February 28, 2010 – Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Colossians 1:9-12

“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,

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.

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 giving thanks to the Father,

who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints of light.”

[powerpress]I’d like you consider your answer to the following questions:

Think of a situation in which you find it hard to be patient?

Why is it hard for you to be patient in those situations?

I am not a patient person. What I say today about patience is not coming from someone who has mastered patience. I share from the perspective of one who knows he needs more patience, who understands how difficult it can be to be patient, and who has seen how impatience can get us into trouble.

One time I was driving in Orleans and I turned right onto Eldredge Parkway. I was being followed by a young woman driving a convertible. I passed an Orleans Police car sitting on the side of the road and as I looked in my mirror, it pulled out in our direction. The speed limit on Eldredge Parkway is 30 miles per hour, in part because there are schools on the road as well as fire and police stations. With the convertible and the officer behind me, I was driving exactly 30 miles an hour. The young woman wasn’t happy about this and she was following me rather closely and a little to the left as if she wanted to pass. As we approached the Orleans Fire Station, an engine came out lights flashing, siren wailing, and pulled in front of us. I slowed down in case another emergency vehicle was coming and then I saw an ambulance about to pull out in front of me so I pulled over, stopped, and put my arm out indicating the driver behind me should stop. Impatient with my driving, ignoring the ambulance, and oblivious to the police officer right behind her, the woman pulled around virtually right into the path of the ambulance. Shaking my head, I looked in the rear view mirror at the police officer, and waved for him to come around me. He put his lights on, swung around, and pulled the car over right in front of me. Impatience can be costly and more inconvenient than waiting.

In the Bible, the words “patience,” “patient,” and “patiently” are used to describe God’s behavior as well as our own. Patience is also listed as one of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. All of the fruit of the spirit are reflections of the character of God and are demonstrated in the life of Jesus.

God’s Patience

As we seek to develop patience in our life, perhaps it helps to begin with remembering how patient and gracious God has been with us. In 1 Timothy 1:16 Paul writes, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost.  But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.”

It took Paul a long time and life changing experience with Christ to grasp that the way he was living his life was not pleasing to God. Yet God was incredibly patient toward him, and didn’t give up on him.  This is an encouraging truth for all of us. God will not give up on us either. God is incredibly patient with us. Finally Paul understood how he was disappointing and hurting the heart of God and Paul responded to God’s love in Jesus.

Jesus himself was very patient with his sometimes slow-to-understand disciples, often repeating his teaching two or three times or more in trying to help them grow. It is comforting for me to remember that even Jesus lost his temper occasionally and got impatient with the disciples, but that was the exception. Most of the time, he was incredibly patient. Paul also spoke to the churches he started about the importance of being patient with the weaker members of the faith community. “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them (1 Thessalonians 5:14).”

God has been patient with us individually and with the human race as a whole. In the late first-century some Christians wondered if the Lord was not keeping his promise about returning because the years were marching on and many believers were growing old and dying.  But in 2 Peter, which was perhaps the last book written in the New Testament, we hear (2 Peter 3:9,14,15),

“The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.”

If it true that the Lord is patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance, then Jesus may not be returning soon because there are so many people God wants to turn around.  While we wait for that day we are to strive to live at peace, regarding this interim time as an example of the patience of the Lord to all people.

Developing our Patience

We have taken a brief look at God’s patience in the Bible, when referring to human behavior, patience in the Bible is used almost exclusively in reference to our dealing with other people or being patient in enduring suffering. Patience is a fruit of the spirit we need when we find ourselves in situations over which we have no control, such as being stuck in traffic, or at an airport as flights are delayed or postponed.

“The Los Angeles Times published a story of a commercial airline flight cancellation which resulted in a long line of travelers trying to get booked on another flight.  One man in the line grew increasingly impatient with the slow-moving line. Suddenly, he pushed his way to the front and angrily demanded a first-class ticket on the next available flight.  “I’m sorry,” said the ticket agent, “but I’ll have to first take care of the people who were ahead of you in the line.”

The irate man pounded his fist on the ticket counter, saying,

“Do you have any idea who I am?”

Whereupon, the ticket agent picked up the public address microphone and said,

“Attention, please!  There is a gentleman at the ticket counter who does not know who he is.  If there is anyone in the airport who can identify him, please come to the counter.”  Hearing this, the man retreated, and the people waiting in line burst into applause.”[1]

Practicing patience helps us to control our temper and that ability is a sign of maturity.  Proverbs 15:18 and 16:32 say, “Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention.

One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city.”

The ability to endure everything with patience doesn’t come with the wave of a magic wand; rather it is something we have to consciously and determinedly work at with the help of God’s Spirit. God doesn’t grant us patience right now as much as God allows us to be in situations in which patience may be exercised. Because developing patience is difficult, we shouldn’t be surprised how frequently the New Testament urges us to be patient with other people and in suffering. Paul writes in Colossians that we should not be surprised by circumstances that demand patience on our part; we should be prepared for them.  “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 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints of light” (Colossians 1:11-12).  Paul connects patience with giving thanks for what we have to be thankful for in the midst of suffering or difficult human relationships, especially the fact that through our faith in Jesus (which reminds us of God’s patience to us) we have hope in this life and even in suffering and death and grief.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:12 to, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”

In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, several start with the risen Jesus calling the church to patient endurance. “I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance.  You are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name.  I know your works – your love, faith, service, and patient endurance.”(2:2-3, 19). 

Not only is the church to patiently endure, but in our relationships with other people, some of whom will drive us almost crazy, we are told: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Bear with one another and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other (Colossians 3:12).”  Of course we know, “Love is patient (1 Cor. 13:4).”

I remember a story about an earlier time and “a man who had struggled for years to make a living. Then, learning how to bend fine timber slowly, he developed a business making wooden arches for carriage shafts.  After several years, it appeared that he was on his way to becoming a wealthy man.

“The man’s neighbor became envious of the man’s success and determined that since he had access to the same lumber, he would begin his own business. The neighbor’s goal was to make twice as many shafts as his competitor. Quickly the neighbor cut trees and attempted to form them into shafts, but one after another split.

Finally the neighbor went to the successful craftsman to ask for his advice.

‘I use the same trees and I have similar equipment.  Why am I unsuccessful?’ he asked. ‘You have both skill and fine materials,’ the man told his neighbor.

‘It takes a long time to bend the tree. What you lack is patience.’”[2]

It takes a long time to bend a tree – sometimes patience is a key ingredient to being both faithful and successful. In the world in which we live, patience is not the virtue it used to be. Our expectations have been raised and accelerated so rapidly by the technology and material comfort to which we are accustomed that it is hard for us to be patient. Yet Ecclesiastes 7:8 reminds us,

“The patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.”

As we seek to develop patience in our life, it helps to remember how patient and gracious God has been with us. 

We don’t want to take advantage of God’s patience by becoming complacent or sluggish in our faith.  We want to keep going on diligently so that we may be, in the words of Hebrews 6:12, “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Praying and asking God to give us patience right now, is not going to be enough.  There is always our part in growing in Christ-likeness.

An anonymous prayer put it this way:

“I asked God to take away my pride. And God said no.

He said it was not for him to take away but for me to give up.

I asked God to grant me patience. And God said no.

He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation.

It isn’t granted. It’s earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. And God said no.

He said he gives blessings. Happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain. And God said no.

He said suffering draws us apart from worldly care

And brings us closer to the Lord.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. And God said no, that I must grow on my own.

I asked God to help me love others as much as God loves me.

God said, “Ah, at last.  You finally have the idea.”[3]

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[1] William J. Bausch, A World of Stories, Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, CT, 1999, 385.

[2] William R. White, Stories for the Gathering, Augsburg Press, Minneapolis, 1997, 148.

[3] Bausch, A World of Stories, 213-214.