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Living Inside Out

11/04/2007 - Patient Love, Galatians 5-22-23

A Lesson in Waiting

Wednesday morning I had to wait... I was driving from my home in Phoenixville to the office here at the Sunnyside building... we usually meet around 8 a.m. on Wednesday's for prayer and I was running a bit late...

Egypt Road can be congested at certain times of the day especially near the 422 interchange in Oaks... my experience has been that if you hit it a little before 8 a.m. or a little before 9 a.m. you will probably hit congestion... but if you come through a little after 8 a.m. or a little after 9 a.m. you will usually get through without too much trouble...

Like I said, I was running a bit late... it was a little after 8 a.m. and I was fully expecting a straight shot on Egypt Road to my left turn on Pinetown Road... I cruised easily past the Oaks Post Office and was almost up to the road that turns to Target when I hit two lanes of stopped traffic... cars were packed bumper to bumper in both lanes... cars were lined up the entrance ramp to 422... cars were lined down the exit ramp from 422... cars were parked on the 422 overpass... nothing was moving... but that didn't stop some idiot... er, gentleman two cars back from honking his horn... yeah, that'll get things rolling again... probably some driver up on 422 slowed down to check his messages on his cell phone and didn't realize he was holding up all this traffic... that timely honk of the horn will snap him back to full speed and get all this moving again... I tend to get cynical when I am inconvenienced...

I was stuck, trapped... no where to go... no way to turn around... no way to move forward... I muttered some frustrated expletives... squeezed the steering wheel... took a deep breath and waited... I could see my left hand turn ahead and I knew that if I could just make it to Pinetown I would have a straight shot to the office but it wasn't happening... so I waited some more... we all waited... hundreds of cars waited... did that make us all patient?

Just because we wait doesn't mean that we are patient... the honker is a case in point...

When I realized I wasn't going anywhere I popped the truck out of gear and turned on KYW just in time to hear Traffic-on-the-Two's explain that there was a multiple car collision on 422 with limited traffic getting by in the left lane that would soon be shut down completely to make room for a medical helicopter to land... just then I noticed an ambulance trying to weave it's way through the congested traffic on Egypt Road to get onto 422 and it hit me that there were people up there who were in big trouble... this was no longer just a traffic jam but a medical emergency and I became anxious... not anxious for me and my situation but for the health of those who were involved in the accident... I was still waiting but now I was waiting patiently... I didn't care about my situation anymore... I was content to wait if it meant that others would get the medical attention that they needed...

Just because we wait doesn't mean that we are patient...

First some review...

Today we continue our series called Inside Out, by looking at another expression of the fruit of the Spirit... Patient Love ...

Galatians 5:22-23 says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control... it would be very easy for us to look at each one and talk about things that we can do to behave more lovingly or more peacefully or more joyfully... but that would miss the point of this whole series... the fruit of the Spirit cannot be produced through human effort... In his commentary on Galatians and Thessalonians called "Paul for Everyone," Tom Wright says this,

"The nine qualities Paul lists in verses 22-23 are not things which, if we try hard enough, we could simply do without help, without the spirit. If you suspect that someone who is being kind to you is having to try very hard to do it, the kindness itself loses its flavour. The point of all of them is that when the spirit is at work they will begin to happen; new motivations will appear."

By the way if you are looking for a solid, easy to understand, commentary on any particular book of the Bible, I would highly recommend Tom Wright's "Everyone" commentaries...

It's important that we remember each week that this series came about as a response to the last teaching series from this summer that looked at the great "I am" statements of Jesus... the last "I am" statement that we looked at was I am the true vine... you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Right from the beginning of this series we have realized that we can't produce this fruit by trying harder or by going to a fruit bearing class...

When Matt taught on Joyful Love a couple of weeks ago he reminded us of the zealous teachers who were infiltrating the church in Galatia trying to convince them that faith in Christ was not enough... they ripped into Paul and accused him of not telling the Galatians the whole story... if they wanted to be part of God's people there were certain religious practices that they had to incorporate into their lives... the whole point of Paul's letter to the Galatians is to combat this false way of thinking...

As Paul arrives at this point in letter (chapter 5) he talks about the "acts" of the sinful nature in contrast to the "fruit" of the Spirit... "acts" are done - "fruit" is produced... we "perform acts" - we "bear fruit"... can you see how important this distinction is?

So how do we bear fruit? What do we need to do to allow fruit to be produced in our lives?

I think we start by giving up the "try harder" approach - it doesn't work...

I think we need to realize that much of this is a supernatural process... it is mysterious... we will not be able to reduce it to a formula...

We need to get our arms around the crazy notion that the life of Christ is in us waiting to be released... the characteristics of Christ are waiting to be ushered forward... the fruit of the Spirit is contained in the spirit of Christ living in us who believe... can you imagine that?...

In Galatians 4:19 Paul writes, My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...

Tom Wright writes of this, "Here he describes his aim for them very strikingly: 'until the Messiah is formed in you'. His goal is that the messianic life - the self-giving love which embraces all alike - should appear in their own community."

I'm not sure exactly how this mysterious formation happens in us individually or how Christ is formed in us as a community but I know that I long for it... in me... in us... and I think it has a lot to do with us looking at Jesus... perhaps we can fertilize the fruit-bearing process by learning more about this spirit of Jesus who lives within us...

Patient Love

Which brings us to today's expression of the fruit of the spirit of Christ... "patience"... or, as Bruce has been reminding us, "love expressed through patience"... for love is the main fruit and the rest of the list represents ways in which that love is expressed...

I had an amazing time learning about the biblical concept of patience this week... it is so much more than waiting in traffic without honking your horn...

The word that our English Bible translates as "patience" is actually a compound word in the Greek and I kind of think that our word "patience" doesn't really capture the complete meaning

The Greek word is "makroqumia" (makrothumia - pronounced mah-krah-thoo-me-ah) and it comes from two words... "macros" meaning "long or large" and "thumos" meaning "spirit, soul, feeling and thought"... the word "thumos" is derived from another word "thuo" which means "to rage or to seethe"...

When combined with "macros" "thumos" is best understood as "anger" or an "intense expression of the inner self (expressed as strong desire or passion)"... "a state of intense displeasure; anger, wrath, rage"...

Put "macros" and "thumos" together and you have "macrothumia" which means "taking a long time to become angry or be filled with rage."

Now I did not set out to bore anybody with a bunch of stuffy Greek definitions but I think you'll agree that this word that we have translated as "patience" is emotionally loaded... within this expression of the fruit of the Spirit is a kind of intervention of a smoldering angst that is supernaturally kept from building up into an explosion...

The King James Version translates the word as "long suffering" and in the famous love chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, instead of "love is patient," the King James Version reads "charity suffereth long"... Tom Wright translates the word as "grand-heartedness"...

The word appears 12 times in the New Testament but is used in basically two different ways...

The first use has to do with "patient endurance" or "perseverance in the face of painful circumstances"... one example is found in James 5:7-11... James is writing to believers in Jesus who are suffering under persecution...

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as 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.

Imagine living in a country where the political powers viewed followers of Christ as a threat to their power... that is what the first century believers had to deal with in the Roman government... that is truly evil but that is exactly what many persecuted believers face in their countries today... they are considered enemies of the political powers... James writes and encourages his brothers and sisters to be "longsuffering" in the midst of persecution...

Next Sunday we will be observing the "International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church"... we will take time to learn about and pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who suffer every day because of their faith in Jesus Christ... one of the results of this day for our community is that we become more patient in our trials as we enter into the struggles of our spiritual family who are facing frightening threats every day because of their faith is Jesus Christ...

The second use of the word occurs more often in the New Testament and, in the examples I am about to share with you, points us to God the Father and Christ the Son as our inspiration... this second use has more to do with our interactions with people... with "being self-controlled in the face of provocation"...

Romans 2:1-4You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 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?

God's patience is his slowness to anger and his slowness to pour out his wrath on people.

Paul talks about the patience of Christ extended to him in 1 Timothy 1:12-17...

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display hisimmense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Before he realized who Jesus was, Paul was persecuting and torturing and killing his followers and yet Jesus exercised his "immense patience" toward Paul...

Another example from the writings of Peter in 2 Peter 3:8-9...

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 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.

Slow to anger even when you are wronged. God exercises his patience with sinners who are wronging him in hope that they will repent. Patience is "restrained wrath".

God's patience with us should inspire us to be patient with others... that is the whole point of this parable from the lips of Jesus himself... Matthew 18:21-35...

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive someone who sins against me? Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant," he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart."

The king was more than patient with his servant... the servant was asking for more time to pay back his large debt but the king took time right off the bargaining table by canceling the debt...

Bruce and I were talking about this on Friday and he said that this reminded him how many of the people who have wronged us will never make it right... many of the people who we are trying to help will never get their lives straightened out... sometimes our love "suffereth long"...

I don't know about you but that makes me think of Andy and Tammy Reid and the pain they must be going through as every stumbling move of their sons Garrett and Britt are televised for the whole nation to see... is there anything harder than watching our children struggle... may God give us parents a love that "suffereth long"...

The reason we can suffer long is because we realize that God has suffered long with us... some of us grew up with parents who flew off the handle at our slightest infraction so we tend to be short-tempered as well... it is good to remember that our heavenly Parent has always been patient with us for much more severe infractions... the only thing that upsets him is when we don't pass it on...

So what do we have to do to live inside out with regards to patient love?

Stop trying to produce it by our own human effort... not "grin and bear it"...

Recognize that it is the spirit of Christ in us that patiently loves... the Spirit wants to produce that longsuffering love of Christ in our lives...

Stay connected to the vine... remember all the ways our Father has shown his longsuffering love to us...

Concluding Benediction

Jesus, may we never forget that we all have come to the Father begging for his patience and he has never turned us away... he has always been lavishly patient with us... may that same longsuffering, that same great-heartedness live in us... live through us and extend itself freely to those around us... may we never keep an account of those who have wronged us... may we never give up in difficult circumstances...

Jesus, may your patient love find powerful new ways to express itself in our lives, in our families, with our friends and spouses and children, in our neighborhoods, schools and workplaces, and right here in our precious Valley View community...

Thank you for your love that endures forever... Amen...

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.