HPUMC - Sanctuary Sermons (Traditional Worship)

Living in a Field of Tension

·26 min·2 clips

The SMU band secretly planted rye grass seeds to form their Diamond M logo on rival TCU's football field.

The episode begins with Rev. Abe sharing an anecdote about the SMU band's 1999 prank on TCU, where they planted rye grass seeds to form their Diamond M logo on the rival's football field. He links this to Jesus' parable of the weeds and wheat from Matthew 13, which is read aloud. The sermon is part of a series called 'Thy Kingdom Come,' focusing on understanding God's kingdom. Rev. Abe explains that Jesus told this parable to illustrate aspects of God's character and human nature. He references Dick Murray's book 'Teaching the Bible to Adults and Youth' and suggests three questions to ask when reading scripture: what it says about God, about humanity, and about their relationship. For God, the parable shows that God is the harvester, patient, and loving, allowing both weeds and wheat to grow together. Rev. Abe shares personal stories from his high school days, admitting he was a 'weed' who cheated and played pranks, to emphasize God's patience. He compares God's patience to a parent eagerly awaiting a child's first steps. The sermon then shifts to what the parable says about humans: we tend to seek certainty and judge others, but our role is not to harvest or judge but to show love. Rev. Abe discusses how true love involves allowing others the autonomy to choose evil, which is a hard aspect of God's love. As Lent begins, he encourages listeners to do an internal audit to identify 'weedy' areas in their lives and invite Christ in for transformation. He explains that the kingdom of God is realized through people living as 'wheat' in the world. Later, he provides a botanical detail: the weeds in the parable are bearded darnel weeds, which look identical to wheat until harvest time, and the difference is that weeds stand upright while wheat bows down from the weight of its fruit. This symbolizes humility and fruitfulness. The sermon ends with a prayer thanking God for Jesus and asking for grace to live as examples of love.

As heard by us

A sports prank and a schoolhouse confession open into a sermon about mercy, patience, and becoming fruitful.

A Diamond M prank by an SMU band in a TCU setting gives this sermon its comic opening, but the real subject is the gap between what people have done and what they may yet become.

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Why you'd press play

You get an SMU-TCU rivalry prank that opens onto God's patience with the places where people can be weeds instead of wheat.

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