Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

What makes you impatient?

I mean, when you are out there just trying to live your life and get things done, what frustrates you and brings your lack of patience to the surface?

The comedian Louis C.K. did a routine many years ago that starts with the line, “Everything’s amazing right now, but nobody’s happy.”

Here’s what he said to poke fun at our ingratitude and impatience:

In my lifetime the changes in the world have been incredible.

When I was a kid, we had a rotary phone. We had a phone you had to stand next to, and you had to dial it. Do you realize how primitive that was? You were making sparks. And you would actually hate people who had zeroes in their number because it was more [work]. And then if you called and they weren’t home, the phone would just ring lonely by itself.

And then if you wanted money you had to go in the bank-and it was open for like three hours, and you’d stand in line and write a check. And then if you ran out of money, you’d just say, “Well, I just can’t do any more things now.”

Now we live in an amazing, amazing world, and it’s wasted on [a] generation of spoiled [people] that don’t care. This is what people are like now: they’ve got their phone, and they go, “Ugh, it won’t [work fast enough].”

Give it a second! It’s going to space. Will you give it a second to get back from space? Is the speed of light too slow for you?

I was on an airplane, and there was high-speed internet…. And I’m sitting on the plane, and they say, “Open up your laptop, you can go on the internet.” It’s fast… it’s amazing …. And then the thing breaks down. They apologize, “The internet’s not working.” And the guy next to me says, “O, great] this [stinks].” Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only ten seconds ago.

People come back from flights, and they tell you their story, and it’s a horror story…. [They say], “It was the worst day of my life.

First of all, we didn’t board for twenty minutes. And then we get on the plane, and they made us sit there on the runway for forty minutes.” [And I say,] “O, really, and what happened next? Did you fly in the air, incredibly, like a bird? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight?” Everybody on every plane should be constantly [screaming], “WOW!” You’re flying. You’re sitting in a chair in the sky!

Here’s the thing: People say there are “delays” on flights. Delays, really? New York to California in five hours! It used to take thirty years to do that, and a bunch of you would die on the way.

It is often said that, “patience is a virtue.”

Or, as sung by Lois Reeves in her #1 1991 soul hit, 

“Patience is a virtue

And, good things come to those who wait.”

What that means is that the ability to wait for something without getting frustrated, angry, or upset is a sought after, useful and valuable quality for life.

However, one thing we can be sure of is that being patient isn’t easy for us.

We don’t like to wait for what we want.

We want immediate satisfaction.

What frustrates you and brings your lack of patience to the surface?

Think about ordering something from Amazon with a Prime membership.

Even though you know the package is coming today or tomorrow, it still isn’t fast enough.

You check several times a day to see when it is shipped and then you follow the tracking number to find out exactly when the package will arrive on your doorstep.

Impatience is on display when we are waiting for a simple delivery.

Think about getting stuck behind a slow driver.

After only a few seconds, our blood pressure rises, we start moving side to side in our own car to see if there is anyone else in front of the slow driver-possibly making the slow driver in front of us slow as well- and we strongly consider breaking the law and speeding around the slow driver as our minds become

filled with all kinds of profanities that we want to shout out as we get in another lane and speed past them. 

Impatience is on display when we want to get to our destination a few seconds faster.

Think about being online at the supermarket when the person in front of you asks for a price check.

Now, you have to wait for the cashier to call someone to the register, for that person to take the item all the way back into the store to check the price tag on the shelf, and to return to let the cashier know if the customer was correct in their understanding of the cost of the item.

Again, impatience is on display when we want to get out of the grocery store so that we can get back to our couch to continue doom scrolling on Facebook.

Those are a few examples of how we lose our patience with minor issues in our life.

However, we are also impatient with major issues in our life.

Some of us are impatient when we waiting for our boyfriend to get down on one knee and ask us to marry them.

Some of us are impatient when we are waiting for the results of an MRI or biopsy.

Some of us are impatient when waiting for a promotion or pay raise.

Some of us are impatient when we are waiting for the next election season to arrive.

And, some of us are impatient when we are waiting for our kid or and spouse to get their act together and do the right things.

In this morning’s text, from Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we hear about our impatience that comes to the surface when justice is delayed — you know, when we see evil happening around us that is going unrecognized and unpunished.

In this Biblical text, we are going to hear why we should have patience when the world around us seems to be getting away with fraud.

Let’s hear together what Jesus says about why the world is the way it is and why we should be patient in the middle of what seems to be a mess.

In Matthew 13.24-30, we are told:

[24] He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, [25] but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. [26] So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. [27] And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ [28] He said to them,

‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ [29] But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”'” (ESV)

Now, you and I, not having been raised in an agricultural society—meaning a society where everyone’s livelihood comes from farming — may have a bit of trouble understanding the meaning behind this parable—this story with a spiritual point.

And, Jesus knows that, so Jesus interprets the parable for us so that there will be no confusion as to what He is revealing to us.

Jesus says this in Matthew 13.36-43:

[36] Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” [37] He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. [38] The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, [39] and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. [40] Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. [41] The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, [42] and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (ESV)

What we hear in this parable—a story with a spiritual message—is that a farmer goes out and sows seed in his field. However, when he goes into his house, washes up, sits down for dinner, and goes to bed, his evil neighbor hops the fence and plants weeds all around the wheat crop.

When the wheat and weeds begin to grow, the workers in the field see what is going on and are confused.

They see that something bad has grown where the farmer has planted only good seed.

So, they ask the farmer if they should go out and rip out all of the weeds so that the wheat can grow unhindered.

However, the farmer points out that if the workers were to go in and rip out the weeds, they would also end up damaging and ripping out some of the good wheat as well.

So, the farmer tells them to wait until the end of the season when it is harvest time.

At that point, everything that has grown in the field can be pulled out and easily separated because the weeds are so vastly different from the wheat.

So, what is needed by the workers is patience.

And, they can be patient because they know that the farmer knows exactly what is going on and has a plan to make it all better.

We are very often impatient with others.

We are very often impatient with ourselves.

And, we are very often impatient with God.

When we see wrong doing, we want it punished right away.

When bad things are being done, or at the very least, what we personally perceive to be be bad things being done, we immediately want to take matters into our own hands to make sure what we think should be done is done.

In the context of Jesus’ parable, we want to run out into the field and rip those weeds out of the ground.

In an article from The Mockingbird Journal that I read a few years ago, the author made this observation:

People facing immediate danger want to hear an authoritative voice they can draw assurance from; they want to be told what will occur, how they should prepare, and that all will be well. We are not well designed, it seems, to live in uncertainty.

The history of humanity is the history of impatience. Not only do we want knowledge of the future, we want it when we want it.

The Book of Job condemns as prideful this desire for immediate attention. Speaking out of the whirlwind, God makes it clear that he is not a vending machine. We must learn to wait upon the Lord, the Bible tells us.

Good luck with that, Job no doubt grumbled.

At some level, people must be thinking that the more they learn about what is predetermined, the more control they will have.

This is an illusion. Human beings want to feel that they are on a power walk into the future, when in fact we are always just tapping our canes on the pavement in the fog.

God often has other plans-plans that don’t fall in line with our self-centered and self-righteous way of wanting things accomplished.

God wants to wait because sometimes, in a sheer God ordained miracle, weeds turn into wheat.

And, that is exactly what happened to us because of God’s great love, grace, and mercy.

God was patient with us in our messed up, ungodly living because of the sin that dwells deep inside of us, and because He was patient with us and didn’t rip us up and destroy us, we had the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and

believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the gifts of righteousness and eternal life that come through faith in Him.

The Bible speaks of God’s patience with us and explains why He (and we) should be patient with him and others as well.

2 Peter 3:8-10 says this:

[8] But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (ESV)

Augustine, the first century theologian, called a Church Father, said that when Jesus explained this parable he told us this:

“The field is the world, and the church is spread throughout the world. Let the one who is wheat persevere until the harvest; let those who are weeds be changed into wheat. There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord’s field, which is the church, at times what was grain turns into weeds and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow.”

The Egyptian lawyer and preacher, Adel Bestavros, who passed away in 2005, once said it this way:

“Patience with others is Love…Patience with God is Faith.”

Patience is no doubt something that helps you live a healthier life.

However, it is not a virtue in the sense that it makes you better than others.

Being patient doesn’t make God love you more.

Before you are patient, you are already fully loved and fully accepted by God because of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

Being patient with God and others is a proper response to God, the One who was first patient with you so that you could come to a saving faith and be grafted into His Heavenly family.

When, in the words of Guns ‘N’ Roses, “All you need is just a little patience,” remember that everything’s amazing right now, be happy!

God is patient with you.

2 Peter 3:15, tells you to:

[15] … count the patience of our Lord as salvation…

Your salvation.

And, the salvation of all of those weeds that God turns into wheat as well.

God, in Jesus Christ, is always patient with you so that you can be forgiven and saved.

So, be patient with God. this week.

And, be patient with others this week.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 1, 2026.