WEBVTT 00:00:09.529 --> 00:00:11.529 Welcome back to the Seminary Seminary podcast. 00:00:11.710 --> 00:00:13.849 I'm Pastor Jim and tonight we're walking out 00:00:13.849 --> 00:00:16.949 into the field where grace and trouble goes side 00:00:16.949 --> 00:00:19.969 by side. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is 00:00:19.969 --> 00:00:22.809 like a man who sowed good seed while everyone 00:00:22.809 --> 00:00:25.530 was asleep and enemy came and planted weeds among 00:00:25.530 --> 00:00:28.530 the weed. You know the field because you're standing 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:31.800 in it. It's your world, your church, maybe even 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.759 your own heart. This episode is called The Gospel 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.579 Beneath the Soil, The Parable of the Weeds. And 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:39.479 we're going to dig below the surface into the 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.939 tangled roots of patience, judgment, and mercy. 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.060 The kind of gospel that grows slow but sure. 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.460 So we're going to take a breath. We're going 00:00:48.460 --> 00:00:51.020 to feel the dawn on our face. And remember, the 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:54.200 farmer hasn't left the field. He's still watching 00:00:54.200 --> 00:01:02.159 the wheat. I'll see you on the other side. I'm 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:04.000 going to go ahead and get started, if you don't 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.760 mind. We've got Wayne's thumbs up by proxy here. 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:14.879 Continuing on with our parables tonight, we're 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.879 looking at the parable of the weeds. And that 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:21.159 is found, if you want to look it up, we're going 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:25.260 to be looking at Matthew chapter 13. And as I 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:29.019 really think it's effective, before we jump into 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:32.379 the discussion and the lesson, I think it's important 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.980 for us to set the scene. So let's see if we can 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:40.579 see, smell, hear the kind of environment that 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:45.459 this story is being told in. So the sun is just 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:48.180 pulling itself up over the rim of the Galilee, 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:52.819 and you can smell the soil before you see it. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:59.799 Damp, sweet, freshly turned. A farmer has been 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:05.120 up since dark. His tunic sugared by dust. His 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:09.139 sandals caked with what he's sewn. His back aches, 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:13.219 but it's an ache of purpose. He walks the edges 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:15.659 of the field with a little pride in his step. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.960 Rows of wheat shimmer like early promises. Every 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:24.759 stalk is a sermon he's preached with his hands. 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.099 He kneels. Scoops a handful of soil and lets 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:33.699 it run through his fingers. Good seed, he murmurs. 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.139 He's done everything right. Plowed deep, sown 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:42.400 straight, watered well, and the field hums with 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:47.060 a quiet hope. Behind him, the village is just 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:51.020 beginning to stir. Roosters crowing, a child 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:55.120 calling for her mother, the thin smoke of morning 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.340 fires curling upward. But sometime in the night, 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:06.939 when the farmer's house went still and the servants 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:11.620 drifted into dreams, another man walked the same 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:15.639 field. He moved like a shadow under the moon, 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:20.180 bent, secret, deliberate. In his pouch he carried 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:27.310 not good seed, but zazania or darnel. also known 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:31.729 as false wheat. From a distance, it looks holy. 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:38.770 Up close, it looks the same. The only difference 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:43.889 comes later when the fruit appears. Then, you'll 00:03:43.889 --> 00:03:48.409 know it's poison. And by the time the first rooster 00:03:48.409 --> 00:03:51.569 crowed, the saboteur was long gone and his mischief 00:03:51.569 --> 00:03:54.569 buried beneath the same soil that cradled the 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:59.479 good. The dawn doesn't tell tales. The farmer 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.379 wakes none the wiser. The field still looks perfect. 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.360 Weeks pass. The rain comes. The green thickens. 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.240 The air fills with the smell of growth. But then 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.540 one morning, a servant squints into the field 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:21.480 and frowns. Master, he says, didn't you sow good 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:27.370 seed? Because... Something has gone wrong here. 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:32.850 And the master steps into the furrows, his hands 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:36.730 on his hips, scanning the horizon. And there, 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:43.490 between the rows of wheat, something's off. Not 00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:46.209 wrong enough to tear up, but not right enough 00:04:46.209 --> 00:04:51.110 to ignore. It's that uneasy in -between, the 00:04:51.110 --> 00:04:53.449 kind that makes you question your own memory. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:05:01.399 Did I plant bad seed? Or has someone done this? 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:04.779 And he knows the answer before he speaks it. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:09.220 An enemy has done this. That's where this parable 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:12.339 tonight begins. Not with failure, but with intrusion. 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:17.839 Not with a bad farmer, but a clever foe. You 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.160 don't need me to tell you this, but the question 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.589 isn't how the weeds got there. It's what to do 00:05:24.589 --> 00:05:31.069 now that they have. So, tonight, before we draw 00:05:31.069 --> 00:05:33.329 any lines or pick up any shovels, let's listen 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:36.110 to the voice of the master himself, the one who 00:05:36.110 --> 00:05:39.290 knows the soil, the seed, the patience it takes 00:05:39.290 --> 00:05:42.550 to wait for the harvest. May the words fall on 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:46.129 good ground. May our hearts be soft enough to 00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:48.959 receive them. May the Spirit breathe through 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.240 the furrows of our own understanding. Friends, 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:54.139 the reading of the Word, the Gospel account according 00:05:54.139 --> 00:05:58.519 to Matthew chapter 13. He put before them another 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:01.060 parable. The kingdom of heaven may be compared 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.279 to someone who sowed good seed in his field, 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:07.079 but while everyone was asleep, enemy came and 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.259 sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.240 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.860 the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:18.660 the householder came to him and said, Master, 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:22.300 did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:26.800 then, did these weeds come from? He answered, 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:31.379 An enemy has done this. The slaves said to him, 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:34.139 Then do you want us to go and gather them? But 00:06:34.139 --> 00:06:37.439 he replied, No, for in gathering the weeds you 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.000 would uproot the wheat right along with them. 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.079 Let both of them grow together until the harvest, 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.339 and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.220 Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles 00:06:49.220 --> 00:06:52.139 to be burned. Gather the wheat, bring it to my 00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:55.740 barn. Then he left the crowds and went into the 00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:57.600 house. His disciples approached him, saying, 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:00.779 Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:05.660 field. He answered, The one who sows the good 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:09.860 seed is the son of man. Field is the world. Good 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:11.860 seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:14.980 are the children of the evil one. And the enemy 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:19.540 who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:23.839 end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:26.399 as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, 00:07:26.540 --> 00:07:29.980 so will it be at the end of the age. Son of man 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:31.959 will send his angels, and they will collect out 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:34.699 his kingdom, all causes of sin and evil doing. 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:37.680 And they will throw them into the furnace of 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:40.360 fire. There'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:43.639 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.540 the kingdom of their father. Let anyone with 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:51.439 ears listen. The word of the Lord, my dear friends. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:55.459 If you listen closely, you can almost hear the 00:07:55.459 --> 00:07:59.160 rustle of that Galilean field in his voice. The 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:04.040 hush between accusation and patience. The long 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:08.360 wait between sowing and harvest. Let's walk that. 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:14.480 field together. You ever notice how the world 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.720 feels half finished? Like somebody started a 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.220 good thing and forgot to lock the gate? You know 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:25.540 this. It's never just good or bad out there. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.579 It's both. Tangled and growing at the same time. 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:34.539 You drive by a church with a Jesus Saves banner 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:37.820 drooping in the rain. And right next door, there's 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.159 a payday lender with an open sign glowing red. 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:44.779 You watch kindness bloom in one conversation 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:49.779 and cruelty spout in the next. Even in your own 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:53.539 soul, there's wheat and weeds wrestling for the 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.639 same sunlight. Of course you already know this. 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:02.899 You felt that pull. That's not new. It's the 00:09:02.899 --> 00:09:08.080 feel Jesus is talking about. In Galilee, wheat 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:10.580 and darnel grow side by side until their grain 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:14.340 appears. Early on, they're twins, both green, 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:17.320 both upright. You cannot tell which is which. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.220 Pull one and you risk pulling both. That's why 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:24.340 the master says, no, let them grow together. 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:29.799 He's not being lazy. He's being merciful. Maybe 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.700 this will occur to you. Mercy almost always looks 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:36.779 like a delay to people who are in control. And 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:39.259 maybe that's why this story hits so close to 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:41.720 home, because deep down, we all want the field 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:46.620 cleaned up and right now. We want a church without 00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:49.360 hypocrisy, a family without fractures, a heart 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:54.299 without contradiction. We want to weed our way 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.600 to holiness. Jesus says the kingdom doesn't work 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:01.759 that way. It's not a holy garden. It's a field 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.139 in process because. This is the plain spoken 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:12.120 truth that we don't want to see. The grace that 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.480 saves you is also saving the person you're tempted 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:20.440 to pull up. The ache hiding under this story 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.980 is control. We want God's field to look the way 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.960 we think it should look. You've seen it. The 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.320 way we label people, wheat, weeds, saint, sinner, 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:37.620 like we own the field. We want the world sorted 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:41.899 and labeled, pure. Wheat on one side, weeds on 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:45.879 the other. No ambiguity, no waiting, no mystery. 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:50.080 But Jesus says the field is mixed, and it always 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.820 has been. And the hardest truth, sometimes that 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:59.639 mixture is in you. Of course it is. Maybe you've 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:01.820 looked at your life and thought, if God sowed 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:05.419 me, why do I still fight the same sin? Why does 00:11:05.419 --> 00:11:08.879 doubt still sprout when I feel like I planted 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:14.120 faith? You feel the tug of two roots in one soul, 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:19.419 wheat and weed tangled, and the enemy whispers, 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:24.879 see, you're not really good seed at all. You 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.259 and I don't need to rehearse that voice. We've 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:32.200 all heard it in the dark. When you start to believe 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.799 that whisper, The next thing you know, you're 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.720 judging everyone else's field just to quiet your 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:42.899 own shame. Master, did you not sow good seed? 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:45.899 That's the question of the servant, but it's 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:49.080 also the question of the wounded believer. If 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.940 you're so good, why does evil keep showing up 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:55.539 in your world, your church, your heart? Ever 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:59.759 been there? I'm sure you have. You've prayed. 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:03.169 You gave, you believed, and still found deception 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:07.110 growing where you swore you had planted truth. 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:11.090 And now you're tempted to just start ripping 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:15.230 up, to fix it fast, to take control. But here 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:19.850 the farmer, no. Lest in gathering the weeds, 00:12:20.110 --> 00:12:23.669 you root up the wheat right along with them. 00:12:26.169 --> 00:12:28.830 My dear friends, there is something more dangerous 00:12:28.830 --> 00:12:33.159 than sin. And it's self -righteousness with a 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:37.240 shovel. You don't need me to tell you how quick 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.940 we are to swing that shovel when fear starts 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:46.740 to feel holy. Now, let's slow down and look at 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:50.620 what Jesus actually says. The one who sows the 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:54.360 good seed is the Son of Man. He doesn't delegate 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:59.860 this. He sows personally. Every act of grace, 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:03.899 every spark of faith, every tender root of righteousness, 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:08.940 his hand planted it. And you already know this, 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:12.220 but sometimes you just need to hear it again. 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:17.899 The good in you didn't happen by accident. The 00:13:17.899 --> 00:13:20.519 field is the world. Notice that, the world, not 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:23.259 the church, not your denomination, not your political 00:13:23.259 --> 00:13:28.399 camp. God claims the whole acre. His kingdom 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:32.139 seed is scattered everywhere, in pews, prisons, 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.379 and parking lots alike. And this never sounds 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:39.460 good to honest ears, but his field stretches 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:44.740 farther than your comfort zone. The weeds are 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:48.539 the children of the evil one, and the enemy who 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:52.259 sowed them is the devil. Evil is not an accident, 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:57.429 it is sabotage. The sower doesn't panic. He names 00:13:57.429 --> 00:14:01.649 it for what it is, and he stays patient. Of course, 00:14:01.669 --> 00:14:04.269 you already know how rare that kind of patience 00:14:04.269 --> 00:14:08.549 is in people who claim to follow him. The Greek 00:14:08.549 --> 00:14:12.590 word for weeds, I said it earlier, zazania or 00:14:12.590 --> 00:14:16.470 zazanion, the plural, refers to darnel, and it's 00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:20.470 actually a poisonous lookalike of wheat. Farmers 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:25.049 dreaded it. It grew at the same height. drank 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:29.350 the same rain, and wrapped its roots around the 00:14:29.350 --> 00:14:33.370 wheat's roots. You couldn't fix it without wrecking 00:14:33.370 --> 00:14:36.690 both. And you know what that means, don't you? 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:41.830 Grace has to share soil with hypocrisy until 00:14:41.830 --> 00:14:47.600 God says otherwise. Jesus uses this image to 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:51.860 describe how good and evil can coexist so tightly 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:54.779 you can't always tell them apart until harvest. 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:59.759 And what is his instruction? Let both grow together 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:03.139 until the harvest. That's not resignation. It's 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:07.700 actually reverence. Because, and hear me carefully, 00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:13.139 the judge prematurely is to risk destroying what 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:17.659 God is still in the midst of redeeming. The servants 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:20.659 ask, should we pull them up? And we expect Jesus 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:23.340 to say yes, but he says no. And you know what? 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:28.419 That no is the gospel. If you've been around 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:30.840 a church long enough to make the first potluck, 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.980 you already know this. That no has saved more 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.779 sinners than all of our Christian zeal combined. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.779 If he had yanked early, Peter would have been 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:45.370 gone before Pentecost. If he had sorted quickly, 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:48.490 Paul would have been torched before Damascus. 00:15:49.330 --> 00:15:51.970 If he had judged the field by appearance, you 00:15:51.970 --> 00:15:55.129 and I wouldn't have made it past the last drought. 00:15:56.450 --> 00:15:59.929 God's patience is not neglect. It's mercy with 00:15:59.929 --> 00:16:05.549 a long timeline. You know how you know that's 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:10.309 true? Because you're still breathing. And look 00:16:10.309 --> 00:16:12.590 how the parable ends. The son of man will send 00:16:12.590 --> 00:16:15.370 his angels. They will collect out of his kingdom 00:16:15.370 --> 00:16:18.389 all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they 00:16:18.389 --> 00:16:21.629 will throw them into the furnace of fire. Then 00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:25.070 the righteous will shine like the sun. He's not 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:29.870 saying there's no judgment. He's saying judgment 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:35.269 is his job. The field belongs to the farmer. 00:16:35.850 --> 00:16:41.070 The harvest belongs to heaven. We live in the 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:45.149 middle between sowing. and shining. So what do 00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:48.570 we do in the meantime? We tend, we trust, we 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:52.929 grow. This is like every hard lesson we've ever 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:56.750 learned growing up. Faithfulness is slow work. 00:16:58.149 --> 00:17:01.350 If you've ever waited on someone to change, you 00:17:01.350 --> 00:17:04.069 know what this parable feels like. You pray, 00:17:04.329 --> 00:17:07.849 you plead, you see little green shoots, and then 00:17:07.849 --> 00:17:11.390 just as hope starts rising, a weed pops up right 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:15.220 next to it. And you think, forget it. I'm done. 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:21.220 The farmer whispers, let both grow. I'm not finished 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:24.799 yet. Of course, you've heard him say that in 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:28.660 your own lives. Maybe not in words, but in mercy 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.759 that showed up one more time than you thought 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:37.779 you deserved. Some of the most beautiful saints 00:17:37.779 --> 00:17:41.519 and sinners I know used to look like lost causes. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.460 And some of the weeds I once admired turned out 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:51.640 to be hollow come harvest time. That's why judgment 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:56.519 isn't safe in my hands. Jesus' field isn't neat, 00:17:56.619 --> 00:18:02.859 but it is his, and he's good at his job. So what 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:05.220 does faithfulness look like in a mixed field? 00:18:05.460 --> 00:18:09.380 How do we live amongst both wheat and weeds without 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:13.569 losing our peace or our patience? starts where 00:18:13.569 --> 00:18:15.589 it always starts, right where your boots are 00:18:15.589 --> 00:18:20.390 standing. You tend your row. You don't watch 00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:23.390 over everyone else's furrow. You don't judge 00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:26.009 how straight their lines are. You just tend what 00:18:26.009 --> 00:18:30.210 has been trusted to you. And this has occurred 00:18:30.210 --> 00:18:33.890 to you before. Sometimes the holiest thing you 00:18:33.890 --> 00:18:39.509 can do is mind your own garden. Farmer didn't 00:18:39.509 --> 00:18:41.569 ask you to run the whole operation. He asked 00:18:41.569 --> 00:18:45.069 you to be faithful where you stand. So you water 00:18:45.069 --> 00:18:47.609 what's good. You speak words that bless more 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:50.569 than they bruise. You pull the weeds you can 00:18:50.569 --> 00:18:52.750 see right under your hands. The bitterness, the 00:18:52.750 --> 00:18:55.410 jealousy, the gossip. But if you don't go digging 00:18:55.410 --> 00:18:57.529 in someone else's soil just because it makes 00:18:57.529 --> 00:19:00.910 you feel holy, that kind of holiness usually 00:19:00.910 --> 00:19:06.920 only... These holes. Faithfulness also means 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:12.299 the learning the art of slow eyes. Early on, 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:16.359 Wheat and Darnell are twins. Green and upright, 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:23.920 almost noble in their sameness. But when harvest 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:30.039 nears, the wheat bows its head low under the 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.369 weight of its fruit. While the darnel stands 00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:41.950 proud, hollow and tall. Pride stays stiff. Grace 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:46.490 bends low. That's how the farmer tells them apart. 00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:50.990 And that's how you can too. Not by the noise 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:53.890 someone makes about their holiness, but by the 00:19:53.890 --> 00:19:58.509 quiet heaviness of their love. And you've seen 00:19:58.509 --> 00:20:02.230 it before, haven't you? The humble bow. And the 00:20:02.230 --> 00:20:08.490 hollow don't. Then there's time. God's strange, 00:20:08.630 --> 00:20:13.029 holy patience. We mistake delay for neglect. 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:19.849 But in his field, delay means growth. The roots 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:24.029 are tangled for a reason. Sower is giving them 00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:27.970 time to strengthen before the storm. He's giving 00:20:27.970 --> 00:20:31.940 more minutes to mercy. than justice would ever 00:20:31.940 --> 00:20:36.599 allow. No matter where we are on our own personal 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.740 walks with God, we need to be reminded grace 00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:45.720 takes its time. You may look out and see a mess, 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:49.599 but he sees a process. His timing isn't slow, 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:54.119 it's merciful. Every sunrise is another chance 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:57.220 for repentance to take root. Someone who's been 00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:02.420 mistaken for a weed. And maybe most of all, trust 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:05.880 the farmer's heart. When those servants ask, 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:09.140 did you sow good seed? He didn't defend himself 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:12.000 or scold them for the doubt. He just said an 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.559 enemy has done this. No blame, no panic, no overreaction, 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:22.619 just calm truth. Don't let the sabotage of the 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:25.799 enemy make you question the goodness of the sower. 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:30.490 The seed is still good. The soil is still his. 00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:34.690 Field still belongs to God, and of course you 00:21:34.690 --> 00:21:38.349 know this, but it's easy to forget that sometimes 00:21:38.349 --> 00:21:42.529 when we're knee -deep in thorns. The harvest 00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:46.089 will come. Fire that purges and the barn that 00:21:46.089 --> 00:21:49.309 welcomes are both in his hands, though, not ours. 00:21:50.430 --> 00:21:53.589 Fire isn't ours to start, and the barn isn't 00:21:53.589 --> 00:21:59.549 ours to fill. Our job is to stay faithful until 00:21:59.549 --> 00:22:02.269 the day the fields glow gold and the reapers 00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:05.470 begin to sing. So stay where he planted you. 00:22:05.490 --> 00:22:07.630 Keep growing in the middle of the mess. Keep 00:22:07.630 --> 00:22:10.269 believing that patience is not passivity, it's 00:22:10.269 --> 00:22:14.349 participation. The mercy of God. Maybe tonight 00:22:14.349 --> 00:22:18.089 that's the word you needed, that it is okay to 00:22:18.089 --> 00:22:22.019 stop yanking. It is okay to stop trying to fix 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:26.380 it all. It's okay to trust that the one who sowed 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:29.059 you hasn't forgotten your row, even when the 00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:32.380 weeds get thick. Maybe you just need to take 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.500 a breath, set down your shovel, and let the sun 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:41.019 do its work. The farmer knows what's wheat, and 00:22:41.019 --> 00:22:44.779 he's good at his job. At the end of the day, 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:47.359 this isn't just a farming story. It's a resurrection 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.910 story in disguise. Every stalk in that field 00:22:50.910 --> 00:22:53.109 looks the same until the harvest. Then the wheat 00:22:53.109 --> 00:22:56.670 bears fruit and the weeds dry up. It's judgment, 00:22:56.750 --> 00:23:01.150 yes. It's also vindication. Field doesn't stay 00:23:01.150 --> 00:23:04.730 mixed forever. There is a coming dawn when the 00:23:04.730 --> 00:23:06.890 righteous will shine like the sun, not because 00:23:06.890 --> 00:23:10.549 they never got tangled, but because they stayed 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:16.210 rooted in the sower's grace. If you're weary 00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:19.289 tonight, surrounded by chaos, disillusioned by 00:23:19.289 --> 00:23:22.049 the mess, hear this. The master has not left 00:23:22.049 --> 00:23:24.589 the field. He sees it. He knows what's wheat. 00:23:24.769 --> 00:23:27.750 He's waiting, not because he's weak, because 00:23:27.750 --> 00:23:31.470 he's merciful. He's letting grace grow long enough 00:23:31.470 --> 00:23:35.490 to save one more soul. Maybe that soul is you. 00:23:36.950 --> 00:23:39.750 Beloved, the field is wide and the season is 00:23:39.750 --> 00:23:43.549 long. You are not the judge. You are the seed. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.660 Stay where he planted you. Drink the rain. Reach 00:23:48.660 --> 00:23:52.140 for the light. Trust the hands that sowed you. 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:56.539 When you see the weeds, don't despair. When you're 00:23:56.539 --> 00:23:59.960 tempted to pull, pause. The Lord of the harvest 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:03.440 has not misplaced his sickle and has not forgotten 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:08.460 his barn. So may your patience be holy. May your 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:11.930 faith be deep. May your birth seat run like water 00:24:11.930 --> 00:24:15.309 through the furrows of a weary world. When the 00:24:15.309 --> 00:24:16.970 day comes when the wheat is gathered and the 00:24:16.970 --> 00:24:20.509 righteous shine like the sun, may you be found 00:24:20.509 --> 00:24:23.470 still standing, rooted in grace, bowing low under 00:24:23.470 --> 00:24:26.650 the weight of good fruit. Name the Father who 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:29.049 planted, the Son who sowed, the Spirit who grows 00:24:29.049 --> 00:24:31.869 life from the dirt. Go in peace. Tend your row. 00:24:32.210 --> 00:24:43.039 Amen. Amen. Amen. Thanks, guys. If you've been 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.200 listening tonight and felt the ache of that field, 00:24:45.339 --> 00:24:48.720 the mix of wheat and weeds in your life, hear 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:51.920 this. Master hasn't made a mistake. He hasn't 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.700 turned his back on you. He's letting grace grow 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:57.180 long enough to save what you thought was lost. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:00.200 Maybe that's why he hasn't pulled up your past 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:02.539 yet. Maybe he's still letting mercy run its course 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:06.940 beneath the soil. So, before you go, take one 00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:08.799 last look at the cross section of your soul. 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:12.269 Tangled roots, unseen growth. Grace working where 00:25:12.269 --> 00:25:14.950 you can't see it? The gospel is not just above 00:25:14.950 --> 00:25:17.589 ground, it's beneath and it's alive and patient. 00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:20.750 If this word spoke to you, if it steadied your 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:22.309 hand or softened your heart, would you please 00:25:22.309 --> 00:25:25.789 share it? Pass it down the row? Hit like, subscribe, 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:27.609 and tell somebody else who's standing in the 00:25:27.609 --> 00:25:29.930 same messy field that there is good seed under 00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:33.250 the surface. This has been the Semi -Seminarium 00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:36.190 Podcast where grace takes its time and gospel 00:25:36.190 --> 00:25:39.329 still grows in the dirt. I'll see you next time.