Jesse Proper 11

Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-40

Themes fear, hope, creation, anticipation, Spirit, new creation

Paul talks about us being debtors but not to the flesh but to the Spirit, we are in debt to the Spirit who works within us and who we work through. See what information I can about ancient debtors and creditors, I think there is something about how the money lenders or sponsors would lend but then you were at their beckon call when they needed something. In the Roman world the debtor and creditor relationship was a way of life, there were two classes in Roman society the Patricians (the powerful ones) they would be appointed to positions to run society, like priests, judges, and magistrates and the Plebeians (the less powerful and the masses) who performed tasks like farming, trading, and crafts. This would grow in the function of Clientelia and Patrocinium, which would actually become a give and take relationship. The patron would usually give the client material goods like food or money or represent them in court cases using their oratory skills to support their client’s case. While the client would give the patron more prestige and social status, by following them to their jobs for the day, to show how many clients they had and cheering when they might make a point in the forum. I could see using this type of system in regards to our relationship with God except God is the perfect patron and does not require anything social status or materials from us, but just wants a relationship and wants his clients to represent him well. [Debt is something that hangs over your head and distracts you especially if it is not institutionalized debt like many of us have, but a debt from someone that can be called at anytime. Think for a minute if you will about your own debt what would you do if the bank or credit card company sent you a letter or called you tomorrow and said you need to pay all of this now? I think most of us would be calling a bankruptcy lawyer that same day.] I can turn that into we are in debited to the Spirit and when he needs to use us we are meant to answer the call to fulfill God’s will and purpose here and now, being the instruments of God. Can tie this back to Paul and the other Apostles miracle working, prayer requests, missionary work, etc.

Can even tie this all into living to the flesh that you will die spiritually, if you keep shutting out the Spirit and God you will not know when or how to act when it is time. But if you put the death the deeds of the body thinks like fear then you will live. You will be led by the Spirit of God and will live into your calling to be a child of God. Because the Spirit of God doesn’t want us to live in fear but and fall back into slavery to our own self doubts. No the Spirit wants us to live into our true nature as children of God. Maybe remind everyone of the Tales of the Kingdom stories. The Spirit encourages us to cry out Abba Father so that we can really live into our roles as children of God, and not just children but heirs, when the child grows up they become heirs and have learned how to take what is given to them and continue to grow it and prosper it. Just like last week we heard about the seeds planted in the good soil can yield a return of 30, 60, or 100 fold.

Why doesn’t God do something? Almost every one in here has probably been asked that by someone. Tragedies happen and we ask ourselves why doesn’t God act or stop these things? This parable isn’t a direct answer but it does start to show that God’s sovereign rule over the world isn’t quite such a straightforward thing as people like to imagine. Think about it what would it be like if God really did rule the world directly and immediately, our every thought and action weighed and instantly judged and if necessary punished in the scales of his absolute holiness? What if God stepping in to stop a terrorist attack or school shooting or campaign of genocide, meant that he had to rebuke and restrain every other evil impulse in the world, including those that I know I still have and usually like within myself and I am sure that you have and still cherish in your life? God doesn’t always step in for special occasions and then just back off so that we can enjoy our own sins. The parable we read today is about waiting, and waiting is so hard, I know. The farmer has to wait for the wheat and weeds to grow up together, ugh such a pain to know that those weeds are out there sapping the soil of nutrients you want your crop to have. But he has to wait or he risks losing the whole harvest. Jesus’ followers didn’t want to wait for the kingdom of God to come, they got to see the first fruits of what the world could be like and they wanted it all right then and there. They saw what a just and righteous man was and what he could do and they wanted the whole world to be put to right by him right then and there. They weren’t as interested in God’s timetable; they had their own priorities and wanted God’s timeline to conform to their own. We all still experience this, wither it be with a raise at work, or extending summer break or shorting summer break (right parents?!), wanting the hands of the alarm clock to not move so fast while we sleep. If we think about the type of lesson the parable is trying to teach us, what would happen if we moved up the harvest? There are many people who might not be ready to be harvested yet and they would be rounded up with the weeds and tossed away instead of being gathered into the barn. The point of this parable is patience but not just the patience of the servants who have to wait to harvest or us who have to carry on with evil around us. It is also about the patience of God himself…he doesn’t want to call the harvest too soon and have wheat bundled up with the weeds, he doesn’t want to lose any persons that can be saved, his love is so great that he does not want to risk any wheat being lost. Jesus himself had to live in the tension that the Kingdom of God was at hand but not going to be fully fulfilled in his time on earth, his disciples had to live with this and all Christians have had to live in the tension of the kingdom is here but not fully yet, it is not with a bang that the kingdom is coming but with a slow growing of the wheat. Anyone who gardens can tell you about the joy and tension of seeing a flower start to bud into a vegetable and then continue to grow and having to decide which day is going to be the best or right day to pick it off the plant.

Maybe move this part to the end and talk about hope as reflected in the story from Matthew.

The re-creation of the earth and the labor pains. All creation is awaiting for us to become true heirs of Christ for the Apocalypse to take place, it was not just us who were put under a curse when we sinned but the whole earth was literally God said “cursed is the ground because of you.” But Christ came to redeem all of creation not just humans, we are the first fruits of that redemption but God wants to put all things to right. So through Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection he has restored us to our rightful place as gardeners, who are to tend to the whole of creation. I think we could reimagine the harrowing of hell icons to not just be Jesus pulling Adam and Eve out of the grave with a rocky background but Jesus pulling them out in either a desolate background with small sprouts starting to pop up or a vine emerging from the darkness as well. The earth was meant to be a garden but due to sin it is no longer a garden and it brings forth thorns and thistles. Which brings us into Jesus’ parable.

From Paul’s letter we can see the whole plan of salvation for all God’s creation laid out, it is a wonderful view. A lot of the time in reading Romans we want to hurry past this section of the letter, to most it seems Paul is wanders off down a rabbit trail while talking about more important things on the “Roman Road” and theories of individual justification and salvation. Tell the story about Dad in New Mexico here.

So like my dad a lot of people when reading this section of Romans 8, Re-Read the section I am talking about (v. 18-25) stop too soon or continue on the path a little too quickly and miss a great view. They don’t expect Paul to talk about how God is redeeming all creation in the middle of talking about the indwelling of the Spirit and God’s love for his children.

The troubles and suffering we have now are going to be far outweighed by the glory that is going to be unveiled FOR us, not IN or THROUGH us but FOR us, it is God’s work not ours. And not TO us, we are going to be spectators of the glory. Creation is waiting for sovereign rule, sharing the Messiah’s saving rule over the whole world, it is waiting for us and all God’s children to be revealed, so that we can become what we were originally intended to be gardeners, who can put the raw power of the earth to work for good and glory. Living in Kentucky we don’t generally witness the raw power the earth has, but we hear about it often usually in the forms of natural disasters, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and hurricanes these things show us creation is like a caged wild animal most of the time but sometimes that power breaks free and wreaks havoc, but it is just a sign of the corruption of creation. Paul is telling us that although the world is still God’s good creation, is not at present the way it should be. Paul is keeping Genesis 1-3 in his mind. But we rebelled and worshipped parts of creation instead of God and creation fell into disrepair. And just like the good farmer who has to be patient and wait for the right time to harvest, God allowed the creation to remain in disrepair not because he wanted it to be like that but because he was determined to one day put the world back to rights according to the original plan. Now we should not think that creation is waiting to share the freedom that we have as children of God. No it is waiting to be ruled by God’s glorified children, when God will teach, show, and finally give us wise rule and stewardship so we can rightly bear his image. Paul moves on to talk about how we will be fully and finally redeemed at the resurrection. Again we live in the tension between the glorious promise and the present reality, the promise the the weeds will be burned and the enemy who sowed them defeated and the present problem that we have weeds in the field, causing problems above and below the surface. The tension that the Spirit is already at work in us calling us to do great things but the reality that we can’t or don’t listen or know how to accomplish those great things or how to know God fully. But the hope is that one day we will fully see it, for we have hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience

Want to talk about Paul’s end of the story with the birth pangs of creation [REREAD WRIGHT’S PAUL FOR EVERYONE AND CRAFT YOUR OWN STUFF OUT OF IT]

STORY IDEA TO BRING UP IN THE MIDDLISH OF THE SERMON LIKE WRIGHT’S VIEW ANALOGY IS DAD IN NEW MEXICO ON OUR WALK BEING LIKE 25 FEET AWAY FROM THE PARKING LOT BUT SITTING TO REST IN THE SUN BECAUSE HE DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS SO CLOSE AND THAT HE COULD HAVE RESTED IN THE CAR WITH A/C