The Two Families, Sermon Notes for 5th Sunday after Epiphany, 9 February 2025 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
The Collect.
O LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and household continually in thy true religion; that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle. Colossians iii. 12.
PUT on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
The Gospel. St. Matthew xiii. 24.
THE kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Today’s lectionary text reflects the patience of Christ in His dealing with those of the church – both the faithful and hypocritical. But there is also a reflection on two kinds of seed. In the first Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-16, the seed is the Word of God; however, in the parable of today, the seed represent those in the church. The field is the world. The first Sower is Christ – the second sower is the devil.
The seed of wheat represents the true and faithful Christian in the Church; but there is also present in the church a false Christian whose appearance and cunning appear to be genuine, but is as shallow as a silver plated dinner service. The false professor cannot be easily discerned from the true. The tares (Arabic, suwin) resemble the wheat so exactly at its early growth that the farmer risks destroying the wheat along with the tares if he attempts to separate them. As the tares and wheat grow to fruition, the difference becomes more apparent, but too late to remove. The heads of wheat bow their heads filled with grain while the tares shoot proudly straight up without any fruit whatsoever.
Of course, the Sower of wheat will gather the tares at the last and separate them from the wheat before gathering the good wheat. The tares are bundled up and put to the fire. It is true of the souls of men as well.
Our Lord often castigated the Jewish rulers, Scribes and Pharisees for their overt hypocrisy. These represented th tares in the field (or church). They had a firm of godliness but denied the power thereof. They were false professor who enjoyed a false respect of the people for their so-called righteousness. They were pretentious and false plants in the Garden of the Kingdom.
Our Lord took a serious and condemning view of these imposters:
JOHN 8:38-45
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
This passage is significant in pointing out the two different families in the world and Kingdom of God. They did, indeed, have a father; but that father was the devil just as is true of all who know not God as Father. This clearly reveals two different families – and only two. We belong to the wheat or else the tares. Two very different families and two very different kinds of seed. At Eden, the seed of the serpent was first evinced to the ruin of the paradise of God. The serpent is the devil, and he is the father of lies.
Galatians 3:26-29
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. We are all made one in Christ regardless our blood, race, tribe, or nationality. That is the ONLY interpretation that can be gleaqned from Paul’s Epistle.
Let us cease to puzzle over genealogies and races of people. IT is not the flesh but the spirit that seals us as Christians, or marks us as belonging to Lucifer.
The term "Abraham's seed" appears in the Bible in several places, including Galatians 3:29 and Romans 9:7. According to Galatians 3:16, the promise was made to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ. Therefore, if you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Not all who are of Israel are Israel, and not all who are the seed of Abraham are children.
Romans 9:6-8 (KJV) 6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Whose child art you, God the Father, or the dark Prince of the Air?
