Midweek Advent Service December 11, 2002
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Be Prepared for Christ’s Coming With Patience
I. Christmas shows how patient God is with us
II. God’s patience leads us to be patient
Fellow patient Christians waiting to celebrate the birth of our Savior and his return:
As you drive by the Mississippi River, you can almost always see egrets or herons in the water. They are usually just standing there looking down. Apparently they pick a spot and wait for a fish to swim by so that they can spear it and eat it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one get a fish, but they must do it often enough to be able to survive. When I looked at tonight’s fruit of the Spirit, the picture of these birds came immediately to mind. To me they personify "patience."
As we approach December 25, we need to talk about patience. The Christmas rush makes it hard to wait in lines patiently. The excitement of seeing all the gifts wrapped under the tree makes it hard to wait patiently until the time when they can be opened. A lack of patience can spoil the holidays if we aren’t careful. It can produce short tempers and strained relations.
But even more, the lack of patience can lead us to forget what Christmas is all about. If the birds in the river weren’t patient, they would lose their next meal. If that happens too often, they would die of starvation. If Christians aren’t patient, they don’t take time to be spiritually fed. If that happens too often, they lose their faith and die eternally. Tonight we remember to BE PREPARED FOR CHRIST’S COMING WITH PATIENCE.
1. Christmas shows how patient God is with us.
“When the time had fully come.” These words often get lost in the Christmas story. But they are important. They first of all show God’s patience with us. Our God waited patiently for about 4,000 years before fulfilling the promise of a Savior that he made to Adam and Eve and then repeated through the years to the other Old Testament believers. Why did God wait so long? We don’t know; God’s Word doesn’t tell us. All we know is that when the time was right according to God’s plan, God sent his Son to earth to save the world. He patiently waited until just the right time.
As we wait for the Lord’s return on Judgment Day, we might also wonder why he is waiting so long. Again we don’t know the specific answer. All we know is that when the time is right, the Lord will come again. He will act in a way that is best for the salvation of his people. Scripture tells us: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In one sense, the reason God the Father sent his Son to earth 2,000 years ago is the same reason that God the Son will return in the future. He has chosen the time that will best serve for the salvation of his own.
We see God’s great patience throughout the Old Testament. His people, the Israelites, were often openly rebellious. Their sins of idolatry and immorality were great, but God’s patience was greater. Instead of bringing eternal death and destruction upon them, he continued to set the stage for the appropriate time to send the world a Savior.
We also see God’s great patience throughout the New Testament times and right up to the present. The Lord Jesus’ patience was tried by even his closest followers, the apostles. His patience is tried by those who follow him today. This includes you and me. Our sins of thought, word, and deed make it absolutely necessary for God to be patient. Without patience he would most certainly have already damned us to hell. But the Lord is patient, and that means salvation for all who believe in him as Savior. And that means that the sins we commit are forgiven—all because God patiently sent us a Savior who died for our sins.
Think of how we must try God’s patience with the way we go about celebrating the birth of his Son. Two thirds or more of our members aren’t here tonight. Some are absent for legitimate reasons. Others are gone because they feel they don’t have time to prepare for Jesus’ birth amidst all the other preparations they feel they must do. And even many of us here probably have trouble listening to and concentrating on the God’s Word because of so many worldly concerns and distractions on our minds. Thank God that he is patient, or we wouldn’t make it until Christmas, and we surely wouldn’t make it into heaven.
2. God’s patience leads us to be patient.
God is patient, but are we? Christmas is a story that occurred, in a sense, because the cast of characters involved were patient.
Many in Israel continued to wait patiently for the coming Savior. Four hundred years of prophetic silence after the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, hadn’t driven Mary or Joseph or the shepherds or many others away from believing that God would send a Savior. Nine months of pregnancy amidst the ridicule of her society didn’t lead Mary impatiently to seek an abortion or regret being the one chosen to give birth to the Savior. Forty days after Jesus’ birth his parents took him to the temple to be presented to the Lord. In the gospel lesson for this evening we hear how in the temple, there was someone who waited patiently for the Savior, Simeon. His patience in waiting for the redemption of the Lord was clear. He knew that the child before him was the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation. His patience was rewarded as he personally saw their Savior.
Do others see us waiting patiently for the celebration of Christmas? Or are we just as irritable as the shoppers next to us in lines in the stores? Or are we as angry as the driver next to us when traffic moves slowly? Maybe stores should put “Slow Down” signs on their cash registers. Maybe cars should have "I Brake for Christmas” signs on their rear bumpers. We need to ask ourselves when caught in the Christmas rush, “Why the hurry?” “What is the rush?” Remember what God said in our psalm for this evening: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Impatience can cause us to miss out on many of the things that make this time of the year special.
Be patient and remember the gift in the manger at Bethlehem. Amidst all the packages purchased and boxes bundled, do not overlook the gift, our Savior. Ultimately, this season isn’t about toys or neckties. It is about the Child, born of a virgin in the fullness of time. When tempted to lose patience, look again at this gift.
Be patient and remember the gift of your family. More than likely, the majority of us will spend the holidays with relatives: moms and dads, brothers and sisters, children and grand children. Slow down. Look them in the eye. Really listen to them. Don’t let the days pass without some genuine togetherness.
Patience can serve like a brake to the holiday rush. Put on the brake. Realize that if you are so busy that you cannot stop and think, then you had better stop and think! Think about that Child in the manger. Think about God’s patience in sending us a Savior. Think about dealing patiently with others to help them celebrate the Savior’s birth with us.
“Don’t open until Christmas.” Are there any more difficult instructions to follow than those? A nice gift is wrapped under the tree with our name on it, but we are not to open it until Christmas. We wait with increasing excitement until the day we can open it. Finally Christmas comes. We open the gift. And the gift is……... socks. All of that patience is followed by disappointment.
Such will not be the result of patiently waiting for the Lord. Each and every Christmas we open up the Bible to the Christmas story. We see that God was true to his Word. The Savior was born. All of the patient waiting those Old Testament believers did, even in the face of pain, problems, and temptations, did not end in disappointment for them. God kept his promises. His Son came. In the same way God will keep the promise of Jesus’ return. As believers in that promise, we must wait patiently—in good times and in bad—to greet the Lord when he returns. Our patience won’t be disappointed. We will be rewarded with the gift of eternal life. May we continue to wait with patience. Amen.
