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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

Wheat, weeds, and Djokovic

One day the wheat and weeds will be separated, but we must examine ourselves as we produce both (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43).

Context

• In Dorset, the ‘Stockholm Bibby’ barge arrives, capable of temporarily accommodating 500 asylum seekers.
• Novak Djokovic fined for smashing his racket against the net during the fifth and final set of Sunday’s men’s Wimbledon final.
• Barbie and Oppenheimer prepare for UK release in one of the most keenly anticipated days in cinema history. Many intend to watch both films on release day, sparking the ‘Barbenheimer’ trend.
• Temperatures in excess of 40 degrees continue across Southern Europe.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

As Jesus tells the story of the farmer who instructs his workers to not pull up the weeds right away, but to wait until the harvest, we can take heart from the fact that the farmer will indeed still reap a harvest. The wheat and the weeds will be separated. There will be justice on harvest day – on the day when Jesus returns.

Perhaps our hearts long to see justice for those asylum seekers who will be making their home on the floating barge ‘Stockholm Bibby’. Literally jettisoned out of the way, the global political and economic factors that lead to them being there can infuriate us. But, as we are assured here, on harvest day, the weeds will be taken away and burned. Those that seek to oppress and exploit will have to answer for their actions.

As temperatures soar across Europe, it’s important to remind ourselves that any call for justice must include a consideration for the climate emergency. Those who have their livelihoods – or even their lives – threatened by human-affected extreme weather events will too know justice upon harvest day.

This parable juxtaposes two distinct things – wheat and weeds – to make a point. This week, the release of the films Barbie and Oppenheimer have sparked a wave of commentary on the juxtaposed nature of the two pictures. The fanciful, fuchsia-filled Barbie stands in seemingly complete opposition to the dark, melancholic Oppenheimer. Are there other well-known juxtapositions you could make to introduce the wheat and the weeds? Wet and dry? Tigger and Eeyore? This exploration of duality can illustrate how in our own lives we produce something of that wheat and weed mixed crop.

This was evident in the behaviour of Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s men’s Wimbledon final. After having his serve broken in the fifth and final set in his eventual defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, the Serbian took his racquet to the net post, earning himself a warning from the umpire and a fine from the All England Club. One moment playing terrific tennis, the next throwing a tantrum a toddler would be proud of. It’s also worth mentioning that the seven-time Wimbledon champion spoke very generously of his opponent and the match officials in his post-match interview. In Djokovic, we see how we have the capacity for both destruction and vindication.

 

Questions for discussion

• Is there a situation of injustice and oppression where the promise of a final judgement brings you some kind of solace?
• How might we use our voice to speak for truth and justice in situations where we know individuals are being oppressed or victimised in our day-to-day lives?
• If all your prayers were answered this week for a person/people group experiencing some kind of oppression or victimisation, what would happen?
• Think about how you speak and act in the places and spaces you spend most of your week. What looks like wheat? What looks like weeds? What do you want to keep, and what do you want to get rid of?
• What one practical thing will you say or do this coming week to bear more wheat (and destroy more weeds)?

Sam Brown is a Church Advocate for the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). He helps church leaders envision a church where members are equipped and supported to be Christ’s ambassadors in all parts of their lives.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Apart from the new Barbie movie and an Australian man and his dog who survived two months stranded at sea, there is very little positivity that can be found in the news at the moment. From deadly heatwaves across parts of the world, to more warnings about AI affecting the future job market, it’s all looking pretty grim. 

It’s easy to look at the world and despair, believing that everything is all weeds, that hope is nonexistent. In today’s Bible passage we’re exploring how to thrive and grow where we are planted; in other words where we live and with the issues that surround us. We do that by trusting in God. If you scratch the surface of these news stories, you’ll find that for every climate issue there’s people across the globe fighting for solutions; and for every social injustice there is an organisation supporting those affected. They just don’t make the news that often.

Looking around where you live, how could you thrive? What action could you take to be the good seed that is needed? Let’s not allow the weeds to choke us, but trust that where we’ve been planted is the place we can use God’s gifts to thrive.

Lindsay Wright is a freelance writer and designer from Lancashire.

 

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