Living in the Spirit #5
INTRODUCTION:
A certain
preacher overheard two women talking about the sermon he had delivered that
morning. The first woman said, “That was
an amazing sermon the pastor gave on patience, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” replied her friend, “but he went five minutes too long.”
Patience.
When I told Mary what the topic of this week’s message was about she started
laughing. You see when it comes to the big things, car wrecks, surgery, people
and that sort of thing, I have all the patience in the world. But when it comes
to those little things like the stupid toothpaste cap that won’t go on straight
or the nut that won’t go on the bolt right or all those little things, I’m not
very good. I grumble and mumble and don’t have much patience at all. She even
bought me a book, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”
Patience, we
all need it and we all want it, now. How can we as a society that exists on
minute rice, instant mashed potatoes, instant coffee, microwave macaroni and
cheese, high speed Internet, movies on demand, fast food. texting and instant
messaging ever learn or teach patience? And yet, patience is not only a virtue
but one of the Fruit of the Spirit.
PRAYER
Let’s look
at those two passages. Galatians 5:22-25
(NRSV)
[22] By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
[23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law
against such things.
[24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
[25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided
by the Spirit.
Colossians
1:9-12 (NRSV)
[9] For this reason, since the day we heard it, we
have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the
knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
[10] so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in
the knowledge of God.
[11] May you be made strong with all the strength that
comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything
with patience, while joyfully
[12] giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you
to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Please Join
me in a responsive reading. Your part is in yellow.
“Love is the
key. Joy is love singing.
Peace is
love resting. Patience is love enduring.
Kindness is
love’s touch. Generosity is love’s
character.
Faithfulness
is love’s habit. Gentleness is love’s
self-forgetfulness.
Self-control
is love holding the reins.” (1)
Last week we talked about the
Peace of God which passes all understanding and how that peace helps us feel
content. Out of that contentment rises Patience.
There are times when I really
wish I had the patience and temperament of our last dog Midnight the Wonder
Dog. Of all the dogs we’ve had, she was the most patient especially with our
grandchildren. When our oldest grandson Zach was little, he loved to crawl all
over Midnight. He pulled her whiskers or ears and poked his fingers in her
mouth looking at her teeth and tongue. Midnight didn’t flinch or growl at all,
instead her tail continued to wag and thump contentedly.
Midnight’s favorite spot was
laying with her back against the sofa. Zach’s favorite position was sitting on
Midnight. She was his easy chair. There were times when he simply used her as a
step stool to get up onto the sofa. And the day he learned he could do that, he
must have used Midnight as a step about 50 times.
Midnight didn’t seem to mind
at all. She seemed to sense that Zach didn’t intend to hurt her. If she got
tired of it, she didn’t growl or snap, she simply got up and moved into the
kitchen or somewhere else. She was the picture of Patience.
This word Patience has been
interpreted in a number of different ways in a number of versions of the
Scripture and I think it’s a little of all: Patience is Steadfastness,
Endurance, Longsuffering and Perseverance.
I.
STEADFASTNESS:
A. Being
Steadfast is standing firm and steady. It also has a connotation of being loyal
as in being faithful. One of the best stories that illustrates Steadfastness
lived out in our daily lives is an old one.
A few years
ago during the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or
mentally challenged, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At
the sound of the starting gun they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but
with the relish to run the race, to the finish and win.
All, that
is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times,
and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy crying. They slowed down and
paused. Then they all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl
with Down’s syndrome bent down and kissed the boy and said, “This will make it better.” Then all
nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the
stadium stood, and the cheering went on for 10 solid minutes. (2)
Those young
men and women were steadfast in every sense of the word. They were steadfast to
their friendship. They were faithful and loyal to each other. Winning the race
didn’t mean anything to them unless everyone could cross the finish line.
B. That’s
the sense of Steadfast Patience God has with us. How many times have we blown
it? How many times have we willfully turned away from God and still God calls
us. Still God offers His steadfast love. Still God reaches out to us with the steadfast
offer of forgiveness and a welcome home. That’s steadfast patience that wants
us all to cross the finish line. And you can only learn that from God.
II.
ENDURANCE:
Then there’s
the Patience that is Endurance. Patience which is endurance is kind of like
wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when YOU get tired. You quit when the
Gorilla gets tired. Patience is the capacity for calm Endurance.
Let me give
you an example. A department store announced a promotion in which it would give
free televisions to the first one hundred people who came to the store on the
first day of its Grand Opening. The store was scheduled to open at 9 AM, but
the line of people began hours earlier. At the very front of the line was a
large, burly man who had waited longer than anyone else and he wasn’t about to
let anyone get in front of him.
Just before
9 AM a little old man walked up the door of the store and squeezed in front of the
large, burly man at the beginning of the line without even acknowledging the
fact that there was a long line of people who had waited for hours to get their
televisions. This large, burly man had waited too long to accept such rude
behavior and disregard. He pushed the little old man to the ground and told him
to go to the end of the line. The crowd cheered.
However, the
little old man picked himself up from the sidewalk, brushed himself off, and
returned to the door. Again the man threw him to the ground. And again, the
little old man picked himself up from the ground and returned to the door.
When this
happened for the third time, a policeman came over to find out what all the
commotion was about. The large, burly man explained to the policeman that he
had stood in line for hours, and this rude man cut right in front of him just
when it was time for the store to open. The policeman then turned to the little
old man and asked him for his side of the story.
The little
old man explained, “Everything he said is
true. But if he keeps throwing me to the ground, I’ll never be able to open the
door and let everyone into the store.” (3)
Through the
Love, Joy and Peace of God in our lives, God enables us to endure even when we
keep getting thrown to the ground. This is the Patience of Endurance which God
supplies so we can go on. And we need God’s endurance because even the
Energizer Bunny’s battery eventually wears out.
III.
LONGSUFFERING:
That brings
us to Longsuffering. I can’t remember the last time I even heard anyone use
this term for Patience and yet it is an extremely important aspect of what
Biblical Patience is all about. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you learn it
from suffering over a long period of time, though you do. Longsuffering has to
do with patience during difficult times and situations. A couple of people have
put it this way.
“Longsuffering
is the ability to let your light shine even though your fuse is blown.” (4)
“Longsuffering
is the ability to keep your shirt on when you’re hot under the collar.” (5)
Longsuffering
is swallowing angry words so you don’t have to eat them later.
There was a
First Grade teacher who had just finished putting the last pair of galoshes on
her first- graders, thirty-two pairs in all. The last little girl said, “You know what, teacher? These aren’t my
galoshes.”
The teacher
removed them from the girl’s feet. Then the little girl continued, “They’re my sister’s, and she let me wear
them.” The teacher quietly put them back on the girl. That’s Longsuffering.
IV.
PERSEVERANCE:
A. Then
there is Perseverance. This is Patience born of Trust, Trust in God which keeps
us going. One cold February day a snail started climbing an apple tree. As he
inched slowly upward, a worm stuck its head from a crevice in the tree and said.
“You’re wasting your energy. There isn’t a single apple up there.”
The snail
kept slowly climbing and said, “There will be when I get there.” (6)
That’s
Perseverance. This is the Patience that allows us to go on because we know
going on is the right thing to do. It may be hard but still we continue. This
sense of Patience is born of the Love, Joy and Peace which we have experienced
in God through Christ.
B. A
young man in London wanted to be a writer but the cards seemed to be stacked
against him. He had only four years of school and his father was in jail
because he couldn’t pay his debts. Just to survive the pain of hunger, he got a
job pasting labels on bottles in a rat infested warehouse. He slept in an attic
with two other boys from the slums. With such little confidence in himself and
his ability to write, he secretly slipped out and mailed his first manuscript
in the middle of the night so nobody would laugh at his dream. That manuscript,
along with countless others, were rejected. Finally, one story was accepted. He
wasn’t paid anything but the editor praised him for his writing. That one
little compliment caused him to wander aimlessly through the streets with tears
rolling down his cheeks. That editor’s compliment inspired him to continue and
improve. It also led to a brilliant career for Charles Dickens. (7)
Dickens had
a dream and had faith in God and he continued despite the rejection letters.
That’s Perseverance.
CONCLUSION:
Patience helps
us put the brakes on our own ego and our selfish desire to be first through God’s
Steadfast love in our lives.
Patience
helps us put the brakes on our willingness to give up or take the easy path. It
encourages us to Endure because we know it’s the right thing and the courageous
thing to do.
Patience
helps us put the brakes on the barbed retort to an insult. Longsuffering allows
us to pat someone on the hand or the back or the head when you feel like
bashing it in.
Patience
helps us put the brakes on our apathy and indifference and give us the strength
and energy to keep going even when we’re exhausted.
Patience
subdues our pride, sweetens our temper, bridles our tongue and strengthens our
spirit. And all of these are only possible through Christ. Patience comes from
God through that sense of Peace that passes all understanding which rises from
the Joy of knowing God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.
“The will of
God will not lead you where the power of God cannot enable you and the grace of
God cannot keep you.” (8)
Patience is
one of those things you can’t order on the internet or buy at your local
convenience store. You can’t just go pick it and put in your pocket. Patience
is one of the fruits of the Spirit that grows from a life of faith; a faith
whose seeds are planted deep; a faith which is watered with unconditional love
and fertilized with the joy and peace of an abiding relationship with God.
A word of
advice. Never pray for patience. If you do, you will be tested in order to
strengthen your patience. Instead, pray that God will help you use the patience
God has already given you. If you do that, not only will you have patience, but
it will multiply. Then your Patience will be strong.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
________________________________
Bibliography
1. I don’t know who to attribute this to.
2. A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup For the Soul,
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson, (1996, Health Communications, Inc,
Deerfield Beach, FL) p. 70.
3. SFOCT98
4. PAJUN97
5. WordSearch Illustration Database
6. PSFNov87
7. (Homemade, Volume 16, Number 3, March 1992,
p. 1) IOWMAR92
8. From Decision Making and the Will of God,
Garry Friesen and J. Robin Maxson, pg. 75