“Patient…as the farmer who waits for rain”

Meditation on James 5:7-11; 13-16

“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. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

    Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

      Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

      The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (James 5:7-11; 13-16)

***

    My first encounter with the Serenity Prayer was when I was 11 or 12. I was feeling disappointed or frustrated about something, and my mother gave me this prayer on a plaque.

   It went like this:

“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

        My mom gave me this prayer thinking it would encourage me.

        But I was a fiesty pre-teen who was not ready to hear that I would have to accept some things I didn’t like.  I saw injustice and things that needed changing.

       And there seemed to be too much that was out of my control.

       I wanted assurance that things would change, someday. And that I could bring about some of the changes I thought needed to be made.

      It was before I was living for Christ and seeking to follow Him.  I was looking to change everything except for myself, the one thing that I could have and should have changed.

      I didn’t know to trust that God had planned a wonderful future —if only I were patient and trusted Him.

      I didn’t understand that life wasn’t supposed to be easy—not if you want to live in the suffering, self-giving example of Christ.  The call to pick up our crosses and follow goes against our natural inclination and what the world tells us.

     I didn’t understand that I would have to endure hardship – and learn to persevere in hope.

     I didn’t understand the power of prayer, the wonderful gifts of the Spirit—such as patience—and the peace of submitting to God’s will.

***

    

    The churches that heard James’ letter also needed to learn patience and to persevere in hope, despite suffering.

   James uses an example that would be familiar and understood by his audience—a farmer waiting for rain.

   What could a farmer do in ancient times when his crops needed water?  Well, aside from irrigation techniques that would not work in all places and not in severe drought, a farmer could really do nothing at all. 

    Nothing but wait and hope.

    James tells us that yes—you must wait and hope during trials.  You must persevere in the faith and endure, like the prophets of old endured suffering and hardship.

    But there is something else you can do.

    You can pray.

    And the Lord who is compassionate and merciful will hear your prayer and respond.  The Spirit will even communicate your needs to God for you and give you the words to pray.

    Are any among you suffering? James asks.  They should pray….

    Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders…and have them pray…

     Prayer isn’t just something to do to fill the time while you are waiting!

     James says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up.”

     Now this doesn’t mean that if you don’t pray hard enough or with enough faith, God won’t heal the sick. That belief turns prayer into a work!  And it is faith in Christ’s work on the cross that saves us, not our good works.

    The message here in James is encouragement to pray more! That prayer actually does something.  It isn’t just a mental exercise. Prayers aren’t just nice words for Christians to say to help us feel better.

     Prayer in the Spirit will strengthen you and enable you to be patient and endure. 

    When the rain just doesn’t come.  And the wait is so long. And the crops are shriveling up.

    “The prayer of the righteous,” James says, “is powerful and effective.”

***

      Today marks the opening of a fresh season of Sunday school. 

      And what do we do at the beginning of any new work we do for the Lord?

      We pray.  We will commission the teachers and pray the Spirit will fill them and grant them wisdom. We will pray so they will know how to bring up every child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

      And we pray for ourselves—that the Spirit will fill and guide us and that we will give the teachers the support they will need. And that we, too, will work to nurture the spiritual growth of every child the Lord brings to us.

      It is our hope that the children will learn a faith that endures.

     May they discover the power of prayer, the wonderful gifts of the Spirit, gifts such as patience, and the peace of submitting to God’s will.

***

     When preparing for my sermon this week, I discovered that Reinhold Niebuhr was the author of the Serenity Prayer, publishing it in 1951. But before it was published, he included it in a sermon in 1943. The Federal Council of Churches featured the prayer a year later in a book for army chaplains and servicemen.

    Reinhold’s prayer was longer than the simple four-line version I learned.      

    The full prayer goes like this:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference;

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time; 

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.”

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, thank you for assuring us of the power of prayer and encouraging us to pray more. Teach us to pray with faith that you will hear and heal.  Thank you that we can trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. He has redeemed us, dying in our place so that we could come to you with confidence, confess, and receive forgiveness. Give us your gift of patience, Lord, for the work you lead us to do through your church. Give us wisdom to nurture the children the way you want them to go.  And may we learn to persevere in hope despite suffering and trials. In Christ we pray.  Amen.