Perseverance & Hope

Posted on by Jennifer Sterling

James 1:2-4   2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. NIV

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. NKJV

  1. Good morning, it is good to be back with you again. I am deeply appreciative of the time off that I had to take a ten-day river cruise down the Ohio River and then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. It was a time of experiencing a portion of our huge country with all of it’s detailed and complicated history.
  2. I chose this river cruise because I had read David McCullough’s The Pioneers, which tells the story of the 17th- and 18th-century settlers who set out to start lives in the Northwest Territory, the region of the country that is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and much of the Upper Midwest. This cruise by American Cruise Line opened the history of that area that I really knew very little about.
  3. Also, it was a part of my grief healing from the death of Ann nine months ago. Learning how to manage by myself in the middle of a group of more than 100 passengers, is a difficult but necessary process.  
  4. This morning we will begin a several week journey exploring the Epistle of James in the New Testament. James is a very short book and I encourage you, when you have quiet time, to take time to read the book.
  5. The book of James looks a bit like the Old Testament book of Proverbs dressed up in New Testament clothes.
    1. Its consistent focus on practical action in the life of faith is reminiscent of the Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament, encouraging God’s people to act like God’s people.
    1. The pages of James are filled with direct commands to pursue a life of holiness. James makes no excuses for those who do not measure up.
    1. In the mind of this early church leader, Christian’s evidence their faith by walking in certain ways and not others. For James, a faith that does not produce real life change is a faith that is worthless (James 2:17).
  6. For James, faith was no abstract proposition but had effects in the real world. James offered numerous practical examples to illustrate his point:
    1. faith endures in the midst of trials,
    1. calls on God for wisdom, bridles the tongue, sets aside wickedness, visits orphans and widows, and does not play favorites.
    1. James stressed that the life of faith is comprehensive, impacting every area of our lives and driving us to truly engage in the lives of other people in the world.
    1. While James recognized that even believers stumble (James 3:2), he also knew that faith could not coexist with people who roll their eyes at the less fortunate, ignore the plight of others, or curse those in their paths.
  7. As you read the letter from James, focus on those areas that James mentioned: your actions during trials, your treatment of those less fortunate, the way you speak and relate to others, and the role that money plays in how you live your life. Allow James to encourage each of us to do good, according to the faith you proclaim.
  8. The theme of this morning’s message is perseverance and hope. Here is a slide of what a tugboat on the Ohio river is doing. It is pushing and nudging barges that are connected together so that thousands of tons of stone or coal or grain can move down the Ohio to the Mississippi and on to New Orleans for shipment across the world.
  9. I was reminded of a little child’s story — Scuffy, The Little tugboat and his Adventures down the River.
    1. It’s a story about the little tugboat that had to push and nudge the bigger barges or boats into the directions that they needed to go. Tugboats do not drag the barges or ships – they nudge them and push them.
    1. It takes perseverance and hope that the direction of the barges will go correctly even against the current of the river.
  10. The role of the tug boat is to ensure the barges stays on track with a little nudge here and a little nudge there.
    1. The Epistle of James sets the direction and standards for our faith journey. If we go off track, James coaches back on course.
  11. Several years ago, we were stuck in the midst of the pandemic. We were closed for worship. We were restricted to our homes for the most part. It was hard and difficult.
  12. As a congregation we had to persevere! We had to be patient with the process. Perseverance and patience go hand in hand.  This is hard for all of us.
  13. Even though through the pandemic, we had a sense of loss. Maybe our faith has weakened. In James, the author has written you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
    1. We have been tested.
    1. Perseverance is not giving up! It is persistence and tenacity, the effort required to do something and keep doing it till the end, even if it’s hard.
    1. The pandemic has tested our ability to preserve. We have had a significant experience to see if we have the fortitude to endure.
    1. Even today we are still a long way until we can claim our normalcy.
  14. It’s been said that nothing teaches like experience.
    1. Pain and suffering teach us endurance and empathy.
    1. The experience of mercy and forgiveness inclines us to be more merciful and forgiving.
    1. We gain moral maturity each day precisely because each day brings some difficulty that we must overcome.
    1. Like it or not, we persevere, and we are morally the better for it.
    1. This is why James tells us to “consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
    1. Perseverance must finish its work so that we may become mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).
    1. A person who has been at a constant feud with misfortunes acquires skin calloused by suffering; she yields to no evil and even if she stumbles, she carries the fight on upon her knees.
  15. Misfortunes are designed to build virtue in us, and among the virtues gained through difficulty is patience.
    1. That family member or work associate who annoys you is God’s gift to you to build your patience.
    1. If you’re stuck with a job you don’t like, and you can’t find any other work, then God is building your patience.
    1. Each nuisance, long wait, and affliction, every mosquito bite, traffic jam, and body ache in the life of the Christian raises our threshold of tolerance ever so much. Even tedious sermons and difficult reading (perhaps including what you are enduring right now!) can make you a more patient person.
  16. Paul writes in Romans 5:3-5 3 …… wealso glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hopedoes not put us to shame, because God’s lovehas been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
  17. People of faith are supposed to live in hope, but has the darkness gripping our nation – not only the violence, but also the divisive rhetoric, the tribalism, and the inequality – robbed us of the dream of a better day and exposed that desire as pathetically naïve?
  18. As people of faith, we turn to the scriptures for wisdom, for guidance, and for inspiration.
  19. The opening verse of Hebrews 11 gives us the words of hope. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is about trusting God to lead us to a better day. Followers of Jesus know that our world is far from what God intends for it to be.
  20. Hope informs us that our world is:
    1. It is not destined to be a dominion of violence.
    1. It is not predetermined to be consumed by a culture of greed. It is not ordained to be a hotbed of racism.
    1. We have been given a vision of the world as God wants it to become–a kinder and fairer place where people care about one another, where people keep an eye out for those who are weak, and where there is liberty and justice – for ALL people. Do we still believe that’s possible?
    1. The writer of Hebrews provides an example of what he means to trust God to lead us to a better day. Faith includes a yearning to be in a better place and trusting God to guide us there.
  21. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
  22. Thanks be to God.