Sermon
23rd July 2017
Matthew
13:24-30,36-43 – Evil mixed with good
‘Master,
did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come
from?’
That
is a question that has been asked of God since the beginning of time.
‘Master,
did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come
from?’
As
we hear the creation story it concludes with the proclamation from God:
God
saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31).
If
all that God created was “very good” where did evil – or the weeds – come from?
Because
God created everything people ask, did God create evil.
Our
parable declares that is not so:
He
answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
In
explaining the parable Jesus defines who the enemy is:
“the
weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the
devil”
It’s
a really difficult thing to understand.
We
confess that we believe in God the Father Almighty – make of heaven and earth –
of all that is – seen and unseen.
Does
that include what is evil?
Does
that include the suffering?
I
think the answer to this difficult question is in the parable where it speaks
about the wheat and the weeds mingling together so much that to remove the
weeds might harm the wheat.
If
we go back to the creation account we see the account of Adam and Eve’s
disobedience by taking from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The
ground which Adam worked would now produce weeds –
“the
ground is cursed because of you. It will grow thorns and thistles for you.
(Genesis 3:17,18)
What
transpired from that was not a punishment but a reality as God says in Genesis:
“The
man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
In
the next Chapter it speaks of Adam and Eve’s relationship and says: Adam knew
Eve his wife; (Genesis 4:1)
“To
Know” in this Hebrew understanding is not just a head knowledge but an intimate
union of two becoming one – as in Adam and Eve becoming one flesh – bone of my
bones, flesh of my flesh.
Notice
it wasn’t the tree of good and evil – but the tree of “knowledge” of good and
evil
Evil,
as well as the good God intended, has become one with us – good and evil is now
bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh.
And
the evil, as we see from our parable, comes not from God’s creative act but
from the devil’s sinister attack on the world.
An
attack that God had protected us from when Adam and Eve only knew good.
Paul
recognises that creation is out of order because of the existence of evil.
He
knows that evil is not what God intended for his ‘very good’ creation and says:
All
creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his
children really are. Against its will,
all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it
will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know
that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to
the present time. (Romans 8:19-22 NLT)
So
Paul understands that evil, including suffering and death, are not part of
God’s good order but what the devil introduced through evil
And
all people and all creation are subjected to it.
But
Paul keeps our spirits up by reminding us that evil is only part of THIS
creation and not the new heaven and new earth that God has prepared for his
children and all creation where nothing evil will be allowed to enter
(Revelation 21:27)
And
he says: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
And
Jesus, too, is telling us to just be patient.
Just
wait until the right time when God will finally deal with the evil in the
world.
We
want God to deal with evil right now but Jesus warns against that saying you
may in fact damage the wheat when pulling up the weeds.
Let
us remember that for us the knowledge of good and evil is also intermingled in
our own lives.
If
God destroyed evil, not one of us would be here!
We
have all sinned and sin is evil in God's sight.
To
uproot evil now would destroy us.
We
must wait for the final judgement where God will properly deal with evil,
including the evil that exists in us which will be judged by God’s grace
through Jesus’ forgiveness.
We
need to be careful that we don’t take on a position of moral outrage.
We
are tempted to rush to judgment and in the process use the same harshness that
we find offensive in others.
And
so we have a warning from St Peter who says:
Do
not repay evil with evil. On the contrary, repay evil with good (1 Peter 3:9)
We
can easily have within our response to evil the very evil we hate.
We
see evil and want to do something about it.
And
in doing so we can discover a part of ourselves that we don’t like.
Our
moral outrage can become oppressive and hurtful.
This
is a difficult time for the church because of the decline in ethics and morals.
People
live by their rules “whatever works for you is fine”, “whatever is your truth
is the truth. I cannot judge your beliefs” “it’s your body you can do whatever
you want to it”.
In
such an atmosphere of extreme tolerance it becomes hard to take a stance.
Whether
you agree or disagree with her, look how society responded to Margaret Court’s
opinion on marriage.
The
beauty of Jesus’ parable is that it asks us to take a second look before we
rush to judgement.
The
owner of the wheat field is about how God views the evil mingled in with his
very good creation.
It
teaches us how to deal with evil in an appropriate spiritual way.
When
we read of the rush to judgement of the servants we can identify with them.
But
we need to be cautious because there are consequences to actions in that we may
harm the good in dealing with the evil.
That
doesn’t mean we stand by and do nothing but we leave actions of judgment to God
and the final judgment.
We
are called to be salt and light in the world – not the judging fire.
When
the people did not welcome Jesus the disciples James and John saw this, and
asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them. But
Jesus turned and rebuked them. Luke 9:53-54)
We
can pray for those affected by or who cause evil.
We
can be God’s salt and light in the world to bring good from evil – transforming
lives.
And
remember that what humans intend for evil God can turn into good (Genesis
50:20).
That’s
what Joseph said to his brothers when they expected him to repay their evil
against him with evil.
But
he didn’t.
In
fact Paul says that we can deal with evil in a way that brings good but also
judgment.
He
says:
Never
take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your
enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to
drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
(Romans 12:20).
Don’t
let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
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