Accept No Substitutes

God creates co-existence and wants us to hear and proclaim the Gospel in a multi-faith context. The challenge is, we believe we proclaim the truth in a world full of substitutes.

From Matthew 13

I don’t know how long the phrase “Accept No Substitutes” has been around, but I know its not new. Coca Cola used it in the early 1900s.  Schlotzkys started back in the 70s in Austin with one sandwich called “The Original.” They had an “original” and nothing else. So since you have the original you are qualified to say, accept no substitutes, and they did say that. Then there’s AMSOIL. Amsoil was the first popular synthetic oil for your car. One of the marketing phrases was – yep, "Accept no Substitutes." Think about that, a synthetic motor oil, which is a Substitute has the gall to tell you not to accept substitutes. Then there’s Porsche, the car maker, they did one better when then proclaimed: There IS no substitute. As if Porsche was the only car in the World. Everybody knows it’s a souped up Volkswagen!

Why am I talking about Substitutes? Well just like Schlotzky and Porsche and fake motor oil has to coexist with “Substitutes” the whole chapter of Matt 13 involves coexistence!

I’m not saying it’s ABOUT coexistence, because really, it’s about the Kingdom of God. But it involves coexistence. Coexistence with things that will compete for your interest but they are not "Kingdom." Things that will confuse the Kingdom, but they are not Kingdom. Things that will seem good, but they are not the Kingdom.

     First Parables (or story with a meaning) of the Kingdom are Coexistence Parables. 

And the first is the Parable of the Sower. Of the 8 parables in Matt 13 this may be the most famous, maybe 2^nd to the Prodigal Son, but still famous.

Mat 13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: 

"A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds 

came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much 

soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose 

they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among

thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and 

produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

You have probably all heard sermons on this passage, but lets just hit the highlights and get to the point. There are 4 results of scattering seed. 1) Birds eat the seeds, 2) The Sun burns them up, 3) the weeds choke them out, or 4) They grow and bear fruit. What do you notice? I notice 4 different outcomes that all coexist for a while. But only one of them does God accept. God Accepts No Substitutes!

Down in v.19ff Jesus explains these 4 outcomes. 1) The birds are the Evil One, the devil, who comes and steals the seed. The seed never even gets to sprout! Its just gone. 2) The Sun is tribulation or persecution. A person thinks they have the "Original", but trials, troubles and persecution make them give it up. 3) The weeds that choke the growing plant are worry and the distractions of wealth. Isn’t it interesting that both Trials and Treasures cause people to abandon the Kingdom of God? One group expected something God never promised, the other got something they thought was more valuable. And 4) The last group, grows and flourishes and Always bears fruit!

     Now we can extract a lot of ideas from this parable. Like, maybe it’s not a good idea to cast your seed on the sidewalk. OR better yet, maybe it’s better to prepare the soil and so help create a more receptive medium for the seed to be planted.

     And we’ve tried different ways to 'prepare the soil'. Like Pizza! Sure, are you gonna have an evangelistic meeting with teenagers? Feed them Pizza and when they get stuffed they’ll sit quietly and listen to the gospel! Altar calls! If we can just get them down front, maybe they’ll get saved! We’ve tried, soup kitchens and VBS and Gospel Blimps!

     And you know… I like Pizza and altar calls and soup kitchens and VBS. But those things do not prepare the soil of the human heart for the gospel. Only the Preaching of the Word of God does that! Wanna reach out to Young people? Feed them pizza, then Preach the Word. Want to reach a person that’s cold, give them a blanket then tell them they are lost and without Hope in this world, but Jesus gives Hope! Want to reach children? Give ‘em games, songs and crafts and Tell them about the Saving Power of Jesus Christ!

     But this first parable, is about the Reality and Co-existence of the Kingdom of God. There Really is a Kingdom and there really are Substitutes! That which is Not Kingdom! The Next Parable has a similar purpose.

     Then the Parable of the Tares:

Mat 13:24  He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be 

compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25  but while his men were sleeping, 

his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

26  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27  And the 

servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed 

in your field? How then does it have weeds?'

28  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you

want us to go and gather them?' 29  But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you 

root up the wheat along with them. 30  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at 

harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be 

burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Pretty straight-forward right? There is the Real Kingdom, planted by God! And a substitute planted by the devil. And if you think I’m making that part up look down at v.38 "The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one." They coexist. The evil one wants to choke out the wheat. And it's not because he's Gluten Free! He wants to dilute the field. He wants to cause the good ones to fail. God says let them both grow. We’ll sort it out at the end. And the evil ones will be punished, and the Righteous are fit to serve for God.

God accepts no Substitutes!

Next Parables of the Kingdom are the Impact Parables. The Kingdom has value and it makes an impact!

Mat 13:31 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a 

grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all 

seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, 

so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them 

another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in 

three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

There is a garden, lots of plants; but one stands out. The one that starts small and grows and even gives the birds a home. Would Jesus start Small? You bet. 11 men and very few followers. But they would grow and grow, Even while they Co-exist with Evil.

Does the Mustard plant try to kill the other plants? No. 

Does it try to be like the other plants? No. 

It is unique, different, and it makes an impact.

But how about the dough and the leaven? I love this. Does the leaven turn the flour into leaven? No. The flour stays flour the leaven, which is yeast (a fungus), permeates and changes the whole lump of flour. It causes it to ferment and chemical reactions happen. Kinda funny Jesus is comparing the church to a fungus. But God invented fungus and yeast for a good purpose. Yeast also makes beer happen! God wants a garden with His mustard plant in it. He wants flour of the world permeated by the church!

But that’s not all! Look at v44

Mat 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and 

covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, 

the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding 

one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

There is another impact. The Kingdom is a treasure in a field, a pearl of great price. 

The Kingdom has value for those who find it. It makes sense to sell everything to buy the field. 

The treasure is obviously more valuable than anything this guy owns.

BUT, there’s another value here. There is value to the King. 

He finds his kingdom in the field. He sees many pearls but finds the right one, the perfect one, the one that has value to Him. And did Jesus pay a price for it? Did He? Did he Buy the Field and Buy the Pearl? You bet He did. 

Seeing the Kingdom as field of wheat with a lot of weeds teaches one principle. But seeing the Value of the Kingdom to the one who paid the greatest price teaches another.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you are valuable to the King. Jesus Accepts you and He Accepts No Substitutes! He doesn’t want to share you with the weeds. He doesn’t want to share you with the rest of the garden or the pearls. But, He doesn’t want you to make the mistake of thinking that you won’t live in an evil world, and there won’t be trouble, and hunger and poverty and persecution and tribulation there will be! There will be. But then end will come.

Which brings us to the Third kind of Kingdom parable:

The Judgment of the Kingdom and the Lost.

Mat 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and 

gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and 

sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of 

the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw 

them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In v.47 Many fish are caught and they are sorted out the bad from the good. This is similar to the Harvesting of the field with Good wheat and weeds. So there is the idea of the Reality of the Kingdom and of Coexistence, But, there is another idea going on in these stories.    

    Remember how the people of Israel were looking for another David; a King to throw off their oppressors. But Jesus is becoming the suffering Messiah. He needs them to see good and evil will coexist 'til Judgment Day. And, it seems, the Day of Judgment is a good ways off. I think it best if we take the same point of view. God will sort it out When He is ready. And He Accepts No Substitutes!

     Jesus uses these Stories - these parables – To unlock ancient mysteries. These are truths that have been a part of God and His Reign as King forever.

     Winston Churchill had a lot of wonderful lines, and not just ‘cause he had a good writer, he was smart. In speaking of Russia one time he said they are “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” I always loved that. Well, Russia is still that way, but they 'got nothing’ on God. God is the ORIGINAL Riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma – But Jesus came to open the enigma, unwrap the mystery and show us the riddle. 

     And God has NEVER accepted Substitutes. There were many peoples in the World, yet He made the Hebrew People. There were many races in the world, He made the church. There are many religions in the world, where people try to earn their way into God’s Good pleasure. But,

God Made a Way of Salvation. And no one can come to Him unless He comes by The Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Original Savior and God Accepts No Substitutes!

Have you come to God by Christ alone? There is No Substitute!