Sunday Sermon - The Rev. Joy Wallis

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Another parable Jesus put before the crowds. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field. But while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from? He answered, an enemy has done this. The slave said to him, then do you want us to go and gather them? But he replied, no, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers. And they will throw them into the furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen the Gospel of the Lord. Great praise to you, Lord Christ. Alleluia. [00:02:34] Speaker B: Alleluia. Alleluia. [00:02:44] Speaker A: Children ages 3 through 10 are invited to follow Katie the storyteller for Bible story, prayers and music. They'll return at the piece. [00:03:05] Speaker B: May I speak? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated. This week's gospel reading from the Book of Matthew continues, a series of parables in which Jesus wants his listeners to understand the nature of the kingdom of God. Last week, Joshua preached on the parable of the sower. And this week we continue with that agricultural theme. This time, as David just read, we hear that the field is the world. In a world intended for good growth, the evil one comes along in the night and sows bad seed. And what plays out in the parable or in the reading Is that Jesus disciples privately, after the telling of the parable, take Jesus aside inside the house, and they're bemused and questioning, and they say, explain to us about the weeds. And I can imagine them like us, grappling with the problem of the cosmic problem of evil in our world, the battle between good and evil. Where did it come from? How can we root it out? Why are some people good and some people bad, some people selfish and some people caring? What can we do about it? The weeds for you gardeners were a common weed growth in Palestine called Lolium temulentum. And as it sprouted, it looked just like the wheat. The wheat and the weeds were indistinguishable. You couldn't tell which were which. And so they grew together. And the weeds, the roots, were all entangled with one another until closer to the harvest, the wheat would grow taller and could be distinguished with its healthy head of wheat. There's no getting away from it. This is a parable about judgment. It's a parable about judgment and who gets to do it. The workers want to pull up the weeds, but the master says, no, let them grow together until the harvest. Leave them. As humans, we are quick to judge. We're quick to label, to pigeonhole people, to judge people. Especially those who don't look or speak or love or eat like us. Especially those who don't see the world or God or political issues like us. I wonder if, like me, this week, in the last few weeks, you've been glued to the World Cup. This year, the World cup was hosted by America, and I've really enjoyed watching England play, particularly yesterday when they beat France. [00:06:49] Speaker A: And [00:06:51] Speaker B: America's reputation around the world is probably at an all time low. But the stories that I've heard about how small towns across America have welcomed supporters and teams from all over the world have been really heartwarming. People have opened their homes, they've introduced people to ranch dressing, they're putting up the visiting country's flags in their streets and their stores. And fans who road trip from one venue to another have been surprised because they've met really good American people, and they've been surprised by Americans that they had previously written off, given what they've heard of our country's politics and media. Now, as progressives, we are sometimes the most judgmental, ironically believing we know the truth and writing off those who likewise believe their truth. And it often takes encounter and relationship for us to become less judgmental. A few weeks ago, I attended the 250th anniversary service over the July 4th weekend at the National Cathedral. And I really enjoyed listening to John Meacham, who's a canon historian at the cathedral. He delivered his sermon to this polarized and divided nation. And in it he said, we shouldn't see our fellow Americans as enemies because enemies have to be destroyed, but we should see them as rivals, as neighbors, as political opponents. Again, it sounds like a call for us to resist the kind of judgment that destroys the other. That doesn't mean that we don't work and fight for justice, but it means that we don't aim to destroy and kill and use violence. Society back in Jesus day had its bad weeds as well. Hence the parable, the disbelieving, the scandalous, the persecutors, the heretics, the oppressors. And the Jews of the first century expected a Messiah who would lead a revolution that would destroy Israel's enemies and overthrow empire. But Jesus proclaimed a kingdom marked by growth and sowing and patience and mercy rather than immediate judgment. Jesus seemed to be saying, don't focus on destroying the weeds. Figure out how to live as wheat in this world of weeds. You're in this together until the harvest. So I think it's about the growth of the kingdom in human society where we cannot and should not separate ourselves. Our roots are entangled and we are firmly planted together in the world with the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1983, when I first sensed a calling to ministry in the Church of England, I was attending my own church where my father had been the vicar, that's the rector or the minister. In England we call them vicars. And the new vicar had come along and he was a conservative evangelical and did not approve of the ordination of women. I was 23 years old and I was an elementary school teacher and I had a part time job at in the local pub as a barmaid as part of the discernment process. I had to have a letter of recommendation from the said vicar. He duly wrote it and sent me a copy. And he wrote, amongst other things, I do not recommend joy for training. And he went on to explain his theological position. And then he continued, and besides, she spends too much time in the pub, which I consider to be the enemy. Not much has changed. Needless to say, the church did accept me for ordination and I did say, suggest that Jesus might have been found in the pub. Indeed, I do wonder if this parable was a response to those who criticized Jesus for eating and hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. The last time I preached I talked about how the kingdom is both here and not yet. And in this parable, the kingdom is here, but evil is mixed in and patience precedes the judgment. While we live in this life, in this field, in this world, there are second chances. There is forgiveness, there is redemption, and there is hope. The kind of hope that we heard Elizabeth read about in Romans. And we know that none of us are perfect. So to be in the business of judging others is a risky one. So I'm going to finish with this, the elephant in the room. So what of the harvest? Those words about the furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth? Well, first of all, I personally believe this to be hyperbole. Jesus using a figure of speech, using extreme exaggeration to make a point, and not to be taken literally, but that doesn't mean there will be no harvest. There was a point that he was making. Howard Thurman talked about resolution rather than judgment, that a final resolution is inevitable. And that makes sense to me. If we believe that the kingdom is here, but not yet in its fullness, we're here, growing, working for the kingdom, doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God, and pushing that arc of the universe towards justice. If we don't believe there is a resolution where love wins, what's the alternative? Tolerance for evil? There's nothing we can do. So we disengage and become cynical. No, we know that there is good and evil, wheat and tares, right and wrong. We live God's love and are a part of the love winning history. And the kingdom is moving towards justice. Our hope is in the God of justice, thankfully, whose job alone is to bring resolution when love finally wins. Amen.