Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.19UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.49UNLIKELY
Fear
0.16UNLIKELY
Joy
0.13UNLIKELY
Sadness
0.53LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.69LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.46UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.95LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.62LIKELY
Extraversion
0.15UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.11UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.75LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Proper 11
Pentecost 9
Ordinary Time 16
5.
Thistles Among The Wheat
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;
25but while everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds
among the wheat, and then went away.
26So when the plants came
up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
27And 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?' 28He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'
The slaves
said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29But
he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the
wheat along with them.
30Let 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.'"
36Then 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."
37He answered, "The one who sows the
good seed is the Son of Man; 38the field is the world, and the
good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the
children of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are
angels.
40Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with
fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
41The Son of Man will
send his angels, and they will collect
63
out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and
they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43Then the righteous will
shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Let anyone
with ears listen!"
The parable of the weeds and wheat is intriguing.
It raises
a number of issues that are complex and can be confusing.
Some
resolutions of the issues are suggested while for others you need
to look elsewhere for more adequate explanations.
Some
differences are found within the parable itself and the
interpretation given to the disciples.
One of the issues is the question about the nature of the
church.
Does this parable apply to the church as part of the
kingdom of God?
If so, is the church a divine or a human
institution?
How should the church deal with differences and
dissent among its members?
Should a person ever be excluded from
membership in the church?
What kind, if any, of discipline
should the church exercise?
If so, when, why and how?
Is the
church intended to be inclusive so that it encompasses anyone who
wants to belong?
Or is the church exclusive, so that certain
conditions are established for entrance into and continuing in
membership in the church?
It is the issue posed by Troeltsch in
his description of the church as inclusive or the sect as
exclusive.
Which should be the true form of the church?
Another broad issue raised by the interpretation of the
parable is the presence of evil in the church and in the world.
Should the church advocate the eradication of the evil by
destroying the perpetrators of evil?
What is the role of the
church in supporting attempts to remove the evil?
It even raises
the question of why a good and powerful God permits evil to
persist in the world.
Can we trust that God will ultimately
overcome all evil?
If so, when and how will that happen?
How
should the church and Christians behave toward the evil in the
world during the interim until God brings the end of history,
especially when evil seems to be overwhelming the good?
64
Context
The parable is one of three in the current series, all
having a similar purpose in understanding the nature of the
kingdom of heaven.
Context of Matthew 13
Three parables from an agricultural setting are given in
succession in Matthew 13: the parable of the seeds and the sower
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9