? Do we plough and wait, and plough and wait, until we are tempted to think that we are but ploughing sands? “Be patient,” is the word for us, “unto the coming of the Lord.”

“Do we feel unsettled, everything around and within seemingly insecure and shaking?” “Yes!” I would respond. This pretty much describes the world we live in today. I often remember Don McLean’s words from American Pie, “I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away.” I don’t think ever in my life has the world seemed more utterly hopeless. I don’t remember the last time I heard anything encouraging. The news is all bad. The government is hopeless. They are utterly incapable of doing anything that actually helps us. Everything just goes from bad to worse. I’d just as soon be done with it all and I fear to think what kind of world my grandchildren will have to live in.

Yet, what does our passage say? “Establish your hearts.” “Be patient until the coming of the Lord.” “Establish your hearts” – yes, remember that “love is all you need.” In the midst of all this despair, can I still choose to love the people around me? Can I still choose to go to work and do my job the best I can, to be kind to the people I work with, and do what I can to brighten their worlds? Can I still love my wife and be attentive to her needs, love my children and grandchildren and try to be encouraging them to them, to pray for them all? Can I still be determined to smile and be kind to the grocery clerk?

Yes, yes, yes. Love is all you need. Even in this bleak, weary, hopeless world. Even if the government only gets worse and life grows more unbearable. Can I still love? Yes. And isn’t that really all that matters in the end? Yes.

And why is it that love is all that matters in the end? Because “the Coming of the Lord is drawing near.” He who is love is coming. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, all that is not love will suddenly be gone. All the hopelessness. All the cruelty and oppression of the rich and powerful over us peasants. The Sun of Love will suddenly appear and all the darkness of this earthly night will be dispelled forever. And what will be rewarded? “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but that is enormously encouraging to me. I need to keep reminding myself that love is all that matters. No matter how bleak the world, I need to let love shine from my heart. When Love comes -- and He will – then love itself will be our reward. So let us keep on loving. Let us establish our hearts in this resolve; let us set the fencepost of our minds in the concrete of this determination – to love no matter what. May it make us brave. “Be kind and have courage,” she said.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you should love one another. As I have loved you, so also you should love one another.”

Yes. I am easily shaken, but love doesn’t have to be.

Yes. God help me. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

James 5:7,8 – “Pondering Patience”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Look! The farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being patient upon it, until he receives [the] early and latter [rains]. ⁸You, also, be patient and establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.

Patience. Staying under it. Staying calm.

It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience …” It’s one of the qualities God calls us to cultivate – “Be patient therefore brothers …” – and yet it is a fruit of the Spirit – something we cannot manufacture. “Against such things there is no law.” A fruit of the Spirit is a work of the Spirit. Even as I type, I don’t know in this case, how the two work together – how I can somehow “work” at learning to be calm and patient while at the same time realizing it is a work of the Spirit and something I can’t produce. Hmmmmm. So I’ll keep praying and thinking and doing whatever seems right and see if He shows me something …

I like what Jay Adams says about this call to patience: “It is a command to become impervious to pressure; it is a call to abandon all spiritual weaknesses that cause us to fall apart when the waiting is long and the struggle is intense.”

“Impervious to pressure.” Yes. That is it. That is what I want to become. My heart is convinced all that matters is to love God and love people, that I can be totally confident in my good and wise God. Yet, when I face the calamities of life, that same heart goes to pieces, and this awful engine of fear and worry winds up to about 10,000 RPM inside of me and sucks the very life and energy out of me. “Impervious to pressure.” That’s exactly what we should be. And why not? The Lord is on His throne and He is coming.

Hmmmm. One thing I think worth noting is that, for a Christian, being “impervious to pressure” means keeping up our love, our sweet spirit, staying faithful at whatever are our responsibilities in life, keeping up that confidence in God, even in the face of seemingly intense pressures. It is worth pointing out, I think, that this is patently not what many would resort to – the hard-heartedness, indifference, or stoicism, the “I have no choice anyway. It is what it is. There’s no use fighting it. I don’t see it changing anyway …” James’ call is to “establish your hearts.” Your hearts. As usual, the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. The change that must occur is in our hearts, not just our behavior. It is a change in how we view the situation, what we’re thinking. So “impervious to pressure” doesn’t just mean whatever we want to make it. It is a change in our hearts that, therefore, allows us to live above whatever may be going on around us.

James calls us to consider two things – the example of a farmer and the Coming of the Lord. I guess I’ve never noticed before how the work of a farmer is really a grand fractal of life itself: He has much work to do. He must clear the ground, then plow it and plant it. Then he must weed it and protect it from pests. When it is ready he must go out and harvest it. He does all this while he has no control at all over how seeds in the ground germinate, how plants grow, whether or not it rains or the sun shines. Sounds just like my dilemma above – how the Lord wants me to “work” and yet the work itself is a fruit of the Spirit. But I guess most of all, He’s wanting us to see how it is a “working and waiting” sort of endeavor. It is something we must “stay at” regardless of the many, many things that could (and might) go wrong, in spite of the many things that do go wrong. A farmer simply has to “stay at it.”

And we live knowing that the Lord is coming. Somehow, we have to keep in mind this is all for Him. “And whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ.” The Master will return. Then all that will matter is how we served Him. “He who rides to be crowned will not mind a rainy day” – John Trapp.

It all makes perfect sense.

I just don’t seem to know how to make it “work” as I face those calamities, how to turn off the engine churning inside me. Oh, well. No matter. I am confident the Lord is teaching me all of this, running me through all these “calamities” because He has every intention of changing me from the inside out. Once again, I will go on praying, and studying, and trying to do what seems to be right, and “wait and see what He will show me.”

Patience.

James 5:7,8 – “The Coach”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Look! The farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being patient upon it, until he receives [the] early and latter [rains]. ⁸You, also, be patient and establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.

The opening words of verse 7 further convince me that vv1-6 were spoken to the wicked rich, not believers. Here in v7, he immediately says, “Therefore, brothers …” In so doing, it seems to me he is addressing a different group.

Before I dive into v7, another thought I want to include is that vv1-6 too often apply to people who call themselves Christians. The British Empire called itself Christian but they were to the people they ruled every single line of vv1-6. They ruled their colonies in complete godless cruelty while naming the naming of Jesus, in spite of the fact that James 5:1-6 was in the very Bible they so claimed to advance. I have also seen far too many “church” people in my life whose business dealings were anything but Christian. All of this is very sad, because those “business” dealings, to a large extent, are the single largest exposure we have to people who need the Lord. Our work lives ought to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” in all things, but too often just “give the enemies of the Lord cause to blaspheme.” God help us all to live our faith 24/7, especially in all our business dealings.

Unfortunately, there will always be the wicked rich and too many of them will call themselves Christian … therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. This brings us back to the vv7,8.

Life is full of hardships. One among those many is the oppressions of the rich and powerful over the rest of us peasants. But, without those hardships, we’d still have plenty to suffer. Life is simply hard. So James returns to the subject of patience with which he opened this book (1:3-12). There he specifically used the word for “endurance” or “perseverance” – staying under the fight, while here he uses the word more commonly translated “patience.” It has more the meaning of being “slow to burn.” For myself, the two words are so close to synonymous; I won’t make much of the distinction here.

It’s interesting to me that James, in a sense, begins and ends his book with calls to patience. For myself, when I started this study I was struggling with the workload at my job. James’ words in chapter 1 really helped me to keep my head up, keep loving people, and to stay positive. Now, over two years later, the workload is far more intense and I’m struggling more than ever. So here I find myself wading into the next section of James, and what do I find? A call to patience. I see that little smile on the Lord’s face and those knowing eyes. The old sneak. “Yes, Don. This is what I’m trying to teach you. I want you to learn how to carry a heavy workload and yet keep trusting and keep loving.” And I would tell Him, “Thank you. I want to be different. I want to be stronger.” And I am so glad I’ve got a coach that never gives up on me – one who “has begun a good work and will continue it …”

So what have I learned in the last two years? I think I have particularly come to realize the problem is entirely within myself. In other words, the problem really isn’t the workload or the deadlines or anything else. The problem is how I see them, how I respond to them, how I think about them. That realization is itself encouraging because I have every confidence that the Lord will eventually teach me something to totally alter how I think and allow me to live above it all. I spent one weekend completely freaked out about something and went into work Monday morning expecting my boss to be on the warpath. When I greeted him, he was his usual calm self, and when I mentioned whatever it was that I thought was a huge problem, he just shrugged his shoulders and said something like, “Oh, we’ll work through it.” Here we are, both facing the exact same problem. If anything, he has more responsibility in it than I do. I’m freaked out and he’s just calmly going about his life. That was one of the times the Lord really, really clearly showed me that the problem is me.

And so the Lord brings me back again to the subject of patience.

As I wade into vv7,8, I do so far more keenly aware that the problem is within me. I definitely haven’t conquered it. If anything it’s worse. But I wade into these verses hopeful that He will teach me and that I’ll either move some new step closer to putting this behind me, or perhaps He will drop one of His atom bombs on my brain and finally allow me some quantum leap of improvement.

The Coach is still at it. I’m so glad He doesn’t give up. It is great to be on His team.

James 5:1-6 – “Hearts and Steady Hands”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Come now, [you] the rich ones, weep howling upon your miseries, the ones coming. ²Your wealth has rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be into a witness to you and will eat your flesh as fire. You laid up treasure in [the] last days. ⁴Look! The wages of the workers who reaped your fields which were withheld by you are crying out, and the cries of the harvesters have entered into the ears of [the] Lord of Sabaoth. ⁵You have lived luxuriously on the earth and you have lived in excess. You nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned [and] murdered the righteous one. He is not opposing you.

Wow. What a passage. Wow. I’ve read this for years and never knew quite what to do with it. Wow. Words that ought to register about a 10.5 on the Richter Scale of our hearts. Wow.

It has been the perennial affliction of the human race that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer until finally the whole wretched affair collapses in some horrible bloodbath of revolt or conquest. In a sense, in America, we have been sheltered from this evil by the economic predominance of a prosperous middle class. I have, of course, through my lifetime sadly observed the slow decay of that middle class, knowing my history well enough to know exactly where this is headed – to the same broken pattern it has followed throughout human history. It will only get worse, not better, until finally we join our ancestors in the certain outcome – another bloodbath.

What I have never realized is just how much God is aware of the problem and just how much He hates it, how that ultimate collapse is actually His very predictable judgment on the monstrously wicked, cruel, and oppressive system we invariably create. I’ve known for years that God hates oppression and social injustice, but in my mind I’ve never connected it with the whole rich/poor cultural divide. I think about passages like Isaiah 58:6,7:

⁶Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

The Lord in this passage is speaking to people who “have” and calling them to share out of their “have” with those who “have not.” What He is clearly calling us to in this and a thousand other passages like it is to care about people less fortunate than ourselves and to share out of our abundance to relieve their want. This is the heart of a true believer and, think about it, to do this is to distance ourselves from the very problem God is addressing in our passage from James. What is the Lord really doing in our passage except reproving people who have utterly disregarded the heart of Isaiah 58:6,7?

The Lord would have us all to know that it us utterly unchristian for anyone to run a business, make profits, and then hoard it all for themselves while the people around them, and particularly the people who work for them, suffer want. The rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, when he brought in a great crop, said to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops … This is what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods …” Of course God said to him, “You fool. Tonight shall your soul be required of you.” People around him were starving, and all he could think of to do with “more” crops is to build bigger barns to store them in. The same was true of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man “was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day,” while right at his gate was laid “a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:19,20). The man had hoarded his wealth and lived in luxury while another man at his very gate would have been happy if he could just eat the rich man’s garbage.

I guess I’ve never thought just how much God hates this.

Hmmmm. As I type I am very thankful that I grew up in a generous family. My parents and pretty much my entire family have never been rich people, but they’ve always been willing to share what little they had with others. That makes it a lot easier for me to see what God is wanting here. It’s the world I grew up in.

I suppose I should inject here that I do not think James is speaking to believers, although his words should go to each of our hearts. James is not writing to a church. He is writing to the “Twelve Tribes,” the Jewish people, and when speaking to the Jewish people, Jesus Himself could mentally break away from His disciples and directly address “the rich,” as in Luke 6:24ff, “Woe to you who are rich …”

I also want to note the four particular problems James addresses, which are:

1.      Hoarding --  ³Your gold and silver have rusted ...You laid up treasure in [the] last days.

2.      Cheating people -- ⁴Look! The wages of the workers who reaped your fields which were withheld by you are crying out…

3.      Self-indulgence -- ⁵You have lived luxuriously on the earth and you have lived in excess.

4.      Cruelty -- ⁶You have condemned [and] murdered the righteous one. He is not opposing you.

One last thing, always worth noting, is that it isn’t a sin to be rich. The Bible is full of people who were wealthy particularly because of the Lord’s blessings – Abraham, Job, Boaz, David, Solomon, and on. When addressing the Christian rich, Paul instructs Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (I Tim 6:17-19).

The problem, of course, is that “it takes a steady hand to carry a full cup,” and few of us seem to have a very steady hand. Unfortunately, “wealth” in any form tends to be our ruin. But this very issue leads us all back to our hearts. “My son, give me thine heart, for out of it are the issues of life.” The Lord wants our hearts whether we have wealth or not. If we give Him our hearts, if we would have His heart for the people around us (and under us), then with or without wealth, we’ll live the love that life is really all about and certainly not fall into the horrible judgment portrayed in our passage in James.