Advent XVIII (The Advent Tension)

James, the Apostle, is not one of those front page guys in the gospel.  He was one of the twelve and accompanied Jesus up the Mt of Transfiguration which suggests he was one of the smaller inner group closest to Jesus.  All the things which are recorded in the. gospel were, of course, witnessed by James.  While all this is true, his letter to the church never seems to get the billing that those written by Paul, or Peter, or John.  Perhaps, it is because of the way it lifts up an action based faith.  

One of the lessons for the Third Sunday in Advent comes from James 5:7-10.  It begins with the word, "Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord."  (James 5:7) He goes on to liken the patience of the farmer who waits for his crop to those who are waiting on the Lord to come.  Of course, the farmer is not one who sits on the porch rocking, but one who does all that can be done while waiting.  Such is surely the posture we should have as we wait for Jesus to come once again.  There is a certain amount of tension in the Advent season.  

We are called to wait with expectancy for Christ to come.  We are called to live with a hope that He will come quickly and restore order, overcome evil, and right injustices.  Hoping and waiting; however, does not give us license to sit in the rocking chair. As the farmer works to bring his crop to harvest so are we called to work to alleviate suffering and to stand against the power of evil present in the world.  James insist that we see the relationship between faith and works.  Advent does the same.