Meditation on James 5:7-10

James 5:7-10

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Although many have found this epistle to be hard to accept as authentically canonical, including Martin Luther, who referred to it as an “epistle of straw” because it did not do as much as the Gospel of John and Romans, for example, the illuminate God as Luther understood God. In particular, the problem from the Lutheran viewpoint in regard to James in found in James is found in chapter 2:

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. ²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Given Luther’s emphasis on faith alone--“sola fide”-- as being the basis of God’s justice and salvation, sections like this had to drive Luther nuts. And yet, shouldn’t faith also draw us to amend our lives and to act in certain ways? I particularly read verses 14-16 and think of all the claims being made by some in our society that one can be a good Christian and have no obligation to the poor. Sit down and read James in its entirety—it’s short, and won’t take long—and you will see all kinds of good advice. For instance here’s a verse that speaks to me: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” –James 3:1

No kidding.

And that’s the thing about this epistle—it’s filled with practical advice for real people. Real people whom the author speaks to, trying to coax the inner saint out of them.

And the advice contained in the small snippet we have this week is certain filled with good advice: Be patient (v. 7-8a). Have heart (v. 8b). Extend love and don’t find fault with those among the fellowship of believers who need it most, and only be as harsh in judging as you would want to be judged (v. 9). James then holds up the Biblical prophets as exemplar of patience in suffering. As we shall see, this will fit nicely with our encounter with John in today’s gospel—for he in prison.

What is interesting and important here are the six verses that precede today’s reading. It is a pretty vehement denunciation of the wealthy. Thus the suffering we read about in our reading could be referring to those who are oppressed by the wealthy and powerful. But no matter what the context, the message in our reading is practical, and powerful. The denunciation is prophetic on a day when our reading place us squarely within the prophetic witness.

Be patient. By now, we have spent three Sundays in Advent—waiting and preparing. Admit it—all of your neighbors are asking you if you are ever planning to decorate for Christmas, and your explanations about keeping Advent have made them look at you like a weirdo, a killjoy, a scrooge, what with all that talk of the cross and the coming of judgment and broods of vipers and whatnot. Some of us may have chucked it all and gone out and bought the tree. But wait. There is a holy expectation here. We live in a time where we want what we want and we want it now! How better to rebel and to refocus oneself on the true meaning of Christmas if not to hold off on rushing headlong into the celebration of an event that will actually shake the earth at its foundations?

Be patient. Wait.