Worship and Devotions

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

July 19, 2026

Welcome visitors and old friends. Welcome regardless of belief, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, age, abilities, or life situation. Welcome believers and doubters as well as doubting believers. Welcome to share the fullness of Christ's love for the world!(Adapted from The welcome message from the Thomas Community in Finland. "Celebrating milestone moments" by Rev. Jukka Joensuu. Canada Lutheran January/February 2024 Vol. 39 No. 1; chorus of ELW 523)

It is an age-old question: why is there evil in the world? In the parable of the wheat and the weeds Jesus suggests that both grow together until the harvest. With Paul, we long for the day that all creation will be set free from bondage and suffering. Having both weeds and wheat within us, we humbly place our hope in the promises of God, and from the Lord’s table we go forth to bear the fruit of justice and mercy.

Music

O God, Whose Word Well-Planted

O God, Whose Word Well-Planted (with lyrics) - ELW/ACS 975

Prayer

Faithful God, most merciful judge, you care for your children with firmness and compassion. By your Spirit nurture us who live in your kingdom, that we may be rooted in the way of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Readings

Semi-continuous Readings

Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24; Romans 8:12-25

Gospel - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Alternate First Readings

Isaiah 44:6-8; or Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86:11-17

Romans 8:12-25

For Paul, true spirituality means that we experience the reality of the Spirit, which enables us to pray as God’s children, keeps us in solidarity with creation, and gives us unseen hope that God will liberate us and creation from bondage to death and decay.

¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel - Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus tells a parable about the coexistence of good and evil in this world. God’s judgment will remove all evildoers and causes of sin, but not until the end of human history.

²⁴ [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field,²⁵ but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷ And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴² and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

The Gospel of Our Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Music

The Reign Of God, Like Farmer’s Field

The Reign of God, like Farmer’s Field - ELW/ACS 952 - YouTube

Sermon

Let Them Grow Together by Rev. Carol Dennison

Matthew’s readers live in a place dominated by Roman power. Jesus’ followers and the writer of Matthew’s gospel are preaching and living an alternative way with God’s kindom and rule as primary. These ways are in direct opposition and this gospel is political in that sense. Jesus lets his followers know that they must choose their allegiance: God’s kindom or the kingdom of the Empire. It is this context that today’s parable and its explanation address.

There are oddities about the situation Jesus outlines. The sower is someone of enough wealth and influence to own slaves and land yet he sows his own field! This is surely a job for the slaves! How did an enemy get into the field at night to sow the weeds? Wasn’t there any security? How does the sower know it is an enemy who sowed the weed seeds? After all, darnel, which looks so much like wheat, grows in most places. Couldn’t some of it accidentally have gotten in? When the sower learns from his slaves that there are weeds growing among the wheat, why doesn’t he send the slaves to pull them out- the usual practice? Instead, the sower/owner tells them to leave the wheat and the weeds to grow together until harvest time! What? Why? Is it any wonder that the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable?

Jesus places the parable in a whole different context- that of the end times when God’s kindom will prevail. Jesus, the Son of Man, has been planting the field of the world from the beginning and those who are children of this kindom are the good seed that is planted. To these children Jesus has already given instructions and information such as to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44); and to be aware that it will be members of their own household that will be against them (Matthew 10:36). The weeds are the children of the evil one sown by the devil- an enemy Jesus met face-to-face in the wilderness after his baptism by John and with whom he battles again and again in his lifetime. Now he asserts that it is the angels of God who will collect the evildoers and all causes of sin and throw them into the furnace to burn. Notice that in the furnace they weep and gnash their teeth- a phrase used six times in Mathew. Why? Are they frustrated at being caught, angry at being defeated? Yet the children of the kindom will shine like the sun in the kindom of God under the dominion of Jesus at God’s behest. (Daniel 7:13-14)

Clear as mud? Why are the two left to grow together until the end of time?

We live in a world filled with contradictions. People we think support one thing, turn out to support another. Those whom we think of as incapable of truth or good actions, are seen in a very different light by their families and supporters. We look at those around us here today. Each of us is well-known by us. We care for them, and they for us. Yet we do not know the secrets of their hearts and they do not know ours! We are not mind or heart readers! We judge others by what they do, what we see and hear, NOT by what is in their hearts and sometimes we are wrong about them and they about us. Martin Luther’s assertion that we are simultaneously saint and sinner applies here. (Luther, Romans Commentary). Simultaneously Righteous and Sinner: An Introduction) It is this difficulty that the sower addresses. To eliminate the children of evil immediately will mean eliminating some who may become children of the kindom!

We all contain the “seeds” of both good and evil within us. Remember Paul’s words in Romans 7:15, 19: “I do not understand my own actions. ….For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” It is this situation that causes our loving and merciful God to allow them to grow side by side until the end of time! God wants all of us to be saved!

Does this mean we are not to fight against the evil in the world? No. It does mean that we do so without creating divisions based on what we think is good. We write letters to our governments, sign petitions, attend protests, and all that while avoiding doing evil ourselves. We are to concentrate on doing what Jesus asked us to do: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, take care of the sick, visit those in prison, obey the commandments, avoid causing others to sin, and the like. (Matthew 25:34-36; 5:19; 18:6) We are to be light in our world, dim light though it may be at times! We are not to see ourselves as the harvesters who choose which are weeds and which are wheat! That is the job of God and God’s angels!

A Jesuit priest Michael Moynahan has written a “Litany of Contradictory Things” that reminds us of the world in which we live, the world God loves so much Jesus came to die for our sins and be raised for our salvation. I want you to join me in this litany. I will say a line and when I point to you your response is: “Let them grow together.”

Wheat and weeds: Let them grow together.

Revolutionaries and reactionaries: Let them grow together.

Religious leaders who lay and lighten burdens: Let them grow together.

Disciples prone to boasts and betrayals: Let them grow together.

People of God who wound and heal: Let them grow together.

Rich and poor, humble and haughty: Let them grow together.

Days of sparseness and days of plenty: Let them grow together.

Winter, spring, summer, fall: Let them grow together.

Joy and laughter, sorrow, tears: Let them grow together.

Strength and weakness: Let them grow together.

Doubt and faith: Let them grow together.

Denial and commitment: Let them grow together.

Preoccupation and freedom: Let them grow together.

Virtue and vice: Let them grow together.

Contemplation and action: Let them grow together.

Giving and receiving: Let them grow together.

The helpful and the helpless: Let them grow together.

Wisdom of the East and West: Let them grow together.

All contrarieties of the Lord: Let them grow together.

Thanks be to God who loves us as simultaneously saints and sinners and by the power of the Spirit is changing us daily into children of the kindom, children of light. Amen, let it be so.

Prayers of Intercession

Trusting in God's steadfast love for all God has made, let us pray for the church, the world, and all of creation.

A brief silence.

God our source, protect your church from those who sow weeds among the wheat. Where we trade grace for judgment, restore us, and where we get lost among the complexities of life, guide us. Grant wisdom, joy, hope and compassion to all our leaders, lay and ordained. God of grace, hear our prayer.

God our creator, sustain creation in places not easily seen; the depths of oceans, microscopic plants and animals, galaxies beyond our own. May we share earth’s dedication to hope for what we do not yet see. God of grace, hear our prayer.

God our soil, we yearn to live on your lands and waters with justice and in righteousness. Renew the hearts of all in authority, that our leaders guide wisely toward the flourishing of all. God of grace, hear our prayer.

God our rock, be a source of constancy and love for all whose lives have been uprooted by war, eviction, global climate change, unemployment, harassment, false witness to their character, illness, injury or grief. God of grace, hear our prayer.

God our teacher, guide and provide for all summer camp staff and campers, daycare professionals, librarians, summer school educators and coaches, teachers preparing for the coming academic year, and youth becoming first-time babysitters. God of grace, hear our prayer.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

God our hope, the message of your salvation is planted among us in all times and places. We give you thanks for the witness of all the saints who shine like the sun in your presence. God of grace, hear our prayer.

Grateful for your abundant provision and trusting in your goodness, we cast all our cares upon you, through the abundant grace of Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Music

For The Troubles And The Sufferings

For the Troubles and the Sufferings - ELW/ACS 1051 - YouTube