The Cross of Christ Week 3

Pastoral Welcome

Call To Worship

This is none other than the house of God.

This is no less than the gate of heaven.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

God hems us in, behind and before, and lays hands of blessing upon us.

Such knowledge is too wonderful to imagine.

It is so high we cannot attain it.

Rejoice, for we are in the house of God.

Give thanks and sing, for this is the gate of heaven.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

Prayer of the People

O God, you so loved the world as to give your only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

Grant to us the precious gift of faith,

that we may know that the Son of God is come,

and may have power to overcome the world

and gain a blessed immortality;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

Generous God,

fill us with compassion and concern for others, young and old,

that we may look after one another in these challenging days.

Bring healing to those who are sick with the virus

For the doctors, we pray,

for the nurses, we pray,

for the technicians and the janitors and the

aides and the caregivers, we pray,

for the researchers and theorists,

the epidemiologists and investigators,

for those who are sick,

and be with their families.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

For those who are dying, and for those who have died.

Send forth your comforting love.

Give solace to those who mourn.

Console those who grieve.

May your grace surround us

like a mantle upon our heads,

a shawl upon our shoulders,

a hand, to hold our hand.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

We pray for those in leadership in our lives,

entrusted with representing the interests

of local people in their communities,

taking decisions which will directly influence their lives,

wrestling with limited resources and numerous demands.

Give to them the qualities they need to serve faithfully,

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

For those who serve in harms way,

those who live in dangerous places,

those who live in areas of war and strife,

those who live in fear,

those who worry about employment, bills, food,

and struggle just to find dignity in life.

May your grace bring peace and safety to all people, one to another.

Lord in your mercy; Hear our Prayer

In the fulness of time, O God, you sent your son, to be born of our sister Mary. And his name was Emmanuel: God With Us. We thank you for your Presence with us, and we pray the prayer that he taught us saying....

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 who 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 and ever.

Amen.

Middle Chunk

Celebration

- Mission giving numbers

Offertory

Sermon

Matthew 13:24–30 NRSV

24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 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?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 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.’ ”

The world of the text

Darnel

bearded darnell

When they are first born they both look identical and the most experienced farmer cannot tell them apart

The root systems grow into each other

If you kill one you kill them both

You can’y separate until they are more fully grown

Bearded darnel is slightly poisonous

it had to be meticulously separated by hand

Parables

A parable poses an impossible question because but by asking an impossible question it reveals a truth itself

They present an impossible question

The question posed here is are you the good seed sown by God or are you the bad seed sown by the devil?

The parable breaks the paradigm because we are both

We don’t know if we are the wheat or we are the tare

We don’t really know which line to get in

because in a lot of ways we are in both

We are part good, part bad

It seems that the mainline use of this is to say that the church is consistent of both good and bad people

The farmers are more concerned about throwing out the good stuff than they are about letting the bad stuff grow

It the priority was on avoiding the bad they would have thrown them out

It is easy, it is too easy in fact to point fingers

To say that it is the people on the other side of the aisle as me

Or to say it’s the people in the middle of the aisle because they aren’t taking the stand

Evil happens within me and I don’t want to admit to

Sometimes it is easy to play the victim

but the truth is that we are both victims and perpetrators of injustice

Judgement is in God’s job description, not yours

…but that is good news...

God gets to judge

It is is the realm and the authority of God to judge

The scandal of the Cross is not only that God judges, but that God even judged God’s own self

Don’t dismiss others - it is not yet the time of the harvest

Nobody’s story is over. God alone judges, and God judges one’s whole life

No one is beyond saving, no not one

Our judgement is inaccurate

If the farmer decided to start throwing out the weeds, they might accidentally get one that would flourish into wheat

Patience is required because you never know what something can become - we are invited to sanctification

Judgement is a naughty word to us, but it is not meant to be from God

Retributive Justice - based off of punishment - It isn’t that we did a wrong thing and that we should be punished and instead of us being punished Jesus was punished. That is retributive justice.

Restorative Justice - Restorative justice recognizes that through our sin we have put distance between ourselves and God, we have put distance between ourself and other people, and in an abstract way we have even distanced ourselves from who we truly are.

God’s judgement is about cleansing us, and bringing us back in relationship once again with God

God’s just judgement is actually a gift to us that connects us to God, to others, and to ourselves once again

Let Jesus (the cross) sort out what is Justice

There is freedom in knowing both that we can’t judge as well as God can

Jesus took on the wrath of God on the cross

The Cross of Christ is for all of us

Through the cross we see that it just simply is not about ME

The cross of Christ proclaims that judgement will come in the end

There will be injustice until Christ comes again

Jesus died for both victims and perpetraitors

judgement is about repairing of relationship

The cross is our basis for justice

Judgement and justice have the same root word in Greek

The Cross of Christ is for all of us which gives us the basis to care for the other

I am often upset about when injustice comes my way

But am I as upset when...

War is ransaking a country on the other side of the world

Am I as upset when justice is not upheld in court rooms

Am I as upset when homeless camps in my city get bulldozed because it is illegal to reside in public.

Am I as upset when the pollution that I contribute to means that my great grandchildren might not get to see parts of the world that are available to me

God judgement to Jesus paved the way for our justice

It frees us to love one another

Our roots are intertwined so we need each other

We are intertwined and the cross of christ is for all of u