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.
