Weeds Among the Wheat

July 23, 2023 Background Scripture: Matthew 13 :24 - 43 Lesson Passage: Matthew 13:24 - 30, 36 - 43 In today's lesson, Jesus describes the nature of the kingdom of heaven on earth. It has been said that the church has become too worldly, or to use another expression, there are too many worldly people in the church today. I will offer a different perspective based on Jesus' teachings. The local church today looks very much like the local church of the first century. The difference is people, in general, have lost their sense of modesty. In the absence of modesty, Christians are not disturbed by the public knowing the details of their moral shortcomings. And in that environment, there is no social pressure on sinners to conform to that which many Christians do not. How do we distinguish who's who? In the first century church, there was more social pressure on people to conform to certain moral standards publicly regardless of their spiritual status. How could they distinguish who was who? They relied on a person's public affirmation of their faith—as we do today. Christians sometimes sin, and sinners sometimes exhibit exceptional moral behavior. We cannot always gauge a person's spiritual condition by what we observe in their behavior. Over the years, some churches developed "Rules of Conduct" as they attempted to create a pure environment of Christians. I doubt if it ever worked. On the other hand, many Christians experienced "church hurt" when those rules were unequally, and inconsistently, applied to them. As a result, some Christians were uprooted, or run away, from congregations and some sinners continued to be rewarded with prestigious positions within the same congregations. And the church rolled on! That's where Jesus' teaching about the "Wheat and Tares" comes in. In speaking to a society that was heavily engaged in farming, Jesus used an example they could readily identify with. No one intentionally plants tares, or weeds, when they sow seed in their fields. Nevertheless, weeds typically grew among their crops. They didn't plant weeds, but year after year the weeds always appeared amid their grain. Farmers would not dare attempt to separate them because of the intermingling of their roots. They would have to destroy grain if they insisted on removing the weeds during the growing season. They were resigned to letting both grow together. At the time of harvest, the grain had developed a full head and stood out in the field. The stalks would be cut to harvest the grain without ever disturbing the roots. Anything that did not have a full head of grain on it would easily be separated at that time. Put another way, the grain would stand out because it had produced its fruit. The weeds could not produce a head of grain. Even if the grain and weeds looked similar during the growing season, the presence of fruit at harvest time distinguished them. Jesus' advice to the first century church is still relevant for us today. Jesus is the Farmer who sows good seed into the world. And while people are still sleeping, the devil sends demonically possessed people among the saints, As we all grow together, it is not easy to discern who is who. Furthermore, it is not the responsibility of the children of the kingdom to purify the field. We are to grow spiritually and be fruitful. Jesus will assign those He wishes to separate the children of the kingdom from those sown by the devil. We should not be surprised that the local church is a mixed group. But we should beware to not take it upon ourselves to determine who to separate and who to keep. The roots are so intertwined that we would create chaos and church hurt in attempting to separate one from the other. What are the roots? Whatever is held in common: family, jobs, ethnicity, community, gender, political affiliation, etc. Again, children of the kingdom are to grow spiritually and be fruitful in this season. Harvest time is coming. Robert C. Hudson July 15, 2023