Unlimited patience

Rev. Chris Willis

February 2022

There is a general rule, which certainly my personal experience supports, that changing lanes on a dual carriageway in slow moving traffic is a bad idea. There is the tempting gap, opportunity taken, and momentary sense of progress; then the inevitable coming to a stop, and the vehicles which seconds before were behind you in the other lane are now merrily passing by, leaving you thinking: ‘if only I had stayed in that lane’!

Patience of course is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness, etc.)[1]. So, it was with interest this morning, that two words from the reading from Morning Prayer[2] really stood out to me. They are found in Paul’s letter to Timothy, where Paul speaks of Christ Jesus’ “unlimited patience”[3].

‘Unlimited patience’! It took a moment for me to think about that. It reminded me of the time when Jesus was asked, ‘how many times should I forgive my brother’? The answer of course being, ‘seventy times seven’…..not meaning of course, forgive 490 times, then on the 491^st time of asking we no longer need to forgive, but Jesus was saying, there is really no limit.

So, thinking of Jesus ‘unlimited patience’ with us, I felt a huge sense of comfort. For if we are honest with ourselves, honest with God, we really need that unlimited patience.

It is this unlimited patience which links to Jesus’ example, even demand, of how we ought to forgive. Surely an example, seventy times seven, which more than anything, speaks of how patient God is in forgiving us, when we in turn repeatedly mess up and sin.

Of course, I am not promoting a sense of carelessness, nor suggesting we stop trying to live holy lives. No, we are called to do so (Be Holy, because I the Lord am holy being one of God’s earliest commands)[4]. I think, as the Book of common Prayer puts it so colourfully, that the burden of our sins [unrepented] should be grievous unto us. But isn’t it so reassuring to know, that on those occasions when we do fail, when we just don’t live up to God’s standards, that we have an Advocate, a Defender, a Friend and a Saviour, who is patient with us. In fact, a Saviour, who has Paul assures us, has ‘unlimited patience’.

I hope you too will be reassured too.

May God bless you.

Chris (Curate – St. Albrights)

[1] Galatians 5:22-23

[2] Church of England daily prayer

[3] NIV  (other translations use the words Immense, or complete)

[4] Leviticus 19:2