The Servants Reactions to Weeds in the Wheat.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. I will give an overview of the parable today, then concentrate on
applying verses 25 thru 28.
Jesus told a series of seven parables in Matthew 13. Four from the
boat and three in the house. 3 (sower, treasure, pearl) talk about the
growth of the Kingdom of God in a person's soul or heart and life. Four
(weeds, mustard seed, yeast, net) relate to the growth of God's Kingdom in
the world. This one is about the world.
While this IS a parable, told by our Lord to make one main point, there
are many points (allegory) Christ makes in the story. The chief point Jesus
is making here is how God will deal with evil in the world at the End of
time. But, as I said, it also teaches us many other points.
For example, 'why IS there evil in the world?' when God created all
things good? Satan and other creatures chose to be evil. They sowed the
seeds of evil in a Garden we call Eden, and that crop still grows today. By
our Old Adam, our first, natural choice is still evil (Genesis 6:5) and
rebellion. Those weeds still grow in YOUR heart. All of the doubt, hatred,
bloodshed, war, and problems of man are from the seeds of weeds. Likewise,
creation is set in bondage to decay as Romans 8 reminds us. Droughts,
storms, earthquakes, and other disasters in nature point to our rebellion
against God: to weeds Satan plants.
Another point is both weeds and wheat grow on their own. God sows good
seed in the world. It is planted by Word and Sacraments: when a child is
baptized, or learns in VBS or Sunday School about the cross; or and adult
hears a Lutheran Hour sermon, or receives Holy Communion, etc. We can't
CAUSE life. Only God can do that. We can, and should, nurture God's gift
of spiritual life as His servants. GOD gives growth, not us. You, a
servant of God, work to care for and encourage spiritual growth in your own
life AND in the lives around you out of love for Christ. If a person fails
to look after and protect their faith and others, God WILL deal with them
harshly.
Again, the main point is that God will deal with the unholy objects and
the people who use them on Judgment Day. On that Day, GOD will send the
angels to first rapture and cleanse the weeds from His creation. Then He
will gather the wheat, those who had authentic faith in the one-time,
all-sufficient sacrifice of His Son on the cross for all sin. And God's
children will shine like the sun (Daniel 12), forever.
But, I think it would be useful for us to concentrate on verses 25 thru
28.
"While the servants were sleeping," that is to imply that there IS a
time of rest and we can't be on duty ALL the time. No one Christian can
possibly be alert to catch every sin or weed that Satan plants in our lives
or in the world. And make no mistake, God's enemy and ours has TONS of weed
seeds yet to plant. Then Satan leaves to plant weeds in other lives before
he is noticed.
The servants ask, "of COURSE you planted only good seed?" Expecting
the Master to reply with a yes.
So another thing I want you to recognize is what Jesus does NOT say.
The Master does not rebuke or punish the servants for not stopping Satan or
even awaking to sound the alarm. Our Omniscient, All-Knowing God knows what
happened. He agrees that God is the author of only good seed (James 1:17;
John 3:27). The question and answer bring out the flagrant, unashamed evil
of Satan. It is NOT possible for man to stop all evils in the world.
So it is important to note what the servants do NOT do. Their first
impulse is to go on a jihad and kill all the weeds. They are zealous for
purity and holiness. They have a desire to remove all evil from the world,
even if they die in the process. That is the natural impulse of fallen man
and false gods: to purify the earth and anyone who disagrees with them.
The Genuine God, the Authentic LORD, is not a god of death, inquisition,
and conversion by the sword or scimitar. God is life. The First and Last
and Only God as Isaiah 44 describes wants people to be saved, not
slaughtered; to be delivered from hell as the Introit confesses, not sent
there.
What do genuine workers do? FIRST they pray to the Lord of the Harvest
for directions, rather than acting on their own. THEN they listen & obey
His instructions.
God tells His servants, you and me, other workers will do this job at
the Harvest: not us. While we are NEVER to neglect the Office of
Excommunication for an unrepentant sinner in Christ's church, we are
commanded not to pull up weeds (remove their life).
And why? God says we can't always clearly tell the weeds from the
wheat (first) AND that we might damage or kill some of the wheat.
Acts chapters 8 and 9 describes a man who was laying waste to the
church, breathing death threats, and wanting to imprison Christians. THAT'S
a weed! But on the road to Damascus, Christ met the man who became known as
Paul. Had this 'weed' been pulled, much of the New Testament would not be
in our hands today.
One of Jesus' 12 disciples was entrusted with the accounting of money
to pay for expenses and help the poor. Sounds like wheat. His name was
Judas Iscariot.
There was a braggart who followed Jesus; but deserted Him when Jesus
was in need then cursed and denied Him: definitely weed! But his name is
Simon Peter; wheat.
There are numerous examples in the Bible, and millions in history, of
people who appear as weeds but are wheat or appear as wheat but are weeds.
Just as our words weed and wheat sound alike, even very careful examination
by Christians can fail to see the difference while the crop is growing.
Jesus also warned about pulling weeds. Let's say an individual
Christian wants to get rid of a weedy person. What about that weed's
Christian relatives? They would be hurt if we pull the weed. Make no
mistake, God will deal with the weed in the fires of hell at Harvest. The
weed who pretends to be wheat, the hypocrite, will be fully repaid. It is
NOT our duty to judge (Matthew 7) weeds: that is for God. It IS our duty
to care and nurture the crop in God's fields (the world) and to sound the
warning when we see weeds around us and in the world.
This also applies the parable to our own life. When you look at your
life, are you a weed? Are you living, blaming others for problems in your
life rather than looking at yourself? Are you making your own rules while
ignoring God's Rule? And on the other side of the coin, are you living as
if you make no mistakes, or need very little forgiveness if any? Are you
'trusting the goodness of your own life as the assurance of your salvation'
(Charles Finney)? They you are a weed.
If you have been hurt, but will NOT forgive the ones who hurt you: you
are a weed. If you let your emotions rule you; if you love to pass on 'news'
that may not be true OR is intended to hurt other; if you refuse or ignore
helping a brother or sister in Christ with food, water, housing, clothes,
medicine, and the like (see Matthew 25:41-46): you are a weed. You will
enjoy God's creation, soak up sunshine, water, and nutrients like God's
wheat and produce seeds - weed seeds - and be dealt with by God.
Like Paul and Peter and so many others, we ALL appear like weeds at
times: to our shame. As Christians, we should each earnestly struggle
against sin and try to lead holy lives (see Luther's Small Catechism, Lord's
Prayer, Petitions 1 and 3). But we never depend on how we may look to
others or to ourselves: our only hope real is the cross.
God has planted the seed of life in us, that is, faith in the work of
Christ for all the world. The Master gave His life for His servants, us.
Anyone who believes in Jesus as the only Way, Truth, and Life is wheat.
Anyone who repents and trusts the only Rock and Redeemer for all of their
salvation is wheat. When the Final Harvest is at hand, true Christians,
declared righteous in the cross, will be gathered to heaven and shine like
the sun. Such is Christ's unbreakable promise.
This parable of the weeds is for our comfort. Our enemy has planted
much evil along side us; that is why there is so much evil in the world.
But Our LORD and Master knows our situation. In the strength of the cross
our faith can endure to the End; and then "shine like the sun in the Kingdom
of the Father." To the glory of our Lord. Amen.
_________________________
Yes, yes, I know - long on explanations and short on Gospel or references.
I'm dealing with several situations in one of the three congregations I
serve; but I thought this post might serve others in the Kingdom as you
modify it locally. I will come back tonight from the first vacancy and to
sharpen the law and lengthen the Gospel segment, but I needed to post this
afternoon since I won't be back on the net till probably Tuesday.
In His Service,
Pastor Michael Harman
St. Peter LCMS, Newell, IA 50568-0393
vacancies at 1st Lutheran, Fonda; and Immanuel, Pomeroy
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