“Be patient, therefore beloved until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.” James 5:7
I come from a farming community. Many of my friends in high school were sons and daughter of corn and tobacco farmers. Jim, one of my best friends in ministry today grew up on a farm in southern Illinois, and before he went into the ministry ran a huge corn and soybean farm in his hometown. My mother grew up on a farm and tells stories of picking cotton as a child. My cousins still own the farm but no longer raise crops; rather they have chosen to use the land for beef cattle and hay. I feel connected to the earth through my friends and my cousins, but I must admit that I am a city slicker. I may have lived in the county and attended the county schools, but I was a suburbanite. I mowed and raked yards instead of picking cotton or tobacco. Because of my background like many of you this verse alludes me.
Jim and I have been friends for 25 years. We met during our chaplaincy training in Columbia, SC. He was a Yankee from southern Illinois, and I was a redneck from South Georgia. We are opposites in disposition. I am impatient and want to get things done now. He is easy going and allows issues to develop. In training we were an excellent pair and found that we balanced one another well.
My friend Jim has told me stories of farming that give me a clue to this verse. He tells of waiting for rain as he watches his corn and soybean shrivel. He discusses the feelings of powerlessness as he waits upon the rain and fears losing his crops and his farm. We in Huntington worry about our grass turning brown. We have to decide whether to turn on the spigot for water. Jim talks about waiting: waiting for the rain, waiting for the life saving water, waiting for the Lord.
So here we are again. Advent is upon us, and we find ourselves waiting. Waiting for the arrival of the Christ child, waiting for Santa Claus, waiting for the big family get together, waiting for there to be peace in a world that is prone to violence, waiting for the rich to care for the poor, waiting for the “haves” to no longer be angry that there will always be “have nots”, waiting for people to stop hating others who are different.
This scripture calls for us to be patient in our wait. We are called to be patient in a society that has found itself disconnected from the earth, which teaches us about being patient. We have our email, voice mail, cell phones, PDAs, ipods, and DVD players. We have sales people apologizing when their computer is “slow”. Daily we are taught to have things our way and NOW!!!
I am thankful for my friend Jim teaching me about waiting. The image of him standing on his porch looking out over his crops as they shrivel in the dryness of the summer heat has been a powerful one for me to remember when I get impatient. Today more than ever we need to heed the words of James: “Be patient the Lord is coming.” (My paraphrase)
Rev. David Johnson
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