Patience

We were blessed, challenged and inspired by Pastor Rwth's sermon this past Sunday.  I wanted to share the last few paragraphs that powerfully capture her message to us of hope, mercy, and the goodness of God's endless patience with us!

Fifteen years ago, our nation suffered the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  Since that terrible day, we and our world have suffered relentless warfare, countless terrorist attacks, mass shootings, widespread social upheaval, deep political divisiveness, inflamed religious conflict, and far-reaching global refugee and immigration crises.  I think of my twelve-year old son, and I grieve that the only world he knows is the one overshadowed by such terror and all that comes with it—the fear, the reactivity, the rage, the hatred.  And the impatience.  The lack of mercy.

The temptation is to conclude that the suffering we experience—and the Culture of Impatience born from it—is all there is.  But I don’t want to give up—and I don’t want my son to give up or us to give up.  I don’t want us to give up on this world that God loves so much.  I don’t want us to give up on other human beings whom God also loves so much.  I don’t want us to give up on dreams of justice and peace, of beauty and belonging. I don’t want us to give up on the deep longings of our own hearts.  In other words, I don’t want us to get impatient with how things are in a post-9/11 world, to the extent that we close our hearts and force our way through life.  I want us to be patient and work with the world, as God is patient and works with us.  We aren’t a lost cause and neither is our world.

Today our world needs more than a little patience.  In the midst of our brokenness, we need the God-sized patience we find in Christ Jesus. God’s endless and tireless patience transforms us—we are loved and forgiven and made new.  And the more we absorb the reality of God’s patience with us, the bigger and more abundant our patience is—with others, our world, and ourselves.  

May we pray for patience, for it’s a fruit of the Spirit.  May we pause when we feel the tension of impatience building in our hearts, minds, and bodies—noting its effect on us and surrendering it to God.  And then, joyfully remembering God’s patience with us, may we practice patience.  One person at a time, one situation at a time. Every day. Even when we don’t want to or don’t feel like it.  And, when we fail, as we will, and we get impatient, let’s see it as yet another chance to draw from Christ’s endless patience to us.  And begin again.