Link: Horses, Wheat, Weeds, July 2014

Summary of what I was saying and why:
I ran across something discussing the tension between God’s mercy and justice. And then I started thinking about the different ways those were present in this story. Which connected back to the story about the farmer and the horse.

Theology: mercy, justice, love
Jesus Count: average
Good News: God’s mercy and justice are grounded in God’s love.

What did I change on my feet?
One draft of this sermon ended with a story from CS Lewis’s The Last Battle. I cut it before the service. Which left me writing the end live.
What didn’t work/what did I miss?
I could’ve used a bit more time working on how I was re-telling the Gospel. I’m still not sure how the two parables played off each other.
What did work?
I didn’t use the Narnia story but I think I more plainly cast all things as grounded in God’s love.

Other sermons I liked:

Priest Richardson, Somebody has got to play fair with us in the end
“Each stalk of self-proclaimed wheat is willing, if not eager to pull the ones they see as weeds out of the ground. But like Dexter warned his friend, and like Jesus warns us in the parable, we can’t harm the other without harming ourselves. It damages us to hurt another.”

Priest Halley, A Fiery Faith that Changed the World
“Don’t get me wrong. Thank you for coming to Church. Thank you for coming to worship. The Finance Committee will thank you for paying your pledge.
But what we do in this place is not enough if it does not meet the deep need of a desperate people helplessly awash in a hurting world.”

(Here’s the list of people I usually listen to. Am I missing someone?)
The Anglican Church of Canada uses the Roman Ordinary Time numbering system instead of numbering the Propers. I indicate both numbering systems.