Sunday 07/23/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Farming And The Kingdom Of Heaven!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:12-25
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
So, what I originally thought that I
was going to begin this sermon with this morning changed this past Wednesday
July 19th. It was not a big deal in the grand scheme of world problems
and affairs, but my desktop printer in the church office stopped printing! My
God in heaven! It was far from the end of the world, but it was really annoying
and Keith Robinson and I spent entirely to much time try to get the printer to
print again.
I mean it printed from the printer, it
copied, it scanned, but it would not print from my laptop. I normally just hit
print, and hear the paper shuffling through. I don’t even give it a second
thought. I know that I am starting some time off this Wednesday, and this
little hiccup that happed this passed Wednesday July 19th, showed me
that maybe I really do need some time off!
It was something so small, even though
it took up a good chunk of Keith’s and my day, but I finally got to it print at
about 7:15 PM this past Wednesday night! What did I do to make it print? I am
not sure, so don’t touch anything! After I had trouble shot this printer issue
this past Wednesday morning, Keith was great! I walked out of my office and
Keith was watching a YouTube video on his phone on how to fix the problem. He
open things on the printer, he blew in a few parts of the printer for dust
build up, and periodically said “Pastor Paul try doing this on your laptop!” Now
I still don’t what did it, but at 7:15 PM on July 19th my little
desktop printer in the church office starting printing again. Once again, don’t
touch anything!
The reason I felt foolish in hindsight
though was that I allowed something so foolish to really get under my skin. Probably
another reason I will be taking some vacation time starting this Wednesday. I
am sure that I am not alone though, as we all have probably been frustrated
over little things like this. For example, has your TV remote ever just stopped
working? Has some other small piece of technology gotten wonky and you spent a
ton of time trying to fix it or make it work right? I remember when I was a
little kid if the TV image acted up on the screen, my Grandpa Winkelman told me
to just walk up and slap the TV on the side to fix it. I just could not believe
that I allowed something so ridiculous to get under my skin.
Why am I telling you all this story,
outside of feeling a little ridiculous? I am telling you this story to illustrate
the technologically advanced world that many of us now live in. Some of our
cars have screens, GPS navigation programs, we Amazon of Google devices in our
houses or apartments that we simply ask a question and hopefully will obtain an
instant answer. The world that we live in is very different than the world that
Jesus lived in.
Jesus lived in an agricultural world.
What does this mean? It means that in the world that Jesus lived in most people
were farmers, fishers, builders, cooks, and other types of jobs. There was no
advanced technology, and most people were involved in food production, food acquisition,
like hunting or fishing, building, or gather resources to heat and cook with. There
were artisans that made clothing and jewelry, and metal workers and things like
this, but the world was much more basic when Jesus lived almost two-thousand
years ago. Even in the year 1800, when President Thomas Jefferson was elected the
President of the United States, about Eighty-Percent of the people in our young
country were farmers. There was a strong tie to the land, to the crops, to the
animals, to the weather, and only in recent history has this reality changed. In
the United States today we only have about one-two percent of the population is
involved in any kind of agriculture.
It has gotten so bad in fact, that your pastor can get
his feathers ruffled about his printer not printing, as this was not an issue
in Jesus’ day! I say all of this, because if you grew up on a
farm, like my Grandpa Winkelman did, and like my Father Ken in Illinois did,
the number that claim this reality seems to be less and less.
Biblically
this is a challenge, because much of the bible was written to an agricultural audience.
This does mean that the bible does not still have authority, because it does, but
it does mean that the majority of people in our culture are not involved in
agriculture anymore. Since many of Jesus’ parables or stories talk about things
like a mustard seed, or wheat and tares, and etc., a society not connected the
land, to the animals, and the weather, like many of our ancestors were, might
not receive some of the scriptures with same understanding as their original
audiences did. In a similar way in fact, Melissa has told me that 4-H Programs
have changed some in different areas, to be much more than animals, farming,
and things of this nature. Some 4-H Programs are now more focused on technology,
and things that they perhaps would not have been as focused on years ago.
For
all of these reasons, my sermon this morning is called “Farming And The Kingdom
Of Heaven!” Now it might be a stereo-type, but when I was growing up, I knew some
farmers with strong faith. I really believe that the way a lot of the bible is
written with the emphasis on farming, the earth, the weather, and these sorts
of things, speaks strongly to the agricultural community. Given this, it is
sometimes important for us to really explain what the bible is saying around
farming and agriculture, so that people not involved in that way of life can
really understand the scripture.
What
has not changed and will ever change, is the goodness and the love of God, and
the hope that we share in Jesus Christ. Even if we are driving flying cars in
20-years, God’s goodness and love will never change. In fact, in our Psalm 139
reading for this morning, which is subtitled in some bibles “The Inescapable
God,” that subtitle says it all. No matter how the world changes, God’s
goodness and love will never change. We hear once again in Psalm 139:1-5 for
this morning:
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me (Ps. 139:1-5, NRSV).
No matter how the world changes, God’s
love and goodness never changes, and hope of Jesus Christ is eternal and
steadfast.
In fact, in our reading
from Romans 8:12-25 for this morning, the Apostle Paul reminds us in 8:14, once
again:
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Rom. 8:14-15, NRSV).
Whatever
era we are living in or through, Jesus Christ is still the best and only hope
of the world. Jesus still died for us, and even if we are not as familiar with the
agricultural or farming references that are made in the bible, Jesus is still
Jesus. Turning away from sin and darkness and following Christ is our hope no
matter when we are living or in what environment we are living in. Whatever era
we are living in, being saved through Christ, and being filled and guided by
the Holy Spirit is how we are offered salvation, made whole, and how we can
live righteous and holy lives.
This
leads me to our gospel reading from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 for this morning,
where have a whole lot of agricultural or farming references. Starting in
Matthew 13:24, Jesus gives us a parable or story that has agricultural or farming
references. Starting in Matthew 13:24 it says with Jesus’ speaking, once again:
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 (Mt. 13:24-25, NRSV).
So,
the farmer or farmers went out during the day and sowed wheat seeds. Yet, when
the farmer or farmers were sleeping, an enemy came in and sowed seeds that were
weeds. So, wheat seeds are sown, that will hopefully grow into wheat to
eventually be harvested. Unfortunately, though, and enemy sowed seeds of weeds
among the wheat.
Picking up in Matthew 13:26 Jesus
continues saying, once again.
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”’ (Mt. 13:26-30, NRSV).
So, I am not a farmer, as I am the
first generation of Winkelman’s to not grow up on a farm. As far as I can tell
though, the reason in this parable that the master of the house wanted the weeds
or tares to not be not be gathered until the harvest is that it could also
destroy the grain. Jesus then says, leave the weeds or the tares with the
wheat, until the harvest. The good crop and unneeded weeds will stay together
until the time of harvest and collection.
Jesus then explains this parable or
story to his disciples. Picking up in Matthew 13:36, it says, once again:
36 Then 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.’ 37 He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is
the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are
the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy
who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers
are angels. 40 Just
as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of
the age. 41 The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all
causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of
fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the
righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone
with ears
listen! (Mt.
13:36-43, NRSV).
Even
though Jesus uses a farming or agricultural reference in our gospel of Matthew
reading for this morning, the real meaning of this parable or story has nothing
to do literally with wheat and weed or tares. The real meaning of this parable
or story is that we will all live side by side on this earth, whatever era or
generation that we are living in. Some of us will seek Christ and some of us
will reject Christ. Jesus says that the seeds of love that he sows and spreads
will grow in many into strong wheat or faith at the harvest, but those who are
hard of heart and reject Christ, will be like the weeds or the tares.
Jesus
is inviting us to allow his seeds of love, hope, salvation, and mercy to enter into
our lives and to change us, lest we stay like weeds or tares! When the final
harvest comes when Jesus Christ returns to earth, Jesus said that the angels
will separate the wheat from the tares.
Even
though I think Jesus’ explanation of his parable or story of what the wheat and
tares or weeds are is pretty self-explanatory, if we have little to no farming
or agricultural knowledge, it can make it harder for us to read and to
understand the bible. For those that have planted wheat seeds, seen fields of
wheat, along with weeds, this parable or story will more likely make perfect
and clear sense.
For all of these reasons then, when we study the bible which was written in much
more agricultural era, we should challenge ourselves to understand these farming or
agricultural references, as Jesus used them often. This my friends are the reasons why
“Farming And The Kingdom Of Heaven” is so important. Amen.
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