Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon Proverbs 14:29 “Patience”
March 6, 2022
By the fourth century, the church had a forty day period for fasting and renewal called Lent. The idea for this came from the fourth chapter of Mattew where Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness. So the church counted backwards forty days from Easter, excluding Sundays, and arrived at a Wednesday seven weeks before Easter. This period of forty days was used by the church to prepare new converts for baptism on Easter Sunday. This year we will be using these forty days to develop Christian virtues.
The winter, we have been asking the question, “What must we do to become more like Jesus?”. We looked at biblical spiritual practices. These are things we do to build upon our faith and become more and more like our savior. These include worship, prayer, Bible study, surrender to God’s will with the help of a biblical community, giving our resources and sharing our faith.
Today we move to the next step. We will now ask the question, “What will we become as a result of what we believe and what we do?”. We will be looking at the Christian virtues we develop as a result of our biblical faith and spiritual practices. The first Christian virtue we will look at is “patience.” And thank you for your great patience as I finish this long introduction. Let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Proverbs 14:29 Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.
It shouldn’t be too hard to think of things that make you impatient. I remember a day when I was picking up two international students, who were living with us, from school. I was just a couple of minutes from arriving at the school when I saw a line of brake lights immediately ahead of me. Up ahead I saw the flashing railroad signal and a train crossing the road. These trains were usually pretty short so I didn’t expect a long wait. But then I saw the problem. The train wasn’t moving. The train that blocked the road was stopped. I didn’t know how long I would have to wait. And so, I lost my patience.
I pulled out my phone and loaded Google Maps. I searched for a way to get around the train. I decided to turn left on County Road, drive under the railroad bridge and drive all the way to Old Porter Road and then backtrack to Route 71 and the school. This took about 10 minutes. I got to school late. But as I turned into the school I saw that the train was gone, and traffic was moving. If I had just been a little more patient I would have arrived at school on-time without the aggravation and extra driving.
Patience is a virtue. You develop it with spiritual practices built on faith. What is patience? Patience is when you are slow to anger. You have a long long fuse that burns slowly before you erupt in rage. Patience, being slow to anger, is a characteristic of God.
Nehemiah 9:17 “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
We have patience because we are created in God’s image. We become impatient because of sin. But we can regain our patience through our faith and spiritual practices.
Related to patience is another biblical word, “perseverance”. What is “perseverance”? Perseverance refers to our ability to withstand heavy burdens over a long period of time. My mother was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis as a young woman. She suffered from chronic joint pain for forty years. But she was able to bear this with her faith in God and spiritual practices of daily prayer and regular attendance at worship. So, as a result of our faith and spiritual practices, we develop patience and perseverance. The Apostle Paul talked about this with the church at Ephesus. Here is what he said:
Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Paul is telling us that patience is for us a Christian virtue along with humility, gentleness, and love. Christians are to be slow to anger and endure long hardships. Let’s take a look at a biblical story of patience and perseverance.
Genesis 15:2 Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Abram and his wife Sarai have been bearing this burden for a long time. They had been richly blessed by God in every way except having children. And as they got older their fuse got shorter and shorter. Abram was on the verge of getting angry with God.
We all know what Abram was going through. We pray and pray and pray for a specific blessing and it doesn’t happen. We bear our burdens. We try to be slow to anger. But the longer we wait, the angrier we get. But Abram did the right thing. As he approached the end of his rope Abram turned to God in prayer. And God spoke to him.
Genesis 15:4… “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
God has assured Abram that if he is patient and continues to persevere the blessings are his. And then we are told,
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
So if we trust God our patience and perseverance will be rewarded. But when? How long do we have to wait? Abram and Sarai waited for ten years! And after a decade had passed their patience ran out. They took the matter into their own hands and looked for the quick fix.
Genesis 16:3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
I bet we can all find the flaws in this strategy. Sleeping with his slave doesn’t seem like the right way to provide children for his family. And this does place Saria under a burden she could not withstand.
Genesis 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
So Sarai and Abram have lost their patience and have a burden they cannot bear. Then God came to Abram and said this:
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
God can’t be serious. Can he? This must be a joke. Abram certainly thought so.
Genesis 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”
Abram, now Abraham, the father of many nations, thought that this was a joke. But it wasn’t. The burdens that Abraham and Sarah had endured had been part of God’s plan. And God was faithful to his promises. Their burden was lifted. Sarah bore a son, Isaac.
In America today we are told that we can have anything we want, right now. We can get a credit card and go to Amazon and buy anything we want to buy. We can satisfy any desires instantly. But the result is that we bear an ever-increasing burden of debt. And eventually, this burden will become too much for us to bear. When that happens our patience will run out. Wouldn’t it be better to follow this basic biblical wisdom instead?
Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
As we mature in Christ we must avoid quick fixes, become more patient, and persevere until we receive God’s blessings in abundance.
The next time you are about to get angry, try this. Put a spiritual thermometer under your tongue. See how long it takes for you to get really angry. If you get angry quickly you are lacking the Christian virtue of patience. But if you are slow to anger then God is transforming you making you more and more patient.
I arrived at the Presbyterian Church of Easton a year and a half ago. In that time, this church has grown in faith and spiritual practices. And so we have become more patient.
This patience will be necessary as you go through your pastor search. Your pastor nominating committee is hard at work developing a Ministry Information Form which will inform pastors that you are looking for one. Pastors will start applying. Your PNC will sort through the resumes that arrive and begin to narrow the list down. They will interview candidates and watch videos of their preaching. All of this will take time. And so they need you to remain patient.
Remember that patience is developed through spiritual practices. So to become more patient, engage in prayer, Bible study, worship, offering your time and resources within a biblical community, and sharing your faith with others. And your patience will be rewarded. Your burdens will be lifted. You will be blessed by God. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, it is so hard to be patient. We want to be satisfied right now. But know that you have a plan for our lives and a plan for our church. So bless us with patience so that we can wait, bearing our burdens, until we receive your bountiful blessings. This we pray in the name of your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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