Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Matthew 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, that Thou hast sown the good seed, Thy holy word, in our hearts: We pray Thee that by Thy Holy Spirit Thou wilt cause this seed to grow and bring forth fruit, and defend us from the enemy, that he may not sow tares therein. Keep us from carnal security, help us in all temptations, and give us at last eternal salvation; through Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
A Forest of Weeds
Matthew 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
This section, which we call Matthew 13, begins with the well known parable of The Sower and the Seed. This parable follows and perhaps confuses people. Tares are weed seeds, using the older English. This sort of thing happens easily and with stealth, because good, new seeds are just starting to germinate when an enemy tosses the weed seeds across the newly prepared wheat field.
People probably remember that I used buckwheat to improve the soil in the rose garden. The supposedly short buckwheat plants grew so tall and thickly that the roses could not be seen. My Laotian neighbor and her son pointed at the Weed Garden and laughed. Our helpers weed-whacked the buckwheat plants at the perfect time, but the buckwheat seeds were mature and started the cycle all over again. I could have made buckwheat pancakes for weeks.
The main parable in Mark 13 is the Sower and the Seed, starting Matthew 13's chapter. There the emphasis is upon the efficacious Word of God as the seed. The Word has equal power but it falls on different types of soil with different results. The two parables have similar results because the Word energized by the Holy Spirit accomplishes God's will. But in this parable, the seed represents faithful believers rather than the Word.
This chapter is what gives away so many pastors, who do not know the meaning of the Word - efficacious - and do not understand God's Creation at work. This word-group in Greek (and English) relates to the English word energy and is found many places throughout the New Testament. The same is true in Hebrew using different expressions of God acting through His Word.
Besides that, the Lord of Creation fills His sermons and parables with the Creation perspective since He is the creating Word of Genesis 1 and John 1, plus many other passages.
Let's compare the effective Word with the Church Growth approach.
Teaching children Bible stories - effective.
Giving children soft drinks and food during the service - not effective.
Preaching a sermon based on a Biblical passage - effective.
Telling a string of funny stories about nothing in particular - not effective.
Giving away KJV Bibles for a prison ministry - effective.
Raising money to hire a growth consultant from Pasadena - not effective. LCMS did that.
These two concepts go together - the efficacy of the Word and God's Creation, which is clearly established by the Word.
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
The enemy is Satan and the tares are false doctrine mixed with sound doctrine, which is not obvious at first. Most gardeners will admit that they planted good seed and thought the new plants coming up were the crop. The weeds are almost always vigorous, fast growing, and responsive to rain. But alas, when someone tries to pull a weed away from a nearby seedling, both are dislodged and the good plant is weakened if not ruined altogether.
People denounce weeds because they grow so fast and so easily, especially when the conditions are not good for the desired crop of food. But that is also part of God's plan. Exposed soil always welcomes the weeds that arrive from the wind and the birds. They can build up poor soil by growing and dying in the same field that could not support ordinary crops, or demanding crops like corn. The Midwest has topsoil that can be 20 feet deep, which happened by God's plan with prairie grass growing and rotting, buffalos eating the grass and fertilizing the result.
So here we see the Word of God growing but the tares growing along side of the Word. The intended crop of wheat is fruitful, bearing good seeds, but the tares grow up along side it.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
The servants are eager to get rid of the tares. The householder had the good seeds planted so how did all the weeds spring up? The household said, "An enemy has done this," so the servants want to go out into the fields and rip up the weeds. I tried to grow corn in Columbus and a tall grass grew up instead. People said, "I told you - gardens don't work well here. The birds got the corn and the weeds fooled you for a time."
I saw no corn there, but the weeds grew to six feet.
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
I should have known that about the corn versus the weeds. And it is true. Food plants are almost always tender and easily harmed. But God provides all kinds of insect and soil life - plus the birds - to help the crops grow and thrive.
The tares are false prophets and their followers. Anything new and different is appealing. False teachers show up at the door and provide an attractive sales pitch, which works well when people lonely and misinformed.
Jesus is teaching that this mix of sound and false doctrine should continue since so many can be harmed by rigorous prosecution. In fact, opposition to the Christian Faith is encouraged and enlivened by opposition. Many of us were baptized in denominations that became tares. I was baptized at a Congregational church which merged into the radical United Church of Christ. My parents took us to the Disciples of Christ church in town, and that denomination is racing into oblivion with radicalism. And now we have so-called Lutherans who do not know or appreciate the Reformation created by the teaching of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
This describes the ultimate destruction of those who die without faith in Christ, while the believers are gathered into heaven.
For the sower of the good seed says again, they should not uproot it, that is, they should have patience, and suffer such blasphemy, and commend all to God; for although the tares hinder the wheat, yet they make it the more beautiful to behold, compared with the tares, as St. Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 11:19: “For there must be false factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.” This is sufficient on today’s text.
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