Weeds

July 19, 2020

GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43 [Parable of the wheat and weeds.]

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 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?’ 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?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 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.’”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Gospel Reading last week was the Parable of the Sower. The Sower sowed his seed all over: on the road, in the rocks, in the thorns, and in good soil. While other seed was eaten or strangled, the seed that fell in the good soil produced an abundant crop. Of course Jesus was talking about preaching the Gospel. Some people hear and disbelieve, or hear and don’t care, or hear but get discouraged, and some hear, believe, and produce faith and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And so we have hope in our evangelism work. Jesus promises that his Word will be heard.

In today’s Gospel Reading, the enemy comes and sows weeds in the good soil. When the workers suggest pulling up the weeds right way, the owner gave this advice: “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 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.” Jesus explained the parable. First, Jesus means the life of the church now which includes both saints and sinners. And second, he means the Last Judgment at the End of the World. There will be one harvest but two judgments: either the fiery furnace of hell or the heavenly kingdom of the Father.

In the parable, the servants wanted to pull up the weeds and clean up the field. In the church, there are people who want to kick out all the bad members and have a pure congregation. As Jesus warns, there is great danger in doing this. The first danger is that we humans cannot read the hearts of other people. We do not really know what they believe. We can look at their behavior and try to judge, but even true believers also often sin and make mistakes. The forgiveness of Jesus is greater than their sin. We have to realize this whenever we start to judge other people. What looks like a weed today, can turn out to be good wheat. That is to say, a wild, reckless youth can “sow a lot of wild oats” but finally turn out to be a respectable member of society. A person who has doubts about their faith and spouts heresy, can come around to the truth of the Gospel. The opposite can happen too. A person can change because of the sin and challenges and sadness of this world. The trials that build up one person can tear another down. So, we do not really know who is good or bad. We do not know who will be really faithful to Christ at the time of the Last Harvest. Another problem is that some heresies can lead other people to doubt and reject Christ. Some teachings can cause great disturbances within a church. Ah, but who is right? Sometimes it is very hard to judge.

The first danger of pulling out the weeds was that we do not know for sure who is a weed. The second problem is that we may accidentally pull out some good wheat. We might destroy the faith of someone. What we might judge to be bad might actually be good. That happens when we compare someone else to our own sinful image. That person is different, so must be wrong, must be bad. Or, we might create a scandal that destroys the faith of someone. The way of doing things can be worse than the original problem. “The cure is worse than the disease.” For example, if you excommunicate and kick a man out of the church who actually is an unrepentant sinner, that man might pull his whole family out of the church and away from Christ. I think Jesus was warning about this sort of thing. Or people might get disgusted about an overbearing pastor or elder and just leave the church. They pull themselves out of the good soil.

But how are we going to live with all those weeds around us? How do we live in this world of sin? Some weeds, some people in the church actually are very bad. We let the police and the courts take care of them. But as the church of God, we have the authority and command to preach the Gospel. We preach the Law and Gospel. The Law is a weed-killer and the Gospel is fertilizer. The Law kills, but the Gospel makes alive. In other words, repentance and regeneration, or love and forgiveness. We proclaim the cross of Jesus

This is the church in the world that Jesus came to. He was like good wheat sown in the world of weeds and sin and death. Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of love and forgiveness. The enemy judged Jesus to be bad. Jesus was collected or captured. He was not thrown into the fire, but rather he was killed on the cross. But in his resurrection there is forgiveness and new birth. And so we are changed from being weeds headed to destruction into the harvest of the redeemed, the righteous, destined for eternal life.

But how are we going to live with all those weeds around us? How do we live in this world of sin?

1. Patience. Endure till the end of the world.

2. Let the angels do the work. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.”

3. Love and forgiveness. This is just standard Christian behavior no matter what.

4. Love and forgiveness. This is so important that I had to repeat it.

5. Proclaim the Gospel. Proclaim and pray for repentance and regeneration.

6. Faith in God. Trust in God. Hope in God.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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マイケル・ニアフッド、牧師
沖縄ルーテル教会


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