Sermon Tone Analysis

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In the name of God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - May the word of the Lord be spoken and heard - Amen
 
 
You may have notice in the bulletin that the readings of the day have Isaiah and Matthew but this morning, we had all three readings
            Call it an Advent Present - you deserved this special treat
                        Since we are so close to Christmas - only 6 days away
                                    Our passage from James offers us exactly the treat we need:
                                                Advice on patience
This time of year the shops are going crazy,
            The other night for example - I spent nearly 30 minutes *at the end* of shopping just to go through the check-out
                        The traffic on the roads increases,
                                    There is tension is in the air
                                                And with this weekend’s snow storm to add to all of that
                        The gift needed for many this Christmas season is surely - patience
 
Few are born with it - it is not generally a characteristic of youth
            Patience is something that develops over time
                        It is a trait connected with wisdom
I would say it is a trait, in a Christian context, which is closely connected to faith
 
            What do I mean by that?
Consider some of the words used to describe patience -
                                    Endurance - steadfastness - waiting - constancy - loyalty -                                                               sustaining - perseverance
                        In these words we have the a sense of holding to what is true, existing in the belief of                   something, not temporarily but for however long is needed
                                    Sense of belief
                                    Sense of hope
                                    Sense of endurance
                                                In some cases of enduring through good times and times of suffering
One can clearly see the connection of patience to faith, especially in one of the most popular definition of faith found at the beginning of Hebrews 11
/            “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”/
 
Patience is both an attribute and an action
            One can be patient
                        But at the same time one is *acting* patience
                                    Patience is not merely ‘the lack of doing anything’
                                                It is - the doing of ‘waiting’
                                                            Faithful - trustingly
                                                                        In the face of distractions both good and bad
                                                                                    Actively, intentionally ‘waiting’
 
 
Have you ever noticed that patience mostly comes in the form of instruction?
Whether that be our own self talk - our wisdom in a situation to tell ourselves - to calm down,      to wait for whatever, that waiting is the best solution - to not try and change the situation but             become peaceful in the moment and be patient
                        Or when it comes from someone else, it comes with much the same focus
And if you were to do a word search in the Bible you would see in nearly every situation - the writer of whatever book is offering patience - as advice
            It might interest you to know that in one concordance that I searched - Patience came up 35         times and 31 of those were in the New Testament
                        Each instance with a message deeply connected to faithful waiting ‘on’ or ‘for’ the                       Lord
That is precisely where we are today - this the last week of Advent
            Actively waiting for the coming of Emmanuel - God with us
 
We are not at Christmas yet - it may seem close but it still requires waiting
            Though we may fill our time with countless preparations - of shopping or baking or writing           Christmas cards or visiting family and friends - or cleaning the house for visitors - and many,             many other things
                        we still have time, which if we set aside distractions, requires waiting
 
Be assured of this, which James wants you to really get and in fact says in three different ways:
            /Until the coming of the Lord/
/                        For the coming of the Lord/
/                                    The Judge is standing at the door/
            *That* Emmanuel *will* come
                        That the day will arrive
And as James advises:
/            “Be patient - strengthen your hearts”/
/ /
In fact I will suggest that you block off some time latter today or the next, to quietly - *be patient*
            Intentionally observe some time of patience
                        Don’t do anything else - live in the moment ‘that we are in’
                                    Advent - waiting, not there yet
                                                And trust - patiently
 
 
As we await the coming of the Lord, may our patient faith rest in the sure and certain promise that *our* Lord *is* God over everything - Amen
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