Sacred Waiting

Welcome again to Twin Lakes Church. My name is Valerie. I'm one of the pastors on staff here and whether coming to Twin Lakes is a part of your every Sunday routine or maybe you're visiting grasping on to the last few precious days of summer or maybe you're just checking church out today, I am glad you're here and you are welcome here.

Well do me a favor and go ahead and pull out the sermon notes that are in the bulletin that you were handed on the way in this morning. We are in a summer series called Every Day Sacred in the biblical book of James and the arc of the book of James is that James is telling us that our faith is not just for when we're in this building. What we believe should impact everything we do every moment of our lives and really make every day sacred.

And the passage that we're going to study today in the book of James, I love it that I can say this with full assurance, literally impacts every single person in this room because today we're going to talk about sacred waiting, patience, everybody's favorite topic. And when we talk about waiting the thing that goes through my mind first are really scenes like this. Check out the screen. How at the DMV? Flash is the fastest guy in there. You need something done. He's on it. I hope so. We are really fighting the clock and every minute counts. Wait. They're all slots? I cannot take it anymore.

I have watched that clip many times and every time I feel my blood pressure go up a little. The sense of panic rises in me. Does anyone else out there feel that same way when they see that kind of slowness? That kind of waiting and that's kind of the garden variety waiting that we do every day. You know, waiting for technology which we all do every day. Waiting in traffic. A gift that every one of us has in this county. Or maybe we're waiting in line or we're waiting on somebody who's running late which you may have had to even practice this morning.

But today's passage isn't really about those kinds of waits. Those kinds of annoyances that come our way in life. What James is going to be talking about today is how do we handle the deep waits of life. How do we handle the waits of life and the suffering that comes from a desire that's unfulfilled. Or maybe we are stuck because somebody else made a stupid choice and we find ourselves just waiting and suffering and we're in pain. And that wait may not always be right up in your face but it is always right on your heart. It's just right there.

I've had those waits. From the time I was about 20 until just a few years ago God and I were in a very ongoing conversation about the fact that I wanted to have kids. I wanted to have lots of kids. I always imagined in my life when I was little that I would have a ton of kids because I love kids and I love a good organizational challenge and so it just kind of felt like it went together and that's what I always wanted out of life. And I waited and I waited and I waited. I watched it happen all around me and I waited and I waited and I waited until the moment more like the surgery that meant it would never happen.

And I know in this room we all have waits. May not be that exact wait but you're probably thinking of something right now. A deep wait. Maybe right now you find yourself in a wait like that. Maybe there's just a pain in your life right now in a relationship and it just doesn't seem to be healing. Just doesn't seem to be going away. Maybe somebody you love deeply made a choice and you're waiting. Their choice has impacted your life and now you just kind of feel stuck or maybe you're waiting through an illness right now. I know have you ever seen our prayer list that's out in the lobby? There are a ton of people going through all kinds of illnesses and things in this church or maybe you are just waiting today and you don't even exactly know why but you just feel stuck and overwhelmed and you are just waiting. That deep wait.

The Bible talks a lot about the deep waits of life especially in the Psalms like the verse at the top of your notes from Psalm 130 that says, "I wait for the Lord my whole being waits." Have you ever had that feeling? "My whole being waits and in his word I put my hope." Or there are a lot of Psalms that begin with these words. How long, O Lord? How long? I mean that's a Psalm you can quote for memory probably. We've all said that.

Well today we're gonna see what James has to add to this discussion about the deep waits of life. So if you have your Bible with you go ahead and open it up to James 5. We're gonna be in verses 7 through 12 today. If you don't have your Bible all the verses you need are either in your notes or they're gonna be up on the screen there. And before we kind of take this passage apart little by little I want to read the whole thing so we don't kind of miss the arc of what James is saying.

Starting in verse 7, "Be patient then brothers and sisters until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too be patient and stand firm because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another brothers and sisters or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door. Brothers and sisters as an example of patience in the face of suffering take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Above all my brothers and sisters do not swear not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple yes or no otherwise you will be condemned."

So in those six short verses James uses the word wait or patience seven times. So we don't have to guess his theme. James is going to show us in this passage in the deep waits of life. How do we wait well? And he starts right out of the gate in verse seven and he says be patient then and that little word then gives us the context for this passage. He's referring back to the first six verses that we studied a couple weeks ago. Those first six verses that are an absolute scathing rebuke on people who obsess on wealth and then use their money to oppress and hurt other people who don't have the same advantages or the same opportunities.

And in between all those rebukes there's this clear thread that judgment is coming. Those people who oppress others will not win. Judgment is coming. So James is saying to this group of predominantly new young Jewish believers be patient. Be patient then. We know God's gonna act. Be patient just a little bit longer. And so in that context he continues on and I think the first thing we see in these verses is that when it comes to waiting well James is encouraging us to wait with expectation. If you're a note-taker you may want to write that down. Number one wait with expectation.

And he goes on in verse seven and he says be patient then until the Lord's coming. Okay that feels like an undefined timeline. Until the Lord's coming. This was written 2,000 years ago. I don't want a 2,000 year wait thank you very much but that's the timeline that James gives us in this passage. Wait expectantly because the Lord is coming. The Bible tells us clearly and often not just in this passage that there will come a day when God essentially hits restart on this entire thing. The Lord is coming and when he comes part of our expectation is he's gonna set this all right. All the injustices that James referred to in the first six verses. All of the suffering. All of the pain. All of your waits. All of your questions. All set right. Once and for all.

You know down here on this earth we hope for. We strive for and we should strive for justice. We should strive to alleviate suffering but the best and sweetest justice that we get here on earth. The best alleviation of suffering that we find here on earth is only temporary because it's still a broken world but when Jesus comes it'll all be set right and James wants the surety of this truth to be the thing that just fuels our sense of expectation and he wants this to be the thing that strengthens our patience.

And then he goes on and he gives us a metaphor to help us understand what this kind of expectant waiting looks like and he says wait like a farmer waits. Now we all kind of get that metaphor we all have probably a basic understanding of seed and dirt and water and sun and things like that I mean we all probably planted a bean in a cup in elementary school and so we were farmers we essentially we figured it out. I'm from Seattle and so I am hardly a farm girl but my mom comes from a long line of Nebraska farmers and so I have been around farming and one thing I noticed immediately is when you are on the farm everything on the farm revolves around the crop.

The chores revolve around the crop. Everything revolves around the crop even when the crop is not in the ground and farmers work so hard oh my goodness dawn to dust can't believe how hard farmers work and I think those are actually the days they like best because then there are entire seasons of just waiting of staring at that field of wondering what's going on under there they can't see what God is doing they just wait with that expectation the farmer's weight and James is saying to us in this passage have that same mindset have that patience to believe that even under all that dirt that God is doing something resist the temptation to go out and dig up the seed every day to dig up the weight every day go have they changed yet have they changed yet have they changed yet it's gonna kill the seed it's gonna kill the situation he's saying wait like a farmer waits.

He goes on in verse 8 and he says you too be patient stand firm because the Lord's coming is near and those two words stand firm in the original language Greek which is what the book of James was written in they have this sense of resoluteness stand resolute it's the same word that's used in Luke 9:51 when Jesus goes back to Jerusalem and he knows it's time for the cross and it says in Luke 9:51 that he resolutely set out for Jerusalem has this sense of determination to it and James is saying wait resolutely wait with an expectant recalibrated heart that is fixed on Jesus and his return and he says it again the Lord's coming is near and we can stand firm and wait resolutely because this isn't it as fantastic as life is sometimes as great as it is to live in Santa Cruz and it is really awesome to live in Santa Cruz this isn't it there's more and so what enables us to stand firm is that we know that there is more the Lord's coming is near.

Now the problem for me and maybe you can relate to this when it comes to waiting expectantly is I'm happy to wait expectantly I am expecting God to say yes and I am perfectly happy to wait for him to give me exactly what I want but James is reminding us today that we don't wait in expectation for our way we wait for our Lord. We don't wait in expectation for God to rubber stamp everything we say we wait in expectation for our Lord the Lord who is going to set all things right that when he returns Revelation 21 says he will wipe every tear from our eyes every tear from the pain of suffering and waiting he will wipe from our eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain or waiting thank God for the old order of things is gone and that is where we set our hope in the dark valleys of life that is where you set your expectation in the weight that you're thinking of right now that's it right there.

Now we're gonna skip over verse 9 for a minute don't don't panic you people who like to go in order I'm just gonna ask you to be patient get to apply the sermon right now for a moment and we're gonna go to verses 10 and 11 where I think that secondly we see James encouraging us in the weights of life to wait with perseverance to wait with perseverance says in verses 10 and 11 brothers and sisters as an example of patience in the face of suffering take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as you know we count as blessed those who have persevered you have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

So James has taken us from patience to perseverance up the anti on us a little bit perseverance is that thing that takes deep root in the weights of life perseverance is the exact opposite of almost everything happening in society right now which is becoming more and more and more instant instant instant perseverance is the crock pot in the fast society that we live in it's that stuff that goes deep and it's hard oh my goodness when I am in a weight in life the last thing I want is to persevere I want out I want to be done I don't want to persevere you know I honestly sometimes in the weights of life I wait with all the peace and patience of a fly that is trapped between a screen and a window just buzzing buzzing buzzing buzzing buzzing trying to get out and James is calling us here not to be frantic he's calling us to persevere in the weights of life.

And he gives us three examples here he says first hey take a look at the prophets and the prophets that James is referring to here are the men and the women who God used before Jesus's birth to encourage to come alongside and to warn Israel prophets like Isaiah who has this hilarious story when God calls him to speak to Israel in Isaiah 6 he tells Isaiah upfront I want you to speak for me and nobody's gonna listen to you for almost 30 years some of you parents right now are thinking hey I'm a prophet nobody's listened to me for 30 years either this is great but God says no Isaiah speak the truth nobody's gonna listen to you persevere or how about Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah when God tells him go tell the people of Israel to work for to be all about the health and the peace and the safety of the people and the land who are currently holding you captive they're captive and God's telling them no work for the peace of this land that you're captive in and Israel collectively basically tells Jeremiah uh-uh not gonna do it as a matter of fact a group of them actually goes out to try to kill Jeremiah and that's the life of a prophet they have to persevere they rarely see the end of what they're talking about and so they persevere and James says exhibit a everybody take the life of the prophet.

And I think about that and I think I don't want to take the life of the prophet is there another example you have for me perhaps James and James says yes how about Job let's think about Job we are not heading in the right direction here now not many of us like to drive into Job story because in case it's contagious we just don't even want to go there but there is a whole book of the Bible devoted to Job story even if you haven't read the book of Job you've probably heard the phrase the patience of Job because Job persevered I mean this guy lost everything he lost more than everything he lost everything you could possibly lose he lost his physical health and you know what he never got an answer for any of this but he persevered he persevered and I love that James says the Lord finally because I'm willing to believe that Job was also using the word finally the Lord finally brought about a restoration even though there was no answer the Lord finally brought about a restoration of all that Job had lost and God's compassion and God's mercy were on full display in that moment he persevered.

And I love that James even invites us into this he asked us to think of people we know who have persevered it says we count as blessed those who persevere in suffering and I know a lot of you in this room and I'm looking around and I know there are people in this room right now listening to me people in venue listening to me who have gone through deep and dark valleys or who are currently sitting in God's waiting room they are currently there and when you think about the people you know who have persevered do you think oh man they're fools they should have figured that out sooner no or do you think oh they're weak I can't believe they couldn't get out of that no those are some of the strongest people we know we want to be like those people and James is telling us that when we persevere we can be one of those people we can be an encouragement to the other people that are around us.

You know God calls us to be together in community not just because he wants to take a head count of who's following him or what's going on God calls us to be in community for a lot of reasons and one of them is because we need to encourage each other and when you persevere in the weights of life you will be a blessing you will be a blessing to the people around you.

But there is a temptation that comes when we persevere a strong temptation and I think that's why the third thing James does in this passage is encourage us to wait with integrity he encourages us to wait with integrity and I actually think this might be the hardest part because when we are in the waiting room of life the last thing we want to do again is just sit there we want out and we will figure a way out if God is not working with our calendar if God is not accepting our Google appointments that we are sending him then we will just take the reins and figure this out for ourselves and if we lose a little integrity along the line well oh well somebody's got to get something done so that's how it's gonna go.

In verse 9 James encourages us he says don't grumble against one another brothers and sisters or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door and in verse 12 he says above all my brothers and sisters do not swear not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple yes or no otherwise you will be condemned. Looky there big part of integrity in this passage comes down to how we use our words this is a theme that goes through the whole book of James and if we are going to wait well in life a lot of how we wait is going to come down to how we use our words while we are waiting while we are persevering.

And isn't it interesting in James in verse 9 he uses this idea again that the Lord's coming is near only this time it's as a warning reminding us that our words don't just have a momentary consequence that they have an eternal consequence and that we're accountable for how we use our words this is no small thing and also in verse 9 I think James here is taking away what is almost our favorite sport when we are waiting and that is grumbling murmuring griping if we're gonna be in the waiting room of life we are at least gonna have a good running commentary to amuse ourselves while we wait and James says no don't grumble against each other don't murmur about the people in the waiting room don't murmur about the person who may be their choice you feel like put you right smack dab in that waiting room don't grumble about that thing don't grumble against each other don't grumble against somebody's perceived inaction because remember the farmer maybe God's doing something under the soil that you cannot see yet.

Now I would encourage you in the waiting rooms of life you go ahead and take all your words to God he knows what you're thinking so you might as well just tell him anyway just take them all to God but don't just dump your words and run stay there ask God to change your words ask God to change the way you tell yourself the story of your weight ask God to change your heart in that moment because you know your words are powerful this verse is telling us that and especially the words you say to yourself when you are in the waiting room of life have power so ask God to help you with that.

You know I caught myself this week grumbling against somebody it's really always depressing when you just catch yourself applying the scriptures that you're studying right there now I will say also in my defense I was grumbling against somebody on behalf of a friend who is in the waiting room of life so I was hoping it would be okay but I knew quickly that it's not okay integrity means that we do not grumble we don't whine we don't gripe we bring all that to God but we don't grumble against one another.

And then in that last verse in the section James reminds us of the words we say in our commitments while we're waiting matter when you are in the waiting room of life when you are stuck you are suffering you are over it you are ticked off the temptation is to run around and play let's make a deal with everybody around you and James says no don't run around swearing and in this particular instance he's referring to taking the Lord's name in vain don't run around making oaths by God's name you know your mother's grave whatever you can think of don't swear by anything don't run around playing let's make a deal don't make commitments you have no intention to keep it because you think that little thing might get you out of this situation sooner let your yes be yes and your no be no and here James is quoting Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus says the same thing even more simply in Matthew 5 he said all you need to say is simply yes or no anything beyond this comes from evil.

And you know with the more words we say the better chance we're gonna fall into evil the better chance your words will condemn you you know I work very closely with Mark Spurlock who's another pastor on staff here and those of us who work with Mark know that Mark is a man a few words he's very circumspect so basically every meeting I have with Mark looks something like this Mark says 500 words and I say approximately 5,000 words in the same amount of time at the end of the meeting most likely I am the one who is apologizing for some of those words because I've just said too many of them I have not let my yes be yes and my no be no too many words and we will be condemned by them I promise you and James is saying just keep it simple keep it simple here.

And you know waiting with integrity is so hard I promise you that as you persevere in the waiting rooms of life your integrity will be taxed you will be tempted to shortcut the waiting room you will think you will be tempted to think surely God does not want me to miss out on this I can just find my own way if I just maneuver this a little say that a little pull this edge in a little and I can slide right on out of here with exactly what I want but I want to encourage you today to stay in that waiting room to not miss what God can only do in you and for you in the waiting room of life to not miss the opportunities to be a blessing to people in the waiting room of life to not miss the deep fulfillment that comes when you obey through grit and tears and pain and suffering in the waiting room of life.

You know we are not God some of you may need to write that down in your notes this morning and you may think that that little exercise René has us do sometimes where we go God not you may think well it's amusing or it's kind of simplistic but when you are in the waiting room of life let me just tell you the temptation is to mess that thing up all day every day and to forget who is God and who is not God and to take matters into your own hands and have your integrity tempted folks we are not the answer to our weight we don't want to be the answer to the question how do I get out of this we don't want to be that person.

And I want to encourage you maybe you're listening to me today and you're thinking well Val I wish I would have heard this last week or I wish I would have heard this a year ago or ten years ago it's too late for me I already did the shortcut and now I'm paying the consequences for my manipulation for my control of the situation I get it I have been there I have opted for the shortcut and I want to remind all of us today what James reminds us of here and that is that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy yes we are accountable but greater and over all of that is the compassion and the mercy of the Lord compassion for that pain that you are experiencing compassion for maybe the guilt that you suffer and feel in your life maybe in compassion for the panic the rising panic of how long will I be here will this turn out okay what about that decision what about that but he has compassion for the fact that every day you feel like your hopes and dreams are maybe slipping away just a little bit more every single day while you wait and he's full of mercy he's so full of mercy too.

You know Jesus our Savior is not unacquainted with sorrow he's not unacquainted with suffering imagine he was God in the flesh walking on earth and in that moment he had all the power to fix everything he had all the righteousness to judge right then and there and imagine all the injustice he saw and how tempting it must have been to just go you know what restart starts now but he was patient he did not shortcut the cross because what would have happened to us if he had been impatient we'd be lost we'd be lost but Jesus didn't do that he was patient he waited because he has compassion and mercy on all of us.

And that really leads us right into our big idea for today when we are in these waiting rooms of life the temptation is to look down at all the things all the details all the wise the wares how do I get out of this the temptation is to look around at the people around us and think hey they came in the waiting room after me how come they're getting out sooner than me this isn't fair the temptation is just to look down but I want to encourage you today in the waiting rooms of life look up and remember who Jesus is and what he has done.

Remember who Jesus is and what he has done because you know we say that a lot here and you're probably thinking can you guys not think of another big idea let me just tell you though this is a big idea in life shift your focus from yourself your weights what I want what I desire and remember who Jesus is and what he has done. When we remember who Jesus is with all of his mercy and compassion you know what it calms you in the weight it sets you it makes you resolute as you are going through that and it opens your eyes to what God is doing even while you wait even in the waiting room of life.

You know I talked earlier about wishing that I could have had children and how that didn't happen and I was thinking this week if I had fixed my eyes on that pain if I had decided to make that the focus of my life I would have missed what God has done in that waiting room I get to be aunt Valerie to more kids than I could have ever possibly had I get to watch and be in community with some of the coolest humans that God has ever created I get to be the cool aunt who's not opposed to ice cream before dinner and who's always there on the speed dial or the text with hopefully wisdom and love when they need to talk to somebody who's not mom or dad.

But if all I did was focus on what I didn't get on what I lost I would miss the deep joy that these kids are to me and you know honestly you get you know you get older and I'm getting older I'm like one of the lucky ones I'm getting older and you look back and you know honestly right now I think I can say with all integrity I wouldn't change the way God did it for getting my way because I love these kids they're awesome and if I had gotten my way might not be like this.

When we focus and remember who Jesus is and what he has done it allows us to also open our eyes to what he is doing right now in our lives and you know this Jesus that we focus on who he is full of compassion full of mercy the same compassion and mercy that James was talking about 2,000 years ago is who Jesus is today the Bible says he is the same yesterday today and forever the power that he has to help us to root us in the waiting rooms of life is the same power James was talking about then it's the same power you have today and the same power that will be there tomorrow if we're still waiting another 2,000 years it's the same.

What God has done in the past he can do again think of all that God has done in your life think of all the things we read about in the Bible that God has done I mean this is the God who parts the seas holds back the Sun moves the mountains raises the dead heals the sick that's the God we're remembering what he has done think of who he is again the compassion and the mercy that he has for you and you know even if your weight is one where you have to wait until the Lord's return you know what it's okay because remembering who Jesus is and what he has done is gonna root your perseverance and it's gonna keep you up on your tiptoes waiting and expectancy for God and it's going to strengthen your integrity while you wait.

While we wait as the missionary Jim Elliott said on him for whom it is no vain thing to wait. Let's pray. To your heavenly father I know that in a room this size over in venue there are a lot of people dealing with deep waits there are a lot of people who've been in the waiting room a long time and are beginning to wonder are you even there.

Lord I pray that first and foremost you would fill people today with a sense of your presence with them that by the power of your Holy Spirit you are with them even in the waiting room. God I pray for people who are waiting today who are in pain today that you would grant them an additional measure of patience and Lord for those of us who maybe don't feel right in a waiting room right now Lord I pray that you would grant us the gift of encouragement the gift of coming alongside those who we know who are in the waiting room of life.

God we are grateful that you are full of compassion and full of mercy and we admit together today that we need your compassion we need your mercy. God give us the ability to remember who you are help us to remember all that you've done in our lives help us to believe that you are the same yesterday today and forever and that you will do and be who you are as long as we walk this earth and longer. God we give ourselves to you today we give our waits to you we ask you to use us even in the waiting rooms of life in Jesus name.