Introduction:

Noah’s message from the steps of the ark was not, “Something good is going to happen to you!”

The prophet Amos was not confronted by the High Priest of Israel for proclaiming, “God is heaven and all is right with the world!”

Jeremiah was not put into the pit for preaching, “I’m Ok, you’re Ok.”

Daniel was not put into the Lion’s Den for telling people, “Positive thinking will move mountains.”

John the Baptist was not beheaded because he preached, “Smile, God loves you!”

The message of all these men of God was “Repent!” They tried to convince the people with God’s Word to confess their sins before the Almighty and turn from their sins. This is our message also this Advent season. We are continuing our Advent series “Produce Fruit in Keeping with Repentance.” Let us confess our sins to the Almighty. Let us be reassured by God’s love shown in His only Son, Jesus. Let us then turn away from our sins and produce fruit in our lives. This evening God’s Word encourages us to be patient.

Impatience is a big problem in our world today. We live in a society that knows what it wants and wants it now. We are flooded with fast food, high speed internet, and automatic this and automatic that. These things are not bad in and of themselves. But they are symptoms of a lack of patience.

This impatience was shown by sinners throughout Bible History. And it would be difficult to find people more impatient in the Bible than the Israelites who were wandering in the desert. They complained a lot. They had a hard time stomaching the places that God took them to. They even felt this way when they came to the land that God had promised to give them. In fact, at one point they became so impatient with God, that they rebelled against Him and said they would not go into the Promised Land. They had just arrived at the borders of Canaan and sent 12 spies into the land. The spies came back and spoke of the large numbers of people in the land and how they were a giant, strong, and warlike people.

God’s own people then became impatient with Him. They rebelled and said they wouldn’t go into the Promised Land. God punished those people. He would not allow them into the land flowing with milk and honey. Only Joshua, Caleb, and those 20 years old and younger would enter. But at the announcement of the punishment, the people suddenly lost their impatience and tried to rush into the Canaan with swords drawn. The Lord’s hand was against them and they were defeated in battle and driven back into the wilderness.

How silly those Israelites acted … right? How many of you are really patient people? The temptation for us in this world is to always run ahead. We seem to always be longing for what will come or where we could be in life, instead of focusing on where God has put us in the present. Young people, have you ever thought, “I can’t wait to get out of my parents’ house.” Students, do you ever ache to be done with it all? Are some of you thinking about slipping into your senior slide? How many of you have complained and said that your retirement won’t come soon enough? Husbands and wives, do you ever become impatient with God as you wait to have children? Have you ever complained to God that you are still alive? Why are we always running ahead?

Have you ever thought that maybe, and I know this is a crazy idea, that God wants right where you are, right now, for a reason? What right do we have as sinful human beings to become impatient with God? He knows what is best for us. He knows what we can handle. And yet we grumble and complain with impatient hearts. Our impatience with God is sin. Imagine what God must think when we decided that what we are doing in life is not good enough. Think about God’s reaction when we are sinfully impatient even though God continues to bless us right where we are at. We deserve God’s punishment for our impatience and that punishment is hell.

We must repent of our sins of impatience and all of our sins. Confess your sins and plead for God’s mercy.

Even though we have routinely sinned against God in our lives, it is absolutely amazing that God never fully loses His patience with us. Even though we know better, we still sin. Yet our loving Father remains patient with us. In fact, He says to us that if we want to look forward to something, look for the coming of His Son.

He encouraged Adam and Eve with this in the Garden of Eden. He promised that one would come who would crush the devil’s head and be our Savior from sin. He promised the Israelites this also. He told them to look for the spotless lamb, who would come to wash away the sins of the world with His blood. And finally the Father sent His one and only Son as the Lamb of God. And Jesus lived spotlessly as the Lamb of God, without any stain from sin in His life. And Jesus willingly offered himself as the Lamb who would be slain on the cross to take away our sins. And Jesus then rose from the dead for our salvation, guaranteeing a place for us in heaven with Him.

And so the Father encourages us as Christians, disciples of the Lamb of God, to look for the Lamb to return. In this season of Advent, we look for the Lord’s coming, when he will take all believers to be in heaven with Him. We eagerly wait for Jesus to return.

But we also must be patient as we wait. Listen again to the words of our Scripture lesson: “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.”

Now I don’t know that much about farming. In fact, farms sometimes intimidate me with all the big animals, big tractors and so on. I will confess that much. But I do know a few things about farming. Farmers don’t make it rain. Farmers don’t make the corn grow. They do their work, tend to the crops, and wait. It takes patience to be a farmer. You just have to wait and trust in God.

And as we wait for the Lord, let us be patient like the farmer. Let us continue to do our work, satisfied with what God has given to us, and then trust in the Lord. We must trust that he will lead us through our lives. He is the one who places us where He wants us to be. He is the one who gives us the work that we are to do, whether that work is being a mother of four children, a student, an employee, a boss, a pastor or a teacher. Let’s be patient with God. He always loves us and always knows what is best for us.

As we wait for the coming of the Lord, let us also be patient with one another. The holidays can be a stressful time of year. When you are with family and friends, be patient. You might never know why God has put you in a particular room with particular people. Maybe, just maybe, God will use you to share Jesus Christ with someone this Christmas. Maybe God will use just a little patience from you to bring someone else to faith so that they can be in heaven with us someday. Maybe that person will be a brother or sister, a friend, and enemy, a boss, or a stranger. Who knows? God has it all worked out. Let’s trust Him.

The saying goes, “Patience is a virtue.” It is an awesome fruit of repentance. Let us show patience with God, knowing He is patient with us every single day. Let us also show that loving patience to those around us. AMEN.