SALVATION – The writer of this passage is instructing his listener/readers to "stay focused," or to be patient under difficult circumstances. "Until the Lord comes, oppression by the rich and powerful will continue. In such circumstances, it would be natural for people to turn on each other. In fact, oppression typically fosters such internal divisions among those under stress. James therefore, forbids them to "grumble against one another" (5:9). Like the people of Israel oppressed in Egypt, their "complaint" should be turned to the Lord, who can hear them, and not turned against each other. If they turn such grumbling against each other, the community itself will become a realm of competition rather than cooperation. [1]

MAKROTHUMIA – The original Greek term unloads some interesting meaning for us. The cognate of the word used by the writer to say, "be patient" is makrothumia—macro="long or far," and thumos="hot, anger, or wrath." Gluing the words together we come up with something close to "long-anger" of which the opposite would be "short-tempered." Perhaps "long-tempered" would be a close translated for us. [2]

JAMES 5 AND DOG-TRAINING – Training your dog to lie down reliably on your command is a valuable lesson . . . With the dog on the lead on your left side, command it to sit. Kneel down and tuck the lead under your knees. Hold the dog’s collar with your left hand, and hold a food reward in your right palm. With the food hidden in your closed fist, let the dog smell the scent. This focuses the dog’s mind, while your hand under the collar prevents the dog from moving forward. Move your right hand straight down, then move forward between the dog’s forepaws. As the dog drops to follow the food, give the command "Down." . . . This may take some patience. [3]

connections

On Patience—We don’t have to wait much in our society. We have instant oatmeal and instant dry cleaning and instant photo developing. Technology has so shrunk our sense of time that we expect to have everything with the push of a button, with the flick of a switch. A recent series of articles in Esquire on computers ended by saying, "There is one rule, one hard and fast rule to follow after you have purchased a new computer: ‘Don’t ever touch a newer and faster computer model or you will be ruined. You can put up with any inadequacies in your old computer except the realization that a newer model may be a bit faster.’" [4]

gambits

We have a useful homily in the DPS archives for this lesson; you might want to review those for some ideas and reflections.

You might hold up impatience as a necessary and here-to-stay symptom of our culture in our post-modern age.

Try exploring patience as it reflects trust in God in light of the coming reign of God in Christ. How can we be patient while yet advocating for those who are marginalized by our governmental policies and practices?

What are the faces of patience among the people / communities of Christ which balance a yearning for the complete reign of God vis-à-vis the suffering and lack of action among those who should be helping alleviate what creates such suffering?

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible XII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 221.
[2] “A Rare and Remarkable Virtue,” by Charles R. Swindoll in Growing Old in the Seasons of Life (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1983), page 236.
[3] Bruce Fogle, D.V. M. The Complete Dog Training Manual (London: Dorling Kindersley Press, 1994), page 60.
[4] William Willimon, Pulpit Resource (Advent 1995): page 50.