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spent0902
"The Kingom of God Comes By Itself"
Ulead VideoStudio 7.00
Text: Matthew 13:24-30
Date: The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 
7/21/02
In the 13th chapter of his Gospel St. Matthew
records a series of parables Jesus spoke to the general public concerning
what he calls "the Kingdom of Heaven." It's got to be in parables
in the public square, Jesus says, because salvation can be-must
be-only by way of faith and not by works, including the impossible
work of "figuring it out" for yourself, all on your own. For "to
you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been given" [13:11]. In fact, this parable
before us this morning is all about how the Kingdom of God fares
in the public square, in this world.
First we need to understand this parable on
its own terms. Fortunately (for "those to whom it has been given
to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven," that is, for the
ears of faith), Jesus explained this parable to his disciples in
verses 36 and following. "The one who sows the good seed is the
Son of Man," Jesus himself. He is the one and only bringer of salvation,
for "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" [Acts 4:12
(ESV)].
In this parable "the field is the world." And
so we are not talking just about the Church and how, from time to
time, there arise "those that hate her, false sons within her pale"
[TLH 473:3]. We're talking about the life and mission of the Church
as it exists here and now in the world while not being of it.
Unlike the previous parable where the seed
is the Word of God, here the seed is the children of the kingdom.
Except that the children of the kingdom are called the "righteous"
at the end of Jesus' explanation, this parable is not primarily
about the doctrine of justification-how one becomes a Christian-but
how Christians are to properly assess their place, calling, vocation
and mission mid the toil and tribulation of living all that out
in a fallen world. In fact that's the nub of this parable: what
is to be the relationship of the Church to the world?
For, "the weeds are the sons of the evil one,
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil." It would not be proper,
therefore, according to this parable, to say that we are all "weeds"
according to our in-born sinful, fallen nature until Christ comes
and turns us into good seed that produces wheat. I don't know about
you, but it has never even crossed my mind to begin to think of
the possibility of turning the weeds in my garden into something-anything
else. Certainly all human beings are in the same boat, spiritually
still-born, fallen sinners in need of repentance and salvation.
But in this parable the weeds can only be those who have heard the
Good News of the Gospel but have rejected it, preferring others
"gods" or idols, thereby becoming aligned with the Enemy, Satan,
the devil, the liar and murderer from the beginning. This is as
much of a mystery as is the miracle of faith as Jesus says the Enemy
sows his seeds of unbelief "while men were sleeping." This parable
is a wake-up call to the Church to maintain a proper understanding
of her role in the world.
The point of the parable is that, though Christians
can see and identify unbelievers in the world, while it is our job
to witness to the Truth, it is not our job to gather up the unbelievers
and condemn them, but to "let both grow together until the harvest,"
the appointed day when the Lord himself will "gather the weeds first
and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into
my barn." All causes of sin and all law-breakers will be gathered
out of his kingdom (that is, the world) and thrown into the fiery
furnace of God's righteous judgment, but the righteous will shine
like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. This parable means
to make us ask, "am I of God's own planting of faith with the promise
of eternal life, or am I of the devil's planting of unbelief under
the threat of eternal punishment?"
This is an important parable to hear and to
understand especially in the times and circumstances in which we
find ourselves today. Especially after the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attack against our nation, and in a time of war against terrorism,
patriotism in our country, in my heart and in yours has been running
high. Isn't it unusual, however, that at the very same time in which
there is a new boldness in the public square for people in general
to rally around the American flag in our country there should also
appear a ruling of a U.S. District Court saying that the phrase
"one nation under God" in the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional?
What's going on?
Then there is the current controversy in The
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod concerning the propriety of our Atlantic
District President David Benke's participation in the "Prayer for
America" rally held in Yankee Stadium. On the one hand, I must admit,
there was a little pride in seeing a representative of our church
body taking part in this nationally televised worship service. On
the other hand, it clearly violated our Lord's warnings and will
that we consistently witness to the exclusive claim that Jesus Christ
is Lord and the one and only true God, not just one among many.
Out of faithfulness to the Gospel and to the required agreement
that we renounce "unionism and syncretism of every description,"
the Rev. Wallace Schulz, 2nd Vice-President of the synod, given
the authority and responsibility to function as President in this
case, has suspended Dr. Benke. Now, though there were plans to celebrate
Dr. Schulz's 25 years as Associate Lutheran Hour Speaker at this
summer's International Lutheran Laymen's League convention which
began yesterday (July 20) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, suddenly Dr.
Schulz's sermons for The Lutheran Hour scheduled for July were pulled,
he was "temporarily relieved of his duties" at Lutheran Hour Ministries,
and he will not even be speaking at the convention! I ask again,
what's going on?
Closer to home, (you may have seen it in the
newspaper) one of our pastors who, along with 17 other pastors,
lodged the complaint against Dr. Benke's actions, is now in hot
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