A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay.

Epistle Romans 8:14-25

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. For the Spirit that God has given you does not enslave you and trap you in fear; instead, through the Spirit God has adopted you as children, and by that Spirit we cry out, “Abba!” God’s Spirit joins with our spirit to declare that we are God’s children. And if we are children, we are heirs as well; heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing in Christ’s suffering; and sharing in Christ’s glory.

Indeed, I consider the sufferings of the present to be nothing compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. All creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the children of God. Creation was subjected to transience and futility, not of its own accord, but because of the One who subjected it—in the hope that creation itself would be freed from its slavery to corruption and would come to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that from the beginning until now, all of creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth. And not only creation, but all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit—we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.

In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; why does one hope for what one sees? And hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.

Gospel Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus presented another parable to those gathered: “The kin-dom of heaven is like a farmer who sowed good seed in a field. While everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed darnel-weed among the wheat and then made off. When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the darnel-weed became evident as well.

“The farmer’s workers came and asked, ‘Did you not sow good seed in your field? Where is the darnel-weed coming from?’

“The farmer replied, ‘I see an enemy’s hand in this.’

“They in turn asked, ‘Do you want us to go out and pull them up?”

“‘No,’ replied the farmer, ‘if you pull up the darnel-weed, you might take the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until the harvest, then at harvest time I will order the harvesters first to collect the darnel-weed and bundle them up to burn, then to gather the wheat into my barn.’”