Nothing gets me excited like talking about the Kingdom of God- Porsches come pretty close, but not quite. Growing up I always thought the Kingdom of God was some far away thing that I would never see in this life. The Kingdom of God seemed like such a far distant thing that was promised for the end of time. However the more classes I took and the more books I read I became increasingly convinced that the Kingdom of God is really here.
The Old Testament looks forwarded to a time where “the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped;then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:5-6). Other passages like Amos 9 looks forward to a time where God restores his fortune to his people and there is great prosperity. When Jesus comes he says that time is here (Mark 1:1; Matthew 10:7, 3:2, 4:17; Luke 17:21). This is exciting and leads to so many great implications, but what do I do when it seems like the Kingdom isn’t fully here?
This week I preached the last sermon in James for my youth group. In chapter 5 James seems to be writing to those who are experiencing the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God. He says to us be patient; he uses the word “patient” four times, “steadfast” twice, and encourages us to wait once. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” Just as the farmer waits for his crop to grow, so we wait for the Kingdom of God to come to fruition. Be patient, be patient, be patient, be patient.
The audience James is writing to is likely struggling with many things, but he highlights the rich who are taking advantage of the poor. Even though Jesus says the Kingdom is here we still suffer in various ways. So James encourages us to pray. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him” Pray through whatever you are going through. One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I think part of abundant life is experiencing God in all things. This is why James can say Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials. I think we can count it all joy because God wants to transform us in all things. God wants to transform us when we are being exploited by the rich (like James 5), when we are persecuted, sick, lonely, struggling with our quiet times, or anything else. God has something for us in all trials if only we pray. We miss out on much because we pray very little.
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