Live with Patient Urgency
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
James 5: 7-10, Rev. Marianne Niesen, December 16, 2007
Have you ever heard of an oxymoron?Those are figures of speech that combine two contradictory words to get at something no other single word can express.Consider these oxymora . . . aging yuppie, current history, definite maybe, elevated subway, planned chaos, supervised independence, modest magnificence, hearing visions, genuine illusion, a true replica, local long distance - or, here’s my personal favorite, kosher ham.I got to thinking about oxymora when I came up with my title for today’s sermon . . . Live with patient urgency.
As I said a couple weeks ago, my goal this Advent is to help us think about how we might live the ‘Christmas Spirit’ all year long. While I know this is a difficult time of year in many ways . . . we are harried, pressed for time, torn in different directions, feel losses more acutely . . . still, it is also a wonderful time.There are so many great things that happen.A sense of generosity. A greater attention to the most vulnerable among us.A willingness to laugh with children.The darkness that is shattered with bright lights.We watch corny movies and sing oldsongs. How is it that when we are overwhelmed with activities, we still find time for listening to carollers? We do it . . . but how? What’s different these days?I think the difference is that almost in spite of ourselves, we learn the value of patient urgency. Somehow, during this season, we figure out how to balance the need to get things done . . . “fast, now” . . . with the need to wait . . “slow down.”Consider the last discussion you had with someone about ‘all the things you need to do.’Consider the list you have made either on paper or in your head.There’s a lot.Now consider the most common message you give a child - any child - who ‘can’t wait for Christmas’ or who wonders when she gets to open a package or who wonders when grandma is coming.Be patient.We have to wait.It’s not here yet. We are caught this season between moving forward and slowing down.Between urgency and waiting.It is a reality we can only capture with the oxymoron patient urgency.
Consider our friend James in the text I just read.James addressed himself to restless Christians in the first century. (Yes, restlessness is not a modern phenomenon!) They were anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus.He would come and sweep away the Romans and change life and rescue them. They were sure of it and they were ready. They were like children around a Christmas tree . . . is it time? Where is he?What’s taking so long?What should we do?Where should we be? How should we live? Be patient James replied - be ready but be patient.Be patient like a farmer who awaits the rains. Those were the spring and fall rains . . . there was a process of germination and growth and it took time.Be patient - there is a process in life and it too takes time.Then he added . . . by the way, in the meantime, be kind to each other. No more grumbling. Jesus is near . . . but not here yet.So actively wait. There is an ebb and flow to the message . . . be alert and calm, do something and sometimes don’t do anything. Be ready but be cool about it. Be ‘on edge’ but stop grumbling.
We lit our candle today on this third Sunday of Advent and remembered Mary - her courage, her commitment.But, she didn’t start out courageous or valiant.She didn’t start out confronting the powers of the world.She started out like we all do - scared and tentative.How can this be?When Joseph proposed the trip to Bethlehem, she must have wondered about it.It would have been better if she’d had the baby before they went . . .but there is no rushing such things.So she prepared and waited.As did Joseph.It was in the process of living out her commitment that she learned the patient urgency that would get her through.Pregnancy teaches that . . . it can be neither rushed nor ignored. It requires patience and readiness all at the same time. This season has the potential to teach us that balance that is essential for fruitful living. There is so much that needs doing in this world . . .and we need to do it and be patient with the process.Like Mary.
Patient urgency. I suppose another word for it might be persistence and a wonderful example of persistence - which is to say -a life lived with patient urgency, is Abraham Lincoln.When I think of him, I think of the Emancipation Proclamation and his work to end slavery.I think of his leadership at a time when we desperately needed his witness and clarity.And yet, if you know anything about his career, you know that he spent way more time waiting for success than enjoying it.He lost eight elections, failed in business twice and suffered a nervous breakdown. Listen to this litany . . .
1816- his family is forced out of their home and he works to support them
1818- his mother died
1831- failed in business
1832- ran for state legislature - lost;- wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in
1833- borrowed money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt.He spent the next 17 years repaying the debt
1834- ran for state legislature - won
1835- engaged to be married, fiancee died
1836- had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for 6 months
1838- sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated
1840- sought to become an elector - defeated
1843- ran for Congress - lost
1846- ran for Congress - won
1848- ran for reelection to Congress - lost
1849- sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected
1854- ran for Senate of the United States - lost
1856- sought the vice presidential nomination at his party’s national convention and got less than 100 votes.
1858- ran for US Senate again - lost
1860- elected president of the United States.
And, after all of that, he did the things for which he is most remembered. Patient urgency. It is persistent attentiveness to what is important coupled with an ability to wait for those rains . . . for the right time . . .that makes all the difference.
This is the season when we learn the value of patient urgency almost in spite of ourselves.We learn it as we find the perfect gift - and then wait in an enormous line for the privilege of giving someone our money.We can’t make that line go faster but we can make life in line more pleasant.We can ‘stop grumbling’ while at the same time move forward, inch by inch.And we get there . . . eventually. Just this past week at our Christ Child’s Birthday party, we had a packed house and no one was going anywhere fast.But the excitement of the children was palpable and catching. From the youngest to the oldest, there were some great conversations. And we had an experience of what ‘no room at the inn’ felt like. I was one of the early ‘eaters’ and after I gave up my seat to a late eater, I got to hold baby Nora for the better part of an hour. What a treat!What a wonderful evening it was . . . organized chaos for sure.And I think James would have been proud of us . . . I didn’t even hear very much ‘grumbling’ at each other!But I sure saw a lot of patient urgency that paid off!
Patient urgency is a gift of this season.It is how we survive and I think it is how we will make a difference in the world in the days to come. As followers of Jesus, we have been charged with the task of working toward ‘peace on earth, good will to all.’That greeting of the angels was God’s vision of what could be.Jesus life began the process but it if far from complete . . . and the need has never been more urgent.We have work to do and the doing of it will take time . . . and yet something must be done, every day by the likes of you and me and the other Marys of the world. Patient urgency is both our hope and our strategy for a better world.
One more illustration . . . because I believe we really need to ‘get’ this concept.This will appeal to any of you who have flown anywhere recently and have had the challenge of surviving airport security.Or, if you are planning a trip, perhaps this will allow you to think of the very experience of airport security as a kind of year ‘round training for doing the hard work of peace making.This is perhaps the ultimate experience of learning the strategy of patient urgency.
You have decided to fly to ‘grandma’s house.’You leave home in a hurry because we are never quite ready on time. You arrive at the airport and get in line to check your bag.It always takes a while.You finally breathe a sigh of relief, and, after checkingyour bag and getting your boarding pass, you are directed to ‘airport security.’ The line is long so you hurry to get there and then you wait. The line slowly moves forward.Finally, you arrive at the person who checks your ID.Then you wait again.Patiently - this is not a place to act like you are in a hurry.Security people don’t like people who act hurried.They look . . . suspicious.But then, suddenly, you are at the conveyer belt.Now, in a matter of a few moments you must, take off your coat, your shoes, get your little bag of little liquids out and put them in a bin.You must organize all of your stuff, lift it up and push it through . . . quickly now.Don’t want to keep anyone waiting.You get to the Xray where a person holds her hand up . . . wait, slowly now . . . then she motions you forward and you show your Boarding pass, slowly . . .remember, these folks don’t like people who hurry too much. Looks suspicious. Then, amazingly, she smiles and says have a good trip!The pleasantness after the scrutiny always seems a little odd.In any case, the mood is momentary because now, you must hurry to the conveyer belt and gather your stuff - your carry-on, your purse, your shoes, your coat, your little bag of little liquids - re-pack it, put on your shoes, put on your coat - check to make sure you haven’t left anything behind.Whew, you made it.And now you wait for the plane to board at which time you get in another line to patiently wait while being told that it would really help if you would move quickly to your seat to let others get by.In the end, you eventually arrive where you want to be but you cannot rush it nor can you nor can you afford to be inattentive.
It is true - we could come up with other words for this . . . for example, contented frenzy or serene energy or paused momentum but I think overall, the letter of James got it right.May learning patient urgency be the gift we give ourselves this Christmas. May what we learn from this season help us build a better world.
