Today's sermon on Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 that I preached at Living Waters Lutheran in Sauk Rapids, my current Home Congregation. It's a a rough text, and a rough sermon to go along with it. We are indeed called to "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable", right? As always, you get the benefit of pictures!
What is going on in the world right
now? Record cool temperatures have embraced the Midwest in the last couple weeks,
while the Western United States has seen record heat, fires and drought. The
Eastern seaboard is flooding, and Minnesota had one of the wettest Junes on
record. The lands that our Savior once trod are now engulfed in constant
bombings, with Israelis invading Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
Hundreds of people have perished in the last couple weeks, with no viable peace
in sight. One plane has disappeared, and another just like it from the same
country was shot down, with hundreds of people gone forever. Children are
crossing our southern border in droves, and we as an American people can argue
till we’re blue in the face while these children lie in huddled masses,
awaiting a resolution. An estimated 50,000 people in this country have been
killed due to gun violence since I stood up here after the Newtown school
shooting 18 months ago. Hundreds of people are dying in West Africa due to an
outbreak of the Ebola virus, and civil unrest continues in Ukraine, Egypt and
Syria. Meanwhile, here we are.
Here we are, in this air
conditioned sanctuary, with little to no worry of any of these tragedies
hitting too close to home. What can we, as people of faith, in the face of all
this… this evil… what can we do to aid in all of this?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us another
parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. At first glance, this parable makes for an
excellent hellfire and brimstone sermon; complete with weeping and gnashing of
teeth. But, I’m not that type of person to be spouting off such things, so I
won’t. But, it clearly says in the text that weeds must go into the fire, with
the weeping and gnashing of teeth… “Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father...” It’d be easy to point to all of you sitting
here in this room, in this sanctuary, that you are all the righteous ones sitting
here, deserving of being collected and placed in the barn… But who am I to say
so?
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| Death awaits you all with nasty, big pointy teeth... |
Who am I? Well, I’m a member of
Living Waters as many of you are, along with my family. I bring greetings to
you from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, where I just recently completed my first
year of my eventual Master of Divinity, on my way to be an awesome pastor like
pastors Denise and Todd. For those of you who don’t know, or need a refresher,
I was born in St. Cloud, and attended the recently destroyed Roosevelt Elementary
for two years before moving and growing up in Morris, where Todd was my pastor.
I eventually graduated from Morris Area High School in 2007, and after a few
years attended Minnesota State University Moorhead. While at MSUM, I was deeply
involved with Lutheran Campus Ministry where I met my wife Tiffany. Tiffany and
I were married the day after she graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work,
and we moved to St. Cloud where I attended 2 more years at St. Cloud State.
While there, I was again involved with Lutheran Campus Ministry, became a
member here, and we welcomed our son, Samuel into the world in March of 2012.
We moved last June to Luther Seminary, where after spending two weeks with New
Wine last year, I started and finished Summer Greek. I survived my first year
of classes, and here I am in front of you today, telling you that I don’t know
what to say about this Gospel lesson.
I can’t just skip it. Jesus just
dropped a bombshell saying that the righteous get collected up, yet the evil
weeds get rounded up and thrown into the fire, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth… I can’t just skip it and talk about Jacob’s vision of
ladders to heaven… Not to say that Jacob’s vision isn’t profound, it certainly
is that… this certainly isn’t the week to go on vacation, Todd… Coincidentally,
next week’s lesson is quite similar to this, and Todd happens to be gone next
week as well…
Oh well. Here I go… Jesus tells this parable,
two more you’ll hear next week, and then the disciples ask Him to explain this.
Jesus says that the good crops are those who are children of the Kingdom, the
weeds are the children of the devil, and must be burned, while the good crops
are those who are righteous will “shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their
Father…” The righteous ones… In the Greek, the Gospel writer uses the root
word, δίκαιος which is usually translated righteous, but can also mean ‘just’…
Righteousness equates to justice… So those who show justice on this world avoid
the weeping and gnashing of teeth?
And accordingly, Jesus points out
that those who are ‘children of the evil one’ will be thrown into the fire… How
are we to tell the difference?
Who determines those who deserve
the sun, and those who deserve the weeping and gnashing of teeth? In the
parable, Jesus tells the people and His disciples that the farmer’s slaves
asked if they could gather the weeds for their master… The farmer replies, “No;
for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them…” How
often has that happened in history? How often does that happen now? From the
earliest examples of warfare, there have always been unintended consequences.
There has always been collateral damage. What we intend to accomplish always
has repercussions unseen. How many civilians died in both World Wars; in
Vietnam; in Iraq; in Afghanistan; or currently in Gaza and over European skies?
How many lives have been pointlessly displaced, forever changed, or forever
lost due to someone pointing fingers at someone else?
J. R. R. Tolkein wrote The Lord of the Rings during and after
serving in both World Wars, and then published them in the 1950’s. In the first
volume of the trilogy, The Fellowship of
the Ring, two of the main protagonists, Gandalf the Grey and Frodo are
sitting together in a deep dark mine discussing their current fate. Frodo is part of
an interracial, international team that is on a quest to destroy the One Ring
of Power that is the ultimate weapon to own. Gollum is a creature that follows
this One Ring throughout the three volumes in the Lord of the Rings series, and in this first volume, he sulks in the
shadows, but never truly shows his face. In the film version, the dialogue is
slightly changed, but furthers my point better than the original novel. Frodo tells
Gandalf that it’s a pity that his uncle, Bilbo never killed Gollum when he had
the chance… Gandalf tells Frodo, “Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand.
Many that die deserve life, and some that live deserve death. Can you give it
to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the
very wise cannot see all ends.”
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| Especially in the Deep Darkness of Moria... |
So, what do we do then? We live our lives as
we do, day in and day out. We strive to be the righteous and just people that
Jesus calls us to be, but do not do it for fear of hellfire licking at our heels,
but for the Grace bestowed upon us in spite of it. For it is indeed God’s grace
that Christ died on Calvary for, and it is freely bestowed to all, no matter
what. It is not for us to decide if one is deserving of the sun or the weeping
and gnashing, but for us to live out the Gospel every day in spite of the
hellfire made mention in this and next week’s lesson.
A few chapters before this, Jesus
tells His disciples to
“Do not judge, so that you may not
be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see
the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or
how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’
while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s
eye.”
We all make mistakes. We say and do
things we regret later, and we pay for the sins we commit, whether physically
or emotionally. I told my youth in confirmation that we should not fear
hellfire and brimstone where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, but
realize that when we do and say things we regret, that regret is the hell we
place ourselves in. That feeling deep inside of hurting another is the hell we
should fear and avoid, not a fiery pit below. And there again, is where the
Grace of God comes in. When we do make these mistakes, and pay our price, we
can rest in Blessed Assurance that Christ forgives us of all wrongs, with no
holds barred. We must move on, cut our losses, go on living our lives, all the
while striving for justice and righteousness in this world, and work to make
this world a better place for all.
For here we are, in this air
conditioned sanctuary, surrounded by friends and loved ones, with little to no
worry of the horrific events happening around our world hitting too close to
home… and in a little while, we’ll pray for those around our world in pain. We
hope and pray that these horrific events come to an end, so that one day we may
all live in peace, striving to better the world around us, and not to destroy
it.
So Frodo and Gandalf sat in the
deep dark mine, discussing their current state, and Gandalf gave Frodo some
more wisdom. Frodo, after reflecting the previous conversation, said, “I wish
the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf looks
at him, and replies, “So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for
them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given
to us.” Be. Live. Go out into the world, resting in the Blessed Assurance that
Jesus Christ forgives us all of all of our sins, and live out the Gospel to
bestow Grace, Love and Mercy to all.
Amen.
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