SERMON: PURSUING HOLINESS: PATIENCE

29 July 2012

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to James 5:7-11

James 5:7-11 (NIV)
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

-- this morning, we are continuing our sermon series on pursuing holiness through the fruit of the Spirit -- so far, we have covered the first three attributes of God listed in Galatians 5:22-23 -- love, joy, and peace -- this morning, we're going to look at the next attribute of God that is listed there -- patience
-- of all the attributes of God -- of all the Godly characteristics that we are trying to acquire in our lives -- I don't think there's any as hard as patience -- there's just something about patience -- about waiting -- about persevering -- that is difficult for us in this modern age

-- for instance, you may remember the story about the man in Waco, Texas, who got tired of waiting -- Kevin Waits -- which, by the way, is his real name -- Kevin Waits called for a cab to come pick him up, but the driver didn't arrive fast enough -- when the cab didn't come as fast as he thought it should, Waits called 911 fifteen consecutive times to express his frustration about having to wait on a cab
-- the dispatcher repeatedly told Waits the police could not help with such issues -- After the fifteenth call, the police realized that Waits really wanted a ride and was tired of waiting, so they came by and gave him a handcuffed ride to the police station -- when they got him there, they found out that Waits didn't even have the $26 required to pay for the cab service he was complaining about
-- his impatience led him to spend a night in jail

-- what is it about patience? -- what is it about waiting that drives us so crazy? -- I consider myself a fairly patient person -- I developed patience on the side of a fish pond -- when I was kid, all I did was fish -- I could sit on the side of pond with a cane pole for hours, even if I wasn't getting a bite -- I could wait forever
-- even today, when I have to wait because of things, it doesn't bother me a whole lot -- I can get stopped by every red light in town, and I'm fine -- I can have to wait on the computer to boot up, and I have no problem -- but, lately, I have noticed that I have been losing patience in other areas -- especially, with people
-- in my opinion, Walmart is the ultimate test of a person's patience, and I have been failing miserably -- the other day, I had to swing by Walmart and pick up something for supper -- I wasn't in any great hurry -- just dropping by on my way home after work -- but it seemed like everyone in that store just tried my patience -- there was this one family that just really got on my last nerve -- they got in the aisle in front of me with a buggy and they spread out -- they acted like they had never been in a store before -- they were just walking along, extremely slow, and looking at everything in sight -- they took up the whole aisle and wouldn't let me pass -- it's like I was invisible -- it's like I didn't matter to them -- and I found myself getting more and more frustrated at having to wait for them to get out of my way so I could get the items I needed
-- and, all the while, as I'm getting more and more impatient, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "and I've got to preach a sermon on patience in just a few days"

II. The Three Types of Patience
-- patience is a virtue -- the Bible says "blessed is he who waits" (Daniel 5:12) -- but, honestly, in my opinion patience is one of the hardest characteristics to acquire -- it's one of the hardest things to do
-- patience shows up near the front in the list of attributes of God -- after love, joy, and peace, Paul tells us that patience is the next key characteristic of God -- and if we want to reflect His image -- if we want to be holy as God is holy -- then we must learn to grow this characteristic in our own lives -- we must learn to be patient people

-- now, as I started to study this topic of biblical patience, I came to realize that patience is lived out in three separate areas -- patience with things -- patience with people -- and patience with God
-- as I can so firmly attest to in my own life, you can patient in one area but fail to be patient in another -- I can be as patient as Job waiting at red lights but fail to be a patient person when an employee at work just won't get their job done in time -- I can be patient in persevering through a particular trial in my life but get impatient when God doesn't answer my prayers when I think He should

-- Webster picked up on this multi-faceted dimension to patience in his dictionary, although he didn't specifically mention patience with God in his definition
-- Webster defines patience in three ways -- patience is "perseverance in performing a task" or "endurance without complaining" -- that is patience with things
-- he further defines patience as "bearing suffering and provocation with calmness and self-control" and "refraining from retaliation" -- that is patience with people
-- and, finally, he defines patience as "the ability to wait calmly, tolerating a delay" -- which I contend is most clearly seen in the spiritual realm as patience with God
-- so, in order to be truly patient people -- in order to grow in holiness and reflect the goodness of God -- we have to seek to be wholly patient in all three areas of patience -- wholly patient in all that we do and with all that we come into contact with and with God Himself

III. Scripture Lesson
-- here in this passage in James, we read about being patient in all three of these areas of life -- patience with things -- patience with people -- and patience with God
-- so, let's look at each of these separately and see what we might learn from James on this topic

-- I have always liked the Book of James -- it's a hard book -- it's a convicting book -- it's very much in your face about how you are living and how you should be living -- but that's what we need -- I think it's a shame that James is not taught as much as it should be in our day and age
-- here in the fifth chapter of this epistle, James is summarizing his teaching throughout the book -- he's bringing it all home and making it real
-- in the previous four chapters, James has hammered the church on how they had failed to live out their faith in their lives -- on their lack of works and acts of service -- on their favoritism towards those who were wealthy over those who were poor -- on their divisiveness and their grumbling and complaining towards others, especially others in the church -- and on their lack of faith in waiting on God to come again
-- James is trying to get them to see that true faith is not just lived on the mountaintops, but down in the valleys of life -- that we say more about what we believe by our actions rather than our words -- about how we respond to things and people and God when life isn't going like we expected -- when God isn't doing what we expected
-- so, here, in these verses, James is making the case to his readers and to us that faithfulness is demonstrated through patient endurance in the three areas of life -- with things -- with people -- even with God

-- look back at verse 7

James 5:7a (NIV)
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.

-- in other words, hold on, brothers -- don't give up -- wait for the Lord's return and everything will be as it should be
-- until then, be patient -- be patient when trials and troubles come your way -- when you get stopped by every red light on the way to work -- when you get sick -- when you lose a loved one
-- be patient when others talk about you and persecute you -- when others put you down because you are not as wealthy or as famous or as well-dressed and mannered as others -- be patient when people don't act like you think they should -- be patient when people try to drive you crazy
-- and be patient when God doesn't answer in your timing -- when God doesn't come and make things right when you think He should -- be patient when you're walking through the fire and demonstrate that patience by trusting and believing that God is with you and He will work in His own time
-- that is what James is trying to get across to us when he tells us here, "be patient"

-- look back at verse 7 again

7b See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.
8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.

-- the first area of life that James tells us to be patient with is with the things around us -- he uses the example of a farmer waiting for the rains and for his crops as an illustration of patience
-- as any farmer can attest, there's just so much you can do with the weather -- I don't care how much you stand up and yell -- how much you beg or plead -- how much you rant and rail against the sky -- you are powerless to make the clouds come and send rain or to make the clouds go away and send sun
-- weather is a thing -- it's something that is external to us -- it's something that we can't control and so we shouldn't get bent out of shape because of it -- the only thing we can do is control how we react to it and the other things in life that cause us concern
-- to paraphrase a famous quote, "Things happen" -- we live in a fallen world -- we live in a world where it seems like the universe conspires against us from time to time -- where things seldom go our way -- where people get sick and die -- where people lose their jobs and their homes -- where people face catastrophes and natural disasters -- where people find themselves having to wait to do what they want to do because a vehicle breaks at the wrong moment -- a tire goes flat -- a light turns red -- a printer runs out of ink
-- things go wrong -- big things and little things -- small irritations and great problems -- but they have one thing in common -- there's just not much we can do about them

-- so, what do we do? -- well, as James says here, "be patient" -- now, that doesn't mean that we do nothing -- the Greek word for "patience" here is not passive -- it implies an active waiting
-- that means that we do what we can in our own power and leave the rest up to God -- for instance, think again about farming -- if the weather's not right, what can we do? -- we can sort of make rain through irrigation, although it's not quite the same as the real thing -- but that's about it -- we can't control the sun or the temperature or the wind
-- so, we do what we can and trust God for the rest -- we make our needs known to Him -- and we wait and trust that everything will turn out just like He wants
-- that doesn't mean it will turn out like we want -- but it does imply that we demonstrate our faith by trusting God will take care of us -- we quit trying to do things on our own -- we quit getting worked up over something that we can't really control -- and we trust God
-- as Andrew Murray wrote, "The waiting is to teach us our absolute dependence upon God’s mighty working, and to make us in perfect patience place ourselves at His disposal"
-- that is what James means here by patience with things -- that is how we can be faithful through waiting

-- verse 9

9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

-- as I've already shared, there are times in my life when my patience is really tried by other people -- that's what James is talking about here -- patience with others -- patience with people
-- we all, from time to time, have problems with other people -- who is it that gets on your nerves? -- slow or careless drivers -- rude clerks -- undisciplined children -- unproductive coworkers -- disorganized people -- indecisive people -- inconsiderate people -- people who call attention to themselves -- self-centered people -- people who interrupt while you talk -- people who repeat themselves -- know-it-alls -- habitual latecomers -- habitual complainers -- people who won’t take responsibility -- argumentative and divisive people -- people who argue from ignorance -- people whose opinions differ from yours -- gossips -- hypocrites -- others?
-- did you find someone on that list? -- I guarantee you that there's someone out there who really tries your patience -- someone that just frustrates you by being there in your way or in your life
-- what do we do with these abrasive people? -- how do we respond?
-- James says "don't grumble against them" -- don't rail against them -- don't moan and complain about what they are doing -- think about what you're doing and whether you are reflecting Christ to them in your words and your actions
-- to quote Andrew Murray again, "Look upon every man, woman, or child who tries your patience or angers you as a means of grace to humble you"
-- these people are a means of grace -- in other words, these abrasive people are like sandpaper in your life -- smoothing off the rough edges of your character and helping to make you look more like Jesus
-- how you respond to these people speaks worlds about your faith in God and your desire to be holy as He is holy
-- keep in mind that Paul listed patience as a fruit of the Spirit -- this tells us that we are incapable of being patient with some people on our own -- we just don't have the strength or inner willpower to deal with them, and we have to rely on God's own presence working in us and through us to respond to them
-- we tend to respond to abrasive people with our flesh and not our spirit -- when you find yourself getting irritated or getting angry or getting upset with someone else -- when you find your patience is growing thin -- the answer is to detach yourself from the situation -- to shift your focus off of yourself and what this person is doing to you and to shift it back to God
-- when you find yourself getting annoyed and impatient with another person, take a breath and ask God to calm your soul and your spirit -- ask Him to give you His patience to deal with this situation -- or, if nothing else, to make a way of escape so that you can avoid sinning in your actions or behavior
-- remember that you can't change this other person, but you can change the way you respond to them -- ask God to help you to respond in a more positive way -- ask God to help you reflect His nature and His character in this situation

-- verse 10

10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

-- finally, James gets to the hardest area of patience -- waiting on God
-- this is the area where our faith is most sorely tested -- where we truly demonstrate with our life if we believe what our lips say
-- it's one thing to come to church and know the right words -- to understand the Bible and to accept the gospel message -- but, as James points out in this epistle, it's another thing altogether to live it out -- to actually receive the message in our lives
-- we've all experienced times in our lives when it seems like God doesn't hear us -- when we pray and our prayers don't seem to go past the ceiling -- when we pray and God doesn't answer like we expect -- when we pray and He doesn't answer at all or the thing that we prayed wouldn't happen, does
-- we've all experienced times when our faith has been shaken -- when trials and troubles have come our way -- and God doesn't work -- He seems to be absent -- and things just keep getting worse
-- it's in these times that we are forced to wait -- that we are forced to persevere -- that we are forced to endure what we think we can't endure
-- it's in these times that faith is forged

-- when you are forced to wait on God, you are faced with a decision -- you can either choose to believe that God cares for you and rest in His promises and His message and His goodness -- or you can choose to believe that God is either not there or, if He is, that He doesn't care -- how you respond demonstrates your level of faith and spiritual maturity
-- James points us to the example of Job and the prophets in these verses -- these men and women, he writes, suffered in their lives -- they were beset with troubles too great to mention -- with persecution and martyrdom that took their lives and the lives of those around them
-- their faith was sorely tested, but they didn't give up -- they persevered -- they trusted God and His providence in their lives -- they trusted in God's compassion and mercy -- and they knew that God would take care of them
-- they lived out what James Rye wrote about patience -- "True patience is a calm endurance based on the certain knowledge that God is in control."
-- throughout the Bible, we are told to wait on God
-- Psalm 62:1 -- "My soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation." (Psalm 62:1)
-- Psalm 27:14 -- "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart"
-- Psalm 59:9 -- "I will wait for You, O You his Strength; for God is my defense"
-- Isaiah 25:9 -- "We have waited for Him and He will save us."

-- when we wait on God, we are saying that we trust Him -- that even though things may not work out as we hope, we trust and believe that God's will and plan for our lives is better than what we hope for -- we have that "calm endurance" that affirms that "God is in control"
-- James says, "Wait on the Lord -- be patient -- and see what God will do -- see what God will bring about"
-- waiting on God -- trusting in Him -- is the essence of true faith and holiness

IV. Closing
-- The great New England preacher Phillips Brooks was noted for his poise and quiet manner -- At times, however, even he suffered moments of frustration and irritability -- One day a friend saw him feverishly pacing the floor like a caged lion -- “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked -- “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

-- patience is one of those characteristics of God that just takes time to develop -- it doesn't happen in a moment, but happens over a lifetime of minor and major irritations
-- but, as Kent Crockett points out, "Once God develops the attitude of patience in you, life becomes easier [because] petty things don't bother you anymore."
-- patience works wonders in the life of a person -- it helps us to deal with the things and the people of life -- it helps us to respond to them as Jesus would -- and, it helps us develop our faith as we learn to trust in God in the waiting

-- I know I've gone on a bit long this morning -- and I appreciate your patience with a wandering preacher -- but, this is an important topic and an important attribute that we must develop in our lives if we are to be like Jesus in all that we do -- if we are to be Holy as He is Holy
-- just to sum up our teaching on this, "patience is the ability to sit back and wait for an expected outcome without experiencing anxiety, tension, or frustration -- it is the ability let go of your need for immediate gratification and be willing to wait -- it is the trait that displays tolerance, compassion, understanding, and acceptance toward those who are slower than you in developing maturity, emotional freedom, and coping abilities -- and patience is the ability to remain calm in the midst of turmoil because you know God is in control."
[Source: Michael McCartney, www.sermoncentral.com]

-- when you find yourself getting impatient -- when you are confronted with the irritations of life -- from things and from people -- remember to turn to God -- remember that you have within you His Spirit who will give you the patience and faith that you need to persevere -- take a moment -- say a prayer -- and ask God to give you His patience so you will respond as Jesus would
-- and, let me warn you, when you start to work on this attribute of patience in your life, you are going to be come face-to-face with every little thing that causes you irritation -- because it's in the testing and the trials that patience is forged
-- so, as you leave here, get ready -- if you get annoyed by things, get ready to be stopped by every red light in town and expect other petty problems to come up -- if you get annoyed by people, get ready for abrasive people to get in your way -- if you have a problem trusting in God, get ready for Him to build your faith in this area
-- regardless of what methods God uses to mold your patience, yield to Him and the Holy Spirit, and persevere, trusting that what the Lord finally brings about will be for your good
-- as James says here, "Be Patient"
-- let's pray