What The Church Needs Now – 2

 

What The Church Needs Now – 2

PATIENCE

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:4

When I was in college, a realization came to me that altered my life.  

Here I was a white man, living in America in 1967 with unlimited opportunities available to me … & I had absolutely nothing to do with it.  I could have just as easily been born a black man living in the slums of Chicago, the one that Elvis sang about.  Or, what if I had been born a woman in Afghanistan? Or North Korea?  Or a Muslim in Indonesia?

When that thought hit home to me,

it completely changed my perspective as I looked around at other people.

Instead of feeling “entitled,” I was dramatically aware that,

“there but for the grace of God, go I.”

I know now that Jesus has called us to help the downtrodden, (Luke 14:18) 

but back then I wasn’t thinking theologically, I simply wanted everyone to have the equality & freedoms that I was taking for granted.

It was around that time that I became aware of Nelson Mandela, 

& he immediately was added to my list of individuals I admire.  I think I would have enjoyed spending an evening with him.  His life’s journey truly interests me, & especially his behavior in the struggle with apartheid.

One of the stories that particularly touches my heart takes place following his election as the 1st black President of South Africa.  He personally invited 3 men to his inauguration … & it wasn’t because they were political compatriots.  They weren’t invited because they shared his racial heritage.  They were invited because they had been his prison guards.  

And being Nelson Mandela’s jailers completely changed their lives.  

Because of his ability to love & forgive, those 3 men were never the same.

In fact, 1 of them even became his bodyguard.

When I was working in my doctoral program up at G.C.T.S. one of the students there had actually been in the prison cell next to Nelson Mandela for 5 years.  He said the greatest lessons he learned from him during that time, & what ultimately brought him to faith in Jesus Christ, were how to forgive & how to love.  In fact, he said, “that became our objective.  We wanted to reach our guards with such love that one day they would knell at the rail with us & take Communion.” … And the day came when they did!

I was reading a little bit about Nelson Mandela this past week.  

Apparently one of the frustrations the government had with him, 

& his fellow prisoners, was they couldn’t get the guards to carry out the rough punishment that had been imposed.  The guards just wouldn’t do it.  They had come under the spell of the forgiving nature of agape love as Nelson Mandela was living it out.

Now we talked about agape love last week.  It’s the highest form of love.  It’s unconditional love.  It’s God’s love for you & me.  

It’s what separates Christianity from all other “religions.”  

It’s how God commands us to relate to one other. (John 13:34-35)

You know, we have a lot to learn about real love … & so did the Corinthians.

We’re going to look at that in just a moment. 

But right now, listen to Good News, from Paul to the Church in Corinth, 

& also to Bear Creek Church.  

Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …

Best of all, however, is the following way.

I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.  I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains – but if I have no love, I am nothing.  I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned – but if I have no love, this does me no good.  

Love is patient. (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:4)

“The grass withers & the flowers fade, 

but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

Paul didn’t write this section of Scripture about love because he wanted to teach theology.  He wrote it because he understood that there are 2 operating systems in the world … there was back then & there still is today.  And when men & women decide they want to follow Jesus, 

implicit in that decision is moving from 1 system to the other. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It’s moving from a vengeance lifestyle to one characterized by agape love.  

This isn’t sentimental Hallmark Card kind of love.  It’s not sexual love.  

It’s not the love we experience for the Indianapolis Colts or Pacers or Fever.

God’s love is supernatural.

So, on 2 August 2026, at Bear Creek Church, 

what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus & live according to agape love? … Well, Paul explains it to us by showing what it’s like when love is absent.  

He writes that we can have the finest events, people, & organization … 

but if love is not present, we have nothing.

Now, if I were writing this passage, I would have given some examples of people who love … i.e. Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Corrie ten Boom.  But Paul doesn’t do that.  He knows the minute we hold an individual up as a model, someone will come along saying, 

“but, there’s a side to that person you don’t know.”

So, what Paul does is take love & personifies it.  “Love is … love is … love does” as if love were a person.  In fact, we could substitute Jesus’ name for love throughout this passage & get a very accurate description of Him.

“Love is patient.”  “Jesus is patient.”

The Greek word for patience is (μακροθυμεῖ) makrothymia.  

Say that with me … makrothymia.

Makrothymia means a lot more than just patience.  

It’s a positive word which refers to God’s perseverance.  It’s one of the great principles in all of Scripture.  Patience describes God’s love. 

All the way through the Scriptures, from Genesis through The Revelation, 

makrothymia is seen.  It saturates everything about God’s relationship to people. (2 Peter 3:9) It means not to retaliate when provoked.

Not to punish when wronged. (Romans 12:17-21)

In Genesis we come across the story of Lamech.  Now Lamech had 2 wives, 

& he tells them … “Adah & Zillah, listen to me: I have killed a young man because he struck me.”  (Did you get that?  He says, “this guy wounded me … 

so I killed him.”)  He says, “If 7 lives are taken to pay for killing Cain,

77 will be taken if anyone kills me.” (Genesis 4:23-24)

Back in Genesis we have the story of Adam & Eve’s sons: Cain & Abel.  

And at one point Cain kills Abel.  And God imposes a punishment on him.  

Cain will be a homeless wanderer the rest of his life.  God then put a mark on him, & warned that if anyone killed him, then 7 other lives would be taken. 

(Genesis 4:8,12,15)

So here Lamech is claiming to be even more important. 

 7 lives for Cain … well then, 77 for me.

Lamech is an example of an angry, vengeful person.  

Cross him & he’ll get you back … 77 times!  Now, horrible as that sounds,

it’s becoming the typical response in our world today.

About a month ago, I was driving up to Kokomo on Rte. 65.

I was on the inside lane of the 4-lane highway … (that’s my lane, by the way) 

… going about 10 or 12 miles over the speed limit.  I looked in my rearview mirror & here comes a guy up behind me, tailgating, blinking his lights.

Now you understand, I was already going 10 or so miles over the limit … 

& he wanted to go 20.  But, to get out of his way I’d have to move over into the right-hand lane, & slowdown considerably because the cars & trucks in that lane weren’t even doing the speed limit.

Are you picturing this scenario?  So, I asked myself …

(I didn’t want to ask Kathy because I knew what she’d say) … “why should I slowdown in order for him to sin worse than I’m already sinning?”  

So, I drove on with him blinking his lights, telling me to get out of his way.

Finally, I decided to act like a Christian & I moved over.

As he sped by there was a woman sitting in the passenger seat.  

And as she caught my eye, she used her arm & hand & 1 finger to send me a message.  I’m amazed at how often that “signal” is used today.  In connection with that gesture there’s a so-called “f” word that’s become so “popular” that some people can’t even carry on a conversation without using it.

What does the gesture & word mean? … The best I can figure, & I’ve seen the gesture & heard the word most of my life, it’s a wish to violate, in bluntly sexual terms.  It’s a desire to invade another person … to hurt them.

That gesture & word are symbols of what’s in the hearts of many people today.  It’s a symbol of vengeance.  You wouldn’t move over so I want to violate you.  And now, sometimes they don’t even bother with the gesture, 

they just pull out a 357 & shoot.

Now we don’t carry guns, but we do the same thing.  I’ve been a Pastor long enough to see Christians take vengeance out on each other.  It’s not an expression of makrothymia … the perseverance; the patient love of God.

There are those who say they have the love of God in their hearts, 

but when they speak, out comes a venom, almost like a volcano erupting, that’s so ugly. They feel like they need to be vindicated.  

That’s not how followers of Jesus should respond. (Matthew 5:43-48)

A # of years ago I visited a family & the mother was changing her baby boy.  Suddenly he did what no baby should do without a diaper.  

Why didn’t she spank him? … Because she had patience … she loved him.

And all through Scripture we see the love of God as He demonstrates patience toward His people.  

“But you, O Lord, are a merciful & loving God, 

always patient, always kind & faithful.” (The Psalms 86:15)

And as Paul ponders this patient love that God has for us, 

he is completely baffled by humanity’s indifference toward it.  He writes …

“Perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, & patience.  Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent.” (Romans 2:4)

Patience is that choice not to retaliate when we have been wounded, 

like Lamech did, or when we’ve been humiliated, or wronged.

Patience isn’t weakness.  Only a strong person can be patient.  

We see this quality in Jesus.  He’s treated terribly, but He never retaliates; & He certainly could have.  He is patient.  And it’s that patience, 

which leads to forgiveness & grace, that’s to be found in our hearts too.

Molly Ivans was a political columnist, who normally made us laugh, 

but I’ve saved a column she wrote that is deadly serious.

“I’ve been a columnist for more than 30 years.  

But I must say that in all that time of watching the political & social landscape, I have never seen a period when there was so much hatred in the minds & on the hearts of the American people.  I wonder how much longer our society can last.  Because history shows, that when this hatred finally reaches the boiling point, it always boils over into something where people begin to act out their thoughts & words.”

We’re seeing that today.  Some individuals, & even some leaders, 

are behaving badly, almost childishly.  

It’s the exact opposite of how people should behave.  And 1 of the greatest witnesses of the Church should be that we provide a place where the agape love & patience of God is shown in a dramatic contrast.

I’m touched by a story I read of an Oklahoma rancher, Byron Pendergrass.  He was a caring man with a lot of this kind of agape love in his life.  

He read in the local paper about a boy who was constantly getting into trouble with the law.  

He was continuously getting arrested for one petty crime after another.

So, Byron went to the local police chief, & said …

“This boy clearly doesn’t have any love in his life & my wife & I 

would be happy to take him into our home & see what we can do.”

So, the appropriate legal measures were taken, 

& they became foster parents, & David was placed in their care.

Now, you’d think if a boy like that got in a home where love was demonstrated & felt … a difference would be seen.  But as the months went by, David continued to live his rebellious life.  He was a hateful child who was constantly in trouble with the Law & the authorities.  

Bryon & his wife wondered if there would ever be a breakthrough.

One day, when Byron was out working on his ranch, he experienced chest pains.  The next thing he knew was he’d been rushed to the hospital with a serious heart attack.  The pain was so intense that he wanted to die.

He lay in the E.R. with his life just about snuffed out.  But one nurse kept leaning over him, putting her face down about 6” above his, shouting at him 

…“breathe, Byron.  Byron breathe!”

She went on like that for some time; literally forcing her will on him.  

And Byron responded to her command.  Every time she said it, he took 1 more breath; even though he wanted to die.  Well, he pulled through, & some weeks later was released & returned home to rest … but there was David.

Not long after, David, who was continuing his rebellious lifestyle, 

was arrested for stealing a car.  The police called Byron down to the station, & there he found David in a cell, with his head down, angry & defiant.  

As Byron started to walk in David just looked at him with contempt.  

“Why don’t you get out of my life?  Just leave me alone.”  

Tension & resentment just filled the cell.

So, Byron turned around to do just that … 

but then he heard that nurses’ voice, “breathe Byron.  Byron, breathe.”  

And he realized the same love & caring that had been shown by that nurse to give him back his life was what God was calling him to do for this boy.

So, instead of walking out of his life, he looked David straight in the eye.  “No David, I won’t leave you.  You’re coming home with me 

& we’re going to start all over again.  I love you too much.”

And the foster father & the boy went home.  

And slowly, after the crisis that night, things began to change.

Today, David & his wife, & their 3 children have their own ranch.  

He is a model citizen in the community, & in his church … 

all because a man had makrothymia.  

The patience was tested … yes … more than once … but he hung on.

Can you & I live that way?  

This is where being a follower of Jesus really makes a difference.

Do we bring a spirit of vengeance into our marriages, our friendships, 

our relationships, or the marketplace? 

Or do we bring agape love?

“Love is patient.”  “Jesus is patient.”  Are you?

MARANA THA