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We
may scratch our heads and think not another parable.
Parables are cute stories but do we really need another
story? Jesus was of course a master story teller. He
could take common every day occurrences and weave them
together to make a divine point. Just when you think
you know where the story is heading Jesus throws in a
twist causing us to completely rethink our position.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a case in point; no
one in the crowd would ever have thought that a
Samaritan would turn out to be the hero. People
despised Samaritans, and in that parable might very well
have thought that he would finish off the wounded man
lying by the side of the road. The people you thought
would help walked away on the other side of need while
the hated Samaritan not only helped the injured man but
also spent his own money. Who would have thought?
Today’s parable is about a farmer who planted good seed
in his field. Then while the farmer and his helpers
were asleep an enemy came and deliberately planted weeds
among the wheat. Let’s be clear--the purpose was to
destroy the farmer’s crop as well as his livelihood. It
would take weeks before anyone realized that weeds where
planted among the wheat and by the time anyone figured
it out it would be too late. During the early stages of
growth both the wheat and the particular weed look very
similar—the average person could not tell them apart.
Later in the growth stage it became apparent that there
were weeds growing among the wheat and that this was a
deliberate act.
Who would do such a thing? There is no acceptable
excuse to offer—it was not a mistake or an error it was
an evil act. If whoever was responsible was caught that
person should be arrested or at least forced to pay for
the damages. The hired help reported their findings to
the farmer. Immediately the farmer realizes it was an
act of vandalism. The hired help ask, “Then do you want
us to go and gather them?” If weeds threatened the crop
then weeding would be in order. The farmer replies,
“No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the
wheat along with them.” That statement would have
struck a first century farmer as odd. Farmers would
remove weeds several times during the growing season.
They would always be weeding. Not in this parable,
there was the danger of uprooting the wheat in trying to
pull the weeds, their roots would intertwine.
The wise farmer tells them to wait
until harvest time to separate the weeds from the
wheat. “Collect the weeds first and bind them in
bundles to be burned,” the farmer instructs, “but gather
the wheat into my barn.” Picture the puzzled
expressions on peoples’ faces upon the conclusion of the
parable. It was one of those stories that takes time to
digest and understand. As we saw last week the
disciples did not understand Jesus’ parables either.
They ask Jesus in private to explain the meaning of the
parable to them which he does.
The parable is for the church. The
natural tendency is to root out undesirable people from
the fellowship. Throughout church history we have seen
groups of people and churches try to separate themselves
from other people, claiming that they did not want
outsiders to corrupt their fellowship. They would
exclude certain types of people as well. Sometimes if
we are not careful, this attitude creeps up today when
we fail to recognize the good in people who might be
different from us or have different life experiences
than we do.
We exclude people different from
us. We do not what them around. That person should not
be worshiping with us, we might think to ourselves.
That person has done such and such and we want nothing
to do with them. We think that the church as well as
the world would be a better place if only we could rid
it of undesirable people, the weeds in today’s parable.
Listen carefully, Jesus forbids it. We are not to judge
other people he says. According to this parable even if
our judgments are correct we might do more damage than
good trying to exclude them from our fellowship. We
might think we are getting rid of the weeds, but in the
process might uproot some wheat. Good and evil at this
point are inseparable; violence against evil will result
with violence against good. “Let both of them grow
together until the harvest,” Jesus says.
Jesus modeled this principle in his
own life. There were some who sought purity by getting
rid of enemies; Jesus taught that we should love our
enemies. Others sought purity by withdrawing from
society; Jesus went to where people gathered. The
religious officials could not understand why Jesus would
spend time with sinners. Jesus teaches us that all
people matter to God.
A
note of caution must be sounded as well, this parable is
certainly not an excuse to do nothing either. When we
see evil taking place we have a responsibility to do all
we can to stop it. When we see injustice, or people
being treated badly we need to intervene. However we
need to be careful in being overly zealous in labeling
people evil.
Terry Lane owed his own successful cabinet making
business. The only problem was that his plant was
located in a rough section of town. Nearly every night
he says the burglar alarm sounded, windows were broken,
shots fired, equipment stolen. A police officer
explained that the neighborhood was a dangerous place.
Terry told the officer that he had “no idea such a place
existed in my city.”
One day came a thought so clear it was almost audible,
“If you’ll love those who despitefully use you, I’ll
take care of it.” Terry was stunned and shaken
wondering how he would obey this “gentle command.” God
had never spoken to him in such a dramatic fashion.
Then he sensed, “forget about all the shootings and look
to the children.”
Terry began praying for his neighbors in the apartment
complexes near his plant. He brought several
basketballs, wrote, “Jesus Loves You” on them and threw
them over the fence. One Saturday he took a break and
saw children playing in the parking lot. When they saw
him they began running away. He called out to them
asking if they would like a cold drink. Five children
followed him into the plant where they were treated to
cold soda pop.
That was the beginning. Soon thirty-five children began
coming to his office every day after school instead of
going home. There was nothing for them to go home to.
“Thus began the journey that would change my world and
that of many kids whose addicted parents left to fend
for themselves,’ he reflects. “The children were often
hungry, unkempt, undisciplined, without structure in
their lives or motivation to attend school or church.”
Terry would sell his business; leave his job to begin
after school programs as well as a Sidewalk Sunday
school for the children. Other people in the community
also became involved. Terry set out to change the
direction of the children. (1) Terry is an example of
how one person can change weeds into wheat. Who are the
people you might consider weeds and how might you work
to transform their lives?
The Apostle Paul teaches us “that
all things work together for good for those who love
God, who are called according to his purpose that all
things work for good.” The enemy deliberately planted
weeds among the wheat. The enemy meant it for evil, to
hurt the farmer. But even in that act of sabotage
something good could result. In Palestine where wood is
scarce, weeds would be bundled and then burned in
ovens. Those weeds could be burned in the oven to bake
bread, or to prepare meals, or for warmth. The enemy
meant it for evil but with Jesus something good can and
often does come from the weeds.
Amen.
1. “Look at
the Children!” by Terry Lane as told to Shirley Shaw,
Christianity Today, September/October 2007, Vol. 45, No.
5, page 46
For more
information on Terry Lane and Metro Kids Konnection, go
to www.metrokids-jax.org
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