Sermon for Pentecost 7: "Parable of the Weeds"

+ 7^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 19^th, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Chances are that when you pick up a new book and look at the dust jacket or when a friend recommends a new show to watch on Netflix, you ask, “What’s the story about?”

Jesus’ parables are no different. A sower, a field, good seeds, wheat and weeds, enemies, servants, and harvest time. What’s this parable all about?

It is a story about many things: trust, patience, and the Lord’s deliverance; the problem of evil and the end times. For such a short parable, there’s quite a lot going on. 

But the thread that holds it all together is the Lord’s patience and mercy, his longsuffering. You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Keep those words in mind as our Lord explains the parable in more detail.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. The man is the Son of Man, Jesus. The field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom.

²⁵ but while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  Jesus tells us that the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 

²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”  The harvest, Jesus says, is close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus’ explanation sounds pretty straight forward. But did you notice that Jesus interprets every part of the parable with two notable exceptions? He tells us what everything means in the parable – sower, seed, field, weeds, enemy, harvest, and burn pile for the weeds. But Jesus says nothing about the servants or their questions to the farm owner. There’s a gap in Jesus’ interpretation.

This is the genius of Jesus’ storytelling in the parables. Jesus wants us to see ourselves in that gap. Not merely as someone who reads this parable casually, but to see ourselves as the servants/farm workers in the story. The servants ask: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 

It’s an age-old question. We’ve asked it ourselves many times. Why is there so much evil in the world? If God is good why does wickedness seem to run amuck? Why are there pandemics and riots and racism and such senseless violence? Why are police officers and 2 year olds being shot in our city streets? Why is the world full of so much suffering, pain, and cruelty. And the list of whys could go on. What’s going on, Lord? Why are there so many weeds? 

An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds. 

Jesus’ words are a sobering reminder that in this life, there is no utopia. For now we groan along with creation, as Paul says, and eagerly await the resurrection. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. As we live in this world, or until Jesus comes again, this world is like the field of wheat and weeds, full of good and evil.

The servants ask the next logical question. ‘Do you want us then to go and gather up them up?’ So, what are we going to do about all these wicked weeds, Lord?”

The answer is a jaw-dropping, shocking surprise. “Let both grow together until the harvest.”  The Greek word there could be translated “let it be”, or permit it. It’s the same word used for forgiveness. What does our Lord say to do with all the wickedness in the world? Let it be for now. Forgive it. 

If it were up to us, if it were my farm, we’d probably burn it all down, pull up the weeds and wheat together and throw it all on the burn pile. See the problem? If we were in charge of the field, we’d have made a mess of it all a long, long time ago. If sinners were placed in charge of separating wheat from weeds, how would we know which is which and who is who? As Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, “the line of good and evil runs through all our hearts.” 

So, what do we do about all the weeds? Ignore it all? No. Lament it. Call it for what it is. Repent of our own weedy, sinful hearts, and look to Jesus, the farm owner. He only sows good seed. And that’s exactly what he has done for you. He loves you. Forgives you. Shows mercy to you. He is patient, longsuffering.

Remember, this is a story about Jesus, the Sower, the Son of Man who came into the field of this world for you. He let all the weeds of the enemy surround him, lay ahold of him, and nail him to a tree. He bound himself to all the wickedness of our sinful, weedy hearts as and died in our place on the cross. And as he hung there for you, he endured the fiery furnace of God’s wrath that we might shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.

Remember the words of the Psalms: You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

And that’s what this story is all about.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 6: The Parable of the Sower

+ 6^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 12^th, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:12-17; Matthew 13:1-25

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus spoke many things to them in parables.

If the Gospel of Matthew was a library, Matthew 13 would be the parable or the story telling section. Matthew 13 features some of Jesus’ most memorable parables: the parable of the weeds (stay tuned for that next week), the parable of the mustard seed and leaven, the parables of hidden treasure, a pearl, and a fishing net. It all starts with Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, the great watershed of all Jesus’ parables. It’s a beloved and familiar parable. So well-known in fact, that a statue of Christ the sower sits atop the state capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska.

And since we’ll be hearing parables over the next three weeks’ gospel readings, it’s worth spending a moment to unpack what is a parable. Jesus’ parables have been called many things: short stories with deeper meaning; earthly analogies of heavenly things. Jesus’ parables are earthly stories that point us to, or tell us something about, the greatest story of all: Jesus himself, his crucifixion and resurrection for you. That’s the key to this parable and all the parables. Jesus is at the center. The key to unlocking the mystery of the parables is to see Jesus crucified and risen at the heart of every parable.

Jesus taught in parables for a reason. When his disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables he answered this way: “He who has ears, let him hear.” And, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

Jesus’ words present us with a paradox. On the one hand, He teaches in parables to communicate with those who do believe in him in ways that they will understand. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” These are the ears of faith that hear in Jesus’ parables the mystery revealed: that the reign of God is found in Jesus’ dying and rising. Ears attuned to the Word, listening for the voice of their shepherd.

On the other hand, Jesus teaches in parables to reveal that those who misunderstand his parables also misunderstand and reject him. They reject both the message and the messenger and so “hearing they do not hear and seeing they do not see.” It’s Jesus’ description of their unbelief.

Now, for a closer look at Jesus’ parable of the sower. Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; 

Right away we know Jesus’ parable is about something other than agriculture. Most farmers or gardeners wouldn’t scatter precious seeds so abundantly and recklessly, all over pathways and rocky, weedy, thorn-filled soil. Go right for the good soil. But our Lord isn’t like most farmers. He spreads the seed abundantly, graciously. 

The seed is the Gospel of the kingdom. In a word the seed is Jesus, the promised Seed. He is both the message and the messenger. The Word of God incarnate who speaks the Word of God. The promised Seed and the Sower of the Seed of the Good News he bears and brings.

Remember Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel. That “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” He was referring to His own death on the cross where He laid down His life for the life of the world. For your life too.

This parable also gives us a window into how Jesus works. It is so often contrary to what we expect. Consider his imagery of a seed. Think about how small a seed is, in some cases ridiculously small, compared to the plant that will grow. This is not how we would expect the Word of God to come. Something noisy or noticeable like a thunder clap or a divine fireworks display. But a small, insignificant little seed? And yet, that’s how our Lord works.

Jesus is the Seed, sown and planted within the womb of Mary. The Divine Sower himself became smaller than a mustard seed. So that he might grow and live for you and then be buried and planted in the earth for you, having died for you. And then out of the earth he rose for you to bring the fruit of his salvation for you, in you, and through you to others.

Still, the life of this Seed, of Jesus and his good news for us, is fraught with danger. 

Jesus warns us, this Good News is proclaimed in the harsh and hostile environment of this fallen world. a sower went out to sow…and the birds came and devoured them. This is the Evil One, Jesus says. A reminder that there is a spiritual war raging around us and in our own sinful flesh. And Satan would love nothing more than to snatch away this message of Good News that Jesus proclaims as quickly as a bird gathers seed. 

And yet, just like the birds that nibble a seed, swallow it and pass it out again, the devil has no power against the Word. For he is defeated. Crushed. Destroyed. Stripped of all power over sin and death by Jesus’ death in our place. Nobody – not the devil, not the world, not our own sinful flesh – can take you away from the love of Christ that will never let you go.

Some seed fell among the rocks. The shallow soil. Shallow hearing. Faith based on feelings is faith with no root, a shallow faith unable to endure the heat of persecution, hardship, and testing. This is what happens when our hearts or emotions become a barometer of God’s presence and the Spirit’s working. 

Some seed fell among the thorns. The thorns are the cares and concerns of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Anxieties such as what will we eat, what will we wear, and so on. It’s always worth asking ourselves, what is choking my hearing and receiving of God’s Word?

And then there is the seed that falls on good soil, soil that has felt the blade of the plow. Broken and turned under soil. This too, just like the sowing of his Word, is all God’s doing. Our rocky, hearts of stone are plowed and turned over by God’s Word, and then the sower sows the seed. Recklessly. All over the place.

The Divine Sower casts the word of Jesus, the good news that in Jesus there is forgiveness, life, and salvation. That in Jesus there is no condemnation under the Law. That in Jesus there is peace and hope.

And the promise in all this is that Word of the Gospel, that Word who is Jesus, never returns empty but always accomplishes HIs purpose. Jesus indeed bears fruit in you. 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. 

Sermon for Pentecost 5: "Jesus is Our Rest"

+ 5^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 5^th, 2020 +

Series A: Zechariah 9:9-12; Romans 7:14-25; Matthew 11:25-30

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I think it’s safe to say that in one way or another, Jesus’ words hit home. As I read this text throughout this week, I couldn’t help but think of John Coffey, a character in Stephen King’s famous book, The Green Mile. As he sat on death row facing a death sentence of which he was innocent, he lamented:

“I'm tired, boss. Tired of being on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. I'm tired of never having me a buddy to be with to tell me where we's going to, coming from, or why. Mostly, I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world...every day. There's too much of it.” 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus first spoke these words to his disciples in Matthew 11. Persecution was coming. They would be rejected. Even the great John the Baptist was imprisoned. No doubt they were tired physically, mentally, spiritually. 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

If there’s been a common answer to the question, “How are you doing?” After we get through our token response of “I’m fine and doing good,” most of us will admit that we’re tired.

Tired of news and talk about COVID-19. Tired of unrest and injustice in our cities across the country. Tired of illness infecting our loved ones. Tired of turning on the news or scrolling through social media and seeing nothing but bad news. You’ve probably heard of compassion fatigue, now we have caution fatigue and even Zoom fatigue. The sense of weariness in the world is real. No doubt we’ve all felt it or experienced it these past few months. 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

There’s another kind of weariness or fatigue that presses in and weighs us down. The burden of living in a broken, fallen world in broken, fallen bodies and minds. The weariness of our own sin. Of death itself. Scripture teaches us that sin is deadly, and it is. But it’s also exhausting. Draining. Physically, mentally, spiritually. As St. Augustine once wrote, “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they find their rest in Thee.”

This is what St. Paul is revealing for us in Romans 7:

¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

There’s much to meditate upon in our Lord’s words. But in our weary world. In our tiredness of sin and death, Jesus’ words of rest are exactly what we need. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What’s truly remarkable is how Jesus comes and gives us rest. He doesn’t wait for us to clean up our act and get right with God, “for while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Jesus doesn’t require us to first be strong and then come to him, “for his grace is sufficient in our weakness.” Jesus came to save sinners, weary, tired, broken down, unable to help ourselves sinners. 

A bruised reed, He will not break. A smoldering wick, He will not snuff out. So, for those who have tried and are tired, for those who have denied and now doubt, for those who once cared but now cannot, Jesus is here; calling… lifting… carrying… you. All the way with him from his death on the cross through the grave, and up again into new resurrected life. It’s an exchange of cosmic and gracious proportions

 

On the cross Jesus takes our weakness and gives us his strength. Jesus takes our sin and gives us his perfect life. Jesus takes our despair, suffering, and pain, and gives us his peace, mercy, and healing. Jesus takes our death and gives us his life. Jesus takes our weariness and gives us rest in him.

 

Our rest is in Jesus. Jesus gathers about Him all who are burdened or broken. The downtrodden and the debilitated, the meek and the mourning, the despised, and the suffering, these are the ones Jesus gathers. Why? Because He is not going to rely on human wisdom or strength. In humble obedience, He accomplishes the will of His Father. 

Jesus did not come to win but to lose. He came to be beaten, to be broken, to be cast aside, and to die: For you. And then He rose again so you might know that no failure, no weakness, no sin, no suffering will ever separate you from your Father’s love. Your Savior has borne all sin, endured all suffering, that He might bring all God’s grace to all the weary of this world.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.