Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
13:24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;
13:25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.
13:26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
13:27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'
13:28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
13:29 But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
13:30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
13:36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field."
13:37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
13:38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
13:40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,
13:42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Dag Hammerskjold. once America's ambassador to the U.N., is known for remarking that no one designs a garden with a little plot set aside for weeds. It would seem to be common sense that we don't mix weeds in with our garden of vegetables, with our bed of beautiful flowers. But that common sense doesn't seem to carry over into the life we live today.
We readily allow, indeed sometimes invite, questionable people, practices and appetites into the life we live before God Almighty.
And let us be clear, we're not hiding anything from Him. Psalm 139:1-4 reminds us of His complete knowledge of what we're up to, where the Psalmist writes, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, You know it completely."
At the same time, we should remain aware of what is happening on the other side of that holy curtain, for even as God watches, 1st Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Satan is watching, too.
Felt like you've been eaten up with mistakes, with temptations, with just pure idiocy lately? You may be right.
Even so, this is no surprise to our God. He is never caught off-guard. He sees around the corners of time and knows our nature before we reveal it to ourselves. But He is a perfect gentleman, having given us free will, and we are free to ignore Him or seek His guidance through the Holy Spirit.
All around us, as the tares among the wheat, are people who thumb their nose at God so they can please themselves, have it their way, satisfy their own desires. We see men dressing as women, women dressing as men, demanding "uni-sex" public restrooms, abusing children and animals, engaging in distressful public behavior as they claim "I'm just being me."
Still we are not called to live life as "the natural man." The heart of the natural man is decidedly deceitful, Jeremiah 17:9 tells us. We dare not trust our idea of what is good, for by God's standards what we call "good", He says is like filthy rags.
Instead, we are called to live lives of genuine faith. We should be able to say with Paul in Galatians 2;20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life with I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
This basic principle of the Christian life that keeps us from going astray is documented even before the time of Christ, back in Habakkuk 2:1-5 where we see the difference between the just and the unjust. Again in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10:38 we are told the just live by faith. In Matthew 17:14-21 we see how faithlessness limits what we are able to accomplish through Christ, for as Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 3-5 points out, the power of the wisdom of God comes through those who love Him. If we truly love God, we have faith in Him.
Even so, Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that faith does not make anything easy, but it does make all things possible. And Romans 8:28 affirms that for us, pointing out that faith does not believe that all things are good, or that all things work well, but that all things work together for good to them that love God.
For those of us "living among the tares", living, working, dealing with those who insist on being "weeds" outside of Christ, such reliance upon Christ becomes all-important. Hebrews 2:2 advises us "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
If living as a Christian were ever easy, it certainly doesn't appear easy today in a world filled with injustice, fear, and temptations everywhere we look. When Christians set their mind to living their life according to the statement of Galatians 2:20, they immediately find themselves out of step with those around them. The Christian's purpose in this life is different from those outside of Christ, their goals are different, even their reasoning and their approach are very different. Noticeably dissimilar and out of step, Christians make others nervous, make them feel guilty, and draw fire from those who don't like to have their own motives exposed by comparison.
Sometimes it seems as if the "tares" are on a tear, making public spectacles of themselves in defiance of the great "I Am" of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They not only refuse to recognized the authority of God, they demand those who follow God approve their disobedience. Those who follow Christ not only cannot do that, but they are called upon to pray for such people outside of Christ.
But when we do that, we must pray with the recognition that it is our responsibility to do as Christ says, it is incumbent upon us to share the gospel of Christ, but the results are between those people and God. Success is not up to us.
If we would only realize, as the Bible teaches us, that our success is to be found in the glory of God. It really isn't about us. We might say we understand this, but do we? We have "In God We Trust" written on our money, but we have "Me First" written on our hearts. In fact, when you consider the lengths to which some churches must go in order to draw members in -- orchestras, paid soloists, choirs, and musicians; stage productions, huge TV screens and even fireworks -- it would seem the glory of God lies lightly on the church today. None of that is for God, it is all directed at the audience, at those who would be what the Word of God calls the Body of Christ.
It seems a very thin line we walk as Pastors and church officials when we brag of having camels and sheep and donkeys inside the sanctuary to tell the "real" Christmas story. Is that really to glorify God? The world went for hundreds of years drawing people to Christ with the simplicity of the manger scene in the Gospel.
Regardless of what those around us are doing and saying, our strength, our stand is in Jesus Christ. That could not be more important for the follower of Jesus Christ. We must follow Him and not lose our way. For as the final verses of today's scripture lesson tell us, in the end: "The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"
Indeed, "let anyone with ears listen." The world cannot claim ignorance. We have all been told, and "having it our way" only leads to the furnace. Pray hard. Time is short. Amen.
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