Patience

SERMON TITLE: Patience

TEXT: Galatians 5:22 (ESV)

SPEAKER: Josh Hanson

DATE: 5-2-24

WELCOME

This is an unexpected joy — to be to all of you today — for this national day of prayer event — I’ll explain why in a moment. But first — my name is Josh Hanson and I have the honor of being the Senior Pastor of Gateway Church here in Findlay. Something I always say — when I stand before folks to preach God’s Word — are the words: God loves you. And I love you too. No one hears the words God loves you enough. Nor does anyone hear the words I love you enough. So — if you remember nothing else from our time together — know that God loves you. And that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

So — I mentioned that being here with you all is an unexpected joy — and here’s why. I went to bed last night thinking that I’d be sitting and praying with you all — not speaking to you all. But I woke up this morning to a text that was sent to me just after 5am asking for a favor to fill in today.

Now — I’m here — so I obviously said yes. And here’s what I immediately noticed: impatience started to rear its ugly head — which is kind of ironic given that I’m speaking on patience. For me — and maybe you can relate to this — an enemy of me being patient — as I know I’m to be as a follower of Jesus — is my desire for control. So — this morning — my desire to control my unexpected situation wanted me to skip my morning time of prayer and being in God’s Word in order to get on with the task of preparing what I’d be sharing with you all. Thankfully — at this point in my life I’m a bit more self-aware than I was years ago — and I knew that what I needed most — because of this unexpected change to my day — was to be patient. To not skip my time of prayer and being in God’s Word. To not rush through my morning. My desire to take control of my day would lead me not to practicing the fruit of the Spirit — but to following my flesh.

This is what Paul is telling us in the verses in which we find the fruit of the Spirit. As I’m sure you’ve already heard — and will hear many times today — Paul says…

Galatians 5:16–17 NLT

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

Now it’s easy — when you hear Paul’s words “what your sinful nature craves” — to think — really, really bad stuff. Not something like being impatient. But — believe it or not — if patience is a fruit of the Spirit — then impatience is not. It’s not from the Spirit — but is something sinful — something birthed from our flesh.

Paul goes on to write…

Galatians 5:18–25 NLT

18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

You see — for me — because of my desire for control — fleshly impulses like hostility, quarreling, anger, and selfishness — wage war within me — keeping me from following the Spirit’s leading in my life — especially his leading to be patient.

Maybe you can relate to this — maybe you can’t — but let’s explore three aspects of patience that I hope will both encourage and help us to consider ways in which the Spirit of God desires to lead us into being more patient followers of Jesus.

GOD’S PATIENCE WITH US

Let’s begin with God’s patience with us. Before we focus on the patience we’re to display and live out — let’s be reminded of the good news that God is patient with us. The apostle Peter writes…

2 Peter 3:8–9 (NLT)

8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

We’ll return to Peter’s words later on — as we explore the patience we’re to have — but for now — notice how patient God is with us. Peter tells us to not forget this — which tells us — this is something we easily forget. What are we not to forget? That God is being patient and he’s being patient for our sake — for our good — so that — we have time to repent — to turn from our sin as we turn to Christ in faith — resulting in our salvation — as opposed to our destruction if we don’t repent. As Peter goes on to say…

2 Peter 3:15a (NLT)

15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved…

I have three kids — my oldest is finishing his junior year at ONU and my youngest is finishing her freshmen year at Findlay High. When they were much younger — like most parents and children — we battled through the learning how to ride a bike phase of childhood. Now — my second oldest — he was easy. He’s “Mr. I can do it” no matter what “it” is. So at four years old he didn’t want any help and was up on his bike riding around in a few minutes. He did hit a fence and chip a tooth — but he didn’t care — he could ride a bike. And — guess what — I had to practice zero patience with him as he learned to ride a bike.

My oldest and younger — however — well — all I’ll say is my daughter’s age was in the double digits before she learned to ride a bike. And my oldest learned to ride as well — but you’d have thought we were asking him to climb Mt Everest or something. And — guess what — I had to practice an insane amount of patience with them! Here’s my point: as a parent we don’t give up on our kids when it comes to something like riding a bike, or learning how to read, or establishing habits like brushing their teeth or taking a shower — why? Because we love them and want the best for them, right? Even when months — or years have gone by and they’re still scared to get on the bike, or have to be asked if they really put on deodorant, or when you have to resort to buy truth brushes for your kids — true story — and an amazing device to let you know if your kids are really brushing their teeth or just running water over their toothbrushes — that through all of it — you’re being patient with them — not so they take advantage of your patience — but because you love them — and want the best for them.

I share this light-hearted illustration because for me — and maybe for you — it’s easy to confuse God’s patience with me — as his stamp of approval of my life. As if I have nothing in my life that I need to repent of. When Peter tells us that the proper view of God’s patience — isn’t that of blanket of approval — but we’re to see his patience as him being merciful and kind towards us — so that we repent of our sins and avoid eternal destruction because of our sin. I wonder what sin God is patiently waiting for you to repent of? Maybe it’s something you’ve recently started to allow into your life — or maybe it’s a sin that you welcomed into your life years ago. God doesn’t need a truth brush — he knows — we don’t fool him. And — in love — he’s given us his Word — his truth Book — so that we know the very best way to live — in a way that honors his patience, mercy, and kindness towards us.

PATIENT WITH OTHERS

And — one idea we find in God’s Word to us — is that because God has been patient with us — we’re to be patient with others. The apostle Paul writes…

Ephesians 4:1–3 (NLT)

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

Or — Paul’s infamously “hijacked by weddings” words on love — which begins with…

1 Corinthians 13:4a (NLT)

4 Love is patient and kind.

We’re commanded to be patient with others — for this is one way in which we demonstrate love for one another. And Paul makes it clear that this kind of patient love for one another includes — making allowance for each other’s faults. That’s why patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit — for this is something we can’t do on our own — we need the Spirit’s help and power to be a patient people. Because — right — my shortcomings — my faults — not necessarily sinful things — just things that irritate you — well they’re irritating, right!

It could be the person who — when the light turns green — doesn’t get going as fast as you’d like. You’re the horn honking king or queen.

Or the friend of yours who chews with their mouth open. Or is a complainer. Or always talks during the movie. There’s no command in the Bible “Thou shalt not talk during a movie” — but man does it irritate you. Look — I get it — patience is hard. Really — it’s impossible — as I’ve been reminding us — without the help of God’s Spirit.

Being a pastor gives me the opportunity to learn the lesson of patience on a continual basis. At the end of 2019 — the elders of Gateway made a decision to divide up all of our church members into groups — and each group would have an elder who would be responsible for reaching out, caring for, and gently nudging those — who weren’t as active in the church as they should be — to get more involved. And we officially launched these shepherding groups in January of 2020. We split the membership up alphabetically and the group I oversee is at the start of the alphabet — so it hasn’t changed a whole lot over the years.

Back in 2020, there was one man on my shepherding list who was attending our worship services but — other than that — not involved in the ministry of the church. Now — let me say — we don’t want people involved in our ministry just so we can brag about how many folks are in our church — we believe that just showing up to a worship service isn’t enough to grow you in your faith. So we have a discipleship process that — if you engage in it — the likelihood is greater that you’ll be growing in your faith than if you aren’t involved in the process. And back in 2020, this gentlemen wasn’t involved. In 2021, he still wasn’t involved — but he kept hearing from me. Emails. Handwritten cards. I’d look out for him on Sunday and make sure to say hi. Those kinds of things. In 2022, he still wasn’t involved in our discipleship process. In 2023 — in November — he joined one of our small groups — a smaller community of folks who discuss God’s Word and care for each other. It took nearly four years — but we finally made some progress! Then — last week — I saw him serving for the first time — another step in our discipleship process! Let me tell you that this was a reminder to me to be patient with people. That — when we keep loving each other — especially when it means we have to make allowance for each other’s faults — that when we practice Holy Spirit empowered patience — we experience unexpected joys — like seeing someone who — in my flesh I would’ve wrote off years ago — begin to take steps to grow in his faith.

Who is God wanting you to be patient with? To demonstrate love to — even as you see their shortcomings? Or — to ask it another way — who — due to your impatience — are you being unloving towards?

Now — this is a community prayer event — and so I don’t want to miss the opportunity to remind us that being patient — by demonstrating love towards others — isn’t just something we do for our family members or to those who are Christians. For Jesus said…

Matthew 5:43–48 NLT

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

And — as we’ve seen — part of God’s perfection is that he is patient with us. And — as we’ve seen — to love others is to be patient with them. Thus — in Jesus’ command about loving our enemies — those who oppose us — we see that we’re even to be patient with them. So — as hard as being patient with our family members or church family members may be — being patient with those who oppose us may be the biggest test of our patience as followers of Jesus. Yet — as God’s Word tells us — we’re to remember that…

Romans 5:8 (NLT)

8 God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Our patience towards others — your patience towards those who oppose you — will only be experienced when you first remember God’s great love and patience for you as displayed in sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you while you were still opposed to him. This is the beauty of God’s love and patience that we’re to show others in our love and patience for them.

PATIENT WITH GOD

Finally — I want us to consider our patience with God. Back to those words of Peter that we looked at earlier.

2 Peter 3:8–9 NLT

8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

I don’t know about you — but for me — there have been many, many times when I had wish that God’s timing was more in synch with my timing. I like to prepare — especially for events like this — but this morning has been a test of my patience with God. Do I trust his timing? That the Spirit can lead me in putting together a word on patience with little time to spare? Let me tell you this has been both a morning where I’ve grown closer to God — because of a situation that forced my dependence on him — and where I’ve questioned God’s timing — all at the same time.

So here are some things I’ve learned — literally — today.

Preparation isn’t bad — and preparation doesn’t have to mean I’m not dependent on God — but today I learned something about how dependent I am on him that I wouldn’t have if his timing was my timing today.

I’ve learned that he’s in control and I’m not. And that — my desire for control and lack of it is often the reason why I’m impatient with others. Believe it or not — but I haven’t had time today to explore what I’m about to say more — but I think there’s a connection between how flexible — or interruptible — we are with our schedules and plans — and our patience.

I’ve also learned that — though time often feels like it speeds up when the unexpected happens to our day — that every now and then we get to experience a bit of God’s view of time — a day being like a thousand years — and we have just the time that we need to accomplish what he has for us.

TIME OF PRAYER

Now it’s time to turn to our time of prayer. We’re going to spend time in prayer asking God to show us how to practice patience in various areas and relationships of our lives. I’ll begin each time with a prayer introducing a topic, we’ll then spend some time praying in silence, then I’ll introduce a new topic, and we’ll continue the sequence for the remainder of the hour.

PRAYER FOR OURSELVES (CHECK TIME AND DIVIDE THE REMAINING TIME BY 5)

First, we’ll pray for our patience. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, empower us to be patient men and women. Help us to be patient with others, with ourselves, with those who oppose us, and with you. We ask that you would hear our prayers as we pray to you in silence.

PRAYER FOR OUR CHURCHES

Now, we’ll pray for patience for us as churches in our community. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help our churches to be communities of patience. Patient with our brothers and sisters in Christ whose shortcomings are an irritation to us. And may they be patient with us and our shortcomings. May your churches be known for our patience. As we now pray in silence for our churches — we ask that you would hear our prayers.

PRAYER FOR OUR NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITY

Next, we’ll pray for patience among our neighbors and community. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help us to be a community known for our patience with each other. For patience with one another will lead us to being a better community. We ask that you would hear our prayers as we silently pray for our neighbors and community.

PRAYERS FOR OUR FAMILIES

Now, we’ll pray for patience within our families. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we now lift up our families to you. Those closest to us often get the brunt of our impatience — forgive us we ask for this sin. And help our homes to be havens of patience. As we now pray in silence for our families — we ask that you would hear our prayers.

PRAYERS FOR OUR LEADERS

Finally, we’ll pray for patience for and among our local, state, and national leaders. Let’s pray.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, give all of our leaders — at the local, state, and national levels — patience with each other as they lead us. Give them patience in the political decision-making process. And help us to be patient with them as they lead us. We ask that you would hear our prayers as we silently pray for our local, state, and national leaders.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as we conclude this hour of prayer — we thank you for your patience with us and the power you give us to be a patient people. In a world that desires control and moves at a busy and frantic pace — may we — those who follow Jesus — live lives of counter-cultural patience. We thank you for your patient love for us as displayed in Jesus coming to earth, to live, die, and rise from the grave for our sins — and doing so even though we were his enemy. For — now — having believed in Christ and having turned from our sin — we are now people who live — not by the flesh — but by the power of the Spirit of God. The Spirit who produces patience in his people. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.