Measured by Grace

Introduction

Last week, Jesus invited us to marvel at God’s extravagant grace.

This week, that same grace calls us to account.

The grace that forgives us is also the grace that transforms us.

Sanctifying grace sharpens our spiritual senses...

...opening our eyes to the suffering of our neighbors...

...and calls us to participate more fully in the life of Christ.

Over the past two weeks, our nation has witnessed two fatal shootings during Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo lost his life.

Less than a week later, in Biddeford, Maine...

Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero was also killed during an ICE operation.

Their deaths have left families grieving...

...communities shaken,

...and many asking difficult questions about,

...immigration, public safety, and the use of force.

Before we move forward, it’s important to remind ourselves that Scripture has always said...

...every human being is created in the image of God.

...and the Church affirms this.

Every life is sacred.

Every death deserves our lament.

Whenever deadly force is used, Christians are called...

...to seek truth,

...pursue justice,

...and uphold the dignity of every person involved.

We pray for these families who grieve,

...for the officers involved,

...for immigrant communities living in fear,

...and for our nation as we seek a more just way.

There are moments when the Church cannot remain silent...

...not because it belongs to a political party...

...but because it belongs to Jesus Christ.

We do not bring Scripture to politics to win arguments.

We bring Scripture to the world so that the Gospel might transform the world.

The prophets consistently reminded God’s people that power is never exempt from God’s judgment.

Whenever authority is exercised,

...Scripture asks not only whether it is lawful...

...but whether it reflects the character of God.

The powers of this world know how to count.

They count arrests.

They count removals.

They count operations.

They count efficiency.

But who is counting...

...the children who now go to sleep without a parent?

...the spouses left wondering whether they’ll ever see one another again?

...the neighbors too afraid to report a crime or seek medical care?

...the communities left carrying wounds long after the operation is over?

There are times when those entrusted with authority begin measuring success by how effectively they can remove people.

When such occurs, Scripture invites us to measure faithfulness by how communities are restored rather than how people are removed.

Which raises a question for us this morning...

How does God measure success differently than the powers of this world?

Jesus answers that question with a parable.

Protecting Vulnerable Lives

Let us turn to the parable...

God measures success by protecting vulnerable lives.

Imagine a surgeon removing a tumor.

The cancer is real.

No one denies that...

...but no good surgeon says,

“Let’s remove twice as much healthy tissue just to be safe.”

Every unnecessary cut damages the very body the surgeon is trying to heal.

Success isn’t measured only by what was removed...

It’s measured only by what was preserved.

Jesus tells a similar story.

The servants discover weeds growing among the wheat...

...and immediately ask:

“Do you want us to go and gather them?”

Notice how Jesus never denies the existence of evil.

An enemy has sown the weeds.

The weeds threaten the field.

The harvest will come.

The question is not whether evil exists...

The question is, how do disciples exercise power in the presence of evil?

The servants assume success means acting immediately...

...removing the problem.

...clearing the field.

The landowner measures success differently...

The Scripture says: “No, because if you gather the weeds, you’ll pull up the wheat along with them.”

Notice what receives the landowner’s attention first...

...not the weeds…

...but the wheat!

His first concern is not, “What can we remove?”

Rather, his first concern is

“Whom might we harm?”

That changes everything.

Jesus does not redefine evil.

Jesus redefines faithful power.

Faithful power is not measured merely by whether it accomplishes its objective.

It is measured by the lives it protects along the way.

Friends, we do not have to look far to see why this matters.

We saw it in nearby Cato...

...where workers were detained during a factory raid…

...and families were suddenly left wondering where their loved ones had gone.

We saw it when Dame Ka, an Upstate Medical University employee...

...was detained at the Syracuse Airport while traveling to attend the World Cup.

His story was not simply about immigration status.

It was about the humiliation of being handcuffed and treated as though he were a danger before boarding an airplane.

These are not merely immigration stories.

They are stories about neighbors...

...about workers...

...about families...

...about people created in the image of God.

Christians may reach different conclusions about immigration policy.

But before we ask what authority can do...

Jesus teaches us to ask what faithful authority should do.

The landowner’s first concern is not removing the weeds...

It is protecting the wheat.

The world measures success by removal.

The kingdom measures success by protection.

That is how God measures success differently than the powers of this world.

God measures success by protecting vulnerable lives.

Trusting Ultimate Justice

Protecting vulnerable lives also requires trusting God’s ultimate justice.

One of the hardest lessons I learned as a supervisor was watching someone make the very same mistake I had made years earlier.

Every instinct of mine wanted to jump in and prevent it.

But I also knew that some lessons are learned only by living through them.

So sometimes the most faithful thing I could do was step back…

            …wait…

            …and trust the process of growth.

Sometimes patience accomplishes what immediate intervention never could.

Jesus says the landowner tells his servants:

“Let both grow side by side until the harvest.”

Those may be the hardest words in the entire parable.

...wait...

...leave them alone...

Resist the temptation to do God’s work before God asks you to.

I find it interesting how he identifies the harvesters...

...and guess what?

...they aren’t the servants...

...they aren’t the landowner...

The harvesters are the angels.

That detail matters...

...because it reminds us that there are responsibilities God has not entrusted to us.

The servants want to sort who is in and who is out...

But Jesus says the sorting belongs to God...

The servants want immediate judgment...

Jesus points toward the end of the age.

The servants want certainty today.

Jesus invites trust until tomorrow.

Friends, this is not a denial of justice.

It is confidence that God’s justice is wiser than ours.

The fact is...

...the weeds often seem to win.

Hatred often seems louder than compassion.

Violence often seems stronger than mercy.

Fear often seems more persuasive than hope.

Jesus knows that...

...his first disciples knew that...

...and so do we.

But Matthew refuses to let the weeds have the final word.

The harvest is still coming.

God is still sovereign.

Justice delayed is not justice abandoned.

That hope changes how we live now.

It frees us to stand with those who suffer without assuming God’s role in bringing ultimate judgment.

It frees us from confusing urgency with faithfulness.

It frees us to resist evil without becoming consumed by it.

...because we trust that the God who planted the good seed has not abandoned the field.

The world measures success by immediate judgment.

The kingdom measures success by patient justice.

That is how God measures success differently than the powers of this world.

God measures success by trusting ultimate justice.

Restoring Broken Communities

Protecting vulnerable lives requires patience and trust...

...that God’s justice will come.

In the meantime, we are also called to measure success not by what is removed...

...but by how broken communities are restored. 

Jesus’ parable does not end with the weeds...

...it ends with a harvest.

The weeds are real.

The judgment is real.

But they are not the final image Jesus leaves us with.

You see, friends, the story ultimately points to a field...

...a field full of wheat gathered safely into the landowner’s barn.

The landowner’s vision was never simply removing weeds.

His vision was to preserve a harvest.

That is God’s vision for the kingdom.

Not merely the absence of evil...

...but communities where life flourishes.

That is why Jesus spends so much of his ministry restoring people to community.

He doesn’t simply heal leapers...

He restores them to their families.

He doesn’t simply forgive Zacchaeus...

He restores him to his neighbors.

The kingdom is always moving toward restoration.

I see glimpses of that kingdom right here in our own congregation.

Members of this church regularly invite a refugee into their lives.

Not because they’re trying to solve the immigration system...

Not because they're trying to rescue someone...

Simply because they’re building a friendship.

Sharing meals...

Walking through the park together...

Attending community events...

Learning from one another...

Practicing hospitality...

...and little by little...

...a stranger becomes a neighbor...

...a neighbor becomes a friend...

...and a community becomes just a little more like the kingdom of God.

Friends, that is what sanctifying grace does.

It changes what Christians count as success.

The world counts removals...

Grace counts relationships.

The world counts efficiency...

Grace counts belonging.

The world counts those who crossed the border.

Christ counts those who found a place at the table.

University, restoring our community isn’t the responsibility of one or two remarkable people.

It’s the calling of every disciple.

Most of us cannot rewrite immigration law.

...but every one of us can share a cup of coffee...

...invite someone to dinner...

...take a walk...

...listen to a story...

...extend a welcome...

...attend a 1:00 Swahili service...

That is how communities are restored.

The world measures success by removal.

The kingdom measures success by restoration.

That is how God measures success differently than the powers of this world.

God measures success by restoring broken communities.

Kerygmatic Fulfillment

University...

Every generation must learn to ask not only, “What is happening in our world?”

...but “Where is Christ calling us to respond?”

For Jesus Christ has already shown us what faithfulness looks like.

He entered a world ruled by fear...

...and answered it with love...

He entered a world divided by hostility...

...and created a new community...

He entered a world that crucified the innocent...

...and answered violence with forgiveness...

He entered a world that believed death had the final word...

...and walked out of the tomb alive.

That is the Kingdom we belong to.

That is the Kingdom breaking into our world even now.

So let us not grow weary...

Let us not become cynical...

Let us not surrender to despair...

For Christ is still gathering a harvest.

Christ is still reconciling the world to himself.

Christ is still making all things new!

...and every act of kindness...

...every act of welcome...

...every act of courage...

...becomes a sign of the Kingdom that is coming.

So until that glorious day...

...let us protect vulnerable lives.

...let us trust God’s ultimate justice...

...let us restore broken communities...

For this is the work of sanctifying grace that...

...shapes us into disciples of Jesus Christ who...

...empowered by the Holy Spirit...

...love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously

...in Syracuse and our worldwide connections.

We commit to this as disciples...

...until, in the words of our Lord Jesus,

“the righteous will shine like the sun in their Divine Parent’s kingdom.”

In the name of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.