Our scripture reading this morning is from the letter to the Hebrews Chapter 11, which is known as the Roll call of the Faithful. The writer of Hebrews makes a beautiful statement about faith - one you may have heard before - “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

   Meaning that God has given us promises: promises we live by, promises we hold dear, promises we hold on to with our very lives: the promise of God’s presence, of God’s care and forgiveness, of justice and righteousness. The promise of new life right now, the promise of eternal life when this life is over. We hope in them, believe in them, believe them in our heart...because God said so - that’s our assurance - even if we can’t see them, we believe them.

   Then he goes on to list men and women who are living examples of this kind of faith and some of the things they’ve been through in their service to God. Some of the names are familiar to us - names like Abraham and Sarah, Noah and Moses - others are less familiar. But the people Hebrews is written for would know them - they are the ancestors of their faith - men and women whose deeds, whose lives, whose faithfulness to God are recorded in the Old Testament.

   They would know the story of Cain and Abel - how Abel’s sacrifice to God was more acceptable - and out of anger, Cain murdered Abel in the field one day. They would know about the prophet Enoch who walked with God, and how God made him an angel.

   They would know of Noah - how he built the ark and spent 40 days trapped in an ark with his entire family and two of every animal that walked the earth - God bless him. They would know of Abraham and Sarah from whom the 12 tribes of Israel are descended. And how Abraham was out tending his farm one day minding his own business when God came to him and said: Go from your country to a land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will make your name great, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. These things I promise you. And they would know that Abraham and Sarah spent the better part of their lives doing as God asked in order to fulfill those promises.

   And they would know of Moses and Gideon and Rahab and David and all the others, too. They would know of their faith and courage, their endurance, their trust, and their patience as they worked and waited for the promises of God to be fulfilled in their lifetime. This chapter is meant to encourage those who are listening, those on a journey of faith - then and now.

   Listen to the word of God:

Hebrews: 11:1-13
   I am not a patient person. Now I know to look at me you would think otherwise. On the outside I look the model of patience. Calm, cool, collected, never in a hurry. I speak nice and slowly - I appear so centered, so grounded. Everything I do is approached with a sense of gentleness and ease and patience. But truth be told I am as impatient as they come. I want what I want when I want it. My coffee, my mid-morning snack, something done around the office or at home. I just want what I want when I want it - is that so much to ask?

   I have always been impatient - so I’ve been told, the funny thing is I didn’t realize it until sometime in my twenties, when I moved from CT to a small, little town in southern Virginia. I had been there just a few days and had gone to the local IGA for a gallon of milk -IGA’s are very small and was standing in the check out line behind one other person when the cashier and the person in front of me got to talking. And they talked about the weather, and about the tobacco farming - did they think it would be a good crop this year - and about so and so’s mama - how was she faring these days and then the cashier asked about the person’s grandkids - my, weren’t they getting big and how were they doing in school, anyway?...and this went on and on and on.

   And I just stood there in line with my gallon of milk and I could feel my blood pressure rising - I couldn’t understand how they could just keep chatting like that while I was standing there with a purchase - couldn’t they see me? Who does this? Just keeps talking while someone’s waiting. Where was I? This would never have happened in CT. We barely talked to each other in the grocery store in CT , never mind stopped and chatted with the cashier - it just wasn’t done - we were very busy, after all - always on the go, always something to do.

   There I stood - my impatience rising with each passing moment - and you know what that feels like - whether you’re stuck in line somewhere, or stuck in traffic these past couple of weeks while they’ve been paving the roads - unless you’re a patient person - you just feel like you’re going to explode.

   There I stood - feeling like I was going to explode - while they continued to chat - and I knew I couldn’t do anything because I was new to the area and didn’t want to earn a reputation for being just another Yankee in a hurry - so I just stood there, with my gallon of milk and I practiced breathing deeply, and finding my center, and I tried changing my attitude - I didnt really need to go anywhere, be anywhere, why not be in the moment, relax, be patient.

   And so I did. And it was kind of nice. And when the person in front of me finally left and it was my turn the cashier and I chatted, too, because that’s what you do when you live in the south.

   Being patient is hard. Even though we know patience is a virtue, and that good things come to those who wait. Being patient for most of is hard - we can’t help it, we’re just wired that way. We hate to wait.

   Even when it comes to faith - we find it hard to be patient.

   Think about it: we pray for peace, each week, some of us every day, we’ve been praying for peace for years - praying for God’s peace - for God to change a heart somewhere so we can have peace. Why isn’t it here yet?

   We do things we hope will bring an end to poverty - for the day when all of God’s children will have food and shelter and meaningful jobs -we have food pantrys and soup kitchens because we must but still we hope someday we won’t have to - a day when we all have enough - but when will that day be?

   We work to bring about heaven here on earth - to advance the kingdom of God - except some days it feels like we’re just kind of standing still if not going backwards.

   We pray for healing, we work on our own spiritual growth, pray for the spiritual growth of others - that friends and family will come to know God’s love and goodness and forgiveness...but when will it happen.

   Waiting is difficult. Especially when it comes to faith. And we’re not always good at it.

   I’m convinced that’s why many people leave the church. It’s not always the minister or the music or that the church is unfriendly. Sometimes it expectations: many people - you know them and I know them - maybe you’ve been one of them yourself - many people expect that when they join a church all of their needs - their physical, spiritual, emotional needs will be met - if not instantly, then at least within a few months. Like everything else in life they want results and they want them now. They want to feel close to God now - to have their prayers answered now, they want to grow in their faith - to be spiritually fed, to feel different, to feel better, to feel good now. And some people, if they don’t get it right away, leave - give up on church and give up on faith.

   The truth is that faith takes patience.

   In the roll call of the faithful in Hebrews, the men and women had many things: trust in God’s promises, belief perseverance. But they had patience, too. Take Abraham and Sarah - they wandered all over the region from Egypt to Canaan - all over what is now Syria with their family in tow, fighting with other tribes in strange lands, struggling to keep the land they had gained according to God’s promises. On and on they went, from the time Abraham was in his sixties to the time he died well over a hundred years old - he kept on going, doing as God asked, working and waiting to see God’s promises of land, descendants - as many stars in the sky - a relationship with God that would benefit other families - years and years of this. Abraham and Sarah had patience.

   The same is true for their son Isaac and his son Jacob and their descendants - wandering throughout the land as God showed them, working and waiting for God’s promises- years and years they did this. They were men and women of courage and hope and conviction, but they had patience, too.

   Faith takes patience. Which, as I mentioned before is not easy.

   For example: I’ve been in a funk lately. Been kind of tired. I thought I’d been doing a great job of hiding it until several people came up to me last week and asked, “Are you ok.? You look so...tired.” Even my mother who was here for Harvest Fest said. “Honey, you don’t look so good. Are you...tired? My boys have started to give me a hard time because I’ve been going to bed at 9, 8:30, 8. One night, heading up to bed one of them said, 7:30 mom. Isn’t that a little early? No, I said, I’m tired. Besides, I can go to bed when I want - Apparently, being tired also makes me a little cranky, or so I’ve been told.

   Even my dogs have begun to notice. I laid down the other day to take a nap and both dogs came running over hoping I’d take them outside or at the very least pet them. I rolled over and said to them, “Look. I’m just not feeling up to it right now - give me a half hour, then I’ll pay attention to you. The look they gave me was pitiful - disbelief written all over their faces - and when I reached over to pet them - to make amends - they turned away - as if to say...oh no, you’re too tired. Don’t worry about us. We’ll find someone else to love us and off they went.

   At first I thought it was my age, all this being tired stuff. Or maybe it was Harvest Fest , or maybe it’s the weather we’ve been having, nine days of rain, an hour of sun, 5 days of rain, a few hours of sun, followed by more rain - this kind of weather would make even the perkiest of people a little weary. I tried to blame it on my family, on all the lovely construction going on in York when it finally hit me, as I laid down to take yet another nap...why I’m tired, what I’m tired of...

   I’m tired of waiting. As I watch the news about all that’s going wrong with the world, all the disasters, all the pain and suffering, people hurting each other, people causing each other pain, I’m tired of waiting for good to finally conquer evil, for peace to happen, for the poor to finally get what they need, for people of different races and tribes and religions to get along, for all of us to love our neighbor liked we’re supposed to, tired of waiting for God’s will on heaven to be done on earth, of waiting for God’s promises to come to fruition. Tired I’m just tired. And I know I’m being impatient. I just want what I want when I want it - is that so much to ask?

   And yet, there are others all around me who seem to be doing just fine. While I”m feeling discouraged, they’re up beat, they’re positive. While I’m taking naps, they’re going strong, doing ministry, serving God and their neighbor and smiling while they’re doing it. While I’m demanding results now, they’re patiently waiting and working for the kingdom of God. And after much thought I’ve finally figured out what’s going on. What the secret is and the secret is this:

   It’s right there in verse 13 of Hebrews. Even though Abraham and Sarah and all the others didn’t receive God’s promises - didn’t see all their descendants as many as the stars, didn’t see all the families on the earth being blessed - didn’t see the new land belonging to the Hebrews - they could see the promises from a distance - and from a distance Hebrews says - they saw and greeted them. They could see the promises of God - knew they were out there, knew they were coming, knew they were true so they could greet them - welcome them with praise and thanksgiving. And even though there was a chance the promises might not come to pass in their lifetime - they had seen a glimpse of them - enough glimpses of them on their journey to keep going. And so they kept going, moving forward with faith and hope and patience.

   All these people around us who are upbeat and positive, serving God and their neighbor with a smile, patiently waiting and working for the kingdom? They see the same thing. With eyes of faith and open hearts they see the promises of God - the promises of peace and joy and reconciliation and forgiveness for all - they’re out there - and they know these promises to be true so they can greet them, they welcome with with praise and thanksgiving and celebration. And even though there’s a chance they may not see them come to pass in their lifetime, they have seen a glimpse of them - enough glimpses on their journey to keep going, to keep moving forward with faith and hope and patience.

   It’s like that wonderful quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning - one of my favorites. Earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes - the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

   Instead of bemoaning the fact that there is not peace in Iraq, peace in the world, these patient people are looking at the peace they do see - in their family or among friends, among their children just for a moment or two, or in a small corner of the world where it’s been needed for years, and that is enough.

   Instead of thinking we’re getting nowhere with caring for the poor among us, they’re out there caring for people - feeding them, finding them shelter, finding them jobs, and getting other people to care so that one day there will be changes in the way we all live - and they’re celebrating that.

   While they’re standing around with their shoes off looking at bushes afire with God others of us, myself included, have been sitting round plucking blackberries.

   But with faith, we can change.

   I am still impatient but I’m working on it - in fact just yesterday while waiting to use the photo machine at Rite Aide behind a woman who was printing a gazillion photos I practiced my deep breathing, centered myself and the woman turned to me and said, “Thank you for your patience.” Your welcome. I said. But most of all I’m practicing being patient in my faith. And if you’re struggling with some of the things I struggle with, then maybe you need to do the same. If we open our eyes and our hearts we will see God’s promises in the distance - and glimpses of them along the way - and that will keep us moving ever forward - God grant us all a patient faith.

   Amen.