At His Word

The Rev. Joseph Winston

July 20, 2008

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
At one time in our past, we valued the knowledge of skill that came through
hard work. If you were fortunate, your parents would scrimp and scrape so they
could send you to study under the tutelage of a master. After hammering out the
details of your wages and the number of years that you would work with the mas-
ter, you became an apprentice. Now just about every hour of your day is devoted
to learning your trade. Ambitious boys have a wide range of options set before
them. They might learn how to work with silver and gold, how to create beauti-
ful musical instruments, or how to sail ships across the oceans. Because of social
stigmas, motivated girls have dramatically fewer choices. One possibility that was
only open to them was to become an apprentice to a midwife. There they could
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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learn the secrets of taking care of expectant mothers along with the delivery of
healthy babies. After many years of hard work, you finally finished your contract
and earned your title. Only then, could you go out into the world and represent
yourself as one who knew the craft.
For those with limited resources, the only real way to learn a skill or a trade
was through the route of indentured servant. Either your parents or guardians
would draw up a binding contract between a craftsman and you. In return for
teaching you the trade along with providing you with room and board, you gave
the craftsman almost every waking hour of every day. Butcher, baker, and black-
smith are some crafts that a boy might learn. Once again, the options for girls are
very restricted. Maybe you could be a scullery maid or a seamstress. Once your
contract is completed, you are free to move on. However, only the most energetic
went somewhere else because you had only a skill at the end of your time of
service and no money to support yourself.
An important byproduct of this way of life is that our children learned the
difference between right and wrong on the job. Those above you drove this fact
into your mind every day. There is a right and a wrong way to work with metals.
If you do not learn this, you will never be a successful silversmith. There is a right
and a wrong way to build violins. Great musicians will pay those who can turn out
wonderful instruments. There is a right and a wrong way to navigate. Those who
forget basic rule this will be a danger to their crew and cargo. There is a right and
wrong way to take care of pregnant mothers. If you do not remember this fact, the
unborn baby will suffer. The exact same idea goes for all of the crafts. There is

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a right and wrong way to store meat. When this fact is forgotten, your customers
will get sick. There is a right and wrong way to make bread. The shoppers know
this and they will not take a poor product. There is a right and wrong way to handle
metal. Forget this someone will be hurt. There is a right and a wrong way to clean
tables. Carelessness will break expensive dishes. There is a right and wrong way
to make clothes. If they do not fit, no one will buy them.
Ever so slowly, we came to the conclusion that families should not decide the
careers of their children. Instead, we sent our children to schools where they had
a chance to experience the different options set before them. After a few years
of high school, we expect them to decide their future based on what they like. If
you like math, then maybe you should be an engineer. If you like science, then
you might want to be a doctor. If you like shop, then perhaps you could try out
carpentry.
Just like before, we have taught our children something. Instead of learning
the value of making a sound judgment, we have instructed our children in the
importance of their feelings. There is an experience you need to have before you
design buildings. If you like how you feel in math class, then this is what you
should be doing. There is an experience you need to have before taking care of
patients. You need to like science. There is an experience you need to have before
you take up a hammer. You should enjoy the time you spend in shop.
The modifications in they way we learned our careers along with a myriad
number of other changes in our world has caused a dramatic shift in our focus.
We no longer feel the need to make judgments based on what we can see. Rather

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we make our selections based on our feelings.2
We hear this idea everyday. “It is all good.” (Obviously, one choice is just as
good as all others.) “Everything goes.” (Who cares what others might think?) “Just
do it.” (And think about the consequences later.)
Right before us in today’s Gospel lesson, we have some very harsh words
about judgment that cause us pain. At the harvest, Jesus orders the weeds to be
collected and burned (Matthew 13:30). Just to make sure that we hear this dis-
agreeable message, Jesus tells us once again in the parable’s explanation that the
weeds will be burned when they are collected (Matthew 13:40). Like a bad penny
that keeps turning up, we hear these unpleasant words one more time. They will
be tossed in the furnace of fire (Matthew 13:42).
One way we could deal with all of this nasty language about judgment is to
say that Jesus never really spoke either the parable or its interpretation.3 In fact,
if we feel that our proof is strong enough, we can forget this whole idea about
2
This reality of our infatuation with the “experience” of life was first explained by Willard
Van Orman Quine. In Quine’s twenty-three page article first published in 1951, he describes what
many philosophers believe to be an accurate understanding of the postmodern age. In Two Dogmas
of Empiricism, Quine writes at every experience can be valid. This can be my experience, your
experience, the current group’s experience, the previous group’s experience, or a future group’s
experience. Participation is not the only way to understand life. Technical reason, which can be
quantified, and other experiences such as feelings and emotions are all perfectly correct ways of
describing the world. Willard Van Orman Quine, Two Dogmas of Empiricism, (http://www.
ditext.com/quine/quine.html, 1953), p. 17. In other words, all observations, no matter
if they are scientific facts or theories, sociological facts or theories, experiences, or beliefs, are
equally good ways to understand the world.
3
Liberal theologians favor the starting point of experience. For example, Friedrich Schleierma-
cher stated that the foundation for theology must be the feeling that is universal in all religions
and that this feeling must be available to every human. Nancey Murphy, Beyond Liberalism and
Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set The Theological Agenda, (Trinity
Press International, 1996), p. 22-23. It is these feelings that must be used to examine all doctrine
and it if the foundation for theology. ibid., p. 24.

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a God who decides the worth of weeds.4 This argument is largely based on one
verse in the explanation. Our translation reads, “The Son of Man will send His
angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers
(Matthew 13:41 NRSV).” Three parts of this phrase are only found in the Gospel
according to St. Matthew. They are, “The Son of Man will send His angels,” which
is found only three times in Matthew (Matthew 13:41, 16:27, 24:31). “All causes
of sin,” which also only occurs three times (Matthew 13:41; 16:23; 18:7).5 And the
Greek word translated here as “evildoers” is not found in any of the other Gospels
(Matthew 7:23, 13:41, 23:28, 24:12).6
The other, the oh so popular way, to skip right over this parable and its inter-
pretation is to speak in analogy. For example, evil is something that other people
have in their hearts. Maybe, Jesus is not really going to ever do this horrible idea
of destroying the weeds. All that He is doing is exaggerating a slight bit to moti-
vate us into action. Or perhaps, Jesus is not all the concerned about what we do.
As long as you want to love Jesus with your whole heart, you will be fine.
What would it mean to us if we thought that Jesus was directly speaking to you
and me? What would it look like if we took these difficult words at face value?7
4
Most interpreters feel the parable’s interpretation is from the author of Matthew because it uses
Matthew’s terms unique to Matthew along with the post-Easter interpretation that Jesus is both the
Son of man here on earth and He is the one who is in charge of the angels. S.J. Daniel J. Harrington;
Idem, editor, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota:
The Liturgical Press, 1991), pp. 206, 208, Arland J. Hultgren, Chap. Parables of Final Judgement
In ‘The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary’, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000),
p. 301.
5
The Greek πάντα τὰ σκάνδαλα would be better translated as “all that scandalizes.”
6
᾿Ανομία here translated as evildoers literally means against the law.
7
For the conservative, the Bible is the foundation for conservative theology, thus all of the
teachings of the Scriptures must be completely free of any error. Murphy, Beyond Liberalism
and Fundamentalism, p. 17. This methodology causes fundamental theologians to be cautious in

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 First, we would have to cut through all the politically correct language along
with a poor translation and tell you what Jesus really said. He did not say, “The
kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his
field. (Matthew 13:24).” With this version found in today’s bulletin, we cannot tell
who is doing the work nor can we see what is happening. Jesus actually said, “The
kingdom of heaven has become like a man who sowed good seed in His field.”8
This parable is not some hypothetical issue for Jesus. He has been preaching that
kingdom of heaven was with them (Matthew 4:17). It also describes what is hap-
pening to the people listening to the parable. All of God is right there in Jesus.
Every bit of the kingdom of heaven is there in that Man. He, the Triune God, is
out bringing the message of hope to His world.
Next, it is not just “any enemy” who is out planting weeds in the world (Matthew
13:25). The original language has the phrase “His enemy.”9 It is Christ’s enemy
who is out in the fields doing this damage. As much as we might want to deny it,
God has an enemy. This was true in Christ’s time and it is also true today. This
one is out in the world doing whatever he can to stop the kingdom of heaven from
coming.
We also need to know something about the seed that is being planted by the
changing any words in Scripture since language is used to make “precise statements” about God.
Murphy, Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism, p. 61.
8
A better translation of ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείραντι καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ
ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ would be “the kingdom of heaven has become like a man” because the kingdom is
like the metaphor that has already started in Jesus’ ministry where there were wheat and weeds
growing together in a field. Hultgren, ‘The Parables of Jesus’, p. 295-296.
9
The Greek has his enemy not just any enemy.Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew,
p. 203, Hultgren, ‘The Parables of Jesus’, p. 292.

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enemy of God. This problematic weed looks so much like the good wheat that it
can only be separated out at harvest.10 It is very important for us to remember this
one fact. We cannot tell the good grain from the bad weed in this specific instance.
This means that we cannot do anything to destroy the weeds since any premature
action on our part will do more damage than good.
Does this parable tell us not to make judgments about others? In a word, no.
Over and over, eleven times in all by my count, Jesus tells us in the Gospel accord-
ing to Matthew that one can tell a plant by the fruit it produces.11 If the number
of times that Jesus repeats this message to us does not convince you that Chris-
tians can and should make decisions about people’s behaviors then maybe this fact
will. Jesus gives us specific directions on church discipline in Matthew (Matthew
18:15-20). It is part of the ELCA constitution and it is what we use at Tree of Life.
Another fact about the weed that needs to be emphasized is that its seeds must
be removed when milling the wheat because if you do not, the weed will destroy
the flour.12 Jesus must make a horrible choice. Either all His work here on earth
will be destroyed by the enemy or He must get rid of every last bit the weed so
that the flour will be usable.
All the time while the weed is growing the Christ’s fields, Jesus does not rush
to take action. He shows the noxious plant an infinite amount of patience.13 He
10
Hultgren, ‘The Parables of Jesus’, p. 296.
11
Matthew 3:8, 3:10, 7:16, 7:17, 7:18, 7:19, 7:20, 12:33, 13:23, 21:34, 21:43
12
Ibid.
13
When the slaves address the householder as master (κύριε), this could refer to Jesus as the
Christ or it might be the only possible way that the slaves could address their owner. Ibid.. I prefer
to think that the slaves are addressing the L ORD.

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feeds it and He waters it but He does not pull it up. By allowing the weeds to
live, He allows for the possibility of the weeds becoming wheat.14 Things change
dramatically during the harvest. Now, absolutely no patience is shown.15 The weed
is collected and burned (Matthew 13:30).
This brings us to the sentence that some use to prove that Jesus never spoke this
parable or its explanation. It is where Jesus says, “The Son of Man will send his
angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers
(Matthew 13:41).” You will have to give them this one point; Jesus does not ever
seem to say that He will send His angels to remove evil in the other Gospels.
But the rest of the phrase sounds very familiar to us because it is. Jesus warns us
repeatedly about what causes sin. Actually in this verse, He tells us that we need
to be on the watch for all that scandalizes.16 We all can think of little things that
trip us up. He has already told us about two of them. We are to come to church
only when we have forgiven our family (Mathew 5:21-25). We are to give a cold
drink to the children (Matthew 10:42). From this translation that we used today, it
also seems that Jesus is against evildoers. It might prove difficult find other cases
in the Bible where Jesus speaks like this. Once again, this English version is not
accurate. Jesus is actually speaking about those individuals who are opposed to
the law. Now, this is more in line with the rest of Christ’s teachings in Matthew.
He already reminded us that all the law, even the tiniest bit, must be kept (Matthew
14
Martin Luther, The Sermons of Martin Luther, (Volume II, 1906).
15
Douglas R. A. Hare; James Luther Mays, Jr. Patrick D. Miller and Paul J. Achtemeier, editors,
Matthew Interpretation, (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), Interpretation: A Bible
Commentary for Preaching and Teaching, p. 155.
16
The Greek reads: πάντα τὰ σκάνδαλα.

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5:19-20).
So, using a good Lutheran phrase, “What does this mean?” It means that we
are in deep trouble. We have the evil one right here among us. This one is trying
to distract us from our real work of bringing the Word of God to everyone. We
are also actively helping the evil one. Some of us help Christ’s enemy by telling
people that Christ’s words about judgment mean something than what they plainly
say. Others of us assist the evil one because we trip up those people around us by
not leading a Christ-like life. And we all share in the dislike of the law since we
continue to rebel against its teachings.
Our actions that aid and abet the evil one clearly place us in the following
category. We are his children. Because of this fact, Christ clearly tells us what will
happen to all of us. We will be destroyed in fire (Matthew 13:38). And if this was
not frightening enough, Jesus plainly states that He will remove all lawlessness
from the universe. For all of us, this is terrifying since we all know !that Jesus is
the only human that is completely free of sin. Jesus is the only One who has kept
the Law as God intended
Who then can stand this awful judgment? Who then will be left on the last
day?
Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome who will live. Everyone of us
who has been adopted in God’s family will be able, by God’s unimaginable grace,
to live through God’s righteous judgment (Romans 8:15-17). This is His gift to
you.
On that last day of judgment when all causes of sin are taken away from us,

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everything in our body that separates us from God will be removed (Romans 8:23).
We finally can be One with Him and all the rest of creation.
Christ’s followers have nothing to fear from what awaits all of us!
How then do you know that this is true? Christ came to you in baptism and
took you for His own. You are now His child. Because of His gift to you, you will
live forever.
The way that we look at the world has dramatically changed. At one time
in the past, we valued the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong.
One way that we reinforced this ability was through the education system. Our
teachers taught us how to make value judgments. The world is a different place
today. Instead of appreciating the difference between what we should do and what
we should not, we like to emphasize our feelings. We now want to try different
things until we find that one thing that suits us.
As Christians, we can bemoan that the world has changed. We can point out
deficiencies with the world’s way of thinking. We can even teach our children how
to make good judgments.
There is something else that we can do. We can stare the problem right in the
face with the Word of God. The Lord has command us to “Taste and see that the
Lord is good. (Psalm 34:9).” That is exactly what the youth and their leaders will
do this week at Camp Chrysalis. In the middle of all the fun and games, their
leaders and the camp counselors will remind them what it is all about. So when
someone comes and asks you how do you know that this is all real, trust that the
Lord fulfills His Word and tell them, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

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 “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”17

References

Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; Idem, editor, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, Sacra
Pagina Series, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991), ISBN
0-8146-5803-2.

Hare, Douglas R. A.; Mays, James Luther, Patrick D. Miller, Jr. and Achtemeier,
Paul J., editors, Matthew Interpretation, (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox
Press, 1993), Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teach-
ing.

Hultgren, Arland J., Chap. Parables of Final Judgement In ‘The Parables of Je-
sus: A Commentary’, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000),
pp. 292–330.

Luther, Martin, The Sermons of Martin Luther, (Volume II, 1906), This sermon
is on the text from Matthew 13:24-30. The book was originally published
by Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI) and was later translated into
English in 1906 by Lutherans in All Lands Press (Minneapolis, MN) under
the title of The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther, Vol. 11. The
pagination is from Baker’s edition.
17
Philippians 4:7.

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Murphy, Nancey, Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism: How Modern and
Postmodern Philosophy Set The Theological Agenda, (Trinity Press Inter-
national, 1996).

Quine, Willard Van Orman, Two Dogmas of Empiricism, (http://www.

ditext.com/quine/quine.html, 1953), Originally published in
The Philosophical Review 60 (1951): 20-43. Reprinted in W.V.O. Quine,
From a Logical Point of View (Harvard University Press, 1953; second, re-
vised, edition 1961.).

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