Weeds among the Wheat

Reading: Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43
Many of us remember the wooden school desks with an ink well for each child. And those copy books - we had to copy the perfectly formed letters at the top of the page onto the lines below. The angle and formation of the letters had to be just right. The teacher would go over our work in red where we had strayed from the proper shape. Learning to use pen and ink added other hazards - getting just the right amount of ink, remembering to use the blotter regularly, avoiding ink spots… But, try as we might, it was all too possible for an otherwise perfect page to be spoilt by an ink spot. The problem - a combination of our technique and, possibly, imperfect materials. And as we graduated to using fountain pens, the ink spot problem was largely eliminated, though the writing style often became far less than copy book!

Today, there is a different problem. The child striving for a perfect page - carefully decorated by coloured pencil or felt pen - may have trouble with a jealous neighbour who applies a few quick strokes of a felt pen when the head is turned. The teacher hears the complaint, "It's not fair, Miss! Look what he has done to my work!"

And what we learnt as children we discover as a lifetime problem. So often, in spite of our best intentions, things don't quite go as planned. Sometimes it is an unforeseen quirk of our situation - something has happened that could not possibly have been planned for. Often the problem is in us - in our personality, our attitudes, our human imperfection… Occasionally, we may discover or suspect that someone is working against us. Some people, of course, never take any responsibility for the things that go wrong - they are quite sure that someone is against them.

The Sower and the Weeds

Last week we were thinking about the parable of the Sower - the same sower, the same good seed, the same potential for a harvest. It has been suggested that it should be called the parable of the soils because the difference was the soil. Each grain had the potential for a good crop! The purpose of the sower was a good crop from each grain - at least thirty times as much, possibly sixty, preferably a hundred! By his unlikely reference to what no good farmer would do, Jesus was emphasising that each person - however unlikely! - is given a chance to respond to the Word of God. The Word of God has the same potential within each of us to enable us to grow and mature and to be vital Christians in this world. It is only in our response to the Word that we come to be compared with the pathway, the rocky ground, the thorny patch, the good soil.

But Jesus didn't try to give the whole picture in each story he told. Each story was aimed at conveying one main point. In the parable of the sower the key question has to do with our readiness to respond to the Word. Sowing and harvest can go terribly wrong if the soil is not properly prepared.

Today's parable reminds us that there is another reason why things go wrong. There is an Enemy! We have to be careful to accept responsibility for our response to the Word of God. Don't use the Enemy as an easy way out when things don't go as they should. Whatever has happened "behind the scenes," whatever may explain the reason for a pathway, rocky or thorny response, each of us is still responsible for our lives - don't blame the Devil! In other words, while we are thinking about the parable of the weeds, keep the parable of the sower in mind.

All those Weeds!

There are, in fact, some important differences in this parable. It follows the parable of the sower, but makes some different points. From Jesus' explanation, we learn that "The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man (Jesus); the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels" (vv.37-39).

The word translated "weeds" refers to a kind of grass that looks the same as wheat until the seed heads are ready for harvest. Jesus is telling us that there will be people who seem to be part of the Kingdom yet really belong to the Evil One.

There are, of course, people in the life of the church who hold mistaken ideas or have personality weaknesses or an argumentative spirit or who lack enthusiasm or motivation for the Lord's work. Now at various points that could be any one of us! But it is not a question of whether we are yet perfect, but whether we trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.

Sometimes in church meetings there will be a person who seems to be so negative - every proposal to reach out to others with the Gospel is met with the proverbial "wet blanket," with all the reasons why it can't be done, why we don't have the resources, why we are totally unprepared, why it is inappropriate at this time… A weed in the wheat? There are times when I have been tempted to think so! God means us to go forward and here is someone who seems totally intent on holding us back - not just exercising needed caution about this particular proposal but opposing every proposal. But the Lord knows that person's heart. He knows whether that person is trusting him for salvation. It is not for us to make that judgement, though it may be necessary to remove that person from an obstructing position.

"Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?" they asked him. "No," he answered, "because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them" (vv.28b,29).

So do you think the church is fairly "weedy"? If you incline to that critical mode, take a mirror! But seriously, you won't find the perfect church by seeking elsewhere! Some people are real "church-hoppers". But sooner or later they discover that their new church has weeds in it too - Jesus told us it would be so! Our trust is not to be placed in the church of the Lord, but in the Lord of the church.

Jesus is also telling us that there will a final harvest and a judgement day. That will be at the end of the age and the harvest workers will be the angels. That will be the point where the weeds will be separated from the wheat and burned in the fire. "Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom" (v.43) - the church at last made perfect.

So What does This Say about Us?

So what does this say about us? Put your trust in Jesus as your Saviour and Lord and take your place regularly among his people. Commit yourself to those activities that will enable you to grow - read the Bible, pray, be part of a home group, form a prayer cell, read some Christian biography… Respond to God like the good soil in the parable of the sower.

And pray for the church. It is so easy to get deflected from our Lord's priorities. Jesus said, "I will build my church and not even death will ever be able to overcome it" (Matthew 16.18) - "the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (KJV). Even among the twelve there was a Judas - and Jesus grieved over him. In his prayer for his disciples, we hear him praying, "I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One" (John 17.15).

There are many things we can criticise about the church - it is so imperfect. Yet we do well to remember that "Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word… in order to present [it] to himself in all its beauty - pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection" (Ephesians 5.25b-27).

There is an Enemy, the Devil. There are weeds among the wheat, but the time of harvest and judgement will come. The Lord of the Church is calling us all to go forward together with him!

© Peter J. Blackburn, Buderim Uniting Church, 2 November 1996
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Good News Bible, © American Bible Society, 1992.

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