February 22, Transfiguration Sunday

Lesson: Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

SERMON TITLE: Rooting Out the Rotten Apples

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INTRODUCTION:

Heard of Cows (1)

A young man visiting a dude ranch wanted to be manly so he went out walking with one of the hired hands.

As they were walking through the barnyard, the visitor tried to begin a conversation, "Say, look at that big bunch of cows."

The hired hand replied, "Not 'bunch,' but 'herd.'"

"Heard what?"

"Herd of cows."

"Sure, I've heard of cows...there's a big bunch of 'em right over there."

  1. He was with the hired hands.
    1. He wanted to be one of them.
    2. If only he had kept his mouth shut!
    3. They knew that he was not one of them.
  2. He accelerated his judgment day.

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  1. Tuesday, February 17, 2004 headline in Wisconsin State Journal

JUDGMENT DAY

    1. The headline referred to the presidential primary.
    2. It may be judgment day for the candidates.
  1. There is another judgment day of which we ought to be deeply concerned.
    1. This one is also about election.
    2. You cannot politic your way into this kingdom.
    3. You cannot spend you way into this kingdom.
    4. You cannot acquire enough supporters to ensure your place in this kingdom.
    5. You cannot get enough votes to find a place in this kingdom.
  2. This kingdom is also about separation.
    1. What are we going to separate?
    2. How are we going to separate.
    3. Let's root out the rotten apples so that we do not allow the whole barrel to be spoiled.
  3. How are you going to do that?
    1. Let's vote on it.
      1. AFI Pits Good Versus Evil by Joal Ryan Nov 12, 2002, 10:15 AM PT
        1. AFI's new endeavor, announced Tuesday, is called "100 Heroes & Villains."
        2. And, like past attempts to summarize the last century of cinema, "100 Years...100 Passions," "100 Years...100 Thrills," "100 Years...100 Laughs," "Greatest Screen Legends" and the one that started it all, "100 Years...100 Movies," the list will seek to deliver on its title: Naming the 100 best (or worst, depending on your perspective) good guys and bad guys in the history of Hollywood.
        3. Voters, a jury of 1,500 directors, actors, screen writers, critics, historians and others, are being asked to select 50 of each--heroes and villains.
          1. Atticus Finch of "To Kill a Mockingbird" Proclaimed #1 Hero.
          2. Dr. Hannibal Lecter of "The Silence of the Lambs" Declared #1 Villain.
      2. Let's vote on it.
        1. Its presidential primary season.
        2. It is also a primary on the motive and activities of those who would be president.
        3. Who are you going to listen to?
        4. Its tough.
    2. Let's make moral judgements about people or activities.

"Our reluctance to make moral judgments is putting us back in what more and more people are calling the Moral Stone Age. Listen to our language. Looters are nontraditional shoppers. Killers are morally challenged. Yet also listen to how judgmental our language becomes about other things. Bosses who don't like your work performance are abusive. Men and women who wink at one another are guilty of harassment and lookism. If a child can't sit still for a two-hour lecture or can't finish a five-page paper, it's because of Attention Deficit Disorder."

      1. What's wrong with the world of which we are a part?
        1. It is immoral.
        2. It has no conscience.
        3. There is no respect.
        4. So what else is new.
      2. I mean look at what's happening in Massachusetts.
        1. Gay Marriage is legal.
        2. How far are we going to go?
      3. Look at what is happening in San Francisco.
        1. Ah, well, that's what one ought to expect.
        2. It is the scene of Haight Asbury and the residue of the 60's
      4. We have a lot of moral issues that good Christians believe need to be addressed.
        1. If we don't God's judgements are going to fall on us.
        2. This was the conclusion of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson on September 11.
      5. Lets approach it the way that Jesus did.
        1. Jesus was confronted by the moral police with a women taken in the very act of adultery.
        2. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

Matthew 7:1-5, NRSVA

1"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

      1. Lets approach it the way that Paul did.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 (NRSVA)

1Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

        1. Do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes.
        2. He will bring to light the things that are hidden.
    1. Moral judgements have a way of backfiring.

Someone has pointed out that when you point a finger at someone four of your gingers are pointing back at you.

Barry Bailey, pastor of a mega-church in Fort Worth, Texas, tells of two of his closest friends, Jean and William Tucker. William is Chancellor at Texas Christian University. An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram featured their coming to terms with the fact that Jean's oldest nephew had died of AIDS. (2)

"Rather than try to hide the tragedy, Jean said, 'I am going to make this public.' The nephew was an artist. The Tuckers had some of his paintings in their home. They loved him dearly.

"But what made Jean decide to tell the story was that following her nephew's death, someone came to her, trying to bring comfort.

"The person said, 'I am so sorry.'

"Jean thanked the person.

"Then the person asked, "What did he die of?"

"Jean replied, 'He died of AIDS.'

"Then the other person said, 'I'm sorry,...anyway.'"

      1. That word "anyway." Try and find anyway love anywhere in the Bible.
      2. There is only love.

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  1. Jesus tells a parable.
    1. All his parables are about the kingdom, but in this one the kingdom of heaven is specifically mentioned and emphasized.
      1. It has been used, previous to this reference, 13 times and will be used 19 times more in the Gospel of Matthew.
      2. In Mark and Luke refer to the same kingdom using the phrase, "kingdom of God."
      3. This kingdom is also about rewards.
      4. According to the list of the "parables of Jesus," that I gave you, this parable is also about "The Plan of Salvation"
        1. One of the purposes of the parable is to reinforce the teaching that "Character Decides Destiny."
          1. It is not sexual orientation.
          2. It is not church membership.
          3. It is not about a moral political state.
          4. It is not what we do, but who we are.
          5. It is character.
        2. It is also about the purpose of probationary time; tares do not eventually become wheat.
    2. The purpose of the parable is also to highlight and enforce the teaching that we are not to sit in judgement of another's spiritual fitness for the kingdom of heaven.
    3. The parable is plain.
      1. The sower sows good seed.
      2. The enemy sows weeds.
      3. You cannot uproot one without uprooting the other.
    4. Let both grow together until the harvest.
    5. For in attempting to pull the weeds you will, not may, but will pull up some of the wheat.
      1. We are not in the harvesting business.
      2. That is God's business.
    6. And it appears that what is appropriate for the world is also appropriate for the church.
      1. We have the responsibility of binding and loosening.
      2. We must be very careful how we approach this task.
      3. If we are not careful we will damage not only the weeds, but also the wheat.

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CONCLUSION

  1. There is a better way to approach this need to maintain some kind of moral purity and purpose.

Minneapolis pastor Leith Anderson tells of calling ChemLawn to take care of his suburban weed-infested lawn, only to have them reject his lawn as a client because it was so bad. One member of his church volunteered to totally remove his old lawn and start a new one, an offer he was almost ready to accept when a former farmer gave him some advice: Don't worry so much about getting rid of the weeds. Just grow the grass, and the grass will take care of the weeds. (3)

The Andersons took his prescription and did all they could to grow "the good stuff." After a couple of years, the lawn looked just as good as everyone else's

The Andersons had to ask themselves what would be their primary focus - growing grass or killing weeds? Like the householder from this week's Gospel parable, the Andersons decided to concentrate on the positive - on growth - instead of pouring their time, energy and resources into killing off weeds.

  1. Taking this tack not only concentrates our energies on the positive, it safeguards us from bad judgment calls. (4)
    1. Sometimes what we would quickly suppose to be weeds turns out to be unexpected flowers in our midst.
    2. Jesus' parable intentionally takes responsibility for "reaping," for gathering and bundling together true weeds out of human hands and makes this a task for divinely directed angels.
    3. Differentiating between weeds and beneficial plants is not a human responsibility.

1. Mikey's Funnies [mikeys-funnies-owner@YouthSpecialties.com]

2. Thanks to Barry Bailey, Fort Worth, Texas.

3. (Anderson, A Church for the 21st Century [Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1992], 125-26.

4. from Are You Growing Grass or Killing Weeds? © 2004 Communication Resources, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

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