Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 35:1-10
Gospel Lesson; Matthew 11:2-10
Sermon Text; James 5:7-11

It appears that James was writing to a group of people who were relatively poor. And, it appears that they were being quite severely oppressed by some very wealthy people. Just before this part of the text that we read, St. James talks about how there were wealthy people who were living in luxury. They were living in self-indulgence. It talks about how they weren't paying wages to the poor people, these people who were working for them. It even talks about how they were killing poor people, probably because they were starving them to death.

Then James launches into, "You wealthy people. Your wealth is going to corrode and it is going to eat your flesh." It is a picture of wealthy people oppressing these poor Christians.

James then turns to the Christians, and what does he tell the Christians to do? Does he tell the Christians, "Now, you ought to be outraged at how these wealthy people are oppressing you?" That is not at all what James says. He gives them a picture of this oppression and then he turns to the Christians and tells them to be patient until the Lord comes.

You also, as a Christian, are being oppressed. You are being oppressed. It may not be that the wealthy people, the sinfully wealthy people are oppressing you, (maybe they are, I don't know), but what we do see in today's scripture reading is that James points to two different types of oppression that happen to God's people. He uses two different examples. First of all he says,

"Brothers,

as an example of patience in the face of suffering,

take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."

Now, the prophets were people who suffered, because they were believers. They suffered, because they spoke the Word of God and people did not want to hear what they had to say. As a result, the prophets were persecuted. They were mistreated. They were thrown in prison. Some were put to death.

James is saying you, also, may be oppressed because you are a believer who is in this world. Now, the oppression that we undergo in this country is not like the oppression that James' people underwent. You are not going to be beheaded in this country for being a Christian. You are not going to be thrown in prison for talking about your Christian faith, here in this country. But, there is subtle oppression that takes place when you are a Christian. You may work in a place that is very ‘politically correct.’ And, if you ‘step out of line’ a little bit and you say something Christian, you say something about the Bible, there may be repercussions. You may feel the repercussions, very subtly. You can feel that oppression and it can be very difficult to bear up under. It can even cause resentment in your heart or vengefulness in your heart toward those who are oppressing you that way.

If you are a high school student, and you are going to a public high school, or you go to a public college, or even if you go to a Christian school, there can be oppression for living your Christian faith. People can treat you differently. They can laugh at you. They can leave you out, because you are a Christian.

If we are not careful, that can cause feelings of resentment, feelings of vengefulness, because people are oppressing us for being Christian.

It can happen, people are treating you that way not necessarily because you are a Christian, but because they are not Christians. And because they are not Christians, they have more liberties than you do. They don't have to follow the same values that you follow. They are not under the same restrictions that you are. They don't have to obey the Lord. They can say things that you would never say, that can hurt you or harm you. They can do things that you would never do. They could put down, put you under, and put you in difficult situations.

As God's people, we can look at those situations, and if we are not careful, they can cause resentment to grow in our hearts. They can cause vengefulness to grow in our hearts. Those treatments can cause us to want to get even with other people.

There is another type of oppression that can come to Christians. Again, James refers to that when he uses Job as an example. He says, "As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance."

How was Job oppressed? Job was a very, very, very wealthy man. The Bible tells us he was the greatest man in the east. He had great wealth. He had great honor. Apparently, he had great power. And the devil contested with God. The devil said to God, "The only reason Job is a believer is because he is so blessed. Of course he believes in you. You have done so much for him. But," the devil contended, "if you let me take away Job's blessings, if you let me take away all of his things, he won't believe in you, anymore."

And the Lord permitted the devil to remove those things from Job, (although the Lord did put limits on the devil). Now, the Lord knew that in the end, whatever the devil took away from Job, would not take away Job's faith, as the devil thought. The Lord knew it would serve as a strengthening, as a building up of Job's faith. But, much was taken away from Job. His entire family, his seven children were taken out in one fell swoop, and gone, dead. All of his possessions were taken away, just like that. All of his property was gone. His health was gone. He had boils so bad that he would scratch himself with broken pieces of pottery. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends turned against him.

Things like that may happen in our life. Maybe not quite to that degree, but things that can certainly cause oppression. Maybe there is high blood pressure, or insomnia, maybe the credit card bills are getting too hard to pay, maybe there is a demotion at work, maybe there is stress in the family. With all of those things, Satan thinks, "If I throw those things into your life, well, you are going to give up your faith in God."

Now, those things can cause a lot of stress in our lives, can't they? They can cause a lot of frustration in our lives. And so here, James presents his readers with all of this oppression that can come into our lives as God's people, as Christians. One of the applications he lays out before us, is

"Don't grumble against each other, brothers,

or you will be judged.

The Judge is standing at the door!"

Why does he say that? "Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!"

How is all of that oppression connected with grumbling against one another? What happens when you may be resentful because somebody is treating you a certain way? You may feel vengeful, because somebody is treating you a certain way. But, you are not going to take your vengeance out on them. You are not going to take your resentment out on them. What happens, when there are all kinds of oppression happening in your life, and you are on nerve's edge? Do you know whom you are most apt to take things out on? It is the people you love. It is your Christian family. You can snap at your family. You can lose your nerves with your family. You can lose your nerves with your fellow Christians. We can grumble against one another, because we are taking all of that pressure that the world is throwing our way, and so we take it out against one another. Scripture tells us, "Don't do that brothers."

"The Judge is standing at the door!"

It is sinful to take that resentment and that vengefulness that we have in our hearts, (which we should not have in the first place, because it is a sin), that being on nerve's edge and then turn it against our Christian brothers and sisters, or Christian family members, and pour out our sinful emotions on them.

What do we do about that, when that happens in our lives? Well, certainly, we should come to the Lord Jesus in repentance over our sin.

It is a sin to wrongfully be resentful, because somebody is hurting or harming me.

It is a sin to be vengeful, because somebody is hurting or harming me.

It is a sin to take out my frustrations on you, because things are going tough in my life.

We repent of those sins, before our Lord Jesus. And we are so thankful that we have the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. One of the great comforting sections in scripture tells us that the Lord is not impatient with us.

Thank God the Lord is patient with us!

Thank God the Lord is so patient. The Bible says,

"The Lord is patient,

not wanting anyone to perish but

everyone

to come to repentance."

The Bible says,

"The Lord's patience

means your salvation."

St. Paul talks about how infinitely patient the Lord is when he said, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst." And then he said, "For that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life."

Our Lord's patience is unlimited.

We see it in how He treated St. Paul. Paul was a blasphemer. Paul was a persecutor. Paul oversaw the putting to death to Christians. He opposed Jesus Christ. And yet, our Lord was so patient with Paul. He had unlimited patience, and our Lord brought him to repentance. Our Lord then forgave him of all those sins.

And so surely the Lord, in His unlimited patience with us, daily, fully, and freely, by His payment for our sins on the cross, forgives all our sins against one another.

And then, we go forward as God's people and say, "How can I, when the world is throwing all of this pressure at me, how can I, when Satan is throwing all of this pressure at me, how can I be patient? How can I not lose my patience against my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?"

Our scripture reading points us to these two things. Number one, knowing that you are forgiven, knowing that the Lord is so patient with you, value maturity.

Value maturity.

Listen to this example that James gives. He says, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains."

Why is the farmer so patient? The farmer values a mature crop. The farmer knows that his crop must mature. And so, the farmer knows that his crop is not going to mature, "boom!" like that, as soon as he puts the seed in the ground. The farmer knows that he needs to be patient. He needs to wait, until that maturity develops. Finally, the day of harvesting comes. And so, the farmer waits for the autumn and spring rains. But, in between those rains, he knows that it is going to be dry and there will be droughts. But, he knows what is happening to those plants, during those times of drought. He knows those plants are putting their roots deep into the soil looking for moisture. He knows that those leaves are reaching up toward the sun, trying to find nourishment up in the sun. And so, the farmer is patient, because he values maturity and he knows those plants are maturing.

The same is true in our lives. During those times of ‘drought,’ during those times when we are being oppressed, during those times when there is difficulty in our lives, we should value those as times when the Lord is maturing us. Those are times when the Lord is sending our ‘roots’ deep into His Word, looking for those promises, and grabbing on to those promises that we can cling to. Those are times when the Lord is sending us reaching up toward the ‘sun,’ His Son, Jesus our Savior, saying "Jesus help me. Jesus be with me. Be my rock. Be my refuge. Be my ever present help in every trouble."

It is a time of maturing, in the Lord. St. Paul said, "We rejoice in our sufferings." Why? "Because suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint us."

Times of suffering are times when we are maturing as God's people. And so, when those hardships come, rather than grow in our frustration, we value those. We value them as times of maturing.

The second thing that James tells us in today's scripture reading, when those times of difficulty come into your life is this. Comfort yourself, knowing the Lord is coming. Contemplate the Lord's coming. Listen to what he says, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming." And then he uses a very interesting example, when he goes back to Job. He says, "You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."

Contemplate the Lord's return. Contemplate the Lord's coming. Contemplate what is going to happen when the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior, comes back. And in order to help you contemplate that it says we should consider Job, consider his perseverance, and you "have seen what the Lord finally brought about." Do you know what the Lord brought about for Job? For over forty chapters, in the book of Job, we hear of nothing but the suffering, the terrible, terrible, terrible suffering that Job underwent. And by the Lord's grace, Job stood up. By God's grace, clinging to God's promises, clinging to God as his Redeemer, trusting in God, finally the epilogue to Job comes. After all of that suffering was over, the Bible tells us in the very last few verses of Job that when the end of that suffering came, Job was twice as blessed as he was before the suffering ever started. Now remember, I said that Job was a wealthy man. He was a powerful man. The Bible tells us that when his suffering ended, Job was granted seven more sons, and three more daughters. And, the Bible tells us those three daughters were the most beautiful women in the land. The Bible tells us Job had twice as many camels now. He had six thousand camels. He had twice as many oxen. Now he had a thousand oxen. He had twice as many sheep, as he did in the beginning. Now he had a thousand sheep. And, he had servants. He lived for another 140 years. And he was granted, by God, the grace to see his decedents down to the forth generation!

But, what is the picture? After all of that suffering, the Lord blessed Job far more than he had been blessed before it ever started. What does God promise you, His people, while you are suffering here on this earth, (and certainly there may be deep trials that we undergo)? Listen to what Jesus said to His twelve disciples. "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, (now He is talking about coming back in judgment), when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sister, or father, or mother, or children, or fields, for my sake, (now He is talking about all of the sufferings that you may have to undergo for being a Christian), everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sister, or father, or mother, or children, or fields, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."

What is the awesome promise of scripture there? The promise is that whatever sufferings we undergo in this life, whatever we lose in this life, will pale in insignificance, it is not worthy comparing to the glories that will be revealed in us, when Jesus Christ returns!

And so, we patiently wait. We patiently wait,

knowing our sins are forgiven,

knowing we have a Savior,

knowing that during times of trial, the Lord is maturing us,

and knowing that our Savior Jesus will come back and He will deliver us!

No matter how bad things are in this life, they are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us, when Jesus comes!

Come quickly,

Lord Jesus.

Amen.