Our Job Is to Wait

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

July 23, 2017

Matthew 13:24-30

Our Job Is to Wait

In the name of the Father

and of the 2 Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen!

The parable of the wheat and the weeds teaches us that it is not our job to end unbelief. This teaching is contrasted by the dogma of Mohammed and his followers. Their god demands the end of unbelievers with the sword; our dear Lord, however, takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

In the parable when the servants ask the master if they should tear up the weeds, the master says no. No, do not try to get rid of sinners. The true God has not instituted a purifying cult that seeks to create paradise on earth. Instead, our Lord teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” He wants none of the wicked to die; He wants His rule of grace and peace to come even to them.

The Lord’s prayer has been answered. We were weeds, but now we are the living proof of His kingdom. We are the wheat, the good plants that will be brought into God’s harvest. He has given us the opposite of what we deserve and from before we were born He knew us. He knew when we would start growing. He knew where we would live. He also knew all the weeds, all the unbelievers, that would grow up alongside you—childhood friends and siblings who no longer follow Jesus or carry their crosses to the glory of His name.

But the weeds aren’t just around us; they also grow inside us. Anger and doubt grow up alongside faith; greed and lust stain our lives. And so the good we want to do, we do not do; the evil we do not want to do, this we do. And we cry out to the Lord in frustration, “Why do You give us a taste of Your glory, but leave us here in our sinful flesh?”

And His answer to us is that it is not yet time. Because of His mercy, He will wait until all His chosen people have been brought to faith in Jesus. To those already in His kingdom, this waiting seems to go on forever. But to those not yet in His kingdom, they will be eternally grateful for the time.

Our job is not ending unbelief; our job is not fixing the problems of the earth. We show mercy to those harmed by evil, but we will never end evil. We know that Time itself is in God’s good hands and He will end war and greed and unbelief in His good time.

Instead, our job is to wait. We wait on our dear Lord who is gracious and works all things for the good of those who love Him and for the good of those who will love Him.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45