EPISODE 45 / WEED WHACKER WISDOM

The speaker was weed eating and almost cut down some flowers because they looked like weeds. This reminded him of a parable Jesus told about wheat and weeds. In the parable, the owner of the field said not to pull up the weeds because it wasn't the right time and the servants weren't qualified. Jesus explained that the parable was about the kingdom of God and how there are good and evil people in the world. It's not our job to judge and separate them. God will do that at the end of the world. We should oppose evil but leave judgment to God. I was out weed eating the other day, and I was coming down the side of the house, coming around to the front, and I noticed several really tall weeds had grown up, and I reached out there with my weed eater, and I guess weed eater is kind of like calling all soft drink Cokes. It's not a weed eater brand, it's a trimmer, but I call it a weed eater. So I reached for these weeds, and at the last second, I mean a fraction of a second, I noticed that they had a bloom at top, and I realized at the last second that these were some of Jennifer's flowers. Now listen, this is between us, don't tell her about this, but I almost cut down, I almost weed eated, if that's the proper way to say it, I almost weed eated her flowers. And again, just between us, I have done it before. There's been many times I've had to go get her and say, hey, are these weeds or are these flowers? Because sometimes, especially early on before they bloom, you can't tell a flower from a weed. And that reminded me of a parable that Jesus told in Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13 starts with the parable of the sower and the seed, and that's where the seed or the word of God is sown, and some fell by the wayside, some on stony places, some of them the sun came up and dried them out, and others fell among thorns. And it's just what that parable is, it's just the different responses people have to the gospel. Then in verse 24, he tells a different parable, it's similar, but again, different, the parable of the wheat and the tares, and this is what it says. Another parable he put forth unto them, saying, and this is what Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and then went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. In other words, when the wheat came up out of the ground, here comes the tares, or the weeds, at the same time, and you really couldn't tell the difference in them. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field? From whence then has these tares, or where did these weeds come from? And this is what he said in verse 28, he said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, Do you want us to go and gather them up? But this is what he said. He said, No, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. And this was his solution. Let both grow up together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest, I will say not to you, my servants, but to the reapers, those who are qualified, gather you together the first the tares, and bind them in bundles, and burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn. And so he tells them this story. Jesus tells this crowd this story of the wheat and the tares, that among the kingdom of God, there are weeds, there are people that don't love God, that don't know God, and it's hard to tell the difference, just like it's hard to tell the difference between a weed and a flower. But in time, listen, in time, it will be obvious, an enemy sowed these weeds to disrupt, to be sneaky. There's two sowers. There's the sower, the Lord, who sows good seed, good seed that brings forth fruit, that sustains, that brings health and fullness. But there's an enemy that also came in and sowed seeds. He's the devil, he's the evil one, the wicked one, and he hates the owner of the field, and he hates God. Jesus over in verse 36, very interesting, we don't really need to read a commentary on this, because Jesus himself writes the commentary. He gets along with his disciples, and they say, hey, tell us about this. It says in verse 36, Jesus sent the multitudes, the crowds, away, and they went into the house, and his disciples came unto him saying, declaring to us, or tell us, or teach us the parable of the tares of the field. And Jesus said to them, he that sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of this world. The son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of the kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Whoever who has ears to hear, let him hear. Jesus tells us that this story's not really about wheat, and it's really not about weeds. It's about the kingdom of God. It's about the world, and that there are children of God, the good seed, those that love God, those that love his word, those that love his people. But among them, the enemy has come in during the night while everybody's asleep and has sown weeds. That's the children, Jesus himself said, children of the wicked one, and they're all around us. And so the servants came and said, hey, do you want us to go and pull up all of these weeds and get them out of your garden, get them away from the wheat? And it was so interesting what the householder, what the lord of the house said. He said, no, don't do it. Isn't that strange? And number one, he said, it's not time. Right now, it's hard to tell. You don't, it's hard to tell the tears from the wheat, the weeds from the fruit. He said, and also, you're not qualified. You are the servants. He said, I have reapers. Well, we see over in the commentary, Jesus said in beginning in verse 36, that his angels, they'll do the reaping. In the original parable, he says, I have reapers. This is their job. It's not your job. You're not qualified. My friends, we deal with evil people every day. We deal with some people that know they're being used by the wicked one, but I want you to know that most people we deal with that are pawns of the devil, that serve the devil and the kingdom of darkness, they don't even realize how they're being used. They are oblivious to it. I think you and I as servants, if we went to Jesus and said, Lord, let us pull up these weeds. Let us weed out these people. I think he would say the same thing that he said in Matthew 13, no. Number one, it's not time. It is not the time of the harvest. It's not time to do it. You know what else he said to the servants? You're not qualified. You're one of my servants in another field, another discipline. You have other gifts. I have reapers that come in and reap my crops, reap my wheat. They're going to throw the weeds in the furnace and they're going to put the wheat into my barns. He says that these reapers are the angels. It's not time. Right now, it's hard to tell the wheat from the wheat. It's not time. My friends, you and I are not qualified to make these judgments. That doesn't mean we tolerate evil. It doesn't mean we condone evil. It doesn't mean that we don't stand up for what is right and point out what is wrong. But it's not our job to weed them out. It's not our job to uproot them. That is God's job. Jesus here is not talking to the crowds when he explains his parable, what it really means. He's talking to his followers, his disciples, the church, if you will. We see sometimes in our life evil and the things that go on in this world that are just unspeakable. We say, God, why don't you do something about it? Well, listen, my friend. It's not time. It's not time. You and I are not qualified to do something about it. He is going to do something about it. Listen to what he says. One of my favorite passages in 2 Peter chapter three, listen to what he says beginning in verse eight. He said, Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. In other words, God is not bound by time. I don't think God has an Apple watch or a Timex. A thousand years is a day and a day is a thousand years. You and I, we're bound by space and time. I can only be right here, right now. God can be everywhere all the time because a thousand years is a day, a day is a thousand years. Listen to verse nine. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I'm going to say that again for some of my friends out there. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He is not slack. People have been talking about Jesus coming back for millennia. He's not slack concerning the promise that he's coming. He's longsuffering toward us. He is patient toward us. He is waiting on people to come to him and give an opportunity for people to come to him. But rest assured, he will separate the wheat from the tares. He will separate the sheep from the goats, but it's not our job. It's not time right now, and we're not qualified. We should oppose evil, but judgment is not ours. Listen, he said, vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. What does this parable mean to us? Mighty friends, we should oppose evil. We should point out evil, but you and I are not in the business of condemning people. We are judging the wheat from the tares. Why? Because it's not time, and we're not qualified. Oh, my friends, what a great word for the day, that we are to love people. We don't know. We can't tell the wheat from the tares. Some of these people that we want to condemn and give up on, that they are going to bloom one day, because just like me and the weeds, I can't tell weeds from flowers, and I can't tell those whom God is going to call to himself. So let us be very careful. Let's always point out evil, recognize evil, and oppose evil when we can. But my dear friends, let God pluck up. Let God cast into the fire. We're not qualified, and it's not time yet. I pray you have a good week. I pray that God blesses you. I pray that God gives you an opportunity to love on folks in his name, to talk, to speak on behalf of him, to share the gospel. As a church, I've been telling people to come to the altar and pray kind of a three-point prayer, that God would give you the courage to share your faith, to share the gospel, that he'd give you the opportunity to share the gospel. Somebody you love, somebody you know, that you would have the courage to speak to them and risk ruining the relationship, you would have the courage to speak, that you'd get the opportunity to speak, and pray even, God, give me the words to speak. And somebody said, Brother Scott, you know what? That's C-O-W. That courage and opportunity and words spells cow. So I pray this week that God gives you the courage to step up and speak on his behalf, to share the gospel, to tell your story. I pray he gives you the opportunity, and I pray he gives you the words. I pray God blesses you, and God, I hope God keeps you safe, and I pray he brings us all back together soon in person to worship him. Let me pray for you, and let's get on with our week. Father God, I thank you, Lord, for this day. I thank you for your word, Lord, and these marvelous parables that you gave us to teach us deeper and different truths, Lord. I pray that you would bless my friends, God, keep them safe. I pray that you would bless them in abundance, God, that you would give us courage and opportunity and the very words to share with people this week, that we can be light in darkness, that we can be salt in this world. Lord, that we would be good ambassadors for you in this foreign land. God, we love you so much. Thank you for Jesus, Lord. Thank you for loving us when we're so unlovable. In Jesus' name, amen.