Patience – Bear with each other
Eph 4:1-6
Patience – define: the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like
The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
I’m sure we all get impatient – but we do so for different reasons. Things you get impatient about will not necessarily what I get impatient about.
And sometimes it’s for no reason or logic
When driving, I am usually a patient guy.
A queue doesn’t faze me
I will wait for other traffic.
Getting a red traffic light doesn’t bother me – I know the lights will change again with 1 minute – so what’s the hurry.
I read a staggering figure last week: The annual cost of people jumping red lights in the United States is. . . $7 Billion!
The average amount of time saved by jumping a red light . . . 50 seconds.
So, I’m fine in the car most times; but I don’t like being late.
So I can patiently wait if I’m early, but if I’m late I’m tapping fingers and getting irritated.
AND . . .you probably know I get impatient when things go wrong – like powerpoints on a Sunday music won’t play (confession time . . .)
Or before Messy church if I still have things to do.
. . . hmmmm…. Maybe a lot of my impatience is about running out of time.
I guess some you can relate to that.
Others here don’t worry about time, but you get impatient with other things . . .. name them. . . . .
In the bible, the word patience is linked with longsuffering and bearing with something or someone others might not (outside of Christ).
We all have things that try our patience.
Can others control our patience?
Of course not – It’s us . . . and through the HS within us
It’s within the fruit of the spirit – forbearance, and self-control (we looked at this a while back).
There was a man whose car stalled in heavy traffic just as the light turned green. No matter what he did, the car wouldn’t start. You know what happened, he was frantically trying to start the car and a hundred other cars behind him were laying on their horns. In the end, through the entire green light the car wouldn’t start. The people behind continued to lay on their horns. Finally, he got out of his car and walked back to the driver right behind him who could obviously see and hear the man trying to start the car. He politely said to the man, “I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to get my car started. Would you mind trying to start my car and I’ll sit in your car and honk at you.”
We are not a patient people.
We’re always trying to figure out how to cram more and more things that need to be done into less and less time. We allow less and less time for things, so we rush and we’re frazzled and we become more and more impatient with anything or anyone who prevents us getting what WE want done.
Did you know that there’s even a church in Florida that advertises a 22 minute worship. That’s right. They promise that 22 minutes after the service begins you will be on your way out. The music is fast. . . The prayers are quick. . . The sermons are only 8 minutes long.
Don’t get your hopes up, not happening here!
If you think coming together as God’s family and spending time in worship, teaching and fellowship is something to be hurried, you are in the wrong church!
(remember last week – the church was devoted to each other and to God)
While the apostle Paul was in prison, we know from our last series that he wrote this to the church at Ephesus ~
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
So Paul is laying the ground work . . . he’s in prison for service to Christ and he is asking us to live our lives, just as HE is living his life – even in prison.
He’s encouraging us to live in such a way that we will bring honour and glory to our Lord.
We are to be living examples of Jesus Christ.
To show what it is to follow Him, know him, and have God in our lives.
That’s witnessing. Just as last week we saw Jesus saying, Love one another – and other will KNOW that we follow Jesus Christ; so what God is about to say through Paul
So what’s being said here about that?
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The word comes from 2 words and literally means “long - tempered.”
The King James has “longsuffering”.
In reality it means we have self restraint when we become angry or frustrated.
We are to take a long time to burn up – to reaching our boiling point.
Think about how quickly or how long it takes you to lose your patience. How long it takes you to flare up out of anger or frustration.
How long does it take for your temperature to rise?
How many here among God’s people can flare up – snap out a word or tell someone what you think – but it should have stayed a thought, right?
Remember this is about unity – bringing God’s people together
Showing to the world we are different – that having God in our lives change us, and we are no longer how we used to be.
In Colossians 3, Paul says something similar ~
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.
You see what it says in verse 12?
Clothe ourselves of all of these virtues.
It’s a choice to do so.
Every morning when we get dressed and ready for our day, we are to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
That’s a pretty good way to get dressed.
I got something for your mirror . . .
When you look at yourself in the morning, remind yourself to put on these virtues.
And then we bear with each other; and forgive each other.
Just like our love for each other bears witness to the world, so our patience and bearing with each other does to.
Is our world generally patient?
Does our world tolerate and bear people not like them?
So being patient and bearing each other is going to be a big witness to those around us.
What does it say when Christians snap at other Christians?
What does it say when Christians criticize other Christians?
What does it say when Christians leave a church because they can’t get on with some there?
Our patience is demonstrated very visibly to the world.
The world sees the way we love each other.
The world notices when we demonstrate tolerance
The world sees how we accept sinners, while standing against sin.
Remember – the enemy loves to break us up!!!
Do you want him to win?
Do you want him to win?
Is God patience to us?
Is God long suffering of us?
Do God bear us?
What should we be doing then, as Christ’s followers?
Can you imagine if God had no patience? Oh, man, we’d be in big trouble.
But God see’s our sin over and over again, and he is just – hie KNOWS that sin must be paid for, so His Son comes, suffers, dies, goes into the depths of hell for us – the price is paid.
Jesus Christ paid the fine for us so we could be set free to live for Him.
Because God is patient with us, He wants us to be patient with others.
So, when we’re struggling with others . . . when we see the sin in them, we can see that they are not the enemy – they have been captured, and we want Christ to set them free.
We can be patient with them, and bear with them.
Maybe try to see WHY they do what they do
See what life has been like for them?
See why they are the way they are?
It doesn’t make their behaviour correct. It simply helps us to have more compassion and bear with them – showing the love of Christ.
Patience is a Christian virtue, fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
You remember last week I pointed to 1 Corinthians 13?
Do you remember the part I started at?
4 “Love is . . . .. patient.
Patience is an act of love. We can learn to be patient when we trust in the power and strength and encouragement which comes from God.
On our own, it will be tough to be patient.
But with Christ all things are possible.
