WEBVTT STYLE ::cue { color: #ffffff; } 00:00:00.890 --> 00:00:01.434 Grace 00:00:01.562 --> 00:00:03.086 Mercy and peace be unto you 00:00:03.108 --> 00:00:04.314 from God, our Father, 00:00:04.442 --> 00:00:05.514 the Lord and Savior, 00:00:05.562 --> 00:00:06.560 Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.090 --> 00:00:08.029 Amen. 00:00:09.730 --> 00:00:12.046 The parable of the weeds of the 00:00:12.068 --> 00:00:14.080 field is set before you today, 00:00:15.090 --> 00:00:17.294 and I want to explore with you 00:00:17.412 --> 00:00:19.470 a rather simple observation. 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:22.254 I've learned through my own 00:00:22.292 --> 00:00:24.654 experiences with gardening and 00:00:24.692 --> 00:00:27.094 by talking with gardeners and 00:00:27.132 --> 00:00:28.834 farmers and permaculture 00:00:28.882 --> 00:00:31.110 enthusiasts and homesteaders, 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:33.362 that despite the vast 00:00:33.426 --> 00:00:37.106 differences in raising crops 00:00:37.138 --> 00:00:38.810 and building soil, 00:00:39.470 --> 00:00:42.262 there is a universally accepted 00:00:42.326 --> 00:00:44.490 principle in gardening 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:47.862 you don't want weeds 00:00:48.006 --> 00:00:49.210 in your garden. 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:52.750 When you see a weed, 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:54.960 you pull it out. 00:00:56.290 --> 00:00:57.866 Some are okay with synthetic 00:00:57.898 --> 00:01:00.160 fertilizers, some are not. 00:01:00.930 --> 00:01:03.234 Some are okay with bugs in their 00:01:03.272 --> 00:01:05.540 garden, some are not. 00:01:05.990 --> 00:01:07.566 Some are okay with drip hoses 00:01:07.598 --> 00:01:08.782 and irrigation methods, 00:01:08.846 --> 00:01:09.522 some are not. 00:01:09.576 --> 00:01:12.770 But no one is okay with weeds. 00:01:13.830 --> 00:01:15.922 Yet when Jesus tells the parable 00:01:15.986 --> 00:01:17.110 of the weeds of the field, 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:18.450 we see that when the servants 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:21.062 ask to pull the weeds out, 00:01:21.116 --> 00:01:23.560 he says no. 00:01:24.970 --> 00:01:27.190 So here's the simple observation 00:01:27.550 --> 00:01:28.854 that I would like to explore 00:01:28.902 --> 00:01:29.980 with you today. 00:01:31.550 --> 00:01:32.410 Jesus, 00:01:33.870 --> 00:01:36.940 things aren't as they should be. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.172 Here we see a garden 00:01:42.336 --> 00:01:43.716 filled with weeds, 00:01:43.828 --> 00:01:46.440 and it cries out to be weeded. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:48.810 Yet he says 00:01:50.460 --> 00:01:51.210 no, 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.390 things aren't as they should be. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:57.512 Yet Jesus, 00:01:57.576 --> 00:02:00.088 the son of Adama of the soil, 00:02:00.184 --> 00:02:01.752 prevents us from speculating 00:02:01.816 --> 00:02:03.084 any further here. 00:02:03.202 --> 00:02:05.464 We're not to overthink, hyper, 00:02:05.512 --> 00:02:07.040 criticize, ponder why, 00:02:07.110 --> 00:02:08.850 or even to act, 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:11.520 but to simply observe 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:13.570 and to trust. 00:02:15.540 --> 00:02:17.730 Things aren't as they should be. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.844 Yet Jesus will put 00:02:21.962 --> 00:02:23.990 all things right. 00:02:25.480 --> 00:02:26.592 In his timing, 00:02:26.656 --> 00:02:28.740 and by Him working all things 00:02:28.810 --> 00:02:30.036 together for the good of 00:02:30.058 --> 00:02:31.510 those who love Him, 00:02:32.540 --> 00:02:35.512 he will put all things right. 00:02:35.646 --> 00:02:37.864 Therefore he says to us, no, 00:02:37.982 --> 00:02:39.716 lest in gathering the weeds, 00:02:39.748 --> 00:02:41.124 they may root up the wheat 00:02:41.172 --> 00:02:42.410 along with them. 00:02:42.940 --> 00:02:43.444 Therefore, 00:02:43.492 --> 00:02:45.256 let both grow together until the 00:02:45.278 --> 00:02:48.330 harvest. Simply observe them, 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:50.456 and at harvest time I will 00:02:50.478 --> 00:02:51.620 tell the reapers, 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:53.770 and we will observe them, too. 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:55.640 Gather the weeds first, 00:02:55.710 --> 00:02:57.004 and bind them in bundles 00:02:57.052 --> 00:02:58.080 to be burned, 00:02:58.500 --> 00:02:59.790 but gather the wheat into 00:03:00.170 --> 00:03:00.910 My barn. 00:03:02.930 --> 00:03:05.726 A parishioner called asking me 00:03:05.748 --> 00:03:07.290 to come visit her father, 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:08.190 Robert. 00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:11.118 Robert was 72 years old, 00:03:11.204 --> 00:03:12.894 and he was just placed on 00:03:12.932 --> 00:03:14.266 hospice with an aggressive 00:03:14.298 --> 00:03:16.030 form of stomach cancer. 00:03:17.329 --> 00:03:18.634 Just a few months earlier, 00:03:18.682 --> 00:03:20.829 Robert moved into this small red 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.262 house just ten yards away from 00:03:23.396 --> 00:03:25.474 his daughter's white farm house. 00:03:25.522 --> 00:03:28.726 Both homes sat side by side on 00:03:28.748 --> 00:03:30.786 the top of a hill overlooking 00:03:30.898 --> 00:03:34.710 450 acres of pure farmland, 00:03:35.130 --> 00:03:36.694 stretching to the north and 00:03:36.732 --> 00:03:38.646 south, east and west, 00:03:38.838 --> 00:03:41.590 gleaming with thick, dark grass, 00:03:41.670 --> 00:03:43.350 some scattered oak trees, 00:03:43.510 --> 00:03:46.805 and the greatest Hereford cattle 00:03:46.838 --> 00:03:48.060 that you've ever seen. 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:50.198 By the time I made it 00:03:50.224 --> 00:03:51.162 out to see Robert, 00:03:51.226 --> 00:03:53.853 his health had deteriorated so 00:03:53.892 --> 00:03:55.853 rapidly that the family had 00:03:55.892 --> 00:03:57.982 moved him into a hospice bed, 00:03:58.036 --> 00:03:59.070 into their living room, 00:03:59.140 --> 00:04:00.910 into the white farmhouse. 00:04:01.810 --> 00:04:03.578 The doctors told him that he had 00:04:03.603 --> 00:04:04.546 a couple of weeks to 00:04:04.567 --> 00:04:05.620 a couple of months. 00:04:07.190 --> 00:04:08.766 It was during that first meeting 00:04:08.798 --> 00:04:11.138 with Robert, the first of many, 00:04:11.304 --> 00:04:12.980 that he shared with me 00:04:13.430 --> 00:04:15.060 regrets in his life. 00:04:16.409 --> 00:04:18.706 His marriage had crumbled 00:04:18.738 --> 00:04:21.190 apart decades earlier, 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:23.526 and though the divorce was 00:04:23.548 --> 00:04:25.638 finalized years and years ago, 00:04:25.724 --> 00:04:27.909 the wounds still festered. 00:04:29.210 --> 00:04:30.346 He shared with me that he 00:04:30.368 --> 00:04:31.690 was a Roman Catholic, 00:04:32.270 --> 00:04:33.594 but he hadn't been to 00:04:33.632 --> 00:04:35.210 Mass in decades, 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:37.354 and when I asked him if I could 00:04:37.392 --> 00:04:39.194 contact a priest for him, 00:04:39.312 --> 00:04:40.986 Robert flat out rejected 00:04:41.018 --> 00:04:41.840 the offer. 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:44.686 Though he grew up in the 00:04:44.707 --> 00:04:45.950 Catholic Church, 00:04:46.530 --> 00:04:48.206 he wanted nothing to do with a 00:04:48.228 --> 00:04:50.510 priest as he approached death. 00:04:51.650 --> 00:04:53.409 And though he was married, 00:04:54.070 --> 00:04:55.854 he was now heading towards death 00:04:55.902 --> 00:04:57.678 without the one he promised, 00:04:57.854 --> 00:04:59.540 till death do his part. 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:02.100 Things 00:05:03.190 --> 00:05:05.640 were not as they should be. 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:08.374 So it is with those 00:05:08.412 --> 00:05:09.750 Jesus encounters. 00:05:10.810 --> 00:05:12.680 A man with a withered hand. 00:05:13.530 --> 00:05:15.238 A man who is unable to speak. 00:05:15.324 --> 00:05:16.902 A man who is unable to hear. 00:05:16.956 --> 00:05:19.066 A paralytic lying on a mat a 00:05:19.087 --> 00:05:22.090 young daughter who lies dead. 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:25.094 A woman caught in a shameful 00:05:25.142 --> 00:05:27.210 past. A grieving mother, 00:05:27.630 --> 00:05:29.861 a traitor and a denier 00:05:29.926 --> 00:05:30.858 of a disciple. 00:05:30.954 --> 00:05:33.178 Religious leaders seeking 00:05:33.274 --> 00:05:34.366 to kill him. 00:05:34.467 --> 00:05:36.286 So many things that are not 00:05:36.467 --> 00:05:38.014 how they should be. 00:05:38.212 --> 00:05:40.666 St. John observes it plainly 00:05:40.778 --> 00:05:42.526 he came to his own, 00:05:42.707 --> 00:05:44.926 and his own people did 00:05:44.948 --> 00:05:46.240 not receive him. 00:05:47.810 --> 00:05:49.006 So they placed the Son 00:05:49.028 --> 00:05:50.350 of God on trial. 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:53.662 The people he came to save from 00:05:53.716 --> 00:05:56.230 death cry out for his death. 00:05:57.050 --> 00:05:58.246 He's handed over to be 00:05:58.268 --> 00:05:59.570 crucified. Though he's innocent. 00:06:00.650 --> 00:06:02.382 And the light in the life of men 00:06:02.436 --> 00:06:04.122 is exchanged for Barabbas, 00:06:04.186 --> 00:06:05.498 a well known murderer. 00:06:05.594 --> 00:06:07.658 And they place a purple cloak 00:06:07.754 --> 00:06:09.386 and a twisted crown of thorns 00:06:09.418 --> 00:06:10.814 upon the body of the 00:06:10.852 --> 00:06:12.190 King of Kings. 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:14.526 As the people mock him with the 00:06:14.548 --> 00:06:16.320 breath that he gave them. 00:06:19.370 --> 00:06:22.870 There is no worse picture of 00:06:22.940 --> 00:06:25.302 things not being as they should 00:06:25.356 --> 00:06:28.990 be than that old rugged cross 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:32.990 where Christ was crucified. 00:06:34.210 --> 00:06:36.800 The perfect Lamb of God, 00:06:37.490 --> 00:06:39.346 slain for the sins he 00:06:39.368 --> 00:06:40.142 did not commit. 00:06:40.206 --> 00:06:42.222 Yet we esteemed him stricken, 00:06:42.366 --> 00:06:44.850 smitten by God and afflicted. 00:06:45.830 --> 00:06:48.242 Surely his dear mother was 00:06:48.296 --> 00:06:50.180 pierced by the sight of it. 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:52.054 The disciple whom he 00:06:52.092 --> 00:06:53.734 loved beheld it, 00:06:53.932 --> 00:06:55.922 and the centurion that crucified 00:06:55.986 --> 00:06:56.870 him felt it, 00:06:56.940 --> 00:06:58.214 and every one of us 00:06:58.252 --> 00:06:59.880 sinners knows it. 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:03.702 This is not how things 00:07:03.756 --> 00:07:04.540 should be. 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:07.622 All we, like sheep, 00:07:07.686 --> 00:07:08.826 are the ones who have 00:07:08.848 --> 00:07:09.702 gone astray. 00:07:09.766 --> 00:07:12.454 And yet we observe the Lord laid 00:07:12.502 --> 00:07:15.659 on him the iniquity of us all. 00:07:16.450 --> 00:07:17.546 The judge of the earth 00:07:17.578 --> 00:07:18.670 is judged. 00:07:19.570 --> 00:07:20.750 The breath of life 00:07:20.820 --> 00:07:22.320 breathes his last 00:07:23.330 --> 00:07:25.550 and he leaves his disciples 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:28.110 waiting, 00:07:29.830 --> 00:07:32.414 observing things that aren't 00:07:32.462 --> 00:07:34.020 as they should be. 00:07:35.190 --> 00:07:36.130 Doubting 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:39.762 if Jesus will put all things 00:07:39.816 --> 00:07:42.710 right or if he won't. 00:07:44.570 --> 00:07:46.520 The devil is alive and well. 00:07:47.130 --> 00:07:48.866 Never ceases to sow the seeds 00:07:48.898 --> 00:07:50.834 that aim to choke out the seeds 00:07:50.882 --> 00:07:53.186 which God has planted, namely, 00:07:53.378 --> 00:07:54.310 faith 00:07:55.470 --> 00:07:56.570 in Jesus. 00:07:57.390 --> 00:08:00.313 The only one who is capable of 00:08:00.352 --> 00:08:01.820 putting all things right. 00:08:03.070 --> 00:08:06.380 Who will put all things right. 00:08:07.650 --> 00:08:09.450 The devil struck his heel, 00:08:09.530 --> 00:08:11.994 but Jesus crushed the serpent's 00:08:12.042 --> 00:08:13.834 head. And the death He died 00:08:13.882 --> 00:08:16.414 He died for sins, once for all. 00:08:16.452 --> 00:08:17.950 But the life he lives, 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:19.330 he lives to God, 00:08:19.400 --> 00:08:21.265 and he lives to put 00:08:21.368 --> 00:08:23.380 all things right. 00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:26.402 He who healed the withered hand, 00:08:26.536 --> 00:08:28.786 who made the mute man speak, 00:08:28.888 --> 00:08:30.210 who gave a deaf man 00:08:30.280 --> 00:08:31.313 ears to hear, 00:08:31.432 --> 00:08:33.190 and who made a paralyzed man 00:08:33.260 --> 00:08:34.582 pick up his mat and walk 00:08:34.635 --> 00:08:36.102 home with only a word, 00:08:36.236 --> 00:08:38.501 also is the one who said little 00:08:38.556 --> 00:08:40.294 girl, I say to you, 00:08:40.412 --> 00:08:43.973 arise he who raises the 00:08:44.011 --> 00:08:45.638 dead back to life. 00:08:45.804 --> 00:08:48.466 Forgives the worst of sinners, 00:08:48.658 --> 00:08:50.450 the murdering Saul, 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:52.498 the adulterous woman, 00:08:52.674 --> 00:08:54.390 the denying Peter. 00:08:55.450 --> 00:08:59.069 He is the restoring forgiving 00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:01.550 reconciling man to God, 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:04.058 making peace by the blood 00:09:04.074 --> 00:09:05.150 of his cross, 00:09:05.810 --> 00:09:07.920 and he will continue His work 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:10.080 until it is complete. 00:09:10.770 --> 00:09:12.814 For He who began a good work in 00:09:12.852 --> 00:09:14.830 you will bring it to completion 00:09:15.250 --> 00:09:16.960 at the day of Jesus Christ. 00:09:17.970 --> 00:09:19.950 Remember the words from Ezekiel 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:21.614 I will feed them with 00:09:21.652 --> 00:09:22.442 good pasture, 00:09:22.506 --> 00:09:23.886 and on the mountain heights of 00:09:23.908 --> 00:09:25.046 Israel shall be their 00:09:25.108 --> 00:09:26.150 grazing land. 00:09:26.300 --> 00:09:27.878 There they shall lie down 00:09:27.964 --> 00:09:29.638 in good grazing land, 00:09:29.804 --> 00:09:31.426 and on rich pasture they shall 00:09:31.458 --> 00:09:33.430 feed on the mountains of Israel. 00:09:33.850 --> 00:09:35.746 I myself will be the shepherd 00:09:35.778 --> 00:09:36.850 of my sheep, 00:09:37.010 --> 00:09:38.806 and I myself will make them lie 00:09:38.838 --> 00:09:40.410 down, declares the Lord. 00:09:40.750 --> 00:09:42.438 I will seek the lost. 00:09:42.614 --> 00:09:44.838 I will bring back the strayed. 00:09:45.014 --> 00:09:46.966 I will bind up the injured. 00:09:47.158 --> 00:09:49.594 I will strengthen the weak and 00:09:49.632 --> 00:09:50.750 the fat and the strong 00:09:50.820 --> 00:09:51.674 I will destroy 00:09:51.722 --> 00:09:53.790 I will feed them injustice. 00:09:56.370 --> 00:09:57.920 As a servant of Christ 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:01.760 you may not get to do the work 00:10:02.290 --> 00:10:04.818 that you think you are the one 00:10:04.904 --> 00:10:08.226 to do it or should be doing the 00:10:08.248 --> 00:10:11.106 weeding or the ordering of all 00:10:11.128 --> 00:10:12.126 the things that seem 00:10:12.158 --> 00:10:12.770 out of order, 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:14.210 that are crying out 00:10:14.280 --> 00:10:15.720 to be set right. 00:10:17.290 --> 00:10:19.446 But you do get a rather up close 00:10:19.548 --> 00:10:24.646 view to observe God working in 00:10:24.668 --> 00:10:25.894 this world through His 00:10:25.932 --> 00:10:27.982 Word and His Spirit, 00:10:28.146 --> 00:10:29.900 setting all things right. 00:10:31.390 --> 00:10:33.114 Robert was one of many such 00:10:33.152 --> 00:10:34.700 occurrences for me. 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:37.580 Filled by the word of God, 00:10:38.270 --> 00:10:40.334 Robert decided in the last few 00:10:40.372 --> 00:10:42.270 days of his life on Earth 00:10:42.770 --> 00:10:44.720 that after 25 years, 00:10:45.410 --> 00:10:47.854 he was going to reconnect with 00:10:47.892 --> 00:10:50.526 his ex wife and ask for 00:10:50.548 --> 00:10:51.710 her forgiveness. 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:56.594 All I could do was watch and 00:10:56.632 --> 00:10:59.922 observe and smile when she 00:10:59.976 --> 00:11:01.458 traveled across the entire 00:11:01.544 --> 00:11:03.762 country to that little white 00:11:03.816 --> 00:11:05.334 farmhouse on the top of that 00:11:05.372 --> 00:11:08.200 hill, to hold Robert's hands, 00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:10.680 to forgive him, 00:11:11.530 --> 00:11:14.402 to reconcile with him and remain 00:11:14.466 --> 00:11:16.950 close by his side until 00:11:17.020 --> 00:11:18.360 death did them part. 00:11:20.090 --> 00:11:21.880 Something that wasn't right, 00:11:22.810 --> 00:11:24.920 God put right. 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:27.830 And why would we be surprised? 00:11:28.650 --> 00:11:30.478 He knows the number of hairs on 00:11:30.484 --> 00:11:32.640 your head. And one day soon, 00:11:33.250 --> 00:11:35.562 all the things that aren't 00:11:35.626 --> 00:11:37.040 as they should be, 00:11:37.730 --> 00:11:40.480 Jesus will put them right. 00:11:41.090 --> 00:11:42.030 Amen. 00:11:43.010 --> 00:11:44.254 Now may the peace of God, 00:11:44.292 --> 00:11:45.374 which surpasses all 00:11:45.412 --> 00:11:46.042 understanding, 00:11:46.106 --> 00:11:47.626 guard your hearts and your minds 00:11:47.658 --> 00:11:49.630 in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:11:50.130 --> 00:11:50.650 Amen.