(08-07-20) Patience & Hope in Christ - Isaiah 44.6-8; Romans 8.18-25; Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43
Patience & Hope in Christ – Isaiah 44:6-8;
Romans 8:18-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
· Wedding Anniversary! – 6 years!
o three men story
o Cher: “The trouble with some women is they get all excited about nothing – and then marry him!”
o Naomi’s patience with my foibles, mistakes and bad habits!
§ patience of a different sort
· Romans and parable in Matthew (keep both open!)
· Jesus and “the right time”
§ this is patience…
· in suffering
· because of hope which is in Christ; in God
§ each deserves a sermon!
· Why things are the way they are…
o personal tragedy; global disaster and suffering; ‘the way the world is going…’
· These things are wrong, unequivocally, in God’s sight
o God doesn’t like looking out on a field of weeds
o seem to go unpunished, perhaps even unnoticed by God
· Paul in Romans speaks of creation…
o subjected to frustration (v20)
o bondage to decay (v21)
o groaning as in the pains of childbirth (v22)
· Why doesn’t God just do something?!
o asking God to intervene at our discretion is not the answer
§ God’s holy and righteous judgement will come to all things
§ if he were to judge every thought and action instantly…
· I know I wouldn’t be around any more!
o God’s patience with us shows the patience we should have
§ we have not been wronged as He has been wronged
§ difficult to hear, making the idea difficult to stomach
· friend whose image of God, self and world is damaged
o being patient is always hard, otherwise it’s just waiting
§ patience in suffering
· Gardening – parable imagery
o green things and other coloured things
o Naomi spending yesterday pulling up weeds
§ nothing to keep!
o weeds grow among a crop you must protect the crop (v29)
§ maybe modern farming has by-passed this problem, but…
o the owner’s patience saves the crop
§ the field is restored; the weeds removed (v30, 43)
· there is hope
§ when it is harvest time, not now
· But sometimes we like to focus on the here and now
o all that God has done for us
§ cross, empty tomb, forgiveness, salvation!
o what that means now!
§ giving of the Spirit; discipleship
o curious line at the end of the Romans reading (vv24-5)
§ we have hope in Christ (Eph; Phil; Col)
· is Jesus finished; has he performed the final act?
o if we’re asking ‘why be patient?’…
§ hoping for what is to come
· Kingdom come; harvest time (Matthew v43)
· new heaven, new earth; fulfilment of creation
· restored order; glory ‘for us’ (Romans v18)
§ the salvation story isn’t finished…
· complete, achieved and available
· but not fully seen (v24)
· peace after WWII
· Patience in suffering and hope in Christ
o ‘do not be afraid’ (says the God of Isaiah!)
o Sunrise (Tom Wright p170)