Title: The wheat and the tares, and the gnashing of teeth.
This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s in Maybole,
Ayrshire, Scotland on the 20th July 2014
(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: The parable of the wheat and the tares is not all about hypocrisy; it is also a gospel reading, full of strength through humility, and atonement. Read on!
Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
Jesus put before the crowd another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, `Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, `An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, `No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"
Introduction:
That was a fire and brimstone reading that, Eh! … Being “thrown into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. … Well, talking about gnashing of teeth, Christine always has an answer for me, … could you imagine me saying to her, “I do not want to go to that church again”, and she will answer “why”, and I will say, “well it is because full of hypocrites” and she will reply, “do not worry dear, they will certainly make room for one more”. Now I think that is funny, but what is not funny, is that I am doing the service, I am doing the sermon … and this reading today is certainly about hypocrisy, … and as always, … I am the last one to speak on such matters, so please forgive me as I muddle my way through this sermon, being the biggest hypo-crypt of all.
And that takes me to conflict in the church … well conflict in general as we do not need to look to hard these days to discover that we are living in a world full of conflict. There is conflict between nations … between political parties … between towns and cities … between neighbours … between our families and of course … conflict between our spouses; … so why should the church be any different?
I mean … conflict in the world can be understood … but conflict in the church is a completely different story; there is conflict between the religious sects, between church leaders and between the members of the congregation itself to name but a few; and I am well aware that conflict in this church is minimal, but why should there be conflict between God’s children … God’s brothers and sisters after all?
Well, Jesus tells us why in this Parable … he show us that there is conflict in this earthly kingdom, and we are not to be fooled … and so he gives us two reasons for this conflict. The first is the most obvious … yet rarely acknowledged … that there is an enemy called Satan who is the direct enemy of God, and to get at God he gets at his children, and there is no better way to do this than by causing conflict in his church, … true, then the second reason for conflict is because there are false Christians in the congregations, those whom Satan has no problem in using. Jesus himself said in, Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but only he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven”. These wolves in sheep’s clothing operate as Satan’s fifth column, his undercover agents in the church, and these two cannot be separated until the end of the age, the final harvest, so they will keep on causing trouble.
As we all know, the cost of conflict is costly: war is such a waste … so it is vitally important that we learn how to deal with conflict … and this passage suggests three reasons.
1. Be Perceptive.
The first way to deal with conflict is to be perceptive to the enemy. Verse 25 “but while everybody was asleep, an enemy (that is Satan), came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away”. Notice he went away, he was sly; he did not stay to say, “I did that”. He did the deed and left … he left everyone in confusion, he sowed the weeds while everyone was asleep.
Now this was common practice in both ancient and modern warfare to destroy the enemy’s crops: because this would weaken and demoralise the soldiers and their families; particularly as soldiers according to Napoleon “marched on their stomachs”. We know this only to well with Hitler’s tactic in the North Atlantic during the Second World War to starve Britain … and the development of anthrax; but thank God this was never used by us.
We must therefore be aware of what Satan is up to, as we cannot afford to fall asleep, and that is why the scriptures are filled with warnings to be alert. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” And 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”, and we all know people like that, always leaving destruction in their wake.
Satan easily embroils the church in conflict because … we Christians aren’t paying close enough attention to his actions, and nothing blinds our spiritual perception faster than tolerated sin, … and so we must be aware of what is going on in the world around us. For example, in abortion, and I know there are exceptions … but what Satan calls a woman’s right to choose … God calls murder. What Satan calls an alternate lifestyle … God calls immoral living ... and he tells us in Matthew 6:8 “that such people will never enter His kingdom in heaven.”
But it is not the place of the church to judge … nor condemn and execute such sinners, (like the early Puritans who were always putting people in the stocks, and worse), but it is our place to call sin what it is, it is sin, and therefore to call sinners to repentance by explaining the word of God.
We must also be aware of what is going on in our churches, and to do that we need to be involved in the activities of the church and with those around us. We must also be aware of what is going on in your own lives, as never is our perception so warped … as when we look at ourselves. The truth is … most of us do not know ourselves as well as we should, or … as well as we want to … but in case you are worried … there is a difference between a Christian struggling with sin and hypocrypt. … A Christian struggling with a sin will approach God and say, “Father, this is a weakness in my life, I am truly sorry, please help me with it”. God through his word truly welcomes that kind of prayer, and he promises to help.
A hypocrite however does not really struggle in overcoming their sin, they struggle in not being caught, and even then they will try and wriggle out it … by denying it, or blaming others … and not being the least bit bothered by God. We therefore fit into one of these two categories, there is no third … and so this takes us to our second strategy for facing up to conflict, and that is patience.
2. Be Patient.
… Interestingly, the weeds in question were known as bearded darnel, and if this plant was consumed it could cause dizziness and nausea. … And Bearded Darnel looks very much like wheat until the heads are formed … and that is why no one in the parable realised that there was anything was wrong … well not until “the wheat sprouted and formed heads”, and that is when the servants realised that weeds had been sown; and that is why they wanted to pull them out immediately.
You see, the owner knew that the servants could not tell the difference between the wheat and the weeds in their entirety, so it was much safer to wait till the final harvest to insure the safety of the true wheat. The servants were ordered to be patient … just like we are told, as we cannot tell the difference between a true Christian and someone who merely professes to be one. Our human judgment is faulty, and so we must wait patiently for God to judge.
How many times have we judged a person wrong? I know I have, and I will do it again … our judgment is fallible. This is why the Bible says in Romans 14:4, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls”. We are therefore not to pass judgment on others because they are not our servants, but they are servants for God to judge, and him alone.
Romans 14:1 goes further and says, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Christian harmony should not depend on one hundred percent agreement on all matters pertaining to the Christian life; instead our motto could be, “in essentials - unity, in non-essentials - liberty, but in all things - charity”. 1 Corinthians 13:13 simply says, “And now abide in faith, hope, and charity; … but the greatest of these is charity”, that is the wellbeing of others.
You know the old saying, “Good things come to those who wait”, well we must wait patiently for the judgment of all things, which will take place exactly when God decides, and I am well aware, this can seam like an age.
Being patient to all men is therefore a necessity in dealing with conflict, and Christine will tell you, this is a part of this sermon that I really need to hear. We must wait patiently for God’s judgment … in God’s timing … because when we get impatient and rush things, we certainly make a royal mess out of things; and so this brings us to our last strategy for facing up to conflict, and that to be prepared.
3. Be Prepared.
… The weeds, that is the Bearded Darnel were only able to pretend to being wheat for so long … as their true identity would be revealed; and so it is with those who are false, they too can only conceal their true nature for so long, because eventually “their sin will find them out”, as written in Numbers 32:23.
In this parable Jesus clearly teaches us that there will be a day of judgment in which the wheat will be clearly separated from the chaff. This means the righteous will be separated from the wicked, and on that day, there will be weeping (that is emotional suffering), and gnashing of teeth, (which is physical suffering) and so we must be prepared to stand before our God. … But we are not to be afraid, as I have said many times, you will only be asked one question … and that is, are you able to call Jesus your Lord?
Matthew 24:42 says … “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come”. In other words, we are to be prepared at all times for Christ’s return … or our death … because we could be called to account at any time … ie. when we are least expecting it.
So are we prepared to stand before our God and be judged? Have we trusted Christ to save us from our sins? Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Wages are something that we earn, and therefore deserve. Question … do we deserve to die and be cut off from God’s presence forever because of our sin … of course we do, but we have a saviour who died for us, and who died to pay the price for our sin, that we may live in the presence of God forever.
Notice verse 23 also said, “… but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It would be a shame to waste the possibility of eternal life, yet many do; … they know better.
The gift of God is eternal life. How much does a gift cost us? … Nothing, it is free … and that means that eternal life can not be earned … we cannot work for it … all our good and bad deeds are nothing … we can only receive salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord … as he was the one who suffered and died for us, … and he was the one who rose again from the dead, in order to pave the way for us … by forgiving and destroying the Sin of the world before God … and that includes all our sin … so that we can live with him, in his kingdom, forever.
We are so blessed to call Jesus Christ our Lord, and by strength through humility we give him charge of every area of our lives … switching from our way of living, the worlds way of living to, his way of living.
And before I finish, I would like to make one final point and that is this: I am told that one of the things that a wheat farmer learns early on is that … when harvest time comes; the real wheat is so heavy with grain … that the whole plant begins to bow. …
In contrast, weeds never bow, but the Lord Jesus himself bowed in humility. Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in fashion as a man, he (that is Jesus) humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”; … and this is where the strength through humility comes in with Jesus, because verse 9 goes on say, … “Wherefore God highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: … That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … of things in heaven … and things in earth … and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
What a powerful passage of scripture, Jesus humbled himself and now he is above every name that is named, can you name it, then Jesus is above it. What a wonderful saviour we have in Christ. Amen.
Let us pray,
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died all those years ago to pay the price in full, for our sin.
We thank you Father that we belong to you, and that we do our best to live for you … even though we fail. Father please forgive us, as you know our hearts to be true, and you know it grieves us to fail you. Father please forgive us!
We thank you also Father that you exalted Jesus to the highest of high, and that he is now above ever name that can be named, and so Father bless us or strengthen us, or cure us from the following:
Sickness … Poverty … Sin … Addiction … Shame … Rejection … or anything other weakness that is not from you. … …
Father we pray to you also for Pastor Steve Dow, who help in getting this sermon started and put together has been invaluable, and we ask that you bless his ministry.
Father heal us in Jesus name,
Amen.
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed by this sermon, or any of my sermons, I would be greatly honoured to receive an e-mail from you saying so; I like so many others need encouragement.
I often feel that to deliver a sermon one time to my congregation is such a waste; where as many more could be blessed by its message, after all, it is not for my glory but for his. I would therefore like my sermons to bless more people, preferably internationally and not only in a small part, of a small country called Scotland. A formatted PDF copy is available on request.
Simply let me know where you are in the world … and any other information you may want to share or be prayed for. I would also take it as a compliment for you to use my sermons in order to bless others in his almighty name. I do not even need acknowledged, but he does, and I will receive a blessing directly from him.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and I wish you "all the best" as we say in Scotland … and I pray that your endeavours in the Lord are equally blessed. Yours in Christ, Gordon McCulloch, Scotland.
Compiled By: Gordon McCulloch (Worship Leader),
St Oswalds Episcopal Church,
Maybole. Ayrshire.
Scotland. UK
KA19 8KF
E-Mail: gccmcculloch @ aol.com or through Sermon Central
