Shining Our Yes to God

7.19.2026

Call Stories Continue...

Isaiah 44:6–8 ◾ Psalm 86:11–17 ◾ Romans 8:12–25 ◾ Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

Grace and peace to you, children of the Kingdom

those gathered here in person and those joining us online.

After hearing Jesus’ parable, the disciples had questions, good questions.

Who is the planter?

Where is this field?

What should we expect to see now?

And what will God do with everything in the end?

Jesus almost always begins with a story when he speaks about God’s kingdom. He doesn’t rush to give a straightforward explanation. He doesn’t offer a definition right away. He simply paints a picture and lets that picture shape understanding. Only those who have built a relationship of trust with God learn to seek and recognize the truth, and the meaning within it.

That’s what disciples do!

Jesus tells his disciples plainly:

He is the one who sows good seeds.

His disciples are the good seeds; therefore, they are the children of the kingdom.

The purpose of the evil one scattering weeds is to not only separate people from God but also disrupt harmony among them.

And in the end, Jesus assures them that he will send his angels to bring to an end everything that harms and everything that destroys.

That’s why, for us, Isaiah’s words matter today:

God is calling witnesses to declare who God is and what God does.

In verse 8, we read, “You are my witnesses.”

God speaks kingdom truth in ways that only those walking God’s path can truly recognize.

Witnesses understand the story because they know the storyteller.

When we need someone to testify for us in a life‑and‑death moment, we don’t ask strangers. We ask the ones who know us well, believe in us well, walk with us, and love us.

A trustworthy witness carries our truth with an undivided heart.

So we are called to be God’s witnesses and to show that God’s kingdom is real.

I wonder…

What makes our witness be invitational to those who feel lost to step toward the kingdom hope?

The words of the Psalmist in verse 15 provide us with a perfect answer:

God is gracious and full of compassion; God is slow to anger and full of kindness and truth. Only "who God is and what God does" can make our witness be invitational.

And once we name what makes witness invitational, we can ask the deeper question:

How do we know our witnessing is not only visible and inviting, hope‑bearing, and reflective of God’s kingdom, but also compelling to those Jesus calls “lost sheep”?

Now we turn to Romans 8, then back to Matthew 13, for answers.

Paul says the greatest sign of God’s work in us is living a new life shaped by the first fruits of the Spirit. And that first fruits of the Spirit is Jesus’ resurrection; it is the beginning of the full harvest God will one day complete.

From Jesus’ own story, we learn this:

Our call is not to stare at the weeds.

Our call is to shine—fully, freely, and faithfully—as his witnesses.

Jesus says in verse 43 that the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

So now the answer to the question, “How do we know our witnessing is compelling to those Jesus calls ‘lost sheep’?” becomes clearer when we listen to Jesus himself.

When people begin to listen—truly listen—the field grows brighter.

The more hearts turn toward God, who is slow to anger and full of kindness and truth, the shinier the field becomes—just like a wheat field shining in golden color right before the season of harvest.

Shining like the sun happens everywhere—in quiet places, in unexpected moments, and right in our midst.

And last Sunday, we witnessed such shining.

It began quietly—with a phone call.

Ginger, one of Tom and Minnie’s daughters, reached out to share that her father, living with late‑stage dementia and Parkinson’s and now in hospice care, had expressed a deep longing to be baptized. A longing he had carried quietly, but faithfully.

Because I’m serving as your interim pastor, and because Pr. Coe leads our Prayer and Care Ministry Team and regularly visits our homebound members, he joined me as the sponsor on behalf of this congregation. And in a beautiful grace‑filled surprise, Tom’s other two daughters were also able to come. Three daughters, a son-in-law, one family, gathering around their father for a moment of holy shining.

And here’s what I want you to notice:

Tom said yes to God.

Minnie said yes by sharing his desire.

Ginger and her husband Ken said yes by calling the church.

I said yes to go.

Pr. Coe said yes to join.

And you—this congregation—added your yes by taking a group photo and sharing it with the family. And the family responded with their own photo, shining back toward us. [You may find those two photos in Grace Notes.]

It was a chain reaction of yeses—small, simple, faithful yeses—

woven together by the Spirit into a moment of pure kingdom‑shining light.

A moment we didn’t plan, but God planted long before any of us knew it was coming.

A moment that reminded us: God’s hope is always growing, even when we cannot see it yet.

Before last Sunday, none of us knew the hope Jesus had planted long before our yes.

That’s the hope Paul describes in Romans 8.

Paul says:

If we already see it, it’s not hope anymore.

Hope is trusting God’s promise before the harvest appears.

Hope is saying yes with an undivided heart—all in and all the way committed—because God is faithful.

We are called to be God’s living, resurrected witnesses

now and for as long as we live.

We live to shine our yes to God.

We are called to create a chain reaction of shining hope,

hope that is happening even when unseen

just as God’s kingdom is here all around us and

God’s kingdom is yet fully coming.

Let that shining fill this place until it cannot contain its testimony.

Just as John said if all the stories are recorded, the book cannot contain them.

Let our call stories blanket Mukilteo with the warmth of God

who is gracious and full of compassion,

who is slow to anger and full of kindness and truth.

Let it bring comfort not only to us, but to anyone

who begins to engage with the good seeds

God has planted here in this place.

That is the unseen hope we pray for.

That is the hope already growing among us.

That is the hope that shines like the sun.

Let us pray and bless each other:

May the God who plants good seeds

in every generation

bless us with deep listening to Jesus

to see the hope that is already growing.

May Christ, the sower of the kingdom,

strengthen our “yes” so it shines like the sun in every place we go.

And may the Holy Spirit, the firstfruits of God’s future,

fill our hearts—undivided—with courage, kindness, and trust.

May each of us go now as witnesses—

children of the kingdom,

bearers of hope,

lights in the field God loves.

Amen.