Sunday Sermon by The Rev. Canon Leonard L. Hamlin Sr. | 7.19.26

[00:00:03]I invite you to join me in a word of prayer.

[00:00:07]Almighty God, it is once again we come before you saying thank you for your love towards us and your presence with us.

[00:00:16]It is our prayer that in this moment that you would hold us, cover us, keep us, unite us, but most of all fill us for the places you are preparing to send us. This we ask in your wonderful name. Amen. May be seated.

[00:00:43]Well, here we are once again on a Sunday morning.

[00:00:47]Certainly, as I was looking forward to this assignment, specifically a summer assignment.

[00:00:57]Like many of you, you hope that the summer would bring ease and calm, diversion from the routine.

[00:01:08]It's certainly in the fullness of life that the summer sermon would be lifted when there is a sensation of perhaps all the confusion, chaos, the division that is around us.

[00:01:27]All of us who have gathered today certainly have come in wanting perhaps a break in the action.

[00:01:36]We know we like to plan calendars and fit times for a break in the routine and to fix things. But here we are once again with the world still moving quickly and so many things happening.

[00:01:54]And even as I was looking forward to this what we might call summer assignment and to be delivered in the midst of all the heat that has been around us seems that on the way and preparing for this moment in so many different places.

[00:02:15]I heard so many lifting in one occasion or another in different ways references from one of Martin Luther King's noted works, a strength to love.

[00:02:29]Even the title itself is challenging, noteworthy.

[00:02:34]But in that publication, the series of sermons, Dr. Dr. King wrestles with what it means to live faithfully in what might be called the between time.

[00:02:47]It is that difficult space between the promise of of God, the promise that God has made and the fulfillment we all long to see.

[00:02:58]It is that place where injustice still exists.

[00:03:03]Violence continues.

[00:03:06]Truth is distorted and yet people of faith are called to remain steadfast rather than surrender to despair.

[00:03:18]I think as I'm looking around there are hopeful people that are here, many of you who have come hoping that there would be an end to so much of what we see, so much of what we hear, that there would be really a shifting and a change in the world in which we live. whether summertime or not.

[00:03:40]But as I listened to so many references and being reminded of this great work, King understood that the greatest temptation during difficult seasons is not simply discouragement.

[00:03:53]It is misdirected action.

[00:03:57]When people become frustrated, they often mistake activity for faithfulness.

[00:04:04]They become so determined to defeat evil that they begin to resemble the very evil they oppose.

[00:04:13]I've come here this morning because truth is I do want to see an appropriate ending to all of this confusion. I do pray for a shifting and a change in the world in which we find ourselves.

[00:04:29]I know I have good company here this morning and those of you who have made your way, pressed your way, joined us online, who really want to see, as we say, not just that better days are coming, but to experience them firsthand.

[00:04:48]King wrote within that noted work. He said, "The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked by two opposites.

[00:05:04]He has a tough mind and a tender heart."

[00:05:09]He continues by warning and reminding us even on this day that one day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong.

[00:05:27]You can hear that any way you want.

[00:05:31]But King reminds us that disciplehip requires more than just passion.

[00:05:39]It requires wisdom, discernment, and understanding not only of what needs to change, but understanding what God has actually called, assigned, and empowered us to do in a moment like this.

[00:05:59]If you were listening carefully to the reading of the gospel, Matthew chapter 13 is a chapter devoted almost entirely to parables.

[00:06:10]Parables about the kingdom of God.

[00:06:15]When you get a chance, I hope that you will pay attention to how the 12th chapter closes.

[00:06:22]Because Matthew closes the 12th chapter by allowing us to hear Jesus tell those who were listening and gathered that his true family and true family consists of those who will do the will of the father.

[00:06:42]Following that statement, there's parable after parable. Jesus shares several parables, but one stands out and stands out today in this gathering because Jesus not only explained it, but challenges us to hear it a fresh and a new.

[00:07:01]We know it as the parable of the wheat and the weeds.

[00:07:06]The story begins very simply. A farmer plants good seed. An enemy secretly plants weeds among the wheat. Both begin growing together. The servants notice the problem and immediately ask an understandable question.

[00:07:23]Do you want us to go and gather the weeds?

[00:07:27]Think about it for a moment. It is a response that sounds reasonable.

[00:07:34]It's responsible.

[00:07:36]It sounds even proactive.

[00:07:40]And if we characterize it in a certain way, it can even sound righteous.

[00:07:47]Oh, the right thing to do. To get those weeds out of the garden, to get those weeds out of place.

[00:07:54]It sounds like the obvious thing to do.

[00:07:56]And I must admit, had I been in that crowd, I probably would have said the same thing like many of you. If you don't mind admitting the truth, I'll take that job. Get rid of some weeds that I can see beauty. Get rid of some weeds so that I might be able to enjoy a little bit more of what I'm trying to enjoy because these weeds are getting in my way.

[00:08:22]Sounds like the obvious thing to do because the disciples are trying to understand what faithful disciplehip actually looks like. while living under oppressive government policies, while communities are are being selectively marginalized.

[00:08:41]They're living in a world where there's widespread and disregarded economic inequality, violence, and the unnecessary unnecessary loss of life day after day.

[00:08:53]And even living in a time where religious leaders are more often given to protecting systems than they are to protecting people.

[00:09:08]Throughout Matthew's gospel, Jesus though had been teaching earlier. The disciples, "Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Welcome the stranger. Heal the sick. Feed the hungry. Care for the poor. Practice mercy. Forgive 70* 7. Seek first the kingdom. Do justice. Love your neighbor.

[00:09:29]Yet when the disciples hear the story, they volunteer to do none of those assignments.

[00:09:37]None of that comes to mind. None of that is immediately lifted.

[00:09:41]They instead ask the question, "Can we pull up the weeds?" Here they are in a moment where they desperately want God to act. And here we are today. We want God to act. I know some of us have called him. We've worried him. We've talked to him. God, please do something about all that's going on in this world and around us.

[00:10:06]But more honestly, in this moment, they want God to let them act.

[00:10:13]But Jesus says to them, "No, let both grow together until No, let both grow together until there's a glaring tension here for me, problematic response because I I'm not a complete passive person.

[00:10:44]I want to see things get done.

[00:10:46]Matter of fact, might jump in line to be first in line sometimes to do it and have to catch myself.

[00:10:54]But here the tension is glaring when he says, "No, let both grow together until I I want to see sessation to these wars. I want to see sessation to the unnecessarily unnecessary loss of life. I want to see sessation to racism and division.

[00:11:14]But here in this moment, for any disciple, for any follower of Jesus Christ or someone just trying to be faithful, he tells us no.

[00:11:29]Not because the weeds are acceptable, not because evil is unimportant, but because the servants cannot separate the weeds from the wheat without damaging the wheat.

[00:11:44]Here the disciples are assigned to work though in a field and this is where I struggle and still struggle. They're design assigned to work in a field where good and evil coexist.

[00:11:58]to work in a field where justice has been promised but the final judgment belongs to God. To work in a field where they have to work at the same time rather than one outdoing or just getting rid completely of the other.

[00:12:19]This may have been all of our first instinct to say, "Let's get rid of the weeds."

[00:12:24]Because if given the opportunity, many of us could become very quickly an expert in defend in identifying what's wrong. We've got a long list on every seat in every row of what's wrong with the world. We could write it all out and we could become skilled at locating who is wrong. We can become passionate about exposing who doesn't belong.

[00:12:47]But meanwhile, Jesus keeps pointing them back and pointing us back today to the real work that needs to be done.

[00:12:57]The work that has to be done in the between time.

[00:13:03]The disciples likely imagined that the Messiah would simply punish the wicked and reward the faithful.

[00:13:10]Instead, Jesus tells them, "Keep planting.

[00:13:15]Keep serving.

[00:13:17]Keep living.

[00:13:19]Keep living faithfully and leave ultimate judgment for God. I I know it doesn't read right on the page, but I hear it between the lines.

[00:13:29]I see it in the places where I'm looking out.

[00:13:34]Jesus keeps telling them, "Keep doing what I've told you to do.

[00:13:40]Even when frustration can hold you tightly, it is not a moment of passivity. This is all about trust.

[00:13:51]But we live in a amid a temptation that is constant that tells us choose a side, cancel somebody, destroy the opponent, win the argument, silence the enemy. Yet there is an underlying question that keeps moving through the text that Jesus keeps asking in the between time.

[00:14:16]Who is feeding the hungry? Who is visiting the sick? Who is welcoming the immigrants? Who is caring for our children? Who is comforting the grieving families? Who is building peace? Who is telling the truth? Who is loving the difficult people? because there's work that needs to be done.

[00:14:38]If we're honest, if we pay close attention, every worthwhile assignment has two moments. Every one of us notice the excitement of the beginning and the excitement and satisfaction of the end.

[00:14:53]Think about it for a moment. We celebrate the groundbreaking or even the ribbon cutting of every great project.

[00:15:00]We love the opening prayer and even celebrate closing benedictions of success to look at say see what we have done. Look how far we've been able to what we've been able to accomplish.

[00:15:13]But the real story is written in the space in between.

[00:15:18]It is that place I like to call the ministry middle.

[00:15:22]Most of us want the beginning and the ending celebrations, but many of us don't want the ministry messy middle.

[00:15:30]Most of us don't want to be in the between time. Don't know how to handle the between time. Struggle in the between time. Have to wrestle in the between time. But I remind you the between time is a space to grow because a real story is written in the place in the middle. This is where enthusiasm collides with exhaustion.

[00:15:56]where vision must survive delay, where conviction is tested by inconvenience.

[00:16:04]But I here came by to tell each of us this morning and even to tell myself that we must keep walking.

[00:16:12]Not because the destination is visible, but because turning around would cost much more than pressing forward.

[00:16:22]In an age of instant downloads, overnight shipping, endless notifications, social media highlights that make every success appear immediate, the slow work of perseverance can feel almost unnatural.

[00:16:38]We are conditioned to expect quick results. Yet, the greatest callings that we have ever experienced in life are usually completed by the pace of faith.

[00:16:50]Not according to the watches you have on your wrists. Not according to the clocks you have on your wall. Not according to the calendars that we look at and operate by. But we work at the pace of faith. It doesn't work on our time, but it works on God's time. It doesn't work on Kronos time. It works on Cyro's time.

[00:17:08]It doesn't work on the ease of time. It works in the most difficult moments where we are called to handle the between time because sometimes frustration convinces us that we are accomplishing God's work simply because we're angry, simply because we have emotions, simply because we see something and respond.

[00:17:33]We live where the disciples lived.

[00:17:37]I remind you, we live between resurrection and restoration. We live between promise and fulfillment. We live between planting and harvesting. We live between today's struggles and tomorrow's hope in realization.

[00:17:52]That means our calling is not simply just to wait or to sit.

[00:17:58]But the true work of faith is not driven by resentment or work that is driven by vengeance.

[00:18:05]It is the work of reconciliation.

[00:18:07]It is the work of healing. It is the work of truthtelling. It is the work of justice. It is the work of mercy. And it is the work of hope.

[00:18:17]We cannot be distracted by work God has never assigned us to do.

[00:18:24]Our assignment has always been clear.

[00:18:28]And if it's not so clear to some, let me help you for a moment.

[00:18:32]Our assignment is to bear witness, practice compassion, pursue justice, speak truth, love neighbors, build beloved community, proclaim hope, serve faithfully, make disciples, reflect Christ. And if we look around this room, there's enough work for everybody in here with the unique gifts that are sitting in this place.

[00:18:58]There's enough work to go around.

[00:19:01]There's enough work for each of us to do something. There's enough work if it just begins with speaking to the neighbor who's on your road. To smile at somebody before you leave this this space to be able to encourage someone, call someone, love someone, lift someone. There's enough work for all of us on today.

[00:19:20]I'm reminded of the work because every time I see a hungry child, it reminds me there's work to be done. Every time I see a lonely person, it reminds me that there's work to be done. Every struggling family that's trying to put food on the table reminds me that there's work to be done. Every neighborhood affected by violence reminds me. Every young person searching for hope reminds me that there's work to be done.

[00:19:50]And for this moment in time for each of us, we must sign up for the work in the between time.

[00:20:02]But before I let you go, perhaps the most revealing character in this story is not really the disciples.

[00:20:10]It's not really their response. But perhaps the most revealing character in this parable is the landowner.

[00:20:18]Because a landowner is patient. I struggle with a particular verse of the Bible that says, "Let patience have its perfect work."

[00:20:29]Oh, I struggle with that one. I worry about that one because I'm not always as patient as I want to be. I'm not always as patient as I need to be cuz I want to see things change, not tomorrow. I want them to change now.

[00:20:42]But if I look at the landowner, the landowner is patient. The landowner is not indifferent.

[00:20:49]The landowner is patient because the landowner's patience creates room for repentance. The landowner's patience gives us another chance to get it right.

[00:21:02]The landowner's patience gives me another day to love my family, to love my friends, to encourage all of us around us. The landowner's patience means that I haven't gotten it right yesterday, but I can get it right today.

[00:21:18]here. His patient protects the wheat.

[00:21:22]And some of us ought to realize that because he's been patient with us, that's why we know what grace and mercy are really all about.

[00:21:32]That's why we can say, "Thank you for your grace." And thank you for your mercy.

[00:21:39]The Apostle Peter would go on to write here, "The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, but he's patient with you.

[00:21:48]The patience of God is not weakness.

[00:21:51]It is grace."

[00:21:54]It continues working while giving humanity opportunities to respond.

[00:22:00]So I ask you on this morning to respond in the ministry middle, to respond in the messy middle, speak to someone, love someone, encourage someone, help the sick, help the hungry, visit those who are shut up, locked in. Lift someone, encourage someone, serve in a way that someone can see. We are reflecting the Christ we say has saved us, lifted us, and helped us.

[00:22:32]The ministry middle requires courage instead of outrage, humility instead of self-righteousness, service instead of spectacle, and faithfulness instead of frustration.

[00:22:46]Because Dr. King, he understood that when he wrote that work, he knew that history moved through difficult seasons when progress seemed painfully slow.

[00:22:56]Yet he refused to surrender cynicism because he believed that God was still at work even when the harvest had not yet appeared.

[00:23:05]And that is why he insisted that disciples possess both a tough mind and a tender heart.

[00:23:12]As King warned, he said, "A heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong."

[00:23:19]So let us not mistake our found our frustration for our foundation.

[00:23:26]Let us not confuse judgment with disciplehip.

[00:23:31]And so on this day, let us not be so consumed with identifying weeds that we neglect cultivating wheat.

[00:23:40]Encourage it, feed it, water it, help it, but encourage it. There are neighbors to love, communities to heal, children to mentor, prisoners to remember, the lonely to embrace, a stranger to welcome, justice to pursu to pursue, peace to make, hope to proclaim, enemies to forgive. We should not and cannot settle for comfort instead of a calling or trade purpose for popularity.

[00:24:11]Ministry is never measured by applause, but is measured by faithfulness. Here, as we come on a day like today, we have to remember that as we labor faithfully in this between time, we do so with confidence. Not because the work is easy, but because the harvest ultimately belongs to God. The one who planted the good seed has not abandoned the field.

[00:24:40]He's still in the field right now.

[00:24:44]Christ is still Lord of the harvest and the spirit is still at work in the world and every act of love, mercy, justice, faithfulness participates in the coming and presence of God's kingdom. So on this day, let us take up our assignment. Let us do the work that we've been given because there's work to be done. And by the grace of God, I want to remind everybody in here that your labor is not in vain.

[00:25:17]So as my mom always said and I heard soever, I will trust in the Lord.

[00:25:24]I will trust in the Lord until I die.

[00:25:29]Because we've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in his holy word. And let me tell you right now, I can't turn around.

[00:25:42]I'm going to see what the end will be.

[00:25:45]Amen.

[00:25:50][applause]