24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 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?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 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.’ ”
36 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.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Let anyone with ears listen!
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (unique to Matthew), (Year A July 17-23) contains the narrative parable of the weeds and its allegorical interpretation. The rule of God is compared to sowing good seed among which an enemy sows weeds. Jesus has granted table fellowship to many, as he gathers a new community. However, such fellowship is not salvation. His allowing such questionable people into table fellowship and therefore into the community raises the question of why he does not remove sinners from the fellowship. In the gospel context, this would apply to Judas as the supreme example. This parable is a response to such a question.[1] The point is to restrain human impatience. The lord of the harvest restrains the servants from separating the tares and the wheat prematurely.[2]
In Matthew 13: 24-30 is the narrative parable of the wheat and the tares.[3]The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'
Here is a realistic picture of agricultural life, told vividly and naturally. Attention focuses upon the moment when the farmer becomes aware of the weeds, the spiteful action of the enemy being an important part of the drama. The focus is on the discovery of weeds sown by the personal enemy of the farmer. The farmer regrets their presence, but is content to leave everything as it is, knowing the harvest will be time for separation. The coming rule of God will be a process of separation and judgment.[4] The presence of the enemy is a reminder of the Lord’s Prayer in 6:13, where the disciples are to pray to the Father for rescue from the evil one. The focus is also upon the farmer’s intent to let the weeds grow until the harvest, when there will be enough time for separating wheat from weeds. While such weeds would be expected, it was typical to remove them at various stages of the growing season. Thus, this farmer offers a surprising response to the presence of the weeds. The patience and grace of the farmer in the present time, the time between sowing the seed and the harvest, becomes the focus of this parable. His concern is to tend the field patiently, despite the mixed crop growing in it. Rather than endanger the wheat growing up with the weeds, the farmer chooses to let both weeds and wheat continue to grow side by side. The farmer refuses to do anything that might injure the wheat just to rid himself of the weeds. His concern is to tend the field patiently, despite the mixed crop growing in it. Furthermore, the farmer might be implying a level of distrust in the ability of his slaves to separate properly the weeds from the wheat. The expectation of the parable is that we will sow seeds despite affliction, trial, and difficult people that evil may use to impede us. In the ministry context of Jesus, it would represent a strong protest of the practice of groups like the Pharisees, the Qumran community, and the Zealots. They had as a goal a pure community defined by their obedience to the Law. Jesus will demonstrate how this parable works. Judas was among the Twelve. Jesus spends much of his time with people whom the righteous might consider weeds. He reserved his harshest words to the self-righteous and judgmental. He would have no sympathy with a moral crusade to uproot evil. Jesus is saying that the time before the harvest of the anticipated end of human history is a time for patience and grace by those who devoted to the rule of God. The harvest gives the parable an eschatological character, concerned as it is with final judgment, at which the separation will occur. God has fixed that moment. The end has not yet come, so all false zeal must be checked, the field must be left to ripen in patience, and everything left to God until the harvest comes.[5]
In verses 36-43 is an extended interpretation. The reason for patience and grace is clear in the interpretation. The interpretation depicts the cosmic dimension of the purpose of the Father.
The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου) will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43a Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
The interpretation warns against false security. The interest shifts from the sowing to the two sorts of seed that existing the field side by side. Despite their growing together in the field, a completely different destiny will come upon each of the two sorts of harvest. This destiny contains an impressive warning. Attention shifts to the field and what is growing in it and thus to the community Jesus is gathering. The Son of Man replaces the patient farmer, clearly viewing Jesus in his word and deed as the Son of Man. The Son of Man sows good seed, who are the children of the kingdom. This is a provisional institution. This concept of the Son of Man as Lord of the children of the kingdom is unique in the synoptic tradition. He is the Lord of the church as he sows the good seed, placing the children of the kingdom within it. The community gathered by Jesus out of this temporary kingdom will be brought into the eternal kingdom, the kingdom of the Father. However, the enemy, Satan, is sowing bad seed, the children of the evil one. Satan opposes the ministry of Jesus and the disciples. Both the children of the kingdom and the children of the evil one live together. They are not yet separated. Only God can see the heart. The time before the end is an ambiguous time. In other words, Jesus' presentation of the rule of God in these parables indicates that it is both "already" and "not yet."[6] The danger in trying to create a pure community is greater than being patient and graceful. The parable and the interpretation of it call into question the idea of anyone other than God separating "authentic members of the covenant community from false members."[7] It acknowledges that we live in an imperfect world and therefore an imperfect community of faith, so be patient and gracious, and do not even try to put oneself in the judgment seat that belongs only to God. The unrestricted flow of time as we experience it meets here the eschatological expectation of Christ as oriented to an end of this time.[8] Matthew leaves no doubt as to whom the world belongs. The Son of Man will bring judgment. Evil, embodied in Satan, will be cast into a furnace of fire and the righteous will be vindicated, shining as the sun in the kingdom (13:41-43). The interpretation concentrates on depicting this separation in lurid apocalyptic colors. It focuses on the impressive depiction of the final judgment, passing over into a prophetic proclamation describing the judgment by means of traditional apocalyptic elements. The focus is on the future separation of those not yet separated, for now they are found together in the one field. The elaboration of the contrasting future destinies confronts the hearer with the serious question whether one belongs to the children of the kingdom or the children of the evil one. The church will be confronted by the judgment. Every hearer is confronted with the question whether one is a tare amongst wheat. The Son of Man is the Lord of the church in executing the final judgment upon it. The violent destruction of the adversaries of what God is doing in the world seems like resorting to the typical tool of human tyranny. After the messianic rule of the Son of Man will come the rule of the Father, to whom the Son of Man commits the elect. Only the children of the kingdom will live in the rule of the Father. The kingdom of the Son of Man needs to be cleared of the tares at the harvest. Thus, neither evil nor the evil one has the last word. Indeed, in this parable Matthew suggests that the prayer of 6:13 "rescue us from the evil one" (NRSV) will be answered. In his depiction of future judgment, Matthew assures his readers of the certainty of divine rescue. The church remains a provisional community, remaining open to the future of God and the divine judgment.[9] Those in the church are to ask whether they bear the fruits of the rule of God.[10] Concluding with a piece of common wisdom, let anyone with ears are to listen.
In verse 43b (11:15, 13:9, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8b, 14:35b) is a proverbial saying from common lore invoking the image of good ears. Those who have ears, let them hear. Those who hear have responsibility to receive the word and let it produce fruit. The word goes out as the one message and summons to humanity, has concern with the hearers of the Word, and the strangeness of the truth to the world as shown in the response to the Word. What we have here is reception, acceptance, appropriation, and comprehension. Beyond hearing and understanding is true knowledge that appropriates and does.[11]
Application
When it comes to the community of those who follow Jesus, its purity is not something we will experience in our time. The genuine and the fake is something we wisely need to learn to distinguish. Groucho Marx famously said that the secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you have it made. We expect the label on the food to reflect accurately what is in the container.
Jesus relies upon the experience of farming in this story. Maybe the closest experience many of us will have is with the garden. The gardener knows how difficult weeds can be. You fight dandelions all weekend and the beginning of the week they are back. They thrive in adversity (Hal Borland). Crabgrass can grow on bowling balls in airless rooms with no way to kill it that does not involve nuclear weapons (Dave Berry). They seem to know where to grow, and thus they must have brains (Dianne Benson, Dirt, 1994, 128). Yet, for the reflective gardener, weeding the garden becomes a metaphor of life. A Flemish proverb observes that people have enough weeding to do in their own garden. Some will think of their sins. Sins will grow like weeds and are difficult to remove.[12] Gardening requires a natural mindfulness. Such mindfulness includes removing weeds. It requires sustained attention. One needs to pull them with care, or you will hurt your hand or leave the root to grow and spread. Differing weeds will require differing techniques and tools. We need awareness as to where and how we walk and bend, for we might squash the plants we want to grow.[13]
Yet, the farmer in the story Jesus tells makes an interesting decision. He lets the weeds grow among the wheat.
The good seed is already present, mingled with the seed sowed by the enemy. The church must always be aware that it has enemies. Sometimes, the enemy will come within the community. Such is the nature of the “already” in its imperfection and ambiguity. The “already” requires from us far more patience and grace than it does the judgment often found in moral crusades. We wait for the “not yet” of the final sifting represented in the Last Judgment, when the genuine and true will remain. Thus, our attention must focus upon our readiness for the Last Judgment. We must not have too much concern or the wrong type of concern for the readiness of others. The Son of Man will judge. We need to be sure we are the genuine seed that has grown into wheat.
One of the reasons this parable hits home to me is that I have a very strong perfectionist streak in me. I want the world to be a better place in which to live. I want the church to live up to all its ideals. However, I am hardest on myself. I can have more forgiveness for others than I am with myself. This parable moves against that perfectionist tendency. It reminds me of the importance of patience and grace. We need both qualities with self, with the church, and with the world.
Many people have the opposite problem. They rarely face the ways in which they have fallen short of their ideals or contribute to the imperfections of the church or the world. The title character in the comic strip Broom Hilda is an ugly yet somehow lovable witch. Her friend Irwin, the troll, has all the innocence and naiveté needed to be truly attractive. One day, we find Broom Hilda asking, "Irwin, what would be the best way to make the world better?" Irwin thinks for a moment and replies "Start with yourself! Give up your bad habits and evil pleasures. Then when you're good, when you're perfect, you'll stand as a shining example to others!" Broom Hilda swiftly responds, "What's the second-best way?"
The world is an imperfect place.
Sometimes, such imperfections are inconveniences that create pressure in the moment, but we quickly set aside. When I was an associate in Plainfield, Indiana in July 1990, the pastor had been working on his sermon long and hard. I had just gotten off two weeks off that included vacation and continuing education. I had just gotten back from Boston area. I was home a little earlier than I planned. I received a call Saturday morning that the lead pastor had been to the dentist with a root canal but would likely would be okay to preach the next day. I started working on a sermon on this passage, just in case. Sunday morning, I received a telephone call that he would be unable to preach. What complicated matters was that I was scheduled to teach a Sunday school class, Questions of Faith II, that had a video. I was preaching in three worship and teaching a SS class! We live in a very imperfect, messy world. No matter how perfect our plans might be, life intervenes. What are we to do?
NASA put a large telescope into space. It is valued at one and half billion dollars. And yet, it was unusable. There is a small mirror on the telescope which does not work the way it is supposed to. So now, the telescope gives a blurred image. How could such a thing happen? How can such imperfections be allowed to happen? In this case, of course, it was because of a very simple test which could have been performed but was not.
Two Congressman had been judged by their peers to have done illegal things. One was fixing parking tickets for a friend. Another was from my home state of Minnesota. He was judged to have illegally taken extra money for speaking engagements. I can remember two years before (1988) when he was running for the Senate. He had a very sensible explanation for the things which were then just coming out about him. He was re-elected by the people of Minnesota. And yet, as we hear such things by our elected representatives, we can wonder, how can such things happen?
But then, there is also the church. We have all the language of justice, and love, and kindness. And yet, sometimes we fall so far short of our ideals. I am sure all of us can think of times when the ideal of kindness and giving to others has not been met by the church. People believe, rightly or wrongly, that the church let them down in some way. It is another imperfection we must deal with. How can such things happen? The church at various times has been rocked by scandals. Of course, there are the big names, like Jimmy Swaggert or Oral Roberts. But many of us can point to pastors, or even bishops, who have fallen short of the ideal. Pastors have run off with church funds, or with the church secretary. But sometimes it is a respected a lay person who does something which embarrasses the whole church. Another imperfection! How can such things happen in the church?
I must also ask; how can we do some of the things which we do? Maybe even just this morning, things were said or done which you wish had not happened. You know, I think one of the most stressful times for families with children can be that hour right before church. That can be such a hassle, getting everyone ready for church. But I also would wager that for everyone here, if we are honest and look back over the past week, something we said or did causes us some pain. It may have been a burst of anger. It may have been a time of selfishness or pride. It may have been a time when we hurt someone we loved. It can happen so quickly and innocently. Yes, there is such imperfection in us. How can such things happen to us, who hold such high ideals?
If there is anything which I want to share with you, it is this: Let us have a spirit of grace, with ourselves, with one another, and with the world in which we live.
I also want to be very careful about what I am not saying here. I do not mean that we should just excuse ourselves of every wrong-doing. No, I believe that the ideals of the faith are there, and they need to be constantly before us. But I want us to look at the other side of this striving for perfection. In the real world within which you and I live, we are not perfect. That should not surprise us! But sometimes, I fear, we act as if we should be. That can be dangerous. It can lead us to defeat if we are not careful, a desire to give up. That is what I want us to think about this morning.
Jesus had to face questions like the one I am raising today. Jesus was a preacher of the kingdom of God. He said that the kingdom of God was near. And yet, look at his ministry, as many of his contemporaries must have. He had only a small band of followers. Oh, he was liked by the crowds, but was difficult to know where they stood. And there was still so much evil in the world. And after Jesus died, the church would remember this story. You see, the early church had its struggles too. There were differences of belief. There were differences in how the worship. There were differences in life-style. Jews, Greeks, and Romans, wealthy and poor, were all trying to exist within the same church. There was fighting in churches, and threats of division. What were they to do?
First, the farmer says, let the wheat and the darnel grow up together. When I hear this, I hear Jesus saying to us very clearly that we as human beings simply don't know the heart. We don't know what is going on inside of someone. It can be so easy to be judgmental of another's words or actions or beliefs. In telling us that the wheat must grow together with the darnel, Jesus is telling us to have grace with one another.
Second, Jesus is also saying that God has already taken care of the separation of the good from the bad. God has appointed a time when that will take place. The harvest will come. So, don't worry about that.
I have enough of the perfectionist in me that I want the world to be a better place in which to live. I want the church to live up to all its ideals. But maybe where I am hardest is right here, in myself. When those imperfections and mistakes and sins arise in my own life, I can be very unforgiving of myself. I want to get rid of them above everything else. But then comes the word of Jesus. It is a word of grace.
One of the lessons that we can learn is precisely at this point. Let us have grace with one another. Let us have grace with the world in which we live. Let us have grace with ourselves.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6] (M. Eugene Boring, "The Gospel of Matthew, "
[7] (M. Eugene Boring, "The Gospel of Matthew,"
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12] Helena Rutherfurd Ely, A Woman's Hardy Garden, (1903).
[13] Sura Lama Das, Awakening to the Sacred.
Interesting parable and lesson. I see it not to be gentle with our self', but anti code. There are other verses on that, like first John. But i think it needs to speak to the church. Both of us grew up in a code heavy environment. When it comes to LBGT community I think we have no choice but to welcome them in to our fellowship. I think this parable must speak to the UM church at this time.
ReplyDeleteObviously, i disagree with you on gentleness. to have a sense of relaxing with the imperfections of our world, church, and individual lives requires a form of gentleness and grace. I also think that welcoming persons into the community is what we do. Whether couples living together, gay, or polyamorous, we are called to love and welcome. We are not called to baptize every form of sexual relationship the culture accepts. We do have a responsibility as the people of God to teach others the Christian way of life and that includes family life. I also think that your background and mine differ. I value the way of life taught in the evangelical church in which i was raised. I have come to disagree with the many of the beliefs i was taught, but i was taught great openness and kindness in the church in my youth and even in the Christian schools i attended. I would gently offer that where the church is adhering to a code today, it is on the progressive side. They are the ones who have such a strict adherence to a code that could not and do not make room for the view of family that Jesus, Paul, and Christian teaching for 2000 years have had. The progressive does not make room for the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox (2/3 of global Christianity), and most of African, Latin American, and Asian Christianity. There is a big difference between lovingly making room for people, regardless of what they do, and making room in the sense of accepting what they do as part of the Christian life. Lynn, I hope i have not misread you.
DeleteI think we need to be VERY careful with our codes. I know that you welcome all into your fellowship and have through the years. I also agree that there needs to be a standard which sets the church aside from society. I find it appalling that the county seat UM here has a gay men's choir. There should be no celebration of sin. I think that line needs to be drawn very carefully. I also think, accusing the other side of having a code, while it may be true, is not helpful. I've always felt before I throw stones I try to get my house in order.
ReplyDeleteYour take on this parable is good. Let the tares grow with the wheat and God can sort it out. I think the church says here is life, both now and later. Come drink. The Holy spirit will tell you how to live your life "what to leave in and what to leave out" (Bob Seeger) . Again, I know there is a standard but we need to be very careful with it.
I also think that, to an extent, the standards of society do have an impact on the church. When Paul tells the church to have nothing to do with the guy who was living with his father's wive, he pointed out that even the pagans think that is sin. It seems to me this indicates that society has some impact on what the church allows.
In terms of the UM split I think the way the Presbyterians have done it is a better way. Each pastor and congregation decides what they want to do about the LBGT community. There seems to be no rock throwing between congregations that do gay marriage and those that do not.
I agree with much of what you said. 1) Getting our house in order is not possible. We are far too messed up to do that. If we wait for that, we will never address any issue. 2) I beliee that at this historical moment, the danger in a violent use of codes does not come from the right. It comes from the Left. 3) In the UMC, the difference from Presbyterians is bishops, who have a great deal of power. I assure you that as the UMC devotes itself to becoming part of the progressive tribe in America, instead of the "melting pot" it used to be, bishops will use that power to compel pastors nd congregations to adopt the progressive orientation toward sexuality. If you do not agree with them, you are hateful and bigoted. Period. It becomes okay to riot in the streets and commit acts of violence in order to enforce your code. 3) Your argument from I Corinthians misses the point. He had already identified their sinful behavior based upon their fellowship with Christ and then, in order to shame them, he pointed to their pagan neighbors and said that not even they would do such things. He did not derive his sense of their sinfulness from the culture, which your argument suggests. The culture and church abhorrence at what this local body of Christ was doing was an example of an overlap in morality, if you please, but had the culture andorsed Corinthian church sexual behavior it would not have been okay.
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