How Strong Is Your Heart? James 5:7-11

Adapted from a Tim Bond sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/how-strong-is-your-heart-tim-bond-sermon-on-peace-50277.asp

In his autobiography, Number 1, Billy Martin tells about a hunting trip he took to Texas with Mickey Mantle. Mickey had a friend

who would let them hunt on his land. When they reached the sprawling Texas ranch,

Mickey told Billy to wait in the car while he checked in with his friend. Mickey’s friend told him it was okay to hunt, but he asked

Mickey to do him a favor.

His favorite mule in the barn was going blind, and he didn’t have the heart to put him out of his misery. He asked Mickey to

shoot the mule for him.

When Mickey came back to the car, he thought he could have some fun with this. He pretended to be angry, scowling and

slamming the car door. Billy asked him what was wrong and he started ranting and

raving.

“Here we’ve driven all the way down here to hunt and he isn’t going to let us. I’ll show

him. If he won’t let us hunt on his land, I’m going out to his barn and shoot one of his

mules!”Mantle drove like a maniac to the barn. Billy Martin protested, “Mickey we can’t do that!”

Mantle was red faced. “Just watch me!” When they got to the barn, Mantle jumped out of the car with his rifle, ran inside, and

shot the mule.

A couple of seconds later he heard 2 more shots. He ran back to the car and saw that

Martin had his rifle too. “What are you doing, Billy?” he yelled. By now Martin’s face was red with anger too. “We’ll show that son of a gun! I just shot two of his

cows!”

I wonder if most of us can’t relate. I’ve noticed that there are many people who live

their lives on a low smolder, and it really doesn’t take much to fan those glowing

embers of anger into a full blown desire for revenge.

- Driving up the interstate, a car flies by and then cuts over into your lane, just missing your front bumper.

- You come out from Wal-Mart to find that the car next to you let their doors fly and there is a dent in your driver side door.- Someone you consider a friend that you have helped out many times doesn’t have time whenever you ask them for help. - Someone close betrays your confidence and shares what you considered privileged information.

- A family member bails out when you really need them.It’s almost as if you really can’t help it. The knee jerk reaction when you get trashed by

someone is to strike back. You want to chase them down, or dent their car, or tell what you know about them, or fail to show up when they need you. Like a cornered

animal, the only way you feel like responding is by lashing out, and trying to hurt them as much (or even a little more)

than they hurt you.

That was the situation that James was writing to in our text for this morning. The

wealthy land owners were stiffing the laborers. All day long they would work in the fields, cutting, harvesting, and taking care of

all the dirty work. The workers had sunburns on their backs and calluses on their hands, but they had nothing in their

pockets to show for it.

The land-owners weren’t paying, and they were holding their back pay over their

heads to keep them coming back to work. It basically amounted to slave labor.

Now you can imagine how angry you would be if you were one of those laborers.

Standing in the field holding a sickle after a hard day’s labor, what is going though your

mind?

“If I ever get the chance, I’ll put this sickle to better use than on the crop. I’ll make them sorry about the way they have treated us!

They’ll pay, one way or another!”To people facing this volatile situation,

James writes a letter to both confront and soothe. He doesn’t ignore the rich

landowner’s wrong. You remember last week we read how James blasted them.

He warned them of the wrath of God, and that the money they had failed to pay the

workers was going to testify before God and would condemn them in His presence. But now he turns his attention away from the

landowners and to the laborers. His message to them is just as confrontational,

even if it isn’t as condemning. Hear the words he uses to confront the angry

laborers.

James 5:7 NET So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives

the early and late rains. 8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the

Lord's return is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. See, the

judge stands before the gates!

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name. 11 Think of how

we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's

endurance and you have seen the Lord's purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion

and mercy.

Don’t miss the warning in the middle of these verses. “Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you

may not be judged.”I am reminded of a statement Moses made. Remember, he had just killed an Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew. Exodus 2:13 NET When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are

you attacking your fellow Hebrew?"

It makes no sense for two of God’s people to be fighting. They serve the same Lord!

They’re on the same team & have the same hope of salvation from slavery! They have a

common opponent. Isn’t this exactly what James is warning against? God’s people must not grumble

against one another. Being treated unfairly does not release any of us from judgment

when we wrong brothers and sisters.

Have you ever had a bad day & you lash out at those closest to you? It’s almost a

daily routine for me.I always hurt & feel rotten so my patience is

not good. I am very quick to criticize or grumble against those closest to me. I pray daily for God’s forgiveness & help in how I

interact with people. I pray those I do grumble against understand my situation &

overlook my faults.

What if this kind of situation causes us to retaliate against one another or against the one we think is treating us unfairly? The rich

landowners were already going to be subject to God’s judgment and wrath. If the laborers retaliated, they became no better than the rich landowners. They would be

judged for their retaliation. So James gives them 2 commands; “be

patient and strengthen your hearts.”

You see, often we hate being taken advantage of because of our pride. We

don’t want to look weak. That car cuts us off, so we say “I’ll show them they can’t do that to me,” so we do it to them. Almost “an

eye for an eye” (Matthew 5:38; Exodus 21:24; Lev 24:20)

mentality.That person does us wrong, and we don’t

want them to think we are weak, so we give a show of strength by striking back.

But notice what James is saying. The way to show the strength is not by flexing your muscle. It is by strengthening your heart

and not retaliating. It takes more strength to release than to retaliate.

James gives us 3 illustrations of those who are strong in the face of tough situations. As

examples of patience and endurance, he points to farmers, prophets, and Job.

If you want to make a quick buck, don’t get into farming. The turnaround is slow going, and there are lots of pitfalls along the way. In the days before insecticides, irrigation and insurance, farming was especially tough. If you got enough rain and the

locusts didn’t come too strong, and the hail didn’t beat your crop up, you might get a good harvest. But you couldn’t bail out

early.

For crops to mature in the Near-East you have to wait through 2 rain seasons. You can’t be a farmer if you can’t wait for the

crop to mature. It took patience to harvest a crop.

If you wanted to live an easy life, you better hope God didn’t call you as a prophet.

Jeremiah tried to deny his calling and he said that the messages God wanted to tell

through him were like fire in his bones.

He had to speak out. But when he did, the people of his day persecuted him. He was

ridiculed, thrown in a pit, carried off to captivity, and verbally abused in every way.

But through it all, he stayed true to his calling. He was not alone. Isaiah was sawn in two because of his message. Hosea was

called to marry a harlot.

Jeremiah 26:20 NET Now there was another man who prophesied as the

LORD's representative against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath

Jearim. 21 When the king and all his bodyguards and officials heard what he was

prophesying, the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and

fled to Egypt out of fear.

22 However, King Jehoiakim sent some men to Egypt, including Elnathan son of Achbor, 23 and they brought Uriah back

from there. They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the

common people.

The prophets were people who did nothing wrong to deserve their fate and the more they did right, it seemed, the more they

suffered. It took patience to be a prophet and to wait for God’s reward through all of the terrible things that the world threw at

you.

I don’t know of anyone who wants to face the hardship Job had to live with. He lost his children, his livestock, his wealth, and even

his health. The only thing Satan left him was a wife who told him to curse God and die and a few friends who sat around to tell him that there must be some sin that was causing all this trouble. Job had it tough.

Notice, James changes his words here. In the first two illustrations he talked about

“patience.” Here he talks about “endurance.” This is a “grit your teeth” kind

of word. In the midst of personal pain it takes strength to be faithful. Job said,

speaking of God, Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to

his face! Job 13:15 NET That kind of endurance is what it took for Job to make it

through that tough time without denying God.

James doesn’t leave it up to us to know what he means by strengthening our hearts.

Become like the farmer who waits for the harvest. Be like the prophet who faithfully preaches even though people punish him

for it. Model yourself after Job who endured physical and emotional pain and steadfastly refused to cave in. “You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord's return

is near.”

Did you notice the motive there? Why should we be patient? Why should we

endure all the pain that others might heap on us without retaliating? It’s because of God. You see, James is sure that God is coming back, and he will take care of the

situation. “See, the judge stands before the gates!” Can’t you see the image here?

Jesus in all His power and glory, standing at the doors of this world, prepared to throw them open and set all of the wrongs of the world right. James says, “Don’t you try to take care of it on your own, trust God to

make it right.”

I think it’s human nature not to want God to take care of it. He might not do it the way I want it done. He might be too nice, and I want to make sure that they hurt as much as I do. But James is adamant. In these 5

verses he mentions God 6 times.

You see, part of living our lives facing God, part of engaging in everyday worship, is

being ready for Him to return. Do you live with an eternal perspective? The first

century Christians did. They expected the eastern skies to part at any minute and

Christ to return.

If you live like that, you know that the times when you have been wronged don’t amount to much within the realm of eternity. James

says Jesus is coming soon, let Him take care of the retaliation. Get rid of it and make

the most of this moment by patiently enduring your pain.

Now at this point, all of us know that we face a choice.

It is a simple one to understand.

When we are confronted with being wronged, will we retaliate or will we endure

it? Do we turn the other cheek, or do we strike

back with equal or greater force? Do we trust God to make it right, or do we

take the matter of retaliation in our own hands?

- We know what Jesus said, and what he modeled in his life. Jesus turned the other cheek, and He commanded us to do the same.

- We might remember Paul saying in Romans 12:19 NET Do not avenge yourselves, dear

friends, but give place to God's wrath, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay,"

(Deu 32:35) says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will

be heaping burning coals on his head. (Proverbs 25:21-22) 21 Do not be overcome by

evil, but overcome evil with good.

The choice is not a difficult one to understand. It is, however, difficult to choose obedience in this case. The

tendency to strike back is so strong that it can overwhelm us if we aren’t careful. But we have the ability, through the work of the

Holy Spirit in our lives, to choose to not retaliate. One of the fruits of the Spirit,

those character traits that grow in the lives of Christ followers, is “patience.”

When you give your will to the Holy Spirit, you will not seek revenge on those who do

you wrong.Tucked away in the little read pages of the Old Testament is the book of Esther. At the time, the Jews were living under the rule of

Persian King Xerxes. Esther, a Jewish woman, was chosen to be queen because of her beauty and character. She had been

raised by her cousin, Mordechai.

A guy named Haman was the king’s right hand man, a very important person. When Haman walked down the street, everybody

bowed to the ground (wouldn’t that be a real ego trip?). Everybody in the city bowed,

except a guy named Mordechai. You see, Mordechai was a tough old Jew. And

although he respected the King’s right to rule over him, he did not bow to human

beings, only to God.

Well, every time Haman walked past Mordechai, Haman’s blood pressure

jumped 30 points and his face got red. He grew to hate Mordechai, and ultimately all

the Jews.One day Haman figured out a way to get revenge. He convinced the King to order

the extermination of all Jews in the Persian kingdom. Without paying much attention,

the king approved the order and a date was set for all the Jews to be killed.

In his anger, Haman had special gallows built on which he planned to hang

Mordechai. He relished the idea of his final revenge.

One night, though, the king couldn’t sleep, so he summoned one of his servants to

bring out the records of his reign and read them. That would be like having the minutes of business meetings read to you. That has got to be better than a warm glass of milk

for putting a guy to sleep.

During the reading King Xerxes found out that Mordechai had foiled a plot to

assassinate him, and he had never been honored. Esther 6:4 NET Then the king

said, "Who is that in the courtyard?" Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang

Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him. 5 The king's attendants said to him, "It is Haman who is standing in

the courtyard."

The king said, "Let him enter." 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What

should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?" Haman thought to

himself, "Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?" 7 So Haman said

to the king, "For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let them bring royal attire

which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden

— one bearing the royal insignia!

9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king's noble officials. Let

him then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling before him, 'So shall it be done to

the man whom the king wishes to honor!’“10 The king then said to Haman,

"Go quickly!

Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just

indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Don't neglect a single thing

of all that you have said.“Within a couple of days, Queen Esther was able to convince the king that Haman was a real jerk, and the last time we hear anything

about Haman, he is hanging atop the gallows that he had built to have Mordechai

killed.

The book of Esther is an incredible story, but what makes it even more interesting is that God is never mentioned. He doesn’t

have to be. His fingerprints are all over the events as they unfold. You see, God is at

work in ways that we’ll never know.

And there is a very important point that James and Paul and Jesus and Job and the

prophets and the farmers and Mordechai are all aware of as they encourage us

toward patient endurance: As believers and followers of God, our responsibility is to

trust Him to make everything right. We are not to try to exact our own revenge or

judgment.

When we do, we are not only going against God’s will. Often we are doing something that will come back to haunt us later in our

lives. So the next time that you are tempted to strike back when you have been done

wrong, remember what James says, “See, the judge stands before the gates!”

Strengthen your heart, endure being wronged, turn the other cheek.

In the end if you do that, you will find favor with God and you will be following very

closely in the footsteps of Christ.The fact that “the judge stands before the gates” is a truth that should cause all of us

to realize the need to be right with Him. Before we can ask Him to strengthen our

heart so that we can endure, we must give Him our heart. That means we must turn

our life over to Him.

If you are here this morning and have never given your life to Christ, you really need to recognize that “the judge stands before the gates!” You have no guarantee that you will have another chance to be right with Him,

but you have right now to make the decision to be baptized into Him.