{"id":1032,"date":"2022-12-24T11:12:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T19:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=1032"},"modified":"2023-01-03T09:29:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T17:29:56","slug":"come-lord-jesus-as-messiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=1032","title":{"rendered":"Come, Lord Jesus! – as Messiah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(James 5:7-11)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u201d Every child is eager to hear those words on a long trip. Workers striving to hit an end-of-the-year goal are energized by those words as their boss sends out the office-wide memo. Fresh off another thrilling win, the team\u2019s belief in its ability to achieve its championship aspirations swells as the coach shouts those words. \u201cWe\u2019re almost there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James wrote it a bit differently, but with a similar purpose in mind. Instead of \u201cwe\u2019re almost there,\u201d his refrain was \u201cHe\u2019s almost here – the Lord is near!\u201d The words instill a sense of urgency, a call to action, an encouragement to be ready for his arrival. There is a sense of imminency in James\u2019 words! \u201cJust a little while longer! It won\u2019t be long now! The wait is almost over!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something may strike you as you consider these words from James: they were written a looooooooooong time ago. And still we wait. Jesus was a no-show to the first ears that heard these words of James. Jesus has been a no-show ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That tends to take a little wind out of the sails, doesn\u2019t it? The sense of urgency dissipates over such a long period of time. So what are we to make of what can often feel like a boy-who-cried-wolf warning about Jesus\u2019 imminent return that has been sounding for 2,000 years? When James first wrote these words, his audience had experienced what it was like for the long wait to be over when Jesus came the first time at his birth. But when century after century after century has passed and Scripture\u2019s words, \u201cthe Lord is near\u201d are still supposed to tide us over, well, urgency ever so gradually morphs into complacency.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see it in the church. You still find yourself wondering about certain folks you haven\u2019t seen for who-knows-how-long. You might wonder if they\u2019ve moved elsewhere or if they even still belong to the church. And here\u2019s how that complacency cuts both ways: it isn\u2019t just those who seem to be MIA, but it\u2019s also those of us who are here but have been complacent about reaching out to them. For as much as we lament how neglected the Bible is, perhaps a close second is our neglect of the church directory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by no means is complacency\u2019s reach limited to just this area – it can infect our service to others, our offerings, and our Christian living in general, allowing our fruits of the Spirit to become mushy and soft. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.5:22-23) need their own missing person’s report filed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we make the shift back? How do we ditch the complacency and recapture the sense of urgency? ICYMI, James happens to mention a solution just once or twice (or four times\u2026): be patient. Easier said than done! What exactly does that look like? Glad you asked, as James provides some pointers for patience as we await the Messiah\u2019s return. He says to stand firm, avoid grumbling, and persevere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you standing on right now? Be careful, because if you say <\/em>Jesus, then your life will show <\/em>Jesus. What I mean is that simply knowing what the answer should be <\/em>does not always line up with reality<\/em>. We fail to realize what experts we are in this area. We convince ourselves that this thing matters to me or that thing matters to me or we\u2019re this type of person or that type of person. But often the cold, hard truth is that no one else observing our life would even begin to draw the same conclusion based on what they actually see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tell others that we absolutely love [blank], but then immediately follow it up with the excuse that we don\u2019t have time for [blank]. Sorry, but no you don\u2019t love it that much if you can\u2019t even make time for it! We buy stuff that we\u2019re convinced we need to support this hobby or interest\u2026 but the only time those things get touched is when they\u2019re moved from being in the way in one place to being in the way somewhere else. And there they sit, serving as constant reminders of our imaginary hobby or interest. Parents go back and forth with their children and husbands go back and forth with their wives with what we refer to as nagging – but we fail to realize the reason it feels like nagging is that every comment is a convicting reminder that I am not who I say I am or am not interested in what I say I am interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you say that you are standing firm right now on the truths and promises of Jesus and his Word, I\u2019d encourage you to do a personal assessment to take note of exactly what evidence in your day-to-day living supports that confidence. If you don\u2019t see as much evidence as you thought, there\u2019s no time like the present to adjust it. If that is the only step you take in applying James\u2019 pointers for patience, it would be a commendable one – and one that will reap noticeable blessings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James also says that patience involves avoiding grumbling against one another. Uh oh. Grumbling in general is such a way of life for some of us. Your \u201cGrumble List\u201d from just the morning alone is already into its second column. \u201cIt\u2019s too early. I don\u2019t have anything to wear. We don\u2019t have anything to eat. They\u2019re sitting in our seat. I don\u2019t like this hymn, etc.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when that comes so easily to us, it isn\u2019t much of a stretch to direct that grumbling against others. \u201cOur spouse leaves this there, our kids neglected that, so-and-so at church didn\u2019t do it the right way\u2026\u201d Now, these things may have some merit, but grumbling is really not about addressing the actual issue itself so much as it is my attitude and approach to it. I can see an issue through a lens of gratitude or grumbling, and whichever perspective I take is going to determine how I interact with the other person involved. See – grumbling isn\u2019t actually about others as much as we think; it has much more to do with our own attitude. Addressing this is another way we wait patiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to round out the three keys to patience as we wait? Perseverance. Not our strong suit as a society. Adversity hits, and how do we respond? Outrage. We can\u2019t believe this thing happened. We can\u2019t believe this thing happened to us. We can\u2019t believe someone else would do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our default is the victim mentality that is convinced that removing the adversity – which is clearly someone else\u2019s fault – is the only option. We don\u2019t even consider how we might actually endure it or deal with it or process it or handle it or put up with it. We go right to eliminating it, which means turning the bullseye on someone or something else as the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are just the cases that don\u2019t even really involve significant adversity. What about when those arrive? What am I talking about? Fighting (in a good way!) instead of giving up. Forgiving instead of getting even. Growing instead of going when it gets tough. Trusting when tested. Some of you are going through seasons right now that are forcing you to face these difficult decisions. The adversity is real. The pull to call it quits is as strong as it\u2019s ever been. Giving up seems so much easier. But patience means perseverance, friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider James\u2019 examples. The prophets. Talk about a tough job description! “Go to God\u2019s people and call them to repentance, but be careful – they won\u2019t like you and will want you imprisoned or dead.” That\u2019s <\/em>perseverance! Or consider Job, who had everything, then had nothing, and was surrounded by nothing but miserable advice from his wife and friends to help him cope with trauma and tragedy. Still he didn\u2019t turn away. That\u2019s <\/em>perseverance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What fuels your perseverance? Where do we find the power to keep pushing? James tells us. \u201cThe Lord is full of compassion and mercy\u201d (v.11c)<\/em><\/strong>. You know what? That\u2019s<\/em> worth waiting for. Patiently, even!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you know what else? We don\u2019t have to wait for that – the Lord\u2019s compassion and mercy are already ours! What proof of this do we have? Look back at Jesus\u2019 first coming as Messiah. THAT was compassion and mercy. 2 Corinthians 1:3<\/a> \u201cPraise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of\u00a0compassion\u00a0and the God of all comfort\u201d (2 Corinthians 1:3)<\/em><\/strong>. Literally, God is the Father of compassion, for his Son is its source! The Messiah – the anointed or chosen one – has already come, and he already brought compassion with him the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gift wrapped up in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem was compassion personified. He came to give himself as the gift on Calvary that would keep on giving. What greater gift of compassion could there be than canceled sins? What greater gift of compassion could there be than the comfort of constant forgiveness for sinners? God doesn\u2019t just call himself the Lord full of compassion and mercy – he backs it up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think on this for one second. If that is what the Messiah came to bring with him the first time, can you even imagine what he\u2019s bringing with him when he returns??? Can you even imagine how he can top that? Well, you won\u2019t have to wait much longer – He\u2019s almost here. The Lord is near! In the meantime, we wait patiently for the Messiah to return. We do so by standing firm, giving up the grumbling, and persevering. And we do all of that with the compassion and mercy the Messiah brought with him the first time to tide us over until he comes again.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(James 5:7-11) \u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u201d Every child is eager to hear those words on a long trip. Workers striving to hit an end-of-the-year goal are energized by those words as their boss sends out the office-wide memo. Fresh off another thrilling win, the team\u2019s belief in its ability to achieve its championship aspirations swells as… Continue reading Come, Lord Jesus! – as Messiah<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[262,65],"tags":[4,5,196,116,109,36,108],"class_list":["post-1032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-come-lord-jesus","category-sermons","tag-christmas","tag-jesus","tag-messiah","tag-patience","tag-preaching","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-gE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1032"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1045,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032\/revisions\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}