Opening Prayer
Search me, O God, and know my heart, and lead me on the way of life. Amen.
Text: Matthew 13:36-43
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Devotion
Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, was about to be thrown to wild animals. Shortly before this he wrote to his congregation whom he knew and loved well: “I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.”8 This is one of the few who faced death with blessed assurance of faith. Who of us can boast of this? Can God not come today? At this harvest this saying doesn’t apply: “Midsummer has not yet come.” The Father alone has set the time and the hour. Neither may we say: “The signs which shall precede it have not yet happened.” We are often so blind that we ourselves do not see or understand the signs of the time. Nor can we say: “The world is not yet ripe for harvest.” Who can judge that? Only He who is the Lord of the harvest, who arranges the harvest, who directs the harvesters.
So wake up, before the separation comes. No weed can stand before God. For the farmer weeds are often so strong that they cannot be controlled. Noxious plants stand so thick that one can’t deal with them. But the harvest sickle of divine judgment cannot be broken. It mows down princes and paupers, as it pleases. Before it all people are like grass in the field (Isa 40:7). “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous” (Psa 1:5).
Before God it is of no use to pretend. There is a kind of false wheat which in its outward appearance looks like true wheat. A human harvester can be fooled into gathering it with his load. There is also such counterfeit wheat in God’s field. Many people have the appearance of fearing God. But it is only a “Christian” cloak. Their heart is not renewed in meekness and devotion to Jesus Christ. God cannot be deceived. He looks at the heart, the grain and kernel. These false grains His harvesters shall bind in bundles to burn them up. So hurry, by the Lord’s power and grace become a true stalk of wheat! Do not be ashamed to repent! Hurry! The older a heart gets, the more difficult it is to be renewed and become a child of God. Think of God’s Day of Judgment as coming tomorrow. Then you should take care of your salvation today. If you have found shelter under His grace, and if in mercy He will grant you to live longer – then “you shall never regret it, for only those can enjoy life, who adorn their life with faith” (Ahlfeld).
Closing Prayer
God, give us this grace that we may be true grains of wheat and be gathered into Your glory. Amen.
Hymn
Give heed, you faithful, for the time
Is ever drawing nearer
And hastily the day shall come
While many walk in error.
Take care, beware, in ev’ry way
Of worldly joy and sorrow;
The fight of faith fight ev’ry day
And pray today, tomorrow.
Brorson: O Menneske som tror og veed L 109:11-12 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Jeg ved et evigt Himmerig; alternate hymn: Almighty God, Thy Word is cast ELH 228