WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Friends, we are continuing today our summer sermon 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.320 series on the fruit of the Spirit. We'll hear 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.380 those fruit in just a moment from Galatians. 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:13.080 Today we sit with the fruit of patience. So let 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:15.400 us listen first for a word from God, hearing 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.839 those verses from that letter, and then we'll 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:20.739 turn to a different letter, the letter of James, 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:23.899 where we will be invited to consider where and 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:27.440 how it is God is leading us to bear that fruit 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.339 of patience. not only for our own hearts, our 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:35.560 own lives, but also for our world. So let us 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:37.479 listen now for a word from God, hearing first 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:39.920 from the fifth chapter of Galatians, beginning 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.219 with the 22nd verse. The fruit of the Spirit 00:00:44.219 --> 00:00:52.899 is this, the writer says, love, joy, peace, patience, 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:58.659 kindness. generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:03.759 and self -control. There is no law against such 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.599 things. And then these verses from the fifth 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.519 chapter of the letter of James, beginning with 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:16.459 the seventh verse. The author writes, Be patient, 00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:19.799 therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:23.900 The farmer, whether of corn or jiffy pop, waits. 00:01:25.609 --> 00:01:29.569 for the precious crop from the earth, being patient 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:33.010 with it until it receives the early and the late 00:01:33.010 --> 00:01:38.989 rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your 00:01:38.989 --> 00:01:44.349 hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, 00:01:44.349 --> 00:01:46.629 do not grumble against one another so that you 00:01:46.629 --> 00:01:49.560 may not be judged. See, the judge is standing 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.280 at the doors as an example of suffering and patience, 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:55.099 beloved. Take the prophets who spoke in the name 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:58.560 of the Lord. Indeed, we call blessed those who 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:02.420 showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:04.920 of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:09.360 how the Lord is compassionate and how the Lord 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:14.280 is merciful. Friends, this is the word of God 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:18.810 for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Will 00:02:18.810 --> 00:02:25.990 you join me in prayer? Let us pray. Gracious 00:02:25.990 --> 00:02:28.629 and loving God, how hard it is to be patient 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:34.189 in these days. Things move so fast. Things change 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:38.030 so quickly. Sometimes we struggle to know which 00:02:38.030 --> 00:02:43.729 way is even up. And so we pray once more that 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:47.099 you would quiet our hearts. that you would still 00:02:47.099 --> 00:02:50.280 our minds, and that you would invite us into 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:56.939 a space of patient waiting. Indeed, O God, we 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:00.240 pray that your Spirit would draw near to us once 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.840 more, and that through its work, not only the 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.340 words of my mouth, but the meditations of all 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:10.340 of our hearts, all of our hearts, gathered together 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:12.979 in this place would be pleasing and glorifying 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:16.919 to you. For you and you alone, O God, are our 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:23.479 rock and our redeemer. Amen. There's a great 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:27.120 children's book published just a few years ago. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:32.379 It's called Preaching to the Chickens. It is 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:36.560 the story of the civil rights leader turned congressman 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.599 John Lewis and his time growing up on a small 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:44.139 farm with his family in South Alabama. As a young 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:48.340 boy, John Lewis, as the book tells us, was put 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:52.840 in charge of the chicken coop on the farm. And 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.280 these chickens quickly became more than just 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:58.379 a chore for young John. They became his actual 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:02.180 living, breathing congregation. They were his 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:11.240 literal flock. Every day, as a young seven, eight 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:15.610 -year -old boy, John Lewis would rise early and 00:04:15.610 --> 00:04:18.769 he would go out and not just feed them, he gave 00:04:18.769 --> 00:04:23.050 them names. He taught them verses of scripture. 00:04:23.790 --> 00:04:29.009 He even baptized one or two of them. But always, 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:34.350 every single day, John Lewis would preach to 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:38.329 his congregation of chickens. When someone came 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:40.730 along and offered a good price for the prize 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:44.550 hen or another of his congregation fell down 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:48.310 the well there on his property, John was there 00:04:48.310 --> 00:04:52.970 to protect them and to save them. Now, if you 00:04:52.970 --> 00:04:57.730 were to preach to a flock of chickens, chickens 00:04:57.730 --> 00:05:00.769 who don't sit still, who don't stay quiet, who 00:05:00.769 --> 00:05:04.310 do not heed any of your instructions, what is 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:09.480 the one thing you think you might need. I'll 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:10.839 give you a clue. It's a fruit of the Spirit. 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:20.079 Patience. You need some serious patience, don't 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.399 you? You know, the more I read this letter to 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.399 James, the more I start to think to myself that, 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:31.339 in a way, it's kind of a user's manual, if you 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:35.670 will, for preaching to chickens. James, unlike 00:05:35.670 --> 00:05:38.550 other of the epistle writers, doesn't go into 00:05:38.550 --> 00:05:43.529 this high, affluent, lofty theological discourse 00:05:43.529 --> 00:05:47.569 like Paul especially is prone to. James offers 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:51.689 practical wisdom to his readers and to his audience 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:56.810 on living out the faith. He talks about practical 00:05:56.810 --> 00:06:00.089 ways that we as disciples of Jesus are called 00:06:00.089 --> 00:06:04.910 to live out our faith in ordinary places. amongst 00:06:04.910 --> 00:06:11.269 unpredictable people in a world that can be infuriatingly 00:06:11.269 --> 00:06:17.009 slow to change. And the very first thing that 00:06:17.009 --> 00:06:22.069 James tells us in those instructions is to be 00:06:22.069 --> 00:06:25.029 patient. Now, to be clear, the kind of patience 00:06:25.029 --> 00:06:27.899 James is talking about and teaching about here 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:30.720 is not a passive kind of patience. It's a John 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.939 Lewis. It's an active kind of patience. It's 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:38.139 the kind of patience that assumes this posture 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:42.060 where you keep showing up every day and feeding 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:45.300 those around you, be they chickens or be they 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:48.990 people, in the ways that you know how. It's the 00:06:48.990 --> 00:06:51.310 kind of patience that keeps attending to the 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:54.930 small details of life even as you wait for the 00:06:54.930 --> 00:07:00.269 big picture to come more fully into focus. It's 00:07:00.269 --> 00:07:03.329 the kind of patience that persists in the face 00:07:03.329 --> 00:07:06.750 of setback. James even gives us an image for 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:09.149 this kind of patience. It's the image of a farmer, 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:12.449 appropriately enough. Now, if you are a farmer, 00:07:12.529 --> 00:07:15.149 and some of you are, and some of you have grown 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:17.750 up or lived at different points in your life 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:20.449 on a farm, when you plant the crop each year, 00:07:20.509 --> 00:07:23.029 do you just plant it and then go back home and 00:07:23.029 --> 00:07:25.430 sit there and wait for the rain to come and just 00:07:25.430 --> 00:07:30.250 wait and see what happens? No. You keep working 00:07:30.250 --> 00:07:33.050 the soil even as you wait for the crop to come. 00:07:33.790 --> 00:07:38.269 You keep pulling those weeds. You keep tending 00:07:38.269 --> 00:07:40.930 to the plants, even when they're tiny little 00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:46.949 seedlings. It's an active kind of patience. Now, 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.709 what empowers? What empowers us to live with 00:07:50.709 --> 00:07:54.790 that kind of patience? According to James, it 00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:59.629 is the assurance, it is the knowledge that the 00:07:59.629 --> 00:08:05.220 Lord is near. We can be patient. We can stand 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:09.699 firm. We can assume that posture of hopeful endurance 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:13.220 because the God we know in Jesus Christ is not 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:16.779 a God who is absent or indifferent to our suffering 00:08:16.779 --> 00:08:20.699 and our pain, but rather is a God who is near 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:28.139 to us and who is faithful, always faithful, in 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:32.659 keeping God's promises. James writes, strengthen 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:39.960 your hearts. What a phrase. Strengthen your hearts, 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:49.440 for the Lord is near. We can be people who live 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:55.309 lives of quiet, faithful acts of service. No 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:58.129 matter how small, like feeding the chickens each 00:08:58.129 --> 00:09:02.009 morning, or how big, like leading a movement, 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.389 we can be these people who embody lives that 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:10.629 practice quiet, faithful acts of service. Because 00:09:10.629 --> 00:09:14.190 we are prepared to answer God's call when it 00:09:14.190 --> 00:09:18.129 comes. You see John Lewis as a child out there 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:22.629 preaching to the chickens. He trusts. That something 00:09:22.629 --> 00:09:25.629 more is coming in this world. That something 00:09:25.629 --> 00:09:29.629 more is coming in his life. And so he prepares 00:09:29.629 --> 00:09:35.269 himself every day for it. He seems as a young 00:09:35.269 --> 00:09:38.289 boy to almost intuitively understand that in 00:09:38.289 --> 00:09:42.789 order to achieve the monumental, we have to first 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:49.460 learn to patiently tend to the mundane. He seems 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:54.340 to understand that movements, movements are not 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.460 built solely on dramatic marches or soaring speeches. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:05.500 Movements require first humble, unglamorous, 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:13.720 repeated, slow work behind the scenes among people 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:18.179 who often don't seem to be listening. much less 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:23.220 caring much about what you have to say. I'm talking 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:28.179 about committee meetings. I'm talking about training 00:10:28.179 --> 00:10:31.840 sessions. I'm talking about choir rehearsals. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.879 I'm talking about one -on -one conversations. 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.740 I'm talking about preaching to chickens, in other 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:45.559 words. That, that is where the seeds of God's 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:54.039 kingdom I made a really bad mistake last night. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:03.399 I read the news before I went to bed. Pro tip, 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:05.539 if you want to sleep well, don't read the news 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:11.960 before you go to bed. Because what I read in 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:18.899 the news were headlines that this uncertain It's 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:21.100 an uncertain time in which we are living. Well, 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:29.019 it's just grown even more uncertain. But what's 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:33.120 amazing is that when I woke up this morning, 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:37.440 for some reason, I can't explain it, for some 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.500 reason, I woke up renewed in my certainty about 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:47.710 one thing. And the certainty that I awoke renewed 00:11:47.710 --> 00:11:55.250 to was that the same God who called a boy to 00:11:55.250 --> 00:12:01.309 preach to chickens is the same God who still 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:10.149 calls us to preach hope, to sow peace, and to 00:12:10.149 --> 00:12:17.419 stand firm in love. Yesterday, as it happens, 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:21.139 I completed another trip around the sun. I'm 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:24.399 not that old. Some of you would consider me a 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:30.840 child even, I'm sure. But I will say the older 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:36.500 I have gotten, the more I have come to believe 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:42.600 that history Well, history turns less on events 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:49.059 involving bunker buster bombs, and it turns more 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:55.860 on the acts of faithfulness that nobody ever 00:12:55.860 --> 00:13:04.120 notices. History turns more on prayers that are 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:10.610 offered at empty kitchen tables. History turns 00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:15.210 more on patience that is shown towards a difficult 00:13:15.210 --> 00:13:21.909 person. History turns more on those small acts 00:13:21.909 --> 00:13:25.450 of courage that absolutely no one claps for. 00:13:28.289 --> 00:13:34.230 History turns more on our dogged commitment to 00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:39.659 just keep doing what is right. what is just, 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:48.679 and what is merciful. Friends, these, those small 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:53.779 acts upon which history turns, these are the 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:58.179 seeds that in God's hands have always changed 00:13:58.179 --> 00:14:04.899 the world. So don't lose heart. Don't lose heart 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:10.139 if your faithfulness feels small today. Don't 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:13.840 lose heart if the chickens still don't seem to 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.799 be listening much. Don't lose heart if the world 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:22.899 still feels uncertain and heavy when you wake 00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:35.100 up tomorrow morning. Be patient. Practice patience. 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:43.139 Because, friends, the Lord is near. The Lord 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:49.840 is near. The Lord is nearer to us than our greatest 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:56.600 fear. The Lord is stronger. Hear this. The Lord 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.000 is stronger than the world's greatest chaos. 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:10.340 But the best news. The best news that we can 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:16.899 be absolutely certain of is that the Lord is 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:28.720 faithful to finish what the Lord has begun. Friends, 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:36.460 in that certainty, in that dogged hope, Let us 00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:46.700 go to the Lord in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:53.519 and loving God, it's just hard to be patient 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:59.820 right now. It's always felt so hard for us to 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:04.960 wait for anything. for a kernel of popcorn to 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.820 pop up, for a toy to get wrapped under the tree, 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:14.919 for love to come. And yet, God, we know that 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.440 you are near, that you are the one who is never 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:25.240 far. And so in this time where the headlines 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:28.879 do indeed scream of such uncertainty, make us 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:34.169 certain again. Of the astounding and abounding 00:16:34.169 --> 00:16:36.850 good news that we have glimpsed in your son, 00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:41.409 Jesus Christ. The good news that even when it 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:43.870 feels like we are preaching to a bunch of chickens, 00:16:44.210 --> 00:16:49.169 you are not far away. You are the one who tends 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:53.909 to our small acts of faithfulness. And you are 00:16:53.909 --> 00:16:58.860 the one who will bring the harvest home. Help 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:02.919 us, O God, to wait in that truth and to live 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:09.420 our lives accordingly, now and always. Amen.