Resident Evil
Matthew 13.24-43
Introduction
Jesus prepares the disciples and the church for troubles that lie ahead. The Bible tells us that Satan attacks the church constantly. We usually think of those attacks coming from the outside as Peter said, “The devil prowls about like a roaring lion...” (1 Peter 5.8). But in the Parable of the Weeds, our text today, we see how Satan works from within the church to try to destroy it. Before we look at that parable, I would like to speak about the work of Satan in general.
Evil in This World
I spent a few days this week at the Higher Things Youth Conference at Illinois State University. It was a good time of worship and learning. Everyday we had breakout sessions that met in different buildings on the campus. One of my first sessions took place in the Anthropology building. As I walked through this department and looked at the posters and announcements on the walls, I couldn’t help but sense a little tension between what is usually taught here and what I was thinking about as I was preparing this sermon. Most anthropology departments in the United States could just as well be labeled the “Anti-God Department.” Anthropology comes from the word “anthropos” which means “man,” and so this is the study of human beings and the way they live. Anthropology teachers love to explain to freshman students how religion is all man-made and was the way humans came to terms with things in this world that they did not understand.
But an honest look at this world should cause anyone to wonder about all the evil that exists. How do you explain it? Just consider the carnage of war, the oppression of slavery and the injustice of class and racial prejudice. These evils far exceed the ugliness that we find even in the animal world. In our first lesson today Pastor Hemenway read Paul’s words to the Romans that “the whole creation groans...” (8.22). The creation is weary of and suffers much from one particular creature - human beings. I see the reality of evil in another place when I teach, of all people, our little preschoolers. There are certain subjects that attract their attention. When you talk about toys they obviously light up. They also perk up when you talk about being good or bad. They love to hear about Jesus and so prove His words “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19.14). But they also seem unusually interested in evil and in the Devil. They seem to sense that there is evil in this world, and that it is not by nature a safe place. They seek the safety of parents, and they sense the safety of Jesus. I don’t think it is hard to see that there is a Resident Evil in this world. People often make the mistake of trying to explain it away or of looking for it’s source in weird things like aliens. Jesus tells us where it comes from and how it is at work among us.
The Problem of Evil in the Church
There are two ways that evil works within the church. One way is simply through the weakness and bad behavior of its members. No one in the church is perfect, and sometimes people make the mistake of thinking everyone should be perfect. So someone says something or does something they don’t like. Or perhaps they fail to say something or do something they should. They feel offended and leave the church. I meet people all the time who have spent many years away from the fellowship of the church, and that is almost always what happened. This is one problem that we need to avoid. We are to bear one another’s burdens, as Paul says, and so fulfill the Law of Christ (Galatians 6.2). But Jesus is talking about something else in this particular passage today. Let me reread the explanation that Jesus gives to this parable:
Text: Matthew 13.36-43
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 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!
The Weeds of Satan
Jesus tells us in this parable that there will always be certain people in the church that are not true Christians. They are the “weeds.” They are very destructive precisely because they so closely resemble the wheat. They are impossible to distinguish from a true Christian. The work they do is very dangerous. They hurt the church with false teachings and lovelessness. They cause dissension in the church. They probably won’t be in the middle of it but rather in the outer circle urging people to the wrong rather than to the right. But they never do so in a way that would expose themselves. Their tools may be things like rumors, gossip or betraying confidences. They pass along information but change the context so that what you hear is much worse than what was really said.
What Can Be Done?
The first thing we would say is not to run. These persons cause a lot of pain in the church. They are like a person in a packed elevator from whom a bad smell emanates. You certainly smell the problem, but you cannot find the source. When the doors open, you just want to get out of there. But running is a mistake. Whenever that happens Satan wins. Now he has two people separated from God - first the weed and now you. Secondly, do not ask the church to start a “witch hunt,” or perhaps we should say, a “weed hunt.” That is a great temptation to a church that causes it to plunge into legalism and false accusations that accomplish nothing. That makes things worse. Jesus says that doing this will root up the good wheat plants. What we should do is persevere in the faith. A good verse to think of is: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12.21). So look to Christ for the strength you need to do the right things. The first right thing to do is always to ask yourself, “Am I part of this problem?” I always start with myself in repentance and forgiveness and in God’s good counsel and guidance. Jesus lived, died and rose to transform me from a bad seed to a good seed. My goodness is only because of His goodness. As we focus on Him our goodness will not be thwarted. The church may be troubled by these weeds, but it will never be overcome by them. Look at the past history of the church. Look at the scandals and the internal troubles it has endured in this way. Yet the church survives because the church is not founded on itself, but on Christ. Thirdly, remember what will happen to these weeds. Their judgment awaits them in the furnace of fire. It does us no good to become angry with them. That kind of anger will only hurt us or cause us to hurt others. Instead we should pray for these people. Perhaps they will be converted. But if not, we know that God’s justice will prevail in all things.
Conclusion
A church that was already struggling financially suffered a loss of $5,000 which one of its members had embezzled. This put the church in even greater peril because of its difficulty in meeting financial obligations. The church was torn apart by the scandal. Accusations were flying but nothing could be proved. Finally, at one of the meetings, a member stood up and offered to make up the loss with a special personal gift. But there was one condition, and that was that the church would give up its search for the culprit, institute better accounting procedures, and strive to go on in the love and life of Christ. He urged that the matter be left into God’s hands knowing that His justice would be delivered either in this world or at the end. But for now the church needed to go on. As we heard in again in the lesson from Romans, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (8.18), sometimes we just need to endure knowing that God will preserve and protect His church at all times. Amen.
