Weeds

Matthew 13:24–30 NIV

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Matthew 13:36–43 NIV

36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Jesus continues to tell stories of the kingdom of God

Jesus’ stories again involve everyday imagery from farming but point to eternal realities. This was also common among oppressed peoples. If suspicious officials walked by, they are just talking about gardening. But Jesus is talking again about the mission of the church. Part of that mission is to make disciples. But even among Jesus’ hand-picked followers, we later learn that there is a traitor. So it may have been a fair question to ask, who is really with us?

Sometimes the disciples were asking who among us is the greatest? In this case, maybe Jesus knew that some were gossiping about who was the worst among them? Who is not worthy of following Jesus?

Jesus also knew that we weren’t good at waiting. We are tempted to try to fix it all right now. Urgency is good with head wounds and prayer. But with Jesus is telling a story that points in a different direction in judging the church.

The early church wondered who the true believers were

So Matthew is writing to the early church. They’ve had a whole generation of eye-witnesses who followed Jesus and now those stories have been gathered in written form and published for the broader church to benefit. Greeks and Jews. Former pagans and traditional Hebrews. They may have looked at each other from time to time and shook their heads. The Greeks may have been big on evangelism among those who didn’t grow up with God’s guidelines. Some traditional Jews may have wanted to see more fruit in the lives of these converts. Whatever the specifics, various church members had various standards by which they were tempted to judge the other as possibly not worthy. At times they may have thought someone was a child of the devil. “Not compassionate enough!” “Not holy enough” might have been the cries.

Nobody would be left if everyone could vote out everyone else. The church would not have a future.

But Jesus doesn’t dismiss these concerns as completely unimportant. He does say that in the end God will judge the church, who will judge the world. But judgement begins with the house of God. When God judges it is with the long view in mind. When God judges it is with finality.

We want to draw lines of who’s in and who’s out

So how do we draw these lines? Well today we have a whole host of ways we can draw lines in the sand. Either you support my favorite elected official or candidate or at least oppose the opposite or your out! Very sadly we are drawing political lines in the sand, even in the church. That’s not worthy of this parable. Jesus focused on the work of God. Work that could be done no matter who is emperor.

We draw it on the lines of are you a true evangelist or do you only worry about your own spirituality? Well, there may be a point here on both sides. But some people are more gifted at evangelism so it comes much easier. Others really have to climb out of their comfort zone. But as we saw last week it’s not an option to till the soil and sow the seed. And we have the call to truly follow Jesus in the pattern we take: so prayer and worship are to set the tone for how we live. We should be improving morally and acting more like Jesus as we grow.

We also may draw lines based on social justice vs law and order. But this isn’t an either/or. God will not accept bias and injustice in any nation. It’s how people God booted out of the holy land. We should not forget those stories… True believers will stand up for the oppressed and the unborn. True believers will also walk straight and live holy and humbly with God’s help.

This week we lost a lot of wonderful leaders in the church worldwide. John Lewis was a Christian man who marched with Dr. King and endured much hate and worked and served his country his entire life. Worked long hours in office. I don’t know if you agreed with all his policies. But he probably did a lot more to heal this land than many of us today. His death is a big loss to earth.

But also J.I. Packer went to be with the Lord, a truly great Christian devotional writer. He taught us all about prayer and devotion to God alone. He had such a way with words and his books such as Knowing God shaped a generation of readers. A huge loss.

Also, one of my early mentors, Dr. Paul Cunningham a retired general superintendent went to be with the Lord. He was my pastor in college and I went door-to-door contacting new residents when I was about 22 years old. When I took my first congregation, it turned out it was the church he had grown up in as a teenager. I had no idea. His mother was still a member. I realized our 70th anniversary was coming up, so I asked him to come and speak a year and a half in advance. He said yes. It was a great day. My first big event in ministry. He ended up being the General Superintendent assigned to my district and ordained me that year. Later, the week before I left that church to come to Indiana his mother passed away and he returned to do her funeral. He wanted me to stay there, but his wife Connie elbowed his ribs and then he let off the pressure and thanked me for serving his home church faithfully. And now we need to all thank him for a lifetime of service to the church.

But we need men like all of these who passed on this week. And great women, who put God and others first as well. We may like one more than the other, but God sees all the good they all did. In the end it won’t be who we knew or looked up to. Tax Collectors and sinners may go ahead of all of us. Flannery O’Connor has a powerful story about that, too.

We judge the weeds vs the wheat from what we can see. But God specializes in turning lives around. We don’t cover up evil. But we also don’t need to live in constant fear of who is among us. Even if the Devil himself tries to plant devilish people, God can turn lives around and that’s where our focus should be most of the time.

Jesus said: Let Both Grow Together Until the Harvest

We apply litmus tests to people and stand ready to judge them and give them the boot on the spot. But Jesus says, that’s not a good idea.

Matthew 13:29–30 NIV

29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

While you are pulling the weeds you may uproot the wheat. Once we start judging one another harshly we will do more harm than good. Assume the best about people while you can. Keep teaching them and loving them and let them teach you good things, too. But I think Jesus knows something else. Sometimes weeds become wheat by the grace of God. If we rip them up too soon we may be wrong.

We planted a garden this summer for the first time. When the first few sprouts poked through we were very worried about weeds. But Ellen’s dad cautioned us to wait until it became more clear. Soon enough we would know what’s a weed. So waiting proved beneficial. Some little guys turned into towering zucchini and big beefy tomatoes. Patience was called for...

Jesus takes it one step further. You do the gardening. Do the tilling and planting and watering and feeding. Let God handle the harvest time and the judgment. Again, we don’t cover up evil in our midst. We need to adequately supervise what’s going on. But we are here to bless and to teach and to love. We are not here to judge. Amen?

But one day God will judge. So all the more reason to love and teach and bless all we can.

Jesus said: The Righteous will shine like the sun

Matthew 13:43 NIV

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

We don’t need to try to stand out now by making others look bad. We can trust that God sees all. So faithful follower of Jesus, just keep your head down and your shoulder to the wheel and keep loving and serving until he comes. God can handle the ultimate problems. He calls you to care.

When Jesus comes and the fullness of the Kingdom of God is finally revealed for all to see, those who are righteous will have their moment in the sun.

Jesus has come. Jesus has died. Jesus has risen. Jesus has ascended on high and poured out the holy Spirit on a coalition of the willing. To paraphrase N.T. Wright- the morning has already dawned. We are just waiting for the full light of day. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, these light and momentary troubles will not compare to the glory about to be revealed. So set your sights on what is yet to come.

If you find yourself acting a bit weedy, please repent and be restored. Don’t be a weed. If you find yourself worried about making it as wheat among the weeds, stop worrying. God has got this. Produce all the fruit and seed you can before the harvest comes. It will glorious and terrible. So it matters. But today you don’t lack anything you need to thrive next to a weed. Tomorrow, if you let Jesus complete the good work he began in you, tomorrow you can shine like the sun in the Kingdom of our heavenly Father. And so can the ones you wonder about.

I want to see you there. I want to see us all there at that great and glorious day. Let’s keep growing until the harvest so we can shine like the sun. Amen?