God Speaks, God Always, God Brings - a sermon for Sunday July 16 2023
I spent last week at Camp Kuriakos:
There were Leaders in training
junior youth,
kids wilderness adventure camp,
The theme was 2023 In One
We talked about who God is, Trinity,
and who we are.
I hope you’ll remember these three truths
that served as a refrain or chorus
for our week together.
If the teens can do it - so can you!
so, please, help me - when you hear:
God speaks - and it happens
God always - keeps God’s promises
God’s work is - bringing order and beauty out of chaos
This is what we talked about;
and it is life giving to know
We see this happening again and again
in our great stories of faith.
God Speaks … And it happens. From Isaiah:
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God speaks and it happens,
God’s work is
bringing order and beauty out of chaos.
God is accomplishing what God purposes.
God’s Word does not return empty.
God gave the law,
but God has done what the law can’t:
God sent Jesus,
the Word of God,
to restore,
to heal,
to reconcile,
to forgive
and God’s Word will not return empty.
But I tell you,
there is an abundance of emptiness out there.
We talked this week about materialism,
and how the ways of this world
are to accumulate goods
to buy the product that makes us happy
to own that car
or at least to present the image
of success
This search, this collection of goods
is supposed to fill us,
but it leaves us feeling empty.
There’s always a nicer car.
There’s always going to be
the Jones’ to keep up with.
We buy into the idea that there is scarcity of resources
so we hoard and consume,
when the truth is that there is abundance
in God’s creation.
There is more than enough in creation
for all of our needs,
but not enough for our greed.
But God brings … order and beauty out of chaos.
I spoke a couple weeks ago about sin,
about how sin is like dust and dirt
and pollen and mildew
that floats around in the air,
and our hearts and minds are like furnace filters.
It doesn’t take long for sin to clog our filters.
We try to fill our own emptiness
and in return we get ourselves bogged down,
clogged,
not running properly,
broken.
Those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit
People try and purchase beauty,
but it’s merely a facade.
God brings … order and beauty out of chaos.
and that is true beauty.
The truth is that our secular searches
for meaning and purpose in life
only add to the chaos of our lives,
appealing as the chaos might seem sometimes.
God always - keeps God’s promises.
There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
That is promised to us.
God speaks … and it happens.
From Romans: To set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,
since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
You are in Christ Jesus.
You are the baptized.
You are invited into this life,
real life, true life.
God speaks… and it happens.
God always - keeps God’s promises.
In baptism,
The God who knows your chaos
is bringing order and beauty in its midst.
We heard Jesus’ parable of the sower.
God’s Word is the seed.
The purpose of the seed is to be planted and to grow,
to bear fruit.
And not just some fruit,
“But as for what was sown on good soil,
this is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields,
in one case a hundredfold,
in another sixty,
and in another thirty.”
God always - keeps God’s promises
God speaks … and it happens
God’s Word planted in good soil
yields far greater than we could ever ask or imagine.
God brings … order and beauty out of chaos
As God’s Word is spread.
Farmers and gardeners know
that seed planting is not simply
one and done.
The farmer plants their crop in spring,
and harvests in fall,
and they’ll plant more seed the following year.
The sower doesn’t sow seeds once and stop.
God’s Word is a living word,
God sows again and again.
As much as
I’ve witnessed emptiness in our neighbourhoods,
and even in myself,
I also see glimpses of
God’s Word growing in people's hearts,
in our hearts.
I saw it at Kuriakos; Oh, did I ever.
God’s Word is at work in those young people.
I see God’s Word bearing fruit
in our people at Advent:
I see it at our council table,
in our worship,
in our caring and outreach ministries,
in our fellowship and hospitality ministries
in our bible studies and young people classes
I even see God’s Word bearing fruit
on Zoom
Sometimes the crop is abundant,
50 and 100 fold,
and sometimes it is scarce,
but The Sower doesn’t stop sowing.
Jesus spoke this parable to the crowd,
but then the disciples had the honour
of hearing Jesus explain it.
God speaks … and it happens.
Jesus invited the disciples to join his work
and become the sowers of God’s Word.
And that apostolic tradition continues today.
Now you and I are the seed sower.
You have the gospel.
You have God’s Word.
You know God’s love.
You know God’s prodigal forgiveness,
God’s radical acceptance,
not just for you but everyone you meet.
You know that real life,
abundant life,
is found in Jesus Christ.
You know God is at work in the world.
Now you and I scatter that seed of God’s Word.
How do we do that?
Where do we do that?
With whom?… you might ask.
Did you notice that the sower in the parable
had a terrible plan?
The seeds were not strategically planted like in a garden.
Ask any farmer, seeds aren’t cheap.
You can’t waste.
But the Sower wasn’t concerned
that seeds fell on the path
or in the weeds
or rocks.
The sower simply sowed.
So sow.
May you trust that God always - keeps God’s promises
For the Word of God is bearing fruit in you.
May you trust that God speaks … and it happens.
For God is accomplishing what God purposes.
May you trust that God brings -
order and beauty out of chaos
and God is doing this in and through you.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
FIRST READING: Isaiah 55:10-13
A reading from Isaiah.
God’s word to Israel’s exiles is as sure and effective as never-failing precipitation. Their return to the Holy Land in a new exodus is cheered on by singing mountains and by trees that clap their hands.
10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
SECOND READING: Romans 8:1-11
A reading from Romans.
There is no condemnation for those who live in Christ. God sent Christ to accomplish what the law was unable to do: condemn sin and free us from its slavery. The Spirit now empowers proper actions and values in our lives and gives us the promise of resurrected life.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
In Matthew’s gospel, both Jesus and his disciples “sow the seed” of God’s word by proclaiming the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is near.” Now, in a memorable parable, Jesus explains why this good news produces different results in those who hear.
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!”
18“Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
