CMLC 2026-07-19 Sermon

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.