The Wheat, The Weeds, and The Will: Why ‘Choosing Life’ Isn’t Enough

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:41] Amen.
[00:13:44] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:08] Amen.
[00:14:41] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:15:00] Amen.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Santo.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Holy, holy.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Santo Santo

[00:17:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Good morning church.
[00:17:39] Pastor Wes Smith, co-pastor with my wife, Pastor Tonya Ruth, here at Williamson's Chapel, and we want to welcome you to worship this morning.
[00:17:47] We are glad that you're here with us.
[00:17:48] If you're joining us online, we want to welcome you as well as we worship together.
[00:17:54] If you are a guest with us immediately following worship, on the left of the narthex just outside of those doors, you can look for a volunteer with a blue greeter name tag, and if you want to know more about how to get involved at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:18:08] This morning we are continuing our series for this fall, Curious Questions, answering questions you guys submitted over the summer.
[00:18:18] And as we've mentioned in the weeks past, some difficult questions that I'm actually grateful for.
[00:18:27] It's helping Tony, Ruth, and I to really dig in.
[00:18:31] As we prepare each week and then to, you know, I sent out a video or I posted a video last week talking a little bit more about what I talked about last Sunday, suffering.
[00:18:45] I'll email that out to the congregation this week as well.
[00:18:48] But we're going to keep looking for ways, whether it's through our e-alerts on Friday or through videos or through our prayer time,
[00:18:55] Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to engage some of these questions because it's more than we can answer in a 20-25 minute sermon.
[00:19:06] These are some really good questions and we're glad to be on this journey of discovery with you all.
[00:19:11] So I invite everybody to take a deep breath.
[00:19:16] Let us prepare our hearts and our minds for worship.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Please stand for the call to worship.
[00:19:24] I will give praise to you, O God, for you have lifted me up and have given my enemies no cause to rejoice.
[00:19:31] Hearing my cries for help, you healed me.
[00:19:34] Bringing me from the very depths of hell, you restored my life.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Let all faithful people give thanks and praise God's holy name.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
For your anger, O God, lasts but a moment, while your graciousness lasts a lifetime.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
The joy comes to you.

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
You have transformed my life from mourning to joy, making my spirit dance and my heart sing.
[00:20:02] May our praise never be silenced as we give thanks and praise God forever and ever.
[00:20:08] Let us pray.
[00:20:08] God of healing and wholeness, we come with thanksgiving in our hearts for all the evidence of your goodness and mercy, found not only in stories of old but in lives today.
[00:20:19] Lives bruised with tragedy find consolation when touched by your gracious Spirit.
[00:20:26] Lives scarred with suffering and rejection have hope renewed through the power of the living Christ.
[00:20:33] We praise and adore you for hearts and lives transformed by your grace and mercy, and we pray that our lives will reflect your great acts of kindness.
[00:20:43] Arouse in us, we pray, a love like yours so that we reach out to this wounded and troubled world with the compassion of Christ, proclaiming the gospel with integrity to friends and strangers alike.
[00:20:56] This we pray in Jesus' name.
[00:20:59] And all of God's children said, Amen.
[00:21:02] Our hymn is Lord of all hopefulness.
[00:21:04] You'll recognize the tune and possibly the words.
[00:21:06] It's in the faith we sing, which means you need to look on the screen because we don't have those in front of you quite yet.

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.
[00:21:44] of Christ Jesus Christ.
[00:22:21] and more.
[00:23:07] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:32] Amen.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
[00:24:21] The third day he rose from the dead.
[00:24:24] He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:24:30] From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
[00:24:34] I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
[00:24:47] Amen.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
To set up the question we're going to ask for passing of the peace, the question we're going to answer for one another for passing of the peace, I need to tell you about Laurie, my nemesis, my arch enemy in fifth grade.
[00:25:57] Laurie's preferred term for me was goofball, and I kept telling her throughout the year,
[00:26:04] That Lori they're gonna put me next year in the academically gifted program I had I didn't know that and she said no they're not you're a goofball and so about two weeks left of class I got an envelope have a name on it and told me I was gonna be in the academically gifted program next year and I turned showed Lori and she said you're still a goofball
[00:26:25] So that kind of cemented Lori as my enemy, nemesis, whatever word you want to use.
[00:26:31] I don't know what happened to her.
[00:26:33] There's no good end to this story.
[00:26:34] It's just that I had a nemesis in fifth grade.
[00:26:36] So our question, Tonya Ruth will answer some of this or connects to her sermon in terms of enemies and having a nemesis.
[00:26:48] So our question as you pass the peace of Christ, who was your arch enemy or nemesis in elementary school?
[00:26:55] And it can be your sibling, so I just want to put that out there.
[00:26:59] It can be your sibling.
[00:27:00] So turn and greet your neighbor and share your childhood enemy.

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
of the Holy Spirit

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
There's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
There's a kindness in His justice, which is more than liberty.
[00:28:25] There is mercy with the Savior, there is healing in His blood.
[00:28:54] There is no place where our sorrows are more felt than up in heaven.
[00:29:14] There is no place where our failings have such kindly judgment given.
[00:29:17] There is mental redemption
[00:29:24] There is joy for all the members in the sorrows of the dead.
[00:29:50] For the love of God is broader than the measure of the mind.
[00:30:01] And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
[00:30:21] If our love were but more faithful, we should take Him at His word.
[00:30:23] And our lives would be thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.
[00:30:41] There's a wideness in God's mercy, in His mercy.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
As we prepare to hear the word, please join with me in the prayer for illumination.
[00:31:14] God of all power, open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts with the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
[00:31:23] Help us to hear your voice, to see your ways, and to receive with joy your truth.
[00:31:31] In Jesus' name, Amen.
[00:31:35] Our scripture this morning comes from Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 through 30.
[00:31:45] Jesus told them another parable.
[00:31:48] The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
[00:32:00] When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then weeds also appeared.
[00:32:07] The owner's servants came to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field?
[00:32:14] Where then did the weeds come from?
[00:32:17] An enemy did this, he replied.
[00:32:20] The servants asked him, Do you want us to go and pull them up?
[00:32:24] No, he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
[00:32:32] Let both grow together until the harvest.
[00:32:36] At that time I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.
[00:32:48] The word of God for the people of God.

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Well, just so you know, God thinks things are funny.
[00:33:03] My nemesis' name was Chad McPeters.
[00:33:07] And I married a man whose middle name is Chad.
[00:33:10] So God thinks things are funny.
[00:33:14] All right, friends, I'm going to invite you to pray with me today.
[00:33:23] Gracious Lord, it's been a hard week in a lot of ways, and we come needing a word from you today.
[00:33:34] So we pray that
[00:33:37] You would open us to really be a place where you can plant a word that will help us to live more faithfully in a world that is so beset by violence and difference and division that seeks to turn us away from you.
[00:33:57] Help us, Lord, to have our spirits in a place where we can hear and be transformed by you in the name of Christ.
[00:34:05] Amen.
[00:34:07] So y'all are asking hard questions and before I get into today's hard question and what you were asking, I want to remind everybody of the ground rules of this whole series that we're doing all this fall.
[00:34:19] The first of our rules is that we're going to engage with humility.
[00:34:23] We're going to acknowledge that we don't all know everything and there might be some stuff that we don't know.
[00:34:27] And so we're going to engage these questions with some humility and some willingness to wrestle and just sit with that.
[00:34:35] We're going to acknowledge that God is God and we are not.
[00:34:38] We're going to stay grounded in the Scriptures.
[00:34:41] We're not looking at what somebody else said but what the Word says.
[00:34:44] So we're going to remain rooted and grounded in God's Word and we are going to wrestle, as Wes would say, with trust.
[00:34:51] Meaning we're going to acknowledge that God likes a good wrestle.
[00:34:53] God likes it when we get down and we just wrestle with the questions that we have and the struggles that we have, and we're going to do that with trust that God is still good, even if we emerge from the wrestling with not many answers for all the questions that we want to ask.
[00:35:07] So those are our ground rules.
[00:35:09] And today, we are in the second of three sermons where we're going to be answering your question was, why do bad things happen?
[00:35:18] That was sort of the overarching thing.
[00:35:20] Now last week, Wes talked about suffering.
[00:35:24] Why is there suffering in the world?
[00:35:26] Why do we suffer?
[00:35:28] Why do people suffer?
[00:35:30] And in that sermon, he pointed to Psalm 6.
[00:35:34] And he pointed to this question as he explored why do people, why do we suffer?
[00:35:40] And in Psalm 6, verse 3, there's this, I was thinking about this all week long.
[00:35:44] There's this place where it says, But you, O Lord, how long?
[00:35:50] I've been thinking about the feeling of weariness that's behind that dash.
[00:35:55] But you, oh Lord, how long?
[00:36:02] And frankly, I've been feeling that myself this week.
[00:36:04] Maybe you have too.
[00:36:06] I am, and this is, I'm not going to say a lot about this, but I do feel like I felt God telling me to speak to you this morning.
[00:36:12] So I'm just going to speak a word of truth here.
[00:36:14] Y'all, I'm weary with division.
[00:36:16] I'm weary with division and prideful claims on every side that they are God's side.
[00:36:23] So I want to remind us, friends, that our political parties are human constructs, not divine instruments.
[00:36:32] And that there is one Savior whose name is Jesus Christ.
[00:36:37] And that all our servants of Jesus Christ, Jesus, does not exist in service to our political ideologies.
[00:36:46] Anybody's political ideologies.
[00:36:49] September the 14th, a friend reminded me this week.
[00:36:51] He wrote me and said, Hey, did you know that September 14th is Holy Cross Sunday?
[00:36:54] And I said, Holy what now, huh?
[00:36:58] and Holy Cross Sunday.
[00:37:00] In the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican tradition, today is Holy Cross Sunday.
[00:37:06] It's one of the holy feast day in those traditions.
[00:37:09] And Holy Cross Day takes its roots from John chapter 3 where Jesus says, And I, if I am but lifted up, will draw all people to myself.
[00:37:18] And we believe Jesus was lifted up on the cross.
[00:37:21] So when we lift up the cross of Jesus Christ, we know that Jesus will draw all people to himself.
[00:37:29] And I was thinking about this week and I thought, well, that's really helpful.
[00:37:32] A good reminder to all of us friends on Holy Cross Sunday that our job is to lift up Jesus.
[00:37:40] Period.
[00:37:42] Our job as Christians is to lift up Jesus.
[00:37:46] So remember, friends, that the evil one benefits by our arguing and by our divisions.
[00:37:52] And so long as we're pointing fingers at one another, we're not pointing our fingers at the cross.
[00:37:58] We're not pointing people to Jesus.
[00:38:00] And Jesus is the hope of the world.
[00:38:02] I think that that's an important context for us to remember today as we dig into what your real question was, the one that you were asking.
[00:38:09] You first asked about suffering.
[00:38:10] The second question you all asked is, if God is good, why does it feel like sometimes evil wins the day?
[00:38:16] If God's good, why do people that are bad get ahead?
[00:38:20] And if God's good, why do bad things happen to people that are good?
[00:38:23] And you all are not the first people to answer that question, to ask it.
[00:38:27] It's a really hard question that believers and non-believers alike have been asking for a long time.
[00:38:31] So much so that there is a whole branch of theological writing that's called theodicy.
[00:38:38] And theodicy just means how can we say that God is good in a world where evil exists.
[00:38:44] That's what theodicy is.
[00:38:45] Theodicy is dealing with the problem, if you want to call it that, of evil, the question of evil.
[00:38:51] If God is good,
[00:38:53] Then how does evil exist in this world?
[00:38:56] The answer to this question of theodicy has led some people further away from faith.
[00:39:02] They just can't seem to wrap their mind around or reconcile how if God is good, bad things would happen to good people.
[00:39:08] Or evil would have any kind of power in the world.
[00:39:11] And it has led other people to deeper faith as they have wrestled with that question.
[00:39:15] So the good news is here this morning is wherever you are on that wide spectrum, you are not by yourself.
[00:39:22] If you've ever asked that question, if you've ever said, why is this happening to me?
[00:39:26] If you've ever said, I've been so good, how come this is happening to me?
[00:39:32] Then you have wrestled with theodicy.
[00:39:33] You didn't know it.
[00:39:34] You didn't know that's what you were asking, but that's what you were doing.
[00:39:37] Absolutely, when Mariana had to have two heart surgeries, our daughter had to have two open heart surgeries before the age of 12.
[00:39:46] I remember saying, I was like, listen, I literally gave my whole life to you, Jesus.
[00:39:51] I preach every Sunday.
[00:39:53] Like, don't you owe me?
[00:39:55] Right?
[00:39:55] Like, I'm really good.
[00:39:57] Which is where that question really comes from, right?
[00:40:02] So, I want to point us first to lament.
[00:40:05] Lament just means to cry out.
[00:40:07] And the Psalms of lament capture the Hebrew people really wrestling with theodicy in ways that can still resonate, I think, for you and I in our lives today.
[00:40:21] They demanded things of God and some of it when you read the lament songs, I mean they really just demand things of God in ways that might make you feel real uncomfortable.
[00:40:30] They are not what feels like polite church conversation that we should be having.
[00:40:37] And they get really real about suffering that God's people feel when it seems like evil is prevailing, evil is winning the day.
[00:40:47] I want us to read Psalm 35.
[00:40:48] Let's look at it.
[00:40:49] Starts out this way.
[00:40:51] Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me.
[00:40:55] Fight against those who fight against me.
[00:40:57] Notice how myopic that is.
[00:41:01] Not contend, Lord, with those who contend with you.
[00:41:05] Contend with those who contend with me.
[00:41:08] Right?
[00:41:09] And then it goes on.
[00:41:10] This is starting at verse 11 and going to 17.
[00:41:13] Malicious witnesses rise up.
[00:41:15] They ask me about things that I do not know.
[00:41:17] They repay me evil for good.
[00:41:20] My soul is forlorn.
[00:41:23] But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
[00:41:27] I afflicted myself with fasting.
[00:41:30] I prayed with my head bowed down on my bosom, and I grieved as though for a friend or a brother.
[00:41:37] I went about as one who laments for a mother bowed down and in mourning.
[00:41:44] But at my stumbling?
[00:41:46] They gathered in glee.
[00:41:47] They gathered together against me.
[00:41:50] Ruffians, who I did not know, tore at me without ceasing.
[00:41:53] They impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth.
[00:41:59] How long, O Lord, will you look on?
[00:42:03] And then he goes into verses 22 and 24.
[00:42:05] And it's downright impertinent.
[00:42:09] You have seen, O Lord.
[00:42:11] Don't be silent.
[00:42:13] Can you imagine telling God,
[00:42:16] Hey, speak up, God!
[00:42:18] Right?
[00:42:19] That's what the psalmist does.
[00:42:20] Oh Lord, do not be far from me.
[00:42:22] Wake up!
[00:42:24] I mean, does it make you uncomfortable?
[00:42:27] Hey God, wake up!
[00:42:30] Wake up, oh God!
[00:42:32] Rouse yourself for my defense.
[00:42:36] We're still on my own defense.
[00:42:39] For my cause, my God and my Lord.
[00:42:42] Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness.
[00:42:46] Do not let them rejoice over me.
[00:42:48] And then in verse 26, Let all those who rejoice at my calamity be put to shame and confusion.
[00:42:53] Let all those who exalt themselves against me be clothed with shame and dishonor.
[00:43:01] Lament Psalms are powerful because they remind us that God can take our crying out.
[00:43:07] God is big enough to take your grump and your anger and your righteous indignation.
[00:43:15] God is big enough to take all of that.
[00:43:19] And maybe you need to know that in your struggle with evil and good in the world today.
[00:43:25] But when you cry out to God, when you are bold and pray these kind of bold prayers, may I humbly ask you, friends, that you don't go into it so certain that you are firmly and only on the side of good and the other person is firmly and only on the side of evil.
[00:43:44] Look at the wheat and the weeds.
[00:43:48] Jesus tells parables in the Scripture.
[00:43:53] And parables are stories.
[00:43:55] that point us to some teaching or to some deeper meaning and question.
[00:44:01] Jesus tells them all the time.
[00:44:02] And Matthew chapter 13 has the only two parables that Jesus ever actually explains.
[00:44:08] The parable of the sower.
[00:44:10] The sower went out to sow the seed and some fell on the rocky path and some fell on the good soil and some fell among the weeds.
[00:44:15] You remember that one?
[00:44:16] And this story about what we call the weeds and the weed or sometimes people call it the parable of the wheat and the tares is another way to hear this parable.
[00:44:27] And I think we can get lost sometimes in the explanations of these two parables and we miss the part that's in the middle of chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13, verses 10 through 17, where Jesus says basically, listen, parables are meant to be head scratchers.
[00:44:44] I speak in parables so that people will listen and not understand.

[00:44:47] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
What?

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Like you... That's what he says.
[00:44:52] So they may be ever listening but never understanding.
[00:44:56] What?
[00:45:00] The thing about these parables is, like any good stories, they invite us to ponder the world, to ponder ourselves, to ponder God in ways that we just need to wrestle with.
[00:45:12] In other words, the parables are like biblical curious questions, and we're encouraged to live with the unresolved things, to live with the things that we don't understand, the answers that actually beg more questions of us, the invitation to ask and to seek and to knock.
[00:45:27] Because we, every time we come to the scripture friends, we are different.
[00:45:33] You aren't the same person you were 20 years ago.
[00:45:36] You've had some experiences in 20 years that are different.
[00:45:39] That mean that you approach the word differently.
[00:45:41] So maybe a parable that meant one thing to you 20 years ago means something different to you now because of some experience you've had in your life.
[00:45:48] That's okay.
[00:45:49] God's inviting you to wrestle.
[00:45:52] So in this parable of Jesus, we hear these weeds and these wheat, the weeds and the wheat.
[00:45:59] And here's what you need to know about that.
[00:46:01] Weeds and wheat, there's a type of wheat that would grow in Palestine that looked like wheat.
[00:46:08] They just looked the same.
[00:46:10] And when they would sprout, they looked the same.
[00:46:12] And there was no way to know which one was which until you try it out.
[00:46:19] And what you find out is that the weed is good for you, but the weeds were poisonous.
[00:46:25] So it was very dangerous for these two things to be growing together.
[00:46:29] So one in this parable, one is clearly bad and one is clearly good.
[00:46:35] But if you pull one out, Jesus says, you risk pulling out the other because you got it wrong.
[00:46:42] If you pull out the weeds, you risk pulling out some good wheat.
[00:46:46] And if you pull out the wheat, you're going to risk grabbing up some weeds with it.
[00:46:54] It's a maddening truth that we can see all around us, right?
[00:46:58] That these two things, the weeds and the wheat, they just grow beside each other, they just grow together.
[00:47:04] So what is the wheat and what is the weeds?
[00:47:07] When Jesus explains this parable, he says, so the weed is the stuff I sow, the weeds are the things that are sown by the evil one.
[00:47:18] So is the weed us?
[00:47:21] Right?
[00:47:22] The believers?
[00:47:23] And the weeds are unbelievers?
[00:47:26] Like out in the world?
[00:47:28] Or is the wheat the faithful Christian that's sitting in the pew and the weeds are the unfaithful or hypocritical Christian that's sitting in the pew?
[00:47:37] Or is the wheat the faithful part that's in me and the weeds are the places I'm still falling into temptation and sin?
[00:47:47] So are the weeds and the wheat in here or in here or out there?
[00:47:50] The answer is yes.
[00:47:55] The answer is yes.
[00:47:57] Yes to all of the above.
[00:47:58] Jesus says the good is the children of the kingdom, which sometimes, frankly, I am.
[00:48:04] And sometimes I really struggle to be.
[00:48:06] How about you?
[00:48:09] And the weeds are the children of the evil one, which sometimes, frankly, friends, I am that too.
[00:48:15] You know why?
[00:48:16] Because I am still in the process of being saved.
[00:48:18] How about you?
[00:48:20] I'm not utterly free of sin yet.
[00:48:21] God's still working on me.
[00:48:23] Is God still working on you?
[00:48:28] Jesus really clears it right up, doesn't he?
[00:48:31] He says, listen, look, there's an evil one who sows the weeds, but there's also the faithful sower who is God and who has ultimately an end game in mind.
[00:48:43] In this parable, there is this acknowledgement that evil is real.
[00:48:48] Evil is real.
[00:48:50] Maybe you need to remember it.
[00:48:51] Evil is real and it's in the world and God knows it's there.
[00:48:56] It's not a mystery to God.
[00:48:57] God's not sitting around scratching his head going, where in the world did these weeds come from?
[00:49:03] God knows.
[00:49:04] God is absolutely clear and aware.
[00:49:06] And God does not need us to point out that it's there.
[00:49:11] Nor, friends, does it mean that God created it.
[00:49:14] Does its presence in the world mean God created it?
[00:49:18] The bad things, the evil things, people, situations that we find ourselves surrounded by are part of living in this very fallen world that we live in where sin still exists.
[00:49:28] And sometimes we are victims of it and sometimes we are the perpetrators of it and that is why all of us still need Jesus.
[00:49:36] Amen?
[00:49:39] Jesus' response is hard for us but it gives us some things to ponder.
[00:49:42] First of all is this.
[00:49:44] You and I want to clear it up.
[00:49:46] We want to clear it up right now.
[00:49:47] And we want to separate out the weeds from the wheat because it makes us feel better.
[00:49:51] But God is okay letting the weeds and the wheat grow together.
[00:49:55] I don't have explanation for it, but it's right there in the parable.
[00:49:59] Jesus is okay with that.
[00:50:01] The weeds and the wheat growing together for a season.
[00:50:06] We, friends, are not the ones who are tasked with discerning what is wheat and what is weeds.
[00:50:13] That is God's job.
[00:50:17] And friends, most importantly of all, God is not ultimately neutral between good and evil.
[00:50:25] God has chosen a side.
[00:50:27] God is on the side of life.
[00:50:31] God is on the side of good in our lives.
[00:50:34] God is in seasons of our life.
[00:50:36] God is on the side of good in the end of all things.
[00:50:39] God is on the side of the good.
[00:50:42] God will have the ultimate victory.
[00:50:45] That is the truth of Easter that we celebrate in the resurrection.
[00:50:49] That God has definitively said, I choose life.
[00:50:58] And that's all fine, well, and good.
[00:51:01] But how are we supposed to deal with it in the here and the now?
[00:51:03] Because it's really obnoxious, right?
[00:51:06] Aren't good things supposed to happen to good people and bad things to bad people?
[00:51:12] So let me just answer a few questions.
[00:51:14] Number one, regarding those who do bad but still get ahead, here's my question.
[00:51:19] Are they really ahead?
[00:51:22] I mean, are they really?
[00:51:25] Evil and or the choice for evil in this world has consequences.
[00:51:30] And just because someone hides it well, it doesn't mean the consequence isn't there.
[00:51:35] Behind others seeming to do wrong
[00:51:39] Never seeming to face the consequences, their friends always lies fear that someone's going to catch them.
[00:51:46] And shame and isolation and slavery to whatever fuels them getting ahead.
[00:51:53] And sickness and wounds that remain unhealed and brokenness that no nothing, no money, no success, no anything is ever going to be able to fill up.
[00:52:04] So friends, if you could have what they have at the price they're paying for it, would you really want it?
[00:52:09] And maybe could you and I, instead of looking and going, Seriously!
[00:52:18] I just hate that!
[00:52:21] Could we look at them more like Jesus looks at the rich young man who comes to him and wants to follow him and Jesus says, So you've got to give up everything you have and follow me.
[00:52:31] And he walks away sad.
[00:52:32] Remember that story?
[00:52:34] And the scripture says, Jesus looks at him and loves him.
[00:52:40] Can we look at somebody who is prospering in the midst of their evil doing and think, man, I really hurt for you because you don't know something you really need to know about how good God's love is, about how you don't have to keep hustling and you don't have to live in slavery and I can have some compassion for you because I know something you don't know and you really need what I know.
[00:53:07] You need to know who I know.
[00:53:12] In Matthew 5, verse 45, Jesus says this, God makes his sun to shine on the evil and on the good.
[00:53:18] He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
[00:53:22] And that might not make you feel better, but it's true.
[00:53:25] Sometimes good happens to good people and it happens to bad people too.
[00:53:28] The sun shines on the good and the bad.
[00:53:31] And sometimes hardship comes to both of those things as well.
[00:53:35] It's the way of the world.
[00:53:36] God created it all, called it good.
[00:53:38] And in our free will, all of us have chosen to invite evil, the evil one to sow other seeds in the world and in us.
[00:53:46] It's not God's choice, it's our choice.
[00:53:49] And we still have the choice of how we're going to follow God, both in the rain and in the sunshine.
[00:53:55] Nobody can take that choice away from you.
[00:53:59] So God is inviting us to live faithfully whether the sun shines or it doesn't.
[00:54:05] Whether it's raining or not, to live faithfully.
[00:54:09] It's worth noting that when Jesus says that, it's actually in the context, the full context, is about loving your enemies.
[00:54:16] That's what it's about.
[00:54:17] In verses, chapter 5, verses 43 through 48, he says this, You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
[00:54:27] So that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun to shine on the evil and the good, sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
[00:54:35] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?
[00:54:37] Don't even tax collectors do the same thing?
[00:54:42] And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?
[00:54:46] Do not Gentiles do the same?
[00:54:48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[00:54:54] So in the midst of this question about why do bad people really get ahead, are they really ahead?
[00:55:00] I would ask you, are they really?
[00:55:02] And what's the choice you want to make?
[00:55:05] If the bad and good are going to come, no matter what, how are you going to live?
[00:55:12] Here's the second question.
[00:55:14] What about weedy people?
[00:55:16] I mean, are we really supposed to do nothing?
[00:55:18] Because you know there are weedy people.
[00:55:21] I mean, are we really supposed to just be silent about that?
[00:55:23] Well, my answer to that is no.
[00:55:25] When Wes asked this question, he told y'all last week that when our kids would come and tell on each other, we would always go, wait.
[00:55:33] And he would say one thing, what I would say is, are you coming over here to get somebody into trouble or out of it?
[00:55:40] And sometimes they would go, oh, because they were coming to get somebody in trouble.
[00:55:45] They weren't trying to help each other.
[00:55:48] They were trying to make it worse for each other, right?
[00:55:51] So, in other words, the motivation of your heart matters.
[00:55:55] Sometimes we tell out of jealousy and resentment, and that, friends, is not better.
[00:56:02] It's not good.
[00:56:04] So, what are we supposed to do about weedy people?
[00:56:06] Matthew 18 gives us a little bit of a road map.
[00:56:08] Would that we would actually do it.
[00:56:10] Here's my suggestion to you.
[00:56:11] People talk about Matthew chapter 18 all the time.
[00:56:14] I'd love to see more people actually do it.
[00:56:16] Wouldn't it be great?
[00:56:18] Let's go, just listen to what it says.
[00:56:19] Jesus says,
[00:56:21] If someone wrongs you, point it out, just you and them.
[00:56:25] Y'all, can we be honest for just a second?
[00:56:34] When was the last time somebody did something that hurt you, and your first response was to call them?
[00:56:40] My bet is dollars to donuts, the first... Wes, you will not believe what Stephen Kippel said to me today.
[00:56:51] Right?
[00:56:53] It takes a lot of courage.
[00:56:56] Hey, Stephen, can we have a conversation?
[00:56:59] You said something today that really bothered me, that really hurt me.
[00:57:03] That's wrong.
[00:57:04] It's a whole lot easier to call everybody else than the person that's doing that.
[00:57:08] So let me just ask you, the last time somebody did something that bothered you, that wronged you, did you go to them?
[00:57:15] Or did you just talk about them to everybody in their household?
[00:57:23] Listen, y'all are laughing at the house cat thing.
[00:57:28] I have tears in earful for me.
[00:57:29] I'm just saying.
[00:57:30] I'm kidding.
[00:57:30] Okay, so before we start telling, if we're going to tell people to do Matthew 18, we best be doing it too, y'all.
[00:57:37] And the world would be a whole lot better place if that's what we would do.
[00:57:41] Our churches would be a whole lot better places if that's what we would do.
[00:57:44] But that's not what we do.
[00:57:46] And then we do the second thing.
[00:57:49] If you were to do that, if I were to call up Stephen, Stephen's a great guy, we're just going to use him as an object lesson today.
[00:57:54] So nobody walk out of here thinking, okay.
[00:57:56] If I were to call up Stephen and say, Stephen, what you said really hurt me.
[00:57:59] And Stephen said, well, I don't care.
[00:58:03] Then what the scripture says we're supposed to do is to get a couple of others.
[00:58:07] And then what it actually says is, so they can hear all the words, which means you better be watching your tongue too.
[00:58:12] And not spread in slander about the other person because rarely is one person wrong all by themselves.
[00:58:20] Wrong tends to come in pairs.
[00:58:24] And usually there's something you need to repent for too.
[00:58:27] That's why you have a second person there.
[00:58:29] And if at the end of that we both still go, Stephen still says, well I still don't care.
[00:58:35] Then it says to tell it to the church.
[00:58:40] Not to get somebody into trouble, but for the sake of reconciliation.
[00:58:48] And if the person still doesn't listen, after all that, if the person still doesn't listen, the answer is not to go get a billboard on 150 and say, Stephen Kufler's a big jerk.
[00:59:00] That is not what you're supposed to do.
[00:59:02] He's a really great guy.
[00:59:03] I really love you, Stephen.
[00:59:10] Jesus says, if they still don't listen, treat them as a Gentile or a tax collector.
[00:59:18] And how did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors, friends?
[00:59:22] I noticed that he ate at their tables and that he invited them to hear the good news.
[00:59:30] He didn't ostracize them.
[00:59:31] He continued to show God's love and God's grace and God's hospitality in hopes that that person would come to see and to believe in a better way.
[00:59:41] Never in anywhere in the Scriptures is there a warrant for condemnation.
[00:59:49] So often, friends, you and I take to social media before we take to relationships.
[00:59:57] We move to judgment that comes out of our fear rather than compassion that is born out of love that wants no one to succumb to the temptations of evil that all of us face in our life.
[01:00:10] And that is something that we ought to wrestle with when we think about the weeds of the wheat that are growing in our own souls, friends.
[01:00:18] Which gets to the third question.
[01:00:21] Who are you going to be?
[01:00:24] And how are you going to choose to live?
[01:00:28] In the face of evil within us, outside of us, you and I still have a choice every single day about how we're going to live.
[01:00:38] I want you to hear these words from Psalm 1.
[01:00:40] That's what the psalmist says.
[01:00:42] Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers.
[01:00:58] That one gets me.
[01:01:02] Because I can equip myself of not following the advice of the wicked.
[01:01:06] And I can like to try to equip myself of taking the path that sinners tread.
[01:01:11] But do I really not sit in the seat of scoffers?
[01:01:17] Happy are those who don't do any of those things.
[01:01:20] But their delight is in the law of the Lord.
[01:01:24] And on His law they meditate day and night.
[01:01:27] They are like trees.
[01:01:29] Planted by streams of water which yield their fruit in its season and their leaves do not wither in all they do they prosper The wicked are not so the psalmist says but are like chaff that the wind drives away Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish
[01:01:55] Faced with the reality of evil and the truth that sometimes you can get ahead doing the wrong, friends, you still have a choice.
[01:02:04] God says there is blessing in choosing the good even when you will face hardship because of it.
[01:02:11] There is blessing in choosing the good even when you live in the reality of evil sometimes gaining ground.
[01:02:19] The scripture says in all they do they prosper.
[01:02:23] It does not mean in a worldly sense necessarily.
[01:02:26] Prosperity has so much more to do with the relationship that we have with God and with one another and the wholeness of our lives than it does with our bank accounts and worldly good.
[01:02:40] To prosper means to make progress towards something that brings about good.
[01:02:47] And that, friends, means that you could prosper in suffering.
[01:02:52] You can progress towards something good even when you're suffering.
[01:02:58] You can prosper even amidst loss and disease and time of trial.
[01:03:05] You can prosper in all those things just as you can prosper in good times.
[01:03:10] You can make progress toward the good.
[01:03:13] You can move towards God.
[01:03:19] The wheat, friends, knows that.
[01:03:21] The weeds don't.
[01:03:23] And they avoid hardship rather than embrace it.
[01:03:27] Choosing a better way.
[01:03:30] So what are you going to choose?
[01:03:32] Because here's the truth, friends.
[01:03:36] God is not a genie in a bottle.
[01:03:40] And faith is not a promise of immediate reward.
[01:03:45] God guarantees nothing but His presence with us.
[01:03:51] When I was first started in ministry, I saw this quote, and I think it was on the cover of a bulletin.
[01:03:56] I have no idea who picked it.
[01:03:57] Anyway, I've seen it one time, and I have never forgotten it.
[01:04:02] It was this quote by a guy named Paul Claudel, and I wrote it, and I have a book of worship that I take with me when I go visit people that are very sick or dying, and I take this prayer book with me, and it's on the inside of this prayer book, and I think about this quote all the time.
[01:04:17] Paul Claudel says this,
[01:04:19] Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or to remove it.
[01:04:23] He came to fill it with His presence.
[01:04:27] Hear that again.
[01:04:28] Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or to remove it.
[01:04:33] He came to fill it with His presence.
[01:04:37] There is a more excellent way, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13.
[01:04:41] A more excellent way, and that way is the way of love.
[01:04:46] And there is hope for the life to come because we know that God is love and love ultimately wins the day.
[01:04:52] God is on the side of good over evil.
[01:04:57] And so we, friends, are called to make the choice for that same thing right now in the living of our days.
[01:05:05] It matters what we choose.
[01:05:07] Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 19 through 20, as God's people were getting ready to enter the Promised Land, God said this, I call heaven and earth
[01:05:15] To witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
[01:05:21] Choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him and holding fast to him.
[01:05:28] And notice he didn't say, when things are good.
[01:05:35] Or, nor did he say, and everything will work out just like you want it to.
[01:05:39] Because if you read everything that happens after this in the Old Testament,
[01:05:44] It did not all go well for them in the Promised Land.
[01:05:48] There was a lot of hardship in the Promised Land.
[01:05:51] And lots of bad people got ahead in the Promised Land.
[01:05:56] But you still have a choice.
[01:06:00] You still have a choice.
[01:06:01] You can choose life.
[01:06:03] You can choose the way of God in the face of evil and injustice and oppression in all the forms that they present themselves in our world today.
[01:06:12] Friends, I don't have a perfect answer to the question of why bad happens to good people or why bad people sometimes get ahead.
[01:06:21] But I do know this, there is always a choice of how to live and where you put your trust about where this life is headed for all of us.
[01:06:31] And so we choose it.
[01:06:33] We choose good over evil.
[01:06:35] We choose love over hate.
[01:06:37] We choose life over death.
[01:06:39] We choose to trust the God of love who holds the end of the story even when part of that story leads through hardship.
[01:06:47] And even when, as we're living out our story, we see people who aren't doing the same thing seemingly getting ahead because we trust that at the end of the day, God's going to sort it all out.
[01:06:59] God's going to sort it all out.
[01:07:02] And my hope is that we will all hear him say, Well done, good and faithful servant.
[01:07:08] You have been faithful in the small things.
[01:07:11] Enter into the glory of the kingdom.
[01:07:17] Friends, I don't know what to do today besides be about the work of prayer.
[01:07:21] And so I want us to take just a minute here and we're going to pray together from my favorite prayer book.
[01:07:27] It's called Venite.
[01:07:29] And we're just going to do a little midday prayer today.
[01:07:33] And ask for God to be at work.
[01:07:39] You might know the ending of the first little phrase I'm going to say.
[01:07:41] If you know it, join me in it.
[01:07:44] Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
[01:07:51] From Psalm 119, How shall we keep your ways, cleanse our ways, by keeping your word?
[01:07:59] With our whole hearts we seek you.
[01:08:02] Let us not stray from your commandments.
[01:08:05] We treasure your promises within us that we might not sin against you.
[01:08:10] Blessed are you, O Lord, instruct us in your rays.
[01:08:14] We take greater delight in the way of your decrees than in all manner of riches.
[01:08:18] Our delight is in you, O Lord.
[01:08:20] We will not, we will not forget your word.
[01:08:25] Almighty God, your divine Son was lifted high upon the cross.
[01:08:29] that he might draw the whole world unto himself.
[01:08:33] Mercifully grant that we who glory in the mystery of our redemption may have the grace to take up our cross and follow him.
[01:08:41] Deliver us, Lord, from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you have given us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good.
[01:08:53] For the sake of the one who comes among us as one who serves and who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
[01:09:02] Amen.
[01:09:05] A reading and interpretation from the Gospel.
[01:09:10] You cannot serve two masters.
[01:09:13] You cannot ride two horses at the same time, or bend two bows at the same time.
[01:09:18] And one cannot be the servant of two masters at the same time.
[01:09:22] You will love the one and hate the other, or you will hate the one and love the other.
[01:09:27] A kingdom divided is a kingdom defeated.
[01:09:29] A household divided is a household destroyed.
[01:09:33] A heart divided is a heart in darkness.
[01:09:37] This is the way of the kingdom.
[01:09:39] The kingdom can divide the household even, three against two, two against three, mother against daughter, and father against son.
[01:09:47] To accept the kingdom is to reject your mother and father, to reject your brother and sister.
[01:09:53] No one who cares more for their family than they do for me is worthy of the kingdom.
[01:09:57] But those who would give up their family for the sake of the kingdom will not be denied the reward of the faithful.
[01:10:04] If you have ears, then hear.
[01:10:06] You cannot serve two masters at the same time.
[01:10:12] We give you thanks, Almighty God, for the gift of your church and its people and its work, for the mothers and the fathers of the faith, and for the faithful of time past, for your holy prophets and apostles, and for all martyrs and saints in every age and in every land,
[01:10:32] For all who serve you as servants and stewards of your divine mysteries, and those who have taught us your story and shown us your ways, we thank you, O Lord.
[01:10:43] You have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth.
[01:10:47] Grant that in our pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.
[01:10:57] Hear us, O Lord.
[01:10:59] We offer prayers for your holy church and all who seek the truth, for the holy communities of which we are a part.
[01:11:12] Lord have mercy.
[01:11:14] Christ have mercy.
[01:11:16] For all bishops, priests, ministers, and leaders.
[01:11:24] Lord have mercy.
[01:11:25] Christ have mercy.
[01:11:28] For the companions to whom we have promised our faithfulness and our prayers.
[01:11:42] Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.
[01:11:45] Accept the prayers of your people we pray and in your mercy look with compassion on all who turn to you for help.
[01:11:51] Grant that we may find you and be found by you, that our divisions may cease, that we may be united in your truth and walk together in love to bear witness to your glory in the world.
[01:12:04] And now with your people on earth, we pray the prayer that Jesus taught those he called brothers and sisters and friends.
[01:12:11] Our Father, who art in heaven,
[01:12:14] Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive those who trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen
[01:12:40] Thanks be to God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Giver of life.
[01:12:42] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all forevermore.

[01:12:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Amen.

[01:13:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning, it's Neville Ward here.
[01:13:02] I'm the director of youth and young adult submissions here at the church.
[01:13:07] And I wanted to take a moment to invite you to the poverty simulation September 20th here at the church.
[01:13:12] And if you've ever found yourself asking the question about poverty, about why don't they just
[01:13:17] Why don't they just get a better job?
[01:13:19] Why don't they just do this?
[01:13:20] Why don't they just do that?
[01:13:21] This is going to be a great opportunity for you to learn the answers to those questions about why they don't just do that because it's not generally that simple.
[01:13:31] So the poverty simulation gives you a chance to actually walk in the shoes of someone who may be experiencing poverty and actually
[01:13:39] Try to do some of those things that you think, well, why don't they just do that?
[01:13:44] We're going to have that simulation time and then we'll have lunch together and some debriefing time where we get to talk about our experience.
[01:13:51] What was it like to face the challenges that folks in poverty face?
[01:13:55] So if you're interested in going, I encourage you to sign up.
[01:13:59] The easiest way for you to sign up is just send me a message.
[01:14:02] I just need your name, your email and your phone number and I can sign you up myself.
[01:14:07] Or you can scan the QR code.
[01:14:09] that is on the flyers around about the poverty simulation and sign up through the Christian Missions online portal as well.
[01:14:17] So I hope to see you there.

[01:14:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I want to encourage you to take the opportunity to participate in this important event.
[01:14:29] So as Kevin said, you can reach out and sign up and contact Kevin.
[01:14:35] There's also a registration on our website.
[01:14:38] There's a table right outside the doors here.
[01:14:44] Joe Babinzer, who's right back there, will be out there and you can ask questions also sign up there.
[01:14:51] So this morning we give our tithes and offerings as a response for all that God has given to us because God is so good and God is so powerful.
[01:15:00] And so what we offer back to him and our tithes and offerings goes to keep building the kingdom and to helping others in need.
[01:15:10] So let us give with glad hearts and giving gratitude.

[01:16:26] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[01:19:10] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy

[01:19:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
The Bible is built on page 368, also on the screen in front of you.

[01:20:14] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Sing together.
[01:20:14] The Bible is built on
[01:20:24] The glory be of Jesus' name.
[01:20:35] God rest his soul in the highest heaven on earth.
[01:20:58] The Gospel of St. John the Baptist
[01:21:44] The Gospel of St. John the Baptist
[01:22:13] In each of the ways of the Son, O give us faith in Him when we fall.
[01:22:36] Trust in His love, and trust as we fall.
[01:22:37] God bless this day, we pray for you.
[01:22:37] God bless this day,

[01:22:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
What she said on Wednesday in the morning.
[01:23:12] Fantastic fellowship, fantastic studies for women.
[01:23:16] So sign up for that and sign up for Dinner's Done that's in the evening.
[01:23:20] Especially if you already know that you're coming so Carrie can get a good head count on that.
[01:23:24] Some musical opportunities.
[01:23:26] All of our groups are open for participation and I invite you to see me or Dawn at the organ after worship today.
[01:23:34] Our chancel choir is always looking for new friends to come.
[01:23:37] They are fantastic, not just musically, but so much fun.
[01:23:42] It will be the highlight of your week to come every Wednesday and come hang out with this crowd.
[01:23:46] Please come join us if you're interested in making music and we are doing Messiah again this year.
[01:23:51] Community Messiah inviting all singers from around Mooresville and farther to come join us.
[01:23:58] If you're interested in getting your vocal cords warmed up and coming on and sing with us we would love to have you or if you know somebody we have some flyers that you can pass on to invite friends.

[01:24:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
One more opportunity, tomorrow morning, well, tomorrow from about 11.45 until 3.30, I will be serving at PNC.

[01:24:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
So if you're having some time tomorrow and you want to come and do something that reminds you that there are more important things than fighting over the divisions in the world, and there are things that we can all agree on that we need to feed those who are hungry,

[01:24:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
And take care of those who are in need.
[01:24:33] Come serve with me.
[01:24:35] I'd love to have you come and join me.
[01:24:36] So that's tomorrow at 11.45.
[01:24:39] You can sign up at the church app or just show up.
[01:24:42] Or call me when you guys need anything else.

[01:24:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I'll be there.
[01:24:45] I hope you'll come and serve with me.