Daily Lectionary Readings and Devotional for Friday, November 24, 2006

The scripture readings for today are listed below.  To read them, just click on the link.  

Psalm 102 - Morning

Psalm 107:1-32 - Evening

Mal. 3:1-12

James 5:7-12

Luke 18:1-8

Featured Scripture:  James 5:7-11

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. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times - “patience is a virtue.”  And so it surely is.  But knowing this, however, does not make it any easier to practice this virtue in our lives.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a patient person.  If I want something, I want it now.  If I get it in my mind to do something, I want to do it right away.  I do not like to wait. 

One of the most frustrating things I ever did was to attend the Kentucky Derby with some of my college friends.  Being college students, this meant we had to go into the “infield” at the Derby, and this required us to spend almost all morning waiting in line.  By the time we arrived in the infield, I was in one of the foulest moods I had or have ever been in.  I was, in a word, unbearable, and this not only helped to ruin my day, but also the day of many of my friends.  Instead of taking the inevitable wait in stride, and as part of the price one paid to get into the infield, I choose to become more and more morose until no one wanted to be around me.  It took several of my friends several days to forgive me my bad attitude.

The patience James speaks of has to do with the return of Jesus.  Every disciple clearly expected that Jesus would return within their lifetime.  And yet as the years went by and the church cemetaries began to fill up with the departed faithful,  many people no doubt began to lose patience.  And now after almost 2000 years, we still have people who are impatiently waiting for Jesus’ second coming.  In fact there are some who would do anything to speed up the process, even if that means risking war or he destruction of the earth itself.

James, however, urges patience, and he lifts up the compassion and mercy of the Lord while doing so.  I can’t remember where I read it, but I remember that someone once remarked that it was the compassion and mercy of God which prevented him from returning too soon.  In other words, it was and is God’s desire that all receive the good news before Jesus’ return.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I do know that I need to have this kind of patience evident in my life - a patience informed and shaped by compassion and mercy.