“Waiting” (Matthew 13:31-33, 47-50)

Stories of the Kingdom: Part 7

This is the seventh of a nine-part series of mini-sermons designed to help students reflect upon Jesus’ parables, the kingdom of God, and living as kingdom people.

A couple months ago we began a series called “Stories of the Kingdom,” exploring what some of Jesus’ parables teach us about kingdom living. We’ve considered well-known parables like the prodigal son and also lesser known parables like waking up your neighbor in the middle of the night. Over the course of this series, I’ve asked a key question in each message that relates to lessons from the parable about kingdom living.

1. What do you want? Kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God.
2. To whom will I be a neighbor?  Kingdom people treat all persons as their neighbor by showing mercy.
3. What is the language of the kingdom?  Kingdom people know that prayer is the language of the kingdom.
4. What are you building?  Kingdom people build for the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man.
5. Do I know my true inheritance?  Kingdom people know that our true inheritance is not riches, but the presence of the Father.
6. What is my treasure?  Kingdom people know that the kingdom of God is a treasure worth giving everything to secure.

Today we ask an additional question–”What am I waiting for?”–drawn from Matthew 13:31-33 and 47-50.

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” […]

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Each of these three parables emphasizes how we must wait–the mustard seed takes time to grow from the smallest seed to the largest plant; the leaven introduced to the flour will leaven the whole loaf, but it takes time to rise; there will be a sifting between the good and bad fish, but not yet.

Jesus’ parables, especially in the context of other parables in Matthew 13, teach us two lessons about living between the times, between the inauguration of the kingdom in the past and the fulness of the kingdom to come after the day of judgment in the future. We already learned in the past message about how the treasure of the kingdom demands courageous, sacrificial commitment of all that we have to secure this treasure. Today’s parables teach us a second lesson: the importance of patient, hopeful expectation as we wait. Thus, the message of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13 are not simply about the kingdom of heaven, but also prove to be about how we as kingdom people should live as kingdom citizens.

And this waiting is perhaps the truest of all truths when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus starts His public ministry, He proclaims that the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15). The kingdom has indeed been inaugurated in the life and work of Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. But like these three parables, the fulness of the kingdom of God awaits completion in the future, and any attempts to hasten that process in the present, like baking the bread before the yeast has risen, would have devastating consequences. Rather, we must learn to wait patiently for the Lord’s timing, trusting that the smallest of seeds will grow into a mighty tree if we will simply wait for God’s design to work itself out in His time.

But that’s often the challenge: His time. Sometimes we feel like God’s Word has failed. Sometimes we feel like His promises will not come to pass. But God tells us to trust and to wait. Habakkuk 2 is a beautiful example of this reality. The prophet sees the wicked triumphing and the righteous suffering, and he rightly wonders why, since this is not God’s design. God’s response: “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Hab 2:3).  Habakkuk learns this lesson, eventually reaching a point where he can trust God even when the evidence is lacking.

“Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive oil fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Hab 3:17-18)

God’s faithfulness has been proven over and over again, so despite the seeming evidence against it, Habakkuk learns to trust, and so should we.

God’s Word, Isaiah 55 says, will not return void, but will accomplish all which He purposes for it and succeed in all things for which He sent it. Jesus’ parables make a similar promise—the mustard seed will be a large tree in which the birds can abide, but not yet; the leaven will leaven the whole of the flour and provide food for the hungry, but not yet; the good and bad fish will be sorted, but not yet. In each case we must wait, just like the sower who plants the seed in the field and waits for the harvest. Each of these cycles are an opportunity for us to spend our lives waiting in patient expectation for God to lead us out in joy and lead us forth in peace.

This message is particularly appropriate today as we have begun the season of Advent in the church calendar. Advent is a season of waiting, where the church longs for the return of the Messiah as Israel longed for its Messiah during the period of the Exile and years of silence leading to the arrival of Jesus. In a way, the church is always in advent, living between the two comings of Jesus. This season is a more focused reminder of our longing for a better kingdom. But as I heard recently in a sermon, our waiting is not passive. We must prepare, and we prepare by taking Jesus’ lessons about kingdom living and putting them into practice in the present while we long and wait for the future. Amen.