Sermon: Hope When Facing Evil

Hope When Facing Evil
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
Jeffrey G. Guild, M.Div, D.Min

Netflix and Night Fears

I have a confession to make. When my wife is not looking, I re-arrange the delivery order on Netflix by putting the movies I like at the top of the list, and slide the ones she enjoys to the bottom of the list. It’s her fault for giving me the password to her Netflix account. So, all those “cutesy” Diane Keaton, Ted Danson, Julia Roberts and Reece Witherspoon movies go to the bottom, and westerns, war, and horror movies move to the top. The last time I did this, she was in Florida visiting her family and I was getting a good run with John Wayne movies and eating nothing but grilled steak and baked potatoes. No Hugh Grant and no green leafy foods could be found in my house for two weeks. Then “The Shining” arrived. That’s an old movie of a Steven King novel adapted by Stanley Kubrick for the screen back in the ‘80’s. I had never seen it, and the only thing I knew about it was that it was a horror film starring Jack Nicholson who plays a very evil character, the personification of evil. You might have seen a clip of him saying, “Heeeeeerrrssss Johnny!” Now that is a face you do not want to have in your mind when you go to bed in an empty, dark house with a belly full of red meat and sour cream. For Hollywood, that face is the image of evil. In medieval times, it was the devil, with horns a pointy tail holding a pitch fork and images of Hell portrayed in Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.

Although it is hard to pinpoint evil, we are all too aware of evil’s effects on our lives, communities and world. Both Dante’s depiction of the characters that inhabit Hell and a good Steven King story help us to define and thereby reduce the concept of evil in an attempt to understand evil. We fool ourselves into thinking that we can control the effects, that evil is not so bad after all. I suppose that is so we don’t live our lives in constant fear, or see the devil behind every tree. Now, in addressing the theme of evil in a sermon, I run the risk of putting too much focus on the devil. But this is first and foremost a message of hope when faced with evil. And I am not talking about facing the Red Devil or Jack Nicholson. I define evil as anything which diminishes the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the sanctity of human life and all of creation. Evil is wickedness. It is malicious, and profoundly immoral. Evil is a “force believed to bring about harmful, painful, or unpleasant events (http://encarta.msn.com). Evil is real. I do not believe that the world is evil and the spiritual is good. That has already been shown to be heresy. Evil is indeed in our world, our nation, our community, our churches, our families and in our hearts.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8). It can be found in hatred, greed or prejudice. It can take the form of attitudes and embody itself in institutional structures. Today I will speak of hope in the face of evil. This is a sermon about Jesus Christ and the hope he brings to us in the face of evil when confronted with evil. The Study Catechism of the PCUSA has this to say concerning evil.

Question 132. What is meant by the final petition (of the Lord’s Prayer) , "Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil"?

We ask God to protect us from our own worst impulses and from all external powers of destruction in the world. We ask that we might not yield to despair in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances. We pray for the grace to remember and believe, despite our unbelief, that no matter how bleak the world may sometimes seem, there is nonetheless a depth of love which is deeper than our despair, and that this love — which delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt and raised our Lord Jesus from the dead — will finally swallow up forever all that would now seem to defeat it. (The Study Catechism, PCUSA).

The Psalmist asks:

Why do you boast, O might one, of mischief done against the godly? All day long you are planning destruction. Your tongue is like a sharp razor, your worker of treachery. You love evil more that good, and lying more that speaking the truth. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue?” (Psalms 52: 1-4 NRSV).

The Parable

The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds is set by Matthew in the context of Jesus’ teaching using stories. A commentary I looked at this week describes this passage as an allegorical parable and straight forward in its interpretation. Although Matthew refers to the field as the world, it is possible that he implicated his church community. Do you think that perhaps the disciples wanted to purge evil from the world and in the church? Was perfection their motive? Did they want to be rid of “undesirables”? The epistle to the Romans included in the lectionary for today stresses standards by which Christians are to live. The imperative is used, “this is what you ought to do.” The Spirit leads us as children of God… and there is a clear distinction between good and evil. Good and evil exist side-by-side, like wheat and weeds growing up together. Bad things happen to all who live in the field. It rains upon the wheat and the weeds alike. The scorching sun beats down on both and the wind has no regard for the quality of the seeds planted. When there is drought, everyone is thirsty. Accidents, terrorist attacks and war are a part of what is means to live in this world. So is illness and death. The passage from Romans concludes with the message of hope.

“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen in not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:23-25).

Hope

What is the nature of this hope? It would seem that Jesus’ words were telling his disciples not to worry over evildoers…they are not your responsibility. Our job is to be faithful disciples growing into the likeness of Jesus and telling the world of his love. In Jesus Christ we are assured of God’s love for us and the promise that good will win out over evil. Our salvation is secure and history will close with justice. Good wins out over evil in the final judgment and that is God’s responsibility. If we try to weed out the evil doers in our midst we are going to lose some of the faithful too. Have hope, and remember:

a. It is God who sows the seed. God is intimately involved with the field. God tills the soils, sows the seeds, and harvests the crop.
b. God sows only good seed. What he has begun in you God will see to fruition
c. Jesus Christ is Lord of the harvest. There is indeed hope in the final judgment.

In Jesus Christ we are assured of God’s love for us and the promise that good will win out over evil. We are not meant to live with the fear of evil in whatever form it is encountered. We know that in Jesus, God is involved with creation, involved with us, and the power of love is the strongest in the universe. When facing evil, be assured that God is with you, present in a powerful way and the outcome is guaranteed. We do not know what bad will come to us or what evil befall us. We do know that through Jesus Christ we are more that conquerors. The Heidelberg Catechism begins this way;

Question: What is your only comfort, in life and in death? Answer: That I belong –body and soul, in life and in death-not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.


Our job is to be faithful disciples growing into the likeness Jesus and telling the world of his love. During a church leadership conference last March, I was guiding a discussion on ministering to deploying service personnel. Participating in this seminar were other military chaplains and a group of local pastors. One of the pastors said that he and his church members had recently prayed over a deploying Marine right before his unit left for Iraq. The pastor shared with the group that he told the Marine God would protect him from all harm, guaranteeing he would return him safely. One of the chaplains gently objected. “I don’t think I would tell a warrior that. There are no guarantees that nothing will harm him. We want to reassure our Marines who are willing to risk their life that if and when something bad happens that they are to be confident of God’s presence. God is very much present, especially at the time of death. That is our guarantee.”

Conquering Evil

So what can the faithful do in the face of evil? First, weed out the evil in your own life. Repent of sin, and turn to God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Secondly, do not fear. God will be with you regardless of what evil befalls you, and at the harvest all will be made right. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...No in all these things we are more that conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, not height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 35-39).

Thirdly, and this is a trite saying but so true, “Bloom where you are planted.” Minister to others where you live, work, study and play. Fourthly, grow in discipleship. Study scripture, seek God through prayer, and grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Fifthly, don’t fret over the evildoers around you. It is not our job to pronounce judgments on evildoers. Justice is God’s job.

Do not fear. God will be with you regardless of what evil befalls you…nothing can separate us from the love of God. Evil is all around us. It is in our hearts, our churches and in the world. Evil takes the form of fear, doubt and anger. It can be seen in addiction and abuse, and is destructive in its power. The ultimate effect of evil is death. God’s love is ever-present, and Jesus Christ overcomes the devil and ultimately destroys the power of death through his resurrection and the final judgment. Hold on to that promise, “For in hope we were saved.” “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

The Psalmist answers the question he asked:

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. (Psalms 52:8).