Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

July 23, 2023

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

He put before them another parable: “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 slaves 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, and 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!

| Centering Prayer |

Wow.

We have today

Yet another interesting parable

– para bole’ – of Jesus.

This one is a bit more challenging.

My message for today will be

Two points, one short, one long, both of equal importance.

…

1. This is the second of three parables

That Jesus teaches to help describe the Kingdom of heaven.

Last week was about sowing,

Today, you could say the parable is about weeding.

The Gospel’s descriptive phrase,

Kingdom of heaven, as compared to Kingdom of God,

Is unique to the Gospel of Matthew.

What does this mean?

Matthew strings together multiple parables of Jesus

To describe to ever changing crowds and followers

What the Kingdom of heaven is like.

Consider the Kingdom of heaven being that

Which contrasts the differences between

The realm of God’s kingdom and

The kingdom of the Emperor.

The Emperor’s kingdom is time limited on earth,

While God reigns eternally, from above in heaven.

The act of Jesus being born …

… coming to earth …

Tears the fabric that separates the two kingdoms.

Jesus steps through the membrane

Representing the breakthrough of God’s kingdom on the earth.

This makes the Gospel political.

This makes Jesus political.

Through Jesus,

God opposes all politics and parties of this world

That do not square

With Christian living and values.

I’m registered independent.

I value honesty, integrity, humility, and service.

I believe,

When asked about my politics,

The best response is

“The Gospel is my politic.”

I’d encourage you to consider the same.

The risk, of course, is conviction by the same Gospel we so dearly love.

So here, a dichotomy is created,

A true dipolar with mutually exclusive contrasting choices.

Parables about the Kingdom of heaven

Force the audience pick a side,

To take a calculated risk:

Which kingdom will prevail?

The Kingdom of Heaven, or,

A kingdom of the world?

Whose empire do you chose?

Choose your allegiance,

And choose carefully.

To God

Or to the Emperor?

This is a potent, often times biting reality

For the modern-day Christian living in America.

Many feel the push-pull of competing voices

Between faith and country.

Yes, patriotism runs deep.

Yes, we love our history, traditions, and institutions.

Yes, we love our culture, country, constitution, and rule of law.

I love this country, this land, our people, our freedom and liberty

As much as any other law-abiding citizen.

At the same time,

I recognize

Love is not exclusive,

But allegiance is.

Neither politicians nor policies can save us.

Neither democracy nor dictators can save us.

Neither the state nor its military can save us.

Salvation comes exclusively at the hand of the Lord,

Through His Son, Jesus Christ.

“The kingdom of heaven is like …” Jesus begins.

Choose your allegiance,

And chose carefully.

…

2. Also unique to Matthew

Is the impossible-to-evade theme of judgment.

We’re talking here

End-time judgment,

Final harvest,

Four horsemen of the apocalypse kind of judgment.

Truth be told?

All cards on the table?

I’m not one of those pastors or preachers

That likes to focus on judgment,

Hell-fire and brimstone, a

Gozer and Ghostbusters final smackdown.

What makes me uncomfortable

Is the long history of the Church using

The threat of judgment

To abuse power,

To exercise power and authority.

Judgment is a better anvil than hammer;

A better backstop than a no-hitter;

A better perry than a thrust.

I don’t interpret the Bible to be lopsided

Or weighted in favor of law and punishment,

To the exclusion of, or

At the expense of,

The grace and redeeming love of a merciful God and heavenly Father.

God’s grace is balanced,

Tempered, and

True;

The finest characteristic of United Methodism.

At the end of the day,

Even the penalties of the highest court in the land

Are limited by the defendant’s mortal lifespan.

Brick and mortal cells,

Bars and locks of iron,

Have a limited time and season.

Rust. Erosion. Closure.

Death.

All limit the capacity and span of human judgment.

God’s judgment is eternal.

Therefore, it is wise to treat God’s judgment with the respect it deserves.

Matthew hits on judgment

time and again,

Sunday after Sunday

this Summer and Fall,

Making it necessary to address God’s judgment,

Without predigest or apology.

Come around the first of every month,

The rent must be paid.

Are you a law-and-order kind of person?

You want judgment?

Well, Matthew’s got judgment,

And this first Gospel serves it up in spades.

Like a compliant child or a dutiful tenant,

I’ll line up and take my Castor Oil.

I will pay the rent.

Boldly, I will address the issue of judgment

As uniquely discussed in Matthew.

It doesn’t mean I have to like it.

After a multiple preliminary reads of Matthew 13 this past week,

It didn’t take much time

To return to our opening Skit on a Stick,

Our Call to Worship,

Psalm 86,

To find shelter from the promised judgment.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. (86:5)

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul (86:12-13)

The reality that judgment is coming

Is like being on the receiving end of an artillery barrage.

The crack of the gun

Is followed by the whoosh of Armageddon.

The faithful better be hugging the bottom of the foxhole,

And, I’d suggest,

clutching a copy of Psalm 86 in hand.

Take comfort.

The Psalmist reminds all of us who

Fear judgment and are filled with anxiety.

Take comfort the Psalmist sings,

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

– Psalm 86:15

When it comes to the Kingdom of heaven,

If judgment is involved,

I don’t know about you, but,

I’m looking forward to standing before

A merciful and gracious appellate judge;

One who is slow to anger,

Who is abiding in steadfast love,

And who is faithful to their promise.

Even yet, Jesus concludes this parable with

“I will tell the reapers,

Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned,

But gather the wheat into my barn.”

– Matthew 13:30b

As if this isn’t sufficient,

Early church editors emphasize Jesus’ interpretation:

“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.”

– Matthew 13:41-42

Weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Good luck to any this morning who

Attempt to sugar-coat this Gospel passage.

What then are we to say?

What is to be learned about judgment,

And how can our insight be used to make

A thoughtful, faithful mid-course correction

On our journey of faith?

Unlike the previously mentioned issue of allegiance,

Which is an all-or-nothing proposition,

I’d suggest the faithful,

True blue disciples of Jesus,

Are a both/and concoction

Of both sinners and saints.

Our hypocrisy is hanging out there for everyone to see,

Both from within and from the outside:

“People that go to church,

Who call themselves Christians,

are some of the biggest sinners on the planet.

What a bunch of hypocrites.”

You’ve heard it.

I’ve heard it.

Guilty as charged.

I deserve nothing less than being first in line

To be thrown into the unquenchable fire,

To be consumed by

The gnashing of teeth

Of unmentionable beasts.

My guess is that I’ll be in good company.

If the point of judgment is punishment

Then every thoughtful disciple of Jesus Christ must ask,

“Then why has God given us Jesus?”

Christ died to take away our sin.

The fancy word for this is “redemption”.

We’ve been redeemed, forgiven, and cleansed by the crucifixion of Jesus.

Christ rose from the dead to save us into the eternal kingdom of God.

The eloquent term is “salvation”.

God sent Jesus to redeem and save the world,

To transform every sinner into a saint,

Using the lifespan to mold and shape each person

Exactly as God intends.

QED, people of faith who are disciples of Jesus.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

Thus, it is demonstrated:

We are sinners,

Imperfect, flawed, and fractured.

At the same time,

We are redeemed and saved …

Living saints,

Identified and called by God,

Making progress towards perfection,

Eternal life.

Christ has made it so.

When the time of judgment comes,

And, yes, every seed will see a time of harvest,

“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.”

– Matthew 13:41-42

Angels, or agents of Jesus Christ,

Will harvest and collect out …

Pay attention to the wording here …

“all causes of sin and evildoers”.

What falls into that category of “all causes of sin”?

Every cause of sin

Can be traced back to the presence and behavior

Of the Devil in the creation story …

… the slithering, fast-talking snake.

Adam and Eve are tempted to take a stand as an equal with

God, their creator.

This, of course, is absurd, from our hindsight perspective,

The fact is: they took the bait.

They opened the door for every cause of sin

To enter into Paradise

To the smug satisfaction of the Devil himself.

Every cause of sin

will be collected out and thrown into the furnace of fire.

Every temptation,

Every desire to equal or best ourselves with our creator,

Every thought of another god or competing idol,

Including power, wealth, violence, domination …

All of it …

Will be collected out by the Son of Man and His angels, and

Will be burned with fire.

In the kingdom of heaven

There is no cause of sin.

The kingdom of heaven will be as pure as the driven snow.

What falls into the category of “evildoers”?

Who … are to be judged and punished?

Matthew and his editors report Jesus saying the following:

“the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.”

– Matthew 13:38b-39a

Children of the Devil are the evil subjects of this parable.

Be warned.

They live amongst us, though they avoid us.

They do their work in the dark,

practicing their behavior in secret.

In the kingdom of heaven

There are no evildoers,

Nor will there ever be.

As both sinner and saint,

I’d suggest that

When I take the bait of temptation

And engage in behavior I’d rather kept in secret,

Then I’m doing the work of the Devil.

Secrecy is a sign! A red flag warning!

Danger, Will Robinson!

Avoiding the work of the saints

Is the same as doing the work of the Devil.

Avoidance of what is good and right is a tell-tell sign!

Listen to the voice of experience:

Don’t submit to temptation and engage in the work of the Devil!

Run away!

Run from temptation!

I’ve touched the hot stove

And it grievously burns.

It burns badly.

If necessary, run away and get help.

Speak with the pastor, a counselor, a peer.

Support is found in the community of fellow disciples,

Those people, I’d suggest,

Are angels

Who God sends our way.

“The wages of sin is death,”

The Apostle Paul correctly proclaims in his letter to the church in Rome.

“But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

– Romans 6:23

The judgment of sin is being thrown into the furnace of fire.

The free gift of God,

Which is the definition of “Grace”

Is eternal life in Christ,

Or, as Matthew concludes,

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

– Matthew 13:43

Those who the angels of the Son of Man separates out from the weeds,

Will shine like the sun,

Will be eternal stars,

In the Father’s kingdom.

…

Dearly beloved,

Jesus gives his disciples guidance

Through this, his parable of the weeds.

Are you interested in taking his advice?

If so,

Chose God, and God’s kingdom.

Make your allegiance with God,

not with the Emperors or kingdoms of this world.

Fear not impending judgment.

Our God’s purpose isn’t to punish.

God intends to cleanse the world of sin and to lead everyone,

By the hand of Jesus,

Back through the divide

Into God’s Heavenly kingdom.

Run from temptation.

Live in the light.

And together,

Let us shine like the sun.

Amen.