Patience in Advent

⁷Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. –James 5:7-10

            Advent reminds me that I am not a patient person.

            Since becoming a pastor, I’ve learned to have the bulk of my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. I cannot abide parking lots inundated with shoppers. I get incredibly anxious being in a line with a lot of other anxious impatient people. Last year I was at the post office waiting in line to mail a package. It’s a small post office and only person was working the desk (the other person was out to lunch). I stood there for about 30 seconds before I heard the sounds around me. Huffs. Sighs. Finally, a woman in a long wool coat asked if there wasn’t someone else who could help people. She turned to the people around her and asked if this wasn’t the most ridiculous thing ever. Finally, the woman next to me looked at the woman and told her to knock it off (okay, she didn’t say it as nicely as that). She said out loud what I was thinking in my head but was too afraid to actually say out loud (I really don’t like confrontation).

            The woman in the long coat didn’t stop huffing and she was extra indignant after the other lady in line told her to cut it out.

            Advent reminds me that I am not a patient person, either. When Paul lists the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5, I usually get to the patience (aka, “long suffering”) and think that’s the one fruit I might have missed off the buffet. Patience.

            “You also must be patient,” James wrote in James 5. Be patient like a farmer who plants and waits. Be patient like a surgeon who must operate surgical tools in a slow and meticulous matter in the interest of safety. Be patient like a person waiting for the washing machine to finish spinning. Be patient like a world waiting for a Savior.

            That’s what Advent is: it’s a world waiting for Savior. It’s a world that trusts that Savior is coming. It’s a world that knows the Savior came once, a long time ago, and knows that the Savior will come again. It’s a world that knows in the meantime, we live here in our time and place and we live as a waiting people. Patient.

            “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him,” sings the Psalmist in Psalm 37:7.

            Sometimes it’s hard to be patient. When you’re excited about something or worried about something, it’s hard to be patient. On Christmas morning I had to wait for my grandparents to arrive before we could open presents, and it was hard to be patient. We baked all the Christmas cookies and had to wait until Christmas Eve to eat them. It was hard to be patient. It’s hard to be patient when we are waiting for test results or job review results. It’s hard to be patient when a loved one is due to arrive at any moment and we just want them there with us now. The writer Ambrose Bierce defined patience this way: “Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.” Maybe it is. And maybe it’s actually a virtue.

            The New Testament book of James sees patience as a virtue. James also encourages patience in our vertical relationships (vertical relationships with God: “Wait patiently for the Lord”) and our horizontal relationships: Don’t grumble against each other. Don’t be judgey. As Paul puts it in Ephesians, try to “Lead lives worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience (emphasis mine), bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).          

            Advent reminds me I’m not a patient person. Advent also reminds me (again) patience can be learned. Patience is a part of how we relate to God and to each other. It’s also a part of our how we relate to ourselves. Let’s be honest: we’re not always patient with ourselves, either. Perhaps this Christmas season (and beyond), we can pay attention to the moments where we are impatient and ask God to help us give ourselves (and each other) a little more space for grace.

            Where do you need to practice a little more patience this season? What makes you impatient? What might it look like if God transforms that impatience to space for grace?

            Related challenge: Let the check-out line workers know you appreciate them. Whether it’s at the post office or in a retail store, say thank you. Try to smile, even if you’re in a hurry. Bear with one another, just as you hope others bear with you.