WEBVTT 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:04.960 So we've all at one point or another in our lives 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:08.300 have had some sort of anticipation for something 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:13.400 to come and sometimes that anticipation is good. 00:00:13.769 --> 00:00:16.870 For example, maybe you have been to a family 00:00:16.870 --> 00:00:19.929 gathering or planned a family gathering and you 00:00:19.929 --> 00:00:22.370 anticipated seeing some people, some family that 00:00:22.370 --> 00:00:25.289 you haven't seen in a while and there's a buildup 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:27.670 of excitement. You're communicating with your 00:00:27.670 --> 00:00:30.010 family, getting everybody together in one spot 00:00:30.010 --> 00:00:33.109 at one time with all the right meals. That can 00:00:33.109 --> 00:00:37.570 be exciting. And sometimes we anticipate other 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:40.460 things like maybe a TV show. where you've seen 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:42.640 all the seasons and a new one's coming out and 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.960 you're ready for that final season to tie up 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.700 all the loose ends of a story that you're waiting 00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:51.740 for. Maybe it's been a renovation of a house 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:55.219 where you have taken time to tear everything 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.939 down and now it's getting rebuilt the way that 00:00:57.939 --> 00:01:01.399 you want. Whatever it is, we've all experienced 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:05.700 in one point or another the anticipation waiting 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:10.030 for an end. are waiting for something to happen. 00:01:11.409 --> 00:01:14.609 And we know as humans in this life that sometimes 00:01:14.609 --> 00:01:18.430 that anticipation is wonderful, but sometimes 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:23.469 the outcome doesn't match our expectations. Sometimes 00:01:23.469 --> 00:01:28.790 we're let down, or sometimes we receive something 00:01:28.790 --> 00:01:32.469 that we didn't expect. Maybe at that family gathering 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:35.489 you're really hopeful that one person would be 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:39.250 there and they change plans last minute and you're 00:01:39.250 --> 00:01:42.349 let down a little bit. Or maybe you get to that 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:44.989 gathering and you're sad because somebody that 00:01:44.989 --> 00:01:47.730 was there last year won't be there ever again 00:01:47.730 --> 00:01:51.510 and it brings some sorrow to your heart. Or maybe 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.109 it looks like wanting that job so bad that you 00:01:54.109 --> 00:01:57.230 can picture your life around the income that 00:01:57.230 --> 00:01:59.730 would come or the placement of that job and it 00:01:59.730 --> 00:02:04.370 doesn't come through. Whatever it is, we've experienced 00:02:04.370 --> 00:02:10.110 that buildup then the release of something and 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:14.669 for me in my life I like TV shows and so Game 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:17.129 of Thrones any fans out there maybe shake your 00:02:17.129 --> 00:02:19.270 heads yes or no but Game of Thrones was one of 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:22.389 those things for me where I loved the first seven 00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:25.770 out of eight seasons I had followed it from when 00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:28.169 I was in college and followed it through and 00:02:28.169 --> 00:02:31.189 then season eight comes out there's big anticipation 00:02:31.189 --> 00:02:35.449 and you go through that season If you're like 00:02:35.449 --> 00:02:39.930 me, it doesn't deliver what you wanted it to, 00:02:40.389 --> 00:02:42.789 and I'm left with great disappointment that the 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:46.189 stories didn't unravel the way that I had hoped, 00:02:46.909 --> 00:02:49.169 and I will never watch Game of Thrones again 00:02:49.169 --> 00:02:53.710 because it was that bad in my mind. But maybe, 00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:55.849 this is a little more relatable, but if you've 00:02:55.849 --> 00:02:58.810 ever been married, there's that honeymoon phase, 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:01.349 or maybe in a new relationship, a dating relationship, 00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:04.620 or nothing could go wrong. You're like, how did 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:07.780 I not have this my entire life? Everything is 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:12.740 smooth. My first month of marriage with Rachel 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:15.699 was that honeymoon phase of like, oh, this is 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:19.580 wonderful. Nothing could ever go awry. And then 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:23.219 as we try to mold our builds together, we start 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:26.180 realizing how tough marriage can be sometimes. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:30.219 that the outcome and the anticipation is wonderful, 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:32.939 but there's work that comes alongside of the 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:37.439 wonderful marriage that I was gifted. But there's 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.919 expectations that we live with in this world. 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:45.159 And in the parable that Jesus shares this morning, 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:48.879 there's some anticipation from the servants that 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.900 they went out into the field and they planted 00:03:50.900 --> 00:03:55.520 all of these seeds, these wheat plants. And as 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.900 you plant a specific seed, you know that the 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:02.159 outcome is going to be that specific plant. And 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:03.960 so they go out in the field and they plant it 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:07.520 and then they wait in anticipation. What's gonna 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.520 come? Oh, it's gonna be a wonderful harvest. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.460 But what happens is weeds start growing alongside 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:19.579 the wheat. Something that they didn't expect 00:04:19.579 --> 00:04:23.959 to happen. was growing along the good that was 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:28.660 growing. And then they asked the master who is 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:31.819 Christ in the story, Jesus, what do we do about 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:36.819 these weeds? Do we go and pull them up? And Jesus 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:40.360 gives a confusing response, one that we have 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.180 received as people of God. And the confusing 00:04:43.180 --> 00:04:47.420 response is, no, not yet. I have a bigger plan 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:53.269 to come. And it leaves that tension of the servants. 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:57.850 Well, we worked hard for this work of wheat growing, 00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:01.250 but now the master wants to grow weeds and wheat 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:04.189 at the same time. The solution that they brought 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:07.410 to the table was not one that the master had 00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:12.649 as the plan, which is let's rip up these weeds. 00:05:13.490 --> 00:05:17.720 Let's get rid of the bad. And what this parable 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:22.439 does for us as followers of Christ is it reveals 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:28.259 who Jesus truly is for us. We can go back to 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:31.680 the Garden of Eden and we can see that Adam and 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:36.180 Eve were gifted an incredible journey. They got 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:41.160 to walk alongside Yahweh in the garden. Got to 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.300 chat with Him daily. Got to hear His voice, see 00:05:44.300 --> 00:05:48.589 Him, be with Him. Got to benefit from all the 00:05:48.589 --> 00:05:51.629 creation except for one tree the tree of the 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:54.050 knowledge of good and evil And we know how the 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:57.310 story goes that they were tempted then to take 00:05:57.310 --> 00:05:59.970 of this fruit that would allow them to be like 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:05.850 God allow them to experience independence and 00:06:05.850 --> 00:06:09.120 So they take that fruit trusting that they would 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.819 now know what it is to be God who can create 00:06:11.819 --> 00:06:14.579 judgment and bring judgment upon things, to be 00:06:14.579 --> 00:06:19.420 in control of everything, to have it their way, 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:22.339 that they take a hold of that fruit in the hopes 00:06:22.339 --> 00:06:25.360 that that was what God would be like. Being like 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.699 God was to have control over everything, to be 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:34.120 able to judge everything, and to be able to live 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:38.160 life how they wanted. It sounds a bit familiar 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:42.560 to our lives, doesn't it? Where we want to be 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.879 independent of God and His plan for us, that 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.000 we want to be in control of everything in front 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.699 of us, down to the nitty -gritty of our schedules, 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:56.740 and we like to be the one that gets to judge 00:06:56.740 --> 00:07:02.220 people. And in this parable, Jesus says the weeds 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:05.079 are the good, or the weeds are the bad, and the 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.579 wheat is the good. And as people that strive 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:13.860 to live as wheat, we love to look out there and 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:17.100 see all the weeds and say, Jesus, are you going 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:21.720 to do something about them? But the purpose of 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:26.980 this parable was not for the people, the wheat, 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:31.620 to see the weeds. The purpose of this parable 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:35.410 was for everybody to see that there is a master 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:40.449 in control of this field or a master in control 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:46.889 of this world. And what the master says as an 00:07:46.889 --> 00:07:50.329 answer that we love as followers of Jesus is, 00:07:50.769 --> 00:07:57.990 be patient, not yet. We live in a tension as 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:01.600 followers of Christ. that we get glimpses of 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.579 what is good in this world. We've all experienced 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:08.019 it. We've had glimpses of our plans coming to 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:10.480 fruition like we like it. It brings great joy 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:14.259 to us. We've experienced miracles of maybe healing. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.079 We've experienced miracles of baptisms, marriages. 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:22.360 We've experienced great things of joy given in 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:27.040 this world that comes from Christ. But we also 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.339 experience the other side of things where this 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:31.620 world is filled with things that are not good 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:35.580 yet Filled with those weeds those things that 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:40.519 tear us further from who Christ is and So Jesus 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:45.860 allows those things to be together Until he comes 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:50.019 again So we live in this tension of Jesus is 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:54.080 here and now But we haven't experienced the fullness 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.200 of that yet We haven't experienced the harvest 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:02.460 quite yet. And so Jesus says, be patient, my 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:07.799 friends. There is an answer. There's something 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:12.799 coming that will blow your minds. And that is 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:18.039 Him returning on the last day to make everything 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:23.960 new. To restore those broken relationships. To 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:26.399 raise from the dead those that have passed before 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.500 us. To give a reunion with those that have died. 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:34.200 To give us joy that passes all of our understanding. 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.340 That that is what we live in anticipation of 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:40.840 as followers of Jesus. It's a perfect story that 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:43.440 we get to look forward to Jesus coming again. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.379 But we get glimpses of that goodness that Jesus 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:49.620 provides on a day to day, minute to minute basis. 00:09:50.300 --> 00:09:53.460 And he invites us as followers of him to see 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:56.840 those things, the small growth areas, the small 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:00.240 fruit, that we can see him active and that we're 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.539 not just waiting for the end of the story, but 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:05.299 Jesus is part of our story and writing our story 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:09.360 with us here and now. So we live in this tension 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.779 of he's here now, but he's not yet fully here 00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:16.259 yet. And that's what we do as followers of Christ. 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:21.960 We live in that tension. That anticipation of 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:27.240 something to come And we get to know that he 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:31.700 is holding to his promises Because what he does 00:10:31.700 --> 00:10:34.500 for us is he sees our condition this morning 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:38.080 He sees where we were ten years ago five years 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.840 ago He sees what we said to other people how 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:45.100 we've mismanaged our resources He sees all the 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:48.259 sin and the dirt that we've done. He sees all 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:51.379 of those things And yet before we even knew who 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:56.059 he was, he made a choice to go to the cross on 00:10:56.059 --> 00:11:00.360 our behalf, to take on the burdens of all of 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.360 our sin, death and destruction. He takes those 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.399 things upon himself and goes to the cross, a 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.419 public execution, so that everyone in the world 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:14.220 could see that the Son of God died this way. 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:20.580 so that we may also as people see what the goodness 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:25.700 of Christ is in our lives. That our stories would 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:30.019 have zero buildup, zero anticipation, if it wasn't 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:33.500 for that death of Jesus and resurrection on the 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:37.120 cross. Because our stories, our lives, would 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:40.019 end in death. There's nothing to look forward 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:44.549 to. But as Christ has come into this world taken 00:11:44.549 --> 00:11:47.629 on the likeness of man That he went to the cross 00:11:47.629 --> 00:11:50.289 and died for those things so that our story may 00:11:50.289 --> 00:11:53.409 not end in death But we may look forward to a 00:11:53.409 --> 00:11:57.049 life that is beyond our imagination and our understanding 00:11:57.049 --> 00:12:00.389 That we may look forward to something better 00:12:00.389 --> 00:12:03.529 than we've experienced in this entire world and 00:12:03.529 --> 00:12:09.529 that is him coming again and Then also as followers 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:14.590 of that eternal Christ, that eternal being, is 00:12:14.590 --> 00:12:19.129 then we get sent out into the world. We get to 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:24.690 be wheat among weeds. We get to live together. 00:12:24.769 --> 00:12:27.029 And I love how Jesus illustrates that the roots 00:12:27.029 --> 00:12:30.909 might be overlapping. They might have grown together. 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:33.909 And isn't that the story of our relationships 00:12:33.909 --> 00:12:37.529 in this world? That we have grown together with 00:12:37.529 --> 00:12:40.450 people that maybe don't know who Jesus is yet? 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:45.639 Maybe it's a family member or a worker a co -worker 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.860 Maybe it's somebody that we've never met before 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:52.840 our neighbor but we in this world grow together 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:56.019 with people and that's the mission that the Lord 00:12:56.019 --> 00:13:01.000 has sent us on is Not to get rid of those weeds 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:06.200 but to live and grow among them and Then let 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:10.929 Jesus be the one that brings judgment But first 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:13.429 before the judgment that Christ brings is he 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:16.490 brings the love and grace that he has brought 00:13:16.490 --> 00:13:19.190 all of us that we've experienced on the cross 00:13:19.190 --> 00:13:22.289 and That's what we get to bring out into the 00:13:22.289 --> 00:13:24.789 world is that love and grace the message of Christ 00:13:24.789 --> 00:13:28.570 that we fell in love with That is that we are 00:13:28.570 --> 00:13:31.350 sons and daughters of Christ and our identity 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:37.700 is found in him and him alone And so as we live 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:42.039 our stories out today, as there's maybe some 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:44.539 things that you are anticipating, maybe the World 00:13:44.539 --> 00:13:47.340 Cup final, I don't know, maybe something more 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:51.360 serious than that. But as you go out into the 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:54.519 world today, know that Jesus has gone before 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.960 you. There's nothing that you will experience 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.700 that He hasn't seen already. That there's nothing 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:06.980 that He will encounter that He can't Accomplish 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:11.399 and conquer that he has gone out before you so 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:15.299 may we as followers of Jesus live in that grace 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:19.120 live in the blessing that he is with us and that 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.799 he's never going to leave our side and May we 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.919 look to the cross as the place where we found 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:30.320 forgiveness and Jesus found us And may we look 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.559 forward to the coming of Christ again on the 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.700 last day And may those that we are living among 00:14:36.700 --> 00:14:40.320 and living with know the love of Christ by the 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:43.700 way that we love them. And live in the grace 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:46.460 that the Lord has given you this morning. That 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:50.480 you are found in him and that your story will 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.379 be complete in him alone.