No Substitute for Good Seeds

Jesus’ parable of the weeds and the wheat reminds us there is no substitute for good seed. Gardening is a constant battle between the plants we desire – tomatoes, peas, strawberries, and the like – and the weeds we do not desire – like thistle and dandelions – that keep popping up.

Our gospel reading today tells us, “[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, …”

Jesus told them a parable. Remember that a parable is an earthy story told to reveal … and conceal … spiritual truth about the kingdom of heaven. Seeds, wheat, weeds. On the surface, it's just a story about a farmer done wrong who showed remarkable patience. But that story conceals a spiritual revelation about how the kingdom of heaven works.

And while we’re talking about the kingdom of heaven, we should be clear what that is, too. It is not land, or country, or government. It is wherever God is working to redeem people. Every Sunday (and I hope every day!) we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” When we talk about that kingdom, we generally mean one of three things – Kingdom of Power (Creation), Kingdom of Grace, and the Kingdom of Glory.

The Kingdom of Power is already here – God reigns, sustains, and provides for creation.

The Kingdom of Glory is what we often call heaven. Judgment Day, everlasting life, eternal salvation. But how do you get these things?

The Kingdom of Grace – where God comes to us. Jesus takes on human flesh, dies for our sins, rises to give us life, and we receive it all by grace. Without this kingdom, the kingdom of glory is a terror – as our gospel reading says, where the weeds are burned in unquenchable fire.

So, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” There is an enemy sneaking around out there – and it is important to know that the kingdom of heaven has an enemy who tries to plant bad seeds.

Our translation says that the enemy planted weeds among the wheat … which rolls nicely off the tongue since those words sound so much alike. But that isn’t the only problem with these weeds – Jesus actually tells us what kind of weeds they are. They are darnel, also known as ryegrass. They are poisonous to people, and, early on, they are very hard to tell apart from wheat, partly because they are both a type of grass.  

This is no minor prank! But the farmer is patient; he wants to let them ripen. This is similar to what Jesus says elsewhere, “By their fruit you will know them.” When they ripen, it will be clear which are weeds and which are wheat; then they will be gathered: the weeds to destruction, and the wheat to preservation.

Later, Jesus explains the parable. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What I would like for you to notice is in v.38 where Jesus says that the good seed is the children of the kingdom.

That’s talking about you. You are the good seed in the world. You are the children of the kingdom. You have received God’s grace. His Word came to you that you would believe. You were baptized that your sins were washed away and you were adopted into God’s family. You have faith in Jesus – because to be a child of the kingdom ultimately means to believe that Jesus died and rose for you, and that you are forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled in Him.

This also means that part of this parable is saying that you have a purpose in the world – a purpose connected to the kingdom of heaven.

People have sometimes asked why God doesn’t just whisk people away from the world when they come to faith in Jesus. Take them away from things like suffering, troubles, persecution, temptation, and the like. But if God did that, who would be here to share the Gospel? Who would be here to tell others about God’s love and mercy? Who would be here to be Jesus’ witnesses?

When people think about their purpose, they often think of their careers. But a career, in and of itself, won’t satisfy the deep need we have to make a difference. We have to see where the career connects to others, and it becomes all the more fulfilling when we see how it connects to the kingdom of heaven. Your career, the work you do for your family, the ways you volunteer in the community, these can all be ways that you use the gifts God has given you to love your neighbor. These can all be ways that you get to share hope and seek God’s good for the sake of others.

You have been left here in this world, good seed growing among the bad.

But, unlike plants, which do not change their identity just because we think otherwise, the Gospel does miraculous work in people to transform them … even as it has transformed you. Ephesians 2 says that once you were dead in trespasses and sins, but now you are alive in the Lord. Once you were darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Elsewhere it says that once you were enemies of God, but now you are children of God. The Holy Spirit used the Word of God to transform you, and He still uses the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven to transform unbelievers into believers and sinners into saints.

The poisonous weeds become wheat by the power of Jesus’ blood.

This is our story. This is the miracle of Baptism. This is the miracle of faith. You received a new identity in Christ. Be who you are in Christ! (Not who you were in sin.) You are those who were forgiven so that you are now forgiving – bearing Jesus’ forgiveness to the world. You are those who were served by the Son of God who died for you so that now you are serving God by serving the people He loves (both inside and outside of the Church). You are those who have received rich grace, and know that even the life you have was received from God, so now you are those who give generously from all the gifts God has given to you in time and tithes and offerings. Christ came to you so now you go out into the world in His name, as God’s children.

There is no substitute for good seed. There is no substitute for you. You are God’s plan, planted in this time and place, saved to bring salvation to others. Love your neighbors. Be slow to the impulse to “pull weeds” and get rid of those people whose sins offend you. Be patient, sharing the hope you have in Jesus, and pray because God is at work and you don’t know if that weed might just end up as wheat. Never lose hope.

God is at work in you, children of God, and through you. A day will come when you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father. Until then, keep growing where you are planted and share the hope you have – the good news that makes you children of God – when and where God gives you opportunity. “He who has ears, let him hear.” Amen.