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I pointed out two weeks ago that historically most human societies have been
divided between the halves and the half-naughts, that is to say the rich and the
poor. And typically what happens is the rich get richer and the poor and get
poorer. I was reminded of that again this past week as I tuned into two
unrelated news stories that both illustrated the same point. The housing market
as you know in this country has been hot for a number of years now but did you
know what segment of the market is especially hot at this point in time. It's
the multi-million dollar homes. As a home for sale in the Toronto area would you
believe it for a cool 45 million dollars. You imagine living in that? Can you
imagine justifying living in that? I read that story and I said to myself the
only way you could justify that kind of expense is to fill it up with a bunch of
orphans and use it for a good cause. Car sales. You know what category of car sales
are especially hot in the country at this point in time. It's the luxury cars.
So obviously there's lots of money around that is being spent on lots of
things. At the same time there are lots of poor people. As I put it out two
weeks ago typically what happens in human societies is not only do the rich
get richer and the poor get poorer but the rich often get richer at the
expense of the poor. That was reminded of that recently when somebody told me
the story of the effect of Western food aid in the country of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan of course has been in the news a lot because of the war but it's
also been in the news a lot because ever since 2001 the poppy growing has
really taken off. In 2001 in the heyday of the Taliban there was no poppy
growing left in the nation of Afghanistan and you know for those of you not
in tune with the drug world that produces opium and heroin currently 87% of the
world supply of opium is coming from Afghanistan. You say why? Well one reason of
course is the war on terrorism the Taliban were unseated from power they were
the ones who had eradicated the bulk of the poppy growing but there's another
reason and that is Western food aid particularly from Canada. Because of the
war the famine over there has been very extensive and Canada and other
Western nations have shipped tons and tons of wheat into Afghanistan. You say
what's wrong with shipping wheat to a hungry country? Well up until last
October 90% of the wheat that we ship to third world countries in need had to
be purchased in Canada makes good sense from our own agricultural point of
view because we typically have surpluses but you know what I did to
Afghanistan it flooded the country with donated wheat and pulled the rug out
from underneath the locally grown wheat market and plummeted the price so they
could no longer make a living growing their own wheat so guess what filled the
vacuum those pretty little flowers that can make you very happy if you can
process it into opium and heroin. Now I'm happy to report that in October of
last year because of the influence of the Christian organization Canadian
food grains bank for which we regularly take offerings here under Christian
reform world relief committee that figure of 90% has been dropped to 50% and
somewhat argue it ought to drop to 0% so that whatever the market can bear it
ought to be purchased locally as opposed to in our own country. Those are big
big issues but the point that I'm trying to make is that even when sometimes you
think you're doing somebody else good it is still very often for your own
advantage and for your own particular situation the rich get richer the poor
get poorer. So here's the question we want to try to get to this morning what do
you do when you feel that life's not fair what do you do when you find yourself in
a situation where economically or socially or in some other way you feel
treated in an unjust fashion. Well that's the subject that James now
introduces in these concluding verses of James chapter 5. In the first part of
the chapters we saw two weeks ago he's already been talking to the rich what
their responsibilities are. Now he turns to those who are disadvantaged and he
says here is what God wants you to do when you feel that life is not fair and
in the verses that we've read together this morning I find three prescriptions
that he says ought to characterize God's people in situations when life is
not fair. Here's the first we are to wait patiently listen again to verses
7 and 8 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 you to be patient and stand firm because the Lord's
coming is near. He says wait patiently for the Lord. Now to wait patiently for
the Lord is to resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands and it
is to actively look to the Lord to step into the situation and to write all
wrongs and to vindicate his own people and if you look carefully at the text
this morning you'll discover that James gives us two reasons it is important to
wait patiently for the Lord. Reason number one is that the Lord's coming is
near. He says you to be patient and stand firm because the Lord's coming is
near. All through Scripture we're told that the Lord God keeps his eyes on the
affairs of humankind and all through Scripture we're told that when things
get too much out of kilter God steps in to judge that which is wrong and to
vindicate that which is right in the Bible that is known as the day of the
Lord and when it comes to the day of the Lord it is helpful to understand that
there are multiple expressions in Scripture of the day of the Lord. The
primary definition of the day of the Lord is what we think of as the final
judgment day. Scripture tells us that God is moving towards a climactic
conclusion with human history and on that day Jesus Christ returns and when he
returns all the nations will be gathered before him. Everybody will give
account of what it is that they have done with Jesus and God is going to judge
the living and the dead. Those who through faith in Christ have been
righteous are gathered into God's eternal kingdom and those who have
rebelliously turned away from Jesus are going to be cast into the everlasting
fire. Every wrong will be righted, every injustice will be corrected and all
those who have hoped and trusted in God on that day will be vindicated which
is why Scripture constantly tells the children of God to lift up your heads
for your redemption draws not. Now remember the New Testament Church lived in the
eager anticipation of Christ's return in their own lifetime. So when James says
the Lord's coming is near he is saying to them Jesus has promised to come soon
and when he comes soon he'll straighten everything out so you don't have to
take matters into your own hands. The day of the Lord is near but the day of the
Lord in Scripture not only refers to the final judgment of God in Christ it
also refers to the ongoing judgments of God in history. God can't let it all
ride until the day of judgment because things get out of kilter too
badly and so every so often God steps into history in what the Bible calls the
day of the Lord days of judgment when God holds people accountable when God
destroys the unrighteous and when he elevates that which is righteous think of
the flood in Noah's day think of Sodom and Gomorrah being turned upside down
think of the destruction of Jerusalem in the New Testament in 8070 and if we had
the eyes to see behind the obvious facts of history we would discover that many
things that we don't understand things that don't make sense are the divine
outworking of God's judgment to keep this world on an even keel so that his
purposes may be accomplished. Why do I emphasize that? Because of the temptation
all the time for you and me is to take matters into our own hands and not wait
patiently for the Lord and whenever we do that we start a cycle because soared
begets soared killing begets killing and before you know it the whole world rides
in the pain of dysfunction and brokenness so what's our first reaction to be
when we face the reality of life that's not fair it is to wait patiently for
the Lord when the time is right God will move the Lord's coming is near and
then he gives us a second reason this is so important and that is the fact
that the harvest must ripen. For notice again how he goes on now to illustrate
what he is trying to tell us from the field of agriculture see how the farmer
waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the
autumn and spring rains you to be patient and stand firm because the
Lord's coming is near now think this through with me how does a farmer or a
gardener reap a harvest well we all know you prepare the soil you play seed
in the soil and you try to provide the conditions that are conducive for
growth the proper amount of moisture hopefully the right kind of
temperature you pluck out the weeds and the nature and the law of life is that
whatever is present in that seed is going to grow you can't make it grow you
can't make it happen all you can do is try to provide the conditions under which
it can happen and then depending on the life cycle of the crop you're growing
eventually it will come to maturity and you reap a harvest you reap a harvest
now says James the same thing is true in terms of wickedness and righteousness in
terms of human institution human organization and all other aspects of human
life everything has a life cycle that is to say you plant the seed the seed may
be a thought it may be a philosophy it may be an individual with a vision the
seed gets planted you try to provide a supportive environment where that seed
can grow soon it begins to take root soon it begins to multiply
and if you let it carry on long enough let it run through its life cycle
in the end it will fully demonstrate everything that was latently present
in the original seed now let me try to illustrate that because it is so
important for us to understand how these things work take communism in the
Soviet Union began with a Bolshevik revolution in October of 1917
Lenin was the motivating factor in overthrowing the imperial
Tsar and in establishing communism but he interred had been influenced deeply by
the writings of Marx and Engels they had written the communist manifesto I
think back in 1848 and interestingly enough both Marx and Engels at one
point in their lives were professing Christians nobody quite knows what
happened except that Marx for sure during his university years
had some kind of an anti-religious experience that made him reject every
element of faith Richard Wormbront the Romanian pastor who suffered
immeasurably under communism only to see its decline and fall
in his little book called was Karl Marx a Satanist makes a very strong
and compelling case that somewhere along the line
Karl Marx sold himself out to Satan's power and Marx's own writings seem to
bear witness to that for example in one of the poems that he wrote he said
I wish to avenge myself against the one who rules above and in one of his
poems invocation of one in despair he says so a god has snatched from me my
all in the curse and rack of destiny all his worlds are gone beyond recall
nothing but revenge is left to me I shall build my throne high overhead
cold tremendous shall it some would be for its bulwark superstitious dread
for its martial blackest agony and on and goes and you'll hear in that
shades of Lucifer's boast I will set my throne on high so whatever the history
of that was there was a seed planted in those early days that said we want to
build utopia we want to build a classless society and we're going to do it
without god and we're going to do it violently so that seed takes root in
Lenin who translates it into public policy
and who translates it into what came became communism in the then Soviet
union and you can watch its progression through the years of stall and
millions upon millions of people whose blood was shed in the pursuit
of this utopian state you could see it reach its height in the cold war
when all the world trembled under the power of the dragon
and then you could see its decline and its eventual demise in the early
90s under Gorbachev and Glassnost and today at least in Soviet Russia
there are but faint glimmerings left of that one's mighty empire
and that one's great power and I'm trying to use that as an illustration
of how organizations and nations and empires and philosophies
all have a life cycle and those life cycles must grow up
they must reach maturity and when they reach maturity
they'll reveal their full character and the harvest
can be reaped now why is this so important
because we know how to study the signs of nature
but we very seldom understand the signs of the times
Jesus put it this way he said when you see a cloud rising in the west
immediately you say it's going to rain and it does
and when the south wind blows you say it's going to be hot
and it is you hypocrites you know how to interpret the appearance of the
earth in the sky but how is it that you don't know how to interpret
this present time at any given moment
nations philosophies institutions and individuals
are at a certain point in their life cycle
and when many times it seems as if God doesn't hear and we are like the
souls under the altar in the book of Revelation and we say God how come you're
not doing anything it's because the life cycle is still in motion
if we stand firm in the end we shall say the salvation
of our God and it was more than divine irony
that Richard Wormbront with a collapse of communism
discovered that the very building that had housed
him as a prisoner in the divine irony of heaven after the decline of communism
was turned over can you believe it into a Christian bookstore
and I think in moments like that God sits in heaven
and he says I'll show you who's the boss so what do you do
when life's not fair well you ate patiently for the Lord
and then says James you got to learn not to grumble he goes on verse 9
don't grumble against each other brothers or you will be judged the judge
is standing at the door now remember this is at least the fourth time James
brings up the subject of the tongue and the reason for that we have seen
is that not only is it true of human nature in general to complain into grumble
when things go bad but it's especially the inclination
of people when life is hard we complain against God
we complain against each other we grumble and we grumble and we grumble
and we think that's perfectly natural it's too hot too cold too much rain not
enough rain my wife doesn't like me she doesn't understand me my kids are
nasty poor little old me grumble grumble grumble
perfectly natural for that reason perfectly sinful
perfectly sinful do not grumble says scripture
concerning Old Testament Israel as some of them did
and were killed by the destroying angel you know in church and in church
circles we often sort of create our own classes of sin have you ever noticed
that sort of our own version of Dante's inferno
up here are the sexual sins maybe and drunkenness and drug addiction and
and all the big bad things that happen out there murder
but then down here somewhere are the more polite sins that we
abound in in the church which is grumbling and
you know stuff of that nature well scripture says
it's all equally bad I believe scripture gives us two reasons
grumbling is such serious seed in the sight of God the first is this
it represents ultimately rebellion against God now understand there's a lot of
things that happen in the world that God's not too fussy about in fact doesn't
approve of at all and you never want to put yourself in a situation
where you blame God for the bad things that happen
that doesn't help people to develop a relationship with him or to grow in faith
there's a lot that happens that is the choice of sinful human beings
that are not the will of God that having been said
if you're a Christian and you are engrafted into Christ
and you are written on the palm of his hands you are the apple of his eye
then scripture says ultimately God is in charge
of everything that comes into your life the good
and the bad and scripture says that for those who love God and who are called
according to his purpose all things work together
for good and so when you and I criticize the divine
orderings of God when we find fault with what it is that he is doing
or allowing into our lives we are fundamentally and ultimately saying to God
you don't know what you're doing I don't trust you to run the universe and I
certainly don't trust you to run my life
that is rebellion and rebellion is as the scene
of which craft we need to repent and understand
that God is always looking at life from an eternal perspective
and that the clouds we so much dread as one of our hymns is
can actually be filled and pregnant with the blessings of God
if we will only wait long enough that we might see it
grumbling is rebellion against God grumbling defiles and hurts
other people it defiles them because it stirs up
their discontent and unhappy and as you will have noticed that as I have
your full of indignation because you feel that you have been treated unjustly
maybe maybe you have been maybe it's only your imagination
there's always that balance but you're full of it and
and you want to spill it over and so the next 10 people that you meet
are people that need to hear your sad tale of war
and wherever there is somebody in people's own hearts that resonate
with your sense of injustice you'll stir it up
and pretty soon now you've got 10 people who are all equally indignant
with you and unhappiness spreads like wildfire
and it will carry on long after you have settled your issue
with the people that you think have hurt you
see it defiles people which is why scripture tells us
to be positive about the good things that God gives us in our lives
but it not only defiles them it also hurts them
it hurts them because it drags them into fights that are not theirs
and it ultimately makes them responsible
for trying to maintain the equilibrium in your life
because now other people feel responsible for taking up your cause
and they are being drawn into something
that wasn't theirs to be drawn into
now is it easy to live that way?
is it easy to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God
when things go tough?
I'm preaching to myself as much as I'm preaching to you
when I think of Michael going for his cancer biopsy tomorrow
we don't know what the future holds you don't know what the future holds
but you see ultimately God is either who he says that he is
and we're going to have to trust him
or we've got to take matters into our own hands
and go our own way and live with the consequences
of that does this mean we can ever spill the beans?
does this mean we can ever share our troubles with somebody?
of course not
that's why God places us in family that's why God places us in community
but there's a world of a difference between
bearing our souls and sharing our grief and our pain
and entering into that kind of grumbling rebellion
that says my life is being unfairly treated
and I want justice and I want it now
so what do you do when life's not fair?
well James says you wait patiently for the Lord
you learn not to grumble
and then he says you learn from those
who have gone before you
for notice how he continues verse 5 chapter 5 verse 10 and 11
brothers 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 consider 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 let me ask you a question
why is it so hard to refrain from grumbling
when life is not fair? take it a step further
why is it so hard to wait patiently for God to step into the situation
and to resist the temptation to take it into our own hands
I'll tell you why because God never seems to be in a hurry
have you ever noticed that?
like Lord teach me patience and give it to me now
a day with the Lord is as a thousand years
a thousand years as one day almost two thousand years ago
Jesus said I'm coming soon we're still waiting
I often say Lord your definition of soon
our definition of soon two very different things
and so throughout history and throughout scripture
there's always the temptation for the children of God
to get discouraged to give up and it take matters into your own hand
my boss isn't treating me right so I'll go my own way
my wife doesn't understand me my husband doesn't understand me
we can't resolve this fight
I'll take matters into my own hands
my kid isn't growing up the way that I want him or her to grow up
I'll take matters into my own hands
the world is an unfolding the way that it should
I'll take matters into my own hands the Bible is full
of very human people who fell into similar scenes
think of Abraham remember God said to him I'm going to give you a son by Sarah
while the years went by they both got older
no child was about to be born it was long past her childbearing years
and finally they concocted this idea
that may be the promised child would be born through her servant
heygar and we have the birth of Ishmael
and the beginning of the interminable conflict in the Middle East
between the descendants of Ishmael and ultimately the descendants of Isaac
there's the story of Moses you'll remember
he was trying to lead the people of Israel into the promised land through the
wilderness and they were as cantankerous as they come
particularly because they had run out of water again
God said want you to speak to the rock and it will give you water
Moses's temper got the better of him
and in a fit of rage he hid it with his stick
curiously enough God honored his authority
but it cost him his inheritance because he couldn't patiently
wait for the Lord and then you know think of King Saul many years later the
Philistin armies are gathered together
God has said to King Saul I want you to wait for Samuel to arrive
and Samuel to make the sacrifice wouldn't you believe the setup
Samuel is delayed takes his bloom and time getting there
Saul sees all the trouble that is developing and he says well I can do this
he offers the sacrifice and ultimately it costs him
his kingdom see the Bible is full of people
just like you and me who say God if you don't hurry up and do it in my time table
I'm going to take it into my own hands but the Bible is also filled with people
who having heard the word of God and having heard the promises of God
are not afraid to hold on to them and who persevered through incredible
difficulties and incredible heartache only to discover at the end
that God will give them the desires of their heart
and James mentions two people here one is Job and Job is a whole story in and
of itself on Lord willing maybe we'll come back to that in a future date
but the other category is the prophets of old
now you know who the prophets are their people that God raises up and the
nation of Israel to speak forth his word to the nation
and to the nation it's the word prophet means to speak forth
they're people to whom God gives by his Holy Spirit
a very clear ability to see the signs of the times they're able to understand
what is happening and what will be the consequences of what is happening and so
they always have a twofold message the one is always a word of condemnation
and a word of judgment you keep on going your own way
you keep on rebelling against God what you so you're going to reap
eventually you're going to lose the inheritance and God is going to judge you
they were not very popular and most of them died of martyrs death
but condemnation and judgment isn't all they proclaim they also saw
a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness would dwell
and they knew that when judgment had run its course
God would make all things new and they looked for the day
when all creation would be renewed
and they persevered until that final day
and Jesus says when the kingdom comes in all its glory and all its majesty
those who have persevered faithfully to the very end
are going to sit with him on thrones in the kingdom of God
and they're going to share his reign eternally
and here's the promise to you and to me
life doesn't make sense if all you think of
is the here and now and if you believe in Christ simply alone for the here
and now you are of all peoples as Paul and Corinthians 15 I believe
the most to be pity because you will have invited persecution you will
have invited suffering you will have an invited heartache
and it won't make any sense in a world where everybody is looking for pleasure
everybody wants to be happy and everybody wants to be comfortable
but the Bible says there's more to life than just this life and that is the
life to come I've said before a hundred years from now won't make any
difference whether you were at your port won't make any
difference whether you were popular or unpopular beautiful or ugly
famous or infamous what will matter in that day
is does God know you and do you know God and do you have his favor
because if you have his favor he's got laid up for your crown
of righteousness and a glory that is beyond all compare and pulses the
sufferings of this president are not worthy to be
compared to the glory that is to be revealed
so how do you handle life that's not fair will you pray for wisdom
you pray for an understanding of what it is that God is after
because I'll tell you if all things work together for the good to those who love
God and who are called according to his purpose
they're not a tear will ever be wasted
and now that and not a trial will ever be lost
because it will have imparted into our lives
a greater conformity to the image of Christ
and when a new heaven and a new earth arrives
our couple have been enlarged so that we can carry more of God's glory
you say is it only good for the life to come of course not
because that kind of attitude will also have with it its own blessings
in the present age because you'll know how to live in peace with God and you'll
know how to live in peace with your neighbor
and you'll know how to be thankful in both the good times
and the bad times and that's what distinguishes
God's people they learn to wait on the Lord
and to trust him to fulfill his word stand with me for prayer
Father we confess this morning that we all find ourselves in situations
where we feel that life is not fear
sometimes it's because we feel misunderstood
sometimes it's because we feel persecuted
we feel that we are treated unfairly if not by you then by others
and Lord I think we need to confess this morning that most of the time for most
of us that's a bitter pill to swallow
and we grumble and we complain we take matters into our own hands
and we pollute and defile and confuse
we ask you to forgive us we ask you Lord to teach us wisdom
we ask you to help us to understand that what all is said and done
you're in charge and that you're teaching us
how to draw ever more deeply from the resources of life
that we have in Christ Jesus Lord you don't ask us to laugh when we're sad
you don't ask us to pretend that we're happy when we are unhappy
but you do ask us in all things to trust you
and to know that one day we will see that you make beauty
out of ashes help us to trust you help us to believe you
help us to bend the knee before you help us Lord to wait upon the Lord
knowing that in you our strength will be renewed
and Lord as a community we pray that you will place your protection around us
that all over the place there will be your holy angels
that we together with joy may run the race and fulfill the mission
that you have entrusted to us because the world is dying
and you've given to us the word of life
may you be glorified in life and in death
we'll give you glory in Jesus name
amen