Thriving In A World of Evil
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
Pastor Jim Luthy
Our vision statement calls us to see the Living Christ in a thriving church of giving people. As we continue along this long walk with Jesus, how will our encounters with Christ translate into us becoming a thriving church?
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, to thrive means to grow vigorously, to gain in wealth or possessions, and to progress toward or realize a goal. A thriving church is one that is characterized by success or prosperity. Success for us would be the accomplishment of the mission to glorify God, empower the believers, and multiply the kingdom.
How many of you would like to be a person who thrives? How many would like to be a part of a thriving church?
Of course we would like to thrive, but it sure is easier said than done. Experience shows that all too often evil gets in the way of the good. The evil within us causes us to be lazy or distracted. For example, a thriving Christian is one who keeps his way pure, but pop-up ads on the internet or sexually explicit movies wage a war inside of us that threatens that purity.
We also experience opposition to our thriving from the world. We might be striving to thrive and suddenly we’re the victims of a crime or betrayed by someone we thought we could trust. Imagine the discouragement of a parent who works so hard to raise their child right when the world lures that young one into a lifestyle of drug abuse or addiction. Evil in the world gets in the way of our desire for good.
And then there is the devil himself. When we seem to be on top of our game, about to break through to some spiritual victory, the opposition comes. The devil comes in and sows seeds of doubt or discouragement or fear or worry right when it seems we were on the verge of breaking through.
Have you experienced some of this opposition? In all your efforts to be and do good, have you seen how evil gets in the way?
The solution seems so simple…just get rid of all the evil. If I were God, I would be so tempted to just take all the evil people and wipe them out! Criminals…gone! Adulterers…out of here! Are you greedy? Hasta la vista baby! If we could just get rid of all the bad people, the world would be a wonderful place!
Have you seen the bumper sticker that says “Mean People Suck.” Isn’t it true? Mean people do suck. But who are the mean people? The originators of that bumper sticker were those who looked at the religious right and their demands for morality and opposition to homosexuality and “a woman’s right to choose” and said, “those religious right people are mean. Mean people suck.” On the other hand, those in the religious right look upon their detractors and see the destructiveness of liberality and lawlessness and say, “those liberals are ruining our country and destroying our families. They’re the mean people. They’re the ones who suck.”
There’s a grave problem with getting rid of the mean people. First of all, the biggest problem is that so often I am one of them. The other problem is that too often we can’t tell who they are. Just when we think we’ve got it figured out, someone comes along and surprises us.
A woman and a man are involved in a car accident. It’s a bad one. Both of their cars are demolished but amazingly neither of them is hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So, you’re a man... That’s interesting. I’m a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days." The man replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!" The woman continued, "And look at this, here’s another miracle... My car is completely demolished, but this bottle of wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune." Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it, drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to he woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man. The man said, "Aren’t you having any?" She replies, "Nah. I think I’ll just wait for the police..."
In our next encounter on our long walk with Jesus, we learn a little about thriving in a world full of evil. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 is meant to demonstrate that the kingdom of God can flourish in spite of all the evil and opposition. In verses 24-30, Jesus tells the parable to the crowd. Once again it is like a riddle to the masses. Later on, as recorded in verses 36-43, Jesus goes into the house and explains the riddle of the weeds to his closest followers. I’m going to translate the riddle with the interpretations Jesus gave later.
The Son of Man (who is Jesus) sowed the children of his kingdom throughout the world. While everyone was sleeping, Satan came and sowed his sons of evil among the church and went away. When the sons of the kingdom began to show signs of producing, the sons of evil were also revealed.
Jesus’ angels came to him and said, “Sir, didn’t you sow good in your world? Where then did all this evil come from?”
“Satan did this,” he replied.
The angels asked him, “Do you want us to go and uproot the evil ones?”
“No,” he answered, “because while you are pulling the evil ones out, you may root up the good ones with them. Let both grow together until the end of the age. At that time, I will tell my angels: first collect everything that causes sin and all who do evil and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then gather the sons of the kingdom and bring them into my barn.
Allow me to point out a few things we can learn from this parable that will help us to thrive even though there is evil all around us.
First of all, understand that you are planted by Jesus to fulfill his good purpose for your life. In the parable, the man who sowed did so intentionally. He had a purpose in scattering seed. He sowed the seed in his field to grow his crops, just as he planned. When the Lord created you, he did so intentionally. He took the initiative to fulfill his good purposes by creating you. He made you unique and he placed you in his world at a specific place and time to carry out his plan. Eph. 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The best-selling book among all Christian books right now is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Warren begins his book with these words…
“It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.”
Another thing we learn from this parable is that Satan is the source of evil. You’d think we know this by now, but far too often we want to look at the weed and consider it the source of our problems. In my driveway, there is a grid of wood that served as the forms when they poured the concrete. About this time of year, those forms and other cracks in the driveway begin to sprout weeds. When I go and pull the weeds, the driveway looks better. Before long, though, the weeds come back. The problem is not with the weeds that sprout up to be seen, the problem is in the seed, which I cannot see and cannot pull out by removing the weed. My only hope is to spray round up and try to destroy the roots and the seed, not just the visible weed. It is the seed that is the source of my problem.
In the same way, Satan is the source of evil. Notice that when everyone is sleeping, the enemy came and “sowed weeds among the wheat.” As sure as the Lord intentionally planted you in his world for his purposes, Satan has sown the seeds of evil in this world for his purpose. When the serpent fooled Eve in the garden, he was sowing the seeds of evil. He asked the woman, “Did God really say?” “Surely,” he said, “God didn’t mean that!” With his deception, he managed to plant evil in the heart of man. He continues to sow, planting seeds of doubt, condemnation, worry, fear, unbelief, and idolatry. It’s all part of his plan to fulfill his own purposes, which are to thwart the purposes of God.
And you are the target. Satan didn’t plant in his own field—he has none. Notice that he sowed the seeds of evil right among the wheat. The sons of the kingdom—those who are born again into the kingdom of heaven—are the target of his sowing. Satan’s grand plan is to rob God of his glory by keeping you from fulfilling your purpose.
Understand, then, that you are recognized by your ability (or inability) to thrive. Knowledge of the process of growing wheat should help us understand this better.
A farmer in Kansas plants his wheat seeds in the fall. The seed lays dormant underground throughout the winter. When the plant breaks through the surface of the earth and begins to grow in the spring, it is nearly indistinguishable from the weeds growing around it. The plant grows for about 6 weeks before the heads form and become visible. The bud on the wheat stock distinguishes it from the weeds and shows that the plant is mature and ready for harvest.
The process of maturing in Christ is quite similar. Seeds of the gospel are planted and we claim the promises of God. If that seed has a period of dormancy—while you are sleeping—it leaves room for the enemy to sow seeds of evil and opposition in the garden of your heart. When that seed germinates and begins to grow, your fruit may not be noticeable. It might still be difficult to distinguish the Christian at this stage of maturity from the unbelievers. Unfortunately, this has always been the condition of too many people in the church. Paul faced this problem with the church in Corinth. In 1 Cor. 3:1-3 he wrote, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” (NIV)
When there is jealousy and quarreling among us—people leaving churches because they don’t like this person or that policy, husbands divorcing their wives, churches competing with one another and refusing to work together—we are simply showing ourselves to be too much like the rest of the world. We are indistinguishable from the weeds.
Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt. 7:20, NIV). I had the privilege this week of praying with the man who pastors the Arabic Christian Church. He explained to me that in his church he has families from Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, the Sudan and other Arabic nations. If you go anywhere in the world and take people from those same nations and put them in the same room, it would be like putting a bunch of Beta fish and putting them in the same bowl. Sooner or later they will be biting and devouring each other. But not at the foot of the cross. This Egyptian pastor nearly wept as he described how beautiful the relationship was between these believing Arabs. The grace of God produces fruit in those who believe that is discernable from the patterns of this world.
Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
We must also resign ourselves to the truth that good and evil will both remain until the end of the age. The parable expresses the Lord’s concern that uprooting the weeds may root up the wheat. I struggle with this idea. My take on it is that Jesus knows our hearts. Like the farmer that can tell the difference between an immature wheat stock and a weed, Jesus can tell the difference between his sons and the sons of the evil one. He could root up the wicked and spare the wheat right now, can’t he?
Of course he can. But there is a great difference between Jesus and the wheat farmer. Jesus can turn weeds into wheat. While all I can see is trouble in that wicked person, Jesus sees potential. “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. (Psalm 145:8-9; NIV)
It might make sense to you and I for God to wipe out the evil ones. It might make sense for him to strike down those who oppose us. It might make sense to ask God to wipe Islam off the face of the earth, but he’s not going to do it. Not yet. God is more gracious and patient and compassionate than I am. I have to learn to accept that.
There will come a time, though, when the righteous prevail. Evil will one day be wiped out and God’s own will be gathered. One day the angels will come to collect those who refused to submit to God’s purposes. They will “weed out everything that causes sin and all who do evil” and throw them into the fires of hell, where they can no more interfere with God’s purposes. He is slow to anger and patient, wanting everyone to come to repentance, but one day he will have to mete out his justice. In that day, those who have been redeemed will have God’s purposes fulfilled in them. The Father will rejoice like a farmer celebrating the harvest when his own are gathered into the barn. Those who are his will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Knowing these things, here’s what you can do to thrive in a world of evil.
1. Be alert! Remember, while you are sleeping, the enemy sows his weeds. He likes to find you idle or inattentive. 1 Pet 5:8 warns, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (NIV) I Thes. 5:6-8 concurs, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober. Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. But let us who live in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.” (NLT)
2. Endure hardship. If evil must remain, be prepared for trouble by trusting. Isaiah 12:2 exhorts us, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."
3. Keep your eye on the prize. Jesus Christ is our Coming King. Vengeance will be his. Evil will be wiped away. When trouble comes against you, fix your eyes on Jesus and know that those who overcome will be given the crown of life.
The good news of the kingdom is that you were meant to thrive. Jesus planted you in this world to grow vigorously toward the goal of becoming more like him. Ultimately you will be like him in glory. Distance yourself from the weeds that are meant to stunt that growth. Even with evil all around you, Jesus is able to make you grow and produce his glory. Go for it!
