"Kingdom Work Requires Patience"

This past week I happened to be watchingthe NBA Finals. During the course of game 6, there was a moment when theannouncers began talking about the graphic laid out across the screen - “Timesince their last Championship.” What it amounted to is that it has been areally long time since the Cavaliers, or Indians or Browns have won achampionship. It would certainly be fair to say, Cleveland sports fans havelearned a great deal of patience over the years – as they wait for their teamto return to the World Series.

But let’s say you are a New York Yankeesfan, you also think about the last time your team went to the World Series andwon. But you know that your team, with 27 championships, has won more than anyother team in MLB. When you look back in history, you only have to go back afew years to 2009 to the last time your team won it all. You wonder not aboutif your team is going to the Series, but how sweet it will be to winchampionship #28. And if you don’t reach the World Series and win it all, or ifthere is a drought of any kind, maybe you’re thinking that something must bewrong and want to proceed in firing the entire team, manager and all.

Regardless of what team you’re a fan of,or if you simply look on in amazement at the fans of any team, all of us havebeen given various amounts of patience through the circumstances of life.

If patience is a virtue – on a scale of 1to 10 – how much patience do you have? A little; a lot; or not nearly enough?Our patience is often easily tested when things don’t go according to plan –when the economy bottoms out and you lose your job, when you’re waiting in thedoctor’s office for the test results, or your patience of a father or mother istested raising children. The thing that we’ll always want to remember is thatthe Lord is in control of everything in life, including the Cleveland sportsteams and the Yankees.

Before we look at our gospel lesson, let’sthink of a few biblical examples of patience or lack thereof. Jonah was soadamant that he did not want to accept the Lord’s call to preach to the wickedpeople of Nineveh that he ran away to the opposite end of the earth. But Godhad patience with Jonah and with the people of Nineveh. In the end all thepeople of that great city put on sackcloth and fasted and repented of theirsins.

When talking about patience as we wait forthe end of the world, the apostle Peter was inspired to write – 2 Peter 3:8-9 –8 …with the Lord a day islike a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lordis not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patientwith you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

The apostle Paul understood God’spatience. The man formerly known as Saul – the great persecutor of the earlyChristian Church. He was a zealous Jew who persecuted Christianity b/c hethought he was doing God a favor. God struck him down and worked in his heartthrough the Word. And after his conversion, he became one of the greatestmissionaries Christianity has ever seen. How much patience did the Lord havewith Paul? How much patience does he have with your and me?

In our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus usedtwo parables to teach about patience as God goes about his work. God tells usin His Word that the Holy Spirit is actively working by creating andstrengthening faith in human hearts through the power of His Word. He asks usto have patience in trusting that God’s Word works in a miraculous way – and thatwe have patience while we wait for growth.