2002.9.22. Vision Conference - Rev. Kyung Mo Koo(Immanuel UMC, MD)

The Owner Will Take Care of It

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

In today's scripture, Jesus teaches us about the secret of heaven by using various kinds of parables. It is known to us as the parable of the good seed and the weed. The parable illustrates the nature of God's kingdom. In the parable, a man has sown good seed in his field, but when everyone is sleeping, his enemy plants weeds among the farmer's wheat. The farmer's servants, seeing the weeds grow among the wheat, ask him, "Did you not sow good seed? Where did these weeds come from?" The farmer told his servants that his enemy was responsible for planting the weeds. The servants asked if they should pull up the weeds. "No," the farmer replied, "If you pull up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat as well. Let them grow together until the harvest. I will let the angels take care of them."

In this parable, we can understand Jesus' intention by first understanding the roles of the characters. The first character is the farmer. The farmer symbolizes Jesus. His field represents the world, and the seeds he has sown are God's children. The enemy who plants weeds in his field is the Devil, the weeds representing the children of Satan. The harvest represents the end of the age, while the harvesters are angels. This is the interpretation of Jesus himself.

God plants the good seed in the field with the help of Jesus. He waters them and waits patiently for the harvest. The gospel that offers us everlasting life and salvation from sin gradually transforms us into wheat. But at the same time, the Devil is also at work, sowing weeds among the wheat. The field contains both wheat and weeds.

Likewise, many kinds of men gather and live in this society together. Even within the church, the body of Jesus, there are members who live as wheat, and others who live as weeds. Non-Christians seem to believe that all Christians are the wheat, but we see that the wheat and the weeds grow together in any church. In this case, the wheat may move to a different church, or they may pray that the weeds will become wheat. The wheat may use physical force to plow the field, in order to get rid of the weeds. However, we see that the wheat and the weeds grow together, in any place, at any time.

The weed is the poisonous, fruitless plant. It steals the soil's nutrition from the wheat and disrupts its growth. For this reason, it must be uprooted. The servants in the parable urge the farmer to pull up the weeds, explaining that the weeds grow too rapidly, and will damage the wheat. In contrast, the farmer discourages them from uprooting the weeds, even though it seems necessary to rid his kingdom of evil powers.

There are three reasons that the farmer does not pull up the weeds. The first is that he is afraid that pulling up the weeds will hurt the wheat, even though he knows that the weed is like a cancer. All of us are limited in our ability to judge others fairly. We can't start pulling up weeds at will. We are incomplete and limited in knowledge. It is almost impossible for us to judge others fairly and righteously in the eyes of God. We might believe that we are the wheat, and others are the weeds, but to God, we may appear nearly the same. We must accept this situation humbly.

The second reason that the farmer refuses to pull up the weeds is that any judgment will be done by the farmer in his time. In verse 39.40, the harvesters are revealed to be angels. The farmer and the harvesters are specialists who know the nature and characteristics of the weeds. God, the owner, knows the power of the Devil. He employs professional harvesters, angels.

Apeles was a well-known painter in the court of King Alexander in the late fourth century, BC. His painting, "The Birth of Venus" was his most famous masterpiece. One day, while he was working on a painting, his shoemaker remarked that the subject's shoes in the painting looked strange. Apeles took the shoemaker's suggestion and changed the shoes. Although Apeles was a master painter, he willingly accepted the advice of a specialist. Later, his shoemaker suggested that the subject's legs also appeared strange. Apeles became angry at this, asserting loudly that the shoemaker had no business remarking on the legs, that he was an expert on shoes, not legs.

All of us have limits. We can't be 100% accurate and fair in handling men and worldly matters. We interpret things in our own way, to our own benefit, with limited knowledge. Sometimes we find weeds in the field of own minds. We should not judge. The responsibility of weeding the field belongs to God and his harvesters, the angels. He will collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned. We should not concern ourselves with God's business. Our responsibility is to strive to become wheat, and reject the weeds. If we misunderstand our role, we commit the sin of arrogance. God will decide the proper time for harvesting.

The third reason is that now is not the time of judgment, but a time of grace. God knows that the weeds are hurtful. But he gives the weeds a chance to repent and become wheat. He is the Lord of Grace, forgiving us when we repent, as ever he is the Lord of Judgment.

According to Mat.24:14 "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached around the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." God wants to save as many souls as possible

God, the owner, waits patiently expecting the weeds to be born again and become wheat. If we try to uproot the weeds, we are acting against God's will. To God, now is not the time of judgment, but a time of grace, salvation, and patience.

There was a farmer who looked down on God. To him, God, and faith, and going to church were useless. He thought that all Christians were hypocrites and that they were being deceived. He took pleasure in the fact that he lived more affluently that the Christians in the village, despite his lack of faith and the fact that he didn't go to church. He wrote a letter to the publisher of a Christian newspaper triumphantly exclaiming, "I planted seeds on Sunday. I plowed the field on Sunday. I harvested on Sunday. In October, after the harvest, my barn was filled with abundant crops. I made more money than the Christians in my village. I don't respect God, or church, or faith. What do you think of this? Can you explain this to me?"

One week later, he received a letter from the publisher. "God doesn't finish all works by October," the publisher wrote. The year's harvest may end in October, but the harvest of one's soul is not on such a strict timeline. We might be impatient living among the weeds, but God has his own plan for the harvest.

The lesson we should learn from this parable is that there are always weeds among the wheat. In any organization, the wheat and the weeds exist together. We can easily find the weeds in church because we live with the age-old problems of hatred, selfishness, arrogance, and lack of self-discipline. Therefore, we are compelled to experience disappointment and failure in our church lives. The church is not a gathering of the righteous, but a group of the sick and the sinners who need the healing of Jesus. This does not mean that we should remain sinners or that we should be indifferent. Church should be a place where sinners are transformed, where the weeds become wheat. But if, at some point, the weeds appear stronger then the wheat, do not dismay. God's plan is a patient one, and he does not want us to be upset or frustrated.

When we recognize weeds within the church, or within ourselves, our mission must be to sow more wheat, rather than uproot the weeds. What does weeding entail? It is a matter of judgment, of saying, "I am wheat, and he is a weed." It means treating our neighbors as useless weeds. If we do that, we are already in the position of God. God will recognize us when we sow wheat.

In a village in Germany, an unknown female pianist put up posters announcing that she would perform a concert. The poster also claimed that she was a student of the renowned master pianist, List. In reality, she had never studied under List. But she thought that mention of his name would help draw a larger audience. Shortly before the scheduled performance, the girl happened to overhear that Master List would be visiting the village, and was sure to discover her rouse. She considered leaving town rather than face the embarrassment of being exposed as a liar. But she decided to seek out Master List instead, and ask for forgiveness.

"I was an orphan," she explained. "I taught myself how to play the piano, and I made a living moving from village to village, playing songs for the people there. In advertising my performance here, I claimed to be your student, hoping to draw a larger audience. Please forgive me." "You were indeed wrong to misuse my name," Master List replied, "but I will forgive you because you have confessed your mistake." He offered to listen to her play as a token of forgiveness. She was embarrassed, but agreed to play a short piece. Master List praised her performance and taught her some new techniques. "Now you are my student," he said. "and you can advertise truthfully in the future." Master List also offered to perform with the young woman at her upcoming concert.

To chase down those who had misused his name over the years would have been a waste of Master List's time. He chose to sow wheat rather than pull up weeds, and with patience, was able to transform those weeds into wheat.

All of us must strive to be awake. Verse 25 explains that "When everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed the weed." When our souls sleep, the Devil starts his work. Although the parable explains that one can discern the difference between wheat and weeds, in a practical setting, one cannot know who is the wheat and who is the weed. While we are asleep, the Devil sneaks into our lives and sows the weed, causing our souls to become sick, turning us into bad wheat.

We begin our lives with the sinful nature of Adam. We are not weeds from birth, nor are we wheat from birth. Belief in Jesus as the Savior determines which path we take. When our souls sleep, when they become sick or arrogant, we can recognize the nature of the weed within ourselves. When the Devil rules us, we are immediately transformed into weeds. Jesus scolded his disciple, Peter, "Satan, you are the one who caused me to stumble. Walk behind me." Verse 41 warns us that the work of Satan causes sin, and all who do evil.

In farming, weeds remain weeds forever. Weeds can not become wheat. But in faith, we can become wheat by offering thanks for God's grace and forgiveness. We can choose to be wheat or weeds. It is important to recognize whether our present spiritual condition is that of the wheat, or that of the weeds. The direction I take and the decisions I make are important issues.

We know that the time of harvest is near. We should remember that we are degraded into weeds when we don not play the role of wheat in our society and in our churches. Are we wheat or weeds? We must answer this question honestly before the Lord.

All of us who strive to be wheat must work hard to sow more wheat. We must be the wheat that God favors. Let us leave the weeding to the owner. He will take care of it in due time.