Year A
Isaiah 44:6-8
Psalm 86:11-17
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 so that anyone with ears\u2026 may listen\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s parable is most often referred to as The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds\u2026 and we\u2019re told that The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field\u2026 but while everybody was asleep\u2026 an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat\u2026 and then went away\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those who study ancient botany say that the weeds in question here\u2026 are probably darnel\u2026 a Eurasian ryegrass\u2026 a somewhat poisonous weed which\u2026 during it\u2019s initial stages\u2026 looks very much like wheat\u2026 and the roots of the two intertwine\u2026 making it nearly impossible to separate them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An enemy has come\u2026 and sown bad seed\u2026 among good seed\u2026 and so the workers are told to not pick the weeds\u2026 but to wait for the harvest\u2026 and we are tempted\u2026 I think\u2026 to want to know just who this enemy is\u2026 after all\u2026 in so many of Jesus\u2019 parables\u2026 we try to figure out which character is Jesus\u2026 which one is God\u2026 and which is the Holy Spirit\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 and we are tempted here\u2026 I think\u2026 to conclude that the enemy is Satan\u2026 the Accuser\u2026 and while the text says the Devil\u2026 one who embodies opposition to God\u2019s goodness\u2026 to God\u2019s will\u2026 to God\u2019s love\u2026 one who intentionally throws wrenches into the works\u2026 the text doesn\u2019t say that it\u2019s Satan\u2026 does it\u2026 those may be dots we connect on our own\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we still want to know who to hold accountable\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 we still want to know why things happen\u2026 why bad things happen\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 that can bear really good fruit\u2026 if it\u2019s something like dismantling racism and white supremacy and holding accountable those who believe that God is racist too\u2026 but at other times\u2026 it can just lead from one dead end to another\u2026 if it\u2019s something like trying to figure out just exactly when\u2026 where\u2026 how\u2026 and why\u2026 the very first COVID-19 virus emerged\u2026 but its emergence doesn\u2019t really matter\u2026 does it\u2026 because it\u2019s here\u2026 though we have science to figure out how to deal with it\u2026 like wearing masks\u2026 and social distancing\u2026 and hand washing\u2026 to help bring the infection rates down\u2026 and stop the spread\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I once had a boss\u2026 who taught me an important lesson when some decision\u2026 or situation\u2026 went south\u2026 I mean really SOUTH\u2026 the biggest takeaway she said\u2026 is not pointing fingers\u2026 or assigning blame\u2026 she said\u2026 sometimes\u2026 things\u2026 just\u2026 happen<\/em>\u2026 and knowing precisely why is next to impossible\u2026 the biggest takeaway she said\u2026 is figuring out how to keep it from happening again\u2026 keep the train on the tracks\u2026 learn from our mistakes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And part of that learning\u2026 is realizing that while the enemy is sometimes outside of us\u2026 sometimes\u2026 we\u2019re our own worst enemy\u2026 because we all have some weeds growing inside of us\u2026 something that inhibits our wheat from flourishing\u2026 inhibits the Word from taking root\u2026 and we can spend a lot of time pointing fingers\u2026 or we can do all we can\u2026 to support the wheat\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s another detail in this parable that I think is worth looking at too\u2026 the text says that the enemy came when everyone was asleep\u2026 Jesus has shown us time and time again that for him\u2026 being asleep does not mean being in bed for the night\u2026 being asleep means being unaware\u2026 being oblivious to the water in which we swim\u2026 or of how our worldview may be affecting us\u2026 being awake is being able to see the signs of the times\u2026 and it reminds me of the passage in Luke (6:47-49) where Jesus says\u2026 I will show you what someone is like who hears my words\u2026 and acts on them\u2026 he is like a man building a house\u2026 who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock\u2026 and when a flood arose\u2026 the river burst against that house but could not shake it\u2026 because it had been well built\u2026 but the one who hears and does not act\u2026 is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation\u2026 and when the river burst against it\u2026 immediately it fell\u2026 and great was the ruin of that house<\/em>\u2026 the house\u2026 is the person\u2026 whose foundation\u2026 is the Ground of Being\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe the advice of the Master\u2026 is wise advice\u2026 leave the weeds alone\u2026 we\u2019ll deal with them later\u2026 at the harvest\u2026<\/em> because\u2026 do we always really know which is wheat\u2026 and which is weeds\u2026 can there be some weeds that look like wheat\u2026 like the darnel I mentioned earlier\u2026 and can there be some wheat that looks like weeds\u2026 and we would throw the baby away with the bathwater\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Greek word that\u2019s translated as field\u2026 means\u2026 a cultivated region as opposed to the wilderness<\/em>\u2026 the field is chaos tamed\u2026 the wilderness is not\u2026 Jesus met the Devil in the wilderness\u2026 and we don\u2019t want to go into the basement with just a flashlight\u2026 or into woods at night\u2026 do we\u2026 it\u2019s where witches live\u2026 and where wolves wait in Grandma\u2019s bed for Red Riding Hoods\u2026 so perhaps the field in this story\u2026 is creation\u2026 the world in which we live\u2026 and perhaps the good seed that\u2019s been sown\u2026 is God\u2019s Word\u2026 and perhaps the enemy\u2026 is our own shortsightedness\u2026 our haughtiness in thinking that we see with God\u2019s eyes\u2026 in believing that we think with God\u2019s mind\u2026 in believing that we love as God loves\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the slaves balked\u2026 they said\u2026 we want the field to be perfect\u2026 we want there to be ONLY wheat\u2026 and NO weeds\u2026 because the weeds bring suffering\u2026 and we want to control creation so there\u2019s no suffering\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her book Gift from the Sea\u2026 Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote\u2026 I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches\u2026 if suffering alone taught\u2026 all the world would be wise\u2026 since everyone suffers\u2026 but to suffering we must add mourning\u2026 understanding\u2026 patience\u2026 love\u2026 openness\u2026 and the willingness to remain vulnerable<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul didn\u2019t consider the sufferings of his time to be comparable to the glory that will be revealed to us\u2026 he recognized that the whole of creation has been\u2026 and continues to be\u2026 groaning in labor pains\u2026 and yet we too hope for what we do not see\u2026 and the pandemic has given us slightly better vision\u2026 hasn\u2019t it\u2026 we would not otherwise have seen George Floyd\u2019s murder\u2026 it would have been lost in the blur of the news cycle\u2026 and we wouldn\u2019t have had time to march and protest against systemic racism\u2026 which is beginning to be addressed in a new way\u2026 and we would have been too distracted to see what\u2019s happening in Washington\u2026 and wouldn\u2019t have been able to speak truth to power\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while I lament the systems and decisions which have caused the suffering through which so many people are going\u2026 I also believe this is a good time to take our lives and our relationships\u2026 our country and our world\u2026 more seriously than we have been\u2026 and the Good News\u2026 is that judgement will come\u2026 it may be scary because of the unjust experiences many have had with our own legal systems\u2026 but God\u2019s judgement is just\u2026 God has said that our transgressions will be forgotten\u2026 and God is far more patient with us\u2026 than we are with each other\u2026 more patient than we can imagine\u2026 we don\u2019t know when the harvest will come\u2026 but when it does\u2026 God will separate our weeds from our wheat\u2026 and we will share the bread we are\u2026 at the Heavenly Banquet\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A Isaiah 44:6-8 Psalm 86:11-17 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 so that anyone with ears\u2026 may listen\u2026 Today\u2019s parable is most often referred to as The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds\u2026 and we\u2019re told that The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field\u2026 but while everybody was asleep\u2026 an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat\u2026 and then went away\u2026 Those who study ancient botany say that the weeds in question here\u2026 are probably darnel\u2026 a Eurasian ryegrass\u2026 a somewhat poisonous weed which\u2026 during it\u2019s initial stages\u2026 looks very much like wheat\u2026 and the roots of the two intertwine\u2026 making it nearly impossible to separate them\u2026 An enemy has come\u2026 and sown bad seed\u2026 among good seed\u2026 and so the workers are told to not pick the weeds\u2026 but to wait for the harvest\u2026 and we are tempted\u2026 I think\u2026 to want to know just who this enemy is\u2026 after all\u2026 in so many of Jesus\u2019 parables\u2026 we try to figure out which character is Jesus\u2026 which one is God\u2026 and which is the Holy Spirit\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 and we are tempted here\u2026 I think\u2026 to conclude that the enemy is Satan\u2026 the Accuser\u2026 and while the text says the Devil\u2026 one who embodies opposition to God\u2019s goodness\u2026 to God\u2019s will\u2026 to God\u2019s love\u2026 one who intentionally throws wrenches into the works\u2026 the text doesn\u2019t say that it\u2019s Satan\u2026 does it\u2026 those may be dots we connect on our own\u2026 But we still want to know who to hold accountable\u2026 don\u2019t we\u2026 we still want to know why things happen\u2026 why bad things happen\u2026 and sometimes\u2026 that can bear really good fruit\u2026 if it\u2019s something like dismantling racism and white supremacy and holding accountable those who believe that God is racist too\u2026 but at other times\u2026 it can just lead from one dead end to another\u2026 if it\u2019s something like trying to figure out just exactly when\u2026 where\u2026 how\u2026 and why\u2026 the very first COVID-19 virus emerged\u2026 but its emergence doesn\u2019t really matter\u2026 does it\u2026 because it\u2019s here\u2026 though we have science to figure out how to deal with it\u2026 like wearing masks\u2026 and social distancing\u2026 and hand washing\u2026 to help bring the infection rates down\u2026 and stop the spread\u2026 I once had a boss\u2026 who taught me an important lesson when some decision\u2026 or situation\u2026 went south\u2026 I mean really SOUTH\u2026 the biggest takeaway she said\u2026 is not pointing fingers\u2026 or assigning blame\u2026 she said\u2026 sometimes\u2026 things\u2026 just\u2026 happen\u2026 and knowing precisely why is next to impossible\u2026 the biggest takeaway she said\u2026 is figuring out how to keep it from happening again\u2026 keep the train on the tracks\u2026 learn from our mistakes\u2026 And part of that learning\u2026 is realizing that while the enemy is sometimes outside of us\u2026 sometimes\u2026 we\u2019re our own worst enemy\u2026 because we all have some weeds growing inside of us\u2026 something that inhibits our wheat from flourishing\u2026 inhibits the Word from taking root\u2026 and we can spend a lot of time pointing fingers\u2026 or we can do all we can\u2026 to support the wheat\u2026 There\u2019s another detail in this parable that I think is worth looking at too\u2026 the text says that the enemy came when everyone was asleep\u2026 Jesus has shown us time and time again that for him\u2026 being asleep does not mean being in bed for the night\u2026 being asleep means being unaware\u2026 being oblivious to the water in which we swim\u2026 or of how our worldview may be affecting us\u2026 being awake is being able to see the signs of the times\u2026 and it reminds me of the passage in Luke (6:47-49) where Jesus says\u2026 I will show you what someone is like who hears my words\u2026 and acts on them\u2026 he is like a man building a house\u2026 who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock\u2026 and when a flood arose\u2026 the river burst against that house but could not shake it\u2026 because it had been well built\u2026 but the one who hears and does not act\u2026 is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation\u2026 and when the river burst against it\u2026 immediately it fell\u2026 and great was the ruin of that house\u2026 the house\u2026 is the person\u2026 whose foundation\u2026 is the Ground of Being\u2026 Maybe the advice of the Master\u2026 is wise advice\u2026 leave the weeds alone\u2026 we\u2019ll deal with them later\u2026 at the harvest\u2026 because\u2026 do we always really know which is wheat\u2026 and which is weeds\u2026 can there be some weeds that look like wheat\u2026 like the darnel I mentioned earlier\u2026 and can there be some wheat that looks like weeds\u2026 and we would throw the baby away with the bathwater\u2026 The Greek word that\u2019s translated as field\u2026 means\u2026 a cultivated region as opposed to the wilderness\u2026 the field is chaos tamed\u2026 the wilderness is not\u2026 Jesus met the Devil in the wilderness\u2026 and we don\u2019t want to go into the basement with just a flashlight\u2026 or into woods at night\u2026 do we\u2026 it\u2019s where witches live\u2026 and where wolves wait in Grandma\u2019s bed for Red Riding Hoods\u2026 so perhaps the field in this story\u2026 is creation\u2026 the world in which we live\u2026 and perhaps the good seed that\u2019s been sown\u2026 is God\u2019s Word\u2026 and perhaps the enemy\u2026 is our own shortsightedness\u2026 our haughtiness in thinking that we see with God\u2019s eyes\u2026 in believing that we think with God\u2019s mind\u2026 in believing that we love as God loves\u2026 But the slaves balked\u2026 they said\u2026 we want the field to be perfect\u2026 we want there to be ONLY wheat\u2026 and NO weeds\u2026 because the weeds bring suffering\u2026 and we want to control creation so there\u2019s no suffering\u2026 In her book Gift from the Sea\u2026 Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote\u2026 I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches\u2026 if suffering alone taught\u2026 all the world would be wise\u2026 since everyone suffers\u2026 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