In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
The landowner is a fool. "Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Common sense tells us to get rid of weeds right away. The landowner throws common sense out the window and shows impeccable shrewdness. He's willing to wait until harvest time to separate the wheat from the tares. He knows an enemy planted the tares there. He seems as if he doesn't mind that the enemy sowed the tares among his wheat. He knows the outcome. He is not a fool. He is patient to wait.
Jesus later gives the interpretation of the parable to His disciples: He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
The Christian Church is full of wheat and weeds. That is the so-called "visible Church" or the Church that is seen with our eyes. Wherever the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, we see the Church. Where the Church is seen, there are true and false Christians. True Christians are the wheat. False Christians are the tares. The sticky part is when we try to figure out who is and who is not a true Christian.
The smart farmer takes care of weeds before seed goes into the ground. He would prepare the soil with a chemical application. When the plant grows, he might spray the crop in order to kill any weeds that could appear. Perhaps he might use seed that is resistant to weed killer. The farmer has many choices for an abundant crop.
The Christian Church is not as blessed as the farmer is when it comes to taking care of the crop. If we pull up weeds, there is the danger of pulling up wheat. That's one reason why the landowner in Christ's parable wants them to grow together. The Church Militant is patient. She waits for the return of the Savior with His holy angels, ready to gather both tares and wheat to their respective places.
This is not to say that Church discipline should not be practiced. A Christian congregation has the right to remove manifest, impenitent sinners from their midst until they repent. Nevertheless, it must be realized that 100 percent of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church are sinners. The Israelites did some very stupid things. So did some of the prophets. Saint Paul was once the chief persecutor of Christians. Saint Augustine was once an arch-heretic. If God can use people like Paul and Augustine to preach the Gospel, whom else might He use in His bride's time of need? However, the Church looks like a mess to the naked eye. No wonder so many people prefer not to "practice organized religion".
Take comfort in the fact that the Church is a mess. Why? The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If Jesus' words don't bring comfort, consider the words of the Introit from Psalm 37: Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
The Lord is still the Lord of His Church. It is nothing short of a miracle in these last days of sore distress that the Church grows and blossoms when and where He wills. It is not given to us to go on a mad crusade, trying to figure out who is a true or false Christian. It is given to us to call sin a sin when sin threatens the life of a congregation. When a sinner repents, we forgive them and welcome them back into our fellowship with open arms. That is the way of our heavenly Father. You never know. Yesterday's heathen may be the next Saint Paul or Eunice or Lois or Martin Luther or your favorite pastor.
"Let both grow together." The Word of grace dwells richly among us in preaching and the Sacraments. These holy things change lives. They bring about faith, repentance, forgiveness, and life. They deliver Jesus Christ and Him crucified for your sin and rose from the dead for your justification. These holy things are all we have to cling to as Christians in this filthy here and now. We leave the division of wheat and tares to Christ. He knows those who are His. While we live amid a foolish world, whatever we do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit ======================= Rev. David M. Juhl Our Savior, Momence, IL ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
