Pentecost 10—July 20th, 2008

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

The text is the Gospel lesson for today.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
This weather reminds me of the shortest sermon ever recorded: “It’s
hot outside, but it is hotter in hell.”
A little lacking on Gospel, don’t you think?
This weather also reminds me of working in hayfields as a boy
growing up in Wisconsin. Part of the process included picking mustard
prior to baling. Not the kind of mustard that you put on your brats, but
rather the kind that grew like weeds in the fields. Every good farmer
would spend time out in their fields pulling the bright yellow shoots
before they went to seed and pollinated the rest of his fields. Like
picking rocks, it was a thankless, boring, and back-breaking job. But if
you wanted good hay, it had to be done.
Jesus is speaking of something similar in the lesson for today. It is a
follow-up on the parable we heard last week. In it He directs our
attention not only to His Second Coming, and to the eternal punishment
of unbelievers, but to the very people of whom the church is comprised.
Contrary to what many might think, the church is not made up of
people with flawless faith, unlimited knowledge, or who merit a life-time
achievement award for their work in the kingdom. Rather it is contains
people who are both saints and sinners. Or, to use the language of
Jesus, both Wheat and Weeds.
Some might shudder to think that there are actually people in the
church who are sinful. And when that sin becomes evident, be it that of

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pastor or people, there are those who become offended and turn away—
just as they turned away from Jesus when they discovered that he ate
and associated with sinners. It is essential to remember, dear friends,
the words of St. Paul—“Jesus Christ came to save sinners—of whom I
am the worst.” Note, he said, “I”, not you.
But let us return to the parable. Jesus is not here describing seeds
—It’s not called the Parable of the Seeds—but rather weeds—that’s
why it’s called the parable of the Tares. The name of the weed depicted
is “darnell”—a weed that closely resembled wheat. In fact, it was SO
similar that it was almost impossible to distinguish from wheat—at least
until the wheat ripened. If you were a farmer at the time of Jesus and
you had a neighbor who didn’t like you, they might actually do what
Jesus is describing—namely sow darnell weeds in your wheatfield so
that your crop would be contaminated and the price you received for it
would be severely diminished. This was such an insidious—and
common--act that the Romans had a law against doing this very thing.
But we don’t live at the time of Jesus, and few, if any of us are
farmers. So what meaning does this parable have for us today? In fact,
many—but we will focus on this: There are weeds growing in the
church.
Yes, the church is a holy place—which is why we call it a
sanctuary. But the church that is doing God’s work will be targeted by
Satan. He will try to infiltrate the church, sabatoge it, and sow spiritual
darnell weeds, such as discord among the members, in order to ruin the
crop of righteousness which Christ has planted. He will hamper the
seeds of faith planted by the Holy Spirit by taking the focus off of the
Gospel and placing it somewhere else. We must be aware that Satan, the

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old enemy of God, is constantly at work, not only in the world, but right
here in Christ’s Church.
While Christ is sowing seeds of salvation, the devil is
simultaneously sowing weeds in desperation. We might accurately say
that these weeds fall into two categories:
The first consists of those who appear to be Christians, but really
aren’t. Yes, they come to church regularly, they are members of the
local congregation, they are involved and serve in various ways. For all
intents and purposes they are close to the Lord. But the truth is their
hearts are far from Him. They might look like Christians, talk like
Christians, dress like Christians. They might even live better lives on
the outside than do Christians—they don’t smoke or drink or swear.
They give the impression that they know the Bible frontwards and
backwards—but unfortunately due to a lack of faith in Christ Jesus,
they are not known by Him. They continue to peacefully coexist with
Christians during their time on earth, but on judgment day, when the
final roll is called, their name will not be on the list. For like the
Pharisees, they are trusting in their own merits, their own acts of
righteousness, rather than the righteous merit of Christ. And therefore
the only reward that awaits them is that described in vs. 50—“the
angels shall cast them into the furnace of fire where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.”
Could this be describing you? Are you a weed among the wheat?
Are you concerned more about how you appear to others, than with
preparing to appear before Christ on the Last Day? Does your faith
rest in your wealth, your health, or yourself instead of Jesus? If so, then
repent of this sin so that Christ might replant His seed of salvation and

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the Holy Spirit might water it, and the hard, rocky ground of your heart
might become fertile with faith.
The second category of weeds are all those that grow in the
garden of the righteous. No Christian is perfect--we have both weeds
and wheat growing in our gardens. Some of the weeds are obvious—
and have names like “greed”, “avarice”, “pride”, or “lust”. But others,
like the darnell seed, are far more difficult to spot. In chapter 12 of St.
Matthew’s Gospel Jesus addresses three such sins.
The first, is that of self-righteousness; the second is placing faith
in miraculous signs rather than in God’s Word; and the third is defining
the church in worldly terms.
If you recall, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were
waiting for Him. Evidently His followers thought that the earthly
connections took precedence over the heavenly ones. This is a natural—
and sinful—way of thinking. Someone once told me the reason why
they attended their church is because that’s where their friends went.
Now, while it’s not bad to have friends in the church—we dare never
believe that the church is defined by friendship, nor is it a fraternity,
nor is it dependant upon our earthly family. Those are weeds that look
similar to the wheat. Jesus describes the church as a fellowship— a
koinonia not a club—that is defined not by earthly connotations, but
rather by Christ’s salvation! Through baptism we are members of a
greater family than the one we belong to on earth. This means that
Trevor and Tatum are now related to US! Their relation with God as
their Father and Jesus as their brother is stronger than any they will
have with earthly parents or siblings. The same can be said about
communion. For here we share a table that is more intimate than the

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one we gather around for our Sunday dinner. By grace we are united in
a bond that is stronger than any we share on earth. It is a bond forged
and formed in the death of Jesus Christ our Lord, who gave His life for
us, so that we might have eternal life in Him. So that on the last day, we
will be assured that we will NOT be thrown into the fire, but rather will
abide by the cool streams of the Heavenly Jerusalem, rejoicing eternally
in this gracious gift in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
Amen.