Opening Prayer
Creator God, your love, grace and mercy are endless. As we worship today, we thank you for being present both here and in our daily lives. Grant that we hear your word today and heed its commands so that through us, others may come to know salvation through Jesus your Son. Amen.
“When We All Get to Heaven” Red Hymnal 542
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojVWilasbfQ
Scripture Reading Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Morning Message In the Weeds
When Jesus came to earth, and claimed to be the Messiah, the Jewish people who believed him were thrilled. Thrilled that God had finally sent their long-promised Savior and King. But they were hoping for an earthly king, someone who would overthrow the Roman government and bring them back to the wealth and national security their ancestors had experienced.
But God had something else in mind for his kingdom, and His Son Jesus often taught about it in his parables. In fact, about half of his parables in the Gospels are what we call Kingdom Parables. They often start with the words “the Kingdom of God is like….” And then there is a story that everyone can normally relate to. And often, what Jesus describes is far different than what people are expecting. Think of the prodigal son who is forgiven by his father after blowing his inheritance, or the workers in the vineyard. Those who worked an hour received the same daily wages as those who had worked all day. Many times, Jesus’ teaching doesn’t seem fair or justifiable.
The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 leaves us with no doubt of its meaning. Jesus clearly explains the meaning. But some of it still doesn’t make sense.
Let me read part of it again from the Message: “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.”
The farmer sows all good seeds, but an enemy comes along and plants bad seed. When the discovery is made, and thistles are growing among the wheat, the farmer tells his farmhands to leave it all there.
Now I don’t know about wheat fields, but I do know that for the most part we consider weeds to be a bad thing. You don’t leave weeds with the good plants if you can help it.
So, weeds are undesirable and we do our best to prevent them or get rid of them. BUT remember, this parable isn’t about OUR kingdom. Jesus is teaching us about God’s kingdom.
Jesus goes on to explain that the farmer who sows the good seed is God. The field is the world, the good seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.
This is prophetic message that God will send his angels to weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.
Jesus ends his explanation by asking, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” In other words, “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
And this is the question for us: are we really listening? Because a harvest will come, and no one but God knows the appointed time.
So, first, this passage is a warning to all people, good and bad seeds alike, and sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two.
Because we tend to right away jump to the conclusion that we are the good seed and all the people who do not live like we do are the bad seed.
And since we are the wheat, why do we have to deal with all the weeds that are choking the life out of us some days?
Two things: God lets the weeds and the wheat together until the final harvest. You may wonder why. Now think of a parent, friend, aunt, coworker whom you love. You love them dearly, but they do not know jesus Christ. Maybe you have been praying for them for years. Do you want God to weed THEM out quickly? Or do you want God to give them more time so that when the harvesttime comes, by God’s amazing grace, they too will experience eternal security in God’s Kingdom?
Second, consider yourself. If you are hanging your hat for salvation on ANYTHING other than forgiveness through Jesus Christ who bled and died for you, regardless of how “good” a person you are, you are still one of the weeds. If you are counting on your church attendance, your community service, your charitable donations, you basic, overall goodness, you are still one of the weeds. Weeds often live good lives by all outward appearances. Weeds and wheat are sometimes hard to tell apart.
Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus is the only way. And if your faith is real, your life will show it because you will bear good fruit.
We are saved FOR good works and not BY them. Only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross are you saved and among the wheat. Only the wheat will be spared at the end of time when Christ comes again.
So first, this parable is a warning to everyone. But second, it is also truly a story about the undeniable, unimaginable grace of God, and how deeply he loves his creation. He is patient, and yes, this world will come to an end, and those who don’t know him will spend eternity in pain and suffering completely separated from him and his love. BUT, He doesn’t remove them immediately, he patiently waits, and he send us, his workers, to testify to his love, and to salvation in Jesus His Son
I want to take you back to Genesis and the story of creation for a minute. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” From there God the Creator transforms void and darkness into a beautiful, perfect world. No sin, no sorrow, no pain, and no weeds or thistles in the Garden where Adam and Eve lived and worked. Every day of the creative process, God ends by saying it was good. And after creating the first human beings, he declared creation to be VERY good.
Just like the farmer in Jesus’ parable, everything God planted or created was GOOD. It was perfect.
But in Genesis 3, just like the parable, the enemy, the devil in the form of a serpent, swooped in and convinced Adam and Eve to do the one thing God had commanded them not to do, eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
And sin entered the world. Humans knew shame and suffering, thistles and weeds grew from the ground. They were separated from God.
But then, God’s grace. In Genesis 3:15 God tells the devil, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
This is God’s first promise of a Savior who would destroy the devil and defeat sin and death forever. Christ has already defeated sin and death, and brought the way to salvation to all who believe. Someday he will deliver a final crushing blow to the devil.
And earth will return to its original state. Humankind will live in harmony, with no pain, no sickness, no tears. Revelation 21:5, “Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
God, through our Savior Jesus Christ, is making all things new. Jesus’ parable is about the restoration of the Kingdom to what he intended it to be in the beginning. That’s why God patiently waits and doesn’t remove the weeds immediately. He waits because he loves. He waits because he IS love.
And he has called us to that very same love. I encourage you to never give up on those you love who don’t know Christ. Because there WILL be a harvest someday. I encourage you to make sure your own hearts are right with God, because there WILL be a harvest someday.
And for now, we who love the Lord are called to spread the Gospel of Christ to everyone we meet. We are called to produce good and beautiful fruit for His Kingdom. We are called to live among, and love those still in the weeds, until Christ comes again.
“Because He Lives”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSfLUNxGTO0
Pastoral Prayer
Creator God, you said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
We pray for those who are crying;
the sad, the depressed and the anxious.
We hope in the promise that God will wipe every tear from our eyes.
We mention in our hearts those we know who are sad and who know tears.
Pause
Lord you said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
We pray for those who are experiencing the consequences of death,
the bereaved and those who are mourning.
We hope in the promise that death and mourning will be no more.
We mention in our hearts those we know
who are affected by death and mourning
Pause
Lord you said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
We pray for those who are in pain,
suffering from illness either physical or mental.
We hope in the promise that crying and pain will be no more.
We mention in our hearts those we know who are ill or in pain.
Pause
Lord you said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
We pray for those who are thirsty for truth, love and grace;
those who seek God and his life with earnest hearts.
We hope in the promise that God will give water to the thirsty without cost from the spring of the water of life.
We mention in our hearts those we know who hunger and thirst for God.
Pause
Lord you said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’
Lord, your words are trustworthy and true.
You are the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end.
We pray all this in the powerful and hopeful name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
~ written by Sara Hargreaves, and posted on EngageWorship.org. http://engageworship.org
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
“I’ll Fly Away”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJMKl6ytxC8
Benediction based on Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Amen.
Go in peace to serve our amazing God!
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