Rocks were flying everywhere. People were throwing them at a man for saying that he believed in the Lord Jesus. They hit him in the head, struck him in the chest, and drove him to his knees. Rocks continued raining down on him. Pretty soon he'd be dead.
Just before he died, he prayed. What do you think he prayed? Did he say: “O God, let me live so that I can get even”? “O God, punish my enemies for me”? “O God, get rid of them now”? No! None of that! Quietly he prayed, “Lord please do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said that, Stephen died.
The man prayed for bad people. Where had he learned that? He learned it from the Savior. When the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, Jesus did not hate them for their wicked deed. Rather, He prayed for them and said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”
That's the way Jesus taught us to treat those who aren't nice to us. On another occasion He said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who (are mean) to you (and hurt you)” (Mt.5:44). So, dear friend, the next time you get angry at someone, try doing what Jesus and Stephen did - pray for him, even if he is a bad person. But it's hard! Why is it hard to pray for someone we don't like?
Well, it's not hard for the New Man in us to do that. But it is impossible for the Old Adam because the sinful nature desires that which is contrary to God. God's way is to bring forth fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Ga.5:17,22). “Patience; kindness; goodness; gentleness towards those who are mean? Nuts to that!” the inner voice cries. “Get even! They deserve it! Get rid of them!” Strange, isn't it, that the Old Man within us, who is bad himself, tempts us to get rid of bad people? But that's how he works and that's what Jesus talks about in our text this morning. So let's ask Him: Lord, What Shall We Do About Bad People?
I. Don't pull them (the weeds) up.
He responds with a parable: “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's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' ‘An enemy did this,' he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?'”
Sometimes the people of God ask a similar thing when they look at the wicked conditions of the world around them, or, like Stephen, they experience the pain that evil people bring them in this world. They might even want to know why such bad people are here in the first place. Isn't this God's world to begin with? Didn't He create it perfect? But there's so much wickedness and there are so many mean and bad people, even though the Gospel is clearly proclaimed. Why? How did it get to be like this?
Jesus' answer to that first question is clear and simple: “An enemy did this. He put them there.”
Do I have to tell you who this “enemy” of God's world is? Jesus says most clearly in the explanation: “It's the devil.”
Ever since he was kicked out of heaven and thrown to hell after he rebelled against God, he is bent on wreaking havoc in this world that God made for us. That's why the Bible warns, “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short” (Rv.12:12).
It's too late for him; there is no salvation possible for Satan. But if he's going to be lost forever, he's going to do as much damage to God's world and God's people that he can in the short time he's got left before eternity comes.
One of the things he does, in the words of the parable, is to “sow weeds among the wheat.” In other words, wherever you are in this world, if you are one of God's people, the “good seed” who believe in Christ Jesus as the Savior - wherever you are, the devil will plant bad people, unbelievers, right next to you. They may live in the same houses, work in the same job places, belong to the same organizations, etc. In some cases the bad ones are evident. But in other cases it's hard to see because the outward appearance does not always display what is really in a person's heart.
It's a dangerous situation, dear friends, eternally dangerous for the unbeliever can mislead your soul and take you away from the truth of the Gospel. Or he can influence you enough with sinful words and deeds so that you start talking and acting like he does.
As an example, think of last week's parable about the Sower and the Seed. In it God invites us to come to church and open our Bibles to let our ears hear His Word deeply and our hearts trust it completely. But some of the devil's “weeds” that he plants next to us in this world tell us, “What do you want to do that for? Why go to church and waste your time reading God's Word when you could be doing so many other fun things.” And with such temptations they seek to lead the believer astray.
Or, even more, gut-wrenching, the bad people of this world are just plain mean or take advantage of the humble believer. Some even seek to destroy Christianity outright. Lord, what should we do about it? Should we pull them up and get rid of them?
Isn't that how you've been tempted to think at times towards those who torment you most in life? Here Jesus responds to every Christian heart that is frustrated and distressed by the unbelief and evil that threatens our lives and the pain it inflicts. “We've got to do something about it. The church just can't stand around and let them take over. Root them out!” that's what we want to say.
The Lord responds, “No! Don't pull them up. Don't exert force over them.”
II. Why not?
Why don't Christians use force against bad people and unbelievers? Well, think of what happens when you go out to the garden to pull up weeds growing with your vegetables.
When they were younger, I tried to have Sara and Vanessa help me in the garden when I didn't have the chance to go out. I remember telling them once to pull up the weeds, but I didn't really show them clearly what the weeds were and they were too young to tell. Well, sure enough, after a time I went out to see how they were doing. They got the weeds, alright; but they had pulled up many of the good plants, too.
Again, God's people live side by side with unbelievers in this life. Sometimes we look very much alike – work the same jobs, have the same customs, help the same charities, etc. But only God can look at the heart to see who believes in the Savior. Sometimes saving faith comes early in life; sometimes not until the last second. Only God knows when it happens. If we, on the basis of outward appearance, without any other direction from God, try to root up all evil, we might root up some of the good with it.
For example, think of the Apostle Paul. Before Paul he was the wicked Saul, the man who was in charge of Stephen's murder and the persecution of many other believers at the time. What if Jerusalem believers got together and planned to assassinate him before his conversion? They would have rooted up one of the greatest champion's of Christ's Church.
Or what about you, dear believer? What if someone had cut short your time of grace before God had graciously called you to faith? Isn't that a good reason for the Church not to exert force in the world? And even if you have to endure some mean behavior from bad people, you never know what God, in His wisdom, has planned for that person and what time it will take place. Who would ever have thought that the wicked Saul would become the missionary Paul? Besides that, to exert force would deny our very nature as Christians. That is love – even for the enemy - like Christ loved us. Don't pull them up! Why not?
III. God will take care of it.
He said, “Let them grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: ‘Collect the weeds, tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'”
The One who knows all things and knows the proper time for all things, will take care of it in His time. Until then we still have the opportunity to be His witnesses to all, yes, even the bad people. Who knows if they won't turn from their way and be saved? But one day at the end, God will remove all evil from us when the devil and his sons are thrown into the fiery furnace of hell. On the one hand that serves as a grave warning to us not to fall from faith. On the other it serves as a gracious reminder of the reward of grace that awaits those who trust the Savior who lived and died for their sins. Washed in His blood, believers will inherit the eternal mansions above.
I want to be there. Don't you? I want to see those people all over the world, whom Christ Jesus washed in His blood and held in His hand. I want to see those who suffered long and patiently endured while trusting in Him, to join their song of praise before the Lamb, and to enjoy His peace and heavenly contentment evermore. We might not be able to do anything about the bad people who afflict us in this life, but we can put everything in the hand of a gracious God and look for Him to save us and them at the proper time. God grant it in our lives of faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.