Trinity 6
Beloved. In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weed: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
In Jesus’ parables, the kingdom of heaven is the Church. Jesus describes the Church on earth this way—He is the sower and in this world, the field. Jesus sows the seed of His word and it brings forth Christians, for only by the work of the Holy Spirit in the word are Christians “made.” But within the outward visible Church here on earth, there are both true Christians and hypocrites and unbelievers mixed in, because why? – his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. Sometimes the wickedness of the unbelievers and hypocrites becomes obvious by what they do or what they teach that opposes Jesus and His word. So the outward, visible Christian Church here on earth is like a field of wheat that has weeds mixed in. The point? –The Church in this world will never be perfect; it will never be a group of nothing but pure saints. Among those claiming to be Christians will be both hypocrites—those who may even look like and sound like true Christians, put on a good show, but in their hearts do not trust in Jesus alone for salvation; it will be hard to tell they are weeds and not the wheat. But others claiming to be Christians, show by their life and conduct they are clearly weeds.
This is a very important parable for us to grasp as we live out our lives in the outward visible Church here on earth. It is easy to get frustrated by the obvious weeds—we want the Church here on earth to be nothing but pure saints. But that’s not the reality. Let’s not get tripped up by it. With so much wickedness and offense obvious in the outward, visible Church, many would like to remove all the weeds/ the wicked and desire a Church of pure saints: So the servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them in?” But he said, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.” Even as we exercise church discipline according to God’s will, it will never come to the point that there will never be any offense in the Church, nor any hypocrite in our midst—nor should the Church even strive for that goal. Acting according to our own wisdom and trying to separate true and false Christians, some true Christians would be rooted out with the weeds because there is still much sin in believing Christians.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Only at the end of the world will the wicked be separated from the Christian. Here in the parable Jesus also introduces the theme of the end of the world, the judgment; the wretched condition of the wicked and unbeliever in hell—the fiery furnace [where] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth—but the blessed state of the believer in heaven: then the righteous will shine like he sun in the kingdom of their Father. And this glorious state of the Christian in heaven is picked up in the epistle where we hear St. Paul: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed in us. But notice as well, he also mentions the sufferings of this present time. And part of the sufferings of this present time is having to deal with the wicked and unbelievers mixed into the outward visible Church, of trying to be a Christian and live out a life of faith and holiness while enduring sin and evil even from our supposed fellow Christian; of the weeds growing with the wheat; of our Lord’s allowance: Let both grow together until the harvest. Doesn’t all of this, though, make us long all the more for our Lord’s return and the Last Day when we will finally be rid of all this? Doesn’t all this make us groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies?
But how does St. Paul describe us now as we wait for Jesus’ return? –we … have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Dear Christian, we have the Holy Spirit in us, dwelling in us. He is the firstfruits; He is the pledge to us that in the end we will be saved. Because we have been given the Holy Spirit/ because the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us that shows that God is serious about bringing us safely through this earthly life to Himself in heaven. The Holy Spirit implants in us a longing for heaven-our true and eternal home.
But think about that, dear Christian—the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are His temple, His sanctuary. And what else does St. Paul say in the epistle? Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We are weak—but in grace upon grace, the Holy Spirit still dwells in us. And what does He do? He is mightily at work in us to help us in our weakness. As we wait and long for Jesus’ return on the Last Day, the Holy Spirit is there, dwelling in us, as a Promise and Guarantee that God is serious about saving us and as He does that He creates that longing for heaven and the day of Jesus return so that we are ready for it.
Left to ourselves and our own devices, we would not long for heaven. We, being bound by sin, would only want to serve ourselves. With our eyes focused on this world and thinking this all that there is, we’d live only for the here and now. But to us—to us weak ones—the Holy Spirit has come. He has come to us in Holy Baptism and made His dwelling in us. And in Holy Baptism, as He worked faith in Jesus in us, we are now united with Jesus. Now through this faith and united with Jesus, we know and look for the best that is yet to come. We have in this Spirit worked faith a firm and settled confidence in the things yet to come. Our text: For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. We, dear Christian, have hope that grows out of our ardent longing for what we desire—that perfect deliverance from sin and that eternal life in heaven. And we have this hope because the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us.
How blessed we are that He is! That’s because as we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. How could we stand and remain faithful and wait for that glorious promise of heaven and Jesus’ return if it weren’t for the work of the Holy Spirit? –Do you feel confident of and long for Jesus’ return and an eternity in heaven? That’s not a feather in your cap; that’s the work of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. He leads us/ gives us the faith that looks beyond the earthly assurance; He gives us the faith that trusts the word and promise of Jesus; He strengthens us to stand amid the very trying conditions of life in this world.
In spite of our weakness, we, dear Christian, are still the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. Precisely because we are weak, we need and have the Holy Spirit. Why would the Holy Spirit come to us if we didn’t need Him? If we could come to the faith on our own, what need would we have of the Holy Spirit? If we could remain in the faith and live in Christian hope without the Holy Spirit, why would the Holy Spirit need bother to come to us? But, dear Christian, we are weak. We still have with us our old sinful nature that rejects the things of God, that is self-centered, wants to sin and looks for and lives only for the here and now, only looks toward and wants pleasure, wealth, power—the things of this world. In this sinful person —you and me, dear Christian—the Holy Spirit wants to and does dwell.
We know the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us as we feel the battle against temptation and sin going on within us. We know the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us as we feel our weakness in faith and hope—if He weren’t dwelling in us, we wouldn’t care. In our times of weakness, as we feel that battle raging within us between faith and despair, sin and holiness, the Holy Spirit is there. Remember: In spite of our weakness, we, dear Christian, are still the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit.
And it’s a good thing that He there. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Here He stands with His wisdom to guide and lead us; here He stands with His consolation when the devil tries to lead us into doubt and despair; here He stands holding before us and reminding us of our salvation in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is there with us in times of temptation and despair with His help; He is with us strengthening us in the word and sacrament. Even though our faith may be weak, dear Christian, it is still faith, true, saving faith and the Holy Spirit in us is helping us in our weakness so that that spark, ember of faith may not be extinguished. He is in us directing our eyes away from and our hearts from attachment to the earthly so that we seek the treasures above.
St. Paul mentions one weakness in particular that the Holy Spirit helps us in—prayer. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. The Christian is the sanctuary/ temple of the Holy Spirit. And how fitting that is because what happens in the sanctuary/ temple? –Prayer! The Holy Spirit leads us to prayer and He Himself is in us praying for us! The glorious work of the Holy Spirit in us is that He teaches us to pray, that is, He works prayer in us—the desire to pray. He moves us to pray and He gives our prayer such power that it comes before God and is pleasing to Him.
But because of our weakness due to our sin and the corruption from sin, we don’t pray as we ought. A lot of this is just our old sinful nature and its hatred of God and the things of God, that shows itself in our sluggishness and laziness in prayer.
But part of our not praying as we ought is that we are limited compared to what God knows and wills. We don’t pray for the right things—using Jesus’ parable, we pray for stones, serpents, scorpions instead of the truly good things we should: bread, fish or an egg. And very often because of our weakness, we aren’t persistent; or we don’t realize what great heavenly, spiritual gifts we are praying for, so our prayers don’t measure up to the importance of the blessings we ask for; or we feebly ask for these great spiritual blessings. So what does the Holy Spirit do? He Himself prays for us! But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit, who made His home in us, who made us His sanctuary in which prayer and worship take place, cannot bear it that it goes so badly for us in this sin contaminated world. So He prays to God for our glory and the end of our suffering. As the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, He knows our true hurts and pains, sufferings and sorrows and He intercedes/ prays for us. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. The Father and the Holy Spirit are so close—different Persons but yet the one and same divine essence—that the Father knows the Spirit’s thoughts/ what He has in mind; He hears the Spirit’s sighs.
The Holy Spirit in us prays for us! Sometimes we know His help; sometimes His help is hidden—but He prays and that prayer is answered! Let us take great comfort—never asking if I feel His presence and help but by faith rest in Him knowing He is praying for me and that prayer is answered.
The Christian is the sanctuary/ temple of the Holy Spirit! Even though and because we are so weak, the Holy Spirit dwells in us with blessing, making us His sanctuary—a place of prayer: He leads us into faith and prayer; and He Himself prays for us! By His work in us and on us, we live our lives in hope, looking and longing for Jesus’ return. INJ Amen