Here is Fr. Davids sermon for this weekend: One fall, Cynthia and I looked out at our front yard and we didnt like what we see. Sure, we had some grass out there, but there were other forms of plant life that dont really go well with a nice looking lawn. OK, there were lots and lots of other forms of plant life. I believe that the technical term for them is weeds. There were so many that Cynthia wanted to start from scratch. So, we began by heading over to Rental Works on Broad Street and I came back with a de-thatcher and set about churning up all of the soil in the front yard. The de-thatcher is also known as a Billy Goat, and using it is more like trying to walk a Great Dane that hasnt been out of the house for a few days. The Billy Goat turns over everything in the soil -- grass, weeds, rocks, whatever. We were left with a lot of dirt in the yard. Next came a dump truck with a even more dirt, just for good measure. I had envisioned the truck driving around the yard spreading dirt everywhere for us, but instead we got four large piles of dirt left in the front yard. Guess who got to spread it all using a wheelbarrow? Finally, once the soil was ready, we put down fertilizer and a new bag of grass seed. It was hard work, but we knew that come spring we would have new grass. Come spring we did have something new. New weeds. Lots of new weeds. All over the place. Weeds we had never even seen before. Our next door neighbor said that we had probably gotten a bag of bad seed. So now, we are back to weeding, which is, as you can imagine, very frustrating. All of that work only to have results that were, to say the least, very, very disappointing. When I find myself disappointed and frustrated by life, I try to take a step back and ask the question, Is there anything good that I can take from this situation? As is always the case, I was able to identify a couple of good things. First, as a preacher, even when bad things happen to me, I can usually get a sermon introduction out of it, so I can check that off of the list! Second, it has caused me to examine our gospel lesson much more closely. The experience that Cynthia and I had with the weeds and the grass is directly analogous to how God is at work in the world. This is illustrated in our gospel lesson, which is a parable told by Jesus, along with its interpretation, from the Gospel of Matthew. It has a nickname, which is The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, or, if you are old school, The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. It is a deceptively simple parable which bears close examination. Jesus is speaking about the kingdom of heaven, which is the same thing as the kingdom of God in Mark and Luke. Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience that didnt feel it was appropriate to utter the name of God. In the parable there is a landowner, who plants wheat in his field and then goes to bed. While everyone is asleep, an enemy comes and sows bad seed in the field, and when both types of seeds come to fruition, both wheat and weeds have sprouted in the field. When asked by his servants if the landowner wants them to gather up both types of crops, he responds that doing so would uproot both the good and bad crops. Rather, both are to be left to grow completely. When harvest time comes, both the wheat and the weeds will be harvested. They will then be separated, with the weeds being burned up forever. Well, what does Jesus mean by this? Obviously, while he knew a thing or two about farming, this parable is actually about the history of the world. If we examine it even more closely, there are three phases, if you will, of the kingdom of heaven. The first existed prior to the coming of Jesus. This was a time when the world was without hope. Humanity had separated itself from God, as told in the story of Adam and Eve. While the prophets began to predict that this state of hopelessness would end, before the coming of Jesus Gods kingdom did not exist on earth. If you have ever attended the Great Vigil of Easter (the most important worship service of the church year), we symbolize this by having the church dark until we announce the resurrection of Jesus. So, the first phase of Gods kingdom is no kingdom. What were among the first words that Jesus spoke as he began his ministry? The kingdom of God is at hand. The second phase of the kingdom is the kingdom of the Son. We are living in it, and it is a mixed experience. We have a lot of wheat -- good things that are happening in Gods kingdom. Through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, our sins have been forgiven, and we can receive Gods forgiveness simply by believing in Jesus and claiming the pardon that is there for believers. We can experience the power of the risen Lord and receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have received the promise and hope of eternal life so that even when we lose people in our lives who we love, we can look forward to being reunited with them in eternity. As a church, we visit those who are sick and in prison. We feed the hungry. We have provided clothes to those who need it. We have spoken out for justice and peace. Many good things are happening in Gods kingdom. But there are also weeds. Yes, there are plenty of weeds. I wont give you a long list, but here is one example: Fred Phelps, who died a few months ago. I first learned of this man when I flipped on CNN and saw that people were protesting the funerals of soldiers, disrupting families in their grief. That alone made my blood boil. But there was more. As I paid closer attention to the news story, I learned that these people were actually targeting the gay community using vile and hateful language. I know many faithful Christians who come down on the conservative side on the issue of gay and lesbian people, but I dont know any who use language like this. But the final dagger for me was when I learned that this hateful group of people was called The Westboro Baptist Church. These people were going out over the airwaves as being part of a church, something that I found (and find) highly discouraging as a member of a church. To call the Westboro Baptist Church weeds seems a little generous to me. In our parable, Jesus makes clear that it is not our job to figure out who the weeds are, but for me, people calling themselves a church, engaging in hateful language and targeting grieving families of soldiers who died defending our country qualify! Fortunately, we have one more kingdom to go. The world has existed with no kingdom and we are now in the kingdom of the Son. However, the kingdom of the Father is our promise to keep us going. It is not our role to figure out who is a wheat and who is a weed. Our task is to continue spreading the gospel, serving others and loving the world. Jesus, however, knew we would get discouraged when we find the church failing to protect children, engaging in greed or corruption, oppression or hate. Christ told us this parable to remind us that the final phase of the kingdom is yet to come. There will be weeds. There will be people who disappoint us. We need to be faithful. At harvest time, Christ will return and sort out the weeds from the wheat once and for all. So let us keep the faith, not give in to discouragement and stay strong in our faith. In Gods kingdom the weeds of hate and evil will be gone and the wheat of Gods reign will be established forever. Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 Psalm 86:11-17 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 16:52:34 +0000
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