PATIENCE 4

Pride looks to what we have accomplished to establish our sense of worth. Patience looks to what we have received from Christ to know that we have worth. When Martha received Jesus into her home, she attempted to establish her worth in Jesus’ eyes through all her preparations. Thus Mary’s failure to help her and Jesus’ apparent lack of concern for Mary’s laziness was seen by Martha as undermining her worth as a person. Martha learned from that encounter. This time she was not focused on any preparations. She was free to focus on Jesus and what he desired to bring to her life at that moment. What she got was the love of Christ and a reaffirming of her faith in Christ. What a different Martha we see.

Grace is favor given even when there is no merit to earn that favor. Grace looks solely to the merits of Jesus earned for us at the cross. Grace gives us worth apart from what we have done or will ever do. Patience is simply living out this gift. Patience allows this gift to unfold in our lives under its own terms. Patience is impossible without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives because it does not come to us naturally. That is why Paul calls it a fruit of the Spirit. When the Spirit is allowed to produce this fruit in our lives, others see our tremendous worth. That takes us to our last point.

When Jesus visited Martha’s home, she capped the evening with some very harsh words about her sister. Her goal for the evening had been to serve. Pride turned the evening into a frustrating disaster for her. It is a much different Martha who leaves Jesus this time and goes back to her sister. She calls her sister aside from all the other mourners and tells her of Jesus’ arrival. She refers to Jesus as “The Teacher.” When Jesus visited her home, he had come as teacher. This was quite and honor since his students were women. Teachers in Jesus’ day did not teach women. This time Martha had learned from the Teacher and was eager for her sister to receive as well.

When patience is at work, the stress level drops because the concern is no longer on what I want to do. Instead the concern is what does Jesus want me to receive and how does he want me to share it with others. Jesus taught this kind of patience by the example of his own ministry. He came not to be served but to serve (Matt 20:28). His life was focused on what his Father had given him and lived according to how that best could be shared with the world. For Jesus, that meant the cross. While he was on earth, he never used his power as the Son of God for himself. He used it in service to God and to us.

Through the working of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promises to work that kind of patience in each one of us. As we practice this fruit in our lives, we come to appreciate more deeply the love and the power of God.