GOD IS NEVER IN A HURRY
Life is full of little lessons, is it not? Since it’s Father’s Day, let me tell you a story about a lesson a father once taught his son. It seems the young man had recently gotten his driver’s license and he went to his father – who was also a minister – and asked him about getting his own set of wheels. The father replied, “We can talk about it, son. But here’s what I want you to do first. I want you to improve your grades in school, I want you to start reading the Bible, and I want you to get a haircut.” A few months later, the boy went back to his father. He’d improved his grades. He’d started reading the Bible, but he hadn’t yet gotten that haircut. The father pointed that out to the son. The son said, “But Dad, Noah had long hair. Samson had long hair. Moses had long hair. Even Jesus had long hair.” To which his father quickly replied, “Yes, my son, Jesus did have long hair. And as you recall, he walked everywhere he went!”
Life is full of little lessons, and sometimes those lessons sting a little bit. And some-times, those lessons shake us to the very core. Tony Campolo is a noted author and speaker who began his professional life as a Baptist minister. Specifically, he was a youth pastor. One day, Tony Campolo came home from work a little early. As he pulled up in the driveway, he saw his son tossing a football with one of his friends. As Tony got out of the car, he heard his son’s friend say, “Hey, great! Now that your dad’s home, he can play football with us.” Campolo heard his son reply, “Nah, my dad only likes to play with other people’s kids.” It was a lesson that struck Tony Campolo to the core. He soon got out of youth ministry and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jesus was giving his disciples one of those lessons that shook them down to the core in the passage we read from the gospel according to Mark. But before I get into that, I have to set the scene. Earlier in the day, Jesus delivered what we call the Parable of the Sower. A sower went out to sow. As he scattered his seeds, some fell along the path and the birds came and quickly devoured them. Some fell amongst the thorns and the thorns quickly choked them out. Some fell on rocky ground and they quickly sprang up, but having no root system, they soon withered and died. Yet some of the seeds fell on the good ground and they produced grain, some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundred fold. The disciples didn’t understand the parable, so Jesus had to explain it to them. Now a parable is often defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. But a parable also always contains a twist and a central truth. So maybe the Parable of the Sower isn’t so much a parable as it is an allegory. In any case, Jesus explained it to them. The seeds that fell on the path are like when the word of God comes to a person and the devil quickly devours it. The seeds that fell on the thorny ground are like when the word of God comes to a person, but the cares of this world quickly choke it out. The seeds that fell on the rocky ground are like when the word of God comes to a person and they’re all excited about it, but having no faith foundation, they quickly wither away. But the seed that fell on good soil is like when the word of God comes to a person and it takes root in their souls. It truly makes a difference in the way they live their lives. I think of a mighty oak tree that grows to be 50 or 60 feet tall. What keeps the wind from blowing the tree over? It’s a deep-seated root system that keeps it from blowing over. God can raise a mushroom in a day. But to grow a mighty oak tree, it might take 30 or 40 years. God is never in a hurry. To build a foundation to our faith takes time as well. Okay, so back to our passage. Jesus has just given his disciples this lesson on faith when they put out to sea in their boats. Jesus crawled up in the stern of the boat and fell asleep on a cushion. Suddenly, a great storm of wind arose and the disciples were terrified. They ran to Jesus and cried, “Master, do you not care if we perish?” Jesus had just taught his disciples about faith and then this incident proves that their faith is not very strong. So Jesus got up and calmed the storm. Like I said, God is never in a hurry. God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time. Again, God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time.
Many years ago, when I was in Minnesota, I had a wise, old minister friend who was probably about 25 or 30 years older than I was. His name was Gordon Bloemendaal, and he was a minister in the Reformed Church, sometimes also called the Dutch Reformed Church. Their motto was, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.” Gordon Bloemendaal – obviously a Dutchman himself – taught me a lot. One of the wisest things he said to me was this: “If you’re not doing a great work for the Lord, the Devil’ll leave you alone.” Pretty good, huh? When Gordon was in seminary, he was married and already had two or three of his four kids. One Sunday morning, as the offering plate was being passed, Gordon saw that he only had one dollar to his name. How was he going to feed his family? The cupboards at home were bare and he only had a dollar. So he put that dollar in the offering plate and as he did so, he said a little prayer: “Lord, I don’t know how you’re going to work this out for us, but I trust that you will do so.” That very afternoon – I’m not making this up – that very afternoon, five or six carloads of families from the church drove up to his house, each one loaded down with several bags of groceries. It was truly a transformative moment for Gordon and his family. He learned that God is true to his word. Perhaps he also learned that God is never in a hurry, but he’s always right on time.
Today, a lot of people are struggling financially. But are they turning to God as my friend Gordon Bloomendaal did? No, they’re turning to drinking and they’re turning to gambling. Do you realize that just last week more than 47 million dollars was wagered at Presque Isle Downs? And over the course of the year so far, in Pennsylvania alone, more than 21 billion dollars have been wagered? It makes me think of a quote from Gary Eberle’s book, The Geography of Nowhere. He writes:
In the middle ages, people spent vast amounts of time and money to pilgrimage to shrines and to the Holy Land. Today, the object of travel is more likely to be the mall or Disney World. In a spiritual society, people hope to see the face of God. In a postmodern one, they opt for Mickey Mouse.
Perhaps we need to turn to God once again. Maybe that’s what God is waiting for. After all, God is never in a hurry…but he’s always right on time. Amen.
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