Blog

Picture of field at harvest time
July 18, 2023

Jesus of unexpected judgment and mercy

God who delays the harvest, 

teach us the patience and humility to wait.

We grow impatient with the evil we see in the world 

and desire to see it put out of our society, our communities, 

and especially our own hearts. 

God who delays the harvest, 

teach us the patience and humility to wait.

Your time is not our time 

and your ways are not our ways. 

In your wise and mysterious mercy 

you allow weeds to grow alongside the grain. 

God who delays the harvest, 

teach us the patience and humility to wait.

As your impatient children we at times start yanking on what we think are weeds 

without the knowledge of how it might affect the harvest. 

Forgive us for the ways we have injured your precious harvest. 

Give us the humility to acknowledge the limits of our discernment 

and live as members of the harvest 

even among whatever weeds we may encounter. 

God who delays the harvest, 

teach us the patience and humility to wait.

In your name we pray, Amen

Explanation

The middle chapters of Matthew’s gospel reveal a Jesus who defies expectations: Jesus breaks traditions, spends time with and heals the wrong sort of people, and preaches not rousing sermons of rebellion and nationalism, but obscure parables about a coming Kingdom of mercy and forgiveness. In these chapters the devotion and obedience of his disciples and the desperate need of the crowds is set against a backdrop of resistance from religious leaders, puzzlement from John the Baptist and his followers, and his family’s interfering concern for his mental health. 

The unexpectedness of Jesus’ kingdom ministry in the gospel of Matthew can guide us in our journey of humility with Jesus in our own daily lives and in the lives of our churches. We don’t always know what to expect about God’s kingdom building work, but Matthew instructs us in the essentials that we need to follow this unexpected Jesus wherever he takes us.

Image: © Bob Harvey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

Dr. Bethany Besteman is the pastor of worship and discipleship at Silver Spring Christian Reformed Church in Maryland where she lives with her husband and son. She also works as the intake editor for Reformed Worship.