Title: Living with Weeds
Text: Matthew 1`3:24-30 and 36-43
Thesis: We co-exist with evil in the world because God is the only one who rightly judges people… God alone sees all of a person’s life. And besides, who knows….?
Introduction
Weeds is a made for television comedy whose central character is Nancy Botwin. Nancy Botwin is a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies. Over the course of the show she and her family become more and more entangled in illegal activities on an escalating scale. The family moves from the LA metro area to beachside San Diego/Tijuana to Seattle, WA and Dearborn, MI. In between seasons six and seven Nancy serves a prison sentence in Danbury Prison in Connecticut while her sons live in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It is a twisted and convoluted story whose title may be code for marijuana but probably more likely refers to the characters who, like weeds, are hardy plants struggling to survive. In Weeds the “weeds” have a moral code that is generally against the norms of society. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeds_(TV_series)
We live in a world of “Weeds.”
When I was growing up in Iowa we did not have a television but we did have weeds.
We had the dreaded Canadian Thistle, Ragweed, the cocklebur, wild sunflowers, burdocks and shattercane weeds to name a few. Weeds were the enemy. We hoed them. We pulled them. We chopped them. We sprayed them. We cultivated, under-cut, rod-weeded and disked them. Weeds are a threat to every crop grower because weeds tend to overgrow and can choke out more desirable plants. And I don’t care how deceptively pretty a flowering Canadian Thistle may appear, it left unchecked it will take over a pasture.
Over the years I have come to understand that if a plant is growing where it is not supposed to be growing, it is a weed. A beautiful stalk of corn growing in the middle of a soybean field is a weed. So the human instinct being the desire to be rid of weeds… a farmer will walk an entire bean filed to chop out perfectly good stalks of corn that have sprung up – and not without good reason. Sometimes in crop rotations a field may be planted to corn one year and then the following year may be planted to beans. If the harvester missed an ear of corn and it is tilled into the soil it may sprout and grow the following year as corn plants out of place in a soy bean field.
Jack Dekker is an agronomist with Iowa State University who has written and interesting book, The Evolution and Ecology of Weeds. In the unit about the nature of weeds he wrote, “Weeds are defined as a plant out of place, thriving in habitats disturbed by humans, possessing competitive behavior, and capable of mass movement from one area to another.” (Jack Dekker, Evolutionary Ecology of Weeds, P. 14)
Weeds are the enemy. Remember that as part of the curse following the fall of Adam and Eve was that the ground would be cursed and it would produce thorns and thistles. Genesis 3:18
In our story today someone has deliberately sowed weed seed in a field newly sown with wheat seed. The point of the story is that God has sown the good seed in the world and the enemy, the devil, has sown weed seed or bad seed in the world. So we have the image of God walking back and forth across the earth scattering good people and good influences and then that night the devil walks back and forth across the same earth scattering bad people and bad influences so that the good and the bad sprout up and grow in the same field.
So here are the questions, given the reality that the devil has sown evil among the good that God has sown:
1. Do we co-exist with evil?
2. How do we co-exist with evil?
3. Why should we co-exist with evil?
Our text begins by instructing us to understand that God’s intent is for good and godly people to flourish and be of influence in the world.
I. God’s intent for the world is good.
Jesus told them this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.” Matthew 13:24
Jesus explains, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom.” Matthew 13:37-38 The good seed then stands for Christians or the followers of Christ or the children of God or believers.
The seed the sower sowed was what we call Certified Seed. It was clean wheat. There was no foreign material or plant trash or weed seed mixed in with the wheat seed. God does not sow anything but good. Good intentions. Good people. Good influences.
However, it is apparent that good is not the only reality in our world. There is also the presence of not so good and even evil which Jesus says is what the devil sows.
II. An evil power with evil influences also exists in the real world.
“But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” Matthew 13:25
Evil exists in the world.
The Allstate commercials warn television viewers that mayhem is coming. As a key scratches across a car door the voice says “I am the key against your door… mayhem is coming..: The voice says, “I am a wild deer along the roadside about to jump out in front of your car… mayhem is coming.” Then Dennis Haybert who plays Jonas Blane on The Unit speaks and says, “Dollar for dollar, nobody protects you from mayhem like Allstate.”
Mayhem is an evil and unexpected presence that is actively set upon wreaking havoc in our lives just as do auto accidents and flooded basements.
Jesus explained, “The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.” Matthew 13:38-39 The weeds then are those who are not followers of Christ. They are not Christians. They are unbelievers.
In the telling of the parable, the word used to describe the weed seed is tares. That seed is thought to refer to the seed of the bearded darnel. Early on the bearded darnel plant is virtually indistinguishable from the wheat plant. This is an important point in this parable. This is an important detail and makes the point that appearances can be deceptive.
There are many things that look alike but are different. In the parable Jesus told the wheat and the weeds looked very much alike for a long time.
A. Appearances can be deceptive… sometimes it is hard to distinguish between good and evil.
B. Appearances can also be discernable… but eventually the contrast between good and evil become evident just as Jesus said, “When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.” Matthew 13:26
The first question was:
1. Do we co-exist with evil? The answer is yes! In Jesus’ parable there are:
Two sowers – God and the devil.
Two seeds – good and evil.
Two kinds of people – Christians and non-Christians
Two kingdoms – the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the world (kingdom of light and of darkness).
But only One field!
In the same field or in the world or on planet Earth, the good and godly exist alongside the evil and ungodly.
The Red Cross exists alongside scammer charities. Family Christian Book Store and porn shops operate in the same community. The tire shop on one corner gives senior citizens special considerations and the one on the other corner rips them off. A loving father takes his children to the park to play and the pedophile goes to the park to watch children play. A good policeman goes by the book while the rogue cop does not. Next door neighbors… one is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and the other believes things of faith are a crock.
As we become increasingly aware of this dichotomy existing in our world what do we do?
How should the interests of good respond when they realize there are evil weeds growing among the good wheat?
III. The first inclination of good is to root out the evil in its presence.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’’ And enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants then asked the owner of the field, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them (the evil weeds) up?’” Matthew 13:27-28
One evening this week I was watching the television promotional ad for the film “Cowboys and Aliens” that will be released at the end of the month. I am not a great sci-fi reader or watcher but I do like a good western flick because almost always the plot is about the tension between good and evil and usually the good cowboy wins and the bad cowboy looses.
This story is set in 1873 in the desert town of Absolution somewhere in the Arizona Territory desert. In the story Harrison Ford teams up with Daniel Craig to defeat alien marauders from the sky. The story synopsis states, “United against their enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.” (http://insidepulse.com/2011/07/14/brand-new-cowboys-aliens-film - clip- released/)
The first inclination of good is to root out the evil that threatens their way of life. But is rooting out evil always the best thing to do? So here are the questions, given the reality that the devil has sown evil among the good that God has sown.
The second question is:
2. How do we co-exist with evil?
Do we co-exist with evil or is it the job of the Christian to take matters in hand and root out evil? Certainly that is the way it works in the world. When a Saddam Husseins exists, we root them out of their hidey-holes. When an Osama bin Laden exists we send in the Navy Seals to eradicate him. Our laws and judicial system root out drug dealers and murderers and sex offenders and abusers and perjurers and thieves and speeders and racketeers and scammers and so on. But is it the job of the Christian to take it upon himself or herself to root out the weeds growing about?
Is it the job of the Christian to hunt down and shoot abortion doctors and to root out homosexuals and pornographers and the Bernie Madoffs and corporate crooks and brokers and investment schemers and politicians and judges too far to the left or to the right?
One evening a drunken man staggered up the aisle and sat next to a woman who was clutching her bible. She looked the wayward drunk up and down with an air of disapproval and then she said, “I’ve got news for you buster. You are gong straight to hell!” At that the man jumped to his feet and shouted, “Driver, I’m on the wrong bus again!” (Keith Todd. www.sermonfodder.com)
Is it the job of the Christian to purge the neighborhood of suspect or unsavory people? Is it the job of the Christian to bring down businesses not of our liking? Is it the role of the Christian to banish the drunken man to hell?
However, our human inclinations, no matter how well intended, do not necessarily reflect the will or ways of God.
IV. Prudence lets good wheat and evil weeds co-exist until harvest time.
“The owner answered, ‘No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let them 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 them into my barn.’” Matthew 13:29-30
Jesus explained this part of the story saying, “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in fire, so will be the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And they will be thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:39-43
The decision to delay removing the weeds from among the wheat is to prevent damage to the wheat because the root systems of the two plants may have become intertwined and pulling up a bearded darnel plant would likely result in the uprooting of a wheat plant as well.
Jesus said that maybe the best thing to do is let the weeds be and concentrate on being the best possible wheat we can be. Jesus said maybe the best thing we can do is concentrate of being the light of the world and the doers of good deeds of the world so that our light and our good deeds out shine the influences of darkness and our good deeds out do and overcome the effects of evil.
And why does Jesus say this? He says it because we can do more damage than good when we get out the hoe and the machete. Because the lives of people are intertwined just like the roots of the good wheat and the bad weeds are intertwined, Jesus says, “Let them grow together until harvest time.” In our attempts to root out evil we are likely to hurt and uproot good and innocent people as well.
Over the years I have been an avid and aggressive weeder. I have never allowed a weed to flourish in my gardens… my hoes are very well-worn. But I have to confess that there have been times that in my zeal to chop out a weed, I chopped out a good plant that was growing alongside it.
We co-exist with evil in the world because our efforts to root our evil and evil people can do more damage than good.
The third question is:
3. Why should we co-exist with evil?
I have already given one good reason that being that our attempts to uproot evil can result in the uprooting of good intentions and good lives and influences as well.
But another reason is simply this. The existence of the influence of weeds is bad enough without our exacerbating the situation by making the damage even greater. The idea is that two wrongs never make a right. So rather than take the on the role of moral police and hacker-outer of evil or crusader or moral police, Jesus suggests that maybe it is best to leave judgment in God’s hands. Maybe it is best to leave the separating of the weeds from the wheat in God’s hands.
And if we truly believe the teaching of Jesus to be true the day will come when, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:41-43
We co-exist with evil in the world because God is the only one who rightly judge people… God alone sees all of a person’s life.
Conclusion:
In more than one way Jesus taught that there would ultimately come a time when judgment will take place and there will be an eternal separation of good and evil… the godly and the ungodly. It is the point of the story of the wheat and the tares. It is the point of the story of the sheep and the goats. It is the point of the story of the branch that bears good fruit and the branch that bears bad fruit or no fruit at all. And the stories all end with the good being rewarded and the bad being tossed into the fire.
We do our best to be fair and honest in our justice system but occasionally there is a Tim Masters who is wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. There are controversial Casey Anthony trials in which jurors are reluctant to sentence a person to death when there is some doubt as to their guilt. Sometimes the innocent get convicted and guilty go free. We are human judges.
In Grisham’s The Confession a murderer decides to confess to the murder for which another man was wrongfully convicted and is days away from execution… but Texas justice is a justice all its own and the innocent man died for a crime he did not commit. People are not ultimately all that great at judging.
But God is good at it. God gets it right.
The day will come when mobster “Dapper Don” AKA “Teflon” John Gotti will stand before God, the righteous judge and he is going to stick to the frying pan.
In the story, A Painted House, a Sunday School teacher eulogizes a mean character named Jerry Sisco, who had been killed the night before in a back alley fight after he picked on one person too many. But a little boy who listened to the Sunday school teacher had seen what happened and he thought, “There was something odd about this. As Baptists, we’d been taught from the cradle that the only way you made it to heaven was by believing in Jesus and trying to follow his example in living a clean and moral Christian life. And anyone who did not accept Jesus and live a Christian life simply went to hell. That’s where Jerry Sisco was, and we all knew it.” (John Grisham, A Painted House, Doubleday, 2001, pp. 85-86)
Sometimes we get all itchy about rooting out evil and get all judgmental about who is and who isn’t good and who is or isn’t godly.
Once there was a church that sponsored a league slow-pitch softball team. The intent was that the team be a place for gathering men together to have fun and to ultimately be a Christian witness to the community. But the pastor learned that one of the players on the team smoked so he asked him to leave the team and he did along with some others who thought that the team existed to reach people like the smoker… he left the church and he hasn’t been back for thirty years.
Jesus is right. Sometimes we do considerable collateral damage trying to control the weeds in our field. And then there is that thing that this parable is not about… I believe weeds can be transformed into wheat. I believe non-believers can become believers. I believe that people who do not follow Christ may one day become Christ followers.
Do we not believe that people become new creatures in Christ when they repent and turn from their sin to God? Do we not believe that a person in the Kingdom of Darkness can move from darkness into the Kingdom of Light. Do we not believe that there is such a thing giving up conformity to the world and being transformed by the renewing of the mind? Do we not believe that the lost may be found?
And so there is not only the matter of collateral damage and the potential exacerbating and escalating existing conflicts but there is also the possibility of turning someone away from Christ rather than drawing them to Christ.
So our job or our role in the world is to be the best wheat we can possibly be. Our role is be the brightest lights we can be in a dark world. Our role is to be the presence of a loving Christ in the world and to leave the rooting out to God and God’s time.
