Patience - EP

Intro

(Walk on stage wearing white coat & stethoscope)

The apostle Paul says, “”

Colossians 3:12 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Our clothing, the way we dress, says something about who we are. Our clothing matters because it is a manner of presenting ourselves to others. How do you present yourselves to others?

What does your clothing say about who you are? This jacket indicates that I have some connection to the medical field. It’s actually from when I was a medical student, and I loved wearing it because it changed the way people viewed me. (Show picture).

However, I left medical school because I felt God calling me to complete a PhD, to become a professor and a pastor.

Yet, my clothing communicates something about who I am.

Paul wants our lives to be clothed in the character of Christ. Just as I am wearing the clothing of my father, so likewise does Paul long for us to be identified by the character, the identity of our heavenly dad.

Thus, in this series we’ve talked about being clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and today we get to explore, what does it look like to be clothed in patience?

What does it mean to be patient

Patience means to be long suffering or having long passion – waiting a long time before expressing anger. 

The problem we have is not that we get angry, but that we are quick to become angry.

And so instead of being clothed in Christ’s character; we allow the underbelly of our sin to be exposed. (Take off white coat & stethoscope)

Someone cuts us off, (add drop of lighter fluid to flame)

Parents - you kids forget to take out the trash (add drop of lighter fluid to flame)

students - your parents enact a new curfew or guideline (add drop of lighter fluid to flame)

You have a coworker who takes credit for your work (add drop of lighter fluid to flame)

We by nature aren’t patient people - our tendency is to be quick tempered.

Further, if we have passion for something - it usually is short-lived.

Maybe you were once passionate about playing the guitar

Or passionate about some humanitarian cause

Or passionate about Jesus - many of us when we come to faith we’re deeply passionate. Where is that passion today?

My hope is that it’s grown and not diminished.

To have long enduring passion that doesn’t flare up in a moment but grows over time, and endures suffering, this is what it means to have the patience of Christ.

To gain clarity on this, let’s look at one of the parables to us by Jesus.

If you have a Bible I’d love for you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 13, we will begin in verse 24. If you would like to use one of the blue Bibles that we provide for you it will be found on page 1489.

Wheat & Weeds

Matthew 13:24–30 NIV

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Why did Jesus tell them to wait until the harvest to separate out the wheat from the weeds?

If you’ve ever gardened or done landscaping, you may be thinking to yourself, why not pull them right away? It’s so easy to tell what weeds look like.

These people were famers, agriculture was their way of life.

Just as you could easily go identify weeds in your garden and pull them out, surely the people back then could have found a way to separate the wheat from the weeds prior to harvest - so why wait? Why be patient?

I want to show you a picture. (Show darnel v wheat)

Which of these is the weeds and which is the wheat? The wheat is on the left and darnel on the right - now although they look very similar, they are distinguishable. But this is them in a much more mature form; a form approaching harvest. When they are younger it is even harder to tell them apart. So why wait? why be patient?

Because:

When the weeds, darnel, are young it’s hard to distinguish them. You have to wait to be sure of their identity

If you were to uproot them early on, you will simultaneously, uproot the wheat your trying to grow and it’ll be detrimental to the good crop as well!

Now these two implications are fascinating because they have significant implications for us.

We don’t know anyone’s identity, only Christ does, and their identity whether weeds or wheat, saved or not, will be made evident in the day of Judgement.

The people who are weeds, the people who are the most annoying, the most unbearable people this side of heaven are actually essential for your growth.

If God were to remove them from you’re life now, your own spiritual growth would be stunted.

Growing up, I was the oldest of four kids, and one of my sisters God designed very similarly to myself. So as siblings we but heads often. Yet, she is one of God’s greatest gifts to me because God has used her to form me into His image; to teach me compassion, kindness, humility and patience.

Who is it in your life? The person you can’t stand, the person who you may not call an enemy, but you don’t like them, you don’t agree with them, and you definitely don’t enjoy them - that’s the person God is using to bring about your growth; to grow within you the patience of Christ.

Now none of us want to hear that, but it’s true. God allows the weeds to grow alongside the wheat so

So that weeds might become wheat

that wheat might grow - God doesn’t want to uproot his followers before their time. He wants us to remain planted in this world.

Point 1: God allows the weeds to grow, that the wheat might grow.

Don’t believe me? Jesus’ disciples were confused about the parable he gave so they asked him about it, and here’s Jesus’ explanation, we pick it up in verse 37.

Matthew 13:37–39 NIV

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Now let’s first be clear on the meaning of this parable and what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching that the He, the Christ is scattering seeds of the gospel across the globe - these gospel seeds grow into wheat - or followers of Jesus.

The weeds - are those that don’t have a relationship with Christ.

Jesus is giving us an eschatological parable; simply put a parable about the end times.

It’s a parable about the Kingdom of God vs the Kingdom of Satan.

In the end, when Jesus returns, those that are not apart of His Kingdom will experience eternal punishment and separation from God.

Matthew 13:40–43 NIV

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

All of us long to live in a world without evil and suffering. Jesus will remove all the evil from this world one day; He will eradicate evil from this earth.

I think if we were to take a vote in this room, all of us would say that we long to see evil eradicated in this world amen?

So why hasn’t He done so already?

Because He is patient. God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. His love is long-enduring, it’s a enduring passion for you and I, and for this world.

What stays and slows the wrath of God is His love.

Don’t you see, you and I are also sinful and have done evil in the sight of a holy and perfect God - and yet He gave us time to hear the gospel, to respond, and to enter into His Kingdom. He did not just immediately discard us to the fire as one would with weeds.

No instead He has endured our disobedience and rebellion because of His great love!

—> Story

My wife and I currently have two kids, Isaiah is 3.5 and Amari just turned 1 last week. Each night we go about a bedtime routine with our kids, and Zae is a master at prolonging the process. First, we’ll have dinner, and lil man will take a millennia to finish his meal. Sometimes it feels like we have to bribe him simply to eat food. But I’m sure one day that’ll change. Then, comes bedtime, to which he always interjects, “dad, can I play for 5 more minutes”, and then if we do let him have extra play time, he’ll ask again. Then it’s bedtime, and he interjects again, now wanting second dinner - because apparently he’s hungry. Sometimes we say no, depending on the time, and sometimes it’s a yes. Then, comes bedtime. And he interjects again, I want to help put Amari to bed first. Then comes bedtime, and now he wants to read a book - this process continues, we finally get his teeth brushed, jammies on, etc, he’s in bed, “dad, can I have some milk please?”

And at this point landing his plane has taken almost an hour. I tell him, no it’s time to go to bed, I’m about to walk out of his room, and he says, “dad, will you cuddle with me for one song”.

There are nights when bedtime, takes a longtime. This can be frustrating, when my only time to debrief the day with my wife is the 30mins-1hr we have after putting the kids to bed. Or often nights, I have essays to write, homework to turn in or assignments to be completed. And so at times, I have a desire for bedtime to be quick and efficient. But that’s not the way of relationships and what allows me to not simply endure long landing strips for bedtime, but to enjoy and treasure those moments with my son - however annoying it may be at times - is my profound love for him.

I would trade almost anything for one more song cuddled up to my son.

You see, when Paul writes to us in Colossians 3:12-14

Colossians 3:12–14 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

He’s telling us - that the source of our patience, the source of our long-enduring, unending passion for others - is love.

And it’s the love of our heavenly father poured out on us that gives us the opportunity to be His children.

1 John 3:1 “1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

The thing that we are deserving of being poured out on us is the wrath of God

Romans 1:18 “18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,”

The reason you and I are still here is because He’s profoundly patient.

But the beauty of the gospel, is that Christ took upon the wrath of God - it was poured out upon Him in full on our behalf, so that we could become God’s children.

Question, what attribute of God, other than His grace is required for us to be saved? Patience

The apostle peter tells us in

2 Peter 3:9 NIV

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:15 NIV

15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

Salvation is made accessible to us by the patience of God. Without patience, we wouldn’t have an opportunity for life nor for repentance. There would be no way to relate to God if He were not patience with us.

Point 2: It’s God’s patience that gives time for salvation.

It’s the patience of God that gives time for repentance. So why let the wheat and the weeds grow together? Because God so loves the world, that He longs for all of us to enter His Kingdom, He longs for all of us to repent - to change our way of living and make Him the King of our lives.

We require patience from God

Others require patience from us. Wherever sin is present patience is needed.

Point 3: Because we have become recipients of God’s patience, we need to reflect that same patience to others.

So let’s just get really practical, the reason this text is so relevant to our lives, is because God is expecting us to demonstrate patience toward others. Relevant Examples (I’ll only do ~3 of these):

Parenting Young Kids – Waiting while your toddler insists on buckling their own car seat… even though you’re already late.

Teenagers – Listening to your teen roll their eyes and say, “You don’t get it,” and resisting the urge to shut the conversation down.

Aging Parents – Helping mom or dad with technology, paperwork, or mobility challenges—when it takes five times longer than you think it should.

Patience is needed relationally because of sin/offense. 

Col 3:13 - alludes to this, the next trait is forgiveness, which will be touched on next week, but if we are to have thriving relationships this side of heaven patience is essential.

God so longs to be in relationship with you and I, that He has been demonstrating His patience towards us since the foundation of the world. It is not that God doesn’t hate sin, it’s not that God is wrath-less, it’s that God is so slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love that He’s chosen to be patient with us.

Fun fact for the Bible scholars in the room: did you know that the most quoted verse in all of Scripture by Scripture is Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:6 NIV

6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

God is not like us - praise God! He is slow to anger and abounding in love! He is patient with us; that we might come to repentance.

And so we live in a time where we await the wheat and the weeds to be separated out. We live in a time - yes that is full of sin, evil, and brokenness. But that is not only true of our world, it’s true of us. And the reason God is so patient with us is because He longs for us to experience salvation, He longs for us to repent - to turn to Him.

Romans 2:4 NIV

4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

You and I cannot display the loving patience of Christ if we have not first become recipients of His patience.

If you’re in this room right now, and you know your way of living isn’t honoring to God, and you sense the Holy Spirit working in your heart right now, if you long to have a relationship with Jesus, I’d love to give you an opportunity to make that decision today.

Scripture tells us that we are saved, “by grace through faith”, we are not saved by our works, it is by faith and faith alone that we are saved.

So I want to give you an opportunity to put your faith in Christ. Doing so, begins by being honest with God and confessing that you’ve sinned, you’ve messed up by doing things and saying things that aren’t honoring to Him or others.

Next, once your willing to admit your need for Him, you can thank Him for His profound love. He loved you enough to die on a cross for you, taking the penalty that you and I deserve, paying it in full and rising again from the dead three days later so that we could have a relationship with Him.

If you believe that Jesus Christ is God, that He paid the penalty for your sins, past, present and future, in full on the cross, and you believe that He rose again from the dead, then take a moment to declare out loud by repeating after me, “Jesus I believe you are the son of God, I believe you died for my sins and rose again. Jesus I want a relationship with you and I commit to living for you the for the rest of eternity”.

If you just made that profession of faith, praise God! Scripture tells us that when person turns to God all of heaven rejoices. There’s a huge party in heaven happening right now!

If you said yes to Jesus, I want to invite you after the service to grab a cross from our “I said yes” Stations out in the lobby area. We would love to celebrate with you and to give you a memento to remember this profound moment that will change the trajectory of your destiny.

If you are in this room and have already said yes to Jesus, maybe you’ve been following Him for a long time, my hope is that you would be reminded of the patience God has shown you and I, who are still just in need of His patience as the first day we said yes to Jesus.

Action: Set up moment of reflection on Christs patience for communion

Benediction

(Put white coat back on)

How we show up in this world matters - our clothing communicates something about our identity to their world. What I didn’t tell you at the beginning of the message, is that this white coat isn’t mine, it’s my dad’s. I’m not a doctor, but because of my relationship with my father, I can cloth myself in his identity.

Christ longs for us to be clothed in His character, but in order to do so, we need to borrow a patience that is not our own, but Christ’s. When we put on the patience of Christ, we will show up in this world in such a way where people see Jesus.

Romans 2:4 NIV

4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Christ has shown us great patience, may we go and share that same patience to the world.