Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 7/23/2023, Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Before you sit down, I'd like you to pray with me a short Centering Prayer I hope you'll memorize and use it throughout the week to be encouraged - and to help you keep your hearts and minds centered on God.
Let's say it together:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God
Let your will be done.
Through me.
You may be seated.
Are you going through a season of waiting this morning?
Waiting for a relationship to improve?
Waiting for a job to get better?
Waiting for the economy - or world politics - to improve?
Do you feel like you’re in a holding pattern - nothing’s changing - you’re stuck in a rut, and you can’t get out?
Today’s message is called ‘When God Says Wait.’
And it’s about those seasons we go through when we feel trapped, discouraged, and down because it seems that God has us in a place that’s going nowhere.
But, ‘When God Says Wait’ is also about the hope, encouragement, and possibility that’s at play when we encounter these unfulfilling times.
Because we can never forget that God is at work in EVERY aspect of our lives.
When the going gets tough, God doesn’t take a hike.
When the road gets bumpy, God doesn't switch cars.
When you and I endure the difficult times in our lives - and we feel alone and abandoned on a cross - God is still at work!
God’s working on resurrection!
God’s working on restoration!
God’s working on being with us - and bringing us through our difficulties!
And don’t be surprised if the person who emerges from that well we’re stuck in - has learned some new things; has been formed in new ways; has a new outlook on things that can actually have improved us in some ways - from the person we were before.
When God says Wait is not about torturing us into submission -
It’s not about punishing us, teasing us, or taunting us -
We usually don’t know why God says Wait -
But we do know that God can use every moment - the easy and the hard - to bring about something good!
Be encouraged friends!
Elvis may have left the building, but God hasn’t!
God is at work!
Especially, ‘When God Says Wait’
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We’re in Chapter 13 of Matthew this morning - and Jesus is teaching his disciples various lessons about faith using stories about farming.
In one story he tells about a man who has sown seeds of healthy wheat in his field.
While he’s sleeping that night, an enemy does something terrible:
He sows seeds of weeds into that same field!
After a while, when the seeds start to take root and the plants start to grow, this became obvious.
And so the servants go to the farmer and ask what they should do!
The first thing that comes to their minds is that they should go out into the fields and pull up all those weeds,
But the farmer says ’not so fast!’
The farmer knows that in pulling up the weeds - the wheat will be damaged as well.
The farmer tells those servants to wait.
‘Wait?!?’ they must have thought -
But the wheat may be harmed!
The wheat may not make it!
The wheat won't able to grow like we think it should!
But the farmer says wait.
He knows the wheat may be agitated!
He knows it won’t be easy for the wheat!
But he also knows that, given the circumstances, it’s better for the wheat to endure this season of growing with a little agitation.
The farmer knows what will happen if the wheat is not allowed to grow through this difficult season. The farmer has a plan: his plan is to wait.
Everyone here can think of one or more areas in life in which God is saying that very thing!
Stock brokers tell it to anxious investors -
Cooks tell it to their spouses who want to taste the stew before it’s done -
Parents tell 15-year-olds who just can’t wait to drive -
Doctors tell it to patients who want that operation right away-
The list is endless!
But so often in our lives, God says wait.
So what do WE do When God Says Wait?
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I recently went to see a beloved church member named Elvia.
She’s 93 years old.
In Hospice Care.
Limited diet.
Confined to a bed.
Waiting for the Lord to take her on to glory!
I have visited many people in similar circumstances - people waiting for the end - some for a few hours - some for a few years - but very few were as sunny, content, and encouraging, as Elvia.
During our visit she recounted her long and colorful career working in an office.
She told me how many states and countries she’d travelled to in her life - more than I will ever see! And she insisted on showing me a picture of her and Barack Obama that was sitting nearby.
During her time of waiting - Elvia didn’t fill her mind with worry, anxiety, and the inevitable questions about what’s going to go on from here…
No, she was too busy counting her blessings.
Elvia filled her time of waiting - with thanksgiving.
How often do we get stuck in that rut of waiting - with our minds unable to focus on anything other than getting out! And how futile do we suspect this is?
How much better off are we, when we refuse to count the worries, but count the blessings?
Jesus once climbed a hillside, sat his disciples down, and gave them a lesson about this.
In The Sermon on the Mount he said:
‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will wear, where you will live. Seek first the kingdom of God, and THEN all these things will be given to you.’
When God Says Wait - don’t worry, give thanks.
Count those blessings!
Recall all the times God has been there for you! Review those videos in your mind - about the place you’ve gone, the possessions you’ve acquired, the accolades you’ve earned!
God has blessed you so much!
Don’t keep your mind fixed on how dark, stinky, and dirty that well of waiting is that we’re sitting in -
Remember that God has been gracious!
God has been good!
Get caught up in the blessings, not brought down by the circumstances.
Count those blessings - When God Says Wait.
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Down at the Ford plant 3 workers checked in for their shifts.
They went over to their stations to begin their work of assembling an endless number of truck chassis that would come their way.
The first worker, who was looking bored, was asked, ‘What do you do?’
‘I see that the 17 spot welds on the undercarriage are done correctly.'
The second worker, who was looking equally bored, was asked, ‘What do you do?’
He said, I make sure that the transmissions that are lowered from those chains on the ceiling are bolted to the chassis.’
The third worker, who appeared enthusiastic and focused, was asked, ‘What do you do?’
He said, ‘I help construction workers, weekend gardeners, and busy moms get to where they’re going as safely, reliably, and comfortably.’
Adopting a wider perspective can get us through tedious times.
Sometimes the waiting we’re forced to endure is made worse because we have a narrow perspective.
We don't have a wider perspective.
We don’t see things like God sees them.
So things can get boring and apathetic because we don’t have a wider picture of what’s really going on.
The wider picture is that God’s is at work - And that work often takes time!
We forget that life is long!
The race is a marathon, not a sprint!
And this season of waiting has to be put into perspective over the long run.
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When I meet older people - I always like to ask them for advice.
Of course, finding people who are actually older than me is getting harder by the day...
But one day I asked this wise, older man what he would do differently if he had to live his life again. Right away he said: ‘I would be more patient. I would not get so flustered during the hard times. Because now I know they will pass.’
In this season of waiting, when you're in a place where you don't want to be, get a wider perspective!
Know that God is up to something much bigger than what we're going through.
Don't take the bait and convince yourself that what you're doing is meaningless and of no value! Be assured that there's a bigger plan, and you are an irreplaceable part of it!
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I once took two of my children to the zoo.
After we had walked out of one particular, indoor exhibit, I asked them what they thought.
The first said, ‘Oh the floor was sticky and dirty! My sandals kept sticking to the floor - and I counted at least 3 candy bar wrappers and potato chip bags that needed picking up, they really need to clean that place!’
Then I asked the second one what he thought,
He chimed right in and said, ’That was the most beautiful exhibit I’ve ever seen - all above us were the world’s most beautiful butterflies!’
Many times we get so caught up in drudgery of ’the wait’ that we can only look down - and we fail to look up, to look around, and get God’s full perspective of what’s really going on.
What do we do when God says wait?
Open our minds to the long-term! Get God's perspective!
Never forget that God is preparing us for a plan much bigger than we'll ever know!
God is up to something! Be encouraged! Trust God!
Get that bird’s eye view - when God says wait!
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I have a friend who’s incredibly active.
She loves going to the gym, attend concerts and parties, and host them as well!
She's married to a wonderful man - whose health recently took a nose-dive.
He's encountered some serious health challenges - and his mobility is now very limited.
This means his wife has to spend a lot of time at home with him, helping move him from place to place, and making sure he gets the kind of care he needs.
It means she has had to cut out nearly all of her outside activities.
No more going to the gym, lunches, concerts, or hosting dinner parties!
But when I saw her the other day, she had her workout clothes on.
I asked her if she was going to the gym.
She said she could no longer go to the gym because she had to care for her husband.
What she had done, instead, was use the money she would have spent on her outside activities and build a gym in their basement.
She no longer had to leave home.
She didn’t have to leave her husband.
She wasn’t getting bitter - she was getting clever!
How tempting it is, when we get into places where we don't want to be, to complain and get discouraged about what we can't do!
Instead, like my friend, we have to concentrate on what we CAN do.
She can't even leave the house to go to the gym, But she can build a nice, new gym - and she doesn’t have to leave the house get in the car, and drive to get there!
When God has you in these seasons of waiting: what can we do while we wait?
Don’t get angry, get creative!
Don’t get discouraged, get inventive!
Look at the problem as an opportunity!
Don’t concentrate on what you can’t do, but on what you CAN do.
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Whenever I get the chance, I love to pop in and visit one of our older church members named Jerry.
She is in a retirement home, uses a walker, and is no longer able to live alone in her house.
But whenever I visit her, she is full of laughter, joy, and sunshine.
When I ask her what she does, she says she spends much of her days knitting caps for newborn babies. She donates these to the hospital, she's probably made thousands of them.
And when I talk with Jerry she doesn't deliver an endless litany of things she can't do, used to do, or would rather do. Instead, she tells me what she can do.
When God says Wait, you and I can get so tempted to be bitter, angry, and full of self-pity!
But Friends like Jerry reminds me, don't get bitter, get better!
Don't spend all day mulling over the list of things we can no longer do, wish we could do, or want to do, let's get caught up in the things we can do!
Don't fall into the trap of stinking thinking, turning inward and saying, “Woe is me!"
Every circumstance, good and bad, presents its own opportunities!
Tap into the inventor inside of you!
Plug into your inner entrepreneur!
Build a home gym, knit caps for newborns!
Sit back and think about what your own unique set of circumstances might be giving birth to!
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The Church’s first theologian, St. Paul knew a lot about this.
After he was called by God to preach the Gospel to the non-Jews, he set about traveling to distant places to share the Good News of Christ.
The Bible tells us he spent years waiting.
Waiting to get to places.
Waiting to be persecuted.
Even waiting in prison!
And he filled his time doing the things we talked about -
Counting his blessings -
Concentrating on the big picture -
And looking not on what he couldn’t do, but on what he could do.
St. Paul wrote:
‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed!…(therefore) We wait for it in patience!’
Paul he knew his waiting was worth it.
Your waiting is worth it!
Don’t fall into the trap of believing you’re neglected and forgotten because the going has gotten tough! Don’t think that God doesn’t know the number of hairs on your head - or even when a sparrow falls to the ground!
God knows what’s going on with you!
We just said it in Psalm 139:
“Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
You trace my journeys and my resting-places
and are acquainted with all my ways.”
Friends,
God knows you’re waiting!
God knows you don’t like it!
But God is using our wait - to do something great!
I believe that as we use this time to:
Count your blessings!
Grab hold of life's big picture -
And realize that our adversities always present opportunities -
That God is going to bring us through!
God is going to draw us near!
God is going to set us free to fulfill our destinies - of living lives worth living by doing things worth doing!
Yes, there’s plenty to do when God says wait!
Amen.