Staying on the Way Home

 Video for the sermon preached at Eastminster Presbyterian 3/3/25 James 5, "Staying on the Way Home" 

https://eastminsterpres.org/sermons/staying-on-the-way-home/

“Staying on the Way Home”  James 5:7-11, 18-20;  3-2-25 at Eastminster Ben Sloan Thank you to the 200. Mission trip signup.
Sometimes a little ADHD and sometimes a little sin distracts me from what is really important.  In our passage in James it really is speaking of the need to stay on the right path- the right way to get back home to the presence of God in heaven- our true home.
There used to be a saying, “There’s an APP for that.”  Well if you could summarize the things that are said over and over in James 5 they correspond to APP- Appearing- 3x he speaks of the importance of looking for the appearing of Christ; Patience- 3x he speaks of the need to be patient; and Perseverance (2x it speaks of this). 
Last September a man beached his boat on an island near Beaufort with his wife and two dogs who didn’t have a cell phone.  The boat drifted away- the man swam after the boat.  He was in the water for seven hours.  After awhile he was more concerned for his safety than the boat- and was looking on the horizon for any help.  He was rescued by a Good Samaritan who called the Coast guard who picked up his wife and dogs.  Now if you were stranded in the water for 7 hours- would you be uncaring about the appearing of a rescue ship?  Would you just yawn as they went away?  James tells us that we are like that person stranded in the water.  Ever felt that way?  We should long for Jesus to come to us and in the meantime don’t give up- have patience and persevere.  Let’s pray and then let me read this focus passage. 

John Arndt lived in Swannanoa.  He didn’t know most of his neighbors.  But on 9/26 four months of rain came pouring in in three hours and the river rose 21 feet in three hours.  John got his kayak, persevered through the strong current and paddled over to some neighbors who were stranded on their roof with the water still rising. Can you imagine being stranded on your roof longing and looking and crying for help?  Some of you were there in 2015.  John brought them one by one to safety.  Today, John says these neighbors who once didn’t know each other are “pretty tight.”  Today they are rebuilding their homes.  We should long for Jesus to come help us- as those people stuck on their roof were longing to be rescued.  While we are longing- we should not give up but have patience and perseverance. 
        Today is Transfiguration Sunday.  Transfiguration was a major turning point in Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He was getting ready to go to Jerusalem to die.  He knew it.  The Father gave Jesus some encouragement by letting Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the prophets) appear to Jesus as well as Peter, James, and John.  Jewish tradition had that both Moses and Elijah would come when the Messiah comes again. In Revelation 11 it speaks of these two witnesses appearing too.  I have often wondered- how did they knew it was Moses and Elijah?  There’s no record they told them.  They didn’t have nametags on- “Hi- I’m Elijah.”  They just knew it.  But the transfiguration also points to the Christian idea that we keep our identity and personality after death- we don’t become a part of some cosmic blob.  When Jesus appeared at the resurrection they also knew him- though as he told Thomas- his identity was confirmed by the spear and nail marks.  James tells us we should long for his coming- his appearing- his presence.  Jesus came.  Jesus comes. And Jesus will come again.  He comes to us today to help us have patience and perseverance to stay on the way home.  You know my grandkids live away from me- but still in SC.  I love to see them, but I don’t get to see them every day.  But between my appearing, I find ways to communicate- I write cards, I sometimes call- or one of them called me, or I Facetime them.   We don’t see Jesus physically every day but He promises to come to us- where two or three are gathered together in my name- there am I in the midst of them (Mt. 18:20).  He promises to come to us when we help the poor- “as much as you did it to the least of these- you did it for me.”  He promises to come when we share our faith “Go into all the world and preach the gospel- and lo I am with you always even to the uttermost part of the earth.”  He promises to come to us in communion- “This is my body- my blood.”  His real presence is there.  And then there is the promise that at the end of history which we are a lot closer than James was when he wrote these words.  2 Timothy 4:8 says “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day- and not only to me BUT ALSO TO ALL WHO HAVE LONGED FOR HIS APPEARING.”  The next to last verse of the Bible says, “Amen- Maranatha- come Lord Jesus.”  There are many I would like to see when God calls me home- but the number one person is my Lord Jesus who gave himself for me and for you.  You know, last summer my air conditioning was acting up and I had to get a new one.  You know what?  We called that HVAC person several times to find out when the equipment came in, when they would be here, and how long it would take.  I was longing for his appearing in the midst of my discomfort.  In this world, right now, there is a lot of discomfort.  We long for heaven when there are no more tears, no more death, mourning, crying or pain.  Martin Luther was deeply aware that Christ could come back at any time.  Someone asked him, “If you knew Christ is coming back tomorrow, what would you do today.”  He answered I will do what I am called to do and plant seeds in my garden.  Be patient- persevere- listen to your calling. 
         I am going to wrap patience and perseverance together.  Jesus said in this world we will have trouble.  Some people seem to believe that if Jesus really came to earth- he should have healed everyone and brought the kingdom right then.  If he did- then there wouldn’t have been you and me.  Maybe he delayed to give us a chance to be born and to join Him in the kingdom.  I will tell you, Christians in other cultures look at us and wonder what the heck is going on in the church in America.  Douglass and Brad have talked about the rise in nones and dones.  We are the richest country in the history of the world.  We live longer than our ancestors did.  In my grandfather’s generation- the average longevity was 45 now it is almost 77.  We live longer- we have developed washing ma­­­chines, dishwashers, running clean water, toilets in our houses- we take all this for granted.  We have microwaves, fast air fryers for our food; instant communication and expect instant solutions with texts, X, and AI.  , And then we take God for granted.  In the 1830s it took 8 hours to develop a photograph, and there were only a few who could.  In the 60s you had the one minute poloroid.  Today everyone has a phone and digital pictures are better and more common.  But in our instant world, we tend to lose patience.  That’s okay with pictures- but it is not okay to lose patience with your spouse, or your kids, or your parents, or your friends, or your God.  All the things for our comfort and all these things that extend our lives a little bit- do not last forever.  Even if we live to 100 we still have to face our Maker.  One hundred years in the face of eternity is nothing.  Other Christians are wondering why we don’t have more patience with God- with our situation- with ourselves- or with other people.  How  do you learn patience and perseverance?  You face tough times.  James starts his book off saying, “Be patient in various trials knowing that the trying of your faith produces perseverance.”  Despite all our complex instantaneous technology- we still have human trials.   How many give up on their friends? 68% according to a Yougov survey have given up on a friend- with 8% giving up on having any friends- they report having no close friends at all.  You have a great friend in Jesus.  Do not betray him as Judas did; deny him as Peter did; or run away from him when tough times come like all the 12 did.  Many have divorced God- and it is worse than a marital divorce.  They have left God for someone else- maybe pride, maybe to do their own thing ethically, Maybe they want to be their own god- but it won’t work.  We need to stay on the way home- and we do that by longing for his appearing, by having patience and perseverance.   

      Andrea Palpant Dilley was the daughter of missionaries and went to a Presbyterian church.  Yet as a young adult she scraped off her Christian sticker on her car and dropped out- with her doubts- and she said she was “just tired of trying to be good.”  She went through years of vapid hard drinking, fooling around with older men- basically classic rebellion against God and faith.  But one day she came back home to church.  She said she came back not because all of her doubts were solved or that church is so much more entertaining now- but knowing her doubt belongs in the church and that God helps her unbelief.  Once a man told Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief.”  Flannery O’Conner says this is the foundational prayer.  The writer and theologian Fredrick Buechner said, “Faith is homsickness.”  C. S. Lewis called it “Sehnsucht” a longing-yearning-craving for a far-off country. 

Jesus always is looking for us to come back home to Him- as the Father looked for the Prodigal to come back.  You are always welcome back. 
The table is set for you to commune with God.  Communion is a way we renew our faith- that we recognize our need to come back to God.