Sh*t Happens
Matthew 13:24-30
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'

He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'

1. I find this parable very meaningful as in it Jesus acknowledges that bad things happen. They happen anywhere and to everybody. And they happen to good people. They are part of life. Jesus is not denying that bad things happen and that is in stark contrast to some religions and even Christian movements who deny that there is real suffering. The Christian Science denomination, for instance, believes that bad things, including illnesses, are not real. They are believed to be only symptomatic and that you can overcome these bad things by focusing on the positive, on healing--by ignoring their reality and power.

But Jesus is not teaching this, he acknowledges the reality of evil and suffering. And if you live in the real world, then you know that sh*t happens sometimes. Here are some humorous examples of when sh*t happens …..

So, rabbi Jesus acknowledges that bad things are real and they may happen to us and, indeed, sometimes there is nothing we can do. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. In this parable, it becomes clear that if you pull out the weeds, you also destroy the wheat. Sometimes, we have to live with the bad in order to protect the good seed that is growing in our lives.
 

2. But here is another point Rabbi Jesus teaches us, namely that while we have to live with the evil in the world now, in the end God will separate the evil from the good and get rid of the evil. Our minds tend to interpret this parable in terms of good people verses evil people; basically saying that God may allow evil people to live, but at the end, they’ll be weeded out and killed off. And indeed this is the explanation that Matthew has us believe came from Jesus’ own mouth a bit further in Chapter 13 (Verses 36-43).

The reason I did not include those verses is that I have a hard time believing in the concept of hell. I just cannot imagine a place like hell to which God would send his own children, people that God created in God’s own image. I am a parent and I could NEVER send any of my children to a place of eternal damnation—no matter how bad they have been. I can imagine punishing them, but not condemning them for eternity. And I am human, I am imperfect. How much less would a God of perfect love be incapable to do such a thing?
 
I know that I am opening myself up to criticism by ignoring certain verses of the bible, but I got to be honest in my theology and my bias in interpretation. The good news is that Jesus’ teaching is powerful and helpful whether hell exists or not. In fact, it may be a better interpretation without the concept of hell, since it focuses our attention on evil things in our own lives that need to be weeded out.

Let me explain: in Verse 13:41 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.”

It’s pretty clear from this verse that it’s not just evildoers but also “all causes of sin” that will be weeded out. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that there are causes of sin in all of us as.

The good news is that God will make sure that the good seed in our hearts is going to come to fruition and will yield good fruit and that the bad that grows along with it will be weeded out in the end.

That’s a very powerful idea and promise isn’t it?

3. But I’d like to make one more point about this text, a point that has been made by  Prof. Elizabeth Johnson: Weeding out sin and evil is not our job—it’s God job.

I am not trying to say here that we should not do anything about bad situations or sin in our lives. Obviously, we are supposed to always try and work on overcoming bad situations and on improving ourselves.

The point made by Prof. Johnson is with regard to people in the Matthean community who were over-eager “weeders.” She writes:

Perhaps there were some overzealous "weeders" in Matthew's congregation who wanted to purify the community by rooting out the bad seed. This seems to be a temptation for followers of Jesus in every age. We whip ourselves into a weeding frenzy, certain that we know the difference between weeds and wheat, and that we know how to deal with the weeds!...

Jesus makes clear that we simply cannot be certain who is "in" or who is "out." In fact, God's judgment about these matters will take many by surprise (7:21-23; 8:11-12; 21:31-32; 25:31-46). Thank God it is not up to us! We can leave the weeding to the angels, and get on with the mission Jesus has given us -- proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God drawing near. (1)

And isn’t that what Jesus is saying with this parable? Leave it up to God to judge what’s evil and what’s good in other people’s lives. Focus on growing good seeds, focus on love for God and love for neighbor. Don’t exclude anybody, but be generous in your love, welcome and support of others. Evil is still part of our lives, but there will be a time when God will right what’s wrong without destroying what is good and fruitful. . And that is awesome news. Amen.

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(1) Prof. Elizabeth Johnson - https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=979