Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  July 23, 2023

How is the growing season coming along this year? Thankfully, God has blessed us with recent rains, which have helped, but prior to that it was as dry as I’ve ever seen it. I can’t remember a time when the grass, seemingly all of the grass was that golden brown color at this time of year. And yet sprinkled in that sea of golden brown are little sprigs of green. Hearty grass that has made it through? No, weeds. It seems nothing can stop those weeds from growing. The smallest amount of water is enough for them to fill the cracks in the sidewalks and on the driveway and the bare spots in our lawns. So how do you take care of weeds? There’s plenty of options out there. But the one that I’ve found to be the most effective is a product called RoundUp. Spray a little RoundUp, even highly diluted with water, and those weeds don’t stand a chance. And that works well on the sidewalk or on the driveway. But if you were to try that on the weeds on your lawn, the results would be disastrous. You see, RoundUp kills everything. Yes, the weeds would be gone, but so would the grass.

A very similar picture is used by Jesus in his parable of the weeds and the wheat. Both were present in the field. The servants of the sower wanted to help, they wanted to get rid of the weeds. No, they didn’t have RoundUp, but their weed control method would have also destroyed some of the wheat. And unfortunately, the Christian Church over its history has missed the point of this parable and tried their own “weed control” with disastrous results. Jesus tells us that in this world, there are going to be weeds among the wheat, believers are going to be mixed with unbelievers. But God has a plan. As we recognize this morning that we are weeds among the wheat, let’s learn about God’s plan. Let’s see God’s Plan for Weed Control.

Jesus has already had quite a long day. The parable of the weeds is the second of four parables that Jesus told on this particular day. It has many similarities to the parable of the sower that we heard last week. Both deal with sowing seed. Both classify the seed that the sower used as good seed. Both are treated by Jesus with a gracious explanation for his disciples. What is interesting is that Jesus explains the parable of the sower immediately after speaking it, but he waits to explain the parable of the weeds until after he’s shared the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast and after he’s gone beach into the house with his disciples. The details of the parable are not too hard to understand, especially after Jesus explains them. Just like last week, the farmer has sown good seed in his field. But his enemy, in an act of pure evil, came as a coward in the dead of night and intentionally sowed weeds among the wheat. And what makes this even more diabolical is that this particular weed looks just like the wheat as it’s coming up. It’s not until the head sprouts that you can see the terrible difference. Jesus tells us very plainly that he, himself is the sower, The field where he sowed his good seed is the world. The good seed are the believers. The weeds are unbelievers and the enemy is the devil.

So what’s the point? Why is Jesus sharing this parable with his disciples and ultimately with us? Jesus starts out with a familiar but curious phrase, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” What is the kingdom of heaven? Initially, we might think that the “kingdom of heaven” is exactly what it says it is, namely heaven. However, if that were true, that would mean there are “weeds” or unbelievers in heaven and we know that can’t be the case. Matthew, in this context and in other places, uses “the kingdom of heaven” as a parallel to Mark and Luke’s “the kingdom of God.” In this and in many other of Jesus’ parables, “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven” refers to Christ’s rule in our hearts and lives. Really, it’s talking about the life of a believer here in this world; how a believer will live out their life of faith in this world.

Jesus is telling us that our lives as believers are going to be like a field where there are believers and unbelievers. In the world, you can’t just look at a person and know whether or not they are a believer or an unbeliever. You can only know them by their fruit. Basically, Jesus is warning us that wherever the kingdom of heaven and believers prosper and flourish, the devil is also going to be there sowing his diabolical seeds of discontent and destruction. The devil, who already controls the unbelievers, is going to work through those “weeds” to try and choke the faith out of the wheat. Just like in the parable of the sower, if we allow the weeds to take over, they will choke the fruit right out of the wheat. And far too often, that’s what we allow to happen. We allow ourselves not only to be in the world, but to become of the world. We start valuing the things of this world more than the things of God. That’s quite a conundrum, isn’t it? The weeds are dangerous to the wheat. As a problem solver I want a quick resolution to this situation. The problem is the weeds, so let’s get rid of the problem. That’s what the servants in the parable thought too. They said about the weeds, “Do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?”

However, as is so often the case, what we think is best is not what God thinks and knows is best. The sower replied, “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them.” How many potential believers do you think were killed in the past because of the church misunderstanding it’s role in the world and carrying out things like the crusades and the inquisition? We’ll never know, but I think Jesus’ point is clear. If we try to eradicate the unbelievers in this world, inevitably we’re going to take some potential wheat with them. The sower’s answer was emphatic and unmistakable. The only solution is to allow the weeds and the wheat to grow together.

That truth bothers a lot of Christians. You hear the protest in the form of questions. Why does the Lord allow them to have a smooth and easy life–oftentimes smoother and easier than ours? Why doesn’t God just open up the sky or the ground and let those unbelievers know who his children really are and how much he loves them? But I think the answers to those questions lie in Jesus’ parable. Let’s thank God that he doesn’t deal harshly with unbelievers in this world. Do you realize how uncomfortable that would make our lives? Remember how Noah and his family experienced that? Even though God spared them, their life was not at all easy for many years. Just re-read the flood account in Genesis 6-9 and see how much fun it would have been to walk in Noah’s sandals. God allows the weeds to grow and flourish only so we, his wheat, can flourish! Just think of how many benefits we receive from God using unbelievers in this world! How many of our public servants who provide protection for our peace and safety are unbelievers? How many of the people who grow the food we eat, make the clothes we wear, produce the entertainment we enjoy are unbelievers? Gives a little different perspective to being in the world, but not of the world, doesn’t it?

What we’ve seen so far is that in this world, there is always going to be weeds among the wheat. There will be unbelievers in the world and even disguised as believers in the church. We should never look for a perfect world or a perfect church on this side of heaven–we just won’t find it. We’ve also recognized that God allows the weeds to exist for our good. They help us recognize what the truth really is. They test our faith. They cause us to grow in our faith and to depend more fully on our God. St. Paul said, “We know that in all things (even in the weeds of the world) God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” And finally, we should recognize that God even gives the weeds a time of grace. The weeds are just as deserving of God’s grace as we, the wheat, are. They’re not deserving and neither are we. We are just as sinful in our nature as the weeds. We are just as lacking in goodness as the weeds. The only difference between us and the weeds is that gift of faith that resides in our hearts. Every moment of time that the lives of the weeds are spared is another moment for them to know Christ, the same Christ who through his perfect life and innocent death possesses power to transform weeds into wheat, fit for the granary of heaven.

But just because it’s not the church’s job to carry out weed control, doesn’t mean there isn’t a plan. God’s Plan for Weed Control is coming. Jesus promises this as he closes out his parable. “The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break the law. The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

There was no way that Jesus wanted his hearers to think that God’s grace amounted to indifference to sin. So he shows us God’s Plan for Weed Control. In the end there would be recognition of the weeds. There would be separation, And there would be destruction of those weeds. The story is vivid enough that we can almost see a row of grain trucks on one side of the picture and a raging bonfire on the other. This is Jesus’ absolutely clear picture of the last judgment. There will be recognition and there will be separation and there will be destruction. Destruction by fire is mentioned alongside almost every biblical reference to the last judgment. But just as strongly does the picture of the heavenly granary appear. “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

So where does that leave us? Jesus wants us to clearly recognize that believers and unbelievers will exist together in God’s kingdom on this side of heaven. That will keep us from becoming discouraged when it seems like the weeds are taking over, and hopefully, it will keep us striving to remain wheat. Jesus doesn’t want us to take the task of rooting the weeds out of the world. He knows who the weeds are. He will deal with them in judgment on his own schedule. What he does want us to be doing is proclaiming the Gospel–the Gospel that is powerful enough to change weeds into wheat. It means looking at unbelievers in the same way that Jesus did–as recipients of the forgiveness that Jesus won on Calvary’s cross. And finally, Jesus wants us to be both fearfully and confidently prepared for Judgment Day, when he will separate us from the weeds and place us in the storehouses of heaven. That’s God’s Plan for Weed Control. When the harvest finally comes–when Judgment Day arrives–may we all be found in the Lord’s granary in heaven! Amen.