“Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.” (James 5:7-8 MSG)
Be patient like that. Letting the rain do its slow but sure work.
Have you ever noticed that large Christian events and rallies – revival meetings if you will – are often named after cataclysmic and often quickly impacting natural, … well, yes … disasters.
Tsunami. Flood. Wildfire. Earthquake. Avalanche. These metaphors evoke anything but the posture and understanding that James proposes here. Quite telling.
Let the rain do its slow but sure work.
We want the quick fix. The silver bullet. The constant surge of reviving power that never ends. Something that will solve our issues and unravel and calm our conspiracy riddled thoughts and prayers.
Let the rain do its slow but sure work.
One thing the MSG does not emphasize from the original language of the text, which other translations do capture, are the adjectives of “early and late”, or “spring and autumn” regarding the rain. Found only here in the New Testament writings, they do refer to the natural rhythms of rain experienced not only in the time of James, but also as referred to in several Old Testament texts and often used as prophetic imagery as to God’s moving among and upon His people. In our current times and in the lexicon of the Church particularly since the late 18th century, the longing for “rain” and “revival” have become synonymous. So it is important then to understand what type of rain James is actually referring to.
“The early rain fell in October, November, and December, and extended into January and February. These rains do not come suddenly, but by degrees, so that the farmer can sow his wheat or barley. The rains are mostly from the west or southwest (Luke 12:54), continuing two or three days at a time, and falling mostly in the night. Then the wind shifts to the north or east, and fine weather ensues (Prov. 25:23). The latter rains, which are much lighter, fall in March and April. Rain in harvest was regarded as a miracle (1 Sam. 12:16–18).” (Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Vol. 1, p. 762). Charles Scribner’s Sons.)
Ah. It comes clearer. Let the rain do its slow but sure work.
“Once again it’s a matter of humility—one of James’s primary lessons, as we are realizing. Don’t imagine that our timescale corresponds to God’s timescale. Think of it like a farmer. Some weeks ago I watched a local farmer ploughing his field and sowing his crop. I can see the field as I write this: nothing seems to have changed (except for the fact that the seagulls that followed the plough are no longer there). The soil looks just as bare as it did when he went to work. So was he wasting his time? Has the crop failed? Of course not. It just takes time, more time than we might like. Farmers learn to live with the rhythm of the seasons. Our frantic modern society, which wants to have every vegetable in the shops all year round and so brings them in by plane from far away, has done its best to obliterate the need for patience. It’s all the more important that we who follow Jesus should learn it and practise it.”
Wright, T. (2011). Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John and Judah (p. 38). SPCK; Westminster John Knox Press.
All the while recognizing it is the actual return of Jesus that we’re longing for more than any reviving moment that the Spirit may initiate to encourage and strengthen us in the waiting. Subtly, at times we long for what we may call “revival” to be the “arriving” we need and that if this were the true rains we’re crying out for, they would never cease in their intensity. A belief and longing that true revival never ends. Again, this couldn’t be farther from the truth that James is trying to bring across here. As Peter would say in another writing to the Church in 1 Peter 3:8-9 MSG,,
“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”
And Paul at the end of his life penned,
“I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8 MSG), or as the NIV renders, “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.”
So. Let the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.