Too Busy for God?

(Part 2)
October 26, 2014

Exodus 2!1"14 P#$%$&&$a's 4!1"( )att#e* 22!1"14

Impatience can kill you.
On June 25
th
, 1876 General George Custer as in comman! o" the #.$. 7
th
Ca%alry !i%ision as
they attempte! to remo%e se%eral &ati%e 'merican tri(es "rom the )lack *ills o" the +akota
,erritory an! return them to their reser%ations. On that particular !ay, General Custer (elie%e!
that many o" the In!ians ere a(out to escape an! that his (est chance o" achie%ing his goal as
to attack imme!iately. )ut to !o so as a %iolation o" his or!ers. )ecause o" the num(er o"
In!ians knon to (e in the area -a num(er hich, in reality, as "ar larger., rein"orcements ha!
alrea!y (een sent. General Custer/s or!ers ere 'ot to engage the In!ians (ut to stay put until
the rein"orcements arri%e!. *istory tells us that those rein"orcements arri%e! only to !ays a"ter
the !isastrous (attle at 0ittle )ig *orn.
*oe%er goo! his reasons might ha%e (een "or !iso(eying or!ers, e can say that General
Custer an! se%eral hun!re! o" his men ere kille! (y his impatience.
0ast eek e (egan speaking o" the cost o" our on impatience an! e sa ho the impatience
o" the Israelites cause! them to !ou(t 1oses, to !ou(t Go!, to construct a gol!en cal", to !eclare
that it as their ne go!, an! to imagine that this as the go! that ha! le! them out o" 2gypt.
)ut Go! !oesn/t ork like that.
Go! is not impatient. Go! ill ait "or the (est time to !o hat he chooses to !o. 1ost o"ten,
Go! !oes not !o hat e ant hen e ant it. 'lthough e kno that Go! alays ansers
prayer, sometimes his anser is 34es,5 sometimes 3&o,5 an! sometimes 36ait.5 Our !i""iculty
lies in knoing that our time o" aiting may (e "ar longer than e e7pecte!.
'n! hen e ait, e gro impatient.
'n! hen e are impatient, e get into trou(le.
'n! i" impatience !oesn/t !o us in, its close cousin, (usyness, certainly ill. In )att#e* 22!1"
14, Jesus tells this story a(out us, Go!/s people, as e ait "or Jesus/ return8
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:
2
The kingdom of heaven is like a king who
prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
3
e sent his servants to those who had been invited to
the banquet to tell them to !ome, but they refused to !ome.
1
"
Then he sent some more servants and said, #Tell those who have been invited that $ have
prepared my dinner: %y o&en and fattened !attle have been but!hered, and everything is ready.
'ome to the wedding banquet.(
)
*ut they paid no attention and went off+one to his field, another to his business.
,
The rest
sei-ed his servants, mistreated them and killed them.
.
The king was enraged. e sent his army
and destroyed those murderers and burned their !ity.
/
Then he said to his servants, #The wedding banquet is ready, but those $ invited did not
deserve to !ome.
0
1o go to the street !orners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.(
23
1o the
servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they !ould find, the bad as well as
the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
22
*ut when the king !ame in to see the guests, he noti!ed a man there who was not wearing
wedding !lothes.
22
e asked, #ow did you get in here without wedding !lothes, friend4( The
man was spee!hless.
23
Then the king told the attendants, #Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(
2"
5or many are invited, but few are !hosen.6
Jesus says that the king!om o" hea%en is like a king ho in%ites guests to a great (an9uet, (ut the
in%ite! guests re"use to come. $ome o" them are too (usy ith ork, others :ust !on/t ant to (e
(othere!, (ut regar!less o" their reasons, they insulte! an! humiliate! the king ho ha! in%ite!
them. 's you might e7pect, kings !on/t take ell to (eing insulte! an! humiliate! an! so the
king sen!s an army to kill the in%ite! guests, hom are no re"erre! to as mur!erers, an! (urn
their city. )ut the !inner, the e!!ing (an9uet, is rea!y an! no there are no guests. $o, the
king once again sen!s his ser%ants out into the streets an! into the countrysi!e to "in! home%er
they can, goo! people, (a! people, poor people, anyone, until the (an9uet hall is "ille!.
&o it as, !uring some perio!s o" history an! in some places, tra!itional "or the host to gi%e a
ne set o" clothing to the guests to ear. ;erhaps the king ante! them all to look alike, or to
smell goo!, or (ecause some poorer guests coul!n/t a""or! to 3"it in5 ith other ealthier guests,
or simply (ecause he ante! to (e generous. )ut in our story, "or hate%er reason, there as
one guest ho re"use! to ear the clothes that the king ha! pro%i!e!. 'n! once again, the king
is insulte! an! o""en!e! an! thros the (um out.
<emem(er, that this is suppose! to (e a picture o" hat the king!om o" hea%en is like. Go!
in%ites e%eryone to come (ut many o" those ho ere in%ite! are too (usy, or can/t (e (othere!,
or are hostile to Go! an! to his in%itation. 'nother comes to the party (ut !oesn/t ant to look
or act like he (elongs. *e ants to keep on looking, !ressing an! acting like he (elongs outsi!e.
'n! so, e%eryone ho has shon that they !on/t ant to (e there, are shon the !oor an!
alloe! to (e somehere else, hich in this case, is not a goo! place.
2
'n! so e o"ten "in! that the "olloers o" Go! go astray in to %ery similar ays. =irst, e get
impatient an! !eci!e that since Go! hasn/t ansere! our te7t messages in three minutes, or our
email in three hours, or (ecause Go! hasn/t ansere! our prayers in three !ays, e gi%e up an!
"in! something else to orship. 'n! :ust like the people that Jesus kne, the thing that e o"ten
orship in Go!/s place is our on (usyness. 6e can/t get to Go!/s ama>ing (an9uet (ecause e
alrea!y ha%e plans to !o something else, or (ecause e/re alrea!y so put out at Go! "or not
ansering our prayers the ay that e ante!, hen e ante!, an! so e stoppe! listening.
6e stoppe! ansering hen Go! calls, e%en i" he/s in%iting us to the (an9uet "or his son/s
e!!ing "east. 6hat makes all o" this e%en orse is putting all these pieces together. I" Go! is
the king, an! Jesus is the $on o" Go!, then this is the e!!ing "east o" Jesus Christ. 'n! i" e
remem(er our scripture, then e also remem(er that the (ri!e o" Christ is? the church.
6hen e re"use to atten! the e!!ing o" the @ing/s son, hether it/s (ecause e/re too (usy or
"or some other reason, the e!!ing that e are missing is, in "act, our on.
'n! so the arning e shoul! hear a(out impatience is this8 Impatience is not sin, (ut it can lea!
us to a great many sins. Our impatience can cause us to act rashly an! try to !o the ork o" Go!
on our on. Impatience can cause us to replace Go! ith other acti%ities, like ork, or sports, or
cra"ts, or se7, or alcohol, or any num(er o" things. Impatience can cause us to gro (itter toar!
Go! i" e allo oursel%es to (e angry that Go! ill not !o hat e ant, hen e ant it.
Impatience gros hen our trust "ails.
)ut in P#$%$&&$a's 4!1"(, the 'postle ;aul encourages us (y saying?
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom $ love and long for, my 7oy and !rown, stand firm
in the 8ord in this way, dear friends9
2
$ plead with :uodia and $ plead with 1ynty!he to be of the same mind in the 8ord.
3
;es, and $
ask you, my true !ompanion, help these women sin!e they have !ontended at my side in the !ause
of the gospel, along with 'lement and the rest of my !o<workers, whose names are in the book of
life.
"
=e7oi!e in the 8ord always. $ will say it again: =e7oi!e9
)
8et your gentleness be evident to all.
The 8ord is near.
,
>o not be an&ious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to ?od.
.
@nd the pea!e of ?od, whi!h
trans!ends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in 'hrist Jesus.
/
5inally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable+if anything is e&!ellent or praiseworthy+think
about su!h things.
0
Ahatever you have learned or re!eived or heard from me, or seen in me+
put it into pra!ti!e. @nd the ?od of pea!e will be with you.
3
$tan! "irm. )e o" the same min! in the 0or!. *elp one another. <e:oice in the 0or! alays.
+o not orry, (ut in e%ery situation, (y prayer an! petition, (e thank"ul an! share your re9uests
ith Go!. 2%en hen you are impatient, e%en hen Go! is silent an! !oesn/t seem to (e
ansering, e%en hen the aiting seems like "ore%er, !on/t gi%e up. $tan! "irm.
I" you !o that, i" you keep the "aith an! stan! "irm, e%en hen you "eel impatient, the peace o"
Go! ill guar! your hearts an! min!s through the poer o" Jesus Christ.
Instea! o" alloing our impatience to set us a!ri"t in an ocean o" trou(le, e shoul! "ocus on
other things. )usyness ill not help us to "in! peace. Instea! o" "illing our min!s ith (usyness,
an! sin, an! other replacements "or Go!, e shoul! think a(out things that are true, no(le,
e7cellent an! praiseorthy. Instea! o" an!ering o"" into the il!erness to !o ne things,
practice !oing the things that ;aul, the +isciples, an! Jesus !i!.
General Custer !isco%ere! that impatience can kill you.
Impatience itsel" is not a sin, (ut it %eads us to sin.
Impatience ill steal your peace.
$tan! "irm. )e o" the same min! in the 0or!. *elp one another. <e:oice in the 0or! alays.
+o not orry, (ut in e%ery situation (e thank"ul an! share your re9uests ith Go!.
,hink a(out things that are true, no(le, e7cellent an! praiseorthy.
+o the things that ;aul, the +isciples, an! Jesus taught an! the things that they !i!.
6hen e put asi!e our impatience an! !o these things?
?then, e ill "in! true peace.
4

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted
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