Preached at St. John the Divine, Houston, TX, on July 17, 2011
Romans 8:12-25 and Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43
The church is not the Kingdom of God. The job of the church is to proclaim the kingdom. We are not the kingdom. The church is not the kingdom because of all its problems. The church, in its history has tried, through force and intimidation and political moves, to be the kingdom, but it is not. One day the true church will be taken fully into the kingdom at the marriage supper of the Lamb. But the church is not the point of this parable.
In this parable, the wheat and the weeds grow side by side. As people come into the kingdom, the enemy deceives others. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world coexist side by side. I’m reminded of that bumper sticker about coexisting. Coexisting is not being in the kingdom; it is about being in the world where the enemy deceives people that all paths lead to God. But Jesus himself ushered in the kingdom of God in his message and ministry. The kingdom was present in him and will be fully present in him when he returns for his bride, the church.
The kingdom is established but not fully fulfilled. This echoes our life of salvation. We are saved, yet we still sin. But as Paul tells us in Romans, God is at work within us. His Spirit is purifying us, disciplining us, convicting us of our sins, and gradually conforming us to the image of Christ. And we know this is happening because we call God, “Abba, Father.” “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, we are wheat and not weeds. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
When the kingdom is finally consummated, in that great day, we won’t sin anymore nor will we be hurt by sin. Yet for now, Jesus says, do not pull out the weeds, leave them. Why? Because in the reality of the kingdom, the dead come back to life. Weeds become wheat. We cannot judge who they will become. As author Jared Wilson writes, “When we see with kingdom eyes, we don’t write anyone off or leave anyone for dead. Instead, we do the radical, revolutionary, counter-cultural thing—bear with the unbearable and minister with grace to those who don’t have what we have. We coexist with the weeds—peacefully, humbly, lovingly—in the hopes that more and more stalks will come into the light and be transformed into wheat.”
Jesus the King promised that the kingdom would spread when he described the kingdom like yeast in bread dough. He promised the kingdom would grow when he described the kingdom of God to be like a mustard seed. This is what the kingdom does. It sets free those captive to sin. It opens the eyes of the spiritually blind to see the glorious grace of the cross, the wrath of God poured out on his own Son rather than on us undeserving sinners.
Living in the tension of the unfulfilled kingdom teaches us that we who are wheat are not to look upon those who are weeds with disdain, with judgment, or with despair. King Jesus is at work, bringing satisfaction and fulfillment to the grieving and victimized and marginalized as he brings them into his kingdom where we all find hope and peace and love. This invasion of the kingdom continues every day as we in the kingdom crucify our flesh and humble ourselves before a world that revels in the flesh and is totally opposed to humility.
Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” The kingdom is in you. It is not something we institutionalize or politicize or militarize. The kingdom of God is Jesus the King reigning in hearts and minds.
Again, as Jared Wilson says, “The actions of kingdom people testify to the kingdom, but those actions won’t work to further the kingdom—they won’t be a true testimony that glorifies God and sets people free—if they don’t flow from hearts ruled by the King. Right behavior must come from right character. Without right character, right behavior is hypocrisy.”
In spite of our hypocrisy—and let’s admit we all have problems with hypocrisy—we also have a gospel promise: Jesus has accomplished what he set out to do. He achieved victory for us. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Why do we wait patiently? Because of the cross. The message of the cross, along with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God, testifies that he is for us. King Jesus, like out-going presidents of the United States, is handing out pardons. These pardons rankle people who oppose the president and/or the people he pardons. But this is a comparable picture of what Jesus has done for us. He sets people free who don’t deserve it, and in the process he scandalizes people who don’t get it.
Yet we know that the kingdom of God is manifested in Jesus our Savior, and that it maintains its presence in the hearts and minds of his followers, and we know that the job of his church is to keep proclaiming this message of the crucified Lord until the return of the King.
I care about you because I care about the King. I love you because Jesus has put that love in my heart, transforming me from a weed to a growing stalk of wheat. There is a day of judgment coming, when the angels will come to gather the weeds and burn them. This is not a story. This is true prophecy uttered from the mouth of Jesus. If you have never heard of the pardon offered to you by Jesus, I pray that the Spirit moves your heart today. I pray that he opens your eyes to see that Jesus is the King who brings you into the only kingdom that will last into eternity: the Kingdom of God. And I pray that the Spirit testifies with your spirit today that you are a child of God and a co-heir of his Son, Jesus Christ, the only true King. Amen.
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