July 19, 2026 homily on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 and Romans 8:18-19 by Pastor Galen
“Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.” – Romans 8:19
Good Seeds and Weeds
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who went out and sowed good seeds in his field. These were not just any old seeds that he found lying around or bought off the rack. The farmer had carefully selected good seed and prepared the soil. He had every reason to expect a healthy crop.
But one night, after the seeds had been planted and while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and deliberately sowed weeds among the wheat.
This seems like an odd and malicious thing for an enemy to do. But Jesus’s parables were always told to get a point across. Through this strange story about a field filled with both wheat and weeds, Jesus has something important to teach us about evil, judgment, patience, and faithfulness.
Wait Until Harvest
In the story, the good seeds that the farmer planted sprouted and grew. But the seeds planted by the enemy also grew, producing weeds interspersed among the wheat.
When the workers went out to check on the crops, they saw the weeds and asked the farmer if they should pull them up. But the farmer cautioned them to wait until harvest time. Pulling the weeds too soon could uproot the wheat along with them. Once the plants had fully matured, the harvesters would be able to separate one from the other.
Often we do not receive a direct explanation of what Jesus’s parables mean. But in this case, Matthew includes the interpretation Jesus gave to his disciples. Jesus explains that the farmer represents the Son of Man, meaning Jesus himself. The field is the world. The good seed represents the people of God’s kingdom, while the weeds represent those who belong to the evil one. The enemy is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age.
At the end of the age, God will bring judgment and remove everything that causes sin and destruction. Jesus concludes, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).
Most of us do not enjoy thinking about final judgment, so we may feel tempted to shy away from this parable. Yet it teaches us something important about the goodness and mercy of God and the reality of evil and suffering in our world.
The parable shows us that there is an enemy actively working to bring destruction and chaos into the good world that God created. Scripture calls this enemy Satan or the devil. His goal is to resist the good purposes of God and damage what God created.
We also see the goodness of Jesus (represented by the farmer who sowed good seeds). The Book of Acts says that Jesus was filled “with the Holy Spirit and power” and that “he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
Throughout his ministry, Jesus brought healing to people who were suffering. He restored those who had been pushed aside and confronted the powers that held people captive. His life reveals the mercy of God and shows us what God’s kingdom looks like.
Yet evil and suffering continue, which raises some difficult questions. Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why does injustice so often seem to go unchecked? Why has Jesus not yet returned to bring the final harvest and make all things new?
We especially ask these questions in light of the pain and suffering happening around us. We ask them when we hear about violence, war, hunger, and injustice. We ask them when someone we love experiences a tragedy that seems completely senseless.
The honest answer is that we do not always know why bad things happen. Jesus does not explain the reason behind every tragedy through this parable. But he assures us that God remains present in the field and that the promised harvest will come. Evil will not have the final word.
At the same time, God’s patience may also create space for repentance and transformation. Someone who is causing harm today may still encounter the grace of God and turn toward a different path. As long as there is life, there remains the possibility of repentance.
The Line Through Every Heart
This parable cautions us against walking through the world and deciding for ourselves which people are wheat and which people are weeds. God alone sees every person’s heart clearly. We do not know what God’s grace may yet accomplish in someone’s life, and we should be humble about our own ability to separate the righteous from the unrighteous.
Leaving final judgment in God’s hands still calls us to protect vulnerable people and confront injustice. The farmer’s instruction to wait does not give us permission to overlook abuse or remain silent while people are harmed. Christians are called to resist evil and pursue justice while trusting that God is the ultimate judge.
We also need to remember that sin exists within every human heart. If God immediately removed every person who had ever caused harm, acted selfishly, or disobeyed God, none of us would remain. Even Christians who faithfully attend church, read the Bible, and pray still struggle with sinful and selfish desires. We often deviate from the path God has placed before us. Our choices hurt other people, damage relationships, and separate us from God’s will.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn described this reality when he wrote:
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Movies, television shows, and cartoons often draw a clear line between heroes and villains. But real life is more complicated. Even our heroes have flaws and make mistakes, and no sinner is beyond the reach of God’s transforming grace.
We Christians know this better than anyone. That’s why we are here! We do not come to church because we are perfect or because we have everything together. We come because we know that we are sinful, fallen people in need of God’s saving grace.
Paul says in Romans 8 that we are putting “to death the deeds of the body” and seeking to be “led by the Spirit of God.” Through Christ, we have been adopted into God’s family and made joint heirs with him. This adoption comes through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us on the cross. God meets us as we are and continues working within us.
We as United Methodists sometimes refer to this continuing work as sanctifying grace. The Holy Spirit gradually shapes our hearts, helps us turn away from sin, and teaches us to love God and our neighbors more fully.
The struggle with sin takes place throughout the world and within our own hearts. And so we’re called to approach other people with humility and to continue asking God to transform us.
Creation Waits
The parable describes a field in which wheat and weeds grow together. In Romans 8, Paul describes a creation that is groaning as it waits to be set free. Both passages reflect the world as we presently experience it. God’s work of renewal has begun, and creation still waits for that work to be completed. Paul says that creation is “longing for the revealing of the children of God” and waiting to “be set free from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:19, 21). He goes on to say that “we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).
Along with the rest of creation, we wait for the glory that Paul says will be revealed to us. We look forward to the day when, as Jesus says, “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).
Longing and groaning are appropriate responses to life in a world filled with joy and sorrow, goodness and evil, wheat and weeds. We see evidence of God’s grace all around us, while also recognizing how much healing and restoration the world still needs. Paul says that creation is waiting for the revealing of the children of God. That means creation is waiting to see what God’s children will look like.
The Holy Spirit is forming us into people whose lives reflect the character of our heavenly Father. A groaning world needs to encounter mercy, courage, justice, patience, generosity, and love through the lives of God’s children.
Wait and Work
And so while we wait, we continue the work God has given us. The farmer’s servants were told to leave the final judgment of the field in the farmer’s hands. But they still had a field to tend and a harvest to prepare for. In the same way, leaving judgment in God’s hands does not release us from our responsibility to serve God faithfully.
As we wait and pray for Jesus to return and make all things new, we participate in God’s work here on earth. We proclaim the gospel through our words and actions by feeding hungry neighbors, caring for those who are sick, advocating for the poor, welcoming the stranger, teaching children, and caring for creation. Much of this work may seem small. An act of kindness may affect someone more deeply than we realize. A word of encouragement may take root in someone’s heart, and faithful service may produce fruit that we will never personally see.
None of us can bring God’s kingdom in its fullness through our own efforts. The final harvest remains in God’s hands. Yet the Holy Spirit can use our ordinary acts of faithfulness to offer the world a glimpse of the kingdom Jesus has promised. God holds final judgment, while we remain faithful to the work entrusted to us.
We do not know when the harvest will come, and many of our questions about suffering remain unanswered. We trust that God has not abandoned the field. The Spirit continues working within us and throughout creation.
Wherever God has planted us, may our roots grow deep in the grace of Jesus Christ. May our lives bear good fruit as we resist evil, pursue justice, care for our neighbors, and sow seeds of hope.
Let us leave judgment in the hands of the One who sees every heart clearly. Until the day when the righteous shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father, may we pray faithfully and serve courageously as children of God.
Amen!
Questions for personal reflection:
- Have you ever been too quick to judge someone as a “weed”? What might it look like to leave final judgment in God’s hands?
- How have you experienced God’s patience giving you time to repent, grow, or choose a different path?
- Where do you see evidence of sanctifying grace gradually changing your life?
- Where is God calling you to confront injustice or protect someone who is vulnerable?
- How can your life more clearly reflect God’s mercy, courage, justice, patience, generosity, and love?
Hampden United Methodist Church 