(Slide 1) Impatience…
What comes to mind when you read that word? Or you hear it? Or you see it in action? Or personally experience it?
The late W.H. Auden wrote, “Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.”
I recently read the story of an American League umpire having to deal with a catcher that argued just about all of his calls for several innings during a game. Finally, his patience ran out and he said to the catcher, “Son, you’ve been a big help to me in calling balls and strikes today, and I appreciate it. But I think that I have got the hang of it now, so I’m going to ask you to go to the clubhouse and show whoever’s there how to take a shower.”
Restaurants are one of the places that can really push our impatience button. And this impatience is not limited to adults. Children, too, can find their patience running thin when they are hungry.
A little boy had ordered the catch of the day and waited with increasing sadness and impatience for his meal.
Finally, the server returned with the news that his catch of the day would soon be ready. Excited at the news he asked, ‘Tell me, what kind of bait are you using?’
Impatience is often defined as annoyance and, interestingly enough, as eagerness. Why?
Perhaps in the perspective of the person or interested party; perhaps due to the situation at hand. Most likely, having to do with one’s attitude.
As we continue our post-Easter series on Love and as we prepare for Communion I think that we need to understand the centrality of patience in love as we seek to love as Jesus loved.
Our main text is a familiar and oft repeated gospel parable that appears in Luke 10 and beginning with verse 30.
“A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ‘If his bill runs higher than that,’ he said, ‘I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
And I would add, ‘the one who showed him patience.’
Now, a couple of observations about this passage before we think about the patience of the Samaritan.
First, it is easy to criticize the priest and the temple assistant for not stopping to care. But, how many of us stop to care for a stranded motorist these days?
A few weeks ago, I noticed someone I knew had stopped to see if one of the neighborhood kids, who was headed home crying, was okay. After I met him in the alleyway next to our house, I told him that that it was probably one of those hurt feeling moments.
How many of us would do that today? What would people think if we did that?
In their defense, the priest and assistant could have been legitimately concerned for their safety because the hurt man could have been part of a plot to rob them. So, we understand all of the issues and excuses for not getting involved at certain times.
Second, there was a prohibition on touching what could have been a dead man. Such a touch would have kept them out of their service for a period because they would have been “defiled, unclean, and unacceptable.” But Jesus would throw all of that prohibition out with His death and resurrection. A new way of getting right with God that did not require ceremony and rule keeping was coming to pass.
It was not what mattered to God anymore. The attitude of caring; of patience mattered. It was about the attitude and disposition of one’s heart toward God and others. This was Jesus’ point that He made in conjunction with a question posed to Him about the greatest commandment that was about love.
Now, as I wrote that last paragraph on Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from some one asking for help with some gas money.
To be honest, I was at first I was not going to do it and simply refer her to another church. Then I thought about what I just told you and went ahead and did it. It took up about 30 minutes of my time, but was it time wasted? I don’t think so.
Then on Thursday morning as I was out for a morning walk, a police car pulled into a side street blocking the sidewalk I was walking on. As I approached the car, he re-positioned it so that he could roll down his window.
I’m thinking, now what? Then I heard, ‘Mr. Kane, do you need a ride?’ And I recognized the officer who was offering me a ride somewhere as it had started to rain. He was being a Good Samaritan.
Somewhere I read that perhaps the Samaritan stopped because he knew what it was like to be lying beside that road. He once was victimized and someone had come to help him. He had pity and compassion on this wounded man.
There is a statement in this text that says to me that he was a man of some means and integrity. It is verse 35: “The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ‘If his bill runs higher than that,’ he said, ‘I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here.”
There was something about this man that Jesus wanted to hold up as an example of loving, patiently love, your neighbor. He did not spare a dime in caring for this man and he had the reputation (implied in the familiarity with inn keeper, “the next time I am here”) of someone who would pay the balance later if necessary.
I think that the Samaritan was a very successful person otherwise why would he have done what he did and said what he said in verse 35? Yet more important, he was a man who chooses to care patiently for a wounded man, who as Jesus pointed out, was Jewish.
(Slide 2) So what?
How we treat people in such situations is evidence of quality of our faith and the kind of love we have chosen to carry in our hearts. And if we take Jesus’ words seriously to love our neighbor, no matter who it is, as our self then patience becomes a necessity.
Several years ago, an e-mail with the title ‘Lessons to live by’ included this story. “During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz.
I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely, this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one
student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ’hello’."
Rick Warren says that are better able to respond in patience when we learn three things.
(Slide 3)
Discover a bigger perspective. Deepen your love. Depend on Jesus’ power.
The Good Samaritan, for some reason, had this bigger perspective, which enabled him to be patient and loving in a trying and dangerous circumstance.
Jesus told this story in response to the question about the greatest commandment (the commandment to love) and what Jesus believed loving your neighbor as yourself truly meant.
Ultimately such love means to love and to care, patiently, as we depend on Jesus’ power and strength to help us love as God would have us to love.
Your assignment for this week is: (Slide 4) Select and decide to address one impatient inducing situation or habit this week.
This could be a home, here at church, at school, in the neighborhood, or in your extended family. The course of action you decide upon is not to be spectacular or impressive, just something simple.
(Slide 4) And let us begin that selection as we take the time to confess our sins and shortcomings and give thanks to God for His gift of love and forgiveness that can empower us to become more patient and loving. Amen.
(Source: Warren quote, “40 Days of Love” small group discussion guide.)
