Jesus Calls us to Complex Communities
Matthew 13:24-30
Aldersgate
I.
Living in
community is not easy
a.
Have you ever wanted to have a wild flower garden?
i.
Up near
1.
fifteen years ago
2.
more common today
ii.
When people look
at a field grown from these seeds
1.
some see a bunch of weeds
2.
others see a beautiful garden
iii.
the communities
we live in as Christians are just as complex and just as beautiful as a field
of wildflowers
iv.
living in these
communities is not easy
b.
We live in complex and diverse world
i.
within church,
people with variety of different faiths
1.
bring different expectations about what worship
should be like
2.
some have referred to this 21st century
discussion as the worship wars
ii.
in our country,
people with a variety of different faiths brings different expectations to
communal living
1.
some want to pray in schools
2.
recently I learned from my state rep, some not
involved in any church
a.
feel we get financial support from the state because
of tax exempt status
b.
never occurred to me
iii.
country founded
on separation of church
1.
to make sure that citizens of this country had the
freedom to worship
2.
as a result today we have multiplicity mainline
Christian denominations
a.
as well as Jewish religions; Orthodox, Reformed,
Hasidic
b.
Muslims, I assume also with differences
c.
Others: Ba’hais, Buddhists,
Hindus, Wicca, New Age
d.
People who have no faith in God, only in their own
abilities
iv.
sometimes I
think, wouldn’t it be easier if community was a little less complex
1.
on the other hand, in
a.
not open to others
b.
this week, hearing @ gentleman who converted to
Christianity
c.
authorities in
i.
plan to put him
to death
ii.
for having a
Bible
d.
we do not understand
2.
we certainly do live in a complex world, yet what a
beautiful field of wild flowers is represented by this diversity of faith
II.
Biblical people
knew this kind of diversity and oppression similar to
a.
Many living in Greco-Roman world worshiped multitude
of gods
i.
at times Roman
authorities encouraged their citizens to hold onto their religion
ii.
other times
insisted that they worship Caesar as the one god
1.
became a problem for Jews would not bow down
2.
and for Christians just beginning to form new faith
b.
Matthew’s community saw itself as part of Judaism,
better part, but still a part
i.
Larger focus of
parables in Matthew 13 seems to be relationship between Jews and Jewish
Christians
1.
Jesus uses parables to help his community see why
some reject his message while others hear his message
2.
this chapter includes two parables with agrarian
imagery
a.
more familiar parable of sower
b.
surprising parable of wheat and weeds
ii.
Jesus tells the
first hearers don’t worry about the weeds, those who do not hear the message
III.
Jesus also puts
this parable to us
a.
God sows good seed
i.
those actions
meet with resistance and provoke hostility
ii.
we want to act
and root out the evil
iii.
Jesus says, “No,
wait and let God take care of the situation!”
b.
Jesus encourages a level of patience that surprises
any gardener
i.
Contrary to
common practice, pulling weeds is not the business of the church
ii.
Jesus tells us
our over arching concern should be for the health of the wheat, not the
destruction of the weeds
iii.
Put our energy
elsewhere
IV.
Why?
a.
Because in pulling up the weeds, we might disrupt the
wheat – what does he mean?
i.
One mistake that
I have made when weeding is puling up the wrong thing
1.
when we pull weeds we invariably get some of the good
stuff
ii.
we struggle to
recognize difference in our social lives as well
1.
old story about a bishop
a.
sailing to
b.
went to his cabin
i.
sharing with
another passenger
ii.
met his room
mate
c.
went to purser’s desk – wanted to leave valuables in
ship’s safe
i.
didn’t
ordinarily do this
ii.
had been to
cabin and met man who would occupy other berth
iii.
afraid he might
not be trustworthy
d.
Purser said: “It’s alright bishop. Your shipmate has been up here and left his
valuables for the same reason.”
2.
some times we need perspective of history to
recognize difference between wheat and
weeds
a.
40 years ago some Christians accused MLK of being a
rabble rouser, they saw him as a weed
b.
Will history see U2 singer Bono as
i.
Airhead,
irreverent rock star
ii.
Or as one who
led the effort to meet the African AIDS crisis head
b.
Because in pulling up the weeds we might cause more
harm than good, consider our history as a country
i.
we no longer see
the internment of Japanese Americans at beginning of WWII “weeding them out of
rest of population” as a good thing
ii.
did it help our
country in early years to isolate Native American populations onto reservations
that were often the worst land available
iii.
sometimes this
separation causes more damage than benefit
iv.
One example of
an issue that is disrupting and pulling apart the church – causing more harm
than good
1.
argument about people living in same sex, committed
relationships
2.
many on both sides of the question are judging who is
good wheat and who is a weed
3.
What does this parable say to those who want to
decide that one person is good and another is bad?
v.
Whether this
question, or another this parable frees us from having to play God
1.
we don’t have to judge
2.
the ultimate victory of God’s reign does not depend
upon the stainless purity of the church
c.
Sometimes, however, we can identify the weeds:
pornography, racism, child abuse, poverty
i.
Even then, the way to destroy them is to
concentrate on growing the good stuff
ii.
Church’s role is
not killing the weeds, but growing wheat,
1.
growing bread for world
2.
feeding people
iii.
Spent two hours
talking with Richard last night trying to figure out what were the weeds
1.
Couldn’t figure it out
2.
Wasted time
iv.
Spend more time
doing what it is that God’s wants
1.
Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly
2.
Weeds will be choked out by the goodness of God
3.
growing souls is the task of every Christian
V.
Growth and
maturity are most effective forms of weed control
a.
Pastor Leith Anderson
needed to grow a new lawn
i.
1.
called ChemLawn and they
rejected him, or at least his lawn
2.
must have been pretty bad
ii.
church member
volunteered to totally remove lawn and start a new one
iii.
Lieth was ready to accept
the offer, until he got advice from a farmer
1.
Don’t worry so much about getting rid of the weeds.
2.
just grow grass, and the grass will take care of the
weeds
iv.
took his advice
1.
focused on growing good stuff
2.
two years later his lawn looked just as good as
neighbors
v.
I think this
advice would work for his church too
b.
Jesus does not intend for God’s people to be hothouse
flowers, you know live inside a glass house
i.
It’s easy for us
to look through the church windows out into the world
1.
see all the evil and bad things that are out there
2.
think of ourselves as God’s special insiders
ii.
but we are
ourselves a mixture of good and evil
1.
sometimes faithful disciple
2.
other times oppressor of God’s kingdom
iii.
Hot house
flowers have to be weaned into the outdoors
1.
Learn how to live among the weeds
2.
How to survive in presence of their negative impact
iv.
need to live in
diverse community to see ourselves as others see us
1.
homogenous community of middle class whites can
easily fall into blindness
2.
racially and economically diverse community helps us
to have a clearer view of the world and the ways in which we participate in
unjust practices
c.
God is a careful wise, and loving gardener for a
field of wild flowers
i.
Irenaus wrote: “The glory of God is humanity fully alive.”
ii.
The promise of
this parable is that God will take care of it all: Let go, and let God.