The Uncomfortable Kingdom

Wheat and Weeds... Wheat and Weeds... The Kingdom of God is like… A field where the wheat and weeds are hard to tell apart... Background: Darnel This scenario that Jesus is talking about today would have been very familiar to those who heard it. You see Jesus isn’t just talking about any weed, and is likely referring to a plant called “Darnel” looks very much like wheat, so similar that some refer to it as “False Wheat”. Jesus isn’t talking about something as obvious as weeding your flower garden… But something that looks very much like wheat, but that is will ruin the wheat if milled together with it... See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolium_temulentum Have you ever been weeding a garden and pulled out the wrong plants? _______________________________________ This isn’t like organisations we are used too... The Kingdom of God is not like nations we are used to… We live in an age, specifically a country, which has very clear ideas about who is a citizen and who isn’t… In this parable, it is clear that the slaves aren’t qualified to be the ones to tell the wheat from the weeds… It seems that they shouldn’t even attempt it… This is a task for someone else that will come later... There is a tension here is what it means to be the church… We seek to be those who are embodying God’s Kingdom, embodying it, but we aren’t really able to sure about who is part of this Kingdom… This is not the way we typically organize ourselves… What does this say about what it means to be an organised church? _______________________________________ Exported from Logos Bible Software, 5:35 PM July 27, 2020. 1 We need to be mindful that we can easily follow the wrong examples... Living surrounded by similar looking weeds can make it difficult to ask what our lives should look like as God’s people… It’s really easy to mistake a particular culture or ideology for the gospel… You just need to look at the Old Testament to see the tenancy for God’s people to drift lose their distinctiveness… "The Kingdom of God” is a way to talk about a hope, redemption and renewal of all creation. Can you think of any organisations, movements or ideologies which have sought to be the offer this same sort of thing? _______________________________________ The Kingdom of God is like… A field where the wheat and weeds deeply entangled... Parable doesn’t suggest that the wheat can or will overcome the weeds... This parable reminds us that attempts to remove the weeds, even if intended to help the wheat, is ultimately self-destructive... Likewise, this parable doesn’t suggest that the wheat won’t be effected by the weeds... Have you seen the impact of weeds on a field of a crop like wheat? What difference did it make? (If in doubt, ask a farmer) _______________________________________ There is a real cost to following Jesus, embodying the Kingdom of God, in the midst of a broken world… It is inescapable… “Where did these weeds come from” echos our question of why there is evil and brokenness in a world created by a good God… Part of our life together as a church will be to grieve together in the midst of the brokenness of the world, to support one another, to encourage one another… To rely on the power and presence of Jesus along the way... Exported from Logos Bible Software, 5:35 PM July 27, 2020. 2 We need to hold on to the hope that God cares and will bring about the final renewal of all creation Parable does reflect that the owner of the field, God, is deeply concerned with the wheat... It is worth reminding ourselves of this at times when we face challenges, grief and loss… We live in an un-redeemed world… There is a deeply uncomfortable tensions between the Kingdom of God, here and now, and God’s ultimate renewal of all things… Parable also reflects that the Kingdom of God, in it’s finality will be one free of weeds, sin, corruption and death… It will not always be this way... Have there been any times when the hope of a renewed creation is all that you can hold on to? _______________________________________ Exported from Logos Bible Software, 5:35 PM July 27, 2020. 3