Sermon for Pentecost 7: "Parable of the Weeds"

+ 7^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 19^th, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Chances are that when you pick up a new book and look at the dust jacket or when a friend recommends a new show to watch on Netflix, you ask, “What’s the story about?”

Jesus’ parables are no different. A sower, a field, good seeds, wheat and weeds, enemies, servants, and harvest time. What’s this parable all about?

It is a story about many things: trust, patience, and the Lord’s deliverance; the problem of evil and the end times. For such a short parable, there’s quite a lot going on. 

But the thread that holds it all together is the Lord’s patience and mercy, his longsuffering. You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Keep those words in mind as our Lord explains the parable in more detail.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. The man is the Son of Man, Jesus. The field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom.

²⁵ but while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  Jesus tells us that the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 

²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”  The harvest, Jesus says, is close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the 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, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus’ explanation sounds pretty straight forward. But did you notice that Jesus interprets every part of the parable with two notable exceptions? He tells us what everything means in the parable – sower, seed, field, weeds, enemy, harvest, and burn pile for the weeds. But Jesus says nothing about the servants or their questions to the farm owner. There’s a gap in Jesus’ interpretation.

This is the genius of Jesus’ storytelling in the parables. Jesus wants us to see ourselves in that gap. Not merely as someone who reads this parable casually, but to see ourselves as the servants/farm workers in the story. The servants ask: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 

It’s an age-old question. We’ve asked it ourselves many times. Why is there so much evil in the world? If God is good why does wickedness seem to run amuck? Why are there pandemics and riots and racism and such senseless violence? Why are police officers and 2 year olds being shot in our city streets? Why is the world full of so much suffering, pain, and cruelty. And the list of whys could go on. What’s going on, Lord? Why are there so many weeds? 

An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds. 

Jesus’ words are a sobering reminder that in this life, there is no utopia. For now we groan along with creation, as Paul says, and eagerly await the resurrection. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. As we live in this world, or until Jesus comes again, this world is like the field of wheat and weeds, full of good and evil.

The servants ask the next logical question. ‘Do you want us then to go and gather up them up?’ So, what are we going to do about all these wicked weeds, Lord?”

The answer is a jaw-dropping, shocking surprise. “Let both grow together until the harvest.”  The Greek word there could be translated “let it be”, or permit it. It’s the same word used for forgiveness. What does our Lord say to do with all the wickedness in the world? Let it be for now. Forgive it. 

If it were up to us, if it were my farm, we’d probably burn it all down, pull up the weeds and wheat together and throw it all on the burn pile. See the problem? If we were in charge of the field, we’d have made a mess of it all a long, long time ago. If sinners were placed in charge of separating wheat from weeds, how would we know which is which and who is who? As Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, “the line of good and evil runs through all our hearts.” 

So, what do we do about all the weeds? Ignore it all? No. Lament it. Call it for what it is. Repent of our own weedy, sinful hearts, and look to Jesus, the farm owner. He only sows good seed. And that’s exactly what he has done for you. He loves you. Forgives you. Shows mercy to you. He is patient, longsuffering.

Remember, this is a story about Jesus, the Sower, the Son of Man who came into the field of this world for you. He let all the weeds of the enemy surround him, lay ahold of him, and nail him to a tree. He bound himself to all the wickedness of our sinful, weedy hearts as and died in our place on the cross. And as he hung there for you, he endured the fiery furnace of God’s wrath that we might shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.

Remember the words of the Psalms: You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

And that’s what this story is all about.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pentecost 6 Sermon: "The Problem of Weeds"

+ Pentecost 6 – July 20^th, 2014 +

Redeemer Lutheran, HB
Series A, Proper 11: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you think about it, Jesus has some rather strange farming habits. Last week he tells us a parable about a reckless sower who scatters his seeds everywhere – hard-packed turf, rocky soil, weedy dirt, good topsoil – it doesn’t matter. Jesus treats the proclamation of his merciful, gracious word of forgiveness the same way too: spreading it with abundant, joyous abandon.

This week Jesus’ parable starts off the same way: the kingdom of heaven – in other words, the rule and reign of heaven, the gracious action of God in the world to save us through Jesus crucified – that kingdom of heaven; is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Then while the servants of the field were sleeping the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. The shocking thing is that where we’d prefer to apply the Caddy Shack treatment and soak the entire field in pesticide, pull of all the weeds, and then nuke them with some radiation just to be sure those weeds are gone, Jesus simply replies: “Let both grow together until the time of the harvest.” 

But of course, Farmer Jesus has the whole field in view here. And though his farming methods may seem strange and backwards to us his gracious rule and reign, the kingdom of God in human flesh, works among us precisely by such strange and backwards methods: his incarnation, his humble life, his more humble death.

So, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, stop and think: what’s this parable all about? And don’t say: “Duh, pastor, Jesus gives us the explanation. Just read that.” True enough. But what’s Jesus teaching and declaring to us? How would you summarize this parable for someone else? What’s the parable primarily about: judgment or joy? God’s justice or mercy?

Now, before you jump up and raise your hands, be careful. Think about your answer to that last one.

And while you’re thinking about that question, let’s hear the parable again.

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

Now, the sower of the good seed is the Son of Man, Jesus. The field is the world or literally the cosmos. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom – God’s children, heirs of Christ, who like Paul says in Romans 8 are adopted by grace and receive the Holy Spirit. The weeds are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil: he who was thrown down out of heaven and he who throws accusations and sin in our face.

In this parable, the good seed are doing just fine. It’s sown by the Son of Man and grows automatically. Faith and the fruits of faith follow wherever Jesus sows his Word.

But this is a tale of two sowers. The devil has also been busy planting weeds all over. And the weeds also seem to be thriving. We’ve all echoed the words of the Psalmist: “Why, O Lord, do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper?”

This problem of the weeds is made all the more difficult by the fact that the weeds don’t have neon signs flashing: “Open for business!” They don’t stick out like a patch of dandelions on a perfectly manicured putting green. In fact, Jesus says the weeds look identical to the wheat until the harvest.

Weeds and wheat are only known by their fruit.

So it is with the Christian faith. The fruit of evil is parasitic, destructive, and deceitful, while the fruit of faith in Christ is mercy, forgiveness, and love – sown in abundance like the parable of the sower. As we sing in the great Reformation hymn “Salvation unto Us Has Come”:

            Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone
            And rests on Him unceasing;
            And by its fruits true faith is known,
            With love and hope increasing.
            For faith alone can justify;
            Works serve the neighbor and supply
            The proof that faith is living. (LSB 555:9)

But that’s not what’s on the mind of the servants in Jesus’ parable.

‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

The devil sows corruption, confusion, and chaos. Reminds me of Alfred’s words to Bruce Wayne when talking about the Joker: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

That’s why we join Paul and all creation in groaning with expectation for the revealing of the sons of God.

We groan as we see a world full of weeds; we groan in anguish at the abortionist’s instruments; we groan in sorrow when planes are shot out of the sky for no good reason; we groan in frustration at the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ; we groan at injustice and inhumanity spoiling God’s creation.

And groan we must. Truth be told, there’s a weed patch as deep as the grave in each of us, a weed patch is full of the hypocrisy of sin. It’s not just the weeds that look like wheat. We, God’s good seed, have a rather nasty habit of thinking, doing, and saying weed-like things. Sin wrecks everything.

Looking at the world around us it might be tempting to come to the same conclusion the master’s servants came to in the parable:

The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ That’s us alright. Impatient. Call in the weed wackers. Root em up. Pull em out. Exterminate. Like the disciples we want to call down fire. We want judgment. Thankfully we’re not the ones in charge of the field, otherwise there would be nothing left, not a single living plant left standing, we included.

‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest…

Jesus’ words are shocking. Let both grow together. Let it be. Permit it. Suffer it. Jesus reveals God’s very nature. Where we would call down judgment, Jesus calls for patience; long suffering is the word. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Jesus’ words teach us how we live with others. God is patient and longsuffering towards us; therefore we are patient and longsuffering towards others. Or as C.S. Lewis once said, “We can forgive the unforgiveable in others because God has forgiven the unforgiveable in us.”

That’s Jesus’ answer to the problem of the weeds: “Let it be.” The Greek word is aphete and in many parts of the New Testament this word has another use. To release. To let go. To forgive. That’s right. Jesus’ answer to the problem of the weeds is forgiveness.

And this really is the only satisfying solution to the problem of evil. How does God deal with all the evil and weeds in the world? How does God deal with all the weeds and sin in man? In us?

God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us. Jesus became the weed for us. Jesus took all the seeds sown by the evil one and planted them into his body on the cross. Jesus took all your weeds, all your sin, and your death and he died for it. Jesus died for you, to make you his precious wheat, God’s own good seed, sown by Jesus and sown into Jesus, planted in his wounds.

For there on the cross God poured out both justice and mercy. The cross is both judgment and joy. Judgment of your sin. And joy because Jesus was judged in your place.

Above all, this is a parable of God’s patience. Yes, there’s judgment over sin. Jesus’ parable is a warning as well. The world will be set right. Indeed, all is right in the cross of Christ.

Fear not, then. The field of the world is his. Today the Lord of the harvest takes the seed of his word and spreads it to you his good seed. He takes the grain and grape and gives you his body and blood to eat and drink. Jesus takes the first fruits of his death and resurrection and washes you with them, feeds you with them, and forgives you all your sin. No more weeds.

You are the Lord’s good seed. And he will guard you until the harvest as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Issues Etc. Interview: The Problem of Evil

It took a few more days than I had hoped. But here's a link to my recent interview on Issues Etc. discussing, in brief, the problem of evil, also known as theodicy.

The interview was based on an article I wrote for the Brothers of John the Steadfast's apologetics column and you can find the interview by clicking here.

 It was a great interview and many thanks to Issues for having me on from time to time. What a joy and an honor to be a part of their world-wide outreach.

Thanks for reading.

Jude 3

The Problem with the Problem of Evil

One of the more frequent objections to Christianity is the problem of evil: If a good and loving God exists, why is there evil (i.e. the Holocaust and the terror attacks of 9/11), why is there wide-spread suffering in the world (i.e. AIDS in Africa, Avian flu in Asia) and why does God allow natural disasters (i.e. hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes) to happen? There are several conclusions most people draw from this dilemma (often called theodicy): 1) Either God is not good because if He was He would surely not allow evil to exist or 2) He's not powerful enough to stop evil and suffering or 3) He's actually the cause of evil. No matter how you look at it, this seems to be the Achilles heel for Christians. Atheists often challenge Christians with the argument (ignoring the great, in fact, overwhelming amount of evil that has been done in the name of Atheism in the 20^th century alone). Either God is not good or not powerful enough to stop evil therefore He doesn't exist. After all, who would want to worship a god who is petty, unjust, malevolent, vindictive and fickle?


Usually there is something bad that happens in someone's life– and while they may ask you in the form of an intellectual question – there is usually real pain and hurt in their life. This may take some probing on your part, but the question they have put to you in academic terms, may be very personal – perhaps their dad just died of cancer. In fact, sometimes un-believers ask this question to see if Christians really do care.


Of course Christians care – having been freed from sin and death, we are free to serve the neighbor in mercy and compassion. But, how would you respond? No doubt, this is a complicated answer.


The answers that some Christians have given are hardly adequate (or faithful to Scripture either): 1) God is punishing you for your sin. This is what Gerry Falwell said when New Orleans was hit by Katrina because they were such horrendous sinners or when Haiti was struck by the earthquake because they had made a pact with the devil. What did Jesus say when the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people: "were these Galileans worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2-3).


Or how about this one: 2) God is doing this to teach you a lesson. As if God was the author of evil sitting in heaven planning things to trip you up throughout your life in order to train you like a drill sergeant at boot camp.


3) Perhaps you've been suffering because you haven't been praying enough; maybe you just need to have more faith. This is one of the most damaging, not to mention un-biblical, answers given.





Before moving on to provide a brief answer, first we must dispute a logical problem with the argument made by unbelievers, namely, the existence of evil disproves the existence of God. As Lawyer and Christian apologist, Craig Parton writes:

"Without an absolute moral standard (which the analytical philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein established is not possible without a transcendent source), one cannot speak of 'evil' save in a totally relative or culturally conditioned manner. In short, one must presuppose an absolute standard to even employ the word 'evil' in a comprehensible fashion. However, an absolute standard of morality is impossible unless God exists. If there is no God, both good and evil are strictly relative concepts and by-products of cultural conditions and sociological-political-psychological factors. If God does not exist, there is no 'problem of evil.' What is, is and no more can be said."

The fact that there is objectively moral evil in this world does not disprove Christianity's truthfulness. In fact, Christianity has the best explanation for the entrance of evil into the universe – namely, that evil originated in the acts of the creature, not the Creator. "Evil entered the human condition as a result of a completely free moral choice by the creature to do his own will in direct contradiction to the edict of God Almighty. The result was eternal separation from God, as well as suffering and death in this life [Genesis3]. Sin is irrational, however, and does not obey nice, clean rules of cause and effect (i.e. you get what you deserve)."





Such deadly consequences have led many to wonder, "How long, O Lord, until Your return? Why don't You return now and put an end to suffering in this life?" It is precisely for the sake of the Gospel that God puts up with (allows) evil in this world. Consider the words of St. Peter: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9) for God desires that all men would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). God is long-suffering for the sake of those who have yet to hear the Gospel. And in this way, God's justice serves His mercy.


Thankfully, the Biblical account does not end with man's separation from God on account of sin. God did not sit back and hope we, as fallen human beings, could make the best of a world gone terribly wrong. In Jesus Christ, death – the wages of sin and evil – is conquered and destroyed forever. In reality, the problem of evil is not a problem for Christianity; Christianity is the best (and only) solution to the problem of evil.

"Contrary to the attitude of benign resignation in eastern religions towards evil (the concept of karma and the essential unity of good and evil emasculate any real ability to aggressively counter the cause and effects of human evil and suffering), Christianity speaks of human depravity being so real and dreadful that it required the entrance into grainy human history by the sinless Son of God in order to make atonement. Thus not only is evil condemned, but God Himself takes on the consequences of that evil in His very body."

God knows and understands exactly what we suffer with here on earth. Jesus knew what it meant to suffer; He was unjustly treated, He bore the evil consequences of sinful men, innocently, unto death. Furthermore, Christ has promised to return and upon that return there will be no more weeping, no more tears, no more pain or death. Yes, in the mean time we live between the cross and the consummation of Christ's return. We don't know how long the negative consequences of our sin will be allowed to endure until Christ returns. But we wait with confidence in Christ on the basis of what He has done for us – His death and resurrection – and has promised – His return. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).


Not only does Christianity understand the true nature of evil, but the true solution. Central to the Christian claim is the fact that evil is so serious that God sent His only Son into the world, not to die for perfectly, deserving, worthy people but for sinners. We have confidence in this regard because God has made the most amazing efforts to help our situation even though He was not in any way obligated to do so.

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).