Love Is Patient
Notes
Transcript
Engage
INTRO:
Good Morning, LCC!
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tim
Pastor in Providence RI.
Here with my wife Brittannie, and two children, Ellery and Ezra.
Grew up in Albany - some of my most critical spiritual growth moments happened right here at LCC.
Discipled by Joel Lynskey
Sat under the teaching of Pastor Stan
Encountered Jesus in the Prayer Garden
Learned to lead worship
Grew in my faith and knowledge at LCS
This place was the launching point of much of my walk with Jesus.
Went to Bible College
Went to Seminary
Got married
Moved to RI to be a pastor
Had our two children there
LOVE THE OTHER:
My understanding is that you are spending this summer pressing into the topic of Loving the Other.
Pastor Mike kicked the series off last week by helping define what we mean when we say love.
Got a chance to listen to it
We use this term fairly regularly - often flippantly
I love my wife. I love my brother. I love coffee. I love watching the Office.
Same word, four VERY different meanings.
The Love that the Apostle Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 13 is a Divine Love that you and I know as Agape Love.
It’s an unconditional Love
It’s a self-sacrificing Love
It’s an enemy-loving love.
Loving your best friend is EASY! Anyone can do that!
Loving your enemy, however, takes something from outside of ourselves.
This is the kind of Love that Jesus demonstrates for us in his life and death
And it’s also the kind of Love that He invites us into when we put our faith in Him.
**TRANS - As we turn to 1 Cor. 13 we get a very beautiful, very poetic description/definition of what this kind of Love looks like.
Does anyone here this morning appreciate a good poem or song when you hear it?
I’m a fairly task oriented/details person so when I see a list in the Bible, I get excited.
I also love a good clear definition - makes my soul happy.
AND YET, while the definition of Love is clear, truly understanding it and living it out can often be an incredibly difficult task. - am I right?
It’s a task that takes a lifetime.
Tension
PATIENCE:
This morning we are going to take a look at the first descriptor/quality of this kind of Divine Love.
When Paul sat down to define this Agape Love the VERY FIRST THING that came to his mind, before anything else, was Patience.
It was so important he even closes the list with another mention of it.
Love is Patient > Endures all things!
He really wanted us to know that people of this kind of Agape Love are first and foremost patient people.
FRED ROGERS:
**TRANS - Take a moment - try to remember who in your life has demonstrated incredible patience?
Spouse? Parent?
Teacher? Boss?
Someone you knew or observed from a distance?
I think of someone like Fred Rogers - “Mr. Rogers”
In a world that was getting faster and faster...
In a TV business that was getting louder, cruder, more violent and aggressive…
In a culture that often ignored and pushed children aside...
He chooses to create a television show that embodies patience and slowness.
Many of you probably remember this. Do you remember watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood?
Watching it today would probably drive some of us nuts because of how slow and methodical it is.. and yet, as you continue to watch it you would probably also sense your blood pressure lowering and your stress dissipating.
Not everyone knows this, but Fred Rogers was a devout follower of Jesus. He was ordained into the Presbyterian Church but ultimately chose to step into the marketplace.
He viewed the children and parents watching his show as his congregation and he invited them to embody patience.
But he didn’t just make a show encouraging love and patience, he lived it in his everyday life.
Play Video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM
Fred Rogers lived and exuded patience in every part of his being.
He payed attention to the little people in the room (especially kids), always slowing down enough to make sure you felt seen and heard.
The reason a person like Fred Rogers feels so unnatural/countercultural is because we live in a world that does not value patience!
We value speed, efficiency, productivity!
We want it now. We want it fast
We don’t want save up the money, we use a credit card to get it now.
We don’t want to wait a week for shipping when we can get it in 2 days on Amazon.
It’s almost easier to identify and define Impatience than it is to define Patience!
It’s definitely easier to identify Impatience in the people around me than it is to identify it within myself.
PERSONAL IMPATIENCE:
Over the years I’ve always known that I could stand to grow a bit in Patience but it was in that “we all need to grow in patience a bit” kind of way.
It wasn’t until I was in Seminary that I began to see just how impatient I truly tended to be.
Driving on Campus vs. Walking on Campus.
Driving in General! I always seem to be stuck behind a granny.
Irrational hatred for automatic phone robots. “Press One”
Patience is the thing that most of us know we need more of.
It doesn’t matter how patient you THINK you are, we all have that person or that thing that opens our eyes to just how much farther we need to go.
We are generally more impatient than we’re aware of
definitely more than we would care to admit.
And it doesn’t even have to be about a particular irritating person or trivial annoyance.
Some of us are waiting on the Lord to give us clarity in our lives.
Some of us have been praying for a long time for God to change our circumstances.
Some of us have been encountering great difficulties and trials
**TRANS - It is to us... {ALL OF US}... that Paul says, “True Love is Patient! And if you don’t have this Patient Love, you are a clanging cymbal”
PRAY:
As we seek to Understand Patience together may we:
Set aside any distractions that would keep us from hearing God’s voice today.
Reject the impulse that this message is for anyone but me
Open ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives
Would you repeat the following words after me, out loud:
“Lord, what do you want to say to me today?”
“Help me to hear and understand.”
“Make me more like you today.”
Teach
DEFINING PATIENCE:
When we think of the word Patient today we generally think of
Waiting for something
Withholding wrath/punishment
Being kind - actively prospering the other
I use the word about 70 times a day when my three year old asks for something and I can’t help her right away.
One writer defined Patience as..
“The power or capacity to endure without complaint something that is difficult or disagreeable.”
Or, to put it more simply: “Enduring Discomfort Without Complaint”
The Bible takes this idea to a deeper level, though...
Patient = Gk. Makrothumei
Compound Word:
Macro = big picture, long in time, over-arching
Thumos = passionate longing; suffering
Big-Picture Suffering. Long Passionate Longing. Long-suffering
It’s interesting, in the English language we use this word not only a character trait - but to the person under the care of a Doctor.
This term came from the middle ages:
that anyone suffering patiently was a patient.
So what do "being patient and "being a patient" have in common?
BOTH require that a person come to terms with yielding - with giving over CONTROL to another person.
IN OTHER WORDS: in both instances you have to come to grips with being ACTED ON.
patience is a control issue
PATIENT GOD:
You don’t have to look far in the Bible to find examples of great Patience.
Abraham & Sarah wait 100 years to have a child.
Joseph endures great trials as he waits to understand how God will turn evil to good.
Job sits in the ashes of his burned down life as he waits on God.
Almost every character in the Bible has to experience patience as they put their trust in God.
Patience is such a key theme in the Bible that it is one of the early descriptors that God uses when he introduces Himself to Moses.
You want to know what I’m like?
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
SLOW TO ANGER - aka: Patient!
Numbers 14 - Slow to Anger
Neh 9 - Slow to Anger
Ps. 86 - Slow to Anger
Ps. 103 - Slow to Anger
Ps 145 - Slow to Anger
Joel 2 - Slow to Anger
Jonah 4 - Slow to Anger
Nahum 1 - Slow to Anger
It doesn’t take a seminary degree to see that this is a key defining characteristic of what God is like!
How many times do his people fail him? - Yet He is patient
How many times do the Israelites turn away? - Yet He is patient.
Jesus himself illustrates the Father’s Patience in the Parable of the Tenants in Matt. 21.
The master of the house plants a vineyard
He leases it to some tenants and goes to another country
When it was time to collect his fruit he sends his servants
They beat one, kill another, stone another.
And yet the Master sends more servants!
And then eventually He sends his son in the hopes that they would recognize and respect him.
But the wicked servants see this as an opportunity to take the inheritance for themselves so they throw him out and kill him as well.
Peter explains it this way in his second letter:
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Church, We Worship a Patient Father.
Patient in his very nature.
Even his judgement comes only after his great patience is exhausted.
Church, We Follow a Patient Jesus.
Who spends the first 30 years of his life doing “nothing of eternal significance”
Even after launching his ministry work he bides his time.
Patiently teaching his disciples - who seem to constantly take two steps forward, one step back.
Church, We are Filled by a Patient Spirit.
It’s His job to make us into little Christs.
He does this, as Paul says, “from one degree to another.” - slowly making us more and more like Jesus.
(This is why the conviction of the Holy Spirit is a good and beautiful and gracious thing. It’s the flashlight of God shining light on the dark and unseen areas of our lives. )
**TRANS - So where does this mean for us? Where does this leave us?
We know what Patience is.
We know it’s a key distinctive characteristic of God
We know we ought to strive for it and emulate it.
But how do we actually do that?
How do I become more patient?
I’m glad you asked
Apply
Interestingly enough, we get two very different insights on this from Paul:
They may seem contradictory on the surface but they work hand in hand.
Patience is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
The fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives will result in Patience.
The tricky thing about the Fruit of the Spirit is that it’s not something we manufacture on our own.
(It’s not fruits of the Spirit - as if we could work on joy for a month, then peace, then patience… etc.)
As we engage with and respond to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives we will experience the growth of this fruit.
This means learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit
Responding to His leading and conviction (not pushing it aside and ignoring it)
Not resisting the work He is doing in your life.
Submitting & surrendering yourself to Him.
And in this ebb and flow - Harvesting the fruit of patience.
2. Patience is an intentional and active Practice
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
The imagery Paul is using here is that of taking off and putting on clothing.
When I devote myself to following Jesus I take off the clothing of the old man - of the culture of the world - and I put on the new clothing
This is an intentional and active choice!
I want you to leave this morning with these two images: Fruit & Clothing
You can’t force fruit to grow.
You plant it
You water it
You nurture/prune it
It grows - whether you want it to or not.
You can choose what you’re going to wear tomorrow.
Will you choose the clothing of the old man/of the world?
Will you choose to put on the clothing of Patience? (Patience Pants?)
PATIENCE THROUGH SUFFERING
Ultimately, patience will be increased in you through the trials and difficulties God brings you through.
You need to encounter the trial in order to grow the patience muscle.
You need to fail in patience in order to experience the conviction of the HS that will result in the fruit of Patience being born.
**TRANS - I want to close with this..
Inspire
If you’ve ever studied much of the early church you’ll find that they experienced a growth and multiplication that was absolutely mind-boggling.
Scholar & Historian Alan Kreider points out that we often take for granted how incredibly surprising this growth was.
Nobody HAD to join the Churches.
People were not compelled to become members by invading armies or the imposition of laws.
Social convention did not induce them to do so.
Indeed, Christianity grew despite the opposition of laws and social conventions.
These were formidable disincentives.
And yet the church didn’t just survive, it thrived!
Alan Kreider would argue that it did so because it had a robust and experiential understanding of Patience.
Patience was so critical that the Early Church fathers wrote extensive treatises expounding the value of it.
They would eventually call it the “Highest of Virtues”
In one of these early treatises written by Tertullian we find this description of Patience:
“In poverty patience supplies consolation; upon wealth it imposes moderation; the sick it does not destroy, nor does it, for the man in health, prolong his life; for the man of faith it is a source of delight. It attracts the heathen, recommends the slave to his master, the master to God. It adorns a woman, perfects a man. It is loved in a child, praised in a youth, esteemed in the aged. In both man and woman, at every age of life, it is exceedingly attractive.” - Tertullian.
He calls Patience “Exceedingly Attractive”
Church, may we come to see it as Exceedingly Attractive as well.
May we seek it earnestly, and not resist it when the Holy Spirit leads us through the fire.
Act
Before you leave today, grab a pen and journal, and write out a short prayer:
“Lord, make me a patient person.”
Tread carefully, though - because He will answer this prayer.
In Rom. 12:12 Paul exhorts us to
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
PRAY - Father - would you make us Patient people.
