Love is Patient
Trey Little | 25-Apr-10
"Love is Patient"
Today is the second Sunday of our series designed to answer the question: "What's love got to do with it?" And the more I study--the more I am convinced that LOVE has everything to do with everything.
Someone once said: "The world needs more warm hearts and fewer hot heads."
That is precisely what we are going to talk about this morning.
Turn with me to Luke 18: 1-8 (1038 in your pew Bibles).
Horton is an elephant who: "meant what he said and said what he meant...an elephant's faithful one hundred per cent!" The Dr. Seuss story is about Horton the elephant who was stopped one day by Mayzie--a lazy bird who was tired and bored. Mayzie had been sitting on her egg day after day. It was work--she hated it! She would much rather play! And Mayzie thought, "If I could find someone to stay on my nest then I could fly away and be free."
When Horton the Elephant passed by her tree, Mayzie begged him to sit on the egg in her nest. Reluctantly Horton said "Yes" and allowed Mayzie to take a vacation. Horton said: "I'll sit on your egg and I'll try not to break it. I'll stay and be faithful. I mean what I say."
What Horton didn't know was that Mayzie never intended coming back. Playing was just too fun. Vacation on the beach was just too relaxing. But Horton--meant what he said, and said what he meant--an elephant's faithful one hundred per cent! And for 51 weeks Horton sat on that egg. Horton was faithful! He was patient. He sat and he sat! He meant what he said and he said what he meant!
You know, as Christians, we could stand to learn something from Horton the Elephant--we could learn that our faithfulness has a tremendous impact on our patience.
Listen, the reality is this--all of us struggle with patience. We get impatient when it comes to thinking about being patient. We get impatient with God when He doesn't answer our prayers when and how we want Him to. We get impatient with other people when they don't do certain things when and how we want them to. We get impatient when we don't do certain things when and how we want to. And yet, Paul said to the church in Corinth that "patience" is a characteristic of Christian LOVE.
So how can we learn to trust in our faithfulness in Jesus Christ to impact our LOVE-centered patience?
I think Jesus' parable about the "judge" and the "persistent widow" is a good place for us to look for some guidance.
First of all, let's consider the judge. Here is man who seemingly had some authority--after all, he was a judge. He tells us in his own words that he doesn't have a personal relationship with the Lord nor does he really care about anyone else other than himself. He said: "Even though I don't fear God or care about men..." The judge seems like the kind of guy that would not be very friendly. He seems to me like a guy who would look to his own interests rather than the interests of others. He probably was selfish with his time and efforts--at least as far as they involved helping others. But what strikes me about the judge is that he did not offer justice to the widow because it was the right thing to do--he did it so she would stop bothering him.
I wonder, are there some "judges" in your life today. Those people that just seem to walk around with a chip on their shoulder? Those people who act in such a way that it makes you wonder if they might secretly be the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz--if only they had a heart? Those people who just have a way of testing our patience.
But Jesus also spoke of a widow--a widow who was constantly pleading with the judge to "grant her justice." She was not going to accept "no" for an answer. She felt she had been subjected to an injustice and she was not about to change her mind--nor give up--until she got the answer she was looking for.
One of my favorite lines in this parable came from the judge in response to the persistent widow--he said: "yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"
Listen, let's be honest, from time to time we all say that there is someone who "wears us out." We call all think about the "persistent widows" in our lives. It doesn't really matter the reason--it could be that they feel like they need justice; they could have a sense of entitlement; it could be a power struggle; they may simply just want be heard and the only way they can is to persistently "wear you out." In the process--they put our faithfulness--our LOVE--our PATIENCE to the test.
Here is my point--Jesus told this parable to show His disciples that they should always pray and not give up. And when it comes to showing others "LOVING PATIENCE" there is no other way we can do it unless we PRAY. We must never give up praying for the Lord to give us His patience: the Divine patience that is so evident within Him. Jesus, no matter if we come to Him day and night--or if we only come to Him when we NEED SOMETHING--is always there for us. The same patience that allowed Jesus to still LOVE the people who accused, beat, and crucified Him. The same patience that Jesus exhibited when He said to Peter: "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.'" It is the kind of patience that can still be visible even when someone has denied you three times. It is the kind of patience that would compel you to go out and look for one lost person rather than comfortably staying with 99--with the hopes that that one lost person would see your patient love and surrender to follow the Good Shepherd. That kind of patience is the result of a profound--unconditional--selfless--servant LOVE.
But I will also say this: patience requires perseverance. Jesus intended to encourage His disciples to never give up. And when it comes to patience--in most cases--it would be much easier to GIVE UP.
When that pesky person is "wearing you out" it would be much easier to just do what they were asking--whether right or wrong--than to patiently wait on the Lord's guidance. It would be easier to give up on a church who wasn't meeting all of your "needs" and go somewhere else--rather than being patient as the body of Christ attempts to wade through various growing pains. It would be easier to give up on a child who isn't acting in the way you think she should rather than patiently loving her through whatever it is. It would be easier to give up on a government or any person in leadership when they don't make decisions that are pleasing to you rather than patiently praying and faithfully trusting that God is still in control.
You see--on our own, PATIENCE is difficult, if not impossible. But I am convinced that when patience is an expression of the LOVE that is within us--we have a way of witnessing to others the amazing power and glory of the Lord. When we are patient with our spouses; with our children; with fellow church members; with people we work with, with various situations--we have an opportunity to witness rather than judge--we become a witness for the Most Patient of them all--Jesus Christ.
At the end of His parable Jesus said: "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Will He?
Will He find it in you? Will He find it in me?
Think back again to Horton the Elephant. He could have so easily sat on that egg for about five minutes and then said something like: "This isn't my egg--what in the world am I thinking--sitting here on this egg? Forget about it--I am out of here." But Horton the Elephant said: I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred per cent!"
When you said "Yes" to follow Jesus Christ--did you mean what you said?
Remember that, the next time someone is "wearing you out!" Pray for the Lord to fill you up with His patience in order that you might show Him and others that you meant what you said when you said you LOVE JESUS.
AMEN.
Today is the second Sunday of our series designed to answer the question: "What's love got to do with it?" And the more I study--the more I am convinced that LOVE has everything to do with everything.
Someone once said: "The world needs more warm hearts and fewer hot heads."
That is precisely what we are going to talk about this morning.
Turn with me to Luke 18: 1-8 (1038 in your pew Bibles).
Horton is an elephant who: "meant what he said and said what he meant...an elephant's faithful one hundred per cent!" The Dr. Seuss story is about Horton the elephant who was stopped one day by Mayzie--a lazy bird who was tired and bored. Mayzie had been sitting on her egg day after day. It was work--she hated it! She would much rather play! And Mayzie thought, "If I could find someone to stay on my nest then I could fly away and be free."
When Horton the Elephant passed by her tree, Mayzie begged him to sit on the egg in her nest. Reluctantly Horton said "Yes" and allowed Mayzie to take a vacation. Horton said: "I'll sit on your egg and I'll try not to break it. I'll stay and be faithful. I mean what I say."
What Horton didn't know was that Mayzie never intended coming back. Playing was just too fun. Vacation on the beach was just too relaxing. But Horton--meant what he said, and said what he meant--an elephant's faithful one hundred per cent! And for 51 weeks Horton sat on that egg. Horton was faithful! He was patient. He sat and he sat! He meant what he said and he said what he meant!
You know, as Christians, we could stand to learn something from Horton the Elephant--we could learn that our faithfulness has a tremendous impact on our patience.
Listen, the reality is this--all of us struggle with patience. We get impatient when it comes to thinking about being patient. We get impatient with God when He doesn't answer our prayers when and how we want Him to. We get impatient with other people when they don't do certain things when and how we want them to. We get impatient when we don't do certain things when and how we want to. And yet, Paul said to the church in Corinth that "patience" is a characteristic of Christian LOVE.
So how can we learn to trust in our faithfulness in Jesus Christ to impact our LOVE-centered patience?
I think Jesus' parable about the "judge" and the "persistent widow" is a good place for us to look for some guidance.
First of all, let's consider the judge. Here is man who seemingly had some authority--after all, he was a judge. He tells us in his own words that he doesn't have a personal relationship with the Lord nor does he really care about anyone else other than himself. He said: "Even though I don't fear God or care about men..." The judge seems like the kind of guy that would not be very friendly. He seems to me like a guy who would look to his own interests rather than the interests of others. He probably was selfish with his time and efforts--at least as far as they involved helping others. But what strikes me about the judge is that he did not offer justice to the widow because it was the right thing to do--he did it so she would stop bothering him.
I wonder, are there some "judges" in your life today. Those people that just seem to walk around with a chip on their shoulder? Those people who act in such a way that it makes you wonder if they might secretly be the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz--if only they had a heart? Those people who just have a way of testing our patience.
But Jesus also spoke of a widow--a widow who was constantly pleading with the judge to "grant her justice." She was not going to accept "no" for an answer. She felt she had been subjected to an injustice and she was not about to change her mind--nor give up--until she got the answer she was looking for.
One of my favorite lines in this parable came from the judge in response to the persistent widow--he said: "yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"
Listen, let's be honest, from time to time we all say that there is someone who "wears us out." We call all think about the "persistent widows" in our lives. It doesn't really matter the reason--it could be that they feel like they need justice; they could have a sense of entitlement; it could be a power struggle; they may simply just want be heard and the only way they can is to persistently "wear you out." In the process--they put our faithfulness--our LOVE--our PATIENCE to the test.
Here is my point--Jesus told this parable to show His disciples that they should always pray and not give up. And when it comes to showing others "LOVING PATIENCE" there is no other way we can do it unless we PRAY. We must never give up praying for the Lord to give us His patience: the Divine patience that is so evident within Him. Jesus, no matter if we come to Him day and night--or if we only come to Him when we NEED SOMETHING--is always there for us. The same patience that allowed Jesus to still LOVE the people who accused, beat, and crucified Him. The same patience that Jesus exhibited when He said to Peter: "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.'" It is the kind of patience that can still be visible even when someone has denied you three times. It is the kind of patience that would compel you to go out and look for one lost person rather than comfortably staying with 99--with the hopes that that one lost person would see your patient love and surrender to follow the Good Shepherd. That kind of patience is the result of a profound--unconditional--selfless--servant LOVE.
But I will also say this: patience requires perseverance. Jesus intended to encourage His disciples to never give up. And when it comes to patience--in most cases--it would be much easier to GIVE UP.
When that pesky person is "wearing you out" it would be much easier to just do what they were asking--whether right or wrong--than to patiently wait on the Lord's guidance. It would be easier to give up on a church who wasn't meeting all of your "needs" and go somewhere else--rather than being patient as the body of Christ attempts to wade through various growing pains. It would be easier to give up on a child who isn't acting in the way you think she should rather than patiently loving her through whatever it is. It would be easier to give up on a government or any person in leadership when they don't make decisions that are pleasing to you rather than patiently praying and faithfully trusting that God is still in control.
You see--on our own, PATIENCE is difficult, if not impossible. But I am convinced that when patience is an expression of the LOVE that is within us--we have a way of witnessing to others the amazing power and glory of the Lord. When we are patient with our spouses; with our children; with fellow church members; with people we work with, with various situations--we have an opportunity to witness rather than judge--we become a witness for the Most Patient of them all--Jesus Christ.
At the end of His parable Jesus said: "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Will He?
Will He find it in you? Will He find it in me?
Think back again to Horton the Elephant. He could have so easily sat on that egg for about five minutes and then said something like: "This isn't my egg--what in the world am I thinking--sitting here on this egg? Forget about it--I am out of here." But Horton the Elephant said: I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred per cent!"
When you said "Yes" to follow Jesus Christ--did you mean what you said?
Remember that, the next time someone is "wearing you out!" Pray for the Lord to fill you up with His patience in order that you might show Him and others that you meant what you said when you said you LOVE JESUS.
AMEN.
