Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on 7/23/23. The text was Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.  Today you will hear another seedy sermon. Last week, the seeds fell on different types of ground. In today’s gospel, the ground is not the issue, but the seeds that are planted.  In the beginning of our parable, all is well. Good seed is planted and starts to grow. The problem is that greedy weeds, also known as darnel, also started growing. These weeds have a root system that spreads deeply and widely, intermixing its roots with the roots of the surrounding plants and greedily sucking up the water and nutrients of the soil (Rev. Nanette Sawyer, Greedy Weeds).  How could this be? The master deduces that an enemy had sown the weeds’ seeds! Is Jesus teaching people how to farm? No. Remember the beginning of the parable, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” Jesus is teaching how life should be lived.  Malina and Rohrbaugh’s Social Science Commen...

This is the sermon from July 20 that I preached at Bethel Lutheran Church .  I got behind in posting as I prepare for surgery on my rotator cuff tomorrow. Last week besides trying to get office things in order and worship preperation for several weeks' out, there were numerous pre-op things that needed doing. The text is Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 . Last week I admitted my lack of skill when it comes to growing plants. I have a black thumb rather than a green thumb. I have another confession to make. I have a hard time telling weeds from plants and flowers. After all, some of the weeds are beautiful and look like something you might want to keep in a garden. And some plants don’t look as beautiful as the weeds. After all, are the wildflowers we see growing in fields along the side of the road weeds or flowers?  In last week’s gospel, we heard about different types of dirt and how the planted seeds were affected by the ground in which they were planted. That was Farmin...