Patience

 March 31, 202

We live in interesting times. A former president is indicted by a grand jury, the Left is ecstatic, the Right sees a witch-hunt, and both sides are battling each other for their own advancement, power, influence, money, and glory. Meanwhile, the nation suffers. The Biblical prophecy has come true:

“I will give children to be their princes, 

And babes shall rule over them. 

The people will be oppressed, 

Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; 

The child will be insolent toward the elder, 

And the base toward the honorable.”

—Isaiah 3:4-5 

It’s nothing new. These words were spoken of Israel some 2700 years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The NT letter of James tells a similar story. Ordinary people in the church were impressed with the finery of the rich, catering to and honoring them while ignoring and humiliating the poor in their midst. James spares no invective as he exposes the powerful for who they really are; the very ones who haul the poor into court, cheat their laborers, hold their thumb on the scales of the law. 

What is surprising is that he doesn’t call for the victims asserting their rights, rising up in righteous indignation, taking their oppressors to court. I grew up believing in a system that I expected to be fair and unbiased. My black brothers and sisters have often had a very different experience, one that the rest of us may be seeing soon, as the legal system is increasingly biased and at times even predatory.

James’ response to this oppression is simple: “Be patient.” Simple doesn’t mean easy. Patience in the midst of injustice requires self-control, and a rock-solid belief that God is still in control. James is clear however, that this patience is not borne of weakness. Sometimes people are patient because they have no options. Not here. Listen to the rest of his statement in chapter 5, verse 7: 

“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” 

That latter phrase is important. Patience without hope and faith in an omniscient, almighty, and loving God is merely acquiescence to a fate one cannot control. Patience in suffering only makes sense if God will indeed someday make all things right. And in this life, patience is only possible when I fix my gaze upon Jesus Christ, sitting in power and glory at the right hand of the Father, instead of on all the shenanigans of the rich and powerful of this world. That gaze is utterly critical. If I turn away even for a moment, all I see is the mess of this world, and I begin to spiral into despair. But I can be patient when I see Jesus and know that the day is coming when he will return and set things right.