Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Isaiah 44:6-8    Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Old story-one that has stuck with me through all the years, even though it happened nearly forty years ago... In the spring of my junior year in high school, I was in the school play, which rehearsed after school. Leaving the school, I stopped to watch the end of a baseball game in which I had friends playing. I also had the nasty habit of smoking cigarettes in those days, and so, standing behind the backstop, I lit one up...

I hadn't had three puffs when I heard the ice-cold voice of Mrs. Middleton, dreaded girl's gym teacher: "Smoking on school grounds, Mr. Nelson?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am- but it's hours after school ended, and I'm outside..."

"Doesn't matter-the rules are the rules-I'll have to turn you in..."

"Even if I put this out right now?"

"Even if you put it out when we started this conversation-you'll get a call to the dean's office tomorrow..."

So I finished the cigarette... But inside I was terrified. Getting caught smoking meant automatic suspension. And getting suspended went on your permanent record-could have college implications-not to mention what my parents, who were none too pleased about my smoking in the first place would do to me...

I handled it maturely-I played sick the next day... And then the following day, I returned, and waited, and waited... It wasn't until sixth period-next to last class of the day, when I thought I might actually have been forgotten or something, that the phone rang, and the creative writing teacher said to me, "Chris, you're wanted in the dean's office..." Amid the buzz of "what did he do?" I started the longest walk of my life to date...

For me, it was the end of all things-I was that weed that was about to be pulled up by the roots and placed into the furnace of fire that I just read about...

There is a part of Christianity- that is quite popular these days- that has taken the promise of the second coming of Jesus, and turned it into a nightmare of cataclysmic-one might say apocalyptic-proportion...

I caught a sermon on TV recently by John Hagee, a mega church pastor from Texas who was recently in the news when Presidential candidate John McCain disavowed his endorsement, (I must have had way too much time) which spelled out in lurid detail what would happen when Jesus returns (and very soon, too!)... And it wasn't so long ago that the Left Behind series was among the most popular reading in our country, and it (and a sequel to it- which seems really strange- a sequel to the end of the world) are still selling...

For those of you not up to speed with what I'm talking about, it's what the Bible allegedly teaches about the days leading up to the Second Coming-the Last Judgment... It begins with the "Rapture..." when those who believe properly (ie evangelical, conservative Christians) and all children under 12 disappear- they're taken to be with Jesus, and then all hell breaks loose on earth...a time known as "The Tribulation..." There are plagues, all sorts of terrible things-those who become believers are persecuted by the anti-Christ-the Beast...and things get worse and worse and worse...

This school of thought teaches that the earth is bad and getting worse...That God has taken a step back, and started a cosmic clock- and each time it rings a new plague is poured out... God will allow evil to run its course, and then, at the last second, Jesus will come back, defeat evil, and rule forever...

Frankly, it's not all that hard to see why that sort of thinking is so popular: Questions on the lips of Christians since the beginning have been, "How long must we wait? When will you return in all your glory?" The earliest Christians expected Jesus back immediately. That's why the earliest Gospel (Mark) was written around AD 70 or so, almost a generation after Jesus' death and resurrection. Why waste time writing when the world is going to end? But the end didn't come-and so the leaders of the church thought it important to write down what those who had known Jesus-or those who had known those who had known Jesus-were saying about Jesus' life and ministry!

At the turn of the first millennium-1000AD, priests and monks roamed across Europe, announcing the end with dragons and earthquakes and chaos (and there was chaos- that's why we call it, at least for Europeans, The Dark Ages...) The Pope celebrated mass New Year's Eve 999 with a packed church of wailing people. He went home and went to bed; they waited for the end. Next morning he was back at work and huge numbers of very sheepish Christians went home and back to work themselves.

And as we prepared for the second millennium, we experienced much of the same. In 1970 Hal Lindsey wrote a book called The Late, Great Planet Earth, predicting the end of world by the beginning of the new century, based on the same scriptures as Left Behind. It was filled with predictions that turned out to be so wrong that he revised it some eighteen times- and we're still here- at least for now... (and I've always wondered how he could take money for that book anyway- if the world was going to end, what would he do. What has he done with all he made on it! Same with the Left Behind authors, for that matter!)

People look for "the End" when things are not going well-when people believe they are being persecuted-when the world is so chaotic that it seems that only divine intervention can bring order, stability and peace...

Is it any wonder in the days since September 11^th, with the meltdown of the Stock Market, the mortgage crisis, the skyrocketing price of oil, with the never-ending violence in the Middle East, and in South Asia, and South America- and with the AIDS pandemic in Africa that has spread around the world- and everything else- that people are frightened, unsure, insecure and looking for help! God's help, at that! Divine Intervention to set things right!

And we need to be honest: there is that strain of scripture in the Bible- in the Books of Revelation and Daniel that can be interpreted like they're a blueprint for the future- that leads people to hope for that fiery victory- and the ultimate destruction of their enemies. But we also need to look at the whole Bible to see how God works- and how we can live- in these times, and it is here that our lessons today are especially helpful!

I love the Isaiah text: this comes from a time when you would expect total despair from the People of Israel. They have been conquered, taken into exile, Jerusalem sacked, the temple destroyed. This meant the Babylonian gods were stronger and yet Isaiah has a vision in which God proclaims there is no other god-not one! This God stands with the people in their despair and defeat and ultimately promises restoration and healing. "Do not fear, or be afraid!" God says to them and to us!

In the Book of Romans, Chapter 8, Paul reminds us that our relationship with God is so intimate that we can call God "Abba," that is, Daddy. We are children of God-heirs with Christ of God's Kingdom. Let me ask those of you who are parents: would you deliberately walk away from your children-even children you might be unhappy with, at the moment- and just let things play out-and from a distance, tell them everything will work out...even though you're gonna let all hell break loose on them? Do you think God would?

There are things that happen to people we love- things we would never wish for them- things that happen because they make bad choices- or others make bad choices for them, or because they're in the wrong place at the wrong time or when something in their body goes haywire. It is not our will for those things to happen. Can we say then that it is God's will? I could never stand in front of you and proclaim a loving, caring God if I believed God did things to people. I'd sleep in on Sundays!

And in the Gospel parable, Jesus does several things. He helps explain how Good and Evil can be in the world at the same time. Weeds and wheat are there at the same time, even though they come from different sources.

Jesus also very gently reminds us about how difficult it can be to distinguish between weed and wheat. When the farmer's helpers offer to go out and weed the field, they presume to know the difference, the farmer says, "Wait until the harvest, then we'll separate them-otherwise, some good wheat might be damaged!"

I know how easy this can be: I remember pulling weeds in our back yard. Ten minutes later, my daughter came to me in tears, wondering what had happened to her tomato plant... Without flowers or tomatoes, it looked like weed to me...Someone has said that if you want to know which is a weed and which is a valuable plant, pull them all out. The ones that grow back are weeds...

In all of the apocalyptic literature-in the Bible and in popular writings, it is very easy to figure out who's the "wheat," and who's the "weeds..." The Good are those who are like us, and the Bad are those not like us... The parable is speaking to a group of people who were absolutely sure they were the wheat, and they knew just who the weeds were... Not so fast says Jesus-that will be taken care of at the end...

And, of course, Jesus never says when the END is coming! Not in this parable-not ever! In fact, he says repeatedly that no one knows except the Father-and further, people who try and figure it out- people who predict the future are foolish Jesus says, "Be awake-be ready-The End will come when we least expect it..."

Now, for my part, as I was walking down the hall to the dean's office so many years ago, I had a really good idea when my end was coming... very soon, and I was trying hard to be ready, but in all honesty, I was failing miserably. I got to the office and was told to take a seat on the bench. The usual suspects were gathered there. "Hey, why are YOU here..?" "Mrs. Middleton caught me smoking last night..." I was immediately embraced by this whole new crowd. It's the solace only the condemned can offer each other...

I was called in, the Dean looked at me: "Smoking at the game?" "Yes, sir..." "Well, you know the rules..." I waited for the ax to fall "But I'm not going to suspend you..." I don't think I heard another word-there was something about detention to keep Mrs. Middleton happy, but I was guilty-had confessed-the punishment was clear, and for whatever reason, I had been pardoned, redeemed. My life was given back to me!

Now hear me this morning: you and I have been found guilty of being sinful creatures-of doing all the things we confessed at the beginning of this service and more.  We are weeds and we know it, but in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been pardoned-redeemed-made new!

If we are the wheat in the Gospel parable, it is only because Jesus has made us his own... because his love was so great for you and for me that he was willing to face the death every human faces- and God raised him from the dead on the third day, promising that in everything- life and death- Jesus would be with us!

And while it is interesting to speculate when the End of the world will come, let me assure you this morning that the Bible teaches definitively that we have a job to do. We are the BODY of CHRIST to and for the world! You and I are Jesus' voice, Jesus' arms, Jesus' legs to and for our world. We are acting like Jesus-and for Jesus when we reach out and serve others- meet their needs-feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit the sick, and the imprisoned...

Our calling as followers of Jesus-as Christians-is to worship-to serve the people around us-to share the relationship with God we have in Christ with others-to fellowship with each other, and to grow and mature as disciples of Jesus. In this process, God makes us more and more into Jesus' image. God transforms our lives for the better, and helps us to live the way we were created to live-God makes us wheat, if you will...

SO come to the Lord's Table-receive him in the bread and wine-his body and blood-know his presence with you now and forever. Jesus will come back for us in his time-when it is time. In the meantime, remember what Luther said when he was asked what he would do if he knew the world would end the next day: He said, "I'd plant the apple tree I planned to plant..."

Luther had a job to do; he planned to do it. So do I-and so do you! Let's get to it, in a world which desperately needs Jesus and his love!