READ: Matthew 13:24
CHALLENGE: Be a Productive Part of God’s Work.
We’ll learn today that we’re either wheat or weeds!
Vv24-30 – Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both 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 it into my barn.’”
The kingdom of heaven is like…. This is a reference to God’s rule. It’s a kingdom and kingdom has a king. And the king has expectations for how we should live meaning God has rules. Jesus tells a story showing what the kingdom is like – a kingdom that all people live in. The story is relatable to our lives and reminds us that there is negativity and struggle. We have spiritual enemies.
So what is the Kingdom of God like? A man went out into his field with good intent. He plants good seeds – what specifically? He plants wheat which will become food for people. It’s beneficial and good and valuable and important. He planted a good crop.
- THE STORY of the WHEAT and the WEEDS
A man planted good seed in his field. At night, an enemy snuck in and planted weeds along with the wheat. Now this weed that was planted is not just any weed! It wasn’t the weed variety pack! It was a poisonous variety of weed. And to make it worse, it looked like wheat until it was ready to harvest! How nasty was that? It was potentially ruinous to the crop and difficult to deal with.
Notice how deliberate the enemy is. He comes at night – more covertly. The enemy is not always super obvious. Initially, the act would have been undetectable as they would not have seen the seeds. But he’s throwing a proverbial monkey wrench into the mix and just letting the bad seed have its impact.
Enemies are ruthless. I prefer to avoid making enemies where I can, because they can have a long shelf life. Enemies don’t care who else they hurt as long as they hurt you. While hurting the landowner was the top priority, countless others would be damaged as well with the potential failure of the crop. The enemy doesn’t care about that.
The enemy destroys rather than builds. What is their work devoted to? Ruining a crop out of their hatred for an individual. All that effort is only to destroy. And for some, even the good that they do is intended to hurt you. Look at me having fun … I hope it hurt! It’s malicious! An enemy is so twisted that they consider the bad they do, good. For instance, does a snake that bites you ever think it’s doing the wrong thing? Neither do people snakes!
And as both sprouted and grew together, it was tough to tell the one from the other. So, the workers volunteered to tear out the weeds, but they were told to wait. If you do it right now, you’ll tear out the good with the bad. The farmer was smart and patient so he wouldn’t lose in the end and he told them to hold their horses.
The man said to let both the wheat and poisonous weed to grow together until the harvest. At the harvest, we will deal with it and undo the work of the enemy. He said, at that time, we’ll separate them from each other. Now let’s note that when it came to the harvest, you could tell one from the other as the fruit would indicate the good from the bad. And you don’t have to worry about damaging roots then because it’s harvest time. Be patient.
When I was in college, I was working on a 1500 acre crop farm and the farmer planted a field of barley and he wanted to certify it for seed which made the crop more valuable. However, the barley had oats growing in it so before the harvest, we were sent out to pull out the oats. Now, I did a lot of work on that farm and this job seemed dreamy at first. And it was for half a day. By day two of walking through a barley field in the hot sun and getting roasted, it was difficult. But we meticulously separated out the oats and you could tell which was which.
Jesus explains the story starting a little later in the chapter.
Vv36-43 – Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Jesus sows good seed. The field is the world and the good seed is the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one. The enemy who sows them among us is the devil. The harvest is at the end of the age.
Some are God plants and some are devil plants! The angels will reap and they will weed out of his kingdom all that causes sin and all who do evil. Let’s talk about this story.
B. LESSONS FROM the STORY of the WHEAT and the WEEDS
- TWO FORCES IMPACTING OUR WORLD
There are two major players and one is Jesus and the other is the devil
- Jesus Plants
Jesus plants seeds and the crop is those who believe in him; it’s people. Believers are purposely planted. We are to bear fruit, serve God, help others, invest into things that matter. Since believers are planted by Jesus, our lives have value and deep meaning. I appreciate that I’m living for something bigger than myself. You are meant for more.
There is a saying I used to hear, “Grow where you’re planted”. Where has God placed you? Are you growing there? He’s put you where you are for a purpose. Since we are wheat, we help to nourish the hurting soul of humanity.
We are planted in the kingdom? Where is that? It’s in the world because Jesus said that the field is the world! The kingdom is not in a specific location – it’s really wherever we are.
Luke 17:20-21 – Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
God’s kingdom is in our midst! It’s here in his people who follow him. And that means that you can still be wheat even when surrounded by weeds. That’s encouraging, right?
My life is not dictated by weeds. I’m wheat and behave like it. I’ve often said, no one else’s behavior dictates my behavior. My response is my responsibility. I worked with teens for 17 years and I often heard these words, “I hate you”. I said, “Well, that doesn’t matter, as long as I love you”. What fills you? You have an entirely different DNA than the world so we are different and that will become clearer.
When I think of our garden – I chose the plants that I put in there. I expect the pepper and tomatoes to produce the vegetables that I need. I plant them all for a reason and that’s the same with Jesus. You’re a child of the kingdom. It’s good to remember who you are. We are a crop scattered in the world wherever we are. And we’re making a powerful impacted.
- The Devil Plants
The devil plants the others, weed people. Why? He’s an enemy and hoping to ruin God’s crop and damage God’s kids. He’s trying to wreck and muddle and mess up the harvest. The devil’s crop is intentionally ruinous. Jesus said that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church but that doesn’t mean that they won’t try.
How does the devil do harm? Through people. It’s people willing to carry out his mission. We’re planted in the world but the church is in that world and I’d say some of the devil’s seeds could certainly land here. How do we separate the wheat from the weeds? As you look at the initial story, it’s hard to tell the difference until later in the life process.
How in the world could a weed be confused with wheat? They look similar early on. There are plenty of worldly “Christians” who talk and do enough good to mask what they truly are … a weed. They do just enough to mimic some good while at the same time doing harm.
Wheat is about others. Weeds are about the weed. The mission of the devil launches off of selfishness. God’s purpose looks to help others. The devil’s purpose is to wreck the world with a bunch of selfish people doing their own bidding without thinking about the whole.
Satan loves a prosperity gospel where it’s all about you rather than a generosity gospel where it’s about others. Weeds are self-centered and wheat is others centered. What is your fruit?
I remember in the story of the House of the 7 Gables. The judge was counted as so pious. Man was greedy as could be. He looked like wheat but he was a weed. And at the end of time, God knows the difference between the two.
2. TWO RESULTS
It clearly says that we will recognize people by their fruit. By their fruit you will know them. If a tree bears good fruit, it’s a good tree! This is always true. Life is personal and our relationships with the world around us is very important.
- Good Fruit
Christian, you can have such an amazing impact on the world! You can make a profound difference in people’s lives. You are meant for more.
Work hard, be faithful, be honest, love others, forgive, serve. Those are great things! To be able to do good things through God’s strength is awesome. We love others and serve. If we consider our church, there are many who serve. We have a team of cleaners on Friday mornings. A group of ladies come out and they pack 84 lunches for children in Rock Creek. We have the Vine Food Pantry. We have a nursery and junior church. Celebrate Recovery.
Soon there will be Operation Christmas Child and a community dinner as well. There are so many things we do to help others. I’m happy to serve with you all and often speak about how you all amaze me all the time.
The field is not just the church, the field is out there as well. So, as I work hard, with a good attitude, and be faithful, I can make a difference.
I’ve often said that I want to be family friendly and lean into things that are conducive to strong relationships at home! We don’t want to encourage things that separate families. It’s one of the reasons we moved youth group to Wednesday nights. It’s to allow more time with families.
How are we coming cross to the world? Are we wheat? Are we displaying the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
- Bad Fruit
V41 – The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
The weeds are poisonous. All those who cause sin. All who do evil. That’s what a weed looks like. Sin refers to breaking God’s rules and going against his ways. That’s not us, right? We can’t be in that group and talking about how we’re wheat!
When I think about weeds, I think of something that doesn’t help. Doesn’t provide nutrition. Doesn’t feed people. Isn’t usable. There is no benefit and I can’t eat it.
It’s not doing anyone else any good. Sin is like that. It’s just for me. It’s to gratify my base desires. And it ultimately hurts people. I’ve heard before that our sins only hurt us. I can’t think of bad things that only hurt us. There is always a ripple effect to the wrongs that are done.
The devil works against what God is doing. It’s temptation. It’s distraction. It’s the problems that we have all the time. It’s disunity and dysfunction. Don’t allow the devil to bait you into doing things you should not be doing. He’s going to use people to disrupt what we’re trying to do.
And we do have spiritual enemies to the work of God. And one thing that we can do is to pray and pray against it. Jesus Christ taught us to pray that we not be led into temptation.
How might a person be involved in causing sin?
- Don’t Teach the Full Truth
How might we do things that would lead to sin? You could not teach the truth. That would be one way to do it. Talk love only and disregard obedience.
People talk all about love and I’ve heard this a lot – I love who I love. This is a romantic kind of love that can’t be controlled, right? What a powerful mantra. Where’s the boundary? Does that mean you can love your sister in some weird way? Does that mean a teacher can love their student in a romantic way? Am I allowed to love other women the way I love my wife? And then say, “I love who I love”. Not if I want to stay married! Part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control.
Yes, love is important. It’s not an excuse to make it free for all. Are we somehow preaching a worldliness in the name of Christianity?
Micah 2:11 – If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!
The deceivers don’t really tell you the truth. You mean someone teaching could be a weed? If they are deceiving, absolutely. If they are taking the Bible and making it say what they want to say – absolutely.
- Set a Bad Example
Another thing we might do is to set a bad example for others. If you’re yelling and screaming at your kids, what are you teaching them to do? If a husband wants his children to speak respectfully to their mother, then he should.
My father was a great example to me! And I learned by watching him. I learned some of what not to do too. But he was a hard worker and avid servant. I always appreciated that about him. Some are bad examples and cause others to stumble.
Jesus said it’s better to have a mill stone tied around your neck and drowned than to cause one of his kids to stumble into sin.
Isaiah 28:7 – And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
Talking a great game and walking it are two different things. I’d rather have someone never say a word and live it than talk big about God but not really walk it. What are you doing and how are you living?
So, the weeds that will be yanked out are the ones doing evil and causing it. You really do need to take Christianity seriously. Someone told me one time that the only difference was that I had to live it because I was a pastor. The ethic is the same for all of us.
I’m constantly amazed by how people doing godless things love to talk about God. They will post Scripture verses but not live it. I don’t know if it’s like eating junk food and throwing a salad in the mix or what! You can’t talk like Jesus and walk like Lucifer!
A bad trees bears bad fruit. If the fruit is bad, it is.
- Toxic
Weeds are poisonous and so are some people. They are toxic. Which are we? Full of poison or blessing? Weed or wheat? If we begin to become hostile, cynical, hateful, angry, bitter, then isn’t the devil winning? He’s planting weeds and we don’t want to be in that class cause we’re wheat!
When your win is someone else’s loss, you might be a weed! Remember the enemy. They will hurt all kinds of other people to get at you. The enemy sows seeds and it’s intended to create doubt in God and his work. Don’t let them win! Don’t buy! See it for what it is!
Ephesians 4:30-32 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
- TWO DESTINIES
Vv42-43 – They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
As to people and whether or not they are really believers, that’s up to God to decide and not me. We have to be careful about yanking people lest we disturb the root systems of good people.
- Fire
Those who cause sin are thrown into the fire. A fire! There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Who teaches that it doesn’t matter how you live? It matters! We need to do the right thing.
It’s good to know that God will sort all of these things out in the end and we count on him.
- Brilliance
We will shine in the kingdom. Not only will we shine – we will shine like the sun. That is powerful in and of itself.
You wheat or a weed? We have to take God seriously.
You’re planted for a purpose. We are to bear good fruit. We can’t cause the sin.