While you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them

Matthew 13:24-43 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷ The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

³³ He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

The parable of the tares among the wheat holds an applicable message for the church today. Notice the conversation upon the discovery of the tares among the wheat.     The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest            In the explanation of the parable Jesus reveals the landowner as the Son of Man, Jesus Himself. His concern is not about the existence of the tares. His concern is for the precious grain to be preserved until the harvest.

In the church today there is often much more focus and attention on removing the tares, all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, than there is for preserving the precious harvest. As Jesus says the result of attempting to remove the tares is that the wheat is also uprooted. There is and always will be those who are stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness and while we should not embrace their lawlessness and allow them to reproduce more of their kind within the church, our first priority should be to preserve what God is growing. We should  focus on preserving God’s harvest, nurturing and caring for those who are immature, teaching them, training them equipping them to be all that God has called them to be.

In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul writes about this focus in the church.       And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.     The primary focus of the ministry gifts is to be equipping and building up the body, not removing the lawless.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says:    But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.       We become like that which we behold. When we focus on God and His glory we become more like Him. If we, on the other hand become so focused on the darkness and lawlessness around us, we ourselves become darkened.

You don’t change the darkness in a room by declaring that it is dark, instead you turn on a light and the light dispels the darkness. The church today needs to prioritize nurturing the good and focusing on God rather than railing against the darkness. Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.    Again it is not that believers or the church should tolerate, embrace or encourage lawlessness or stumbling blocks, those who would try to sow more tares in God’s harvest. But if we will focus on the light and if we will ourselves be the light in the darkness of this world, we ourselves will be transformed from glory to glory and others to will see God’s glory.

Jesus Christ is the one who will judge all at the end of the age.  The text says:  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.      

Jesus says:    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”(John 3:16-21)     “ This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light”   Men loved darkness, they chose darkness rather than the Light, that will be the judgment at the end of the age. Did you choose the darkness of the world or did you choose Christ, the Light of the world.

If the world does not see the light, how then can they choose the light? If all the church does is rail at the darkness how will they see the light?   “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, the Righteous Judge; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for coming as the Light. Thank You for revealing the Light to me. Thank You, that it is not my responsibility to judge or to remove the darkness from the world. You have already done it all Jesus. You are the Light. You are the true judge. Holy Spirit empower me and quicken me to do as Jesus says: to,  Let my light, His Light in me, shine before men in such a way that they may see Your good works, and glorify You, my Father.    Amen.