"Patience" - Romans 12:12; Galatians 5:22
A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
PATIENCE
Texts: Romans 12:12; Galatians 5:22
From Sunday, February 28, 2021
Okay, . . so I ask you to indulge me for a few minutes and let me talk about Bruce Springsteen. I have long been a fan - since my college days - but as his music has evolved - so has my affection and interest in Bruce Springsteen. Not long ago - but it feels like eons because it was pre-COVID - Ginger and I went to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway - where he played his music and told stories about his life. It was a great experience.
Bruce Springsteen tells a memorable story about how the great saxophone player - Clarence Clemmons - became part of the E Street Band. Bruce says, “1 plus 1 equals 2 - that happens every day!” We all know that formula - basic math: 1 plus 1 equals 2. It is not magic. “That is the formula for the grind of life - 1 plus 1 equals 2: You get up - 1, got to work - 1, go to bed . . . . 2!”
“But, when 1 plus 1 equals 3 - that is when your life changes.” You see everything differently, see everything new. Springsteen continues: “These are days when you are visited by visions, when the world around you brings down the Spirit and you feel blessed to be alive. It is the essential equation of love - there is no real love without 1 plus 1 equals 3!). It is the essential equation of art; it is the essential equation of rock and roll; it is the reason the universe will never be fully comprehensible.” One plus one equals three is the very reason life is so magnanimous and beautiful.
So, Bruce - the Boss - says when Clarence joined the band, with his powerful saxophone, it was that kind of equation - 1 plus 1 equals 3 . . . . and their journey and their huge legacy followed. (“Springsteen on Broadway”)
We all live mostly in a 1 plus 1 equals 2 world. We live mostly - day to day - with a 1 plus 1 mindset: wake up - 1- do our thing - 1- go to bed = 2. We assume life unfolds a certain way; we remain limited by certain expectations.
And yet God - and Faith - and Grace - and Jesus - keep trying to remind us of something else: there is always more to the equation. It is like - with God - 1 plus 1 equals 3! God is always present and always at work. We belong to God - and our lives are about loving and serving God. That changes everything.
In fact, if you think about the story of the Bible, it is never 1 plus 1 equals 2. If that was the case, the people would have never survived. If you think about Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, David and Goliath, prophets and kings and people - it is never 1 plus 1 equals 2. There would have been no story. God holds it all together. One plus one in the Bible always equals THREE - because God changes everything. Because of God, we see things differently. God always makes a way. The world is full of God. The essential equation includes God and God’s love. And that is still always true. We think life is just a simple equation - 1 plus 1 equals 2 - but then we know that God will not let us go. That changes everything, making life beautiful and magnanimous!
There is a story about Ruth and Billy Graham traveling through western NC one afternoon, and they encountered several miles of road construction. There was one-lane traffic, there were detours, it was a little frustrating. Finally, they came to a road sign. Ruth Graham turned to her husband and said, "Those words, on that road sign, that is what I would like to have printed on my tombstone." The words on the road sign read: End of construction. Thanks for your patience. (K. Carter, from Day1.org) Life is a venture - with God. We are all under construction. And PATIENCE is a key piece of the venture, especially for faithful people.
PATIENCE - that is our subject today. I suspect that we have all been struggling with PATIENCE. So many issues about this pandemic have exhausted and frustrated and worn out our patience. When will life feel normal again? When can we get a vaccine? When can we feel free to socialize, worship, enjoy life?
The issues of racial injustice - especially as we mark the anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder this week - have challenged our patience. The continuing challenges of white supremacy, . . . massive economic disparities, . . . polarized politics, . . . the climate crisis - all these issues that need immediate attention and change - all challenge our patience.
And certainly, we all have our own personal questions - when will I feel strong again after the surgery, or therapy? When will I know the real prognosis? When can you get some truth, so you can get on with your life following a major transition or setback? When will your child find a way out of the trouble? When will this heartache cease? When will you be able to get pregnant, find that new job, sort out the anticipated future?
We all have issues and concerns that make patience so hard! We are dealing with anxiety, trauma, and grief, confusion, fear and pandemic, and manifold challenges.
Patience is especially difficult when we stay centered in a 1 plus 1 equals 2 world. So I want to read two short verses from Scripture today.
Romans 12:12: 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Galatians 5:22-23: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
I want to focus our thoughts on two things today.
First, and I am certainly preaching to myself, we need to remember that God’s care, God’s promises, God’s presence, God’s love, God’s light, God’s ways all move us, . . . . from a 1 plus 1 equals 2 equation, . . . to a 1 plus 1 equals 3 world! That is why Paul says “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” It is because the things that are going on, the grind that we feel, the burdens and grief and trauma and confusion that are ours - are NOT all there is! We are part of God’s magnanimous world - and God is at work - and God will not let us go. Therefore, we can - and we must - be patient in suffering, persevering in prayer.
Life so often does not unfold on our own timetables, according to our own perfect plans. Life unfolds. So, living by faith always includes waiting and patience. We trust - not just in our own abilities and actions, not just in our certainties - but in God’s abiding care and God’s goodness always at work in and through us, around us, often in spite of us. God is with us always and forever. God prevails.
We are - most of us - not so good at this faith and patience stuff. We want to keep moving. We want to get there. We want it to happen now. We want to be in control. We hate waiting. We are inherently impatient. To be stuck in traffic, or a long line at the grocery store, waiting for someone who is late to show up, sitting in a doctor’s office, dealing with Lent in the middle of a pandemic, hanging on through a long weekend wondering if it is malignant or benign; we cannot stand to wait, to be patient; we want to get on with things.
And especially, we want to get on with things that seem out of line with justice and righteousness. We still have people questioning the recent election results; we still have people struggling so bad from the pandemic, trying to get a vaccine. We look around and see lots of areas where we do not want to be patient - we want things to be right, just, and good, like divisions to fall away, and Black lives to matter, and joy and justice to prevail!
But Paul says, “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer,” because this is God’s world, and God has God’s timing, and life always includes faith and patience and waiting. We have to keep practicing it, and we remember - 1 plus 1 equals 3! It is not always comprehensible, but God is always at work. It is not always how we might want it - but God will never let us go.
Second, patience never means passive. Even as we practice patience in our suffering, and persevere in prayer, we have to keep on doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God. Jesus came to bring about the reign of God - the Kin-dom of God - the emergence of peace and light, joy and justice for everyone. We have to be patient in our suffering until that reign comes fully and forever. We have to wait and watch and practice patience as faithful disciples - knowing that all things are in God’s care and in God’s time. But we are not passive - we are even called to be passionate! We keep pursuing love over hatred, light over darkness, good over evil, hope over despair.
Maybe the best example here is Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from A Birmingham Jail.” There are some Biblical scholars who have said that letter from 1963 - so faithful, so full of God’s Spirit and power - should be part of the Bible.
Here is an excerpt from King’s famous letter: For years now, I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." . . . The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of . . . Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, . . . .when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" . . . There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience. Be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. But that does not mean we stop acting, or advocating, or striving, or working for justice and peace, for God’s better plans for all people. We also have to be passionate followers - doing good work for God.
Remember - with God, by God’s Spirit, with faith - 1 plus 1 equals 3! We seek to be patient in suffering. But we also keep serving - working with passion - like Jesus - for God’s justice and joy for all God’s children.
This is our calling - with patience and with passion - trusting God - serving God! Amen
Prayer of Commitment: God of mercy and patience, we are grateful for the many ways you care for us and provide for the needs of your people. Thank you for your patience with us. Make us patient with one another and even with ourselves. And fill us with passion following Jesus, as we work for your promised and hopeful reign in fullness. AMEN
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship on February 28, 2021. This is a rough manuscript.