Story of Weedy Fields Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

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1 Story of Weedy Fields Matthew 13:24-30, Rev. John Dilworth October 18, 2015

2 Matthew 13:24-30 (NIV) The Parable of the Weeds Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this, he replied. The servants asked him, Do you want us to go and pull them up? No, he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. Matthew 13:36-43 (NIV) The Parable of the Weeds Explained Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field. He answered, The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

3 Story of Weedy Fields Matthew 13:24-30, Rev. John Dilworth October 18, 2015 Introduction: Segway boards are the latest invention to get us moving. I know this is not appropriate for pastors to be demonstrating the latest technological advancements in movement, but it s fun. There are three things you must learn to master on these hover boards. First and foremost is faith. It takes tremendous faith to step on to and stay on these wobbly, crazy balancing machines that actually have two motors in them. Then the second thing you must master is the beginning. You have to get on them. Let me show you it is possible. (John demonstrates) The last thing you must master is the end, the dismount. If you are like me, it may not be so graceful. But from beginning to end, it can be fun, but scary. It takes a lot of faith. You are all wondering, now why would John be playing around on a new technological machine, when he is supposed to be preaching; because there is an illustration in all of this playing around on the Segway board. Jesus calls us to faith, doesn t he? He calls us to believe in him and to trust our whole lives to him. When we step into a relationship with Jesus, the risen, living Savior, we are stepping into a life of utter faith and trust. We will feel wobbly at times, like we are about to fall off, but graciously, we have Jesus beside us holding us up. The beginning of this journey with Jesus is important and so is the end. There is a moment of dismount, of stepping off. Today we continue our study of Jesus parables from the gospel of Matthew. The other writers of Jesus life told some of the parables of Jesus, but Matthew told many. The reason is because Matthew is called the teaching gospel. Matthew had more of the teaching of Jesus than any of the others. As I read in our passage for this morning, Jesus teaching to the crowds who flocked after him was almost exclusively in parables. Jesus created these little stories that contained the great truths of God and his kingdom, but also conceal them from the crowds.

4 As Jesus said in our passage, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world. And they remained hidden to people until they had the key that unlocked the meaning of Jesus stories. No secret what the key is. The key to understanding the parables of God and his kingdom is faith in Jesus, for the parables are about him. We must come to believe in Jesus and suddenly we are given new eyes to see with, to see the hidden truth within the parables. Two times in the more than 50 parables that we have in the gospels, Jesus does help us. He tells us what the meaning is. Today we look at one of the parables that Jesus interprets for us. He gives us the hidden meaning of it. What we learn is that there are good seed and bad seed, there is a beginning and a dismount, but the critical issue is faith, and we must let the weeds grow. Good Seed That Grows Three of Jesus first four parables in Matthew involve seeds that grow. This should not be surprising; agriculture was such a dominant part of the society in Jesus day. Most people had a little plot of land. They would throw seed into the ground and things would grow. They were all familiar with the nature of seeds and growing plants. For me, it still is one of the wonders of life that from a small, hard, dead looking piece of matter, you can get towering trees and food-producing plants. This is actually the point of Jesus third parable, the parable of the mustard seed. He says, here you have one of the smallest of seeds, and the mustard seed was, and yet it produces this huge plant. In Jesus day, the mustard plant could reach 12 feet high. Today, I think Jesus would have used the Redwood seed and tree. From this tiny seed, we get these towering trees called Redwoods. From something so small can come something so great. In all Jesus seed parables, he is stressing that the kingdom of God is like that. By its very nature, it grows. It may start quite small, in fact, invisible, like a seed in the ground, but in time, it will become visible and even fruitful so that it will be a blessing to all of those around. So in the parable today, Jesus says, a man sowed good seed in his field and they

5 sprouted and formed heads, full of wheat kernels which people could eat. Let me reiterate that when Jesus tells parable, he is speaking of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, as the phrase is here. The kingdom of heaven, remember, is both a place, but also a person. The place is the spiritual realm that we cannot see. It is invisible to the human eye, but it becomes visible to the eye of faith. Jesus, in John s gospel, is quoted as saying, one must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God and enter the kingdom of God. There is this spiritual reality that we can enter into and know God. The kingdom of God is also a person, the central person of the kingdom, and that is Jesus. He is the reigning king in the kingdom of God. When anyone hears the word, the message of God s Kingdom, it is like a seed planted in their hearts. If they accept it as true and believe it, they enter into a relationship with Jesus. He comes and, through the Holy Spirit, enters into our lives and begins to reign. The empowering presence of Jesus, like a seed in the soul, begins to grow and change us. He grows us into humble, loving, peaceful, compassionate people like himself. He is able to because he lives in us. To step into the life of faith in Jesus is the beginning of a great adventure that changes one dramatically in time. I had the opportunity to visit Carlos and Olga in their home in Siqueros about ten years ago. While I was there, I met another pastor named Julio. One day, as we ate his wife s tamales, he told me his story. Just seven years before, Julio was an adulterer. That is how he described himself. He had a little business in the town of El Robles, which is about 5 kilometers from Siqueros, where Olga and Carlos lived. He was married; they had three children, and a very nice house. But his wife finally had enough of Julio s wandering ways so she packed up the house, took all their stuff and left. She moved to another town. Julio said he was devastated. He went to a pastor in the town and asked him to fix things with his wife. This pastor was wise, though. He knew the one who needed to be fixed was Julio. This pastor told Julio about Jesus and Julio responded and repented of his sins. The good seed of the message of the kingdom of God fell into Julio s heart and he believed. He went and told his wife he was a changed

6 man. She said, Right! She wanted nothing to do with him at first. But Julio was persistent. (I got to hear this from her perspective too.) Eventually she did move back, but she no longer trusted him, although she could see that he had changed. For months she refused to go to church with him. She had this deep anger and resentment towards him for all the pain and hurt that he had caused. She eventually did begin to go to church and one night, as they were singing, his wife told me the Holy Spirit came upon her and she felt the joy of Christ replace all the anger she had. She was finally able to forgive Julio. It is amazing what happened next. Julio went back to school. He studied at a Bible school in Mazatlán for three years. He became a pastor. He now pastors a church in his home town of El Roble. He has also helped start churches in other towns. His wife has a gorgeous voice and she helps lead singing in the church. Do you see, though? The good seed of the kingdom of God fell into a soul and it began to grow. In fact, you can t stop it from growing. It is so powerful. It changes people, transforms them from adulterers into faithful husbands, and from bitter, anger-filled wives, into forgiving, loving partners again. Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. That sower is Jesus. That seed is his reign in our lives. Bad Weeds That Suddenly Appear Here is the problem, though. In any field, you are going to have weeds. In fact, one of the main points of this parable is that along with good seed growing, you have weeds that show up. In fact, it is while everyone is sleeping, the weeds suddenly, mysteriously appear. In the morning, the servants of the farmer come and say, Sir, didn t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? Thankfully, Jesus interpreted this parable for us. Because I think it would have been difficult to understand the weeds on our own. Jesus said, An enemy did this. Then when he interpreted the parable, he said that enemy was the devil. We don t talk much of the devil these days, even as believers. The reason is, it feels so medieval. It is not intellectually acceptable in our

7 modern digital age to believe in some evil spirit running around trying to tempt people and keep them doing deeds of darkness. Yet we have a holiday coming up soon, which to be honest, gives him air time. We also have plenty of laugh lines about the devil. Like the one when two brothers were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a lesson on the devil. One said to the other, What do you think about all this Satan stuff? The other brother replied, Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It's probably just dad. Listen, to Jesus, the devil was not a laughing matter. Did you realize, with the appearing of Jesus, suddenly the one called the devil or Satan, is a key character, opposing Jesus throughout his life? Not only that, Jesus taught about him. Jesus teaching not only revealed the one true God, but also it pulled back the curtain between this world and the invisible spiritual realm. It revealed this spiritual adversary who opposed Jesus and who opposes all who would follow him. As C.S. Lewis said so well, There are two equal and opposite errors into which we can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. What Jesus reveals to us in this parable is that this spiritual enemy, the devil, is also a seed planter in the souls of people. Only they are bad seeds that produce children of the evil one. It is hard to understand how this happens. Jesus doesn t tell us here, although later, he will tell us the devil is a liar and the Father of lies. What he does tell us in this parable is that the planting of these bad seeds in human souls is going on among the good seed. In fact, so close that to try and uproot the bad seed now could uproot and destroy the good seed. He says let them be until the end of the age. Jesus is speaking of the world we live in. There are good seed and bad seed growing right next to each other, perhaps even in some churches, as some Biblical scholars interpret this. But surely in our neighborhoods and cities, in our social circles and even in our families, there are those who have rejected the message of Jesus and chose to believe and follow other paths. Some of you may have heard this, but Portland, Oregon is in the news. One of the latest studies done this year on religion in America, put out by the Public Religion Research Institute, found that Portland, Oregon is the most un-religious city in America, #1. As one reporter declared, A whopping 42

8 percent of the population (of Portland) identifies as religiously unaffiliated. That is almost 10% higher than the next city which is Seattle, at 33%. This means we have a great opportunity here. Because, I believe one of the reasons Jesus says to not uproot the bad weeds that have sprouted in the field, is because those weeds still have time to become wheat. Wheat can cross-pollinate and make a change work in those weeds. I have been reading a fascinating biography. It was on the African explorer, David Livingstone. He was from England. He got advanced degrees in both theology and medicine and then chose to go to the Dark Continent, as Africa was called in the 19 th century, in order to share the light of Jesus and care for the needs of the people. Livingstone was the first person to cross the continent of Africa and wherever he went, he preached the good news of Jesus and brought healing to the people. He spent over 20 years in Africa, until his death of malaria. By the way, the reason Africa was called the Dark Continent was because there was little presence of the church on the entire continent. But David Livingstone s story made world news and, literally, hundreds of Christian missionaries followed him, including my Dad s brother. Today, there are more Christians on the continent of Africa, than any other continent in the world. Do you know why Livingstone s life made such an impact? Do you remember his famous meeting with the reporter and explorer, Henry Morton Stanley? Stanley went looking for Livingstone in Africa because he was a living legend even before his death. Recall Stanley s famous words when he found him, Dr. Livingstone, I presume? Stanley spent 40 days with Livingstone, 40 days that changed his life. In Stanley s words, I was, the biggest atheist in London, when I went to find him. But when he did find him, he found himself listening as Livingstone preached the Scriptures and observing his character. Then, in his words, Stanley writes, Little by little, his sympathy for others became contagious, mine was awakened, seeing his faith, his gentleness, zeal, his earnestness and how quietly he went about his business. I was converted by him, though he had not tried to do it. Isn t that fascinating? A bad weed got planted near a good stalk of wheat and he was changed. Livingstone cross-pollinated and Stanley came to believe and follow Jesus. We are in a great field here in Portland. We

9 have been planted here, right next to some weeds, so that we can crosspollinate, so by our lives and our words, we can be used to make more wheat in the field. Never, never underestimate what the Lord can use you to do. He has planted you here for a purpose. Coming Judgement Now comes the frightening part of this parable. One day, we are all going to face the judgement of God. This judgement is final. We either pass this exam or we fail forever. Jesus, in the parable, says we are either going to be burned or we are going to be brought into his barn. In his interpretation, he says we are either going to be thrown into the fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth or we are going to shine like the sun in the kingdom of our God and Father. Those are the only two possibilities, heaven or hell. This day of judgement is like the devil, most people don t believe in it today. It too has become the object of jest and humor. Go on the internet and there are hundreds of comics and cartoons about the day of judgement. Like this man, an atheist, not understanding why atheists would be excluded. He says, I just don t believe it. Which is the point, we are called to believe. I confess it is hard for me to talk about the fires of hell, the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. We just don t talk about this today. We want to believe that God is all grace and love and in the end, all will be saved and go to heaven. Yet, do we realize that Jesus spoke of this more than any other person in the New Testament? I counted in Matthew, alone, seven of Jesus parables speak of the coming judgement, and the images are frightening; fires of hell, outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, eternal punishment. I wish it were different. I can tell you, though, for a pastor, what a difference it is to do a funeral for someone who believes verses someone who does not. How do you comfort a family when the deceased, all their life, never professed any faith? Yet, what a joy it is when the person believed and followed Jesus all their life. We are doing a small, intimate family service for Ruth Sundby this

10 week. That is what she wanted, her daughter told me. But I want to share with you what happened the last time I was with Ruth. It was a week ago Thursday. She was failing, so I stopped by to see her. Despite her physical discomfort and pain, she was her sunny, cheerful self. We talked about her faith. She had always believed. Her mothe,r a devout woman of faith, had passed on that faith to Ruth. She was a member of this church for over 50 years. But then Ruth told me something that had happened to her. The doctor, a few days before, had told her there was nothing they could do for her. She was dying. Ruth said a short time later she had this experience: Jesus came to her and was speaking to her near her right ear. Then suddenly, she said, she felt herself pass over, into heaven. She said it was so beautiful and so wonderful. This is not the first time a dying person has told me of having this kind of experience. Then she said, I fell asleep and when I awoke, I was still here and I was so disappointed. We prayed together and then about 36 hours later, Ruth did pass over. What a joyous moment that was for Ruth. She is definitely shining like the sun in the kingdom because she was a Sundby and also a true follower of Jesus. God is gracious. He gives us, in our lives, time to decide, time to hear the word of His kingdom, time to accept the seed of the truth of Jesus in our hearts, time to grow in faith and obedience, but then...like my opening ride, there is time we must step off this world. The dismount is critical. We must be ready. We are all going to die. Faith in Jesus is the key. We must trust in him for he brings us into the kingdom of his Father now, and one day, for all eternity. Jesus ended with these words, They who have ears to hear, let them hear.