Deo Gloria

Sermon for July 23, 2023

Pastor Martin Bentz

Text: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Theme: What Do We Do About the Weeds?

Do you have any weeds in your garden?  I know we have plenty in ours.  And it’s not like we planted any this spring either.  When I went to the store back in May, I was very careful in picking out the seeds and I know I didn’t buy any weed seeds.  And when I planted the seeds a week or so later, again I was very careful.  I know I planted pea seeds and carrot seeds and onion seeds and lettuce seeds, but I did not plant any weed seeds.  And yet, the weeds are there, in abundance.  It’s so frustrating.  I mean, you never have to plant any weeds.  They always come up on their own, without fail.  And they always seem to grow better and faster than anything else, even when it’s 90 degrees outside.  Sometimes it just makes you want to get a great, big jug of Roundup and kill ‘em all.

The story we have before us this morning is about weeds, weeds in the kingdom of God.  Yes, wouldn’t you know it?  There are weeds in God’s kingdom too.  The obvious question is what should we do about them?  Should we tear ‘em all out?  Should we get a great, big canister of Roundup and spray ‘em all and kill ‘em?  Jesus answers that question this morning as he advises us what to do about the weeds.

The parable of the weeds is similar to another parable Jesus told earlier in this chapter, the parable of the sower.  In that story a farmer sows his seed and the seed falls on various kinds of soil.  Some lands on hard ground and gets eaten by the birds.  Some falls on shallow soil and quickly sprouts, but then withers under the hot sun.  Some falls among the weeds and gets choked off.  And some falls on good soil and produces a good crop.  In this parable there is also a farmer who does some planting, but that’s where the similarities really end.  Instead of focusing on the kind of soil the seeds fall on and what happens as a result, the focus in this parable is on the weeds.  Thankfully, we have Jesus’ own explanation of this parable in the second part of this text.  We don’t always have the benefit of that.  But in this case we do, so we’ll refer to that as we walk our way through this parable.

A farmer goes out and plants good seed in his field.  As we learn from Jesus’ explanation, the farmer represents him, the Son of Man.  The field is the world, which is an important little detail.  You and I might assume that the field is the church, but it isn’t.  The field where Jesus does his planting is the world.  And the good seed he plants are the sons of the kingdom, in other words, children of God, believers.  Jesus plants his people throughout the world, not in just one little corner or one little country, but in many different countries and many different nations.  Notice also that Jesus is the one who does the planting.  The seeds did not plant themselves.  They did not come to faith on their own or invite Jesus into their hearts.  Through the power of his Word and the working of his Spirit, Jesus planted them.  He brought them to faith.  He made them members of his kingdom.  Jesus does the planting.

But just like in your garden, there are other plants there besides the peas and the beans and the potatoes and the onions.  There are weeds, plenty of weeds.  Those weeds, of course, represent unbelievers, “sons of the evil one.”  They too are in the world, right in among the believers.  In fact, often times it’s hard to tell the difference.  They live in the same neighborhoods as God’s people.  They work at the same places of business.  They shop at the same stores.  They drive the same kind of cars and wear the same kind of clothes.  Outwardly speaking, it can be rather difficult to tell the difference—until they start producing fruit.  The children of God produce good fruit, golden kernels of wheat, things that are good and pleasing to God because they are done out of faith and love for Jesus.  The unbelievers, on the other hand, produce bad fruit, black kernels, things that are done out of sinful motives like greed and selfishness and pride and hatred, things not done out of faith and love for Jesus.

And, of course, just like in your garden the weeds often present a threat to the good plants.  Sometimes unbelievers will persecute God’s people and try to make life difficult for them.  Sometimes unbelievers will make fun of God’s people or criticize them for being different.  Sometimes they will tempt God’s people to join them in sinning or try to lead them to believe some man-made philosophy.  Sometimes unbelievers will even attack God’s people or try to do them harm.

So what should we do?  What should we do about the weeds?  They’re all around us, everywhere we go.  They’re an obvious threat, a source of potential harm to our own faith or that of our children or that of fellow Christians.  Should we pull them out?  That’s what the servants in this parable wanted to do.  “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” they said.(v. 28).  Maybe that’s what you and I should do: get rid of the unbelievers.  I mean, haven’t we had just about enough of these Muslim extremists attacking Christians and killing Christians all around the world?  Maybe it’s time we start taking the fight to them.  Maybe we Christians should start a holy jihad of our own and start getting rid of the Muslims and the other unbelievers.  No, there were Christians who tried that back in the Middle Ages.  Remember the Crusades?  Remember the Spanish Inquisition?  It didn’t work very well, and left nothing but a black eye on the Christian church.

And besides, it’s not what our Lord would have us do either.  “No,” the master answered, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them”(v. 29)  Do you see the danger?  I don’t know how many times I’ve done that with some of the peas that I planted.  I’m out there in the garden pulling weeds right and left.  And some of the weeds and their roots are wrapped around the base of the pea plants and their roots.  And as I rip out the weeds…oops, I pulled out some of the pea plants too.  The same thing could happen if you and I tried to get rid of the unbelievers in the world.  As we zealously tried to pull them out and get rid of them, we may also end up getting rid of a few of God’s people, perhaps someone who was weak in their faith or still new in their faith.  Maybe we would cause someone who was weak in their faith to stumble and fall because of our hatred toward others and our acts of violence.  Or maybe we would end up getting rid of a number of unbelievers who might have been saved if we had tried to witness to them instead.  Trying to get rid of the weeds is definitely not the right solution.

So what do we do?  We let them be.  As the master of the house said, we leave them alone and let them grow together with the wheat until the harvest.  At harvest time—that’s when things get sorted out.  First, Jesus will send his angels to gather all the weeds.  They will pull up and root up everything that is sinful and evil and everything that tempts people to sin and causes people to sin and everyone who does evil as well.  They will tie them up and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  And then, then Jesus will send his angels to gather all of the wheat, all of his people, into his heavenly barn.  And they will shine like stars forever in the kingdom of their Father.

Do you see yourself in that story?  Do you see where you fit in?  You’re the wheat, the good seed that Jesus has planted in the world.  In his grace and mercy Jesus has brought you to faith in him as your Savior and made you a member of his kingdom.  You are holy and righteous in his sight because Jesus has washed your sins away in his holy, precious blood.  In gratitude and thanks to him, you produce good fruit.  You strive to do what’s good and right and loving and kind and in the process bring glory and honor to your Savior.  And look what you have to look forward to too.  One day you will share in his glory.  At the end of the age you will shine like the sun in God’s heavenly kingdom.  You will shine with the glory of Jesus, for as the Bible says, he “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body”(Philippians 3:21).

So can I ask you something: Why do you act like the weeds sometimes?  Why do you act the way they act and talk the way they talk and do the things they do?  They curse and swear and misuse God’s name and think it’s no big deal.  But why do you?  They lie and cheat and take advantage of others, but why do you?  They go to parties and get drunk and sometimes make a fool of themselves, but why do you?  Those are among the sins we need to confess this morning, aren’t they?  Lord, forgive us for the times we have acted like the weeds, that we have produced bad fruit instead of good fruit, that we have brought shame and dishonor to you by our words and our actions.  Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive our many sins.  Wash them all away in your holy, precious blood.  And then with the help your Spirit, empower us day by day to act like your children and produce good fruit in our lives, fruit that brings glory and honor and thanks to you.

But now back to the weeds.  What about them?  What about those who don’t believe in Jesus, those who are still under the power and control of the devil?  They’re all around us, aren’t they?  In our neighborhoods, our schools, our place of work, where we go camping on the weekends, perhaps even in our own family and among our own relatives.  Should we hate them and despise them?  Should we ignore them as best we can and hope and pray they’ll just go away?  Should we treat them like the weeds in our garden: stomp on them and spray them with Roundup and rip them out by the roots?  Maybe that’s we have done at times.  Maybe that has been our attitude.  We really could care less about the weeds.  We don’t like weeds.  We hate weeds.  We’d just as soon get rid of the weeds.  I mean, good riddance!  Maybe that’s another sin you and I need to confess this morning: that we’ve had such a loveless and uncaring attitude toward unbelievers, people for whom our Savior Jesus also died.

Shouldn’t we have compassion on them?  I mean look at where they’re going to end up.  Unless something happens between now and harvest time, unless something happens between now and Judgment Day, they’re going to end up in hell, in the fiery furnace, where as Jesus says, “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”(v. 42).  Instead of hating them or despising them, shouldn’t we do our best to show the love of Christ to them?  Instead of ignoring them or wishing they’d just go away, shouldn’t we be praying for their conversion?  Instead of treating them coolly or indifferently, shouldn’t we do our best to witness to them and tell them about their Savior while there still is time?  Who knows?  Maybe they’ll be converted.  Who knows?  Maybe Jesus will have mercy on them too and bring them to faith.  And they’ll be changed, changed from weeds into wheat.  I wish I could do something like that in my garden.  I wish I could change some of those nasty weeds into good plants; but Jesus can.  By the power of his almighty Word, he can change even hardcore weeds into wheat.  Look at what happened with Saul, who became the apostle Paul.  Or look at John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” a man who once was a slave trader, but later in life became a child of God.  Jesus can do amazing things like that.  He can change weeds into wheat.

Will all the weeds be converted?  Unfortunately, no.  Sadly, many will reject the message of Jesus and will remain weeds.  It’s frustrating when that happens, especially when it’s someone we know.  It’s upsetting and may even make us angry at times.  And yet, it’s not up to us to bring judgment on them or try to get rid of them.  That we leave to Jesus and the angels to take care of on Judgment Day.  Until then the best thing you and I can do is remember the lesson Jesus is teaching in this parable about the weeds.  We need to remember what the master of the house said to the servants who wanted to go and get rid of the weeds.  We need to be patient, patient and loving in dealing with the weeds.  Amen.