So we've all at one point or another in our lives
have had some sort of anticipation for something
to come and sometimes that anticipation is good.
For example, maybe you have been to a family
gathering or planned a family gathering and you
anticipated seeing some people, some family that
you haven't seen in a while and there's a buildup
of excitement. You're communicating with your
family, getting everybody together in one spot
at one time with all the right meals. That can
be exciting. And sometimes we anticipate other
things like maybe a TV show. where you've seen
all the seasons and a new one's coming out and
you're ready for that final season to tie up
all the loose ends of a story that you're waiting
for. Maybe it's been a renovation of a house
where you have taken time to tear everything
down and now it's getting rebuilt the way that
you want. Whatever it is, we've all experienced
in one point or another the anticipation waiting
for an end. are waiting for something to happen.
And we know as humans in this life that sometimes
that anticipation is wonderful, but sometimes
the outcome doesn't match our expectations. Sometimes
we're let down, or sometimes we receive something
that we didn't expect. Maybe at that family gathering
you're really hopeful that one person would be
there and they change plans last minute and you're
let down a little bit. Or maybe you get to that
gathering and you're sad because somebody that
was there last year won't be there ever again
and it brings some sorrow to your heart. Or maybe
it looks like wanting that job so bad that you
can picture your life around the income that
would come or the placement of that job and it
doesn't come through. Whatever it is, we've experienced
that buildup then the release of something and
for me in my life I like TV shows and so Game
of Thrones any fans out there maybe shake your
heads yes or no but Game of Thrones was one of
those things for me where I loved the first seven
out of eight seasons I had followed it from when
I was in college and followed it through and
then season eight comes out there's big anticipation
and you go through that season If you're like
me, it doesn't deliver what you wanted it to,
and I'm left with great disappointment that the
stories didn't unravel the way that I had hoped,
and I will never watch Game of Thrones again
because it was that bad in my mind. But maybe,
this is a little more relatable, but if you've
ever been married, there's that honeymoon phase,
or maybe in a new relationship, a dating relationship,
or nothing could go wrong. You're like, how did
I not have this my entire life? Everything is
smooth. My first month of marriage with Rachel
was that honeymoon phase of like, oh, this is
wonderful. Nothing could ever go awry. And then
as we try to mold our builds together, we start
realizing how tough marriage can be sometimes.
that the outcome and the anticipation is wonderful,
but there's work that comes alongside of the
wonderful marriage that I was gifted. But there's
expectations that we live with in this world.
And in the parable that Jesus shares this morning,
there's some anticipation from the servants that
they went out into the field and they planted
all of these seeds, these wheat plants. And as
you plant a specific seed, you know that the
outcome is going to be that specific plant. And
so they go out in the field and they plant it
and then they wait in anticipation. What's gonna
come? Oh, it's gonna be a wonderful harvest.
But what happens is weeds start growing alongside
the wheat. Something that they didn't expect
to happen. was growing along the good that was
growing. And then they asked the master who is
Christ in the story, Jesus, what do we do about
these weeds? Do we go and pull them up? And Jesus
gives a confusing response, one that we have
received as people of God. And the confusing
response is, no, not yet. I have a bigger plan
to come. And it leaves that tension of the servants.
Well, we worked hard for this work of wheat growing,
but now the master wants to grow weeds and wheat
at the same time. The solution that they brought
to the table was not one that the master had
as the plan, which is let's rip up these weeds.
Let's get rid of the bad. And what this parable
does for us as followers of Christ is it reveals
who Jesus truly is for us. We can go back to
the Garden of Eden and we can see that Adam and
Eve were gifted an incredible journey. They got
to walk alongside Yahweh in the garden. Got to
chat with Him daily. Got to hear His voice, see
Him, be with Him. Got to benefit from all the
creation except for one tree the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil And we know how the
story goes that they were tempted then to take
of this fruit that would allow them to be like
God allow them to experience independence and
So they take that fruit trusting that they would
now know what it is to be God who can create
judgment and bring judgment upon things, to be
in control of everything, to have it their way,
that they take a hold of that fruit in the hopes
that that was what God would be like. Being like
God was to have control over everything, to be
able to judge everything, and to be able to live
life how they wanted. It sounds a bit familiar
to our lives, doesn't it? Where we want to be
independent of God and His plan for us, that
we want to be in control of everything in front
of us, down to the nitty -gritty of our schedules,
and we like to be the one that gets to judge
people. And in this parable, Jesus says the weeds
are the good, or the weeds are the bad, and the
wheat is the good. And as people that strive
to live as wheat, we love to look out there and
see all the weeds and say, Jesus, are you going
to do something about them? But the purpose of
this parable was not for the people, the wheat,
to see the weeds. The purpose of this parable
was for everybody to see that there is a master
in control of this field or a master in control
of this world. And what the master says as an
answer that we love as followers of Jesus is,
be patient, not yet. We live in a tension as
followers of Christ. that we get glimpses of
what is good in this world. We've all experienced
it. We've had glimpses of our plans coming to
fruition like we like it. It brings great joy
to us. We've experienced miracles of maybe healing.
We've experienced miracles of baptisms, marriages.
We've experienced great things of joy given in
this world that comes from Christ. But we also
experience the other side of things where this
world is filled with things that are not good
yet Filled with those weeds those things that
tear us further from who Christ is and So Jesus
allows those things to be together Until he comes
again So we live in this tension of Jesus is
here and now But we haven't experienced the fullness
of that yet We haven't experienced the harvest
quite yet. And so Jesus says, be patient, my
friends. There is an answer. There's something
coming that will blow your minds. And that is
Him returning on the last day to make everything
new. To restore those broken relationships. To
raise from the dead those that have passed before
us. To give a reunion with those that have died.
To give us joy that passes all of our understanding.
That that is what we live in anticipation of
as followers of Jesus. It's a perfect story that
we get to look forward to Jesus coming again.
But we get glimpses of that goodness that Jesus
provides on a day to day, minute to minute basis.
And he invites us as followers of him to see
those things, the small growth areas, the small
fruit, that we can see him active and that we're
not just waiting for the end of the story, but
Jesus is part of our story and writing our story
with us here and now. So we live in this tension
of he's here now, but he's not yet fully here
yet. And that's what we do as followers of Christ.
We live in that tension. That anticipation of
something to come And we get to know that he
is holding to his promises Because what he does
for us is he sees our condition this morning
He sees where we were ten years ago five years
ago He sees what we said to other people how
we've mismanaged our resources He sees all the
sin and the dirt that we've done. He sees all
of those things And yet before we even knew who
he was, he made a choice to go to the cross on
our behalf, to take on the burdens of all of
our sin, death and destruction. He takes those
things upon himself and goes to the cross, a
public execution, so that everyone in the world
could see that the Son of God died this way.
so that we may also as people see what the goodness
of Christ is in our lives. That our stories would
have zero buildup, zero anticipation, if it wasn't
for that death of Jesus and resurrection on the
cross. Because our stories, our lives, would
end in death. There's nothing to look forward
to. But as Christ has come into this world taken
on the likeness of man That he went to the cross
and died for those things so that our story may
not end in death But we may look forward to a
life that is beyond our imagination and our understanding
That we may look forward to something better
than we've experienced in this entire world and
that is him coming again and Then also as followers
of that eternal Christ, that eternal being, is
then we get sent out into the world. We get to
be wheat among weeds. We get to live together.
And I love how Jesus illustrates that the roots
might be overlapping. They might have grown together.
And isn't that the story of our relationships
in this world? That we have grown together with
people that maybe don't know who Jesus is yet?
Maybe it's a family member or a worker a co -worker
Maybe it's somebody that we've never met before
our neighbor but we in this world grow together
with people and that's the mission that the Lord
has sent us on is Not to get rid of those weeds
but to live and grow among them and Then let
Jesus be the one that brings judgment But first
before the judgment that Christ brings is he
brings the love and grace that he has brought
all of us that we've experienced on the cross
and That's what we get to bring out into the
world is that love and grace the message of Christ
that we fell in love with That is that we are
sons and daughters of Christ and our identity
is found in him and him alone And so as we live
our stories out today, as there's maybe some
things that you are anticipating, maybe the World
Cup final, I don't know, maybe something more
serious than that. But as you go out into the
world today, know that Jesus has gone before
you. There's nothing that you will experience
that He hasn't seen already. That there's nothing
that He will encounter that He can't Accomplish
and conquer that he has gone out before you so
may we as followers of Jesus live in that grace
live in the blessing that he is with us and that
he's never going to leave our side and May we
look to the cross as the place where we found
forgiveness and Jesus found us And may we look
forward to the coming of Christ again on the
last day And may those that we are living among
and living with know the love of Christ by the
way that we love them. And live in the grace
that the Lord has given you this morning. That
you are found in him and that your story will
be complete in him alone.