Every gardener knows that planting seeds is the easy part of having a successful garden. And if you ask some of the gardeners or farmers, they will tell you that it is more time-consuming to weed that same garden. And it is hard work.
One time, Jesus told his listeners about weeding: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner said to his servants, ‘An enemy did this. But do not pull them up because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time we will collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” Then Jesus explained the meaning of this parable later.
For farmers and gardeners, there is some truth in what Jesus said. But Jesus is not just giving us a guide to growing good wheat. He is also talking about human behavior. But one thing’s for sure, in this scenario, you do not want to be a weed. If we take Jesus literally, this is a scary parable. The weeds are going to be thrown to the fire to be burned.
Nevertheless, this parable tells us that in most cases, what happens to us is partly because of what we have sown. It does not always happen of course, but often, we reap what we sow.
There is a bumper sticker with this message: “Honk if you love Jesus! Text while driving if you want to meet Him.” I have also read of a man in the U.S. who protested against the wearing of helmets. And so he rode on his motorcycle without a helmet. He had an accident and died of brain injury. That is an example of reaping what we have sown.
However, sometimes other innocent people are hurt because of the sin of another person.
In the movie The Last Emperor, the young child anointed as the last emperor of China lives a magical life of luxury with a thousand eunuch servants at his command. “What happens when you do wrong?” his brother asks him. “When I do wrong, someone else is punished,” the boy emperor replies. To demonstrate, he breaks a jar, and one of the servants is beaten.
We say that it is not fair. You do the crime, someone else does the time.
However, sometimes in real life, this happens. How many innocent children suffer because of the sins of abusive parents? How many spouses suffer because of the waywardness of their partner? If one gets hit by the driver who is texting or one who is drunk, another person has reaped what another has sown.
There is now an ordinance here in Dumaguete not to smoke in public areas. We know that many have died because of smoking. And many innocent lives have suffered also because of second-hand smoke. Sometimes we create our own hell in this world, and there are times when it affects the people around us.
And when the weeds get big enough that anybody can recognize them, it’s too late to do anything about them.
How many parents have been too late recognizing the weeds growing in the life of their young person, like drugs or depression or running with the wrong crowd?
For that matter, how many adults have recognized too late that vices like gambling, smoking, or some other addiction has them in its grasp? Or, even more likely, negative attitudes like bitterness, resentment, bigotry are part of their lives?
Lives are being destroyed. Hearts are broken. Relationships are torn. And it is like living in hell. And here’s the sad thing: The people whose lives are being choked by these weeds are, for the most part, not bad people. They are good people who simply were not vigilant about the weeds around them.
Then the landowner instructed his servants not to pull the weeds until harvest time. We are told that the weeds in Jesus’ parable were a poisonous variety called “bearded darnel.”
In the early stages of growth, this bearded darnel closely resembles wheat that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.
Later when it has grown, it is too late. The roots of the wheat and weeds are so intertwined that one could not be pulled without also tearing up the other. To rip up the weeds would also be to destroy the growth of the wheat. So the landowner was being wise to wait until harvest time.
Now what does that mean for us? The implication is that we leave God to judge other people.
A constant theme in Jesus’ teaching is that his followers were not to pass judgment on others. Generally, the primary sin of highly religious people is being self-righteous and judgmental. We have a tendency to judge who is fit for the kingdom and who is not, who is spiritual and who is worldly.
This is dangerous because first of all, we ourselves are not totally acceptable. In other words, there is a wheat in us and a weed in us as well. In our Bible Study, one participant said, “Sometimes I act like a wheat, sometimes I act like a weed.”
Writer Kent Crockett tells about a married couple who pulled into a full service gas station to refuel their car. As the tank was being filled, the station attendant washed the windshield. When he finished, the husband stuck his head out the window and said, “It’s still dirty. Wash it again.” “Yes, sir,” the attendant replied. After he cleaned it a second time, the husband said, “Don’t you know how to wash a windshield? It is still filthy. Now do it again!” The attendant scrubbed the windshield a third time, carefully looking for any messy spots he might have missed. By now the husband was fuming. “I can’t believe you are so incompetent that you can’t even do a simple job like cleaning a windshield! I’m going to report you to your boss!”
Just then, his wife reached over and removed his glasses. She wiped them clean with a tissue, then put them back on his face. And it was amazing how clean the windshield was!
We forget that when we judge others, we are looking through smudged lens. Only God, who is aware of all the facts, is able to judge people rightly.
The second reason why we should not judge others is because when we do, we distance ourselves from them.
It is easy to tell other people how wrong they are. It is much different though to actually engage with people, learn their stories, learn their hurts, learn their lives.
We are all familiar with John 3: 16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Then the next verse which we sometimes forget tells us “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
And so it is with us. We are not here to judge others. We may have to warn them of what they are doing to their lives and their loved ones. But our task is to love people and to witness to them of a God who loves them. I know it is not easy.
You see, the real problem with passing judgment on others is that it does not allow us to be vehicles of God’s grace. Our primary task is to help other people experience God’s grace just as we have experienced that grace.
The teaching of the parable is clear: there will come a time when the wheat is separated from the weeds. But only God is in a position to judge which is which.
And for the meantime, there are some people who create their own hell in this world. However, our role is to focus on what God has called us to do–to love all people and to witness to the amazing grace of God as shown in Jesus Christ. May this be so.
