Maturing Faith: Maturing Through Endurance (Part 2) – Loretta Matty
Sunday, February 1, 2015
If we’re honest, as Americans in the early 21st century, tonight’s reading is a hard one to take because it seems to speak so passionately against many of the things we vaule: comfort, wealth, the good life. Loretta rolls up her sleeves, dives in and points us to the abundant life Jesus has for us that exists beyond the trappings of the life of comfort.
Tonight’s reading comes from James 5: 1-8:
5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of [a]Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have [b]fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and [c]put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until [d]it gets the early and late rains.8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
