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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaertner Again this week we have in the gospel lesson a parable told by Jesus. Last week it was the Parable of the Sower, which is a parable with a farmer planting seeds and the seeds landing on different kinds of soil conditions. Alongside of the agricultural story is the spiritual reality that the Word of God is capable of producing a great harvest but through our own weaknesses of pride, rootlessness, and deceit we are capable of pushing the kingdom out of our lives. Today we have another agricultural story and again placed alongside of it is a spiritual story of the power of God. The people that heard Jesus that day would have recognized the real world context of Jesus story. And I was helped in my understanding of this parable through the observations of someone familiar with the ancient In Jesus time, the people understood that birth into a family brought with it inheriting all of the honor and status and friends of the family but also the enemies. One never would know but would always suspect that a feuding enemy was seeking to shame one's own family. In this story told by Jesus the enemy is attempting to shame the landowner. The shame was soon planted after the good seed had been planted. But it did not become full blown shame until the weeds grew more and became visible. Others would see the landowner's field and see the wheat and weeds alongside of each other and be very surprised at the landowner's poor planting skills. The enemy sought to lower the esteem others would have in the landowner. The entire village was supposed to discover the shame along with the landowner. Even today farmers are known to drive by others farms and have a chuckle when another's field is filled with weeds or otherwise looks disappointing. The people observing this feud between the landowner and the enemy would have expected revenge, retaliation. But instead of watching the battle at But appearances are deceiving. The landowner planted the seeds of the field. He knew very well the work of his enemy and the desire of his enemy to bring him shame. The landowner knows his seed. He knows that the seed he has planted produces hearty grain that will continue to grow even in the midst of the weeds and the competition for nutrition and irrigation. It is in the landowner's instructions concerning the weeds that the tide is turned against the enemy. The enemy sought to disgrace the landowner and certainly at times it appeared that the enemy was winning. The weed strategy of the enemy backfired. After the harvest the landowner will not only have the wheat filling his barn but will have extra unanticipated fuel for his farm through burning the weeds. The ultimate shame of the enemy is found in his own plot turning against himself. Placed alongside this everyday story of two families feuding is the spiritual story of the The confidence of the landowner in his grain able to survive the infestation of weeds is the key. Instead of acting out with fear and wickedness against his enemy, the landowner trusts in the goodness of the seed that he has planted. The landowner had a messy field but trusted in the goodness of the seed he has planted. Our Lord God here on earth has a messy church. But the victory of our Lord God does not come about through acts violence, revenge, or retaliation. Our Heavenly Father trusts in the inauguration of the Sin and the work of the devil in the parable are represented by the enemy of the landowner and the weeds that were planted. The defeat of the enemy did not come about through the landowner becoming like his enemy. But the landowner trusted in the goodness of the seed he planted. The enemy unexpected to himself ended up helping the landowner in the long run. When Christ was on trial before Pilate and did not squirm away from the charges brought against him, the devil may have thought that he was trapping the very son of God. Some attackers of the Christian faith have pointed to the weakness of God for allowing Jesus to die on the cross. In fact some heretical Christians in the past have said that Jesus could not have died on the cross but only appeared to do so. The ultimate shame was not found in God the Father for letting his only begotten son to die on the cross. The ultimate shame was found brought against the devil because he was shown impotent. For all the power we hand over to sin and evil, indeed we are powerless to fight against the sin that dwells within us. But we can be confident in victory through Jesus Christ. Jesus could not be defeated in death. He rose again victorious on third day and emptied the tomb for us. Now we who were once dead on account of sin but have risen in the new life of Christ no longer need to fear the power of sin, death, or the devil. In the parable the seed of the wheat produced a harvest that would overpower the work of the weeds. The landowner permitted for a while a messy field because he was confident in the ultimate harvest. It was a messy field, but in the harvest all was made clear. It is messy to consider that within the church here on earth exists both saint and sinner. At times it may look to the world like the church is weak and indeed a broken system. When sinful things happen in the church here on earth it would appear that the church is losing the battle. Like the village that would be laughing at the landowner and his messy field, the world does not understand the messy church. The messy church with immorality and all sorts of sin is not just an issue the Roman Catholic church is wrestling with. Every Christian in his church and in his own personal life wrestles with the presence of sin in the midst of the holy church. The answer to sin, the answer to our fear, the answer to our anger, the answer to our frustration is not found in violence, revenge or retaliation. Rather join yourself to the confidence of the landowner and be patient and trust in the power of God. Ultimately in the harvest the enemy is shown to be impotent against the righteousness of God. Through your faith in Christ the victory of God is your victory. We live in the time of the messy field, which is during the time between the seed being planted and the harvest. That is between the time of Jesus Christ having come in the flesh, suffered, died, and rose again and Jesus Christ coming again in the flesh to judge the living and the dead. In this messy church we live by grace, fed by the forgiveness of sins, and nurtured by the Word of God. The weeds in this world and in this church and in your own personal lives will continue to threaten, choke, and all around make things messy. But unlike the school yard were arguments break down to the explanation that he started it, in the church our response is to trust in the power of the forgiveness of sins, grace, and mercy. Live in the messy field, that is live in this time when things are so clear. Live by faith. Act by grace. In the face of worry, threats, anger, and violence, trust in Jesus Christ and his hands of grace and forgiveness. Soli Deo Gloria -->> Home |