Sunday, September 4, 2016

THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY PART I "Impatience is not a virtue"

THE MOST EXCELENT WAY - I
“Impatience is not a virtue”
I Corinthians 13:1-13 
            Earlier this year I attend a gift day for pastors organized by Barnabas Ministries. In that seminar the speaker and the author of Broken and Whole, Stephen Macchia presented the following dichotomy or contrast that exists in the life of a born again Christian. We are both a saint and sinner or as Marin Luther noted long time ago, “righteous and sinner at the same time.” That concept was very liberating for me. It has calmed my nagging thoughts of why I am still so far from perfect. It is assuring to know yes we have been sanctified by what Christ has done, but at times we may struggle with our “internal and external brokenness.”
            Macchia defines these terms this way, “Internal brokenness (our own sinful choices and painful misfortunes) and external brokenness (the effect of other’s sin on us and the impact of our world’s large calamities). As born again Christians we live with this tension of being a saint and sinner at the same time. Since attending the seminar, myself and our leadership team have embarked on a journey to understand our brokenness in the context of God’s love and His grace so that we are healed and become dispensers of love and grace to those who are struggling.
            For me personally it has been very helpful in embracing my own blessed and broken reality at the same time. I rest in the fact that my heavenly father sees me as his dearly beloved child, gifted, doing his best to be an obedient follower of his Son Jesus Christ and also sees my worst behaviors and subtle streaks of disobedience. Steve Macchia invites all of us to discover strength in weakness by highlighting the teaching of the Apostle Paul who said to the believers in Corinth, “I will show you The Most Excellent Way.” I Corinthians 13:1-13. 
            I will be using Steve Macchai’s “Broken & Whole” book as a base as we embark on a journey together to discover “The Most Excellent Way.” The Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Corinthian believers with these words, “to the church of God at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,” What a positive way to start a letter.

THE BACKGROUND:
            What do we know about the city of Corinth and the Church in Corinth? Corinth was an important cosmopolitan Greek city located about fifty miles west of Athens. It was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. Corinth was on a major trade route and had a thriving economy. Greeks, Romans, Jews, and a mixed multitude of sailors and merchants flocked to this crossroads. Corinth was known for its stylish architecture.  By the end of the second century Corinth had become one of the richest cities in the world.
            Corinth was a sin city. Degradation, immorality, and heathen customs abounded.  There were many religions represented, even a temple with a thousand sacred prostitutes.  Pleasure was worshipped more than principles. Yet God had a plan and purpose for Corinth so He send the Apostle Paul to Corinth to plant a Church among a large Jewish population. These Jews were expelled by the Roman emperor Claudius around 50 AD, we read about it in Acts 18.
            In Acts 18:4, we read, “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. Paul stayed in Corinth for eighteen months and a congregation was established.  After a while Paul received disturbing news about the Corinthian church from the household of Chloe (I Cor 1:11). They reported that there were divisions, gross immorality, law suits between Christians in front of unbelievers, practical problems in living the Christian life, and marriage problems. There was also confusion about certain rituals of worship, and food offered to the idols .All these and many more prompted Paul to write a letter to the Church in Corinth.
            Paul addresses specifically their brokenness. Paul brings everything into the open, lovingly inviting them to acknowledge and embrace their brokenness at the same time look into their state of redemption, renewal and restoration.  He encourages them to live the most excellent way, only then can they become healthy and whole. I Corinthians 13 is a passage about love. It is most often read at marriages hoping that the couple will somehow cultivate a lifestyle of love. Paul’s original intention for this passage was for all believers not just for married couples.
            You might be wondering why we are to learn about the most excellent way. Our God is the God of excellence so He wants his children to cultivate the most excellent way of living. We will explore together the sixteen words or phrases Paul uses to describe the most excellent way of love. He uses these word to explain what love is, what it does and what it does not do. For today we will look into the first phrase, “Love is Patient.”
            After establishing the fact that the ultimate Christian experience is the manifestation of love, and not the speaking in tongues of men or of angels and not even all the knowledge and sacrifices one would make. Paul goes on to explain what love is all about. He starts by saying, “Love is Patient.” Let’s ponder on what that means and how we can cultivate patience.

I. LOVE IS PATIENT
            Wilma and my girls often tell me that I have a lot of patience sometimes maybe too much especially when I am working with my laptop. I too tend to think that way, but I am not always as patient as I should, let me share with you a moment where I lost my patience and lost my temper, which costed me dearly. It was one of those seemingly never ending train trips in India. I came home after being away for a week of teaching in a Discipleship Training School in Calcutta. Soon after I arrived my wife told me that one of the YWAM staff couple brought their family members to live with them in the staff quarters which was meant for staff only.
            Upon hearing that I lost my cool, rushed quickly to the staff quarters and blasted the staff couple for doing such a thing without consulting me first. The bewildered couple have apologized for not consulting me, in the process I realized that I have hurt them badly so I too have apologized for my impatient, and irrational behavior. We parted apologizing to each other, but that relationship was never the same again. It made me realize that impatience is not a virtue.
            All it takes, a moment of impatience to destroy long built trust and ruin relationships. Without exception we all at times become impatient and act immaturely and we regret doing so. The apostle Paul is showing us the most excellent way of love. For us Christians, especially ministry leaders, patience is a very important trait that we should all aspire to reflect.  But how could we possibly learn to be patient in a world that is becoming more and more impatient?
            It looks like these days everyone is running and no one has time to slow down. What is contributing to this lack of patience? I would say, it is the effect of the digital era and instant gratification. The generation of young people growing up now has little patience to wait for anything. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project sums up a recent study about people under the age of 35 and the dangers of their hyper connected lives with what sounds like a prescription drug warning: “Negative effects include a need for instant gratification and loss of patience.”[1]  “The culture of the beast” as Peter Scazzero notes in Emotionally Healthy Spirituality is affecting all sections of the society. Unfortunately, we Christians too are influenced by our culture and live like everyone else. How can we be different? How can we live the Most Excellent Way of Love? Let’s look at the biblical perspective on Patience.

II WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT PATIENCE?
            What is patience? “The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation. It is an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. It is to be quiet, steady, persevere, even-tempered.”[2] How God manifests patience in his word. One of the Characteristics of God is patience. In the OT it is interchangeably used as, “slow to anger” For example: Numbers 14:18, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression…” Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
            Nehemiah 9:16-17 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”
            Paul describing patience as the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer. Gal 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience..” He encourages the believers, to “Be Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 Patience is compared to spiritual clothes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12.  The Apostle Paul begs the Ephesian believers saying “As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:1-2.  If our God is patient, and we are called to be patient how can we then cultivate patience in our daily lives?

III. CULTIVATING PATIENCE
            The process of cultivating patience starts with embracing our brokenness of impatience. We too, just like anyone else are prone to become impatient and mean spirited. Usually that kind of response arises from a feeling of being slighted or taken for granted or, worse yet, being disregarded, dismissed or ignored. An unkind response can come from all sorts of places in our hearts and is often connected to a wound that’s yet to be healed. So we humbly repent of our sin of impatience by which we have hurt others and ask God to heal the wounds that have been caused by other’s impatience towards us. By faith receive that necessary healing first.
            A few suggestions for growing in patience.  It helps if we are honest enough to acknowledge our own lack of patience and how that affects the way we respond to people and circumstances in our life. Do we throw a fit when a computer program doesn’t open in an instant?  Do we roll our eyes and groan at the check-out line in the store?  Do we pretend we are listening to family members by saying hmm hmm but don’t care to give them eye contact and really hear what they are saying? 
            All this could be the result of our own hearts not being in a place of rest and peace. One of the most practical ways to spend time with God is by disconnecting from media and gadgets. Your time with God could include prayer, worship and meditating on a passage of Scripture. Let me leave you with a question and a challenge. What would it look like for patience to reside in your heart and be restored in your life today? The challenge is who would be interested in joining me in cultivating patience by taking 30 minutes a day to pray, worship and meditate on Scripture for a whole week starting from tomorrow? Amen




[1] https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2013/02/01/the-growing-culture-impatience-where-instant-gratification-makes-crave-more-instant-gratification/q8tWDNGeJB2mm45fQxtTQP/story.html
[2] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/patience