Living with Weeds
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
My friend Jamie Rankin has been with us over this past week. He and my wife Chris share a similar gift: They are able to walk into a house and see what it might look like if only some modifications and improvements were made. They don’t just see the house as it is in the moment – but as how it might become. I’ve seen them envision and then develop a plan to transform spaces in our homes from “needing work” to becoming beautiful.
I see this gift of restoring things – as taking things from ashes to beauty -- as being consistent with the way God is. He made a good and beautiful world in Genesis 1 and he created human beings to rule over and manage the world he made so that it would remain good and beautiful. God gave human beings the ability to see what’s wrong in creation, to make plans to renew what’s been messed up, and then to enter in and change things.
When you think about the joy we have in taking something that has gotten worn out or has broken and then restoring it to something beautiful, then you can grasp, in a small way, what it is that God is doing in the world. God is involved in a global makeover project in this world he loves. God sent his one and only Son, Jesus, into this world to launch the plan and he has called us both to be re-made as well as to be those through whom he does his reconciling and restoring work. Jesus called us God’s salt and light sent into the world.
God’s work in making everything right and new in his creation is what Jesus referred to as the Kingdom of God breaking into this imperfect world. And Jesus told a series of seed stories in Mt 13 to give us an idea of how God’s work will happen in us and through us when we become Jesus’ followers. So, today we come to the parable that I’ve just read to you, often called The Wheat and the Weeds. Listen carefully to what he says:
The Vision: Jesus is building a comprehensive, beautiful kingdom in this world.
“The kingdom of heaven is like…” (13:24)
For centuries before Jesus came, the people of Israel had been waiting for the kingdom of God – or, as they often called it, “the kingdom of heaven” because Jewish people didn’t like to use the sacred name of Jehovah-God in public. They knew the prophecies in Scripture spoke of it coming to earth with the birth of Messiah.
When Jesus first spoke this parable, Israel was under the yoke of a very oppressive and ungodly government, i.e., Rome. Israel longed for the days when they would be politically and economically independent like the days under David and Solomon. Life was hard for them. Most were poor. There was little social freedom.
So, they prayed for God’s kingdom to come and meant by that, that the Messiah would bring political, social and religious independence to Israel. And, fake Messiahs abounded in Jesus’ day. Many came claiming, “I’m the one. I’ll overthrow Rome. Follow me!” But all of them had been exposed as con men and frauds.
So, Jesus came on the scene and started doing miracles – not just one or two but many miracles and all of them of the type that were the kinds of things the Messiah was to do. And, Jesus started out his sermons again and again saying, “The kingdom of God is here and this is what it is like.” But, what he said was that the people of Israel were misguided about what the kingdom would be like. How? In at least two ways:
- Their dream was too small. They thought the kingdom of God would be only for them and its only real affect would be to set Israel free from a foreign power. Jesus told stories that indicated it would be bigger and more comprehensive than anything they could imagine.
- Their timetable was too hasty. They thought the kingdom would come in its fullness quickly and immediately. Jesus told stories that it would come gradually, i.e., that a lot of work would have to be done.
Through his stories, Jesus let his disciples – and us – know this: “The problems in this world are deeper than political. The reason why there are so many problems in your life is that all reality is broken. Something is wrong at the very roots of everything in this world: All our human longings, our earth’s ecology, our relationships – everything in all creation is affected by sin. There is a cancer eating at everything in all creation. But,” Jesus said, “I’ve come to deal with it all. I’ve come to bring the kingdom of God.”
In saying this, Jesus was telling them, “You are thinking too small. Don’t just think of a world in which you don’t have to pay exorbitant taxes. Don’t just come to God thinking he’ll deal only with your personal problems. He will! But, I want you to imagine a world without any sorrow, greed, poverty, hatred, crime, sickness, injustice, racism, guilt shame, family problems, loneliness… Think of everything! Can you imagine it?! That’s what I’ve come to bring.”
The vision is so magnificent that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was willing to enter into this sin-filled world and intentionally give his life to establish the kingdom of God. But how will he do it?
The Method: The kingdom grows as God plants his people in local neighborhoods.
“The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom.” (13:38)
Last week, we listened to Jesus’ story of seed being planted into different soils in Mt 13:3-9. This time, Jesus uses seed in a different way. In the first seed story, seed is the good news of the kingdom that we must receive if we will be saved. This time, the seed is people, i.e., all of us who have by faith made Jesus the savior and king of our lives. Jesus says that he plants us into this world as his representatives, as his agents of the kingdom.
The point Jesus makes here is much like what we considered in Mt 5:13-16. Jesus tells us that the main ways he furthers his comprehensive work in this world is that he plants those who follow him into this world. When we read the rest of the NT, he plants us, indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and calls us 1) to give witness to him 2) to further his love and justice in the way we treat the people he brings across our paths.
What a calling we have! We are Christ’s ambassadors wherever he plants us in this world. This can give meaning to your life even if you now are in a job you would prefer not to be in. People will cross your path in that job and you have been planted near them to further God’s kingdom work. This is how you should view yourself every day of your life – wherever you go and whatever you do. It will never be by chance that you are where you are. You may not know why you are now doing what you are doing – but Jesus says, “Today, you must know that you are my seed planted to do my work in a world I love.” Be faithful. Bear fruit.
The Reality: God builds his kingdom surely but more slowly than we want him to.
“Let the wheat and weeds grow together until the harvest. At that time, I will…” (13:30)
1st C Jewish people thought that Messiah would come and, in an instant, would overturn all that’s wrong and make everything right. They didn’t understand either the comprehensiveness of evil that would have to be dealt with or of how thoroughgoing God’s kingdom would be. Jesus would enter into everything that is wrong so that he might make everything right! They didn’t realize that people don’t fix fast. Thus, in the story, the servants said, “Master, we should get out there and take care of all these messes because it’s not happening as fast as we had thought. We’ll help you out!” By that, they wondered whether they should go out and try to run off all the Roman soldiers, do away with all the tax collectors, and ban all the Samaritans from their borders
Jesus says, “The kingdom is like farming. The farmer doesn’t sow the crop and then reap it on the same day.” On one side, the kingdom of God has come already because Jesus has come. Forgiveness of sin and a new life with God are available to all people right now. On the other, there’s a lot of work to do – both in each of us and through each of us. In other words, right now we’re in this “in-between” time. God’s seed has already been planted but it is not yet the final harvest time.
Here’s how this reality affects our daily lives as Jesus-followers: Every day we are called both 1) to be active in God’s work and 2) patient until God’s work is done. We are to be prayer-filled and diligent about giving witness to Jesus and about going out in Jesus’ name and entering into wrongs and injustices. Each day, we are to seek to bring hope and healing into this world God loves and plants us into. We are to let the love of Jesus flow through us into the lives of those God brings across our paths. And, we are to wait on the Lord.
And, often, I find it easy to get frustrated. Things go so slowly – slowly in my own sanctification and in the lives of others I minister to. I wanted to give a personal illustration of this – but my only thought is that this is the way it is every day and in every situation. When we are honest, we all say: Why is my own life with God growing so slowly – still so marked by temptation and failure? Why are my parents/children still the way they are? Why does the church still have all these messed up people? Why is the world still so filled with racism and violence?” I could go on and on, couldn’t I? We are to be active in the work of God even while we know that seed grows slowly. But, let’s leave this point here for now. It will come up in other stories Jesus tells.
God builds his kingdom surely but more slowly than we want him to. For now, let me say to you that you are to make a commitment to being God’s salt and light where he puts us while, at the same time, saying, as King David said so often,
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
The Deception: Be warned! There is an enemy who sows fake seed among the real.
While everyone was sleeping, an enemy sowed weeds among the wheat. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. (Mt 13:25-26)
The kind of weeds Jesus was speaking of were called zizannios. We call it bearded darnel, a toxic degenerate form of wheat. Not only does it often carry a fungus that poisons everything around it but, as it grows, it looks almost exactly like wheat. It’s not until it comes to maturity that people discover its just a stalk with no grain. Still, it takes the nutrients and moisture away from the wheat and stunts or poisons the growth of the grain. It was sinister stuff for a farmer. What an illustration!
What Jesus is saying is that there are other kingdoms in this world that continue to fight the kingdom of God and, therefore, fight God’s people. The specific kingdom Jesus speaks of is the kingdom of a personal evil being he calls the devil. The devil loves to deceive people so, when God plants his people in places in this world, it should be expected that the devil will place opposition there too – undermining the work of God’s people, presenting themselves as more accepting and tolerant but never really bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, etc. that people of God should have growing in our lives (Gal 5:22ff).
The main point of this is that, when you go this week into the places God will send you, do not be surprised when, as you seek to represent Jesus by your words and deeds, you will face opposition. You may even begin to think that your main goal is to get rid of all the opposition in the world. But, although we surely must speak out when those around us at work, in school or in your neighborhood are undermining God’s ways, your main goal is never to get rid of the weeds or even to be their final judge. That’s God’s job. He will send his messengers to do it according to Jesus in v.41. All who do evil and oppose God will be judged.
In case you haven’t seen the Apostle Paul’s clear words about this, read 1 Cor 5:12: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.
But, those of us who have had our own sin judged and the punishment taken care of – with Jesus bearing that punishment on the cross – our main goal is to give witness to Jesus and to love people in ways that Jesus did.
I do think that, even though this parable’s main point is about how we live out in the world, I believe it may have something to say about life in the church too. Jesus, in his parable, says that the toxic weeds are planted right among the wheat. Notice that people are planted right among the children of God, people who look like the real thing but are not.
But, notice also that Jesus didn’t say anything abut this in his explanation of the parable in vv.36-43. His main point is that he plants us out in the world as his kingdom representatives. However, he seems to suggest that we should beware within the church too – that there will be those who look like real wheat among you in the church but are not. Now, if that’s a part of what Jesus says here, he’s not telling us that we should never engage in church discipline, correcting false teaching in the church and holding one another accountable for holy living. In fact, in just a few chapters, Matthew 18, Jesus not only calls us to engage in discipline within the church but also gives us instructions about how to do it.
Still, I’m quite sure Jesus would tell us that our main goal in the church is never to weed people out. We firmly and lovingly confront sin and error – but, according to Galatians 6, always with humility and a goal, not of weeding them out, of restoring those who may have fallen into sin or error. I want that to characterize our church. Our main goal is not weeding – but growing healthy wheat.
But, also, as we now begin to get ready for communion together, I want you to examine you own life with God in light of this parable. In 1 Cor 11:28, the Bible commands us all to examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink the cup of communion. One question I want you to ask is this: Am I God-planted wheat or am I a fake weed? How can you tell? I will ask you in just a moment to pull out your kneelers and begin to engage in a few moments of examination and prayer. Before I do, I’ll walk through few checkpoints about your walk with God to guide you:
- Are you sure you have confessed your sin to God, asked for forgiveness and received Jesus into your life as your savior? Repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. (Acts 3:19; 16:31)
- Are you deeply grateful that while you were a sinner, out of love Christ died for you (Rom 5:8)? The point of using seeds in his story in this way is that seeds cannot plant themselves. You and I were dead in our sins but, by his grace, God has rescued us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. If you find yourself looking down on other people, that is a warning sign of your standing with God.
- Do you have a longing to be set free from sin? If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)
- Are you seeing any evidence of growth in godliness in your life? A growing love of God’s Word and obeying it. A growing love of people different from yourself simply because they bear your Father’s image. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: All who do not seek to do what is right are not God’s children, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:10).
Let’s have some time for confession and prayer – for recommitting your ways to the Lord. Then I’ll come and pray and then we’ll share communion.
1 John 3:10
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor