This type of weeding isn’t for us
by Pastor Joshua Pfeiffer
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But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them’ (Matthew 13:29).
Some of you who are better gardeners than I am may have trouble tolerating weeds in your pristine gardens. The presence of that which is impure and out of place is hard to take. Among your lovely lush herbs, vegetables and flowers are ugly weeds that aren’t supposed to be there. The natural thing, of course, is to get rid of them. However, in Jesus’ parable, this is the point at which the agricultural analogy breaks down.
In Jesus’ parable, the field is the world, the good seed is the children of the kingdom, and the weeds are the children of the evil one. Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t deny that the devil is active and has those on his side. The impulse, therefore, to get rid of evil isn’t the problem. The problem is that, as fallible human beings, we don’t have the insight to do this without inflicting tremendous damage. We’ll uproot the wheat along with the weeds.
In a time where the values of our surrounding culture are increasingly at odds with those of Christ’s church, it can become tempting for Christians to want to see the causes of evil removed from our world. Indeed, we do need to take sin and evil seriously and struggle against injustice. Especially in the church, we’re called to exercise discipline where appropriate to lead to repentance and protect the vulnerable. However, our Lord’s words today are a warning about humility and caution in this and that final judgement is always in Christ’s hands rather than ours.
Thank God for that! Not only is the Son of Man capable of rendering this justice in such a way that the wheat isn’t uprooted along with the weeds, but this judge is also your Saviour. He’s the source of goodness that makes good seed even possible, and because of him, you have the promise of shining like the sun in the kingdom of your Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to plant good seeds in this world. Help us trust in your perfect justice when we’re tempted to take final judgement into our own hands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joshua is married to Kimberley, and they have four children together. He is a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia and previously served at St Paul’s Nundah in Queensland and Bethlehem Adelaide in South Australia. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Concordia Seminary St Louis, USA, and enjoying the adventure.
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