James 5:7-10
This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on December 11th, 2016.
How should Christ-followers face life situations of adversity, suffering, and persecution? James offers some instruction in his letter to the predominantly Jewish Christians (“the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”) who were forced to move away from their homes in Palestine.
From this letter, the adversity that these Christians were going through included being poor, being taken to court by the wealthy and powerful, and being oppressed by landowners.
James advises these Christians to live in these oppressive and challenging circumstances with patience. Also, James instructs these Christians to frame their adversity within an eschatological hope—the reality of the Lord’s return. Might one think of this patience as an attitude of living through challenging, unpredictable, uncomfortable and painful situations with a calm confidence?